PRESS RELEASE: 100s of Students Shut Down Abuser’s Class

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, January 24th, 4 PM EST

Contact: comaroffpress@gmail.com

Harvard Students Shut Down Abuser’s Class

Harvard allowed a professor found guilty of sexual misconduct to continue teaching. Students fought back.

CAMBRIDGE — Harvard professor John Comaroff, whom the university found guilty of violating sexual harassment policies in 2022, attempted to return to the classroom Tuesday. He was met with protests, walls covered in printouts of the various allegations he’s facing, and a walkout that left the classroom completely empty. To the over 100 Harvard affiliates associated with Our Harvard Can Do Better, the Harvard Graduate Student Union, Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard, The Harvard Student Labor Action Movement, and more, the message was clear: Comaroff must resign, and Harvard end its complicity in cultures of harassment, misogyny, and discrimination.

“John Comaroff has spent his career silencing and retaliating against students — thereby undermining Harvard’s value of creating an equitable, safe learning environment for all,” said first-year Rosie Couture. “For the good of the university community and Harvard’s academic mission, it’s past time for Harvard to act.”

Accusations against Comaroff, a professor in Harvard’s anthropology department, date back to University of Chicago tenure in the 1970s. According to reports, Harvard disregarded warnings about this record in 2012 and decided to hire him anyway. While at Harvard, an internal investigation determined that he continued to engage in “conduct that violated the FAS Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment Policy and the FAS Professional Conduct Policy.” A lawsuit filed by three graduate students alleged Comaroff committed unwanted kissing, groping, and sexual remarks. Nonetheless, Harvard permitted him to return to the classroom this academic year. 

“So long as John Comaroff is in a position of power, students’ safety and ability to succeed is at risk,” said senior Austin Siebold. “It’s clear that someone with this record doesn’t belong at Harvard. We believe that John Comaroff should resign immediately, and we believe Harvard must take full responsibility for facilitating his abuse.”

The decision to welcome him back into the classroom, say students, is part of a larger pattern. As a recent lawsuit alleges, the university’s Title IX process is systematically biased in favor of abusers: during the recent investigation, for example, it permitted Comaroff to engage in evidence tampering, took no action when he threatened to cause complainants and witnesses “trouble getting jobs,” and obtained and disseminated a student’s private therapy records without her consent. The Department of Justice backed the plaintiffs in a 2022 filing, asserting that Harvard should be institutionally liable when it allows Comaroff to violate students’ rights and liberties. 

For the good of the institution and university community, Comaroff must resign. And Harvard must listen to the voices of survivors who are constantly pushing this school to combat sexual violence and gender discrimination. This means real recourse, an independent rape crisis center, comprehensive and free reproductive care, and an institutional commitment to combat sexual violence like the crisis that it is. 

“Harvard is complicit in the sexual violence crisis. But we believe that Harvard can do better. We will keep fighting for a university that stands up for its community and sets an example that misogyny will not be tolerated in higher education” said first-year Rachael Dziaba.