Following Schrag Bullying Allegations, Harvard Affiliates ESE and EPS Call for Strengthened Anti-Bullying Policy | News

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In an open letter Thursday, 80 Harvard students, alumni and staff called on Harvard administrators to strengthen protections against bullying and harassment in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and the Science Program. and environmental engineering.

The letter, released in response to a Crimson investigation that uncovered allegations of bullying and toxicity against Harvard’s top climate scientist Daniel P. Schrag spanning two decades, calls for transparency regarding the measures disciplinary measures for affiliates who violate misconduct policies and a clear threshold for launch. misconduct investigations in response to repeated informal complaints.

According to the letter, both programs have a long-standing problem with faculty intimidation and harassment that has plagued the experiences of graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and staff and hindered research and education in the two programs.

Unlike the phenomena we study in our research, there is no mysterious force at work here, the letter reads. What we are dealing with is as simple as it is destructive to the community we have built together and cherish.

In The Crimsons survey, published last week, more than two dozen current and former students, colleagues and staff said Schrag had created an environment of hostility and fear at ESE and the EPS.

Following an internal investigation at Harvard, in the spring of 2021 Schrag was banned from accepting new lab members for six months, had to undergo external behavioral training, and asked to step down as president. in the field of environmental science and engineering, a position similar to that of department chair. The Crimson reported.

Schrag did not respond to a request for comment for this article. Previously, Schrag declined to comment on the specific allegations discussed in The Crimsons investigation, but wrote in an email that he was deeply committed to his role as a mentor.

I sincerely regret that I have caused distress to some students, as my intention is and always has been to help my students become the best scholars possible. Supporting students and researchers at all stages of the most critical and impactful research remains my highest priority, Schrag wrote.

The open letter was circulated and written in part by the GeoClub, an ESE and EPS student organization that organizes social events and communicates student concerns to administrators.

Andrew C. Pendergrass 20, an ESE Ph.D. candidate and GeoClub co-chair, said one of the purposes of the letter was to ensure that students who left Schrags’ lab felt supported and did not feel at risk of retaliation because they have a whole community behind them.

The letter asks administrators to make public the actions taken when someone is found to have violated a misconduct policy.

There aren’t many publications on graduation rates within a certain group or if there were sanctions against certain advisers, Andrea M. Salazar, a Ph.D. candidate and co-president of the GeoClub, said. You kind of have to depend on this silent network of current graduate students talking to incoming graduate students.

Schrag was removed as president, and no one knew about it, added Pendergrass, a former editor of Crimson Magazine. It was not communicated.

The letter also calls for clarifying or revising sections of the new University-wide Anti-Bullying Policy which will take effect September 1, 2023. It calls for a clear threshold at which repeated informal complaints about a single member of the community will trigger an academic investigation.

Under the new policy, each school will select two types of officials: those who act as a designated resource to provide resources and handle complaints, and appropriate officials who have the final say on sanctions. All formal complaints are evaluated by a three-person panel of neutral Harvard faculty or staff, who submit a recommendation to the appropriate school officials.

The letter instead asks that the decision of the determination juries be the final decision on any sanction, rather that this power be given to the appropriate school officials.

I think there’s no reason to have another step from someone who has full authority to accept or reject the panel’s recommendation, Pendergrass said.

The letter also criticized Harvard’s rollout of anti-bullying policies, saying they were created without meaningful engagement or follow-up and calling on the school to extend the period for collecting feedback from affiliates.

According to University spokesperson Jason A. Newton, the draft anti-bullying policies were developed with several opportunities to gather feedback. The initial window for affiliates to provide feedback on draft policies lasted from April 2022 to the end of September 2022.

Newton declined to comment on other aspects of the letter.

The letter also calls for procedures by which departments can enforce their own codes of conduct. According to Salazar, when it comes to enforcing these anti-bullying and anti-harassment policies, it seems like no one is completely sure who has jurisdiction over what.

The letter is addressed to University President Alan M. Garber 76, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science Claudine Gay, Dean of Science Christopher W. Stubbs, and Dean of the School of Engineering and Science. applied sciences Francis J. Doyle III.

This is a broader problem, not just in EPS and ESE, but across the University, Salazar said. We just want to protect all graduate students and create universally good work environments.

In a joint statement, Doyle and Stubbs confirmed they received the letter and are working with EPS and ESE departments and zone presidents to respond.

We are committed to creating a supportive environment where all members of our community can thrive and perform at their best, they wrote.

EPS President Ann Pearson, EPS Director of Graduate Studies David T. Johnston and ESE Zone President Steven C. Wofsy did not respond to a request for comment.

Despite public discussion of the issues within the ESE and EPS work environments, it’s not all just negative, Pendergrass said.

We have a great community. We have this GeoClub. We have all these wonderful friendships and everything,” Pendergrass added. It’s more like bringing out the good in the community and weeding out the bad than outright condemnation.

Writer Elias J. Schisgall can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @eschisgall.

Writer Austin H. Wang can be reached at [email protected].

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