Harvard University was sued by students: the professor sexually harassed a number of female students, and the school was indifferent

Jimu news reporter Sun Zhe

Intern Li Yi

Harvard University, a first-class school in the United States, has been sued! According to CNN reported on the 10th, on February 8, local time, three graduate students filed a lawsuit against Harvard University. According to the report, the three students accused the school of "indifferent treatment" of the professor's sexual harassment of students in order to maintain its reputation, and delayed taking action.

The three graduate students, Margaret Czerwienski, Lilia Kilburn and Amulya Mandava, are from Harvard's anthropology department.

Margaret (left), Lilia (center) and Amurlia (right) (Source: CNN)

The trio said John Comaroff, a professor of anthropology at the university, "kissed and touched students without their consent and threatened them with ruining their careers if they dared to complain." ”

The report pointed out that the sexual harassment incident at Harvard University is not a recent occurrence. As early as the spring of 2017, Amoulia, along with Margaret, reported John's sexual harassment to school officials.

"Because at that time, a second-year graduate student he brought with him told us that he had been sexually harassed by a professor, so we chose to report it to the school." Margaret said.

The second-year graduate student then reported the incident of sexual harassment to harvard's Title IX Office (Federal Office of the Sex and Discrimination Education Amendment), but the school did not investigate the incident. [Note: Title IX refers to Title IX Compliant, which is a report of discrimination (including race, gender, sexual orientation, physical disability, religious beliefs, etc.) and sexual harassment of students. 】

In October of that year, when Amoulia and John met, John threatened her that if he did not stop "spreading 'nasty rumors,' he would retaliate against himself and Margaret." ”

But John's lawyer said in a statement that the anthropology professor "categorically denied ever harassing or retaliating against any of the students."

According to Amoulia, he was sexually harassed by John while still at the University of Chicago, where he taught.

Margaret had a similar experience. She said that in the two years she came to Harvard to study, she was sexually harassed by John on several occasions, including "forced kisses and inappropriate touches."

The complaint also mentions that when Margaret reported to Harvard's Title IX Office, the coordinator had said she was discouraged from submitting a formal report, "and it is likely to be futile to do so." ”

In Lilia's case, just because her thesis was about Central Africa, John once described to her at a conference the "various ways in which she would be raped and killed" in South Africa. In response, John's lawyers claim that this is because she and her partner are planning a trip and "it is necessary to discuss the risk of sexual violence for safety reasons." ”

It is reported that Lilia submitted a sexual harassment report to Harvard University in 2019.

The three graduate students involved said that after they submitted the relevant reports, Harvard University appeared "quite indifferent" and almost dragged on for more than a year to investigate.

"A school designed to protect its reputation at the expense of its students is simply too cold." The indictment reads.

It wasn't until Jan. 20 that Harvard Announced that John would be on unpaid administrative leave and would not allow him to teach compulsory courses for the 2022-2023 academic year. But the students insist that Harvard university has failed to take substantive action to stop John from sexually harassing and that their academic trajectories and career prospects have changed "profoundly."

"We agree that Harvard violates Section IX of the Education Act of 1972." Three students said.

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