NEWARK, Del. ― Hundreds of students at the University of Delaware called for more transparency in the school’s harassment policy during a rally Friday after a professor was accused of offering a student an “A” in exchange for sexual favors.
The News Journal reported more than 300 students and instructors held a rally that began at the school’s Memorial Hall and then marched to the university president’s home. Some chanted: “End the silence. End the shame.”
The male professor was accused by a female student in May of offering a top grade in exchange for sexual favors. The university has declined to explain how the matter was handled, angering some students.
But Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs Matthew Kinservick said the professor who was accused is on administrative leave and will resign at the end of the academic year.
“He will not be back to campus,” Kinservick said. “I can’t talk about the reasons for that.”
A letter published Thursday by university Provost Domenico Grasso also addressed the incident in response to a story published in the student newspaper, The Review.
“It is important for the University community to know that this matter was handled promptly and appropriately, with the sensitivity and clear communication with the student and her advocate and in accordance with all university policies and the requirements of federal law,” Grasso wrote.
The student who filed the complaint graduated last year. She said there was no transparency in the university’s policy on harassment and that she did not know what happened to the professor after her complaint until reading about it in the student newspaper.
