Texas Tech University biology professor Michael Dini is reportedly the target of a Justice Department inquiry for refusing to award letters of recommendations to students who deny human evolution. Dini, who also rejects students who do not receive an A in his class or whom he does not know well, also writes on his web site that a student who denies the evidence for evolution is committing “malpractice regarding the method of science.” Texas Tech spokeswoman Cindy Rugeley said that the university supports Dini’s right to establish his own standards and that his policies do not conflict with those of Texas Tech. “A letter of recommendation is a personal matter between a professor and student and is not subject to the university control or regulation,” Texas Tech Chancellor David Smith wrote in response to a complaint filed by the Liberty Legal Institute, a Plano, Texas, based organization.
