http://chronicle.com/article/Why-Colleges-Have-a-Hard-Time/233884?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elq=da88a8f864ac417ca99bde6ada07206a&elqCampaignId=1680&elqaid=6672&elqat=1&elqTrackId=41134e5c1ff7415a89aeaf0655e43f64
I'll quote at length here because the story is subscription only.
OCTOBER 22, 2015
"By resigning last week from the University of California at Berkeley, Geoffrey W. Marcy — the acclaimed astronomy professor found to have repeatedly violated Berkeley’s sexual-harassment policy over the course of a decade — may have helped the institution solve a nagging disciplinary problem.
But Mr. Marcy’s decision could not allay the backlash over Berkeley’s treatment of his case. Many professors and observers have decried the university’s failure to quickly dismiss the professor; some have called for the university, and other institutions, to revamp the process for dealing with similar cases of faculty misconduct.
The critics ask a simple question: Why didn’t the university do more to punish a professor it had identified as a serial offender?
In a statement after Mr. Marcy’s resignation, two Berkeley officials said they couldn’t do much else. Any further disciplinary action, they said, would have required faculty-led hearings with high standards of evidence and a three-year statute of limitations. (The complaints against Mr. Marcy concerned alleged incidents from 2001 to 2010.) The officials described such a process as "lengthy and uncertain."
Even a professor who is the subject of regular misconduct complaints often cannot be easily removed from a campus. Tenure protects many professors from quick dismissal. Their faculty peers, who are often charged with assessing whether an accused colleague bears responsibility, may view the cases as attacks on tenure. College leaders, who often don’t have the power to terminate a professor without consulting the faculty, may fear damage to their institution’s reputation. Students who experience harassment may not file complaints if they feel they have little chance of being taken seriously.
Mr. Marcy’s case echoed those themes. Students and faculty members inside and outside of Berkeley had known about the professor’s behavior for years but had discussed it mostly in private. University officials eventually conducted an investigation, but it was not made public until a BuzzFeed News report this month. And even though the university found Mr. Marcy responsible for harassment and forced him to give up any future due-process rights, the astronomer was allowed to remain on the campus..."
Stories/excerpt about the astronomer at Cal who has been sanctioned for sexually harassing students:
"Female faculty members and students have complained for decades of discrimination and harassment in male-dominated scientific fields. In astronomy, a 2013 survey found that 29 percent of assistant professors, 21 percent of associates, and just 15 percent of full professors are female.
Gender complaints are not just reserved to science. Female philosophers have also cited a hostile climate for women, and universities have recently removed or forced several male philosophers to resign following complaints of sexual harassment and assault." -- Chronicle of Higher Education 14Oct15
See also full story at: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/10/14/science/geoffrey-marcy-berkeley-astronomy-faculty-letter.html?nlid=25414714&src=recpb&referer=
In response to the article, I can't believe that gender inequality is still an issue today. I was raised to be a leader and don't let anyone say that they are better than me. I attended an all female high school and I think that has helped in developing my personality and character. I find it disgusting when people discriminate or abuse their powers to put someone down. I think that Dr. Marcy should be punished for his actions and violations against the women he interacted with. I find it more disturbing that U.C. Berkeley didn't want to charge Dr. Marcy with sexual harassment charges because the institution would lose money and become less trustworthy. To me that means that the school has no regard for their students, especially the female ones.
ReplyDeleteI definitely understand where you are coming from. This university is meant to be a place of learning and is not the place for this kind of behavior especially from professors. The article says that the college was worried about the kind of repercussions that this would have on his potential Nobel Prize, well maybe they should consider how his actions had repercussions on the lives of those 29 petitioners who were harassed by Dr. Marcy.
DeleteI definitely understand where you are coming from. This university is meant to be a place of learning and is not the place for this kind of behavior especially from professors. The article says that the college was worried about the kind of repercussions that this would have on his potential Nobel Prize, well maybe they should consider how his actions had repercussions on the lives of those 29 petitioners who were harassed by Dr. Marcy.
DeleteI agree with you Lauren. A university setting is the last place that something like this should ever happen, and a university professor should be the last person to commit these types of actions. It does not speak well for a school when the people that they hire to be role models for their students are setting this kind of example. I also agree that it could have been handled in a better manner.
DeleteI agree that it should have been handled differently but even though a university should be the last place it happens, it is in all reality the place were sexual harassment occurs the most. There are always cases of sexual harassment in a college setting but this time it was the professor doing it. He shouldn't have been able to just resign and something needs to change with the way that universities handle these seemingly numerous cases.
DeleteI agree with Tyler that a University should be the last place sexual harassment happens but in reality it is the most common place for sexual harassment. The sad truth about this is that the professor was harassing a student, teachers are ones that should be looked up to for knowledge and guidance. Its sad that Marcy did this to his students, i believe he may have been abusing his power as a teacher, and taking advantage of the fact that student turn to professors for guidance and knowledge.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with you Lauren on how it is wrong that discrimination and harassment still exist in our society.I believe that Dr. Marcy should be punished for his wrongdoings. However, I don't believe that U.C. Berkeley isn't punishing him to protect their trustworthiness. I do agree with you that they may be trying to protect their source of revenues as well as Dr. Marcy. Aspiring astronomers may be more inclined to go to U.C. Berkeley because a potential nobel prize winner instructs there. However, if he were to resign students may reconsider coming to U.C. Berkeley. This would result in a loss of revenue. However, I don't believe that this case should be focused around money, it should be focused on holding Dr. Marcy accounting for his actions.
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ReplyDeleteI also agree with you Lauren as well as Austin, I can't believe how often sexual harassment charges still occur today. Although, we have to realize sexual harassment has been around forever and probably will always be an issue. We need to start noticing when sexual harassment is occurring in the work place and do our best to stop it before it becomes an issue like Dr. Marcy. I do, however agree with both of you that it is quite odd that U.C. Berkeley did not charge Dr. Marcy with anything. All they were trying to do by not pressing charges is saving their butts. U.C. Berkeley doesn't want to receive any bad rep over this case so I assume they tried just working around this as quickly as possible so they didn't gain any negative publicity and lose trust. However, i believe by not pressing charges, they should lose trust because to me it just looks like the school was trying to hurry up and cover the case up when really they should have made sure Dr. Marcy received some type of punishment. By letting Dr. Marcy go so easily it promotes others to do the same thing because they also think they will get away with it and not have to go through any punishment. In order to stop or limit sexual harassment we need to start looking at it more seriously and have punishment for any of those people that choose to sexually harass others in the workplace.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything that was said here and a solution to the sexual harassment problem in our countries workplace would be witnesses to said sexual harassment stepping in and stopping it when it happens. We are all a product of our environment, if we set examples by stepping in and saying that this is wrong, many people will not even think about doing it anymore. If it's not on anyone's minds then its not occurring.
DeleteAfter reading this article I find it to be disturbing that U.C. Berkeley didn't press charges on Dr. Marcy. The students should be able to feel save at their university, and should be able to trust in the school as well as their professors to help them succeed. It seems to me that U.C Berkeley didn't take the sexual harassment claims seriously and just tried to sweep it under the rug. The "zero-tolerance policy regarding future behavior" the school established for Dr.Marcy's consequence seems like a slap a wrist, if even that. The 29 petitioners who were harassed deserve better justice then what they received.
ReplyDeleteI agree that I too find it disturbing that UC Berkeley didn't press charges on Dr. Marcy for the obvious reason that they just didn't want to get themselves into a sticky situation. The gender inequality in this situation is ridiculous considering its 2015 and things like this are still basically being allowed in our society just by people turning their cheek. I also agree that the 29 petitioners who claim being harassed by Dr. Marcy deserve some type of justice that is adequate to what has been done to them.
DeleteIt blows my mind that sexual harassment still occurs today, I guess some puppies are sicker than others. School or a work place should be a safe place were all students and faculty feel comfortable. The fact that no punishment was served to Dr. Marcy is disgraceful, U.C. Berkeley was definitely trying to keep this on the hush hush and keep as much negative publicity away as possible. Dr. Macy should have received punishment for his actions, by not doing so it is an even worse reflection on the university.
ReplyDeleteI agree that people should be able to feel safe in their school or workplace without having to worry about these kinds of things happening, but i guess there are just some sick people out there in this world. I find it extremely disturbing that UC Berkeley didnt press any changes against Dr. Marcy when he made it very clear he was guilty by how quickly he quit his job. I agree that UC Berkeley was just trying to save their own reputation by not making a big deal out of it and not pressing charges and that this makes them look even worse.
DeleteI agree, the workplace should always be free of harassment. It is unnerving that such harassment is allowed in the workplace to simply protect the facilities reputation. I think the reputation of all facilities are higher for me when they take the right steps in punishing sexual harassment in the workplace.
DeleteIn fall 2013 I was a victim of verbal sexual harassment at my workplace. I was a lifeguard and a supervisor and I was harassed by a visiting patron from another pool. I will never forget this experience, even though it was a minor offense, because of how upsetting it was to me. However, unlike this situation, my supervisors were really helpful in this situation. They asked the man to leave immediately and they wrote extensive reports to make sure they got the whole story correct. I think it is a shame that not only women, but men too, cannot feel comfortable at the workplace and, in this particular case, school. I think it is appalling that U.C. Berkeley kept this whole ordeal under wraps just to save their reputation. We as students should feel safe with any professor or colleague and trust them to do their job professionally. It is an important subject to touch base on and I hope to never be harassed in a school setting or workplace again. Also I hope this article and event sheds some light on the issues we face today, what to be aware of, and how to properly handle these situations.
ReplyDeleteGreatly said last sentence Sarah! I couldn't agree with you more in hope's of these events and stories about sexual harassment shedding light on how to better handle the situation if it comes about. Sexual harassment isn't something to play around with no matter the severity of it. I'm really glad Thomas More has brought attention to this topic and created a way to make the students aware of it, how to handle it, how to report it, and many other helpful things. The fact that U.C. Berkley didn't want to accuse the professor goes to show you that some of these big institutions only care about there reputation, and money. Not about there students safety, or well-being.
DeleteThe fact that sexual harassment is present in a professional education setting is ridiculous. Especially with an individual who is supposed to be a role model and a man of intelligence. U.C. Berkeley got it wrong here, this faculty member should have been fired and faced legal charges. This shows that many of our educational systems are focused just on the money coming in, not the students. Sexual harassment is something that needs to be fought with more effort. We see too many cases on the news everyday and I can totally see how it can happen between scientists because many scientists are so power hungry that they will do anything in order to be on top. The students of U.C. Berkeley should make this known around the country because if I were not in this class I would have never heard about it and this is something that should make headline news.
ReplyDeleteSexual Harassment is a serious issue that does need to be addressed. With very new workplace policies and rules I know that sexual harassment is not tolerated anymore. When women in the workplace in general was around 15-20% before World War I, sexual harassment was unfortunately a lot more tolerated. It's upsetting to see that the man that sexually harassed these women was only put on probation. Before reading that quote and the article my thoughts on why women only account for only 15% of professors would be that more men pursue that profession more than women. I'm a nursing major which is only about 10% men but is rapidly growing. i really hope there are steps taken to rid any abuse and harassment of male dominated fields of philosophy. Women are the minority in the field and they need to be represented properly as any minority does in any situation. This is an issue that male and female philosophers need to think about.
ReplyDeleteI find it disturbing that sexual harassment is still a problem in the workplace today, but I find it even more disturbing that it is happening to women who are trying to receive an education. Berkeley could have taken more action to show that they support and respect their students. Instead of making it seem like they were supporting Dr. Marcy. I understand that there isn't much proof that he was sexual harassing, but when there are numerous students saying that they have been i think the odds are high that something did happen. Berkley may be doing the best they can, but they could have done a better job of standing up for their students and respecting their word.
ReplyDeleteAllie, I also find it extremely disturbing that sexual harassment is still a problem in the workplace and schools today. Students who are attending college are there to receive an education and are paying a great fee to do so, and should never have to worry about this kind of thing happening. This kind of thing more than likely cause many of these students to drop out school because of the experiences they have gone through.
DeleteAfter looking at this article it is sad to say that I am not surprised about the issue of sexual harassment. I am more disappointed in the work area. This is coming from professors harassing there own students. It is a shame that this is happening from your professors that teach you on an everyday basis. When reading that UC Berkeley did not take these cases seriously and tried to throw these cases out the window like nothing had ever happened is just ridiculous. Even with the fact that you could not really prove these sexual harassment cases. I believe that they could have taken a better approach with this situation. Rather then trying to hide what was going on. It seems like they were protecting Dr. Marcy more then there students. I believe that UC Berkeley did a good job covering up this information because this is my first time hearing of this. This should open our eyes up and we should make this more public and make sure other schools are not having problems like these.
ReplyDeleteOT, I understand where you are coming from when you say you are not surprised about this issue still occurring today, despite how disturbing it may be. Because this is just one example of this kind of thing happened, it is very possible that stuff like this has happened before and never been brought up because the student may be afraid of the consequences. I am also dissappointed in how UC Berkeley approached the issue because even though there is not set in stone evidence of this, there is obvious evidence that this has occurred considering the number of students that came forward and the fact that Dr. Marcy resigned from his position so quicky after this came into the public.
DeleteI think that it is crazy that still happens today. Especially in the work places, I agree that hat people should be safe at work and school. I find it ridiculous that UC Berkley never pressed charges against this professor. I understand that he quit right away because he knew what he did. It is unfortunate that he only lost his job and that is it. I also think it is crazy that gender equality happens in the work place still. Everyone should be treated fair no matter how much there are of one gender in a certain field.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't just sexual harassment in the workplace but it is also sexual harassment in a university. People, especially females, should feel safe when they are at school, not like they have to watch their back where ever they go. As prestigious as this school is, now i would not want my unborn daughter to go there. Not just because of the sexual harassment but also because of the way the university handled the whole situation. It seems like they were scared to get bad publicity but when something like this happens, it should be brought to the public so that we know whats going on and if people should be worried. They just kind of gave Dr. Marcy a slap on the wrist, if that. I feel like universities need to do a better job educating not only their students, but their professors as well about sexual harassment and how it has 0 tolerance in any university.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you here Voges. The school is supposed to be a domain for safety, but it seems as though the schools are vulnerable to an array of damaging behavior. Dr. Marcy and the school should be punished by the government for the way they handled this AND the government should take over this case and make punishments way more harsh. These kinds of things really tarnish the reputation about how professional and intense the scientific world is. It is definitely a shame to see this happen in a place of prestige and honor, I hope this isnt an increasing trend across the world.
DeleteI'm really surprised that something of this sort is occurring in society today, especially in a university. I can't speak on how the university handled the situation because I don't know enough information on it. It's just a shame that sexual harassment is something any person has to worry about when trying to get an education
ReplyDeleteIt is a shame that sexual harassment takes place in the field of science. It is a problem and it needs to stops. I think greater action schould have been taken against this professor.
ReplyDeleteHe should happen been fired and other investigations should have occurred to set an example of him to others in the scientific community that this kind of behavior cannot and will not be tolerated in the world of science, this is an example of one of the potential dangers in a androgenic world of science. Graduate students should be able to go to their professors for encouragement and support for their research and not be troubled by sexuallly harassing acts. I understand the tenure was a big component in this particular case but the process of sexual harassment claims should as stated above be reformed into a more effective system.
DeleteHe should happen been fired and other investigations should have occurred to set an example of him to others in the scientific community that this kind of behavior cannot and will not be tolerated in the world of science, this is an example of one of the potential dangers in a androgenic world of science. Graduate students should be able to go to their professors for encouragement and support for their research and not be troubled by sexuallly harassing acts. I understand the tenure was a big component in this particular case but the process of sexual harassment claims should as stated above be reformed into a more effective system.
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