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Court Upholds Nonrenewal of URI Lecturer Who Circulated Combative "Declaration of Diversity," Allegedly Intimidated Students

Eugene Volokh | 9.23.2026 8:01 AM

[1.] Some excerpts from Judge Steven McAuliffe (D.N.H.) Monday in the longish Fosu v. Univ. of R.I. Bd. of Trustees (D.R.I.); there's a lot more in the whole opinion. First, the backstory about the plaintiff:

In 2018, URI recruited and hired Dr. Gifty Ako-Adounvo, as Vice Provost for Global Initiatives and Senior International Officer. Dr. Ako-Adounvo asked for URI's help to locate employment for Fosu, her domestic partner, and when no outside employment options were found, URI appointed him as a visiting professor for the 2019 spring semester. URI appointed Fosu to a faculty of practice to teach in the Political Science Department for the 2019-2020 academic year. A faculty of practice is a one-year appointment and a non-tenure position.

Fosu did not have the academic qualifications to teach core curriculum classes in the Political Science Department. The Chair of the Political Science Department, Professor Marc Hutchison, decided that Fosu could teach elective courses as a faculty of practice. Fosu was to teach a course on the Supreme Court and constitutional law, and he also proposed a course on advocacy, which was approved. During the 2019-2020 academic year, Fosu taught elective undergraduate courses on constitutional law and advocacy and a graduate course….

[2.] The court discussed various bases for Fosu's appointment not being renewed; here's an excerpt of that, though there were other things happening as well. Note that, "[b]ecause Fosu has not responded to defendants' motion [for summary judgment]," the court "accept[ed] as uncontested defendants' recitation of the material facts":

On October 26, 2020, Fosu sent an email titled "Declaration of Diversity" to URI President Dooley, along with many others including members of the URI faculty and staff, URI students, law enforcement officials, and government officials. Fosu again targeted the Chief Diversity Officer, Mary Almandrez, and criticized the hiring process involving Dr. Sylvia Spears and Dr. Harry Alston. He accused the URI faculty and staff of racism, collusion, unethical conduct, and violations of the law.

The email included a boxed warning that "all parties mentioned in this letter and involved in the Dr. Harry Alston and Dr. Sylvia Spears interview process must not shred or destroy any documents, must not delete any emails or electronic messages from November 1, 2019 to present." Fosu also asserted that he and others invoked their Fourth Amendment rights.

In the email, Fosu notified President Dooley that Fosu's private corporation, Diversity Think Tank, was "headquartered" at URI and that it was the corporation's goal "to directly target and expose URI's indefensible and offensively prejudicial and discriminatory policies and the people who perpetuate intentional racism and normalized racist inequities through the machinations of white supremacy." …

[Fosu attached a] "Declaration of Diversity" that purported to be issued by "organized URI students." The Declaration began with a statement that "We as organized URI student, hold these facts to be self-evident, that........

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