In March 2014, following accusations of sexual harassment by two of his advisees, Piterberg quietly signed a settlement with the Title IX office and the University. Neither the survivors nor their representatives were informed of the settlement, and neither were Piterberg’s other students or colleagues at the History Department. The case was made public only after the two students filed a federal lawsuit against the University of California Board of Regents, alleging UCLA officials did not adequately address their complaints. Piterberg never apologized to the survivors or admitted his violations of the UCLA Faculty Code of Conduct, which states as unacceptable the “use of the position or powers of a faculty member to coerce the judgment or conscience of a student or to cause harm to a student for arbitrary or personal reasons,” and the “harassment of another member of the University community, that interferes with that person’s performance of University activities.” The settlement prevented any further actions by the Academic Senate against Piterberg – despite the fact that complaints against his behavior have been reported since 2006.
Throughout this process, the University has gone to great lengths to protect Piterberg and his privacy rather than address the rights and the protections of the student community. His return in Winter 2017 to teach two undergraduate classes, to students who were largely unaware of the allegations against him, testifies to this continued policy on the part of university administration. To claim, in response to Piterberg’s case, that “UCLA is committed to maintaining an atmosphere where all students can live and learn free of discrimination, harassment, exploitation, or intimidation,” is a farce, disrespectful to the survivors, to the current undergraduate students enrolled in his courses, and to Piterberg’s colleagues at the Department of History.
Even though the investigation against Piterberg and the settlement agreement were made under a different (and demonstrably dysfunctional) Title IX office, we claim our right to protest his return to campus to teach students. The settlement agreement may protect Piterberg from dismissal, but even if the University does not hold professors accused of sexual harassment accountable, we as students will.
Since the initiation of the federal Title IX investigation into UCLA’s practices, there have been signs of a newfound commitment on the part of the University to protect students and other community members. The creation of the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) and the appointment of Kathleen Salvaty as UCLA’s new Title IX coordinator are hopeful signs of a newly discovered resolve. We look forward to developing a constructive working relationship with the new leadership of the Title IX Office.
At the same time, we recognize that past and current conduct by the university has produced an enormous deficit of trust (as displayed in the university’s mishandling of Piterberg’s case), which the EDI and the Title IX office will have to work hard to overcome. And no matter how committed the EDI and the reformed Title IX office may prove to be, they will still be saddled with implementing an inadequate and counterproductive UC Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence Policy.
Therefore
- We call upon Piterberg to step down and resign from all teaching positions, and for the History Department to hire a competent instructor in his place.
- We call upon UCLA to remove any serial offender once found guilty. The presence of such individuals in a research and teaching institution undermines the status of UCLA (or any other UC campus) as a place of personal and communal growth.
- We call for the formation of a transparent, democratic community oversight board made up of students, faculty, and staff – The UC Boards of Regents should get involved in a conversation with representatives from faculty, undergraduate, and graduate students, and staff regarding the creation of an oversight board.
- We call on the UC to reconsider key aspects of the new Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence Policy, namely mandatory reporting policies, clarifying the possible outcomes of investigations, and creating a positive and survivor-oriented policy, addressing the needs of survivors.
BASH 