Faculty Members

Faculty Members 

Over the years, the American Association of University Professors has issued several statements about Title IX and the Office for Civil Rights’ interpretations of “sexual harassment.” Over time, the AAUP warnings have become increasingly detailed:

• Department of Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Governance, 2011: “Since charges of sexual harassment against faculty members often lead to disciplinary sanctions, including dismissal, a preponderance of the evidence standard could result in a faculty member’s being dismissed for cause based on a lower standard of proof than what we consider necessary to protect academic freedom and tenure.”
• Committee on Women in the Academic Profession, 2013: “We are deeply concerned, however, that the redefinition of sexual harassment proposed therein— ‘unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature [that] can include unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, nonverbal, or physical conduct of a sexual nature, such as sexual assault or acts of sexual violence’—eliminates the critical standard of “reasonable speech,” and, in so doing, may pose a threat to academic freedom in the classroom.”

In 2016, the AAUP Council adopted a report, “The History, Uses, and Abuses of Title IX,” which highlights that as a result of OCR over-reach,  free speech considerations “have been relegated to the background or ignored altogether.” The well-researched AAUP report identifies two major problems with the interpretation and enforcement of Title IX:

• Overly broad definitions of “hostile environment”
• Inadequate protection of  due process and academic governance

Nadine Strossen, Professor of Law, Emerita at New York Law School and former president of the American Civil Liberties Union, has lamented how free expression on campus has become “an endangered species.” Faculty members can also face legal risks arising from an alleged failure to report to university officials a student’s report of sexual misconduct.

Other resources:

• Law Professors Call for Fundamental Fairness on Campus

• Title IX Toolkit, by the National Association of Scholars

LISTING OF FACULTY MEMBERS

Following is a partial listing of faculty members — male and female — who have been subjected to flawed Title IX/sexual harassment proceedings:

1. Arizona State University: Marta Tecedor
2. Baylor University: Trent Dougherty
3. Baylor University: John Doe
4. Berea College: David Porter
5. Cornell University: Mukund Vengalattore
6. George Washington University: Catherine Woytowicz
7. Goodwin College: Laura Jean Champagne
8. Harvard University: Bruce Hay
9. Howard University: Reginald Robinson
10. James Madison University: Alyssa Reid
11. Louisiana State University: Teresa Buchanan
12. Massachusetts College of Art and Design: Saul Levine
13. Oregon Health and Science University: Buddy Ullman
14. New York University: Avital Ronnell
15. Northwestern University: Laura Kipnis
16. Northwestern University: Alec Klein
17. Pacific University: Richard Paxton
18. Plymouth State University: Michael Fischler
19. Princeton University: Sergio Verdu
20. Syracuse University: William Peace
21. University of Colorado at Boulder: Patricia Adler
22. University of Illinois: Joseph Petry
23. University of Michigan: Pamela Smock
24. University of North Texas: Robert Frodeman
25. University of Rochester: Florian Jaeger
26. University of Southern California: Erick Guerrero
27. University of Utah: Nicholas Wolfinger
28. Virginia Commonwealth University: Douglas Wilder