BOSTON: Three female graduate students at Harvard University filed a lawsuit on Tuesday accusing the Ivy League school of ignoring for years the sexual harassment of students by a professor who they said threatened their academic careers if they reported him.
The students filed the lawsuit in federal court in Boston days after Harvard placed John Comaroff, an anthropology professor and expert on South Africa, on administrative leave following a university investigation into his conduct.
Margaret Czerwienski, Lilia Kilburn and Amulya Mandava alleged that Comaroff for years “kissed and groped students without their consent, made unwelcome sexual advances, and threatened to sabotage students’ careers if they complained.”
They said they were among the students who reported Comaroff to Harvard officials. Yet despite those warnings, Harvard watched as he retaliated by ensuring the students would have “trouble getting jobs,” the lawsuit said.
Comaroff, who joined Harvard in 2012, was not named as a defendant. His lawyers — Norman Zalkind, Janet Halley, and Ruth O’Meara-Costello — in a joint statement said he “categorically denies ever harassing or retaliating against any student.”
Harvard had no comment. In January, it placed Comaroff on leave for the spring semester and barred him from teaching required courses after finding he engaged in verbal conduct that violated its sexual harassment and professional conduct policies.
Those sanctions have divided the Harvard community, where nearly 40 faculty members signed onto an open letter questioning the investigation and calling him an “excellent colleague.”
In Tuesday’s lawsuit, the women said Harvard’s inaction allowed Comaroff to repeatedly and forcibly kiss Kilburn, grope her in public and even graphically described ways she would be supposedly raped or killed in South Africa for being in a same-sex relationship.
All three said their academic trajectories and career prospects had been “profoundly altered” and that Harvard violated Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, which protects students from discrimination based on sex, and various Massachusetts laws.
Lawsuit accuses Harvard of ignoring sexual harassment by professor
https://arab.news/2d2rs
Lawsuit accuses Harvard of ignoring sexual harassment by professor
- Harvard placed John Comaroff on administrative leave following a university investigation into his conduct
- The trio alleged that Comaroff for years "kissed and groped students without their consent"
Trump to meet Venezuelan opposition leader Machado after praising its government
- Machado finds herself competing for Trump’s ear with members of Venezuela’s government
- The lunch marks the first time the two have met in person
WASHINGTON: Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado arrived at the White House for lunch with Donald Trump on Thursday, a meeting that could affect how the US president seeks to shape the South American country’s political future.
Machado, who fled Venezuela in a daring seaborne escape in December, finds herself competing for Trump’s ear with members of Venezuela’s government and seeking to ensure she has a role in governing the nation going forward.
The lunch marks the first time the two have met in person.
HOPES OF MOVE TO DEMOCRACY
After the US captured Venezuela’s longtime leader, Nicolas Maduro, in a snatch-and-grab operation this month, various opposition figures, members of Venezuela’s diaspora and politicians throughout the US and Latin America have expressed hope that Venezuela will begin the process of democratization.
But for now, Trump has said he is focused on economically rebuilding Venezuela and securing US access to the country’s oil. The day after the January 3 operation, he expressed doubts that Machado had the backing needed to return to the country and govern, telling reporters, “She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Trump has on several occasions praised Delcy Rodriguez, Venezuela’s interim president, telling Reuters in an interview on Wednesday, “She’s been very good to deal with.”
Machado was banned from running in Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election by a top court stacked with government allies. Maduro claimed victory, but outside observers widely believe Edmundo Gonzalez, an opposition figure backed by Machado, in fact won more votes by a substantial margin. While the current government has freed dozens of political prisoners in recent days, outside groups and advocates have said the scale of the releases has been exaggerated by Caracas.
One potential topic of conversation for Thursday’s White House meeting will be the Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to Machado last month, a snub to Trump, who has long sought the award. Machado has suggested she would give the prize to the US president for having deposed Maduro, though the Norwegian Nobel Institute has said the prize cannot be transferred, shared or revoked.
Asked if he wanted Machado to give him the prize, Trump told Reuters on Wednesday: “No, I didn’t say that. She won the Nobel Peace Prize.”
Pressed on what he would do if she brought the prize nonetheless, he responded: “Well, that’s what I’m hearing. I don’t know, but I shouldn’t be the one to say.”
“I think we’re just going to talk,” Trump told Reuters. “And I haven’t met her. She’s a very nice woman. I think we’re just going to talk basics.”
After her visit with Trump, Machado will meet with a bipartisan group of senior senators on Capitol Hill in the afternoon. The opposition leader has generally found more enthusiastic allies in Congress than in the White House, with some lawmakers having expressed concerns about Trump’s dismissals of her ability to govern.
