Ángel J. Valencia
Ángel J. Valencia is a Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, where he litigates to defend individual liberties and challenge government overreach.
On November 25, 2025, the Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit on behalf of Dr. Matthew Abraham, a tenured professor at the University of Arizona (UA), against the Arizona Board of Regents. The case challenges the University’s exclusion of Dr. Abraham from prestigious governance committees after he opposed and sought records about what he reasonably believed were unlawful, race-based hiring and selection practices tied to DEI initiatives.
Upon discovering discriminatory practices at the University of Arizona, Dr. Abraham engaged in protected activity from 2017 to 2022. This included internal grievances, extensive public records requests, a September 15, 2020 demand letter through counsel, a public-records special action against the Arizona Board of Regents, and charges filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). After University officials became aware of these efforts, the University excluded him from the Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure (CAFT) and from further service on the English Department Academic Program Review Committee (APR).
Internal communications show UA staff directed the nominating process using undisclosed “confidential” criteria, labeling certain faculty, especially those who had filed grievances or challenged university practices, as “problematic,” “not appropriate,” or subject to “conflicts of interest.” Dr. Abraham was flagged as “ineligible,” and was even included in a slide presentation which highlighted him and other “problematic” faculty in red. UA later cited a purported “conflict of interest” based on his protected grievances and selectively invoked a “degree‑seeking” bar while he was enrolled in law school.
As a state institution, the University of Arizona must comply with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. By excluding Dr. Abraham from CAFT and APR for his protected opposition and petitioning activity, and by maintaining race/DEI‑preferential selection practices, UA violated Title VII’s anti‑retaliation and anti‑discrimination provisions.
The Liberty Justice Center’s lawsuit seeks to halt the University’s use of protected activity as a disqualifier, to require neutral and published criteria for faculty governance appointments, to prohibit unlawful race‑based selection practices, to expunge stigmatizing labels from Dr. Abraham’s records, and to restore fair consideration for committee service.
“Faculty governance cannot be contingent on whether a professor stays silent about potential civil rights violations,” said Ángel J. Valencia, senior counsel at the Liberty Justice Center. “Blacklisting Dr. Abraham from governance committees because he exercised his rights is a serious civil rights violation, and we intend to hold the University of Arizona accountable.”
Abraham v. Arizona Board of Regents was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona on November 25, 2025.
Ángel J. Valencia is a Senior Counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, where he litigates to defend individual liberties and challenge government overreach.