The attached documents provide an insight into the three-year chequered process of appointing a Dean of the Humanities Faculty at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. The documents are from meetings of the “Board of the Faculty of Humanities”.
The prolonged process included rejection of the selection committee’s first proposed candidate, apparently because of his race, and disruption of a Faculty vote on another candidate.
These documents fill in some gaps left by news reporting at the time, including:
Times: UCT academic reprimanded after vote for new dean ends in chaos
City Press: ‘UCT vice-chancellor allowed use of resources to push dean appointment’
City Press: ‘I am most qualified for this position’ – Professor hits back at UCT for prejudice
Documents: Board of the Faculty of Humanities Minutes, UCT
Martin Plaut 