Tulane university under fire over law clinic researcher resignation

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — News of former Tulane University researcher Dr. Kimberly Terrell’s resignation is causing an uproar, putting pressure on President Michael Fitts.

“Instead of standing up for the law clinic, and instead of standing up for the research, he has decided to cave. We encourage him to be part of us, part of the team in this country and on this campus that is standing for democracy,” said Founding Director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade Ann Rolfes. 

Rolfes claims Fitts is being pressured by donors and politicians to censure Dr. Terrell’s research on pollution and job disparities in local communities.    

“Dr. Terrell was prohibited from participating in interviews about her research, and also forbidden from talking with people like us about her expertise at every attempt to make her case for the law clinic and to challenge the gag order. Dr. Terrell was silenced,” said Rolfes. 

Many of the protestors, like co-executive director for Inclusive Louisiana, Barbara Washington, credit Terrell and the Tulane Law Clinic for educating the community about the potential adverse health affects from industrial plants.

“We had chronic illnesses, people were dying from cancer. We contacted again Tulane Law Clinic. The work that Dr. Terrell did help us with the scientific information,” said Washington. 

“We can no longer stay silent as our rights and freedoms are being trampled upon. We believe in the value of our work, and we’ve committed our lives to the pursuit of knowledge. Our conviction is unwavering, and we call upon our university leaders to stand with us,” said Tulane Professor Michelle Lacey. 

Advocates plan to continue to fight for Terrell to be reinstated and continue her research uncensored.  

“The law clinic invites criticism. That’s what we do is follow the institutions. But to attack the truth, then that means that you are not standing up for integrity. It means that you already have a truth. You have decided that you don’t want inconvenience,” said The Descendants Project Co-Founder and Co-Director Joy Banner. 

Rolfes says this is not the first attack on the clinic to silence their findings, as the university has brought in consultants tasked with evaluating if and how the clinic checks for potential controversies. 

In a statement Tulane University says:  

“Tulane is fully committed to protecting academic freedom and the strong pedagogical value of law clinics. We have not limited or hindered the clinic from pursuing its mission to promote student learning and development. This is the fundamental purpose of all of the university’s law clinics. Debates about how to best pursue the teaching mission of law clinics have occurred at law schools throughout the country and at Tulane for years. This is not something new. We have been working with the leadership of the law school for the past several years to better understand how the clinics can most effectively support the university’s educational mission. This effort includes recent input from an independent, third-party review. Our goal is academic excellence for the benefit of our students that meets and exceeds the best practices of clinics at law schools nationwide.”

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