SA-born prof in harassment row in US
● A South Africa-born professor from Cape Town, who has carved out a successful career in the hallowed halls of Harvard, has been accused of sexual harassment.
John Comaroff, 75, one of the leading figures in Harvard’s anthropology department, was placed on administrative leave on Monday by the dean of the university’s arts and science faculty, Claudine Gay, after allegations that he sexually harassed students and retaliated against those who spoke out against him.
Comaroff, whose work has taken him from studying the society, culture, politics and law of the Tswana people to tenures at the University of Chicago, the American Bar Foundation and finally Harvard, was named in complaints from three students at the university’s Title IX office.
The office — named for a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on gender in education — investigates allegations of sexual discrimination and harassment.
“In recent months there have been public reports of allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation against John Comaroff, Hugh K Foster professor of African and African American studies and of anthropology,” said Gay in an e-mail to staff and students.
“Due to the seriousness of these allegations … the [faculty] has placed professor Comaroff on paid administrative leave, pending a full review of the facts and circumstances.”
Comaroff and his wife, Jean, who is also a professor in the same department, have taught at Harvard since 2012.
The allegations against Comaroff and two colleagues were made public in a May 29 article in The Harvard Crimson, the university’s paper. It claimed that a “hierarchy of prestige” dominates anthropology programmes at top US universities and had allowed Comaroff and others “to weather allegations of sexual harassment, including some levelled by students”.
Comaroff’s legal team told the Sunday Times his reputation was being destroyed, without evidence or due process.
“[He] denies all allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation. Nor has he ever had a romantic relationship with a student. While we have a policy never to comment on rumour, Harvard’s actions to date have been prejudicial to the fair determination of any claims against our client, punitive without fact finding, defamatory, and a violation of the school’s Title IX confidentiality rules.”
Comaroff had mentored hundreds of students over his 50-year career and was “known to students and colleagues alike as a deeply principled, committed and generous scholar”, it said.
The University of Cape Town (UCT), where Comaroff had previously been an honorary professor, noted he had terminated his association with it.
“[His] association with UCT was not on a day-today basis but only occasional,” said spokesperson Elijah Moholola.