A Kansas University physics and astronomy professor is suing the school, claiming he was denied a fair chance at tenure in part because his department colleagues disliked his Republican politics.

“I do not believe I’m outspoken, however : if you’re not posting Alfred E. Neuman pictures of President Bush on your office door, people kind of figure out what your political leanings are,” said assistant professor Jeffrey Olafsen, 39, who was denied tenure in March 2005 and filed suit earlier this year.

“This department has an agenda,” he said, “and someone who’s right of center and someone who can stand up and say they believe in God isn’t going to mesh well with that.”

KU spokeswoman Lynn Bretz said she couldn’t discuss details of Olafsen’s case but that just three things play into the tenure process: a professor’s record in teaching, service and research.

“It’s a thorough review process that’s based on goals and measures within the field,” she said. “It’s not about personality. It’s not about extraneous things. It’s about your performance.”

After learning from Provost David Shulenburger that his tenure had been denied, Olafsen appealed to KU’s Tenure and Related Problems Committee. That committee reviewed his case and dismissed the complaint in November, but Olafsen claims in his lawsuit that he was denied a fair hearing before the committee.

He says the tenure process had procedural mistakes and didn’t take into account that his lab in the basement of Malott Hall was shut down for roughly seven months during 2003 and 2004.

Also, he alleges that during a meeting as his tenure was being considered, department chairman Stephen Sanders said he suspected Olafsen had voted for President Bush and that he therefore was partly responsible for cuts to research funding. At the time, Olafsen said, he documented the remark and reported it to Kim Wilcox, who was dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at that time.

Sanders said Tuesday that he wasn’t at liberty to talk about the case.

Olafsen said his department recommended against granting him tenure, but a College of Liberal Arts and Sciences committee containing none of his fellow department members recommended that he receive tenure. The final decision to deny tenure was made by the University Committee on Promotions and Tenure.

Olafsen’s lawsuit is asking Judge Jack Murphy to order the Tenure and Related Problems Committee to grant him a hearing.

In coming weeks, Murphy is expected to approve a schedule for how the lawsuit will proceed. The case was set for a scheduling conference Tuesday afternoon, but it was canceled at the last minute.