Chapter 4 - The President’s DescentThe elevator doors at the end of the cafeteria corridor slid open with a violent chime.
Dr. Arthur Sterling practically jogged out, followed closely by Thomas Vance and a phalanx of sweating assistant deans. Sterling’s face was a mask of desperate diplomacy as he spotted Darius standing by the serving counter.
"Mr. Coleman! Good heavens, Darius," Sterling panted, flashing a wide, plastic smile. "We were told you were touring the west wing labs. What on earth is happening down here?"
Darius did not smile back. He didn't even turn his head to look at the university president until Sterling was standing two feet away.
"Dr. Sterling," Darius said quietly. "Your university has a rat problem."
Sterling blinked, glancing nervously at Patricia Sullivan, who looked like she was about to faint. "I... I beg your pardon?"
"My daughter, Amara, a full-tuition student with a fully paid meal plan, was publicly humiliated by your dining supervisor because she assumed—based entirely on racial bias and class profiling—that Amara didn't belong in this institution," Darius stated, every word falling like a lead weight.
Vance stepped forward, his eyes wide with horror. "Darius, please, let's not act hastily. This is a misunderstanding. Ms. Sullivan is a long-standing employee—"
"She’s a bigot," Darius interrupted, turning his full fury onto the chairman of the board. "And your administrative negligence allowed her to run a discriminatory checkpoint inside a public university dining hall. I just instructed my CFO to pull the 12.5 million dollar endowment."
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Sterling stumbled backward as if he’d been physically struck. "Darius—no! You can't do that! Think of the research, think of the students!"
"I am thinking of the students," Darius snapped, gesturing to the three hundred teenagers watching every move. "Starting with the ones your staff has been systemically abusing."
