Emily
Emily
Sep 4, 2018 · 1 min read

Gah. This is such a horrid mess. All of it. It’s like these people didn’t read their own books or listen to their own lectures. It is bizarre how non-self-aware they seem to be with their open letters, etc. I think Duggan is probably right in general that a queer (I use that really broadly, and not derogatorily) professor is probably at a higher risk for being falsely accused and culture makes it easier to dismiss those stories as true. That said, I find it really hard to believe that a false accusation makes it all the way through a Title IX hearing and is backed up by multiple verified emails. I’m on the fringe of academia (I’m a tenured prof at a small university that isn’t publish or perish, and doesn’t require the kind of scholarship NYU and others do), so I’m a bit removed from this sort of thing being anything more than a spectacle I watch from afar. But my own experiences in grad school say this guy’s accusations are, as Chu noted, so normal as to be banal. I mean, okay, the experience is drifting toward being really bad (compared to most folks), but it is well within the parameters of believability, especially not knowing anyone personally. If someone said “hey, do you think a professor could do [accusations levied]?” My response would be “totally.”

    Emily

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    Emily

    prof, writer, hockey fan, cat owner.