[ad_1]
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) Virginias Old Dominion University to order an independent investigation into allegations of sexual assault and other misconduct against a former visiting professor, school president John Broderick said in a letter on Thursday to the university community.
The allegations are against Blake Bailey, visiting professor at Norfolk Public School from 2010 to 2016 and author of a widely known biography of writer Philip Roth.
Bailey is already facing allegations elsewhere. Earlier this year, two former New Orleans college students and a book editor alleged that Bailey sexually assaulted them. He denied any wrongdoing.
The Virginian-Pilot reported earlier this month that several women told the newspaper that Bailey harassed and sexually abused them while at Old Dominion University. The women also said the directors had not adequately addressed their concerns.
It is clear that the universities’ initial response caused pain to members of our community, Broderick wrote in Thursday’s letter.
Broderick said the ODU was awaiting advice from the Virginia attorney general’s office on who should conduct the review.
It is essential for me that we get a truly independent report on the matter and that we can assure our university community that sexual harassment and other misconduct will not be tolerated, Broderick wrote.
Baileys attorney Billy Gibbens told the Virginian-Pilot earlier this month that the allegations were false and not worth publicizing.
Bailey faced multiple allegations of sexual harassment and abuse before the pilots reported on ODU. Earlier this year, the Los Angeles Times, the New Orleans Times-Picayune, and the AP, among others, published numerous official quotes from Bailey alumni while he was a college professor in New Orleans in the 1990s.
The former students alleged inappropriate behavior while he was a teacher and then continued to have sex. Two former students and director of book publishing Valentina Rice alleged that he assaulted them. The Rices account first appeared in The New York Times and was confirmed by Rice to the AP.
At the end of April Gibbens, Baileys’ lawyer, called the allegations false and unfounded.
[ad_2]
picture credit