A Cautionary Tale: Follow Up

The courtroom is down the hall

Yesterday, we posted about the investigation by Northwestern U of a professor accused of writing a column that offended some students who filed a Title IX complaint.* The Chronicle of Higher Ed ran a column by the accused prof about the procedure that was set in motion by her university. (Links in our original posting.) We noted concerns at UC about the process being set up to deal with complaints concerning sexual assault and harassment. The Regents have been assured by UC President Napolitano that there would be appropriate due process in whatever is being created. One might take that assurance to mean that nothing like the reported Northwestern events could take place at UC. It might be noted that unlike Northwestern, UC is a public institution subject to various constitutional requirements as well as the state Public Records Act. Any kind of kangaroo court procedure would likely be challenged quickly in the external court system.

The Chronicle now has published readers' comments:
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/the-french-revolution-on-campus-readers-react-to-my-title-ix-inquisition/99911 Its Facebook link to those comments suggests their general tone:

Our posting yesterday indicated that UCOP is aware of the Chronicle tale and so it can presumably draw the appropriate lessons and take steps to avoid such events at UC.
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*http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2015/05/cautionary-tale.html
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UPDATE: The Chronicle reports that Prof. Kipnis has been cleared of the charges by her university:
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/laura-kipnis-is-cleared-of-wrongdoing-in-title-ix-complaints/99951