Prof's ex-lawyer says former client had sex with pupil

U. procedural problems alleged and ANDREW RAFALAF Assistant English Professor Malcolm Woodfield did have sexual relations with a female undergraduate student in his class last year, Woodfield's former attorney in this matter Edward Rubenstone said last night. Intra-University charges are currently pending against Woodfield for allegedly sexually harassing the woman, Woodfield's current attorney and University Law School Associate Professor Alan Lerner said yesterday. Woodfield said yesterday he could not comment on any specific allegations made against him. But he said he wants a fair University hearing to "see justice done." The woman first told University administrators 10 months ago that Woodfield sexually harassed her, English Professor Paul Korshin said in a telephone interview from London yesterday. But Korshin, Woodfield's faculty liaison in proceedings currently pending within the School of Arts and Sciences, added that formal accusations were not made until November 30. According to a source close to the woman, Woodfield allegedly singled the woman out in his classroom and flattered her to excess. Korshin denied this allegation and said "the reverse of that actually happened." And Lerner categorically denied the sexual harassment charge against Woodfield. "We are frankly and flatly defending any charges," said Lerner, who recently replaced Rubenstone as Woodfield's counsel. "The mere fact that there is a sexual relationship doesn't mean there is sexual harassment." The student who is accusing Woodfield declined to comment last night. "The University has an obligation to protect its undergraduate students from predatory faculty," English Professor Peter Conn said last night. "I believe all of us would agree that sexual relations between a faculty member and an undergraduate student currently enrolled in his or her course are utterly unacceptable." Word of the student's accusations was widely known throughout the English Department and reached the highest levels of the University administration, including Interim President Claire Fagin, Interim Provost Marvin Lazerson and SAS Dean Rosemary Stevens. "I have heard of the case before," Fagin said yesterday. "This case is being handled in the normal way." Fagin added that the President's Office does not get directly involved in an individual school's disciplinary proceedings. Lazerson said the Provost's Office is also not directly involved, but added that he first heard of the allegations against Woodfield last semester. "My role is simply to observe [the process]," he said. "It is really a question the faculty within the school has to address, and it is critically important that the faculty does address the issues." According to Korshin, University regulations mandate that the dean of the school where a student makes a sexual harassment complaint against a faculty member acts as the complainant in formal hearings. Stevens is representing the woman in this matter, he added. Stevens did not return several phone calls placed to her home yesterday. In the past, according to Korshin, when complaints of sexual harassment were lodged against a faculty member, the professor in question was expected to resign. But, because Woodfield refused to resign, the administration was not prepared to handle the matter, Korshin said. According to both sides of the case, the disciplinary process has repeatedly stalled for the last 10 months. There has yet to be a hearing before the College Committee on Academic Freedom and Responsibility, the body which handles such complaints. Korshin said during the past year, the University administration has caused numerous postponements in the disciplinary procedure. "The [Faculty] Handbook says that [the dean] has 20 days to come up with charges," Korshin said. "In fact, it took six months to know what the charges were and eight months to get them formally written down." Both parties say they have been harmed by the delays. "Three different senior University administrators have told me that the delays affecting this process have been 'unconscionable' and 'intolerable,'" Conn said. "I know that the student has done all she can to move the process forward. I therefore have no idea why she has been met by such 'unconscionable' and 'intolerable' delays. "I do know that the young woman has been emotionally punished by this extraordinarily drawn-out process," Conn added. Woodfield alleges that before accusations were even formalized, English Department Graduate Chairperson Rebecca Bushnell suspended him from teaching any graduate courses this past fall. He alleged that Bushnell was under pressure from a group of graduate students within the department who were opposed to his teaching. "[The graduate students are] a very P.C. vigilante bunch who started the process of my being suspended," Woodfield said. Although Woodfield was originally slated not to teach last semester, Bushnell said last night he was reassigned to English 800 after consultation with English Department Chairperson John Richetti. Before the school year began, Stevens decided not to assign Woodfield a course load, said sources close to the woman involved in the charge. Earlier this week, Richetti said not assigning Woodfield a course load was in essence a "de facto" suspension. Woodfield filed a complaint about his "suspension" with Microbiology Professor Sol Goodgal, who acts as a faculty grievance officer. Woodfield said Goodgal refused to deal with the matter. But, Goodgal said last night that he listened "quite carefully" to Woodfield and decided the Faculty Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Responsibility should hear the case. Woodfield said Goodgal's refusal to hear his grievance forced him to seek other means of resolution. He added that the idea of going to the Faculty Senate Committee was his own. The Faculty Senate Committee decided that Stevens did not follow proper procedures in eliminating the professor's course load, Woodfield said. Committee Chairperson Frank Goodman wrote a 10-page decision in Woodfield's favor, he added. Goodman would not comment on Woodfield's statement. But the Committee has since recommended that the procedures concerning the suspension of a faculty member be changed. University General Counsel Shelley Green refused to comment on the University's legal situation in the Woodfield hearing.