Harvard prof. placed on leave after accusations
Terry Karl, assistant professor at harvard was aware of the tenured behaviour of her superior Jorge Dominguez.
London: It was the early 1980s when Terry Karl complained to Harvard University that a senior scholar had repeatedly made sexual advances toward her.
Karl, then an assistant professor of government at Harvard, had never heard the term “sexual harassment,” she told the Chronicle of Higher Education. It would be nearly a decade before Anita Hill propelled the issue into the national conversation. Karl was aware of the behaviour of her tenured superior, Jorge Dominguez, was inappropriate, she told the Chronicle. She met with higher- ups, wrote to administrators, called for better reporting practices and filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
She ultimately left Harvard, deciding she couldn’t handle working in the same circles as him. While Domínguez was disciplined, he was allowed to stay on the faculty. He was even promoted. In the following years, numerous women say they experienced sexual harassment from the professor, according to accounts published in a story last week in the Chronicle. The # MeToo movement helped connect these women and bring their stories to the surface.
On Sunday, Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences said it has placed Dominguez on “administrative leave” pending an investigation into the allegations. The division’s dean, Michael D. Smith, announced the decision in an email sent to affiliates, according to the Harvard Crimson.