HBCU president files defamation lawsuit against former professor who accused her of plagiarism

Heidi Anderson, who is Black, says she has lost speaking engagements due to the accusations and is seeking $1 million in damages.

The president of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore is firing back against a former professor who sued for wrongful termination and accused her of plagiarizing portions of her dissertation in 1986.

Heidi Anderson, who is Black, is embroiled in a lawsuit against Donna Satterlee, who labeled Anderson a “scam artist” who is “not qualified to be president.”

Anderson says she has lost speaking engagements due to the accusations. Satterlee, who left UMES in December 2024, believes she was pushed out of the university because she is white. Satterlee also believes that she was retaliated against for speaking out against alleged corruption at the Historically Black College and University. Anderson filed a defamation suit in October, seeking $1 million in damages, and told the court that citation standards were different when she was in school, reaffirming that she did nothing wrong.

“I stayed quiet for as long as I could,” Anderson said. “There’s no plagiarism here. It’s an attack on me and my character and all of us at the university. I needed to take a stand.”

According to The Baltimore Banner, Satterlee is accusing the university, Anderson, members of her department and senior leadership in her suit of “preferentially hiring African American employees over white and Asian applicants.” Her suit arrives as the university is also being sued by three other current or former employees alleging the school engaged in “criminal activity” along with “unlawful termination of funding and fraud with federal funds.”

“This is vicious retaliation,” Satterlee said of Anderson’s defamation suit. “It’s not going to deter me or intimidate me. Anderson is not qualified to be president.”

Anderson, who has been president of the university since 2018, previously served as provost at Texas A&M University at Kingsville and the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. She holds a PhD in pharmacy administration from Purdue University.

The feud between UMES and Satterlee, who began her career at the school in 2002 as a lecturer and one of the few white faculty members at the university, escalated in 2024 when she applied for a full-time professor role. In her lawsuit, Satterlee alleges that she was paid less than her peers in her department and claims she was passed over for promotions despite receiving positive reviews and feedback from her students.

But, as Satterlee applied for her promotion, the school found she had committed an “egregious” violation of the school’s bullying policy and recommended her termination. Satterlee says she only corrected her bosses’ grammar and spelling. Ultimately, she quit and opted to sue the school for wrongful termination.

In her plagiarism claim against Anderson, Satterlee used the plagiarism-checking site “Turnitin” to assess the originality of Anderson’s essay. The tool determined 27% of Anderson’s 1986 essay was unoriginal and used the essay as an example of writing a dissertation at Washington University.

“I was upset with the way Anderson was treating me and also talking with students about plagiarism,” Satterlee told The Washington Post. “Both contributed to me reviewing her dissertation.”

Officials at Maryland Eastern Shore and the University System declined to comment, but Tina Wilson, the chair of the UMES Board of Visitors, shared a letter on her Facebook page in support of Anderson.

“Two lawsuits alleging discrimination and a reckless, anonymous accusation sent to The Baltimore Banner attempting to undermine Dr. Anderson’s academic credentials are emblematic of [a] disturbing trend,” she wrote. Five other people signed the letter in support, including Anderson’s dissertation advisor at Purdue.

Anderson and Satterlee head to court later this week.