This past month, the press has reported cases of faculty who lost their jobs due to relationships with students.
In the #Sabatini case, a gifted scientist had a relationship with a much junior gifted scientist.
In the #Katz case, a gifted humanist had a relationship with an unnamed student.
We can quibble about the where, why, & what of these cases. The published reports certainly evoke questions about the people & universities involved.
I'm not writing to engage in those conversations. Take some time to read the reports & reach your own conclusions.
I am writing to make a straightforward assertion.
IT IS NO LONGER OK FOR FACULTY TO HAVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH STUDENTS.
I am not sure it was ever OK. I know that #FacultyStudentRelationships were normalized in some fields & institutions.
How do I know?
Because when I took my first #academic position, a #faculty member told me that I could #datestudents as long as they were not in my class, and maybe, in my major.
The logic was that if the students were a) adults, b) not under my scope of power, & c) the university did not proscribe the behavior, then it was OK.
In 2002, it was well-intentioned advice - don't abuse your position of power & do comply with the university's policy.
When I look back on it, it was not OK. It never was OK. But that was the state of the world.
In the following years, the "option" to date students expired. We came to understand that #power made it problematic.
When I spoke out in support of policies prohibiting faculty-student relationships, I was surprised when a senior female faculty member suggested that my view was too narrow & that it was up to the student & faculty member to sort out.
That conversation soured me. The senior faculty member could not see that the issue wasn't the relationship; it was the problematic power dynamic.
It took me a long time to understand that & I see it clearly now.
A secondary issue that seems to go unspoken is that faculty relationships with students violate a trusting relationship between society & universities. When parents send us their children, they place trust that the faculty to care for them.
I do not think any parent sends their kid to college hoping they will date an aging professor.
#facultymisconduct fundamentally shakes the broader society's confidence in our ability to teach, do research, & help the world.
Seriously, would you trust someone who takes advantage of children? & not-yet-mature young adults?
What is troubling is that some faculty still pursue students. I won't tell tales; but, there is plenty of misbehavior going on. It needs to stop.
So what to do?
I like #syracuseuniversity's ban and the simple explanation for why:
Please give it a look: https://lnkd.in/gDNNGy_a
Faculty need to behave if we are going to win society's trust and change the world.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jason-thatcher-0329764_sabatini-katz-facultystudentrelationships-activity-6935242727248846849-W0rO?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_web
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