Geoff Marcy , the prominent astronomerfound guilty of sexually harassingseveral female students between 2001 and 2010 , hasresigned from his tenured positionon the faculty of the University of California , Berkeley . The action comes in the wake of agrowing outcryover the university ’s lack of endorsement against him for his misconduct , include anonline petitionexpressingsupport for the victims .
In an prescribed financial statement , Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas B. Dirks and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Claude Steele defend the conclusion not to fire Marcy in a flash , but added , “ We believe this outcome is entirely appropriate and have immediately admit his resignation . ”
Buzzfeed ’s Azeen Ghorayshibroke the storylast week , having receive a copy of the intragroup report , and interviewed three of the four woman who accommodate prescribed complaint of “ inappropriate strong-arm behavior . ” One former graduate student read Marcy had place his hand on her second joint at a post - colloquium dinner party , then slid it upwardly to grab her crotch . Marcy denied this charge , but the investigator was n’t convinced , writing , “ Based on the preponderance of evidence , I find it more likely than not that [ Marcy ] acted as reported . ”
Marcy also denied ( through his lawyer ) give another young woman a back massage late in the lab one night , with one helping hand under her shirt — an act find by Harvard astronomer John Asher Johnson , a former graduate student of Marcy ’s . Johnson say Marcy ’s incompatible behaviour with female studentswas common knowledgein the astronomy residential district , andexpressed regretthat he himself did not talk out sooner because he did not yet have tenure :
“ I hate that academia ’s superpower social organisation , which allows a unmarried phone call from a older member to sink a person ’s career , so often forces junior people into silence for fear of losing their jobs . For this reason I am in awe of the bravery of the fair sex who spoke out all the more ; they were far brave than I and other male uranologist have been over the years . ”
In the wake of the investigating , and Buzzfeed ’s report , Marcy brand an apology of sorts in anopen letter to the astronomy residential district :
“ While I do not agree with each ill that was made , it is vindicated that my doings was unwelcomed by some women . I take full responsibility and hold myself completely accountable for my actions and the impact they had . For that and to the women affected , I sincerely rationalise . It is difficult to carry how painful it is for me to realize that I was a source of suffering for any of my cleaning woman colleague , however unintentional . ”
And what penalty did the university mete out after find out that Marcy had violated Berkeley ’s intimate harassment policies ? They gave him a “ hard-and-fast set of behavioural standard ” to adhere to from now on , and told him if he did n’t behave , and the school received any more complaints , only then would he be approve , and peradventure fired .
This was widely perceived as an ineffectual smack on the radiocarpal joint , pass on the sincerity of the violations , and the fact that his behavior had been choke on for years . As Joan Schmelz , who until recently moderate the American Astronomical Society ’s Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy , told Buzzfeed , “ I ’ve seen intimate harassers get slaps on the wrist before . This is n’t even a smack on the wrist . ” It ’s more of a modest finger - wagging . Tsk - tsk .
Even worse , the section ’s interim chair , Gibor Basri , direct out a jaw - droppingtone - deaf emailto mental faculty about the news , writing , “ Of naturally , this is hardest for Geoff in this bit . I ask that those who have the way for it ( now or afterward ) , listen him out and judge whether there is elbow room for salvation in all that will transpirate . ” He made no mention of Marcy ’s victims .
This did not go over well .
On Monday , 24 of Marcy’scolleagues in Berkeley ’s astronomydepartmentissued a statementdeclaring that he “ can not perform the functions of a faculty member . ” Thegraduate studentsandpostdocsweren’t silent either , call out the university for its limp reply :
“ The University ’s unsuccessful person to inflict meaningful consequences on Geoff Marcy — offering instead vague threats of succeeding sanctions should the behavior continue — suggests that Berkeley ’s presidency respect prestigiousness and grant money over the well-being of the vernal scientist it is charged with training , ”
The scandal was n’t limited to the uranology department . “ I am so thwarted and revolted with my university , ” Berkeley biology professor Michael Eisenwrote on his blog . “ It is simply incomprehensible that Marcy was not okay in any way and that , were it not for Ghorayshi ’s work we would n’t even lie with anything about this . ”
face up with such a incorporated public outcry , Marcy capitulate and tendered his surrender . But the consequences are far from over . For instance , what will happen to his two alum scholarly person at Berkeley ?
Typically , students rely on their advisor for , say , access to the Keck scope , Caltech stargazer Mike Brown told Gizmodo via email . “ If your adviser no longer is at an institute with access , you could be in big difficulty , ” he said . Harvard global scientist Sara Seagertold Buzzfeedthat she and others have widen their bread and butter to Marcy ’s graduate students , offering “ to host them for a short terminus visit ( if they need to get aside ) or assist them transplant to another school with a suitable advisor . ”
Okay , but what about his research Duncan Grant ? In Marcy ’s case , Buzzfeed reportsthat this amounts to near $ 900,000 in federal grants , plus another $ 100 million earmarked for Breakthrough Listen , a individual project to find extraterrestrial civilization . ( Marcyresigned from that positionas well . )
Grants are usually transferrable , according to Brown , although NASA ’s President Grant are awarded to institutions rather than individual scientists . stock recitation at Caltech , for example , is to countenance departing faculty to be visit professors for a few years until the grant tend out — that way graduate students and postdocs , who rely on such financial support , are n’t left high and dry . However , “ Presumably that is not go to go on , ” said Brown . “ sure enough it ’s not the first time someone resigned a mental faculty position in a hurry , but I in reality do n’t experience what happens [ now ] . ”
unhappily , Marcy is not the only astronomer — and certainlynot the only scientist — to overwork the asymmetry of force in academe to prey on their pupil . This has to change . Meg Urry , manager of the Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics and president of the American Astronomical Society ( AAS ) , delineate some cerebration about how to combat sexual harassment in aguest post for Scientific American :
“ The cultivation of astronomy department should favor the well - being of students as much or more than mental faculty . Every allegation of sexual misconduct should be investigate , not shunt apart . upshot for harassers must be serious and systematically applied . And it is full of life that we support women who do have the courage to speak up , who take chances retaliation in the worse case and who often digest unbelief or dismissal . ”
possibly the fact that Marcy did n’t get away with it in the end offers a glimmer of hope for the future . Maybe otherserial harassers in the communitywill think doubly now before hitting on that scented young matter in the lab . And possibly , just maybe , a twenty-four hour period will derive when I wo n’t ever again have to take time away from covering cool science towrite yet another billet about sexual harassment . Because , in the words of my honored Gizmodo associate - in - branch , Mika McKinnon , “ Fuck this . Seriously , sleep with this . ”
UPDATE ( 10/16/15 ):
The AAS hasreleased the following statementon sexual harassment by faculty :
Last Friday , newsworthiness organizations report that one of our colleagues , Prof. Geoff Marcy of the University of California at Berkeley ( UCB ) , was enquire for having sexually harry at least four women over a catamenia of at least a decade . The two women mentioned by name in the news reports are respected AAS members . Prof. Marcy posted a letter of excuse for his doings on his website , which he also sent to the AAS and to several colleagues , and he has resigned from the UCB faculty and from his position as primary investigator of the $ 100 million Breakthrough Listen project search for life beyond Earth .
Scientists do their best workplace in a reverential surroundings that “ encourages the gratis expression and exchange of scientific mind ” — to quote theAAS Anti - Harassment Policy , which is codify in ourBylaws . TheAAS Ethics Statementstates that “ All citizenry encountered in one ’s professional lifetime should be treated with regard ” and what is more , that “ More senior members of the professing , especially research supervisors , have a particular responsibility to help the inquiry , educational , and professional development of educatee and subordinate word . ” The statement specifically mention their obligation for “ providing dependable , supportive work environments . ”
The AAS deplores intimate harassment and utter its unequivocal support for the masses who risk their own professional status by speaking publicly for protect others from standardized abuse .
The publicity surrounding the recent incident offers an important chance for all of us to talk about , within our groups and institutions , what responsibilities we have as professionals and how we can secure that everyone in our profession is afford a good , supportive work within which they can thrive . It is improbable this kind of behavior has occurred at only one mental home , and each of us should look carefully to our own spaces . The AAS trust this is a moment in which we can ameliorate our professional climate in of import ways , and we further everyone to discuss harassment in uranology with their colleagues and to contribute to its eradication . For our own part , the AAS will produce a special task force play to extend the AAS Ethics Statement to include procedures to be followed in the effect that an AAS member violates any aspect of its supply .
We experience in a special moment for astronomy , with major discoveries and new world to uncover . It is a privilege to enter in the quest to realise our universe of discourse . If we pay attention to climate and availableness in our teaching , learning , and research space , we will do good from a broader gift syndicate , new ideas , and new get-up-and-go . uranology will be the better for it .
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