Activists at Harvard University have a message they want administrators to hear loud and clear: Apologize.
Jorge Domínguez, a professor of government and former vice provost, was placed on administrative leave this week pending a review after nearly 20 women accused him in a Chronicle investigation of sexual harassment that took place over nearly four decades, from 1979 to 2015. Domínguez subsequently wrote in an email to colleagues that he would retire from the university at the end of this semester. He previously told The Chronicle that his actions may have been misinterpreted.
For some students, alumni, and faculty members, that’s not enough. In addition to an apology, they want the institution to stop tolerating sexual harassment and to eliminate gender inequality.
On Tuesday an “Open Letter regarding sexual harassment at Harvard University,” addressed to Drew G. Faust, Harvard’s president, was published online. It now has more than 800 signatures from faculty members, students, alumni, and others.
“In these cases, as in others, Harvard has not kept its promise to protect those most at risk,” reads the letter. “The burden of responsibility to hold abusers accountable does not lie with the victims. It lies with those in positions of authority. We feel an apology is necessary to rebuild trust and to show that the university unequivocally supports those who come forward.”
Faust thanked the letter-writers and vowed to work with senior leaders to confront sexual harassment.
“As I wrote in December, sexual harassment and sexual assault degrade human dignity, and they have no place at Harvard,” Faust responded in an email. “A central commitment of my presidency has been to ensure that everyone here fully belongs, and I share the sense of hurt, disappointment, and upset that has been expressed so poignantly by students, faculty, and other members of the Harvard community.”
Shannon Parker, a third-year doctoral student in the government department, helped write the letter with other graduate students after a meeting last week spearheaded by department leaders.
When graduate students realized that many of their questions — like how Harvard had let claims of sexual harassment go on for so long — remained unanswered, they met separately to discuss lingering concerns, she said.
Then they decided to write the open letter. The students wanted to show solidarity with the women who had come forward and highlight that the fallout Harvard is facing goes far beyond Domínguez.
“We felt like we needed to be the ones to put forward some solutions and to begin this process of collaboration with the university, and then whoever has power there could step forward to meet us,” Parker said.
Some of the proposed solutions include working to solve gender-inequality issues on campus. The letter calls on administrators to “address the power structures that have left junior faculty, students, and staff vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.”
“But until women are properly represented in positions of power, a culture that tolerates sexual harassment will persist,” reads the letter.
Because of their close relationships with faculty members and frequent interactions with undergraduates as their teachers, graduate students often serve as bridges between university communities, Parker said. It was natural for a group like theirs to push for change.
Kimberly Wortmann, a Ph.D. student in the Committee on the Study of Religion, signed the letter this week. While students were given updates on the Domínguez situation, she said, they lacked details on the next steps Harvard was taking to combat sexual harassment. To her and others, the updates sometimes felt empty.
Wortmann, like many of her fellow signatories, wants Harvard to issue an apology as a first step in making amends.
The university should also investigate why students and faculty members don’t feel comfortable enough to report sexual harassment, said Reva Dhingra, a Ph.D. student in the government department.
Administrators need to strengthen enforcement policies against sexual harassment and give faculty members the space, by adjusting teaching loads, to serve on committees that will combat the problem, Dhingra said.
“This isn’t something that we can push for on our own,” Dhingra said. “Faculty buy-in and administration buy-in is really, really important for change to even begin to start happening.”
Undergraduate students have their own list of demands.
In a letter to faculty members in the government department, students asked that they revoke Domínguez’s university appointments and affiliations, and issue a statement condemning his actions. Among other things, students asked department leaders to form a standing committee “on sexual and gender-based harassment and violence in the department.”
Sarah Fellman, a junior in government, signed the graduate students’ letter and helped draft the undergraduate letter to department leaders. She wants administrators to focus not just on Domínguez, but on working for long-term changes at the university.
“He’s really just the tip of the iceberg,” Fellman said. “Making sure that he’s no longer here doesn’t solve the whole problem.”
Fellman said she wants administrators to be transparent about Dominguez’s investigation, commit to fighting sexism on campus, and ensure that the Latin-American studies center, where a dissertation prize was set up in Domínguez’s honor, isn’t “shortchanged” by his departure.
If the university hires someone to fill Domínguez’s position, leaders should consider the gender disparity in faculty ranks when looking for candidates, Fellman said.
Domínguez’s case is giving students an opportunity to address systemic sexism on campus, said Elena Sokoloski, a senior in government.
Right now, she says she wants Harvard to apologize, but eventually she also wants the university to tackle the culture that gave rise to Domínguez’s behavior in the first place.
Fernanda Zamudio-Suaréz is a breaking-news reporter. Follow her on Twitter @FernandaZamudio, or email her at fzamudiosuarez@chronicle.com.
