Local Recaps: NYU Professor Found Responsible of Sexual Harassment
The case brought on a great deal of discussion of academia, power and #MeToo.
A confidential 11-month Title IX investigation by NYU of Avital Ronell, a professor of German and Comparative Literature in the College of Arts and Sciences, found her responsible of sexually harassing a former graduate student, the New York Times reported in early August.
Ronell has since been suspended without pay for one year, but was cleared of other charges against her including sexual assault, stalking, and retaliation. Her accuser, Nimrod Reitman, is currently suing NYU in the state Supreme Court.
The New York Times report characterized the case as a “familiar story turned on its head” given the identities of Ronnell, a queer woman, and Reitman, a gay man. But what was familiar was the initial outcry against the investigation itself.
Prior to a final decision being reached, scholars drafted a letter (which was posted on the blog of University of Chicago philosopher Brian Leiter) to President Andrew Hamilton and Provost Katharine Fleming in support of Ronnell, in which they registered their “objection to any judgment against her.”
“We hold that the allegations against her do not constitute actual evidence, but rather support the view that malicious intention has animated and sustained this legal nightmare,” the draft states.
The writers also admitted that although they didn’t have access to the confidential dossier from the investigation, they “have all worked for many years in close proximity to Professor Ronell and accumulated collectively years of experience to support our view of her capacity as teacher and a scholar.” Twelve of the draft’s co-signers are affiliated with NYU.
But with the release of the draft and further reporting on the case, one of the co-signers, feminist scholar and professor at University of California Berkeley Judith Butler, has since expressed regret for adding her name to the draft. Butler took specific issue with the letter’s claim Reitman had “malicious intention” behind his accusation and the implication that Ronell’s status ought to afford her some special treatment.
Not long after Butler’s admission of regret, Andrea Long Chu, a doctoral student and former teaching assistant of Ronell’s, wrote about the case and expressed full support of the accusations against the professor. Chu drew on her own experience with Ronell, stating that “it is simply no secret to anyone … at NYU that Avital [Ronell] is abusive. This is boring and socially agreed upon, like the weather.”
Chu does not claim that Ronell abused her, but points to a larger structural toxicity at play, toxicity that some at NYU would like to root out.
In a statement to Local, Emily Apter, the Department Chair of Comparative Literature (who was also among those to sign the draft letter in support of Ronell) explained that “going forward, we will listen carefully to suggestions coming from students regarding how their work environment can be changed and improved.”
Apter went on to say that students who experience difficulties with faculty members would be encouraged to apprize the Directors of Graduate Studies, the department chair, or Office of Equal Opportunity depending on which option they feel most comfortable with.
“I am also thinking that it would be important to establish more clarity on boundaries: publicly affirming a ban on intimate relations between a student and a faculty member (or anyone in a position of superior power),” Apter said.
University spokesperson John Beckman did not offer any further, specific comments on the situation.
