The Chronicle
See Inside Blue Devils upset No. 9 Florida State Page 11
T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2018 DUKECHRONICLE.COM
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTEENTH YEAR, ISSUE 60
Design by Ian Jaffe | Photography Editor
Content warning: This story includes a detailed account of sexual harassment. The Chronicle has changed the name of the students with an asterisk next to their name due to the sensitive nature of the story. Their harassers have also been given different names or not named upon the students’ request in fear of retribution. “If you just put a frog in boiling water, it jumps out. But if you slowly turn up the heat, it stays in it until it dies.” That’s how Anne* described her experience with one professor in the religious studies department, George,* last Spring. For Anne, who was enrolled in George’s class during her last semester as an undergraduate, it was small things over time. Anne told The Chronicle that by the end of the semester, George had created an uncomfortable environment for her by talking about her appearance and regularly asking her before and during class to get coffee. Another student in the class also noted that George made inappropriate comments towards Anne. “I started dreading going to class, because every time I walked in the door he had a comment about what I was wearing—if I wore a normal outfit and mascara, I looked ‘lovely’ and if I wore a sweatshirt he would say ‘surely [you] are heading to the gym,’” she said. “He asked me to meet for coffee one-on-one to ‘pick my brain’ most weeks, too, which I declined again and again.” At approximately 9 p.m. the night before Valentine’s Day last year, Anne got an email seen by The Chronicle from George that she felt was improper. “Ever since our first meeting, I was impressed with
WOMEN SPEAK OUT ABOUT SEXUAL HARASSMENT EXPERIENCES Amid the #MeToo movement, two women share issues with Duke’s handling of their cases By Likhitha Butchireddygari Editor-in-Chief
your keen intellect and unusual maturity. Every additional meeting has only confirmed those early impressions. I feel privileged to share a small portion of your college experience and just wanted to let you know,” he wrote. “I look forward to sharing the rest of the semester with you and reading some of your written work.” Anne said she went back and forth about whether George’s behavior was inappropriate. At points, she thought he could just be an overly-friendly old guy. But then, in March, George asked Anne for a hug—something she was decidedly uncomfortable with. “One day after class he walked up to me and said, ‘I’m sad, can I have a hug?’ I stood there frozen, with no idea how to respond to the request—I stood there awkwardly while he put his arms around me,” she wrote. But by the end of the semester, Anne said she felt so uneasy about his behavior—which she said he made during most classes—that she would get to class exactly on time and dart out as soon as it was over. She also started not participating in the class. “I was just so worried that he was just going to pick on me, and say things about me or make comments about my appearance that I just felt so uncomfortable that I would just sit there taking notes and be totally silent,” she said. “Then, when I would do that, he would come and sit next to me and lean over my desk and look at my notes.” Anne decided not to file an official complaint with the Office of Institutional Equity—which handles harassment and discrimination complaints—but shared her experience See HARASSMENT on Page 3