“We cannot be a great College unless we are a good community.” Indeed. It is time to investigate the professors who sexually harass students, who engage in quid pro quo sexual transactions for letters of recommendation, for writing prologues to forthcoming books, and for placing phone calls to members of search committees looking to hire a tenure track professor. I refuse to remain silent, and I encourage my colleagues to speak out. Even if you were silent in the past about the professorial misconduct you witnessed, you can still step forward now. It is not too late to do the right thing. Stand shoulder to shoulder with students, and take a stand to make certain this sort of behavior stops. Stand up. If there is something to be learned from this interminable and infernal presidential campaign, it is the strength of numbers. Each time a sexual assault or harassment survivor comes forward, she or he emboldens others to do the same. And let me be clear: the narrative burden for sexual violence must not rest upon the shoulders of survivors. We all have a responsibility to speak out and demand change.
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