Gopal Balakrishnan, a professor in the history-of-consciousness department at the U. of California at Santa Cruz, is on leave pending a further investigation.U. of Hawaii-Manoa
When graffiti and leaflets called Gopal Balakrishnan, a professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz, a sexual predator, he complained of being targeted by vigilantes. Now Balakrishnan, who teaches in the history-of-consciousness department, has been found responsible for violating the university’s sexual-harassment policy by forcing himself on a student while she was drunk.
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Gopal Balakrishnan, a professor in the history-of-consciousness department at the U. of California at Santa Cruz, is on leave pending a further investigation.U. of Hawaii-Manoa
When graffiti and leaflets called Gopal Balakrishnan, a professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz, a sexual predator, he complained of being targeted by vigilantes. Now Balakrishnan, who teaches in the history-of-consciousness department, has been found responsible for violating the university’s sexual-harassment policy by forcing himself on a student while she was drunk.
The Marxist historian has been on paid leave pending the outcome of a Title IX investigation.
He will remain on leave while the university considers further disciplinary action.
University officials started the investigation after 130 researchers signed an open online statement accusing Balakrishnan of sexual harassment and assault. The letter included accusations by seven anonymous people who said he had climbed into bed with a visiting scholar despite her objections, and had abused drugs and alcohol with young students.
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A woman celebrating her graduation also accused him of engaging in sexual contact with her against her will, after he walked her home from a students’ party where she had been drinking heavily. Balakrishnan countered that the woman had come on to him and that he had “extricated” himself from the situation.
After graffiti and leaflets attacked Balakrishnan and urged a boycott of his work, a group of his colleagues defended him against what they called an attempt to “condemn by rumor, insinuation, and repetition.” Some feminist-studies scholars responded that such tactics are often the only resort for sexual-misconduct victims when a university doesn’t take their complaints seriously.
Balakrishnan did not respond to requests for comment, but in previous interviews with The Chronicle, he has dismissed the complaints as gossip and hearsay.
Investigative documents obtained first by BuzzFeed News and then The Chronicle included statements from a private investigator hired by Balakrishnan’s lawyer to question his accusers. A Santa Cruz spokesman told The Chronicle that there was no university policy against hiring investigators but that they were expected to treat people they interviewed with respect. He said the university also cautions all parties against retaliating against anyone involved in an investigation.
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Some of the people interviewed said they had found the calls intimidating.
The investigative documents detail the June 2013 encounter that led to the finding of sexual harassment. The 22-year-old complainant, Anneliese Harlander, agreed to The Chronicle’s use of her name because she didn’t want anyone else to suffer as she had. Harlander said she had been at a friend’s house celebrating her graduation when she felt extremely drunk and nauseous, and went outside to sit down. Balakrishnan had joined the party at the invitation of the host, who had audited his class.
Balakrishnan went outside and offered to walk Harlander home, the report says. Once there, he lay on her and attempted to have sex with her, according to the report. She tried to push him off and told him she wasn’t interested, but he persisted, engaging in oral sex with her against her will, she reported.
She said she had passed out, then later woke up naked, feeling “violated and ashamed” and remembering glimpses of what had happened, the report states.
In the report, and later in an interview with The Chronicle, Balakrishnan insisted it was Harlander who had come on to him.
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“She pulled me into her apartment and I reluctantly went in,” he told the investigator. “We talked briefly. She suggested that we be physical. I was surprised by this invitation. She was highly intoxicated. I extricated myself from the interaction and left her apartment and went home.” He said he had never been naked and had never attempted to have sex with her.
The investigator concluded that her account was more believable and that Balakrishnan had, in fact, taken advantage of her and violated the university’s sexual-harassment policy. Because her degree hadn’t yet been conferred, she was still considered an undergraduate, the report says.
Harlander told The Chronicle she would welcome the chance to engage in a restorative-justice session with Balakrishnan if he would agree to accept responsibility for his actions. “I have no control over what the university decides to do with him, but I don’t think it’s safe for him to continue teaching,” she said. “If he’d be willing to take responsibility for his actions, it would be ideal.”
In a written statement, Marlene Tromp, the university’s provost and executive vice chancellor, said the campus had been working to strengthen its sexual-misconduct policies, reshape campus culture, and “make clear to everyone that sexual violence and sexual harassment have no place here.”
Katherine Mangan writes about community colleges, completion efforts, and job training, as well as other topics in daily news. Follow her on Twitter @KatherineMangan, or email her at katherine.mangan@chronicle.com.
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Update (9/26/2018, 9:15 a.m.): This article has been updated with details from the investigative documents.
Katherine Mangan writes about community colleges, completion efforts, student success, and job training, as well as free speech and other topics in daily news. Follow her @KatherineMangan, or email her at katherine.mangan@chronicle.com.