Report ancient harassment to the university?

Question

During the pursuit of my degree, which I received in '92, I took a class where motifs in folksongs were routinely discussed.

I don't remember the exact wording now but I noticed a few songs with wording about a couple going to bed and the man putting the woman "toward the wall". I couldn't figure out what this motif might mean, so I asked about it in class. My male professor looked me dead in the eye, and answered "for leverage". The delivery was not lighthearted, and it was not followed by anything to lighten the mood. I read it as a kind of attack in the form of sexual innuendo. Why? Partly because of the aggressiveness of his eye contact, and partly because of the flatness of his tone of voice.

My reaction was no doubt colored by the fact that a friend had previously told me she approached this professor during office hours for a different class and he'd asked her out for coffee. She declined, and he retaliated in class.

My interaction with him quelled my in-class participation and made sure I never approached him after class unless there were plenty of other people there. Nonetheless, I got a good grade in the class and it had no lasting impact on me. I dismissed it from my mind and didn't think about it again until the rise of #metoo.

At the age of 20, he seemed... old to me, and it never occurred to me that he would still be professionally active - until I heard him on the radio yesterday talking about a new book. As it turns out he is still at that same university, and I'm concerned that he's still "teaching" young women.

It has been nearly 30 years and the "harassment" seems nebulous at best. Should I report this, and if so, how? I started drafting an email to the department chair, but while the incident certainly had an impact on me at the time, it seems so... thin? weak? questionable when I write it out (even here).

So... now what?

For the record, this is not about me. I pretty much got over this a long time ago. My concern is for young women in his classes today.

Answer 1

Honestly, I think this is way over the top. I am not even sure if there is anything that could be reported at all.

Let me just sum it up:

• This way 30 years ago, nobody except you might remember your case anymore
• Its unclear whether you have experienced harassment at all, it's even harder to tell after 30 years. Hurt feelings do not automatically mean that you were harassed.
• You did not take immediate actions back then, as you said, you "got over this"
• A friend has told you that he retaliated that she did not want to go on a coffee with him. I have heard way too many stories about (female) students who interpreted way too much into their professors'/teachers' behavior. I would be very cautious with stories heard second-hand. If your friend is really sure that something went wrong, she has to address this issue.

If your report this professor: Which reactions do you expect by the university? Is there anything that they could do now? On the other hand: Are you aware that you could bring him into serious trouble, perhaps just due to a misunderstanding 30 years ago?

For the record, this is not about me. I pretty much got over this a long time ago. My concern is for young women in his classes today.

I think today's women are confident enough to oppose against harassment on their own. Our society is way more sensitive now.

Answer 2

Reporting it with just the details given would seem sub-optimal

It's been 30 years and you're apparently feeling distressed about the situation. In principle, that sounds like a problem; something that, in an ideal world, shouldn't happen. So, there's something going on here; empirically, there's a problem.

How to address that problem? It's hard to tell just yet.

At the moment, I don't know how anyone could take action in response to the incident described. There's simply not enough information to conclude that the instructor was acting inappropriately; for example, it's entirely possible that the instructor was simply disgusted by the subject matter, or perhaps they were attempting to be terse to end the conversation. Or maybe they had something else on their mind entirely.

Since it seems unreasonable for anyone to take action against the instructor based on this information alone, reporting it wouldn't seem helpful, even if it had just happened minutes ago.

Doing nothing would also seem sub-optimal

In the question, you'd mentioned the #metoo campaign. While I'm hardly an expert on social media trends, it's my understanding that this meme exists specifically because feelings like this have often been buried/repressed.

That's probably not the healthiest of approaches, even if common. Rather, if this is bugging you, it'd seem like trying to figure out exactly why would be important.

In short, this probably isn't something to just completely ignore without some sort of resolution.

Possible solution pathway: seek more information

It seems like you may want to reflect on the situation and see if there's more involved:

1. Can you recall more information? For example, are you sure that this was the first incident of this type, or perhaps there were other contributing factors that affected how you perceive the event?

2. At your discretion, you might consider talking to this instructor, either directly or through a mediator. This might be emotionally difficult, but from a fact-finding point-of-view, it'd seem potentially effective.

3. Talking to a professional about your feelings and recollection may help.

In general, tough problems like this seem best addressed through reflection and fact-finding.

Suggestion: Hold off on hating this instructor just yet

From the information given, it's unclear (at least to me) if this instructor was doing anything bad, either intentionally or unintentionally. He may've been entirely innocent, which is a possibility to keep in mind.

That said, I really want to stress that it's a possibility, because it's also entirely possible that he's done a lot of bad things before and you've correctly picked up on a continuation of a heinous pattern of behavior.

The 30-years-ago part isn't too material yet

You're entirely correct that this having been about 30-years ago would be a huge complicating factor to resolving an issue of harassment. Even if it were blatant and clear harassment, then that'd have been a barrier.

Still, I think that the question of whether or not this was harassment would be the bigger issue. And for your own emotional health and well-being (which are important!), it seems like a question to address.

I mean, realistically, I doubt that there's much you can do about something from 30-years ago. But if you choose not to resolve the issue for that reason, that'd seem to leave underlying emotional damage. Ideally that'd be avoided.

Possible action: Reporting the retaliation against your friend

My reaction was no doubt colored by the fact that a friend had previously told me she approached this professor during office hours for a different class and he'd asked her out for coffee. She declined, and he retaliated in class.

Clear, direct retaliation is something that might be reported. Asking a student out to coffee may've been inappropriate, depending on the culture and context.

What was the retaliation? And was it reported at the time?

Answer 3

Randomly choose a woman who graduated in '92. The chances are not negligible that she'll have experienced something similar or worse somewhere along the way.

Times have changed over the past 30 years. By now this professor will likely have come to understand some things better, or if not, will at least have learned to be more careful about expressing his true colors openly.

At any rate, statutes of limitations, and the nature of the allegation you described, would make it rather pointless to file any sort of complaint.

(Now, if he came to be nominated to the Supreme Court, and you had documented his behavior at the time, I suppose there might be some usefulness in your coming forward.)

Editorial comment about your question: The quotes around the word "teaching" bother me. He apparently committed a microaggression toward you. You heard a cautionary story about him, which led you to protect yourself around him. You say you did well in the class, so presumably you learned the material in his class. So the quotes don't seem fair, and suggest that this may be more about jumping on a bandwagon than about consciencious activism.