Ohio State administrators are reviewing the hiring of a professor, whom they have since learned was found guilty of sexual harassment by a Yale University grievance board.’I really have only been briefed on the matter,’ said President E. Gordon Gee. ‘But, everyone has expressed concern.’In spite of the Yale board’s ruling, math professor Jay Jorgenson continues to conduct classes at Yale. The 32-year-old professor, hired in March, is slated to begin teaching at OSU Winter Quarter.In April, the Yale College Grievance Board for Student Complaints of Sexual Harassment found Jorgenson guilty of sexual harassment, concluding he maintained a two-month sexual relationship with one of his female students, a 17-year-old freshman.But Jorgenson’s attorney, John Stewart, maintains his client is innocent.’My client denies the charges categorically,’ he said. ‘He denies having any kind of romantic or sexual relationship with the student in any way.’OSU is releasing very little information about a reviewing process and whether the math department intends on rescinding their decision to have Jorgenson join OSU’s faculty.Officials from OSU’s Math Department told the Lantern that chairman Robert Brown will not comment on the case, and is referring all questions to Steve McDonald, OSU’s associate legal counsel.McDonald would not comment over the phone and requested that all questions and responses be put in writing. Monday is the earliest he said he would respond.According to an article written in the Yale Daily News, the grievance board recommended that Jorgenson stop teaching, but Yale College Dean Richard Brodhead said he could not re-staff on such short notice. The grievance board acts only as an advisory comm
ittee to the dean. Currently, the plan is for Jorgenson to finish his term at Yale.Yale’s faculty regulations do not forbid student-professor relationships, but they do carry some restrictions, according to the article.Unlike a court trial, where there is a presumption of innocence, the Yale grievance board begins with the presumption that the relationship is not consensual, the article stated. In other words, the professor must prove his innocence. This makes such cases harder to handle, Stewart said.’It’s very much a more difficult hurdle to get over,’ he said. ‘In a closed society like a university, you accept and employ the rules of that university. You give up certain rights in order to play the game.’
