Tel Aviv University faculty urge management to name professor convicted of sexual harassment

Faculty members at Tel Aviv University on Tuesday called on the university's management to reconsider its decision to keep confidential the name of a professor emeritus who was convicted by a disciplinary tribunal of sexual harassment and behavior unbecoming of an academic faculty member.

In a position paper that reached Walla, the faculty members criticized the fact that once two years have passed from the date the sentence was handed down, the professor will be able to return to advising students, even though his identity remains under a publication ban.

The signatories wrote that the verdict and sentencing paint a picture of ongoing harm to female students, female researchers and employees. According to them, the tribunal found the complainants' testimonies credible, rejected the professor's claim that he was the target of a conspiracy, and determined that his actions caused severe damage to the complainants and to the university.

The faculty members noted that the professor's advanced age was the decisive consideration on the question of publication, in the words of the tribunal, "albeit somewhat narrowly."

On the matter of continued advising, they wrote that the tribunal ruled that "given the nature of the offenses, it is appropriate to restrict for a certain period the defendant's presence in a position of authority." That restriction was set at two years from the date the sentence was handed down.

The faculty members argue that the combination of a confidential identity and the possibility of a return to advising makes it difficult for students to make an informed decision when choosing an advisor. "It is the university's duty to protect its students and allow them to make an informed decision regarding academic advising," they wrote, adding that publishing the name carries special significance when the conviction involves harm to those who were subordinate to the faculty member's authority.

The letter also criticized the weight given, in their view, to the professor's scientific contribution when his punishment was determined. "Academic excellence cannot serve as a mitigating circumstance in sexual harassment or bullying," they wrote, warning that taking scientific achievements into account in such cases risks granting preferential treatment to those with status, particularly when the harm was committed within the framework of power relations.

Alongside the request to revisit the confidentiality decision in this case, the faculty members are calling on the university to adopt a policy under which scientific achievements and academic reputation will not serve as considerations for leniency in punishment in cases of sexual harassment and bullying involving power relations. They also asked for consistent rules on publishing disciplinary decisions, ones that take into account the academic community's right to know as well as the privacy and wishes of the victims of the offense.