Cal Chancellor Names Interim Lead to Address Sexual Harassment Scandal

UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks has appointed Social Sciences Dean Carla Hesse, who is also executive dean of the College of Letters & Science and a specialist in the history of women, as interim lead in Cal's attempt to respond to a growing sexual harassment scandal on campus.

In a statement issued Sunday, Dirks said: "Hesse will serve as the primary coordinator of the campus efforts to address sexual harassment, assault and violence, working closely with the Chancellor and the UC Office of the President to ensure these efforts are prioritized, fully coordinated and adequately resourced. She has been appointed to this role effective immediately, until the position is filled permanently over the summer."

The scandal has become a national embarrassment for Cal. A Los Angeles Times story last week, which indicated that students are skeptical about the crackdown promised by university officials, said: "More than 35 years after UC Berkeley's first sexual harassment case, the campus seen as a bastion of progressive politics and social-justice activism is still struggling to get it right."

A New York Times article on Thursday bore this headline: "Sexual Harassment Cases Tarnish Berkeley's Image as a Center of Social Activism."

In a lead story this morning, the San Francisco Chronicle reported on yet another case, involving allegations against Blake Wentworth, an assistant professor in Cal's South and Southeast Asian Studies Department. According to the Chronicle, some faculty members have written a letter to Vice Provost Janet Broughton, condemning how UC Berkeley has handled the case.

The Chronicle quoted one of the people who signed the letter: “I’m tired of being told to keep my mouth shut and let the wheels of justice turn, because they’re turning pretty slowly,” said Professor Jeff Hadler, former chair of the South and Southeast Asian Studies department.

Earlier this month, men’s basketball assistant coach Yann Hufnagel was fired after a female reporter made allegations that detailed a relentless pattern of sexual harassment. Also in March, Sujit Choudhry resigned as dean of the law school after his former executive assistant alleged in a lawsuit that he received only a temporary pay cut and orders to get counseling as punishment after a campus probe that substantiated her claims that he repeatedly kissed and touched her.

In October, renowned astronomer Geoff Marcy resigned after an investigation found that he had groped, kissed and initiated other unwanted contact with at least four female students since 2001. And then there's Graham Fleming, who resigned as former UC Berkeley vice chancellor last year in another sexual harassment case but was kept on by Dirks to help him build a "global campus" -- until UC President Janet Napolitano ordered Dirks earlier this month to immediately remove him.

According to the New York Times: "In addition to these cases, the university is investigating 16 cases involving sexual harassment and nine involving sexual violence. The university is also facing two complaints lodged with the federal government and a civil suit brought by three women. All three actions accuse the university of failing to prevent sexual abuse."

Dirks' message to the campus community said that Hesse, a faculty member in the history department since 1989, will be the "primary coordinator of the campus efforts to address sexual harassment, assault and violence, working closely with the Chancellor and the UC Office of the President to ensure these efforts are prioritized, fully coordinated and adequately resourced."

The position will be filled permanently during the summer. Besides resolving all pending cases, the duties of the 59-year-old Hesse, who also specializes in modern European history, will include the following:

• Establish and train a campus peer review panel for sexual harassment cases and define its roles and processes in conjunction with the offices and functions that investigate and recommend discipline processes.
• Ensure resources are sufficient to reduce the time to complete investigations and for expeditious response to complaints referred to the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination (OPHD) and to the offices responsible for discipline processes.
• Establish protocols for regular tracking of the number and nature of reports received, the responses made, while analyzing trends.
• Work with the Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion, Na’ilah Nasir, on designing the best ways to support student groups and other academic communities with the aim of creating a campus culture where sexual harassment and assault are quickly abated and addressed.
• Identify and work with other campus groups on climate issues related to sexual harassment, including the Academic Senate, undergraduate and graduate student organizations, and staff organizations.
• Work closely with the Coordinated Community Review Team (CCRT) and the Diversity, Equity and Campus Climate Committee of the Academic Senate and form a short-term committee to ensure that Berkeley uses best practices around complaint processing, survivor support, investigation protocol, sanctions for violations, climate issues, outreach, and the mobilization of academic research in this domain.
• Work with faculty constituencies to expand training and education beyond mandatory on-line courses and to organize events for early fall each year to bring attention to these issues across the full campus community, including faculty, students, and staff.
• Oversee the preparation of regular reports to the campus on data concerning complaints of sexual harassment, assault, and violence.

On Saturday, Napolitano said her office will closely monitor Cal's efforts to deal with sexual harassment. In a statement, she said that Dirks will provide written reports and the two will meet monthly to talk about the issue.