reading the original article, I see that this is one more part of the wages of affirmative action.

from the article:

A subtext of the discussion is that Norfolk State is a historically black university with a mission that includes educating many students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Sharon R. Hoggard, a spokeswoman for Norfolk State, said "Something is wrong when you cannot impart your knowledge onto students. . . . we take students who are underprepared. . ."

According to U.S. Education Department data, only 12 percent of Norfolk State students graduate in four years, and only 30 percent graduate in six years.

The problem at Norfolk State, [Aird, the fired professor] said, isn’t his low grades, but the way the university lowers expectations.

In a letter he sent to students at the beginning of last January’s semester, he wrote: “You can only develop skills and self-confidence when your professors maintain appropriately rigorous standards in the classroom and insist that you attain appropriate competencies. You cannot genuinely succeed if your professors pander to you. You will simply fail at the next stage in life, where the cost of failure is much greater.”