Donna Satterlee, a tenured professor who taught at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore for more than 20 years, has gone public with a lawsuit alleging she was the victim of race-based discrimination and wrongful termination by UMES leadership. What began as a dispute over pay and promotions, Satterlee says, turned into a coordinated effort by administrators to push her out after she dared to question preferential treatment on campus.
According to the court filing, Satterlee scored an 82.2 on the promotion point system—well above the 70 points required for advancement—yet her department chair reportedly lobbied to deny her the promotion and then triggered an investigation that culminated in her coerced departure. The complaint paints the investigative process as a sham, alleging premeditated plans to terminate her and a Transitional Terminal Leave Agreement that effectively forced her out on December 14, 2024.
The lawsuit goes further, accusing UMES President Heidi Anderson and other leaders of running a two-tier system that favors certain racial groups in hiring and pay, and even alleging instances of preferential treatment, unsafe work conditions, and retaliatory conduct against those who complain. Those charges have been amplified by separate allegations that portions of the president’s old dissertation contain unattributed material, a scandal that now raises hard questions about leadership credibility at a public university.
Satterlee’s legal fight moved through the EEOC, which issued a right-to-sue letter in July 2025, and her federal complaint—signed August 14, 2025—seeks reinstatement, punitive damages, and a court order forcing the university to adopt truly equal employment practices. This isn’t a petty grievance; it’s a full-throated challenge to the corrosive culture that elevates identity politics over merit, tenure protections, and the rule of law.
Americans who still believe in fairness should be alarmed. When public institutions substitute racial preference for competence and sidestep due process for tenured faculty, every taxpayer and student loses—standards fall, morale crumbles, and academic freedom becomes a hollow slogan. It’s time for the University System of Maryland and state officials to demand transparency, enforce tenure rules, and hold any administrators who abused power fully accountable so hardworking professors who speak up aren’t silenced for telling the truth.
