http://www.yaleherald.com/article.php?Article=2475
Forbidden fruit: student-faculty relationships
How does Yale policy deal with romance in the classroom?
BY KRISTEN VON HOFFMANN
At the University of California, Berkeley, a new controversial policy
forbids "romantic or sexual" relationships between professors and
their students. The policy took effect this past July on nine
University of California campuses.
"Emotions are sometimes unexpected, unpredicted and unwanted, but they
can't be ignored," Jesse Pizarro, TC 'o6, said, referring to romantic
relationships that may occur between a student and a faculty member.
The issue of romantic student-faculty relationships taking place on
campuses throughout the United States has resulted in policies
forbidding such affiliations, and has prompted heated debate.
The Yale policy outlined in the Faculty Handbook states that
professors are not allowed to have sexual relationships with students
they have direct supervisory responsibilities over, even if the
relationship is consensual. Direct supervision includes course
teaching, grading, advising for a project, supervising research, and
recommending a fellowship or award for employment.
The policy was created by the Committee on Consensual Relations, which
was initiated in March 1997, and is composed of students, faculty and
administrators. Charles Long, Deputy Provost, helped design the policy
in the handbook.
Such relationships generally go unnoticed unless a complaint is
brought to the attention of the provost or a Dean. Long explained that
there are normally two ways in which a complaint can be brought
forward. First, a student who is in a relationship that starts out as
consensual, may bring a sexual harassment complaint to the
administration if the relationship becomes non-consensual. Second, a
student may complain that his classroom environment has become
inhospitable because the teacher is engaged in a relationship with
another student in the class.
"Students have complained of this to me," Long said, referring to
theatter situation. "However, in that situation I do not know of any
that have resulted in a 'case,' meaning an investigation of the
complaint."
A sexual harassment case in 1996 that evolved out of a student-teacher
relationship led the administration to re-evaluate its policy on
student-faculty consensual relationships.
The case involved a female undergraduate who brought a sexual
harassment complaint forward against her math professor, Jay
Jorgenson. He failed to prove that a two month sexual relationship
with her was consensual. He lost his teaching job after the Yale
College Grievance Board found him guilty of sexual harassment.
"The case prompted Yale to create an unambiguous policy," William
Sledge, Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on Consensual Relationships and
Master of Calhoun College, said. "The new policy was created to
protect the interests of all parties involved in such a situation."
Yale's policy states: "Violations of or failure to correct violations
of these conflict of interest principles by the teacher will be
grounds for disciplinary action." However, the process for
disciplinary action is not explained in the handbook.
"We wanted to create a policy to discourage this behavior rather than
outline disciplinary measures," Long said. "The committee thought
about tougher policies but decided against them."
Since the new policy has been in effect, the administration has yet to
punish a faculty member for violating its regulations. However, Long
described a hypothetical course of punishment if the policy were to be
violated. First, if a consensual relationship existed between a
faculty member and his or her student, the faculty member would be
required to terminate the position of authority held over the student.
If this request was not met, then the provost, in conjunction with the
Dean of the specific college or graduate school, would take
disciplinary action. Such action could include a letter of reprimand,
suspending teaching with or without pay, or firing the faculty member.
"I think that any romantic or erotic relationship between professors
and students is dangerous because it could compromise the professor's
objectivity in evaluating work," Scott Hiley, a graduate student and
professor in the French Department, said. "That aside, friendship,
congeneality and social relations are fine within limits, and even to
be encouraged."
Laura King, Dean of Trumbull College, earned her Ph.D. at Berkeley,
where the new policy on consensual relationships is causing students
and faculty to question the definition of "romantic" relationships. As
a graduate student from 1986 to 1992, King said that it was clear that
romantic relations between faculty and students over whom they had
authority were not seen as appropriate.
King remembered some cases resulting in marriage; all such cases were
between female students and male teachers. "These relationships were
not rare though they tried to be secretive. But a really intense,
passionate relationship is hard to keep secret."
While the consensual relationship cases were accepted, during her
years at Berkeley a series of related sexual-harassment cases were
more often in the public eye, King recalled.
"The problem at Berkeley was that even though a consensual
relationship policy was in effect, celebrity professors who were
involved with a student were 'overlooked,' while professors who were
associates or fellows were the ones disciplined," King said. "If a
university fights hard to get the best person in a field to come teach
there, they don't want to lose [him or her]."
At the College of William and Mary, all consensual romantic or sexual
relationships between faculty and students are prohibited. Violations
result in "institutional sanctions," including possible termination of
a professor's appointment.
"In my opinion the situation at William and Mary would be stifling,"
Vera Kutzinski, Professor and DUS of the English department, said.
The policy at Duke University is less strict. According to the 2003
handbook, faculty members "should not" enter into a consensual
relationship with a student under his or her authority. However, if
one does develop, the faculty member must report it to the dean and
terminate authority over the student.
"In general, I don't think a romantic relationship between a
supervising teacher and their student is a good idea," Kutzinski said.
"Power relations are not equal in those situations, but at the same
time you have to realize that campuses aren't the only place where
people get caught up in power relations."
When considering Yale's policy that deems sexual relationships between
faculty and students inappropriate, it is important to question the
definition of "intimacy," and whether one can regulate intimacy,
Kutzinski said. "Intimacy is complicated. To just take sex as the
point where intimacy occurs is naïve," she said.
Positive relationships could be lost or impaired because the policy
forbids them, or forces them to be kept secret, which could be
detrimental to the relationship itself, Kutzinski added.
Long explained that Yale simply attempts to regulate the behavior, not
the emotions that result in a relationship.
"People fall in love," Long said. "The expectation is that they will
desist from acting upon those emotions until the class is over."
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