“failed to uphold the standards of ethical behavior”
May 20, 2016 2:38 PM Subscribe
Ethics and the Eye of the Beholder by Katie J.M. Baker [Buzzfeed] Thomas Pogge, one of the world’s most prominent ethicists, stands accused of manipulating students to gain sexual advantage. Did the fierce champion of the world's disempowered abuse his own power?
The allegations against Pogge are an increasingly open secret in the international philosophy community, an overwhelmingly male field in which, many women say, pervasive sexual harassment is an impediment to success. But for the first time, confidential documents obtained by BuzzFeed News reveal the extent of the claims against Pogge. In the 1990s, a student at Columbia University, where Pogge was then teaching, accused him of sexually harassing her. In 2010, a recent Yale graduate named Fernanda Lopez Aguilar accused Pogge of sexually harassing her and then retaliating against her by rescinding a fellowship offer. In 2014, a Ph.D. student at a European university accused Pogge of proffering career opportunities to her and other young women in his field as a pretext to beginning a sexual relationship.
power corrupts
posted by philip-random at 2:48 PM on May 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by philip-random at 2:48 PM on May 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
Schwitzgebel: Ethics professors are not more ethical.
posted by hleehowon at 2:53 PM on May 20, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by hleehowon at 2:53 PM on May 20, 2016 [4 favorites]
Can someone fight tirelessly to balance the inequities of global power while at the same time abusing his own power?
No.
And can a discipline built on the quest to describe a just society — and suffering from a major diversity problem — afford to ignore these issues?
No.
posted by NoxAeternum at 2:54 PM on May 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
No.
And can a discipline built on the quest to describe a just society — and suffering from a major diversity problem — afford to ignore these issues?
No.
posted by NoxAeternum at 2:54 PM on May 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
UGH.
posted by you're a kitty! at 2:56 PM on May 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by you're a kitty! at 2:56 PM on May 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'm reminded of one academic cheating scandal in the USA, where a staff member specializing in ethics helped students cheat.
posted by doctornemo at 2:59 PM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by doctornemo at 2:59 PM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]
Ugh. Totally unsurprising.
The hypocrisy is what really makes this case stand out, though. I like the comment someone left that says:
I hope this entitled fuckwad faces serious consequences, starting with--but not ending with--the loss of his position. And I hope Yale faces serious consequences for trying to cover it up. And I hope that Aguilar doesn't face any negative consequences for going public -- although realistically, she will.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 3:03 PM on May 20, 2016 [71 favorites]
The hypocrisy is what really makes this case stand out, though. I like the comment someone left that says:
This is what women deal with, regularly: men are heroes, but only for men. Guys may be high minded and idealistic with other men, but turn predator with women. All their humanity is for men.Reminds me of something I wrote in comment a few days ago, on the thread about Christopher Hitchens: Being a woman means regularly finding out that men you admire hold you in contempt.
I hope this entitled fuckwad faces serious consequences, starting with--but not ending with--the loss of his position. And I hope Yale faces serious consequences for trying to cover it up. And I hope that Aguilar doesn't face any negative consequences for going public -- although realistically, she will.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 3:03 PM on May 20, 2016 [71 favorites]
Without RTFA I'm ready to say "why yes, the fierce champion of the world's disempowered mostly likely abused his own power" because that's what so many, many, many individuals do. And I'm not going to bother linking because this is MetaFilter and besides, who has the time? Now I'll go read the article.
posted by Bella Donna at 3:03 PM on May 20, 2016
posted by Bella Donna at 3:03 PM on May 20, 2016
I'm amazed that as a first world country these types of situations are still treated with kid gloves. How these people aren't permanently removed from their positions and publicly and permanently shamed for this kind of thing is beyond me. I literally can not understand it.
Whether she's a credible witness or not, the things he himself admits to doing are beyond the pale. He is a predator. Why do we have institutions that will protect these predators rather than their prey? I realize this isn't Sandusky levels of ICK but it's on the same scale.
The course of his life needs to be changed.
posted by allkindsoftime at 3:07 PM on May 20, 2016 [9 favorites]
Whether she's a credible witness or not, the things he himself admits to doing are beyond the pale. He is a predator. Why do we have institutions that will protect these predators rather than their prey? I realize this isn't Sandusky levels of ICK but it's on the same scale.
The course of his life needs to be changed.
posted by allkindsoftime at 3:07 PM on May 20, 2016 [9 favorites]
I feel like in these last couple of years I've gotten used to the idea that any somewhat successful straight man I admire will turn out to be a rapist or a harasser or to have betrayed his partner in some way. It has made me a lot less engaged with these men's work because I feel like I can't get all enthused about someone's ideas when it will only turn out that he really creeps on teenage girls or gropes his grad students, etc.
posted by Frowner at 3:17 PM on May 20, 2016 [31 favorites]
posted by Frowner at 3:17 PM on May 20, 2016 [31 favorites]
And honestly, another thing it does is makes me assume that most straight men will behave the same way as soon as they achieve success or are away from oversight. It is really, really depressing. This is not the view of the world that I wanted to have.
posted by Frowner at 3:19 PM on May 20, 2016 [41 favorites]
posted by Frowner at 3:19 PM on May 20, 2016 [41 favorites]
I wonder when universities will realize that the poor conduct of their professors hurts them too, regardless of if the offenses occur "under their jurisdiction" or not.
When I travel to a conference I am covered under my university's work travel insurance; I am on official business and I would think that makes it their jurisdiction.
Also, this quote from the article really resonated:
""It's especially difficult for young, vulnerable people in the profession to report sexual misconduct by someone who supposedly is in their court,” said Ruth Chang, the American Philosophical Association’s sexual harassment and discrimination ombudsperson. “It can be crushing to discover that a famous professor who seemed genuinely interested in helping you grow as a thinker is really engaged in something rather different — whether it be getting his ego stroked or outright sexual predation.”"
posted by nat at 3:35 PM on May 20, 2016 [6 favorites]
When I travel to a conference I am covered under my university's work travel insurance; I am on official business and I would think that makes it their jurisdiction.
Also, this quote from the article really resonated:
""It's especially difficult for young, vulnerable people in the profession to report sexual misconduct by someone who supposedly is in their court,” said Ruth Chang, the American Philosophical Association’s sexual harassment and discrimination ombudsperson. “It can be crushing to discover that a famous professor who seemed genuinely interested in helping you grow as a thinker is really engaged in something rather different — whether it be getting his ego stroked or outright sexual predation.”"
posted by nat at 3:35 PM on May 20, 2016 [6 favorites]
[The Yale arbitrator] wrote that Pogge had admitted it was “unwise” to “invite an undergraduate woman to his apartment when there was no one else present, to agree to share a hotel room with her for several days, and to sleep with his head on her lap during a flight.”Those second two activities, even if that's all that had happened, are so inappropriate as to deserve censure all on their own. She was an undergrad. Jesus.
posted by lazuli at 4:22 PM on May 20, 2016 [16 favorites]
If this is a derail, please flag or delete. This kind of reminds me of the Julian Assange sex accusations (the Swedish charges were later dropped). It's completely plausible to me that a person (often male) who is otherwise doing important work in Area A appears to be a total dick in Area B. That's not just male, it's human. But because men run the joint, women suffer disproportionally. This has been going on for how many millennia? So tedious!
posted by Bella Donna at 4:25 PM on May 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Bella Donna at 4:25 PM on May 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
Did the fierce champion of the world's disempowered abuse his own power?
Yes.
The real question is: why does Yale (and why do other universities) continue to condone behavior like this again and again and again?
And why are we as a society allowing Pogge and Yale to get away with it?
posted by splitpeasoup at 4:35 PM on May 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
Yes.
The real question is: why does Yale (and why do other universities) continue to condone behavior like this again and again and again?
And why are we as a society allowing Pogge and Yale to get away with it?
posted by splitpeasoup at 4:35 PM on May 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
I don't think it's "just human," though -- it's the product of a culture that tells men that women are there for their use (sexual, emotional, domestic, etc). It's a very gendered way that people abuse their power.
Like, if we waved a magic wand and suddenly most positions of power were held by women, I don't think that women would be sexually harassing men at nearly the same rate. We'd see plenty of abuses of power but without a culture that normalizes the sexual exploitation of men I don't think it would be the same.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 4:37 PM on May 20, 2016 [31 favorites]
Like, if we waved a magic wand and suddenly most positions of power were held by women, I don't think that women would be sexually harassing men at nearly the same rate. We'd see plenty of abuses of power but without a culture that normalizes the sexual exploitation of men I don't think it would be the same.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 4:37 PM on May 20, 2016 [31 favorites]
A self-identified “thought leader,”
See, that right there is a tip-off that the person in question is probably a huge dick.
And honestly, another thing it does is makes me assume that most straight men will behave the same way as soon as they achieve success or are away from oversight. It is really, really depressing. This is not the view of the world that I wanted to have.
This is the conclusion I've come to as well. Aside from my dad, I have been more disappointed than not in older men I've looked up to.
posted by Anonymous at 4:52 PM on May 20, 2016
See, that right there is a tip-off that the person in question is probably a huge dick.
And honestly, another thing it does is makes me assume that most straight men will behave the same way as soon as they achieve success or are away from oversight. It is really, really depressing. This is not the view of the world that I wanted to have.
This is the conclusion I've come to as well. Aside from my dad, I have been more disappointed than not in older men I've looked up to.
posted by Anonymous at 4:52 PM on May 20, 2016
"it's the product of a culture that tells men that women are there for their use (sexual, emotional, domestic, etc). It's a very gendered way that people abuse their power."
Yeah, it's also kind-of magic how these same men who "can't help themselves" turn out to do a GREAT job controlling themselves around MARRIED women. These creeps mostly go after single women on purpose, both because they don't want to step on another man's "turf," and because married women are given a lot more social credibility when they say "NO I DIDN'T ENCOURAGE HIM I'M A MARRIED WOMAN!"
They somehow manage to control themselves right up until they're in a situation where the power differential and social norms make it likely the woman won't report or, if she does, be believed, and THEN it's suddenly human nature and they just can't help it.
Baaaaaaaaarf.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:53 PM on May 20, 2016 [67 favorites]
Yeah, it's also kind-of magic how these same men who "can't help themselves" turn out to do a GREAT job controlling themselves around MARRIED women. These creeps mostly go after single women on purpose, both because they don't want to step on another man's "turf," and because married women are given a lot more social credibility when they say "NO I DIDN'T ENCOURAGE HIM I'M A MARRIED WOMAN!"
They somehow manage to control themselves right up until they're in a situation where the power differential and social norms make it likely the woman won't report or, if she does, be believed, and THEN it's suddenly human nature and they just can't help it.
Baaaaaaaaarf.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:53 PM on May 20, 2016 [67 favorites]
Yeah, it's also kind-of magic how these same men who "can't help themselves" turn out to do a GREAT job controlling themselves around MARRIED women.
Or around other men. We're constantly being asked to worry about the poor inept dude who just has no social skills and so doesn't know how not to creep on women--yet somehow the same guy has no difficulty at all remaining within the bounds of social propriety when it comes to men, especially men who are his superiors. It's a Festivus miracle!
posted by praemunire at 5:15 PM on May 20, 2016 [27 favorites]
Or around other men. We're constantly being asked to worry about the poor inept dude who just has no social skills and so doesn't know how not to creep on women--yet somehow the same guy has no difficulty at all remaining within the bounds of social propriety when it comes to men, especially men who are his superiors. It's a Festivus miracle!
posted by praemunire at 5:15 PM on May 20, 2016 [27 favorites]
I'm very sorry to see that Yale hasn't improved since I saw this sort of shit going on forty years ago. Hopefully this response will become common enough that even entitled assholes (who can call themselves "thought leaders" with a straight face!) will start having second thoughts:
Martha C. Nussbaum, a professor of law and philosophy at the University of Chicago, said that since learning about the accusations Pogge faced at Columbia, she has chosen not to invite him to conferences and workshops. She also declines to participate in projects he is involved in.posted by languagehat at 5:20 PM on May 20, 2016 [27 favorites]
Getting reallllllll tired of the old saw: "so did you hear about the famous $field professor, who it turns out--shocker--is a serial sexual harasser?"
posted by quaking fajita at 5:26 PM on May 20, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by quaking fajita at 5:26 PM on May 20, 2016 [8 favorites]
I do not understand how these dudes keep their jobs. With the situation as it is right now in academia where there's this huge pool of really talented, bright, highly educated and qualified people who are all competing for a small amount of jobs, you'd think it would be no sweat to boot a guy like this, since the University can find someone equally suitable.
Well I mean, I do understand how they keep their jobs ->patriarchy->but even so I wish there was not the distinct and growing whiff of "I intentionally chose this career to have constant access to people whom I have a power imbalance with" in male academia.
posted by supercrayon at 5:42 PM on May 20, 2016 [5 favorites]
Well I mean, I do understand how they keep their jobs ->patriarchy->but even so I wish there was not the distinct and growing whiff of "I intentionally chose this career to have constant access to people whom I have a power imbalance with" in male academia.
posted by supercrayon at 5:42 PM on May 20, 2016 [5 favorites]
How many of those of us in academia are reading this and quietly listing the 'star' academics in our own disciplines/institutions/departments who we'd like to see get a Buzzfeed exposé of their own? I sure am.
And that's part of what makes this so depressing--we know who the bad actors are, but most of us are powerless to do anything about them when we know the institutional response is likely to be a joke ("Only one note went into Pogge’s permanent record. It was for misuse of Yale stationery.") and the backsplash is likely to do far more harm to the life and career of the complainant, especially if they're still in academia.
During a departmental meeting for women grad students a couple years ago, some senior female faculty went out of their way to clarify that under new university procedures, witnesses and bystanders could also bring complaints about sexual or other harassment--i.e., you didn't have to be the direct target of the misbehavior to report it. We all walked out of that meeting knowing which of their senior male colleagues they were talking about (subtext was clear: we'll have your back if one of you decides to report him) but none of us wanted to do anything official without the consent of the (most recent) student involved--because it would have fucked up her life and work even more. He's an famous superstar in the field, with a pile of lefty 'activist' credentials, and she's a young, non-Western, non-citizen, grad student. It's not surprising to me that the only one of Pogge's victims willing to be named in this piece is the one who didn't continue to pursue an academic career.
It makes me even more angry because I've been lucky enough to have a succession of older male (and queer female--but gee, we don't seem to hear these stories about them nearly as often) mentors and advisors who've never treated me with anything but respect and kindness. That shouldn't be lucky, that should be the goddamned norm.
posted by karayel at 5:57 PM on May 20, 2016 [34 favorites]
And that's part of what makes this so depressing--we know who the bad actors are, but most of us are powerless to do anything about them when we know the institutional response is likely to be a joke ("Only one note went into Pogge’s permanent record. It was for misuse of Yale stationery.") and the backsplash is likely to do far more harm to the life and career of the complainant, especially if they're still in academia.
During a departmental meeting for women grad students a couple years ago, some senior female faculty went out of their way to clarify that under new university procedures, witnesses and bystanders could also bring complaints about sexual or other harassment--i.e., you didn't have to be the direct target of the misbehavior to report it. We all walked out of that meeting knowing which of their senior male colleagues they were talking about (subtext was clear: we'll have your back if one of you decides to report him) but none of us wanted to do anything official without the consent of the (most recent) student involved--because it would have fucked up her life and work even more. He's an famous superstar in the field, with a pile of lefty 'activist' credentials, and she's a young, non-Western, non-citizen, grad student. It's not surprising to me that the only one of Pogge's victims willing to be named in this piece is the one who didn't continue to pursue an academic career.
It makes me even more angry because I've been lucky enough to have a succession of older male (and queer female--but gee, we don't seem to hear these stories about them nearly as often) mentors and advisors who've never treated me with anything but respect and kindness. That shouldn't be lucky, that should be the goddamned norm.
posted by karayel at 5:57 PM on May 20, 2016 [34 favorites]
It's pretty clear that the big schools treat their superstar professors much as the big sports teams treat their superstar players...they'll go to great lengths to protect the prestigious members of their stable. While there might be equally talented professors to replace a superstar, they're not necessarily equally famous. And at some level of the university administration, people are keeping an eye on who gets the big awards, the big grants, the New York Times interviews, etc. Which (among the many other reasons) is sad because *in theory* academia is supposed to be about non-market values such as "truth" and "free inquiry"...maybe even "justice".
posted by uosuaq at 6:12 PM on May 20, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by uosuaq at 6:12 PM on May 20, 2016 [9 favorites]
I realize they may vary between institutions, but what are the general rules of tenure in these types of situation? How difficult would it be for a university to get rid of one of these professors?
posted by lazuli at 7:12 PM on May 20, 2016
posted by lazuli at 7:12 PM on May 20, 2016
Nothing will happen unless donors start to pull funds. I hope they do.
posted by bq at 7:40 PM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by bq at 7:40 PM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]
I ended up walking away from my PhD in bioethics because my advisor was one of the academic missing stairs that nobody ever tells the new kid about. That was two decades ago. Heartbreaking that it's still a problem.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 7:41 PM on May 20, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 7:41 PM on May 20, 2016 [8 favorites]
I realize they may vary between institutions, but what are the general rules of tenure in these types of situation? How difficult would it be for a university to get rid of one of these professors?
Tenure is a good measure of how seriously an institution takes a situation. Too often these kinds of cases are just swept under the rug and Professor McSleazy is allowed to continue unimpeded, but in reality tenure only protects you if you follow the rules and it is possible to fire people who have transgressed something that the university considers to be serious.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:43 PM on May 20, 2016 [3 favorites]
Tenure is a good measure of how seriously an institution takes a situation. Too often these kinds of cases are just swept under the rug and Professor McSleazy is allowed to continue unimpeded, but in reality tenure only protects you if you follow the rules and it is possible to fire people who have transgressed something that the university considers to be serious.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:43 PM on May 20, 2016 [3 favorites]
All their humanity is for men.
There you go. Women are not human. We're targets to hunt, like deer and bunnies.
I'm with Frowner in that it sure does seem like the vast majority of prominent dudes are trying to sexually harass someone.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:57 PM on May 20, 2016
There you go. Women are not human. We're targets to hunt, like deer and bunnies.
I'm with Frowner in that it sure does seem like the vast majority of prominent dudes are trying to sexually harass someone.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:57 PM on May 20, 2016
it sure does seem like the vast majority of prominent dudes are trying to sexually harass someone.
Why else accumulate power?
posted by the man of twists and turns at 8:49 PM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]
Why else accumulate power?
posted by the man of twists and turns at 8:49 PM on May 20, 2016 [1 favorite]
Tenure doesn't protect a professor for being fired for serious breaches of rules of good conduct. Tenured professors can--and should--be fired for sexual harassment.
What's really protecting professors exposed as sexual harassers is that their jobs are high status. Institutions don't want to fire them, even though they could.
I'm hopeful that the public will really put their feet to the fire and they'll realize that protecting them costs more (in reputation, in money) in the long run.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 9:07 PM on May 20, 2016 [6 favorites]
What's really protecting professors exposed as sexual harassers is that their jobs are high status. Institutions don't want to fire them, even though they could.
I'm hopeful that the public will really put their feet to the fire and they'll realize that protecting them costs more (in reputation, in money) in the long run.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 9:07 PM on May 20, 2016 [6 favorites]
So, what I learned from TFA is that Yale values female students less than its official letterhead.
posted by sldownard at 12:17 AM on May 21, 2016 [25 favorites]
posted by sldownard at 12:17 AM on May 21, 2016 [25 favorites]
Mod note: A few comments removed. "Consider yourselves trolled" is a good way to angle for a banning; cut it out.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:02 AM on May 21, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:02 AM on May 21, 2016 [4 favorites]
“It can be crushing to discover that a famous professor who seemed genuinely interested in helping you grow as a thinker is really engaged in something rather different — whether it be getting his ego stroked or outright sexual predation.”
This is the conclusion I've come to as well. Aside from my dad, I have been more disappointed than not in older men I've looked up to.
Yeahp. A major component of my work-related rage of late is that, for the third time in my career of eight years, I was supported by a man I looked up to, and once he'd gotten everything he thought he needed from me (to forward his career), I was thrown to the dogs. Woman, foreigner, "she speaks with an ACCENT", all it took was him flipping the switch on what he told other men about me to go from being respected to being outright ignored in one-on-one meetings when I asked direct questions. Yes. Imagine. Being two people in a room, in a managerial meeting to make decisions, asking a question, and having them stare off in the distance with an "omigod wtf am I doing here with this woman who no one cares about." I am sure that every woman on MeFi knows this look. The look that says "you do not exist."
I share because this is how it works. In my case it was just one project, one I've already rescued myself from: I do a damn good job and no amount of badmouthing can hurt my long-term reputation with the people who've known me for years. Most of them egalitarian men who also know to look past politicking badmouthers. But. Imagine how much damage this does to young people just starting out in their careers. How on earth do you think someone young can recover from a well-respected, established mentor turning on them and spreading lies about the quality of their work? They often can't. Or decide they don't want to. Which is totally understandable. It hurts like hell and pretty much all societal signs say "yup u suck ur a woman."
This is the elephant in the room with the low percentages of women in certain lines of work.
posted by fraula at 11:09 AM on May 21, 2016 [15 favorites]
This is the conclusion I've come to as well. Aside from my dad, I have been more disappointed than not in older men I've looked up to.
Yeahp. A major component of my work-related rage of late is that, for the third time in my career of eight years, I was supported by a man I looked up to, and once he'd gotten everything he thought he needed from me (to forward his career), I was thrown to the dogs. Woman, foreigner, "she speaks with an ACCENT", all it took was him flipping the switch on what he told other men about me to go from being respected to being outright ignored in one-on-one meetings when I asked direct questions. Yes. Imagine. Being two people in a room, in a managerial meeting to make decisions, asking a question, and having them stare off in the distance with an "omigod wtf am I doing here with this woman who no one cares about." I am sure that every woman on MeFi knows this look. The look that says "you do not exist."
I share because this is how it works. In my case it was just one project, one I've already rescued myself from: I do a damn good job and no amount of badmouthing can hurt my long-term reputation with the people who've known me for years. Most of them egalitarian men who also know to look past politicking badmouthers. But. Imagine how much damage this does to young people just starting out in their careers. How on earth do you think someone young can recover from a well-respected, established mentor turning on them and spreading lies about the quality of their work? They often can't. Or decide they don't want to. Which is totally understandable. It hurts like hell and pretty much all societal signs say "yup u suck ur a woman."
This is the elephant in the room with the low percentages of women in certain lines of work.
posted by fraula at 11:09 AM on May 21, 2016 [15 favorites]
Why else accumulate power?
This is why I hate the illusion of power and the whole idea of "power people," male or female. It sucks for any straight males just trying to earn for their families, because we get pressured to play along and socially excluded/sidelined if not. I have known some men in leadership roles who didn't seem sleazy, but even gay men in leadership roles can be sleazy about this stuff. It's not only a straight male problem. It may be a male problem or a power problem. Gak. How awful.
posted by saulgoodman at 1:17 PM on May 21, 2016
This is why I hate the illusion of power and the whole idea of "power people," male or female. It sucks for any straight males just trying to earn for their families, because we get pressured to play along and socially excluded/sidelined if not. I have known some men in leadership roles who didn't seem sleazy, but even gay men in leadership roles can be sleazy about this stuff. It's not only a straight male problem. It may be a male problem or a power problem. Gak. How awful.
posted by saulgoodman at 1:17 PM on May 21, 2016
Sadly, I'm not surprised that predators manage to achieve positions of power in academia.
But, I am surprised to read the Yale settlement letter. $2K in hush money and an almost certainly illegal order to never discuss the matter is absurd. A great big public apology and administrative resignations are the only appropriate response. This is an embarrassment to the profession. (And not just because they used "from the beginning of the world" in a legal contract. Seriously? Did you accidentally hire 12 year old bible-study students as legal council? WTF.) For a school with a genuine academic senate, I would have expected better.
To summarize, never call the title-IX office without also calling the cops. Neither one is on your side, but at least the cops don't have a huge, glaring conflict of interest that demands that they abuse and mistreat students in order to cover their institutional misdeeds.
posted by eotvos at 1:45 PM on May 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
But, I am surprised to read the Yale settlement letter. $2K in hush money and an almost certainly illegal order to never discuss the matter is absurd. A great big public apology and administrative resignations are the only appropriate response. This is an embarrassment to the profession. (And not just because they used "from the beginning of the world" in a legal contract. Seriously? Did you accidentally hire 12 year old bible-study students as legal council? WTF.) For a school with a genuine academic senate, I would have expected better.
To summarize, never call the title-IX office without also calling the cops. Neither one is on your side, but at least the cops don't have a huge, glaring conflict of interest that demands that they abuse and mistreat students in order to cover their institutional misdeeds.
posted by eotvos at 1:45 PM on May 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
So the guy abused his position to extend false offers of employment to international students for the purpose of getting his leg over, and the problem is he misused company stationery.
The international student shows up for work and gets turned away because her employment contract is fugazi, but the university employee who fakey-hired her continues his routine uninterrupted.
Are Yale quite sure they're a university?
posted by tel3path at 4:01 PM on May 21, 2016 [5 favorites]
The international student shows up for work and gets turned away because her employment contract is fugazi, but the university employee who fakey-hired her continues his routine uninterrupted.
Are Yale quite sure they're a university?
posted by tel3path at 4:01 PM on May 21, 2016 [5 favorites]
I've been really impressed with the sexual harassment coverage on Buzzfeed lately.
I just wish it wasn't such an issue in so many places that "institution does nothing about pervasive harassment" is its own subgenre.
posted by Nibbly Fang at 4:21 PM on May 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
I just wish it wasn't such an issue in so many places that "institution does nothing about pervasive harassment" is its own subgenre.
posted by Nibbly Fang at 4:21 PM on May 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
I watched Caltech quietly hand off to another university a professor who'd harassed two of my female family members, rather than punishing him. I ended up in the same field as this asshole for a while, and saw him at a conference and made very sure to tell him my name so he'd know I was in his field and watching him, but I was never close enough to warn more than one of his colleagues.
It feels like we need Wikileaks -- ok no wait, considering Assange, NOT Wikileaks -- maybe an instance of SecureDrop devoted to this. Handing off stories about a given person risks big opportunities for defamation, but hand off a university's files which contain evidence and I wonder if there would be a way to ensure that there could be a public record of this stuff.
posted by gusandrews at 6:59 PM on May 21, 2016 [4 favorites]
It feels like we need Wikileaks -- ok no wait, considering Assange, NOT Wikileaks -- maybe an instance of SecureDrop devoted to this. Handing off stories about a given person risks big opportunities for defamation, but hand off a university's files which contain evidence and I wonder if there would be a way to ensure that there could be a public record of this stuff.
posted by gusandrews at 6:59 PM on May 21, 2016 [4 favorites]
Update:
Pogge has responded to the allegations
I don't find his response that persuasive at all, for a bunch of reasons -- but mostly the way he cherry-picked what accusations to respond to, and misrepresented some of them. He only mentions the accusations made by Aguilar, not the other women, and he tries to make it seem as though her claims were found to be baseless when they were not.
He doesn't mention the unethical conduct he has actually admitted to.
He claims she is trying to extort money, and also claims that the accusations are due to a cut-throat academic environment (which Aguilar has left, and it's hard to see what motivation the anonymous women would have).
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 7:58 PM on May 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
Pogge has responded to the allegations
I don't find his response that persuasive at all, for a bunch of reasons -- but mostly the way he cherry-picked what accusations to respond to, and misrepresented some of them. He only mentions the accusations made by Aguilar, not the other women, and he tries to make it seem as though her claims were found to be baseless when they were not.
He doesn't mention the unethical conduct he has actually admitted to.
He claims she is trying to extort money, and also claims that the accusations are due to a cut-throat academic environment (which Aguilar has left, and it's hard to see what motivation the anonymous women would have).
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 7:58 PM on May 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
Inside Higher Education notes that they detailed some of the allegations against Pogge without naming him back in 2014.
posted by zarq at 9:54 AM on May 23, 2016 [4 favorites]
In the 1990s, for example, a student at Columbia University, where Pogge was then teaching, accused him of sexually harassing her; the university eventually forbade Pogge from entering the philosophy department when the student was there, according to an affidavit from a Columbia professor included in the new complaint. Pogge moved on to Yale and allegedly harassed a student named Fernanda Lopez Aguilar, who eventually filed a Title IX complaint after reading additional allegations against Pogge by a third woman in a 2014 essay. The essay, which alleged that Pogge specifically targeted women from other countries who were unfamiliar with harassment reporting channels and were otherwise at the opposite end of the power dynamic he derided in his professional work, didn’t use Pogge’s name. But many philosophers assumed it was him, and recordings between the author and Pogge obtained by BuzzFeed suggest he read it and agreed with its premise.
Lopez Aguilar’s complaint alleges that Pogge offered her a salaried position in his Global Justice Program but rescinded it after she rejected his sexual advances during a trip to Chile. A hearing panel at Yale found that there was “substantial evidence” that Pogge had acted unprofessionally and failed to uphold standards of ethical behavior, but that there was insufficient evidence of sexual assault. Lopez Aguilar says Yale nevertheless attempted to buy her silence for $2,000.
The recent talk of Pogge’s alleged behavior -- which has for some time been an open secret in philosophy, according to professors interviewed by both BuzzFeed and Inside Higher Ed -- has yielded at least nine additional allegations of harassment from women in various countries, according to Lopez Aguilar’s complaint. Most allege offers of job offers, hotel rooms, plane tickets and other assistance from Pogge, even though he knew little about them or their work, beyond their physical appearance.
posted by zarq at 9:54 AM on May 23, 2016 [4 favorites]
Pogge has since updated his response with the email correspondence he cites. There's a very careful analysis of the inconsistencies between what he says happened and the story told by the actual correspondence here.
posted by Aravis76 at 3:32 PM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Aravis76 at 3:32 PM on May 24, 2016 [1 favorite]
Meanwhile: A 'Devastating Account' of Diversity at Yale
"Students interviewed from underrepresented groups experience Yale’s lack of faculty diversity as a kind of daily and unrelenting discouragement," the reports states. "‘You can enter the system as a student, but don’t expect a future as a professor.’"
Isn't it amazing how white men must be maintained in their positions no matter what they do, while everyone else struggles to get a faculty position?
posted by hydropsyche at 7:41 AM on May 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
"Students interviewed from underrepresented groups experience Yale’s lack of faculty diversity as a kind of daily and unrelenting discouragement," the reports states. "‘You can enter the system as a student, but don’t expect a future as a professor.’"
Isn't it amazing how white men must be maintained in their positions no matter what they do, while everyone else struggles to get a faculty position?
posted by hydropsyche at 7:41 AM on May 25, 2016 [2 favorites]
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posted by Braeburn at 2:40 PM on May 20, 2016 [15 favorites]