Beverly Buck Brennan, the sister of NFL broadcaster Joe Buck and daughter of legendary St. Louis Cardinals broadcaster Jack Buck, recently won a discrimination lawsuit against Harris-Stowe State University. Brennan received $750,000 from a St. Louis court for dealing with a “hostile work environment.” Katie Kull of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch first broke the news.
Following a five-day trial and four-hour jury deliberation period, jurors ruled in favor of Brennan and her lawyers. She sued Harris-Stowe due to a pattern of inappropriate and unfair treatment towards her and the other female teachers between 2010 and 2016.
“She [could] not figure out why this university that she loves does not love her back,” said Brennan’s attorney Nicholas Dudley. His statement is true: despite the lawsuit, Brennan seemed to thoroughly enjoy her time at Harris-Stowe prior to 2010. She began in 1993 and revived the university’s dormant theater and arts programs. Activities such as workshops, festivals, Broadway plays in distant cities, and guest speakers helped establish Harris-Stowe’s arts representation.
“I like to meet my students where they are to help them succeed,” she told the Post-Dispatch. “Education has to be engaging.”
Brennan’s love for the university and its students continues on. Instead of keeping the $750,000 reward, she’s pledged to donate the money back to Harris-Stowe’s theater department.
“I appreciate the jury,” she said. “I’m happy with the verdict.”
Although things were going great for Brennan (to the extent that she would give the school nearly $1 million after a lawsuit), she noticed a shift in 2010. That year, the university brought in a new School of Arts and Sciences dean, Lateef Adelani. Suddenly, all the engaging and innovative events Brennan did for her students went away due to budget cuts. The situation with Adelani worsened between him and the teachers, so much so that Brennan retired in 2016. Harris-Stowe tried to promote her as chair of the humanities department, which the university’s defense team used in court, but she declined. In the end, she won compensation on the count of a hostile work environment against Harris-Stowe. In the other counts – hostile work environment against Adelani and retaliation against Adelani – the jury ruled in favor of the former dean.
While Brennan’s case is fascinating, it is hardly a first for Harris-Stowe. The St. Louis-based HBCU has been in hot water dating back to 2012. In the past 12 years, over a dozen people have sued the university. In 2017, former White professor Beverly Wilkins won nearly $5 million after the jury agreed she was ignored for promotions and fired “because of the color of her skin.”
The school is also in danger of losing its accreditation. Harris-Stowe has a graduation rate of just 12%, warranting supervision from a national accreditor. It, like many other universities, is also dealing with lowering enrollment rates.
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