UC Regents and Staff Call for More Accountability on Sexual Harassment

The University of California Board of Regents is expected to address the sexual harassment scandals roiling UC Berkeley at its UCSF Mission Bay meeting on Wednesday and Thursday. While it’s unclear if the regents are considering any action, there are growing calls for administrators to be more accountable and transparent in how they handle harassment cases.

The regents are the UC system's top governing board, but member John Pérez says they aren’t typically involved in employee sexual misconduct cases, unless there's an appeal.

Now, given what Pérez calls, in some cases, a “mind-boggling” response and a “horrific pattern” of incidents, he believes the regents should be involved in the disciplinary process.

"You start from the point of creating a culture where we're on the same page, and then creating enforcement where there are serious consequences when people violate the policy," Pérez said. "I think you'll see the regents weighing in on that discussion."

Calls to combat sexual harassment and assaults at UC Berkeley come after a string of high-profile incidents.

Sujit Choudhry resigned as dean of UC Berkeley Law School on March 10 after his former executive assistant alleged in a lawsuit that her boss received only a temporary pay cut and orders to undergo counseling as punishment after a campus investigation that substantiated her claims that he repeatedly kissed and touched her.

Days later, Cal officials disclosed that campus investigators found that assistant men's basketball coach Yann Hufnael had violated the school's sexual harassment policy. Head coach Cuonzo Martin then moved to fire Hufnagel. Now Cal officials are reviewing whether Martin properly handled the initial allegations against Hufnagel.

Last fall, Geoffrey Marcy, a prominent Berkeley astronomer, resigned after news reports disclosed a campus investigation had substantiated sexual harassment complaints from several female students.

The university is currently investigating at least 25 faculty, staff and administrators for allegations of sexual harassment or violence, according to a Cal spokesman.

UC Berkeley Faculty-Driven Groups Pressing for Public Accountability

UC Berkeley Faculty Association board member Leslie Salzinger and two dozen of her colleagues want to convene a meeting of the Academic Senate to address the issues. They hope to enlist hundreds of other faculty in the next couple of weeks for what she calls a serious accounting of the school’s handling of sexual misconduct cases.

"That includes procedures, it includes the long history of this set of problems and accountability from the current administration," Salzinger said.

Salzinger, who is also an associate professor of gender and women's studies, said she believes the administration already has the power to deal with problem employees, but seems to use it only under public scrutiny.

"I think the way that the current administration has responded has been appalling, but I think it’s really important to point out that I don’t think they’re alone in this, that this has happened for a long time, that it’s an important time to have a reckoning about this and move forward in a really different kind of way," Salzinger said.

Emily Cardoza, a program assistant in Berkeley's rhetoric and film departments, said the focus of training so far seems to be on protecting the university.

"It talks about, if you see this on campus you should speak out and stop it while it's happening, but it doesn't talk about, ‘Here's why you shouldn't say or do these things,’ " Cardoza said.

UC President Janet Napolitano stepped in to demand additional action in the two recent high-profile disciplinary cases. She also ordered all chancellors, provosts, vice chancellors, vice provosts and deans to complete sexual assault and harassment training by the end of this week.

Michele Landis Dauber, a professor of law and sociology at Stanford University and an expert on university response to sexual misconduct, said the University of California is facing a leadership crisis.

"I think Napolitano’s job essentially is on the line if she can’t get this situation under control," Dauber said. "It may be that there may have to be personnel changes, one or more of the university’s top leaders, in order to resolve the situation."

Regardless, Dauber says she believes the only way to ensure safety at college campuses would be mandatory annual disclosure of sexual misconduct data to state lawmakers.

Don Clyde contributed to this post.