In July 2004, Jennings received the National Education Association (NEA)'s Virginia Uribe Award for Creative Leadership in Human Rights.[9] NEA Republican Educators Caucus chairwoman Diane Lenning protested the award because—by her reading of a story in Jennings' book One Teacher in 10—she thought he broke Massachusetts law in 1988 by not reporting a sixteen-year-old gay high school student's relationship with an older man.[10] Three days later, the caucus ousted Lenning as chairwoman over her stance against gays,[11] and later that month The Washington Times published a letter from Jennings saying the accusations were hurtful, inaccurate and potentially libelous.[12] CNN subsequently confirmed that the student was above the age of consent in Massachusetts and not sexually active.[13] The incident resurfaced in 2009 as part of a social conservatives' campaign against Jennings' appointment to head the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools,[13] as well as a conference sponsored by GLSEN with the Massachusetts Department of Education in 2000 where instructors were fired for promoting the practice of fisting to underage youth