By Stuart Silverstein, Michelle Munn and Maura Dolan
November 28 2002
BERKELEY -- The dean of UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall, one of the nation's top law
schools, said Wednesday that he would resign from the university because of a
sexual harassment allegation lodged by a former student.
John P. Dwyer, Boalt's dean since July 2000, announced his resignation in a
letter to faculty, staff and students, surprising many of them as they prepared
to leave for Thanksgiving.
In the letter, Dwyer said he and the female student, "had a single
encounter two years ago that was consensual, but there is no allegation that any
form of sexual intercourse occurred. Nonetheless, I acknowledge that this
reflected a serious error in judgment on my part and was inappropriate."
Dwyer said that the woman who filed the complaint was never a student in his
classroom. The woman, who has graduated from the school, filed her complaint
Oct. 11, university officials said.
The episode throws a harsh light on the problem of improper sexual encounters
between faculty and students on university campuses, which many experts believe
take place far more often than is reported.
The incident also derails the academic career of Dwyer, 50, an environmental law
expert and a popular dean who had shown enormous promise since early in his
career. Dwyer, who is divorced, graduated from Boalt in 1980 and was only the
second graduate of the school to serve as its dean in its 108-year history. His
resignation as dean takes effect Jan. 1.
University spokeswoman Janet Gilmore said the university began an internal
investigation immediately after the former student filed her complaint. Gilmore
said the probe is continuing and confirmed that it focuses on a single
encounter. She declined to provide further details, saying that the matter is
confidential.
At some universities, any sexual relationship between a faculty member and a
student is forbidden on the grounds that the difference in power and status
between the two people can lead to exploitation even if the relationship begins
consensually.
UC Berkeley's policies are apparently less specific, and officials Wednesday
were unable to say precisely how they applied in Dwyer's case.
The campus' sexual harassment policy has a 90-day limit for filing complaints,
which faculty members say may have prevented its application. The university's
code of conduct for teachers, which faculty members said has a three-year
statute of limitations, requires professors to "avoid any exploitation,
harassment or discriminatory treatment of students." In addition, it bars
discrimination against students for reasons related to sex, sexual orientation
and other areas covered by civil rights law.
UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl declined to be interviewed about the
matter, and Dwyer did not return phone calls left at his office and home.
Sexual harassment allegations are becoming more common on university campuses,
partly because of poor training of staff and faculty, said Jan Salisbury, a
consultant and researcher who advises universities and other organizations on
sexual harassment issues.
"Most colleges and universities lag far behind workplaces in the way they
prevent and resolve harassment and discrimination complaints," she said,
adding that faculty members usually aren't required to receive training to
handle potential sexual harassment issues. That is changing at some universities
as court decisions over the last two decades have expanded the scope of sexual
harassment law and led to a spate of judgments against schools and other
employers.
Salisbury saw little irony in a law school dean being accused of sexual
harassment, saying, "These issues aren't about somebody understanding the
law. That's a small part of it. It's about understanding power" and gender
dynamics. Managing those kinds of gender issues, she said, "isn't taught in
law school."
At Boalt, faculty and students seemed surprised by Dwyer's letter; the incident
and investigation had been kept quiet even within the law school.
"It looks to me like it happened overnight," said Jan Vetter,
associate dean at Boalt.
Some faculty and students expressed dismay that a single encounter -- one that
occurred two years ago with a student who wasn't in a class taught by Dwyer --
would lead to the dean's resignation.
"What you have here maybe is the university leaning over backward to be
politically correct," said Stephen Barnett, a professor at Boalt Hall for
30 years.
"Ironically, one of the things [Dwyer] has been doing well at is healing
some of the gender divisions on the faculty, building bridges between the men
and women."
Boalt professors widely praised Dwyer's performance as dean. "Everyone I
have talked to really feels sadness and shock," said Charles D. Weisselberg,
a Boalt professor who runs the school's clinical education programs. "It
feels really raw. It came completely out of left field."
Students were generally complimentary of Dwyer. "He seemed like a good
dean, and he was successful at fund-raising," said second-year student
Stephanie Pham-Quang, 26. "But he's a suave guy. Everyone compares him to
Clinton."
Steve Recchia, 30, a second-year Boalt student, questioned why Dwyer would
resign for "a single sexual indiscretion."
"It's graduate school. It's not high school," Recchia said.
"Everyone is 21 years or older. It's not like they're little girls who are
fawning over him."
Second-year student Gabrielle Raymond, 23, characterized Dwyer as committed to
the students and to a variety of causes, including the International Human
Rights Law Clinic that Raymond participates in. The clinic represents refugees
seeking asylum and other rights law cases.
Dwyer's career until now had been successful. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from
DePauw University in Indiana and then earned his PhD in chemical physics at
Caltech before heading to Boalt.
He was a standout student, which led to prestigious clerkships with Judge Harry
T. Edwards on the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington and then with Supreme
Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. He worked as a public defender in Washington,
D.C., for two years and returned to Boalt in 1984. He taught environmental law,
energy law and property law. In 1992, he became associate dean for academic
affairs. In 1997, he received the law school's Rutter Award for Excellence in
Teaching.
Times staff writers Henry Weinstein and Rebecca Trounson contributed to this
report.
