Smile Politely

There’s a forum on faculty sexual harassment happening at the Main Library tomorrow

NPR Illinois, ProPublica, and Illinois Student Government are hosting Faculty Sexual Misconduct: A Way Forward on Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m. in room 66 of the Main Library. 

It will be moderated by T. Christian Miller, a ProPublica journalist co-authored the book that was the basis for the Netflix series Unbelievable, and will include a panel of people who bring important perspectives to the discussion:

  • Sudarshana Rao, head of UIUC campus organization Students Against Sexual Assault
  • Ali Mirza, Chief of Staff for Illinois Student Government
  • Robin Kar, UIUC law and philosophy professor, head of the Faculty Sexual Misconduct committee.
  • Rachel Otwell, NPR Illinois journalist and lead reporter for the ProPublica Local Reporting Network series, Campus Complicity
  • Sarah Colomé, director of the UIUC Women’s Resources Center

New recommendations about University of Illinois policies surrounding sexual harassment were announced last month. You can read more about Otwell’s work, which led to the development of these recommendations here.

The focus of the evening will be student voices, detailed in the event description:

The aim of the evening is to explore ideas related to the issue of sexual harassment at the U of I Urbana-Champaign campus, especially sexual misconduct perpetrated by faculty and staff. Panelists will speak to what might be missing from the conversation based on their perspectives and areas of expertise, and they hope to illuminate some potential ways forward with the help of the audience’s input.

This event is open to the general public and aims to cater specifically to students, who say their voices have been largely left out of negotiations regarding potential reforms and solutions. The bulk of the evening will consist of a question and answer session.

Image from Facebook event

Staff writer

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