Lincoln University's Faculty Senate last week passed a resolution proclaiming support for LU journalism instructor, Will Sites, after others questioned his "commitment to our students and school."
The resolution was adopted three weeks after Sites, in an article on mediashift.org, reported pride in his program teaching students how to use drones.
"For my students, this was a game-changer," Sites wrote. "Lincoln is an open-enrollment university. Every high school graduate is given a chance to succeed - we don't turn anyone away.
"The majority of students come from inner-city Kansas City and St. Louis - two cities known for failing public schools. Many are first-generation students, arriving with almost no understanding of college life."
Still, Sites said, "Students are realizing that a drone is not a toy - it's a tool.
"A drone is both visual and hands-on, and as an added benefit, many introverted students are gravitating toward a media tool that removes intense human interaction - a shell-remover, of sorts."
A day after Sites' story appeared online, the HBCU Digest's J.L. Carter Sr. wrote that Sites' story was heartbreaking because his "consistent referral to how bad Lincoln journalism students are and how the drone journalism won't make them better, but gives them a more enjoyable learning experience."
Carter also wrote: "As well-intentioned as Sites clearly is about his work and protective of his students, the problem is that he clearly doesn't know he just submarined them, their program and the university in just a few lines."
Near the end of his commentary, Carter said: "Sites doesn't seem to be a racist and Lincoln students don't seem to be dummies.
"The professor's article seems to inadvertently read that way."
Two people commenting on Carter's story suggested Sites be fired for undermining the mission of a historically black college or university.
The Faculty Senate proclamation declared: "(Sites') dedication to his students is without question.
"Sadly, within hours of Mr. Sites posting his article online, someone unfamiliar with him, the program or our school called Mr. Sites' commitment to our students and school into question.
"The constant attempts to sow division between the faculty and those who give us purpose, our students, is disheartening and demoralizing."
Math professor Stephanie Clark, the Faculty Senate's chair, asked colleagues to support the resolution supporting Sites, because "Higher Ed has attacks from all sides, whether it's government, the public, unions and the anti-union kind of thing I feel like sometimes in Higher Ed, we're trying to constantly have to protect ourselves and show our relevancy."
However, during the faculty's discussion about the proposed resolution, agriculture professor Adrian Andrei said some LU students were "irked by the fact that (Sites) referred to failing school districts in Kansas City and St. Louis, because they see this as a negative when they go on to graduate and apply for jobs."
In a Nov. 9 memo to faculty about the controversy - the day that HBCU Digest published its article - Provost Debra Greene said: "Sites described our campus as we do - open enrollment, students with challenges, faculty making the transition from teaching legacy skills to engaging with digital formats.
"These are challenges we embrace daily."
Greene noted Sites is "a one-man journalism program," and journalism is the tenth largest major on campus.
She added that Sites used his own money to purchase a website and domain for LU's student newspaper, The Clarion, which had been on the chopping block due to budget constraints, something not mentioned in the HBCU Digest article.
Still, several faculty members noted, the discussion and the proclamation of support again pointed to an ongoing concern about race relations at the school, which was once Missouri's segregated university designated only for African-American students.
That issue was discussed during two Faculty Forum sessions last month, Faculty Senate Vice-Chair Bradley Kuykendall noted.
"I think we are doing something because we're having dialog and communication," Kuykendall, who works in LU's Page Library, said Thursday. "We will be doing this again.
"Yes, I feel like there should be more that should be done, but I think this is very positive and going in the right direction."
The Faculty Forum involves students, faculty and staff, and Kuykendall plans another one in the spring.