Harvard Professor Jorge Domínguez To Retire After Harassment Allegations

A Harvard University government professor announced his retirement Tuesday amid allegations of sexual misconduct from 18 different women.

Jorge Domínguez was put on administrative leave “pending a full and fair review of the facts and circumstances regarding allegations that have come to light,” after a report from The Chronicle of Higher Education was published on February 27th, 2018, exposing his inappropriate behaviors spanning decades.

The most prominent, was a report in 1983. Terry Karl, a junior professor, spoke out about the sexual harassment she endured while working with Domínguez. According to the report, Karl described one particular incident in a letter to the dean where Dominquez told her “this would be a nice place for a rape” while the two were walking through campus. After a review, the institution found him guilty of “serious misconduct,” but it was Karl who eventually left the university to escape his advances.

“It was not just uncomfortable. It was untenable. It was prolonged, quid-pro-quo sexual harassment,” Karl told CNN on Tuesday. Karl is now a professor at Stanford University.

Harvard officials maintain that Dominguez’s decision to retire will not affect an ongoing investigation into his behavior.
“I want to be very clear that Dominguez’s forthcoming retirement does not change the full and fair process of review that is currently underway. He remains on administrative leave until it is concluded,” Michael D. Smith, Dean of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, wrote in an email.
 Smith wrote in an email to the university community on Sunday. “I encourage anyone who has witnessed sexual harassment in the FAS, recently or in the past, to come forward and share their experiences with our Title IX coordinators. It is imperative that we support those who have been subjected to sexual harassment.”

Author:
Erin Whitten is currently CMN's Senior Correspondent and is currently a student at Arizona State University majoring in Mass Communications and Media Studies.