CAMBRIDGE (MA)
The Chronicle of Higher Education
March 6, 2018
By Tom Bartlett and Nell Gluckman
Updated (3/6/2018, 7:26 p.m.) with comments from Harvard’s president.
A prominent Harvard professor and former vice provost accused of groping, kissing, and other inappropriate behavior by close to 20 women announced on Tuesday that he would retire on June 30. Jorge Domínguez, a professor of government, was placed on administrative leave pending a review after a Chronicle investigation published last week.
“I am retiring from my job at Harvard at the end of this semester,” Domínguez wrote in an email to colleagues. “It has been a privilege to serve the university.” He also noted that he is not teaching this semester and has stepped down from his administrative roles.
Domínguez’s administrative leave forbids him to set foot on Harvard’s campus without formally requesting permission from university officials. Under the sexual-harassment policy in Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, penalties for professors found guilty “may range from reprimand to dismissal.”
“I want to be very clear that Domínguez’s forthcoming retirement does not change the full and fair process of review that is currently underway,” Michael D. Smith, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, said in a written statement. “He remains on administrative leave until it is concluded.”
Harvard’s president, Drew G. Faust, weighed in on the fallout from the Domínguez revelations during a meeting on Tuesday of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. In her remarks, she acknowledged the “real sense of hurt, disappointment, and upset that has been expressed about the situation and about Harvard’s response.”
Faust, who in 2007 became the first woman to lead the university, cited its progress in dealing with sexual harassment but said there was more to be done. “We need to foster an environment where those who look to us for leadership and guidance feel comfortable coming forward when lines have been crossed,” she said.
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