Heidi Anderson, president of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, filed a $1 million defamation lawsuit in Somerset County Circuit Court on October 24, 2025, against former UMES professor Donna Satterlee, who had publicly accused Anderson of plagiarizing her 1986 Purdue doctoral dissertation. The UMES lawsuit involving Anderson is one of two connected cases: Anderson’s state-court defamation claim remains pending, while a separate federal discrimination suit Satterlee filed against the university was dismissed in February 2026.
What Satterlee Accused Anderson Of
In September 2025, Satterlee began publicly alleging that Anderson had plagiarized portions of her 400-page 1986 dissertation. She filed a formal complaint with the University System of Maryland’s Office of Internal Audit and reported her findings to the U.S. Attorney’s office and the FBI, and urged Purdue to conduct an independent review.1Yahoo News. UMES President Acknowledges Allegations, Submits to Assessment
The initial accusation focused on paragraphs allegedly copied from a 1981 article by Robert M. Caldwell on computer-based medical education, used without quotation marks or proper attribution. Satterlee said she ran the dissertation through Turnitin, which returned a 26 percent similarity score, a level the software flags as a “growing concern.”1Yahoo News. UMES President Acknowledges Allegations, Submits to Assessment Later reporting identified additional allegedly unattributed passages from a 1984 paper by Christopher R. Brigham and Martin Kamp and a paper by Elaine G. Boettcher.2Plagiarism Today. Another University President Accused of Plagiarism
Jonathan Bailey, a copyright and plagiarism consultant writing on Plagiarism Today, initially called the first batch of claims “not necessarily the end of the world.” After later reports revealed a roughly 1,000-word section copied verbatim or nearly so, he wrote that the findings had exited “the realm of mistakes” and entered “the realm of either negligence or malice,” and that the integrity of Anderson’s dissertation and degree had been “legitimately called into question.”2Plagiarism Today. Another University President Accused of Plagiarism
On October 15, 2025, Satterlee appeared on Newsmax and repeated the plagiarism claims, calling Anderson a “scam artist” and accusing her of “reverse discrimination.”3The Edu Ledger. UMES President and Former Professor Battle Over Plagiarism, Race, and Retaliation Claims
Anderson’s Response and the USM Review
On October 6, 2025, Anderson publicly acknowledged the allegations and requested that the University System of Maryland conduct a formal review of her dissertation. She maintained that she served with “honesty” and “the highest standards of scholarship.”4WBOC. UMES President Files Defamation Suit Over Plagiarism Allegations Her attorney, James L. Walker Jr., stated that “no plagiarism occurred under the academic code of conduct in place during the 1980s.”5Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. University of Maryland Eastern Shore President Heidi Anderson Files Defamation Lawsuit Against Former Employee
Anderson’s doctoral advisor at Purdue, Holly L. Mason, provided an affidavit asserting that any citation errors were “exceedingly minor and clearly unintentional.” Anderson’s team argued that citation standards in the 1980s differed from modern norms and that the challenged passages appeared in the literature review section.6The Daily Record. UMES President Lawsuit Plagiarism Defamation4WBOC. UMES President Files Defamation Suit Over Plagiarism Allegations
USM Vice Chancellor for Communications Michael Sandler said the system “takes accusations of plagiarism seriously” and would “determine the next steps once that process is complete.”1Yahoo News. UMES President Acknowledges Allegations, Submits to Assessment As of early 2026, the review remained confidential and no public findings had been announced.6The Daily Record. UMES President Lawsuit Plagiarism Defamation
The Defamation Complaint
Anderson filed her complaint in Somerset County Circuit Court on October 24, 2025, seeking at least $1 million in damages and a formal retraction. The complaint alleged that Satterlee “falsely and repeatedly accused Dr. Anderson of plagiarism and academic theft” and that the accusations were “false, malicious, and unsupported by fact or academic evidence.”7Yahoo News. Judge Issues Gag Order in UMES Lawsuit4WBOC. UMES President Files Defamation Suit Over Plagiarism Allegations
Walker framed Satterlee’s conduct as deliberate, saying: “As a white woman, to challenge a Black institution and a Black leader — and to challenge her credentials — she knew exactly what she was doing.”8The Chronicle of Higher Education. A White Ex-Professor Alleged Racial Discrimination at an HBCU. Then Things Got Messier
Satterlee’s Motion to Dismiss and the Gag Order
Satterlee characterized the suit as “vicious retaliation” meant to silence her. Her attorney, David V. Diggs, filed a motion to dismiss on December 29, 2025, arguing that the case was brought in “bad faith” to “intimidate and chill” Satterlee’s First Amendment rights. The defense invoked Maryland’s anti-SLAPP statute, which protects individuals from lawsuits intended to suppress public participation and free speech.7Yahoo News. Judge Issues Gag Order in UMES Lawsuit
Somerset County Circuit Judge W. Newton Jackson issued a limited gag order preventing both sides from publicly discussing the case until either Satterlee’s attorney entered a formal appearance or February 1, 2026.7Yahoo News. Judge Issues Gag Order in UMES Lawsuit
The Parallel Federal Discrimination Case
Before Anderson sued, Satterlee had already sued UMES. Filed in July 2025 as Satterlee v. University of Maryland Eastern Shore (1:25-cv-02403), her federal complaint alleged racial discrimination, wrongful termination, and a hostile work environment stemming from her roughly 22 years as a tenured associate professor and her 2024 departure.5Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. University of Maryland Eastern Shore President Heidi Anderson Files Defamation Lawsuit Against Former Employee In written testimony to the Maryland Senate Finance Committee in February 2025, Satterlee said she had been forced to resign due to “incessant bullying” and retaliation by her department chair.9Maryland General Assembly. Donna J. Satterlee Written Testimony, Senate Finance Committee
The Maryland Attorney General’s office, representing the university, moved to dismiss. It argued that Satterlee had failed to provide evidence of discrimination, had filed after the statute of limitations on her EEOC right-to-sue letter, and had waived her right to sue by signing a separation agreement under which she received 9.5 months of salary and a $41,223 contribution to her retirement plan in exchange for her resignation and a waiver of claims. The state also asserted that Satterlee had “engaged in bullying so egregious as to merit a recommendation of termination.”8The Chronicle of Higher Education. A White Ex-Professor Alleged Racial Discrimination at an HBCU. Then Things Got Messier6The Daily Record. UMES President Lawsuit Plagiarism Defamation
On February 25, 2026, Judge Stephanie A. Gallagher granted the university’s motion to dismiss, ending the federal case. The dismissal was without prejudice, meaning Satterlee could theoretically refile.10CourtListener. Satterlee v. University of Maryland Eastern Shore, 1:25-cv-02403
Where the Cases Stand
Anderson remains president of UMES. The university’s website lists her under the 2025–2026 President’s Cabinet, and a presidential message dated January 29, 2026, appears on the site.11University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Office of the President The University System of Maryland’s confidential review of her dissertation had not publicly concluded as of early 2026. Satterlee’s federal discrimination suit was dismissed in February 2026. The defamation lawsuit Anderson filed against Satterlee remains pending in Somerset County Circuit Court, with Satterlee’s anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss awaiting a ruling.