Faced with complaints about how the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign handled an investigation into sexual harassment, its College of Law is considering an unusual remedy. The professor who was the subject of the investigation, Jay P. Kesan, has agreed to give his future students a summary of a report that says he “certainly violated the spirit of the university’s nondiscrimination policy, as well as its Code of Conduct.”
The dean of the law school, Vikram D. Amar, said in email that he had not settled on how and for how long to distribute the summary, but he is “heartened that Professor Kesan was willing to waive objections to the notion that the law school could direct would-be students to a fair summary.”
The report on Kesan’s behavior was made public last month by Illinois Public Media. It says an investigation found that the complaints made by a former law student and two former faculty members were credible, but did not meet the legal standard for sexual harassment. Kesan was cleared of that charge, but it was recommended that he undergo training to avoid sexual harassment.
The report says Kesan discussed sex with his former student and alluded to masturbation, then later rubbed her thigh. He asked a law professor about adultery and repeatedly tried to hug her and invite her out for drinks or to his condo in Chicago. Another faculty member reported that he had asked her about sexual practices and had “intimated about his sex life and his sexual fantasies.”
The report, dated September 2017, was sent to the complainants but was not shared with students or faculty members at the law school. The investigator, in the university’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Access, or ODEA, recommended that a copy of the report be placed in Kesan’s personnel file so that it could “be considered in assessing future employment actions,” but in a subsequent letter Amar declined to do so.
“We have been advised by campus counsel that the normal practice here at UIUC is for only ODEA to permanently maintain a physical copy of reports like the one issued in this matter,” Amar’s letter says.
It seemed clear that had the report not become public in the news media, no one would have known about it. That prospect has troubled students and faculty members who wonder how else they could have avoided encountering such behavior. It has also prompted discussion on the campus and demands from students, professors, and a group of deans that the university revise its sexual-harassment policy.
The University of Illinois Student Bar Association objected to “the muted response of the university administration,” and called on Kesan to resign, The News-Gazette reported. All 17 deans at Illinois, including Amar, sent a letter to Robert J. Jones, the chancellor, and Andreas C. Cangellaris, the provost, asking the university to revise its procedures on sexual harassment.
At first, accommodations were made so that students could switch out of Kesan’s classes, The News-Gazette reported. But on Thursday, Amar sent a letter to the law-school community announcing that Kesan would take a yearlong unpaid leave of absence starting on January 1.
For five years after he returns, Kesan “will not seek to prevent the college from advising students who enroll in his courses of the results of the ODEA investigation,” Amar’s letter says. “This information will be communicated to students in the form of a short summary of the ODEA’s findings and conclusions.”
Kesan has also begun receiving professional counseling, the letter says. In an apology that was attached to Amar’s letter, Kesan reiterated that he would give his future students a summary of the findings of the investigation. He said the recent revelations about his conduct had made him “think more deeply about my faults and understand more clearly the harm I have caused many people.”
The investigator, Kaamilya Abdullah-Span, spoke to 38 other witnesses, many of whom had their own stories about Kesan. They reported that he had touched them inappropriately and often commented on women’s appearance and relationship status.
Kesan “denied engaging any colleague or student in a sexual manner, but acknowledged that he previously had been accused of sexual harassment on two prior occasions,” according to the report. He said that he had not intended for his actions to be construed as sexual and that his comments and touches or hugs had been misinterpreted.
Nell Gluckman writes about faculty issues and other topics in higher education. You can follow her on Twitter @nellgluckman, or email her at nell.gluckman@chronicle.com.