Berkeley Dean Will Coordinate Efforts To Address Sex Harassment Cases

BERKELEY - University of California at Berkeley's dean of social sciences has been appointed to head up efforts to improve the university's handling of sexual harassment and assault in the wake of several cases that have led to the departure of faculty and staff there.

Dean Carla Hesse, a member of the university's history department since 1989, will coordinate the campus efforts to address sexual harassment effective immediately, university officials announced last week.

Hesse is an interim appointee and university officials said a permanent appointee will be announced over the summer.

UC Berkeley has drawn nationwide attention for several high-profile sexual harassment cases that most recently led to the March 14 firing of assistant men's basketball coach Yann Hufnagel after a reporter covering the team accused him of making inappropriate sexual comments and trying to get her to come back to his apartment after a game one night.

Less than a week before, a lawsuit filed by a former executive assistant for law school dean Sujit Choudhry accused him of repeatedly touching and kissing her inappropriately.

In both cases, UC Berkeley's response was criticized.

In Hufnagel's case, questions were raised by a university investigative report about whether head coach Cuonzo Martin was informed of the allegations for as long as two months before university investigators were alerted.

In Choudhry's case, the university was criticized for not imposing more severe penalties, only docking his pay 10 percent and ordering him to write a letter of apology.

While UC Berkeley was already working on reforming its sexual harassment practices after astronomy professor Geoff Marcy resigned in October after allegations surfaced that he had been sexually harassing students for over a decade, the more recent cases have created a new sense of urgency.

The day Hufnagel was fired, UC President Janet Napolitano ordered all staff to take sexual harassment training.

In taking on reforms to the university's sexual harassment and abuse policies, Hesse will work on expediting the resolution of all pending cases. There are at least 25 sexual harassment or violence investigations underway on the campus, university officials said.

Hesse will also establish a peer review panel for sexual harassment cases, ensure there are sufficient resources for investigations, establish protocols for tracking complaints, find ways to expand sexual harassment training and make cultural shifts that prevent sexual harassment.

"Tackling sexual harassment and violence on our campus is the most urgent challenge we face today, and Professor Hesse's deep knowledge of and dedication to Berkeley will be of great assistance to me and the university," UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks said in a statement.

"This is an important responsibility and I hope to make quick and significant impact in a number of areas," Hesse said. "We all need to step up and take on this critical issue for our campus and community."

Hesse is a specialist in modern European history and the history of women.

She earned her Ph.D. from Princeton University and has served as the chair of the committee on women and minorities for the American Historical Association.

-Bay City News