A lawsuit by a former professor at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore alleging racial discrimination has metastasized into a wider leadership controversy after public accusations that the university president plagiarized parts of a dissertation. President Heidi M. Anderson sued the claimant for defamation, saying the allegations have damaged her reputation and campus standing. The episode has fed into a broader conversation about outside political and donor influence in higher education. Reporting shows a new cohort of wealthy donors and political activists are increasingly involved in vetting and pressuring college leaders, a dynamic that has helped precipitate leadership changes at multiple institutions and intensified debates about institutional autonomy and the politicization of campus governance.