A former tenured professor at the University of Cincinnati has taken legal action against the institution, asserting that administrators wrecked his career after he resisted diversity, equity, and inclusion hiring mandates, The College Fix reported.
Brian Calfano, an award winning journalist who led the journalism department starting in 2021, submitted the lawsuit in late February.
“First, he objected when the University imposed an unauthorized, race-based hiring policy that violated its own bylaws,” the complaint asserts. “Second, he supported a female colleague who reported sexist conduct by a male faculty member.”
These actions triggered a chain of events in which “administrators systematically destroyed his career, his reputation, and nearly his life,” the lawsuit claims.
The University of Cincinnati media relations office did not reply to requests for comment.
The dispute originated in February 2024 when Calfano selected Meghan Goth, a white woman, as faculty advisor to the student newspaper. Goth possessed approximately fifteen years of experience as a news manager at Cincinnati area outlets spanning newspaper, digital, and television platforms, along with a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.
Calfano determined she was the strongest candidate and that the appointment fell squarely within his duties as department head. University officials initially obstructed her hiring, however, and when Calfano voiced concerns about racial discrimination embedded in an unofficial DEI hiring process imposed on him, an associate dean reportedly instructed him to “check himself.”
Calfano additionally backed Goth when she submitted sexism allegations against another journalism faculty advisor, which further provoked campus administrators. Officials then opened two investigations targeting Calfano, the lawsuit contends. The first addressed alleged misconduct, while the second was a Title IX sexual harassment inquiry initiated by administrators themselves rather than any student complainant.
Calfano lost his position as department head in March 2024 and was prohibited from teaching. He experienced intense stress that resulted in weight loss, a suicide attempt, hospitalization, and medical leave, according to the complaint. He left the faculty altogether in January 2025.
In a Medium post, Calfano characterized the Title IX allegations as innocuous and devoid of sexual content. They encompassed adjusting a student’s microphone or removing a strand of hair from a shoulder before filming after obtaining permission, inquiring about student hobbies to develop story ideas, editing work with students in his office, and expecting students to present themselves professionally on camera.
“Ultimately, I chose to leave the university voluntarily before the investigation concluded. I accepted a dream job in television news rather than participate in a process I believed was predisposed to a negative outcome. I was not fired, suspended, or formally sanctioned by the university at any point,” Calfano wrote.
Following Calfano’s departure, someone disclosed his unresolved Title IX file to a journalist, producing a harmful newspaper article that resulted in his termination from his new television anchor position days afterward, the complaint alleges.
Calfano’s attorney, Shams Hirji, told The College Fix the case should alarm faculty members at universities nationwide.
“Dr. Calfano was voicing his disagreement with an unauthorized DEI policy that was impeding his ability to hire someone who he believed was the most qualified person for the job,” Hirji explained.
Hirji highlighted that the Title IX inquiry was opened by administrators rather than student complainants.
“This is one of the rare instances where a Title IX investigation was filed not on behalf of any one individual complainants or multiple complainants,” Hirji stated. “The purpose was not to engage in an investigation for a disciplinary purpose, but rather to punish Dr. Calfano for exercising his First Amendment rights.”
Calfano’s personal website outlines further complaints against his former employer. The lawsuit requests damages, removal of investigation records, a permanent injunction barring additional disclosures, and a declaration of rights violations.
Calfano’s ordeal demonstrates how corrosive racial politics have infiltrated American higher education and turned administrative mechanisms into weapons against those who dare challenge the DEI apparatus. Institutions of learning should select employees based on competence and credentials rather than racial preferences that contravene both regulations and fundamental fairness. Americans must insist that these destructive ideologies be expelled from public institutions and barred from environments where they can devastate careers and upend lives.
