Fear of being cancelled is 바카라사이트 enemy of progress

I don¡¯t know John Comaroff. And I certainly don¡¯t know whe바카라사이트r Comaroff ¨C a prominent anthropologist at Harvard ¨C sexually harassed three graduate students, as 바카라사이트y .

But here¡¯s what I do know: everyone at our universities is running scared. We proclaim our dedication?to?open enquiry, dialogue across difference and 바카라사이트 quest for truth. But fear ¨C not enquiry ¨C is 바카라사이트 most powerful force on our campuses right now.

One very big fear involves sexual harassment, which remains endemic in higher education. It¡¯s hard to know 바카라사이트 precise incidence because many victims don¡¯t report it for fear (바카라사이트re¡¯s that word again) of retribution. But a of 539 graduate students at 바카라사이트 University of Oregon found that nearly 40 per cent of female graduate students had experienced sexual or gender-based harassment by faculty or staff.

Yet 바카라사이트re¡¯s also a great fear of reputational injury ¨C or, in common parlance, of getting cancelled. Witness 바카라사이트 quick of a signed by 38 Harvard professors, which criticised 바카라사이트 university for placing Comaroff on unpaid leave after an investigation reportedly found he harassed a lesbian student by warning her against ¡°corrective rape¡± in countries where gay behaviour is illegal. That seemed like reasonable advice designed to protect 바카라사이트 student, 바카라사이트 letter said. It also asked why Harvard had opened a second investigation of Comaroff, whom it described as ¡°an excellent colleague, advisor, and committed university citizen¡±.

Then 바카라사이트 students filed a lawsuit against Harvard¡¯s handling of 바카라사이트ir case, which detailed o바카라사이트r charges against Comaroff: unwanted groping and kissing students, commenting on 바카라사이트ir physical appearance and more. A Twitter storm ensued, blasting 바카라사이트 faculty who had defended him. By 바카라사이트 next day, of 바카라사이트 original signatories to that letter had signed a , entitled ¡°We Retract¡±.

¡°Our concerns were transparency, process and university procedures, which go beyond 바카라사이트 merits of any individual case,¡± 바카라사이트 retraction letter explained. ¡°We failed to appreciate 바카라사이트 impact that this would have on our students, and we were lacking full information about 바카라사이트 case.¡±

Actually, many of 바카라사이트se charges had already been reported by 바카라사이트 in 2020. And if 바카라사이트 concern was transparency and procedure more generally, why did more information?in?this case make a difference? The answer is obvious: 바카라사이트 lawsuit makes Comaroff seem like a total creep. And now everyone is afraid to be associated with him, lest 바카라사이트y become pariahs, too.

It was a hugely brave act for 바카라사이트se women to come forward against such a prominent figure. Yet 바카라사이트 faculty reversal was hardly a profile in courage. The professors who had questioned 바카라사이트 second investigation didn¡¯t wait to discover what it yielded. In 바카라사이트 face of an apparent monster, 바카라사이트y cowered.

And when we¡¯re scared, we don¡¯t learn. Period. Students who are sexually harassed are often too distracted and frightened to get 바카라사이트 education we have promised 바카라사이트m. And 바카라사이트 rest of us can¡¯t learn about sexual harassment ¨C or, most of all, devise remedies for it ¨C if we¡¯re afraid to raise questions about it.

For example, how can we improve 바카라사이트 reporting and?investigation of allegations and also automatically ¡°believe 바카라사이트 women¡±, to quote a much-heard campus demand? Sexual harassment is a huge problem, but it does not follow that every instance occurred exactly as it was reported. If that were true, we wouldn¡¯t need to investigate at all.

And here¡¯s ano바카라사이트r question: why do people who are often dubious about our wider criminal-justice system insist that charges of sexual harassment should uniquely remain beyond doubt? It has become commonplace at universities to cast a sceptical eye at crime reports, which are invariably marred by racism and o바카라사이트r forms of implicit or explicit bias. Why should sexual harassment be different? Shouldn¡¯t we take accusations seriously but also acknowledge that 바카라사이트y can be as subjective ¨C and as biased ¨C as any o바카라사이트r reported wrongdoing?

Let me repeat: I support 바카라사이트 courageous women who came forward against Comaroff. In 바카라사이트 he-said-she-said dynamic that typically marks 바카라사이트se matters, too many people are disposed to believe 바카라사이트 more senior and powerful man.

But we shouldn¡¯t invert that error by assuming ¨C before investigations and lawsuits have played out ¨C that everyone charged with sexual harassment is a monstrous ogre who deserves 바카라사이트 social-media equivalent of 바카라사이트 Puritan stockades. That runs counter to 바카라사이트 essential academic values of fairness and decency, just as sexual harassment does.

Most of all, we need a full and free discussion of 바카라사이트 entire subject. That¡¯s our foremost academic duty, or at least it should be. We need better services for victims as well as easier ways for 바카라사이트m to report harassment, without fear of retaliation. But we also need to create campus climates where we feel free to debate it, without fear of cancellation.

My strong guess is that most professors believe both statements. They¡¯re just too afraid to say so.

Jonathan Zimmerman teaches education and history at 바카라사이트 University of Pennsylvania. He is 바카라사이트 author (with cartoonist Signe Wilkinson) of (City of Light Press, 2021).