University: Professor sexually harassed grad student on trip

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


Updated 5:07 pm, Saturday, November 18, 2017

BOSTON (AP) — Boston University says it has found evidence that a geology professor sexually harassed a graduate student on a research trip in Antarctica more than 10 years ago.

BU Provost Jean Morrison said in a letter sent Friday to faculty in the school's Earth & Environment department that the findings follow a 13-month investigation into the former student's allegations against David Marchant, which date back to 1999.

Morrison said interviews or statements from more than 30 witnesses and a review of over 1,000 pages of records led investigators to conclude the tenured professor engaged in sexual harassment in violation of the school's policies.

Investigators found the harassment, which included derogatory sex-based slurs and sexual comments, created a hostile working and living environment for the woman at the camp in Antarctica, the letter said.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/education/article/University-Professor-sexually-harassed-grad-12368343.php

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[BumRushDaShow]

1. It's been pervasive and persistent for centuries in the U.S.

in every occupation and at every level. And because suddenly this year a decision was made to go after a handful of perpetrators in such a publicly spectacular fashion, the dam has now burst, and it will be interesting to see if REAL change happens as a result. In many cases, workplaces HAD policies but they were rarely enforced.

The whole thing will eventually fade away because the media will help spread the bullshit of what is being called a "War on Men" and they will move on.

[bobbieinok]

2. PZ Meyer at pharyngula: many posts this yr re sexual harassment in academia

Mostly in STEM fields....physics, astronomy, geology... Also law.

Nationally and internationally known men at prestige universities. AND years of cover-ups.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. Not surprising

Visiting office hours, I encountered a prof and grad assistant kissing. A prof who told you he wasn't being paid enough to grade your papers personally.

The grad assistants all graded each others papers.

Academia could use a shakeup. It's an institution just like the corporate world.

[Redleg]

4. That's a pretty broad brush

I don't disagree that sexual misconduct and power dynamics exist in academia. I just don't agree with damning the whole system. I have worked in academia since 1996, first at a Research I institution and then at at regional university in the midwest. The campus I currently work in has had but 1 reported incident pertaining to employee sexual misconduct in the last 17 years, and that was involving an administrator. There are far more cases of student on student misconduct. That is not to say that there are not un-reported cases of faculty misconduct.

I think that there are universities that have tolerated bad behavior by faculty and I think that these universities need to deal with their problems. I don't know that a "shakeup" of all institutions is the right way to go.

I would expect that the abuses occur more often in situations where faculty have 1) substantial power over the student, and 2) work frequently one-on-one with the student. While situation 1 exists across all universities, situation 2 does not. Situation 2 is more prevalent in universities having graduate students who work with their faculty advisor on research. In these situations, the students depend very much on developing a close working relationship with their advisor and the advisor has substantial power in this relationship. This power includes not only helping the student complete their research but also in helping them get research funding, helping them network within the discipline and providing assistance in finding them work in academia. In order to "fix" the problems, there would have to be a reduction in the amount of power the faculty had relative to the student and a way of appropriately monitoring faculty-student interactions. I think both of these could be accomplished with some will-power and wouldn't necessitate an upheaval of higher education.

[jcmaine72]

5. cis white males are out of control in this nation.

Not that they weren't before, but President P-grabber's election last year must've sounded to them like a dinner bell ringing to a bunch of hungry lumberjacks.

[Dreamer Tatum]

6. So, you didn't read even the first sentence? nt