Sexual Policy Unclear?

The Faculty Council was presented with Harvard's 1993 sexual harassment statistics Wednesday. But even though the number to formal complaints filed decreased last year, council members still aren't happy.

A dwinding number of formal charges doesn't necessarily indicate that the problem is going away, said Professor of Chinese History Peter K. Bol, a council member.

"We simply don't know what the relationship is between formal complaints and actual behavior," he said.

Some council members appear to believe a lack of familiarity with the complaint procedure is responsible for the paucity of formal sexual harassment charges in 1993.

And some administrators suggest that inconsistent and insufficient discipline may explain the artificially low number of complaints.

According to Secretary to the Faculty Council John B. Fox Jr. '59, council members expressed concern at Wednesday's meeting that some formal complaints, of which there only "a handful" last year, may not be filed because students and faculty don't understand the process for doing so.

Fox said the discussion focused on the need for effective dissemination ofinformation regarding the University policy onsexual harassment.

"Nobody knows who knows what" about policy, BolSaid. "And there aren't a lot of ways for councilmembers to find out.

Currently, the University distributes itssexual harassment policy to all incoming studentsand asks that academic departments emphasize theissue at one departmental meeting in the fall ofeach year.

"It's almost impossible to tell whether whatwe're doing now is enough or bordering on toomuch," Bol said.

Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles says theFaculty Council reaffirmed previous directives todepartments to emphasize the "seriousimplications" of the policy early in each academicyear.

Knowles adds that the council discussed whetherthe initial sexual harassment policy mailing tograduate students should be repeated when thestudents become teaching fellows.

But such repetition may not be the answer, someUniversity officials say.

"I would guess thatfor the most part, members of the Harvardcommunity are familiar with our policy, and peoplewho don't follow it either know they aren't or arein a gray area where their transgressions areunintentional," says Assistant Dean forCo-Education Virginia L. Mackay-Smith '78.

"I also think that most students know where toturn first when they are faced with a situationthat makes them uncomfortable," Mackay-Smith adds."People do know what the procedures are."

But whether people know the procedures forcomplaints in asymmetrical relationships or not,the results of following procedure are oftenunknown or at least unpredictable.

The University has no established set ofpenalties which can be imposed when a facultymember is found to have sexually harassed astudent or colleague, according to Associate Deanfor Academic Affairs Phyllis Keller.

"Resolutions" of complaints range fromapologies to requests for resignation, Kellersays. But severe penalties are extraordinarilyrare, Keller adds, despite the fact that AssistantDean for Academic Planning Joseph J. McCarthy saysformal complaints are usually filed only in themost egregious cases of harassment.

And McCarthy says most charges which have beeninvestigated and supported by the Universityresulted in findings of "misjudgment" on the partof the perpetrators.

These findings almost always resulted from anadmission of some inappropriate action on the partof the accused, McCarthy adds. "To reach a findingwe usually need to establish at least a commonground of facts between 'he said' and 'she said.'"

"There are a lot of informal resolutions, butif the faculty member or teaching fellow orwhoever's supposedly doing the harassingcategorically denies it and we have no otherevidence, then there's not much that can be done,"says Mackay-Smith.

"We don't have set punishments, and even if wedid, it's very hard to reach a finding on someonewho won't admit to any wrongdoing," she adds. "Forthe student, a lot of times, life is unfair."

Mackay-Smith says that, even if a formalfinding is never reached, the University willutilize all of its resources to help guide thestudent to the best personal resolution possible.

"There are always possibilities for what we cando to help a student," she says. "Life may beunfair, but we'll fix things up in a student'slife, to restore the balance that was lost, asmuch as we can."

But if a student knows that his or her (mostlyher, according to Mackay-Smith) complaint maynever lead to a satisfactory result, there may belittle incentive to report an incident ofharassment at all.

"That's certainly a risk," Mackay-Smith says."A student makes a big emotional investment whenshe files a formal complaint, and we recognizethat."

"That's why we try very hard not to make a badsituation worse," she adds. "The welfare of thestudent is always at the forefront of ourprocedures."

Keller and McCarthy both say that theUniversity's philosophy is to deal with situationsof harassment at the lowest levels possible.

This doctrine, they say, is intended to allowboth the accuser and the accused to deal with theallegation in the least disruptive and mostprivate way possible. That's why the Universitynever makes available public records of anyproceeding, or even the exact number of complaintsfiled.

"Even if a claim is vindicated, the emotionalinvestment that was made is not a happy thing forpeople to be reminded of," McCarthy says.

But Mackay-Smith says that often what thestudent needs for her own resolution isacknowledgement from the alleged harasser.

"A lot of times students are dissatisfied withthe results of University investigations becausethey want a price to be paid,' Mackay-Smith says.

"We can't do much about that," she says,"except to figure out who's hurting and dowhatever we can to stop the hurt and restore thatstudent's educational environment."

Without confidence in their chances forretribution, however, students who know the policyand its usual sentences might have good reason toquestion whether the effort and emotional outlayrequired to proceed with a complaint areworthwhile.

Knowles says he acknowledges that many studentsmay be reluctant to pursue claims of sexualharassment.

"Because the numbers in the report are notnumbers of occurrences of the event, but arenumbers of reported events, any conclusions basedon the movement of those numbers have to becarefully circumscribed," he says.

Indeed, the official numbers are perhapsunreliable because students may not perceive theofficial complaint process as likely to produceadequate results.

Knowles suggests that the best change theUniversity could make may not be one of policy butof attitude and behavior.

"I think that our policies are basically soundand work well," he says. "Still, they would workeven better if we all had a healthy dose of mutualrespect and common sense."

But in the world of sexual harassment, respectand common sense may be inherently absent.

And in the minds of some observers, theFaculty's ambiguous penalties may help to keepthings that way, regardless of whether studentsand faculty are well-acquainted with theUniversity's sexual harassment policy

"Nobody knows who knows what" about policy, BolSaid. "And there aren't a lot of ways for councilmembers to find out.

Currently, the University distributes itssexual harassment policy to all incoming studentsand asks that academic departments emphasize theissue at one departmental meeting in the fall ofeach year.

"It's almost impossible to tell whether whatwe're doing now is enough or bordering on toomuch," Bol said.

Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles says theFaculty Council reaffirmed previous directives todepartments to emphasize the "seriousimplications" of the policy early in each academicyear.

Knowles adds that the council discussed whetherthe initial sexual harassment policy mailing tograduate students should be repeated when thestudents become teaching fellows.

But such repetition may not be the answer, someUniversity officials say.

"I would guess thatfor the most part, members of the Harvardcommunity are familiar with our policy, and peoplewho don't follow it either know they aren't or arein a gray area where their transgressions areunintentional," says Assistant Dean forCo-Education Virginia L. Mackay-Smith '78.

"I also think that most students know where toturn first when they are faced with a situationthat makes them uncomfortable," Mackay-Smith adds."People do know what the procedures are."

But whether people know the procedures forcomplaints in asymmetrical relationships or not,the results of following procedure are oftenunknown or at least unpredictable.

The University has no established set ofpenalties which can be imposed when a facultymember is found to have sexually harassed astudent or colleague, according to Associate Deanfor Academic Affairs Phyllis Keller.

"Resolutions" of complaints range fromapologies to requests for resignation, Kellersays. But severe penalties are extraordinarilyrare, Keller adds, despite the fact that AssistantDean for Academic Planning Joseph J. McCarthy saysformal complaints are usually filed only in themost egregious cases of harassment.

And McCarthy says most charges which have beeninvestigated and supported by the Universityresulted in findings of "misjudgment" on the partof the perpetrators.

These findings almost always resulted from anadmission of some inappropriate action on the partof the accused, McCarthy adds. "To reach a findingwe usually need to establish at least a commonground of facts between 'he said' and 'she said.'"

"There are a lot of informal resolutions, butif the faculty member or teaching fellow orwhoever's supposedly doing the harassingcategorically denies it and we have no otherevidence, then there's not much that can be done,"says Mackay-Smith.

"We don't have set punishments, and even if wedid, it's very hard to reach a finding on someonewho won't admit to any wrongdoing," she adds. "Forthe student, a lot of times, life is unfair."

Mackay-Smith says that, even if a formalfinding is never reached, the University willutilize all of its resources to help guide thestudent to the best personal resolution possible.

"There are always possibilities for what we cando to help a student," she says. "Life may beunfair, but we'll fix things up in a student'slife, to restore the balance that was lost, asmuch as we can."

But if a student knows that his or her (mostlyher, according to Mackay-Smith) complaint maynever lead to a satisfactory result, there may belittle incentive to report an incident ofharassment at all.

"That's certainly a risk," Mackay-Smith says."A student makes a big emotional investment whenshe files a formal complaint, and we recognizethat."

"That's why we try very hard not to make a badsituation worse," she adds. "The welfare of thestudent is always at the forefront of ourprocedures."

Keller and McCarthy both say that theUniversity's philosophy is to deal with situationsof harassment at the lowest levels possible.

This doctrine, they say, is intended to allowboth the accuser and the accused to deal with theallegation in the least disruptive and mostprivate way possible. That's why the Universitynever makes available public records of anyproceeding, or even the exact number of complaintsfiled.

"Even if a claim is vindicated, the emotionalinvestment that was made is not a happy thing forpeople to be reminded of," McCarthy says.

But Mackay-Smith says that often what thestudent needs for her own resolution isacknowledgement from the alleged harasser.

"A lot of times students are dissatisfied withthe results of University investigations becausethey want a price to be paid,' Mackay-Smith says.

"We can't do much about that," she says,"except to figure out who's hurting and dowhatever we can to stop the hurt and restore thatstudent's educational environment."

Without confidence in their chances forretribution, however, students who know the policyand its usual sentences might have good reason toquestion whether the effort and emotional outlayrequired to proceed with a complaint areworthwhile.

Knowles says he acknowledges that many studentsmay be reluctant to pursue claims of sexualharassment.

"Because the numbers in the report are notnumbers of occurrences of the event, but arenumbers of reported events, any conclusions basedon the movement of those numbers have to becarefully circumscribed," he says.

Indeed, the official numbers are perhapsunreliable because students may not perceive theofficial complaint process as likely to produceadequate results.

Knowles suggests that the best change theUniversity could make may not be one of policy butof attitude and behavior.

"I think that our policies are basically soundand work well," he says. "Still, they would workeven better if we all had a healthy dose of mutualrespect and common sense."

But in the world of sexual harassment, respectand common sense may be inherently absent.

And in the minds of some observers, theFaculty's ambiguous penalties may help to keepthings that way, regardless of whether studentsand faculty are well-acquainted with theUniversity's sexual harassment policy