Panel: Professor's past out of bounds

The Faculty Senate Committee on Academic Freedom and Responsibility has concluded that administrators acted improperly last fall when they questioned Economics Professor David Cass about any past sexual relationships with graduate students in evaluating his fitness to serve as acting Economics graduate chairperson. In August 1994, despite support from Economics Department Chairperson Andrew Postlewaite, Cass was denied the position of acting economics graduate chairperson because of his ongoing relationship with Claudia Stachel, a former Economics graduate student. Stachel and Cass discussed the University's sexual harassment policy when they began dating in 1989, but decided that because their relationship was consensual and Stachel was not in Cass's class, the guidelines did not apply to them. Stachel received her doctorate from the University in August 1994, just weeks before Cass's proposed appointment was rejected. According to Cass, Vice Provost for Graduate Education Janice Madden was the first to raise concerns about his proposed appointment, when she told him about rumors that he "had a pattern of dating graduate students." Madden said last fall she felt Cass's appointment as graduate chairperson would have perpetuated hostility toward women in the Economics department, and that his relationship with Stachel -- and his views on the University's sexual harassment policy -- would have made it difficult for her and other administrators to work with him. In its report, dated May 3, the Senate Committee characterizes administrators' prying into Cass's personal life as "unwise and objectionable." However, the report recommends no sanctions because the Committee did not find evidence that Cass's academic freedom had been abridged. Cass characterized the report as "too subservient to the administration" because it does not offer any suggestions that would prevent what has happened to him from recurring. University Provost Stanley Chodorow said while he was "pleased" that the Committee found the administration acted within the bounds of its authority and responsibility, he was "not happy" with its conclusion that questions about Cass's past behavior were inappropriate. "In my view, the Committee's conclusion on that point rests on a misunderstanding of the events," he said. "We are talking about the administration's right to decide who should hold an administrative position." The Committee's report was to be published in this week's Almanac, but outgoing Committee Chairperson and Political Science Professor Jack Nagel said Madden and Chodorow asked him to delay publication so that they could meet with the Committee to discuss the group's findings. "The report is a final report, and we're just delaying publication as a courtesy," Nagel said last week. "It's not that we're contemplating changing it or rescinding it." However, he added that the Committee would consider adding "an addendum or a footnote" to the report as a result of conversations with administrators because of Almanac's "right-of-reply" rule. Cass said last week he will spend the 1995-96 academic year at the European Economic Community–funded European University Institute in Florence, Italy, working on research with graduate students. He added that he had hoped the events of last fall would have been resolved by now, but believes administrators are trying to deliberately postpone publication of the report to again avoid dealing with his demands of University President Judith Rodin. Reiterated in a May 8 letter from Cass to the University's Board of Trustees, these demands are: reprimanding all administrators involved in the denial of Cass's proposed appointment, including Chodorow and Madden; removing Madden from her post as Vice Provost for Graduate Education; and apologizing and compensating Cass and Stachel for damage to their "personal and professional" reputations. "I consider the PC climate here to be incredible," Cass said. "When I come into Penn now, unlike in previous years, my stomach turns. At this point, I have absolutely no intention of ever coming back to the University to teach or do research."