Still too much secrecy in CU philosophy flap

More drama erupted in Boulder last week when a professors’ organization accused the University of Colorado of creating a culture of fear in the way it handled a scandal in its philosophy department.

Some of the allegations made by the state and local chapters of the American Association of University Professors are concerning.

If, for instance, a tenured university professor was sanctioned for merely expressing an opinion about the department, that’s out of bounds. CU says it can’t talk about a particular case, but no faculty member would be disciplined for exercising free speech.

However, we disagree with the professors’ criticisms on a key point: We think the university was right to release a report describing the sexual harassment that took place.

In fact, the report didn’t go far enough in explaining what led to at least 15 complaints to the Office of Discrimination and Harassment since 2007. It was far too generalized and left important questions unanswered.

It spoke of “harassment and inappropriate sexualized unprofessional behavior” but didn’t say whether it was talking about unacceptable comments, groping or worse.

There are ways of providing a coherent explanation without exposing the identities of the complainants or those accused of wrongdoing— a particular concern if a complaint is found not credible.

CU’s explanation has been that the Office of Discrimination and Harassment has policies prohibiting the release of such information.

The report from the professors’ organization criticized the “secretive nature” of the office. It’s right on that count.

However, the group then argued that a report by an investigative committee sent by the American Philosophical Association ought to have been kept under wraps.

The justification involves a convoluted argument about confidentiality.

But arguments over who promised what to whom, and whether university officials were justified in releasing the report to the public, are undercut by the fact that the document is a public record, subject to release.

There has been too much secrecy in Boulder about what transpired in CU’s philosophy department.

The more that is known about what took place, the sooner the university and the philosophy department can begin to rebuild trust with students, parents and the university community.