tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34237253719208689222024-03-15T21:10:22.241-04:00Balter's BlogMichael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.comBlogger747125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-61022539631106989952023-08-02T12:12:00.005-04:002023-08-02T12:12:24.053-04:00Sexual harassment in wildlife ecology: The case of Max Allen, University of Illinois<p> Note: This post was originally published on my Substack newsletter, <a href="http://michaelbalter.substack.com">"Words for the Wise"</a></p><p><br /></p><div class="post-header" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: #fff2d1; color: #655a3d; font-family: Spectral, serif, -apple-system, "system-ui", "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 19px;"><h1 class="post-title unpublished" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); font-family: var(--font_family_headings, var(--font_family_headings_preset, 'SF Compact Display', -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol')); font-size: var(--font-size-32); font-weight: var(--font_weight_headings_preset, bold); line-height: var(--line-height-36); margin: 0px;">Sexual harassment in wildlife ecology: The case of Max Allen, University of Illinois</h1><h3 class="subtitle" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--print_secondary, var(--print_secondary_on_web_bg_color, var(--print_secondary, var(--color-secondary)))); font-family: var(--font_family_headings, var(--font_family_headings_preset, 'SF Compact Display', -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol')); font-size: var(--font-size-18); font-weight: 400; line-height: var(--line-height-24); margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: var(--size-12);">Allen, at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has been the subject of at least two Title IX complaints filed by students and faculty. So far the university has done little about his behavior.</h3><div class="pencraft frontend-pencraft-Box-module__reset--VfQY8 frontend-pencraft-Box-module__display-flex--ZqeZt frontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-direction-column--Rq7pk frontend-pencraft-Box-module__padding-bottom-16--KVxKv" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; display: flex; flex-direction: column; padding-bottom: 16px; text-decoration: unset;"><div class="pencraft frontend-pencraft-Box-module__reset--VfQY8 frontend-pencraft-Box-module__display-flex--ZqeZt frontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-direction-column--Rq7pk frontend-pencraft-Box-module__padding-y-16--ohCEm" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); 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--tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: 0px; text-decoration-color: unset; text-decoration-line: unset; text-decoration-style: unset; text-decoration-thickness: 0px;">MICHAEL BALTER</a></div></div><div class="pencraft frontend-pencraft-Box-module__reset--VfQY8 frontend-pencraft-Box-module__display-flex--ZqeZt frontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-gap-4--zeW5_" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; 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font-family: var(--font-family-meta); font-size: 11px; letter-spacing: 0.2px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; text-decoration: unset; text-transform: uppercase;">AUG 2, 2023</div></div></div></div></div><div class="pencraft frontend-pencraft-Box-module__flexGrow--mx4xz frontend-pencraft-Box-module__reset--VfQY8 frontend-pencraft-Box-module__display-flex--ZqeZt frontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-justify-space-between--NvIcg frontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-align-center--rSd6h frontend-pencraft-Box-module__flex-gap-16--TpblU frontend-pencraft-Box-module__padding-y-16--ohCEm frontend-pencraft-Box-module__border-top-detail-themed--e17yZ frontend-pencraft-Box-module__border-bottom-detail-themed--eVwFY post-ufi" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; 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--tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%;" width="512" /></picture><div class="image-link-expand" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; align-items: center; background: var(--color-bg-modal); border-radius: 6px; cursor: pointer; display: flex; height: var(--size-32); justify-content: center; opacity: 0; position: absolute; right: var(--size-12); top: var(--size-12); transition: all var(--animation-timing-fast) var(--animation-smoothing); width: var(--size-32);"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2" fill="none" height="16" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="#FFFFFF" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_secondary, var(--print_secondary_on_web_bg_color, var(--print_secondary, var(--color-secondary)))); font-size: calc(var(--font-size-14) + var(--font_size_body_offset, 0px)); font-weight: var(--font-weight-regular); letter-spacing: var(--letter-spacing-14); line-height: var(--line-height-20); margin-top: var(--size-8); padding-left: 109.195px; padding-right: 109.195px; text-align: center; width: 509.594px;">Max Allen</figcaption></figure></div><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;"><br /></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;"><br /></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">One of my least pleasant tasks as a journalist begins when survivors of sexual harassment, bullying, or other kinds of abuse contact me and ask for help exposing an abuser. I’ve been doing this #MeToo reporting for eight years now, beginning when I was still a correspondent for </span><em style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;"><a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/sexual-misconduct-case-has-rocked-anthropology" rel="" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; text-decoration-line: none;">Science</a></em><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">; continuing for </span><em style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;"><a href="https://www.theverge.com/2016/10/24/13359794/smithsonian-sexual-misconduct-investigation-miguel-pinto" rel="" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; text-decoration-line: none;">The Verge</a></em><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;"> and </span><em style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;"><a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/leading-science-museum-turns-the-page-on-a-prominent-metoo-case/" rel="" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; text-decoration-line: none;">Scientific American</a></em><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">; and now as an independent journalist. Over that time I have </span><a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2018/12/sexual-abusers-i-have-known.html" rel="" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; text-decoration-line: none;">investigated dozens of cases</a><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">, some of which have resulted in the </span><a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/bullying-allegations-lead-firing-prominent-ancient-dna-expert" rel="" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; text-decoration-line: none;">termination</a><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;"> or </span><a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/05/peter-rathjen-serial-sexual-predator.html" rel="" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; text-decoration-line: none;">forced resignation</a><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;"> of the perpetrators. Many others have been highly publicized.</span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;"><br /></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">This year, I have reported already on two such investigations: Ecologist </span><a href="https://michaelbalter.substack.com/p/anatomy-of-a-toxic-lab-global-biodiversity" rel="" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; text-decoration-line: none;">Walter Jetz at Yale</a><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">, whose toxic lab has become notorious among researchers in his field; and </span><a href="https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1679191587966812167.html" rel="" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; text-decoration-line: none;">Adrien Finzi</a><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">, a biologist at Boston University, whom BU finally forced to resign after nearly two decades of abuses, including physically threatening other faculty and bullying students.</span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;"><br /></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">A few months ago, a source at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign contacted me to ask if I could look into allegations of sexual harassment, stalking, and bullying by Max Allen, a carnivore ecologist at the university. Allen is affiliated with UI’s </span><a href="https://nres.illinois.edu/directory/maxallen" rel="" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; text-decoration-line: none;">Nature Resources & Environmental Sciences</a><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;"> department and also with the </span><a href="https://maxallen.inhs.illinois.edu/" rel="" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; text-decoration-line: none;">Illinois Natural History Survey</a><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">. The source had been talking with other students and faculty about Allen’s behavior. But despite the filing of at least two Title IX complaints against him, the university had taken no serious action.</span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">The source referred me to survivors of the abuses, who in turn put me in contact with other witnesses. I was eventually able to talk to a number of victims of the alleged misconduct, along with others who had either witnessed the incidents or been told about them contemporaneously by the victims. In the meantime, I filed Illinois Freedom of Information Act requests with the university, which eventually provided me with documentation of two of the Title IX complaints. These documents were entirely consistent with the accounts I had been given by the sources.</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">Two of the survivors of the abuse gave me permission to relate details of their experiences as long as their names were not used. This request for anonymity is intended to safeguard their privacy and to protect them from immediate retaliation, as well as possible future negative consequences on their careers. Nevertheless I have confirmed their identities and the details of the stories they told me.</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">Some other witnesses, who felt more vulnerable if identifying details were provided, asked that I be more circumspect in describing what happened to them.</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">To help with the narrative flow, I will call the first two witnesses by the pseudonyms </span><strong style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">Alice</strong><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;"> and </span><strong style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">Jill.</strong></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"></p><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); font-family: var(--font_family_headings, var(--font_family_headings_preset, 'SF Compact Display', -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol')); font-size: 1.375em; font-weight: var(--font_weight_headings_preset, bold); line-height: 1.16em; margin: 1em 0px 0.625em; position: relative;"><br /></h3><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); font-family: var(--font_family_headings, var(--font_family_headings_preset, 'SF Compact Display', -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol')); font-size: 1.375em; font-weight: var(--font_weight_headings_preset, bold); line-height: 1.16em; margin: 1em 0px 0.625em; position: relative;">Alice’s story: “Let’s go for a walk.”<div class="header-anchor-widget offset-top" id="§alices-story-lets-go-for-a-walk" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; height: 30.3047px; left: -56px; position: absolute; top: -72px; width: 56px;"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button-container" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; align-items: center; display: flex; height: 1.2em; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 72px; width: 40px;"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button" href="https://michaelbalter.substack.com/i/135630863/alices-story-lets-go-for-a-walk" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; align-items: center; border-radius: 50%; cursor: pointer; display: flex; height: 40px; justify-content: center; opacity: 0; width: 40px;"><svg class="header-anchor-widget-icon" fill="none" height="20" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M10 13a5 5 0 0 0 7.54.54l3-3a5 5 0 0 0-7.07-7.07l-1.72 1.71"></path><path d="M14 11a5 5 0 0 0-7.54-.54l-3 3a5 5 0 0 0 7.07 7.07l1.71-1.71"></path></svg></div></div></div></h3><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">Alice grew up in the midwest, where she developed a passion for wildlife, especially small mammals. After working at a job in her home state that allowed to pursue these interests, she came to the University of Illinois in fall 2021 to do a masters degree. Like many other students in her department, she would attend speaker events and then go out for food or drinks with the speaker and other colleagues. She met Allen when he happened to be sitting at the table next to her after one of these events.</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">At first everything seemed very professional. Allen offered to help Alice with various aspects of her studies and research. But the next day she began getting emails from Allen, who wanted her to come along with him on various field trips. He asked, “When can we meet?” He even came to Alice’s office in the department to find her. Alice consulted with faculty in the department and friends, who told her to be cautious.</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">But the emails from Allen kept coming, along with a request for her telephone number. Alice began feeling increasingly uncomfortable, and declined his offers to get together, including one suggestion that they go for a walk in the woods. Finally he sent her an email that said, “I really want to see you again.” For Alice that was a “huge red flag.”</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">“It was so personal. I was really caught off guard. It was extremely inappropriate,” she told me. She began to share more about what was happening with other students, although she did not trust the university reporting systems nor the faculty to help her. Meanwhile, she told Allen outright that she did not appreciate his mixing professional and personal matters. She was still hoping that the situation could be resolved without alienating a faculty member who was key in her field.</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">Alice says that Allen apologized. “I’m so sorry,” he wrote. “I’m so embarrassed.” But he still suggested that they go for a walk.</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">“It really shook me up,” Alice said. “It colored my view of academia.”</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;"><br /></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">Max then backed off and did not bother Alice any more. But in February of 2022, Allen, Alice, and other students from the university attended the annual meeting of the </span><a href="https://fisheries.org/events/82nd-midwest-fish-wildlife-conference/" rel="" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; text-decoration-line: none;">Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference</a><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">, which was held in Des Moines, Iowa.</span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;"><br /></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">Alice soon found out that Allen had signed up to be a mentor at the conference, and ended up being assigned to a student, also from the midwest, who </span><strong style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">turned out to be Jill</strong><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">. Alice “completely avoided” Allen at this meeting, but on the way to the meeting she got a message from him asking if she wanted to have dinner. She ignored the invitation.</span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">Nevertheless, during the meeting Jill began hanging out with the Illinois students. At one point she came up to Alice and said, “I know about you and Max.” It turned out that Allen had told Jill that he and Alice had had some kind of relationship.</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">“It was very disturbing,” Alice told me. These events were also witnessed by two other students who have spoken with me for this report.</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">At this point, let’s let Jill tell her own story.</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"></p><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); font-family: var(--font_family_headings, var(--font_family_headings_preset, 'SF Compact Display', -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol')); font-size: 1.375em; font-weight: var(--font_weight_headings_preset, bold); line-height: 1.16em; margin: 1em 0px 0.625em; position: relative;"><br /></h3><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); font-family: var(--font_family_headings, var(--font_family_headings_preset, 'SF Compact Display', -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol')); font-size: 1.375em; font-weight: var(--font_weight_headings_preset, bold); line-height: 1.16em; margin: 1em 0px 0.625em; position: relative;">Jill’s story: A “mentor” who talked only about women and not science.<div class="header-anchor-widget offset-top" id="§jills-story-a-mentor-who-talked-only-about-women-and-not-science" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; height: 60.6094px; left: -56px; position: absolute; top: -72px; width: 56px;"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button-container" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; align-items: center; display: flex; height: 1.2em; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 72px; width: 40px;"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button" href="https://michaelbalter.substack.com/i/135630863/jills-story-a-mentor-who-talked-only-about-women-and-not-science" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; align-items: center; border-radius: 50%; cursor: pointer; display: flex; height: 40px; justify-content: center; opacity: 0; width: 40px;"><svg class="header-anchor-widget-icon" fill="none" height="20" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M10 13a5 5 0 0 0 7.54.54l3-3a5 5 0 0 0-7.07-7.07l-1.72 1.71"></path><path d="M14 11a5 5 0 0 0-7.54-.54l-3 3a5 5 0 0 0 7.07 7.07l1.71-1.71"></path></svg></div></div></div></h3><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">Jill was a student at a small university in the midwest, specializing in conservation biology. She was finishing up a graduate degree and ready to begin looking for jobs, but needed advice about where to go next in her career. The organizers of the Des Moines meeting accepted her abstract to give a presentation, the first time she had presented at a conference. It was a big deal, but somewhat stressful, as she was hoping to meet other scientists and do the usual networking that young researchers need to do.</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">So she signed up for the mentor program offered by the meeting, and was assigned to Max Allen. The second day of the meeting she was getting ready to give her presentation, and was having a beer to “calm my nerves.” Allen came over and she told him she was nervous. Instead of responding, Jill says, Allen looked at a woman leaning over a balcony just above and asked, “Does she have a wedding ring?”</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">Jill would meet with Allen each day, hoping for career advice. But he mostly talked about the dating app he was using and what kinds of results he was getting. Allen told Jill that the women in Iowa were not as “hot” as those in Illinois.</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">“I tried to be polite,” Jill told me. But even when they were not meeting, “he was following me everywhere.” At one point Allen saw Alice and told Jill that he had tried to date her. “I think she hates me,” Allen said.</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">Jill was extremely upset. She called a wildlife enthusiast she knew back home, explaining in tears what was happening. The friend launched a series of Tweets alerting people at the meeting about the situation, which got a lot of attention from conference goers. Here are two of them; I have cropped out the name of this brave ally to protect her privacy, although at the time she made no bones about openly trying to protect Jill.</p><div class="captioned-image-container" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; margin: var(--size-32) auto;"><figure style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; 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opacity: 0; position: absolute; right: var(--size-12); top: var(--size-12); transition: all var(--animation-timing-fast) var(--animation-smoothing); width: var(--size-32);"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2" fill="none" height="16" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="#FFFFFF" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></div></div></a></figure></div><div class="captioned-image-container" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; 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--tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;"><source sizes="100vw" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6950b0bb-8a2a-4b8c-bb22-eb0cbcf4f85e_1698x440.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6950b0bb-8a2a-4b8c-bb22-eb0cbcf4f85e_1698x440.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6950b0bb-8a2a-4b8c-bb22-eb0cbcf4f85e_1698x440.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6950b0bb-8a2a-4b8c-bb22-eb0cbcf4f85e_1698x440.jpeg 1456w" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" type="image/webp"></source><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" data-attrs="{"src":"https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6950b0bb-8a2a-4b8c-bb22-eb0cbcf4f85e_1698x440.jpeg","srcNoWatermark":null,"fullscreen":null,"imageSize":null,"height":377,"width":1456,"resizeWidth":null,"bytes":146364,"alt":null,"title":null,"type":"image/jpeg","href":null,"belowTheFold":true,"topImage":false,"internalRedirect":null}" height="377" loading="lazy" sizes="100vw" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6950b0bb-8a2a-4b8c-bb22-eb0cbcf4f85e_1698x440.jpeg" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6950b0bb-8a2a-4b8c-bb22-eb0cbcf4f85e_1698x440.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6950b0bb-8a2a-4b8c-bb22-eb0cbcf4f85e_1698x440.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6950b0bb-8a2a-4b8c-bb22-eb0cbcf4f85e_1698x440.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6950b0bb-8a2a-4b8c-bb22-eb0cbcf4f85e_1698x440.jpeg 1456w" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); 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opacity: 0; position: absolute; right: var(--size-12); top: var(--size-12); transition: all var(--animation-timing-fast) var(--animation-smoothing); width: var(--size-32);"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2" fill="none" height="16" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="#FFFFFF" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="16" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></div></div></a></figure></div><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">At this point the Illinois students formed an informal protection committee and began accompanying Jill wherever she went—even to the restroom—so she could avoid Allen when she needed to. But she still felt she had to meet with him, and was worried about professional repercussions if she rebuffed him before the meeting was over. Allen continued his constant patter about other women. He told Jill he wanted to move “out west” where he had a lake house, so he could meet women there.</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">“I never got a single piece of advice from him,” Jill told me. “But I didn’t tell anyone” other than her friends at the meeting. “I was ashamed. It was traumatizing. I did not feel I could go to the meeting organizers,” fearing that they would not believe her or they would take Allen’s side.</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">After the meeting was over and she had returned home, Allen texted her three or four times to try to get in touch, but she ignored him. Finally it was over.</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">“He is not well,” Jill says. “He has lost touch with reality, about what is okay and what’s not okay. He has no respect for women. No woman should be around this man.”</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"></p><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); font-family: var(--font_family_headings, var(--font_family_headings_preset, 'SF Compact Display', -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol')); font-size: 1.375em; font-weight: var(--font_weight_headings_preset, bold); line-height: 1.16em; margin: 1em 0px 0.625em; position: relative;"><br /></h3><h3 class="header-with-anchor-widget" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); font-family: var(--font_family_headings, var(--font_family_headings_preset, 'SF Compact Display', -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol')); font-size: 1.375em; font-weight: var(--font_weight_headings_preset, bold); line-height: 1.16em; margin: 1em 0px 0.625em; position: relative;">Title IX’s filed against Max Allen, but university fails to take serious action.<div class="header-anchor-widget offset-top" id="§title-ixs-filed-against-max-allen-but-university-fails-to-take-serious-action" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; height: 60.6094px; left: -56px; position: absolute; top: -72px; width: 56px;"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button-container" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; align-items: center; display: flex; height: 1.2em; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 72px; width: 40px;"><div class="header-anchor-widget-button" href="https://michaelbalter.substack.com/i/135630863/title-ixs-filed-against-max-allen-but-university-fails-to-take-serious-action" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; align-items: center; border-radius: 50%; cursor: pointer; display: flex; height: 40px; justify-content: center; opacity: 0; width: 40px;"><svg class="header-anchor-widget-icon" fill="none" height="20" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" stroke="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><path d="M10 13a5 5 0 0 0 7.54.54l3-3a5 5 0 0 0-7.07-7.07l-1.72 1.71"></path><path d="M14 11a5 5 0 0 0-7.54-.54l-3 3a5 5 0 0 0 7.07 7.07l1.71-1.71"></path></svg></div></div></div></h3><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">In the course of this investigation, I spoke with other students both at Illinois and who had attended the Des Moines meeting, who either witnessed the events directly or were told about it at the time by the victims. Eventually some of the faculty were informed about what was happening. They included the chairs of the two departments Allen was affiliated with, </span><a href="https://directory.illinois.edu/detail?userId=schauber@illinois.edu&widgetId=15" rel="" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; text-decoration-line: none;">Eric Schauber</a><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">, director of the Illinois Natural History Survey, and </span><a href="https://dev.aces.illinois.edu/directory/schooley" rel="" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; text-decoration-line: none;">Robert Schooley</a><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">, head of the department of Natural Resources & Environmental Sciences; and </span><a href="https://nres.illinois.edu/directory/tjbenson" rel="" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; text-decoration-line: none;">T.J. Benson</a><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">, </span><a href="https://nres.illinois.edu/directory/jmokeefe" rel="" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; text-decoration-line: none;">Joy O’Keefe</a><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">, and </span><a href="https://nres.illinois.edu/directory/mpward" rel="" style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; text-decoration-line: none;">Michael Ward</a><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">, all faculty members in the NRES department. (I am told that Schauber is Allen’s most direct supervisor.)</span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">Also, according to sources, some of the above faculty members had become aware that Allen had also harassed at least one and possibly more undergraduate women he came into contact with in the university’s undergrad wildlife society, and also some cases of bullying students, including one graduate student whose career was badly affected by the abuse (to protect the identity of this student I am not telling her story in any detail.)</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">On March 12, 2022, Schauber and Schooley, in their capacity as Title IX mandatory reporters, filed a complaint against Allen with the university concerning the alleged harassment of Alice, and also the events concerning Jill at the Iowa meeting. On March 14, a second Title IX was filed, this time by Schauber, Schooley, and Benson.</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">The university, after a somewhat cursory investigation, decided to conduct an “Educational Conversation” with Allen, which took place on June 23, according to the Title IX records. The case was then closed. However, on July 15, 2022, the case was reopened to include new information, including testimony from a student who had been a witness to the events in Iowa and in Illinois. The university did not release any further records to me under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, and I have not yet appealed that decision. However, all indications are that the university never informed any of the students about any actions it did take.</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">Schauber and Schooley declined to comment on events, both saying in nearly identical words that they could not “comment on personnel matters.” Benson did not respond to repeated requests for comment.</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;"><br /></span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">As I have written many times in the past, </span><strong style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;">these are not really “personnel matters,”</strong><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;"> a term that implies they only concern the often powerful and usually male perpetrators of abuse. Rather, they affect, much more of course, the victims and survivors, current students who might have to work with the abusers, and future students, who—unawares of the conduct of professors they may choose to work with, because of the full secrecy the institution attempts to maintain—are likely to become future victims.</span></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">The primary concern of universities and other institutions appears to be, routinely, to protect their own institutional reputations, and NOT to protect students and other vulnerable colleagues. This has been true of nearly every case I have worked on, with only a few exceptions—and those usually happen only when the institution in question realizes that all their attempts have failed to prevent a case from becoming public.</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">In the end, the institutions involved lose their credibility, their reputations, and the trust of students who thought they would be protected as they try to advance their academic careers.</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;">When will they learn?</p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_web_bg_color, var(--color-primary)); line-height: 1.6em; margin: 0 0 var(--size-20) 0;"><br /></p><p style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); 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cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: var(--font_family_ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol'); font-size: var(--font-size-14); font-weight: var(--font-weight-600); height: auto; line-height: var(--font-size-20); margin: 0px; opacity: 1; outline: 0px; padding: 12px 20px; text-decoration-line: none; text-wrap: nowrap;"><span style="--tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; color: var(--print_on_pop);">Leave a comment</span></a></p></div></div></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-86318834240951872032022-10-20T12:03:00.006-04:002023-06-04T14:27:52.612-04:00Peruvian archaeologist and former culture minister Castillo, ejected from U.S. National Academy of Sciences for sexual harassment, sues Academy and its president for millions of dollars [Updated June 4, 2023: Judge grants defendants's motion for dismissal]<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmtwXVx8vOalgP6ux_2XigEzjxtK6E8gpE8-VL6kzQfyEEDgtTwF_G0TFyc93rTrqXyVE0547-LWCg1ZNICcUH64J7EHMKFzRUJHV_g-YSYrElxY3ioepvVyU6WGAsH1CzBsTp9aTlnpIlePuHv9SjWual7nkRxXMyoVMVn5GiqMxqz_VP9X7BZsYOtQ/s1372/Castillo%20v.%20NAS%20screenshot%20header.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="708" data-original-width="1372" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmtwXVx8vOalgP6ux_2XigEzjxtK6E8gpE8-VL6kzQfyEEDgtTwF_G0TFyc93rTrqXyVE0547-LWCg1ZNICcUH64J7EHMKFzRUJHV_g-YSYrElxY3ioepvVyU6WGAsH1CzBsTp9aTlnpIlePuHv9SjWual7nkRxXMyoVMVn5GiqMxqz_VP9X7BZsYOtQ/w640-h330/Castillo%20v.%20NAS%20screenshot%20header.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>On October 12, Luis Jaime Castillo Butters, an archaeologist at Peru's Pontifical Catholic University (PUCP) in Lima, Peru, sued the National Academy of Sciences and its president, Marcia McNutt, for $5 million in damages. Castillo, who is also a former Peruvian minister of culture, accuses the NAS and McNutt of defaming him when it <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/leading-peruvian-archaeologist-ousted-u-s-national-academy-sciences">expelled him from the Academy in October of last year</a> after an internal investigation confirmed previous allegations of sexual harassment.</p><p>The lawsuit came in the wake of a <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/08/bones-claimed-by-disgraced-uc-santa.html">defamation judgment he obtained in a Peruvian court last May</a> against Marcela Poirier, an anthropologist he accuses of being involved in his expulsion from NAS. Just yesterday, October 20, Marcela and her attorney made their case in front of an appeals court for the judgment to be overturned. Further proceedings are scheduled in two or three weeks before the appeals court makes its decision.</p><p>Marcela has received a great deal of international support, as I reported earlier this year (for all of my reporting on Castillo and the allegations against him, please see the bottom of this post.) On October 17, for example, the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/10/peru-un-experts-concerned-criminalising-women-activists-will-silence-victims">United Nations Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner issued a statement expressing the concern of UN experts</a> that the Castillo case represented criminalization of women activists and an attempt to silence victims of sexual harassment. As the experts noted:</p><p><span face="Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, "Noto Sans CJK SC", "sans-serif"" style="color: #4a4a4a; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0.272px;">“If the court’s decision stands, it could silence other victims and survivors of sexual violence and prevent them from speaking out against their aggressors,” they said. "Defending against a defamation claim can be costly and stressful, leading to potential re-victimisation and mental trauma.”</span></p><p><br /></p><p>In his <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/10/castillo_butters_v_the_national_academy_of_sciences__dcdce-22-03054__0001.0.pdf">Complaint against NAS and McNutt</a> (see link for pdf), Castillo, who is represented by attorney <a href="https://xlppllc.com/team/milton-johns/">Milton C. Johns of Fairfax, Virginia</a> (who has no discernible defamation law experience), accuses both the Academy and McNutt of issuing press releases and other statements about his expulsion. However, no press releases of this kind are attached as exhibits--probably for the simple reason that, as far as I am aware, no such press releases were ever issued. Rather, the NAS press office responded to inquiries from reporters, including me, to confirm what was already clear on the membership page: That <a href="http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/20047363.html">Castillo was no longer a member.</a></p><p>In another remarkable <i>faux pas</i> in the very sloppily compiled Complaint, Castillo insists that he is not a public figure in the United States, thus supposedly lowering the standard of proof for him to win a defamation case (public figures must show "actual malice" to win such cases.) (Sect. 30.) But in Sect. 2 of the Complaint, Castillo claims to be a "prominent and world-renowned scientist..."</p><p>Which is it? (Note that <i>Science</i> has done two stories about Castillo, and I have done many myself.)</p><p>I am sure that the NAS's attorneys will be able to make a good case for quick dismissal of the lawsuit. As the journalist who originally reported the allegations--based on direct testimony from victims and other witnesses, and not rumors or second hand reports--I am very well aware how strong the evidence against Castillo actually is. And, although U.S. Court districts have so far disagreed on whether so-called anti-SLAPP legislation against frivolous lawsuits designed to silence people apply in federal court, DC has a <a href="https://www.rcfp.org/anti-slapp-guide/dc/">strong law in this regard</a>, which could be decisive in this case--since Castillo is claiming the supposed defamation took place in the District of Columbia.</p><p><br /></p><p>As in his attacks on Marcela Poirier, this lawsuit is another in a long series of actions by an accused sexual harasser (the allegations were found by the sexual harassment commision of his own university to be highly credible) to viciously retaliate against his victims and those who support them in the U.S. and Peru.</p><p>And while he has not sued me yet, either in Peru or the U.S., Castillo can be assured that I would defend any such lawsuit with the same determination as in the <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/11/a-guide-to-my-reporting-on-alleged.html">Danielle Kurin case</a> (a former archaeology prof at University of California, Santa Barbara who was <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/08/bones-claimed-by-disgraced-uc-santa.html">forced to resign in disgrace</a>.) Indeed, I have reason to believe that Kurin has actually helped Castillo in his retaliatory behavior, based on questions I was asked when I testified in Marcela's trial.</p><p><br /></p><p>I assume, or at least I hope, that such a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the National Academy of Sciences and its president (who, full disclosure, is a former editor of <i>Science</i>, where I worked for 25 years) will garner the outrage, publicity, and quick dismissal it so richly deserves.</p><p></p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxM-oekGe9PaRwOEDzVUWiUnfXuTlbb5iBEnXMgbUUZMj33UrHaJEzt2bnWOHDT7NaCY3nr7Vbld42XbuitOTcX0ZrMX276ru34p6Lx0q7uy7TSmj2_EM7dePH4SyyV0Z55KTvc42z1I-FiKXTrJOv03VH7Trxzzieut1HER9eDKVy7C0m8g5wfGoN3g/s275/Castillo%20informal.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxM-oekGe9PaRwOEDzVUWiUnfXuTlbb5iBEnXMgbUUZMj33UrHaJEzt2bnWOHDT7NaCY3nr7Vbld42XbuitOTcX0ZrMX276ru34p6Lx0q7uy7TSmj2_EM7dePH4SyyV0Z55KTvc42z1I-FiKXTrJOv03VH7Trxzzieut1HER9eDKVy7C0m8g5wfGoN3g/s1600/Castillo%20informal.jpeg" width="275" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Luis Jaime Castillo Butters</td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiEnpryKXZZwTM0S6k4aBu9rlUISpVvKQCtDOV7m_OLpxkWNRg4Wup9eeqcheIWGJN_Non1KluKS8OgZiLIpmnLu3hjBd-EuI8sWKlGz0pkhaVPOQAeib1i4Ol-yaelRpXJK7xvTlnLBO8QjLOWbrvnLkbt-P-vXPrDyvA0f2xmVs2EepocIYPSpotCmA" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1920" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiEnpryKXZZwTM0S6k4aBu9rlUISpVvKQCtDOV7m_OLpxkWNRg4Wup9eeqcheIWGJN_Non1KluKS8OgZiLIpmnLu3hjBd-EuI8sWKlGz0pkhaVPOQAeib1i4Ol-yaelRpXJK7xvTlnLBO8QjLOWbrvnLkbt-P-vXPrDyvA0f2xmVs2EepocIYPSpotCmA" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Marcia McNutt/ Christopher Michel/ Wikimedia Commons</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><b>The evidence against Luis Jaime Castillo Butters</b>:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/06/andean-archaeology-has-metoo-problem.html">Andean archaeology has a #MeToo problem</a></p><p><a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-victims-of-peruvian-archaeologist.html">The victims of...Castillo...speak out</a></p><p><a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/09/there-are-also-three-direct-allegations.html">A case study in lying [by Castillo's friends and supporters]</a></p><p><a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/08/did-peruvian-archaeologist-and-former.html">Did [Castillo]... try to shake down Yale for an honorary PhD?</a></p><p><a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/02/special-sexual-harassment-commission.html">Sexual harassment commission finds allegations... to be highly credible</a></p><p><a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/03/twice-confirmed-sexual-harasser-luis.html">Twice confirmed sexual harasser Luis Jaime Castillo Butters...Uses his power to... retaliate</a></p><p><a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/03/support-builds-for-peruvian.html">Support builds for Marcela Poirier [victim of retaliation by Castillo]</a></p><p><a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/06/peruvian-anthropologist-marcela-poirier.html">Peruvian anthropologist Marcela Poirier is taking a hit for survivors...</a></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Update Oct 21</b>: <i>Science</i> weighs in with <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/scientist-sues-u-s-national-academy-sciences-after-being-ousted">its story on the lawsuit.</a></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Update Nov 10: NAS and McNutt move for dismissal of the case</b></p><p>On November 3, the Defendants in the case filed a motion to dismiss Castillo's lawsuit on the grounds that he had failed "to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." The motion was accompanied by a <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/dismissal-motion-castillo-v-nas-memorandum.pdf">Memorandum of Points and Authorities</a> which lays out these grounds in detail, or rather, discusses the complete lack of detail about just how NAS and Marcia McNutt had allegedly defamed him. For example, Castillo had claimed that the NAS had put out a press release and other press statements about his ejection from the Academy, but failed to provide these as exhibits in his original Complaint. There is a simple reason for this: No such press releases or press statements were ever issued.</p><p>I will be monitoring the case closely to see how the judge handles this motion; I hope other reporters will do so as well. It's not every day that the U.S.'s top scientific body gets sued for defamation.</p><p><b>Update Nov 19</b>: Castillo has now filed his <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/11/castillo-opposition-to-motion-to-dismiss.pdf">opposition to the motion for dismissal</a> discussed above. It features a number of false statements, but I will hold off commenting until the judge makes her decision.</p><p><b>Update Dec 6</b>: Last night attorneys for NAS and Marcia McNutt filed additional documents in support of their motion for dismissal for failure by Castillo to state a valid claim. The documents can be found <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/12/jenny-mun-declaration.pdf">here</a> and <a href="https://t.co/f85JMc31db">here.</a></p><p><b>Update June 4, 2023</b>: Judge <a href="https://www.pacermonitor.com/case/46389803/CASTILLO_BUTTERS_v_NATIONAL_ACADEMY_OF_SCIENCES_et_al">grants defendants's motion for dismissal</a>, without prejudice. That means Castillo can refile the case IF and ONLY IF he can overcome the deficiencies in his first Complaint. I think that is unlikely.</p> <p></p>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-12304900447739328462022-08-03T17:13:00.024-04:002022-09-22T09:49:43.552-04:00Bones claimed by disgraced UC Santa Barbara anthropologist Danielle Kurin to be those of a missing teenager turn out to be not human, but animal, most likely from a cow. Was a fraud perpetrated on a grieving mother and a traumatized community? [Updated Sept 22, 2022: A real forensic anthropologist weighs in]<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaX4qipDdynljEG7Jxa3R3MWbt6Ls_DuFcQ9oiSr3s93DGSJoNNBkM3-Wu11kHRjY8g9PKDKxZioeo6Ta_vqVih5WM2uoWz-na3ZdnhpKsyXS9Y5M1qdQg3SUCs_Q9Cwyf-xV-BUVW7LgksrX6mo2Jy9sV0f3NC3T7QX1-lYh6qRP-QOBKvy7dJLBwOw/s1600/Montecito%20mudslide.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaX4qipDdynljEG7Jxa3R3MWbt6Ls_DuFcQ9oiSr3s93DGSJoNNBkM3-Wu11kHRjY8g9PKDKxZioeo6Ta_vqVih5WM2uoWz-na3ZdnhpKsyXS9Y5M1qdQg3SUCs_Q9Cwyf-xV-BUVW7LgksrX6mo2Jy9sV0f3NC3T7QX1-lYh6qRP-QOBKvy7dJLBwOw/w640-h360/Montecito%20mudslide.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><p>The 2018 Montecito debris flow killed more than 20 people and destroyed many homes.</p> <p></p><p>On July 22 of last year, former University of California, Santa Barbara anthropology professor Danielle Kurin went public with claims that she and her undergraduate students had found remains of the missing teenager Jack Cantin, who had disappeared on January 9, 2018 during a major mudslide and debris flow in the Santa Barbara suburb of Montecito. Kurin, along with Jack's mother Kim--who had never given up the search for her missing son--gave a number of interviews to print, TV, and online media about the finds. Kurin told reporters that she was "90% certain" the bones belonged to Jack.</p><p>The Santa Barbara Sheriff's office (which includes the county coroner) was taken by surprise by the announcement, and had to ask Kurin to provide details. Kurin gave them a one-page summary of her findings, whereupon the Sheriff announced that it would launch its own investigation into what up to then had been classified as a "missing person" case.</p><p><b>On July 12 of this year, after nearly a full year of investigation that included forensic reports and DNA analysis, the case was declared closed. Conclusion: The bones Kurin and her team had found were not human, but belonged to a non-human animal species, most likely cow.</b></p><p>Over the past few weeks, in response to California Public Records Act requests from me and <a href="https://www.independent.com/2022/08/03/data-suggests-cow-new-report-casts-more-doubt-over-montecito-debris-flow-remains/">a local Santa Barbara reporter</a>, the Sheriff has begun releasing the relevant investigative documents, which were kept confidential while the inquiry was ongoing. More documents may be coming soon, but those already made public add up to a convincing case that Kurin never had any basis to claim that she had found the missing teenager. The question remains whether Kurin knew that all along, but claimed she had found Jack to help her with her bid for tenure at UCSB, which her own anthropology department had recommended against.</p><p>If she did know, then she has perpetrated a fraud against Jack's mother Kim, the Montecito and Santa Barbara communities, and her own UCSB colleagues and students. More than 20 people were killed in the 2018 disaster. While most of their bodies were found, the remains of Jack, along with a two-year child, have yet to be found.</p><p><b>Note: Neither Kim Cantin's attorney nor forensic anthropologist Rick Snow (mentioned below) agreed to provide any comment on the record for this post. However, Raquel Zick, the Sheriff's spokesperson, told me that the department was satisfied that the remains found by Kurin's team did not belong to Jack Cantin, and that the missing person case would remain open.</b></p><p>I began expressing my own doubts about Kurin's claims a few months after the announcement, when developments in a bogus $18 million defamation suit Kurin had filed against me for my reporting about her long history of misconduct and abuses <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/10/metoo-journalist-declares-settlement.html">made it possible</a>. For background, here are links to my reporting on the Jack Cantin case:</p><h1 class="post-title" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 15px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">-- <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-strange-case-of-montecito-mudslide.html">The Strange Case of the Montecito Mudslide Human Remains</a></span></h1><h1 class="post-title" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 15px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">-- <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/01/new-evidence-suggests-former-uc-santa.html">New evidence suggests former UC Santa Barbara anthropology professor Danielle Kurin exploited a grieving mother and vulnerable students in her bid to get tenure. Now she has resigned.</a></span></h1><div><br /></div><div><h1 class="post-title" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 15px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">-- <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/03/california-public-records-act-documents.html">California Public Records Act documents provide new insights into the departure of Danielle Kurin from UC Santa Barbara</a></span></h1></div><div><h1 class="post-title" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #111111; font-family: "Libre Baskerville", serif; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 15px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: small;">-- <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/05/still-more-evidence-that-disgraced.html">Still more evidence that disgraced @ucsantabarbara archaeologist Danielle Kurin exploited a mother’s grief to try to get tenure—and that the university administration knew, or should have known, she was doing it.</a></span></h1></div><div><br /></div><div>And, for reference to what I discuss below, here are the key documents that the Santa Barbara Sheriff has now released. While there are some (by and large unnecessary) redactions, the Sheriff has now agreed not to redact the names of Jack Cantin, Kim Cantin, or Danielle Kurin, given that they are already in the public domain.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>-- <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/08/investigators-report-unredacted.pdf">The report of Officer C. Biedinger on the Sheriff-Coroner Investigation, release date Jul 12, 2022</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>-- <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/08/kurin-fast-fact-unredacted.pdf">Danielle Kurin's "Fast Fact Forensic Report" dated July 16, 2021</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>-- <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/08/forensic-anthropology-report.pdf">Report of forensic anthropologist Rick Snow of Knoxville, TN</a></div><div><br /></div><div>-- <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/08/includes-astrea-report.pdf">Miscellaneous documents including the key DNA testing report by Astrea Forensics </a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>As these documents have been publicly released, they can now be shared and disseminated freely. We are hoping for additional documents including Kurin's more detailed forensics report, which in the end was reportedly rejected by the Sheriff-Coroner for not being conclusive. In addition, I previously reported on a lawsuit, now dismissed, that Kim Cantin filed against the Sheriff and the County of Santa Barbara for allegedly violating her rights by holding onto some of the remains too long, as the investigation proceeded. The <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/cantin-v-sb-county.pdf">Complaint in that suit</a> also provides a lot of detail, especially from Kim's point of view, and provides considerable evidence about the role Danielle Kurin played in convincing Kim (and her students) that other experts, such as forensic anthropologist Rick Snow, were wrong and she was right about her interpretation of the remains. It is recommended reading.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>The investigator's report reveals there was never any evidence to support Kurin's claims that she had found Jack Cantin.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>This 12-page, single-spaced document provides a detailed account of the investigation that the Sheriff-Coroner conducted beginning in May 2021, when Kim Cantin first approached the department with some bone fragments that Kurin and her students had found, and May 2022, when the investigator was informed of Astrea's DNA results. Some key details:</div><div><br /></div><div>-- After Kurin and her team found two fragments they thought were bone on May 10, 2021, Kurin took the fragments to her lab to analyze rather than report them to the coroner, as required by California law. Kim Cantin then contacted the Sheriff's office, and brought the fragments to the department the following day.</div><div><br /></div><div>-- The Sheriff-Coroner investigators were dubious from the beginning that the bones were human, and in one case, that of an alleged toe bone, thought they might actually be plant remains. At the same time, the investigators began to explore possible DNA analysis of the material, and obtained a DNA sample from Kim to use as a comparison.</div><div><br /></div><div>-- Later that month, the Sheriff-Coroner asked forensic anthropologist Rick Snow, head of Forensic Anthropology Consulting Services in Knoxville, to look at the materials and shipped them to him (one of Snow's reports is linked to above.) Snow thought the supposed toe bone was plant rather than animal, but said he thought the other bone might be human. However, Snow said, that bone appeared to be older than three years, the date of the debris flow.</div><div><br /></div><div>-- When Kurin and Kim made their public announcements on July 22, 2021, Kurin's report (linked to above) indicated that an additional six pieces of bone had been found during excavations (again, none of these pieces of bone were reported to the Sheriff-Coroner as required by California law.)</div><div><br /></div><div>-- In August 2021, Kim Cantin agreed to give one bone fragment to investigators to see if the Kern County Coroner's DNA lab, which the Santa Barbara Sheriff often collaborated with, could get DNA out of it. This fragment had been identified by Kurin as coming from Jack Cantin's knee.</div><div><br /></div><div>-- A few days later, the Kern County lab completed its DNA testing. The amount of DNA in the bone was very low, and the lab concluded that while it could have belonged to a human male, it was also possible that the DNA found was due to contamination from an outside source.</div><div><br /></div><div>-- At this point investigators began to contact a number of university-based DNA labs around the U.S. to see if they would be willing to do their own analyses (these even included ancient DNA expert David Reich's lab at Harvard University.) None of these labs were willing or able to take on the task, although Astrea Forensics was identified as a suitable lab with experience with degraded and low levels of DNA.</div><div><br /></div><div>-- In September 2021, the Sheriff-Coroner learned that Kim Cantin was planning to file a lawsuit. This apparently put the investigation in abeyance until January 2022, when Kim agreed to put her lawsuit on hold, and then dismiss it without prejudice (that is, she could file it again if she wanted) while her attorney and the department tried to work out an agreement. That same month, investigators received a more detailed report from forensic anthropologist Rick Snow, who had come to Santa Barbara to look more closely at the bones. Snow again concluded that there was no evidence the bones belonged to Jack Cantin, but that DNA testing would be required to know for sure.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>[[Not mentioned in the report: In January of this year, Kurin abruptly resigned her tenured position at UCSB, which she had fought for years to get and was awarded in August 2021. My sources say that the university was doing its own investigation of the matter and that she was forced to resign as a result.]]</b></div><div><br /></div><div>-- On March 14, 2022, Kim and her attorney met with investigators to hand over the largest bone fragment for DNA testing by Astrea. According to the report. Kim and her attorney insisted on being present in the vehicle with a Sheriff lieutenant as he took the package to FedX to send to Astrea, so that it would not "be lost in transport."</div><div><br /></div><div>-- On April 27, 2022, Astrea issued its report, finding that the bone sample was not human, but most likely bovine, with cow being the highest probability (see below.)</div><div><br /></div><div>-- On May 19, 2022, a coroner's sergeant, along with the Santa Barbara County Counsel, met with Kim and her lawyer to return all the bone fragments. No later than July 12 of this year, the department closed the case and declared that Jack Cantin was still considered a missing person.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Kurin's first report: "The Case for Jack Cantin: FAST FACT Forensic Report”</b></div><div><br /></div><div>As mentioned above, Kurin eventually prepared a more detailed report on her findings and submitted it to the Sheriff-Coroner. The Santa Barbara County Counsel is currently reviewing that document, along with certain others, to see if it can be publicly released, and if so, with what redactions. I will report on this "rolling release" once we have further documents in hand.</div><div><br /></div><div>But Kurin's first report, dated July 16, 2021 and submitted to the Sheriff on July 22, is very revealing. It asks and answers a number of questions about the finds--"Is it bone?" "Is it human?" "How old was this person at death?" and so forth, but never actually puts forward any specific evidence that the remains belonged to Jack Cantin. Nevertheless, Kurin states in the report--and repeated to the news media--that she was "over 90% certain that these remains are those of Jack Cantin." No analysis, methodology, or other reasoning is provided for this statement.</div><div><br /></div><div>Also very interesting are the photographs provided as part of the report of the remains found, along with the parts of a leg and foot they supposedly come from. Kurin and Kim Cantin never told the media how extensive the remains were, and it does not appear that the media ever asked (see below; if they did, they did not report the answers given.)</div><div><br /></div><div>The bones found were amazingly fragmentary given the claims that Kurin made. One is identified as belonging to the thigh bone; several are supposedly from the knee region; one is from the ankle; and one is supposedly from a toe (although this one was identified by other experts as being plant material.)</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Astrea's DNA report of April 27, 2022</b>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Astrea's attempts to get DNA out of the bone fragment it was given--the largest one, supposedly from the knee--were successful, but the DNA was very degraded. Their overall conclusion:</div><div><br /></div><div><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>"The DNA preservation of the bone is extremely poor. We found no evidence to support the tested bone sample is of human origin. We cannot determine with certainty the species the bone belongs to, but the strongest evidence available in these data suggests cow."</b></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Astrea further found that the amount of DNA in the sample that aligned to the human genome "does not rise above background," meaning that any human DNA present would probably have been due to contamination. On the other hand, the DNA found aligned most closely with <i>Bos taurus</i>, the domestic cow, and that alignment was more than ten times more extensive than for any other animal species (including pig, dog, black bear, horse, and sea lion) and about 100 times greater than for the human genome.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">These analyses were based on DNA from the cell nucleus. Astrea further looked at DNA from mitochondria, the so-called energy factories of the living cell. It found that zero segments aligned with human mitochondrial DNA, while 22 segments aligned with a mitochondrial reference genome from the cow.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">To put it simply, Kurin got it completely wrong. The question is, why?</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>A fraud on a grieving mother, and on a grieving community? Plus, a serious media fail.</b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In the articles linked to above about Kurin and the Jack Cantin case, I gave my reasons for suspecting that Kurin was simply using the situation to try to get tenure from UCSB, which her department had strongly recommended against. For example, documents I received through the Public Records Act from UCSB had shown that <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/05/still-more-evidence-that-disgraced.html">Kurin was telling Kim Cantin from the <i>very first day</i></a> that remains were found that they belonged to her son. This was before she had done <i>any</i> analysis of the remains at all.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Even before the Jack Cantin investigation began, <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/11/a-guide-to-my-reporting-on-alleged.html">I had written extensively</a> about Kurin's long history of misconduct and abuse of students. This included a Title IX investigation that found Kurin had retaliated against students who reported her then partner (and later husband) for sexual harassment, which led to her three year suspension from the university. Taken together with her history, the evidence from the Jack Cantin case suggests strongly that Kurin knew, or should have known, that she had no basis for her conclusions. It is hard to come to any other conclusion than that she used Kim for her own selfish purposes: To get the university to give her tenure and overrule the department's recommendation against it.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Along with that damage, she used her own undergraduate students as part of the theater, some of whom were publicly identified in local news media as part of the project. I can only hope that the university is providing them with some kind of counseling given the incredible betrayal they have suffered at the hands of their own professor, in whom they put their trust. Anthropology chair Casey Walsh did not return repeated requests for comment on whether such counseling had been offered to the students; a UCSB spokesperson declined to comment as well, saying only that such counseling was available to anyone who asked for it.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I have written elsewhere about the way that Kurin was enabled, and by whom, over all the years that she was doing damage to students and colleagues. Rather than repeat it all, I will leave it to readers to review that evidence and my comments on it, <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/01/anatomy-of-metoo-coverup-case-of.html">here</a> and <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/01/serial-abuser-danielle-kurin-is-gone.html">here</a>. Suffice to say that without these powerful enablers, who include UCSB Chancellor Henry Yang and Kurin's father, the famous Smithsonian Institution anthropologist Richard Kurin, none of this could have happened.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">It remains to comment on the truly pathetic role that a gullible local media played in this sad saga, hyping Kurin's claims and asking no--<i>no</i>--critical questions about the basis for them. Examples can be found <a href="https://keyt.com/news/santa-barbara-s-county/2021/07/22/kim-cantin-love-found-jack/">here</a>, <a href="https://www.independent.com/2021/07/22/remains-discovered-of-teen-killed-in-2018-montecito-debris-flow/">here</a>, <a href="https://www.noozhawk.com/article/remains_of_jack_cantin_recovered_3_years_after_montecito_disaster_20210722">here</a>, <a href="https://newspress.com/researchers-share-details-on-discovery-of-jack-cantins-remains/">here</a>, and <a href="https://www.montecitojournal.net/2021/08/05/jack-brought-us-all-together-after-42-months-community-finds-its-lost-son/">here</a> (the absolute worst), and include the venerable <i><a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-07-22/remains-of-17-year-old-missing-in-2018-montecito-mudslide-have-been-found-mother-says">Los Angeles Times</a> </i>and <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/remains-of-17-year-old-jack-cantin-found-3-years-after-devastating-montecito-mudslide/">CBS News.</a> The media has a lot of <i>mea culpas</i> to do; but more important than that, it must begin to report on the context for this debacle, including the role that Yang played in keeping Kurin alive, as it were. Yang is currently involved in a hit-and-run case in which <a href="https://www.independent.com/2022/07/19/yang-refuses-to-cooperate-with-hit-and-run-investigation/">he refuses to cooperate with police</a>; perhaps it is time for him to hand in his resignation.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I do have some hopes that more light will now shine on the Kurin saga, which, for so long, I was the only reporter covering. There are some good signs: Tyler Hayden at the <i>Santa Barbara Independent</i> has <a href="https://www.independent.com/2022/08/03/data-suggests-cow-new-report-casts-more-doubt-over-montecito-debris-flow-remains">just done a story on the Sheriff's records</a>, and I am confident that other publications and reporters will feel compelled to do so as well. The truth, and the welfare of UCSB students, Kim Cantin, and the Santa Barbara community--not to mention the anthropology and archaeology communities in which Kurin swam like a shark for so long--demands no less.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Update Sept 13, 2022</b>: The Santa Barbara County Sheriff has now released a new batch of documents related to Kurin and the Jack Cantin case which are very illuminating. You can read about them, along with links to two key documents prepared by Kurin, at <a href="https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1569126190782316544.html">this Twitter thread</a>. I will be preparing a redacted version of the email <b>threats by Kurin's attorney David Scher</b> against the Sheriff (redacted because they include personal details of innocent parties) and posting that here shortly. In brief, once Kurin learned the Sheriff-Coroner would not agree to issue a death certificate for Jack Cantin without DNA evidence that the bones belonged to him, it appears that she doubled down on her efforts to persuade Kim Cantin to oppose the testing--which she must have known would, and finally did, expose the fraud she appears to have perpetuated against Kim and the Santa Barbara community.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Kurin gets her own attorney, David Scher, involved in negotiations with the Sheriff over the analysis of the bones. Scher quickly threatens to sue the Sheriff for their return.</b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Regular readers of this blog will recall that in June 2020, Kurin sued me for $18 million in federal court for allegedly defaming her with my reporting on her long history of misconduct. Over the course of the 13 months of that lawsuit, Scher served as a hired gun for Kurin while she did everything she could to try to get tenure from UCSB. He immediately showed himself to be ethically challenged, as they say, and in fact as the case ended we were asking the judge for sanctions against both him and Kurin for deliberately hiding one of the most important documents in the case.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Remarkably, Scher got involved in the Cantin case very early on, something that was only revealed with this latest batch of documents. I am excerpting from the relevant emails to avoid revealing personal identification details such as email addresses and phone numbers, which were not redacted in what I received.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The first relevant email is dated Sept 5 of last year and is from <b>Kim Cantin to Sol Linver</b>, the Santa Barbara County Undersheriff (Number 2 in the department.) The "Professor," of course, is Danielle Kurin. Lauren is Kim Cantin's daughter. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Dear Sol, </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I hope you are well and enjoying Labor Day Weekend. I wanted to send you a note to get an
update on the status of Jack's case being closed. I know at the cemetery service, August 11th,
you shared with me that you and the Sheriff are wanting to help close this case so Jack's
remains can be buried. I appreciate you and the Sheriff attending the cemetery service. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">It is my understanding there was a meeting scheduled with the Professor this past week and
that her proof to a scientific certainty with peer review did not give you what you need to close
the case so I can bury Jack. Lauren goes to Stanford Friday and it would have been so
beneficial for her trauma to see her brother laid to rest next to her Dad before she leaves. I so
want this for Lauren and me. I feel like it is taking so much time to resolve this and it is
causing me distress. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Also, please update me on the status of the shin bone you took to Kern county, tried DNA
analysis and it came back inconclusive; we discussed last you were trying to get that into UC
Santa Cruz for processing. Please let me know the status and if you need the Professor to help
in any way to connect with those research labs. As I mentioned before, I still do want all
material of the bone analysis returned to me (even if soupy) and the details of the procedure
step by step of what they did with it. Also, I would like the piece of underwear back; it is my
understanding that they said it was 'too contaminated" and I would like it back this week. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">If you would, please respond to this email with the update and next steps. I am so hopeful
that we can get him buried before she leaves Friday morning. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Thank you very much, </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Kim Cantin"</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Linver responded on Sept 8. It is clear from this email that <b>Scher has already been in touch with the Sheriff's office</b>. Also, the email refers to three labs that Kurin had recommended as possible institutions to perform the DNA analysis. I believe that Kurin must have known that the three labs she mentioned did not do forensics work and would be likely to accept the task. Indeed, throughout the documentation I have received, it is clear that Kurin was trying from the very beginning to dissuade Kim Cantin from having the DNA testing performed, telling her (falsely) that it would destroy the bones.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Kim, </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Thanks for your email. You are correct about our meeting with Dr. Kurin.
While her work is intriguing and could be of a benefit for us in our Coroner
investigations, it is not enough for us to be able to close a case. As
mentioned we would be seeking a positive DNA result to close the case. In
relation to the bone tested by Kern County, nothing has changed. The
results from the Kern County tests were inconclusive. The three labs
recommended by Dr. Kurin have been problematic. All three labs have told
us they could not help as they do not work on these types of cases. In
relation to UC Santa Cruz, Dr. Kurin has graciously tried to help us with UC
Santa Cruz but the result did not change. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I will see that the piece of underwear is returned to you. I will also check
on the status of the report from the Kern County lab. In relation to next
steps, sending the bones to the Marshall University DNA lab is still our best
next step. They have an approximate 30 to 60 day turn around on the
testing. The Marshall lab is well recognized and used by law enforcement,
Coroner and Department of Justice agencies throughout the nation. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Kim, I am sorry this is causing you distress and would like to take every
step possible to confirm whether any of the bones are Jack’s. As Bill
mentioned to you in our meeting we are more than eager to help you in
every way possible. However there are certain procedures and laws we
must follow in these cases. Please let us help you by sending all the bones
to the Marshall lab to do our best to get a DNA result. Whatever remains
from the tests will be returned to you. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Lastly, I spoke to Mr. Scher earlier to explain that since your recent email
also requested that we communicate with you through Mr. Scher. I’m also
copying our County Counsel, Michelle Montez, on this email since Mr. Scher
is now involved as it is our standard practice.
Please let me know if you have any questions. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Sincerely,</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Sol Linver </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office"</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">That same day, <b>Scher emailed Linver and outright threatened the department with litigation. </b>A "Complaint in Replevin" is invoked in a case where a return of property to its rightful owner is sought. But as I have written before, any human remains (which Kurin was claiming they were) are, under California law, required to be turned over immediately to authorities.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Sol ‐ thank you for your email. Because you are now engaging counsel I am required to respond to counsel directly (so
please do not take as rude).
Ms. Montez,
Please arrange for the return of the underwear, bones and any other materials/artifacts provided by Ms Cantin to her
tomorrow, Thursday, at about 12pm I am preparing a Complaint in Replevin for these items but will hold off filing it
pending their full and complete return.
We are preparing a complaint in Mandamus to cause the County to declare Jack Cantin deceased (and not missing). If
the County is interested in resolving the matter prior to suit please do give me a call. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Regards, </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Dave Scher, Partner
Hoyer Law Group, PLLC"</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In response to Scher's emailed threats, that same evening <b>a representative of the Santa Barbara County Counsel's office responded as follows</b>:</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Mr. Scher, </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Thank you for your email. The Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office is sympathetic to your client and hopeful
to work together towards a workable solution. To that end, the underwear provided by Ms. Cantin is
available for return at the Coroner’s Bureau located at 66 A South San Antonio Road, Santa Barbara,
3
CA 93110. If Ms. Cantin prefers that the Coroner’s Bureau mail her the underwear, please let us
know.
We are still reviewing the Coroner’s obligations with respect to the bones located by Dr. Kurin. In the
interim, we request that your client maintain the bones that were found but not provided to the
Coroner’s office.
We hope to be in touch in the upcoming weeks regarding next steps. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Best, </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Rana Gerges Warren"</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The next day, Sept 9, <b>Scher resumes his threats</b>:</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Ms. Warren,
Thank you for your email. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Ms. Cantin will be at the Coroner between 1pm‐2pm today. She expects the underwear and anything else in the
Sheriff/County’s possession including all bones. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The bones, underwear, and anything else Ms. Cantin provided are hers, given voluntarily and temporarily. Her lending
them to you can be revoked anytime ‐ and she, through me, revokes that consent now. She obtained them with
permission, obtained their extraction and simply is the owner by law. The bones are definitively not “ancient” nor
“native” and there is no statutory basis for what the County has done here ‐ literally stolen property belong to one of its
citizens. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Said another way, that the County intends to wrongfully withhold the bones and perhaps other artifacts for weeks is
unacceptable. If the bones, underwear, and anything else belonging to Ms. Cantin in the County’s possession are not
returned today, Ms. Cantin has directed us (along with co‐counsel copied here) to bring suit for replevin to recover
everything along with seeking a TRO to prevent the County from unlawfully touching, misusing or perhaps destroying
Ms. Cantin’s property. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Also, we are preparing and will file a soon an action in Mandamus to compel the County to close Jack Cantin’s case and
declare him deceased. We will file this suit within the next 14 days absent a change of the County’s position (and heart)
on the matter. Happy to discuss if you’d like. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Regards, </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Dave Scher, </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Partner </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Hoyer Law Group"</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The following day, more legal threats from Scher:</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Ms. Warren, </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Have not heard back from you and the bones were not delivered to Ms. Cantin. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The bones were lent to the County 37
days ago (see attached). Ms. Canting wants the back. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">We will, with 100% certainty, be filing a Writ of Replevin action and seek a TRO if the bones are not returned
immediately. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Regards, </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Dave Scher </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Hoyer Law Group PLLC"</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">And later that day:</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"Good afternoon, Mr. Scher: </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Thank you for your emails. I hope to be in touch next week regarding the bones located by Dr. Kurin. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Best,
Rana Gerges Warren </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Senior Deputy County Counsel </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Santa Barbara County Counsel"</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">As I reported earlier, <b>Kim Cantin did eventually sue the County for the return of the bones</b>, using a local Santa Barbara attorney. That case was dismissed last January, around the time that Kurin was forced to resign from UCSB after the university conducted its own investigation of Kurin's handling of this matter.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The involvement of Kurin's own attorney, David Scher, in this matter <b>raises all kinds of ethical issues</b>. That's because Kim Cantin and Danielle Kurin had and have different interests, making Scher's representation of both of them highly questionable. Kim Cantin's interests were to find the remains of her missing son and give him a burial so she could have closure as his mother. Danielle Kurin's interest was to use the publicity from the Cantin case, which was considerable and uncritical of her claims, to convince the Chancellor of UCSB to give her tenure despite a negative departmental recommendation (she succeeded at first, although the tenure was very short lived.)</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>I have asked Scher to comment on this possible conflict</b>, but he has not responded as of this writing. If he does, I will make additions as appropriate.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Finally, I have mentioned that Kurin tried hard to dissuade Kim Cantin from having the DNA testing done (something that was also, as we now know, not in her personal interests.) A taste of her approach can be found in the <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/09/kurin-assessment-of-marshall-u-dna-capabilities.pdf">email thread linked to here</a>, which I invite readers to peruse. In brief, Kurin tried to convince Kim that one of the <a href="https://www.marshall.edu/forensics/">leading forensic DNA testing labs in the country</a> was not qualified to do the job.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">As I have said above, I believe that there is considerable circumstantial evidence to <b>support the conclusion that Danielle Kurin deliberately defrauded Kim Cantin, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff-Coroner, UCSB authorities, and the Santa Barbara community</b> when she claimed to have found the remains of Jack Cantin. This belief is bolstered by the incontrovertible evidence that Kurin falsely claimed she had sent her work out to be peer reviewed to a colleague with a doctorate and a professorship at Washington State University. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">That belief on my part is constitutionally protected, and is based on due diligence reporting and detailed documentation. And since Kurin has made herself into what is called a "limited-purpose public figure" by thrusting herself and her claims to have found Jack Cantin's remains into the media arena, my good faith attempts to get at the truth of this matter will doom any attempts on her part to file defamation suits against me or anyone else.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Update Sept 15, 2022: A real forensic anthropologist comments on Kurin's "findings."</b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Now that the Santa Barbara County Sheriff has publicly released <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/09/kurin-cantin-report-draft.pdf">Kurin's draft report</a> on her claims to have found remains of missing teenager Jack Cantin (a final report was apparently never prepared), it is possible to have experts read it and comment. For that purpose, I asked <a href="https://www.unr.edu/anthropology/faculty/marin-pilloud">Marin Pilloud, a forensic anthropologist at the University of Nevada, Reno</a>, to have a look at it. Marin is a <i>bona fide</i> board certified forensic anthropologist, and also a leading advocate for <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34439924/">strict professional standards</a> in the field.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Full disclosure, I first met Marin when she was a <a href="https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_olink/r/1501/10?clear=10&p10_accession_num=osu1253574143">graduate student at Ohio State University</a>, probably in the early 2000s. We met at the Neolithic site of Catalhoyuk in Turkey, where I had covered the excavations there for <i>Science</i> and later <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Goddess-Bull-Catalhoyuk-Archaeological-Civilization/dp/1598740695">wrote a book about the history and science of the site</a>. We have kept in touch over the years, and I have always admired her scientific seriousness.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Marin sent me some comments, which I have quoted and paraphrased here.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>-- On Kurin's qualifications to do forensic work:</b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.6667px;">"On page 3 she refers to herself as a 'specialist in forensics' – this is a misrepresentation, all of her publications and research have focused on bioarchaeology, not forensic anthropology, and she does not have board certification to substantiate this claim.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: bold;">-- On Kurin's speculation that the remains of second child missing since the 2018 Montecito debris flow (which took more than 20 lives), </span><span face="Roboto, arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #5f6368; font-size: 14px;"><b>Lydia</b></span><span face="Roboto, arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #4d5156; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold;"> Sutthithepa, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.6667px; font-weight: bold;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">were unlikely to be found.</span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">"Page 3 – to suggest that 'the body of Lydia has almost certainly decayed and is </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">unrecoverable</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">' is not accurate. Bones of 2-year olds preserve all the time, it has more to do with the condition of the soil, and it seems entirely likely that these remains would still be preserved." </span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">(</span></span><b style="color: #222222; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">MB comment</b><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">: This offhanded comment by Kurin about Lydia, which was widely reported in the California press, could be seen as very insensitive to her immigrant parents, who have not been able to attract much media attention and have largely suffered their loss in silence.)</span></span></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;"><b>-- On Kurin's characterization of some of the very fragmentary remains found.</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;">"</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;">Page 14 – the actual image of what was recovered here in Figure 11 does not look at all like what she says it is, and there is no way she could actually make such precise designations of bone type. For example, there is nothing particularly diagnostic about the fourth pedal phalanx that she could say with absolute certainty that fragment was from that bone."</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;"><b>-- On whether the remains found were human, as Kurin argued, rather than animal, as the Sheriff-Coroner's forensic consultant had suggested.</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;">"Page 15 – this whole section on human vs. non-human is disingenuous. It is accurate that human and non-human bone are distinct and it is possible to tell them apart using histology, but that wasn’t done here – she merely describes differences but does not perform this analysis. Based solely on these photographs, the remains are not distinctly human, the nature of the trabecular bone is more indicative of animal bone. To be absolutely certain, I would need to see the actual remains."</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;"><b>-- On whether the remains found were ancient or recent.</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;">"... </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;">there is no scientific basis to claim the remains are 2-3 years old. Their porcine study didn’t go that long and they do not discuss the results of that study. It is unclear how this time frame was decided."</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;">(<b>MB</b>: <b>In the "porcine study"</b> Marin refers to, Kurin and her students buried pigs to study how they decomposed.)</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;"><b>-- On various other aspects of Kurin's analysis:</b></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></p><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="m_-6125673302618486803MsoListParagraph" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">"Age-at-death: the age of fusion of the of the pedal phalanx is correct – but, is this one fused or open? If it is open then the individual is under 19 (the latest a fusion can be seen) that does not indicate they are at least 16. <u></u></li><li class="m_-6125673302618486803MsoListParagraph" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Stature: the calculations Kurin shows in Table 2 are from metatarsals – she did not recover a metatarsal (foot bone), but rather a pedal phalanx (toe bone) – so, I have no idea how stature was calculated.<u></u><u></u></li><li class="m_-6125673302618486803MsoListParagraph" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Skeletal pathology: based on the images in the report, I cannot see evidence of periostitis.<u></u><u></u></li><li class="m_-6125673302618486803MsoListParagraph" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Trauma: Based on the images in the report, I cannot see evidence of perimortem trauma or thermal damage."</li></ul><div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b>-- On Kurin's identification of the remains as specifically Jack Cantin:</b></span></span></div><div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><br /></div><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="m_-6125673302618486803MsoListParagraph" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">"Final identification: public databases of missing persons were consulted, but that is the last known location or local origin, if those remains were human, they could be any missing person. I do not see how this helps to establish the remains as belonging to a particular individual.<u></u></li><li class="m_-6125673302618486803MsoListParagraph" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Figure 10: I have never seen personal identification described in this way. Identifications are 'positive/scientific' or 'presumptive'. Positive identifications are typically made with DNA and dental records. Presumptive IDs are made on circumstantial evidence, like the biological profile, material evidence, etc. That is all they have here. Based on the evidence in the report, it is impossible to say with 90% certainty that the bones belong to any particular individual. They provide no indication as to how that number was calculated."</li></ul><div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><b>-- Marin's overall evaluation:</b></span></span></div><div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">"</span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">I don’t really know what her intent might have been – but, I do think this report is unethical for several reasons – mainly that she was acting way beyond her expertise and made conclusions that are not supported by scientific evidence, nor do they follow best practices within forensic anthropology."</span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">I think it would be interesting for other forensic anthropologists to look at Kurin's report and provide their own views, either by writing to me or making comments on this blog post. The overall tragedy is that Kurin's clear lack of expertise, her complete conflict of interest in claiming that she had found Jack Cantin, and the intense campaign she conducted both with Jack's mother and with her own students to discredit any other professional opinions about the bones, caused huge damage and pain that could have been avoided--if the university had not failed in its duty to protect students and the larger community.</span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><b>Update Sept 22, 2022: <i>Santa Barbara Independent</i> features interview with real forensic anthropologist. Extent of Kurin's exploitation and gaslighting further revealed.</b></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">In a full length report published yesterday in one of Santa Barbara's leading independent publications, reporter <a href="https://www.independent.com/2022/09/21/outside-expert-punches-holes-in-cantin-debris-flow-report/">Tyler Hayden features a lengthy interview</a> with Marin Pilloud, whose views on Kurin's "analysis" of the bones she claimed to be Jack Cantin's were part of my own report above.</span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">One of the most disturbing pieces of news in Tyler's story is that <b>Kim Cantin still believes</b> that Kurin got it right and that those fragmentary bones belong to her missing son. I have reason to think that this is true. In light of everything we know, it underscores just how thoroughly Kurin seems to have gaslighted and manipulated Kimi, exploiting her continuing grief for her son and her husband (whose body was found.) One can only hope that in time Kim will realize and accept what was done to her by Kurin and <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/01/serial-abuser-danielle-kurin-is-gone.html">those who have enabled Kurin's abuses</a> over the years.</span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">(I have focused a great deal on Kurin's enablers recently, because I have reported, based on multiple sources and her own actions, that <b>Kurin is severely psychologically disturbed</b>, and that UCSB required her to go through extensive psychotherapy to keep her job after being found culpable in a Title IX proceeding of retaliating against students. That shifts responsibility primarily on to those who have acted neither in Kurin's best interests nor in the best interests of students and others she comes into contact with.)</span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">While some might be tempted to shield Kim from the truth (that may explain why much of the local media has been so slow to cover the DNA findings in the case) in the long run the forensic findings may help spark further searches for Jack's remains, along with those of a two-year old girl who is also still missing. And once Kim does realize the truth, she may have a legal case against Kurin for fraud, and against the university for allowing Kurin to get involved in the Jack Cantin search despite a long history of documented abuses.</span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p></div>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-28069045725870555472022-06-16T13:20:00.005-04:002022-08-16T11:07:57.585-04:00Why did a leading #MeToo reporter subpoena a leading #MeToo advocate? [Updated June 22]<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhipUcg1yPyM_Zawu0gtqgFBuWKAL8gLtZugUYHbX7xf1eqZP324uAfSlgeTfrucDBq980MYCIWMIWENLu0t6O0b7kNZYmXRnXl0X2R0gCX7yAJR1g1ppxe0Seiq8Euhj3TAVtPGAMwugh2zzp0jssiPwvUsnYeuExGqndt5ODb3HBBBnU-NIGfELWoQQ/s1786/Clancy%20Tweet%20Marcela%20and%20subpoena.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1786" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhipUcg1yPyM_Zawu0gtqgFBuWKAL8gLtZugUYHbX7xf1eqZP324uAfSlgeTfrucDBq980MYCIWMIWENLu0t6O0b7kNZYmXRnXl0X2R0gCX7yAJR1g1ppxe0Seiq8Euhj3TAVtPGAMwugh2zzp0jssiPwvUsnYeuExGqndt5ODb3HBBBnU-NIGfELWoQQ/w400-h235/Clancy%20Tweet%20Marcela%20and%20subpoena.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p>The above Tweet is from Kate Clancy, an anthropologist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a leading #MeToo researcher and advocate. It's about me. Regular readers of this blog, as well as many in the anthropology and archaeology communities, know that Clancy and I have had a running (and sometimes very public) dispute since at least 2017. To avoid too much repetition of its sad history in this new post, please see <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-misadventures-of-metoo-reporter_20.html">this link</a> and <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-misadventures-of-metoo-reporter.html">this one</a> for the necessary background to this very unfortunate situation, which has had very negative consequences for survivors of abuse; and, a matter of no small consequence to me personally, for my reputation as a journalist.</p><p>The problem is that Clancy's continual attacks on me for the past five years are based on demonstrable falsehoods, as I have pointed out in the previous posts linked to above. This latest one continues in that vein. It was prompted by a complaint I made on Twitter that many anthropologists and archaeologists who claim to oppose sexual harassment and other abuses have done nothing to support a courageous Peruvian anthropologist who told the truth about the <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/03/twice-confirmed-sexual-harasser-luis.html">powerful Peruvian archaeologist Luis Jaime Castillo Butters</a>, who sued her for defamation after the U.S. National Academy of Sciences kicked Castillo off of its membership rolls. Among them are Clancy and three colleagues whom I asked to help out, as I will discuss below. Meanwhile I hope those not familiar with Marcela Poirier's case <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/06/peruvian-anthropologist-marcela-poirier.html">will come to her support</a>, especially now that <a href="https://michaelbalter.substack.com/p/in-peru-a-major-travesty-of-justice?s=w">she lost the defamation suit</a> when a judge discounted all of the evidence in her favor. This is an injustice I and her other supporters, especially in Peru where the case has become a nationwide <i>cause celebre</i>, hope will soon be overturned on appeal.</p><p>Now back to Clancy's Tweet. Amazingly, in less than 280 characters, she manages to tell three if not four lies, depending on how one counts them. Whenever this dispute between me and Clancy crops up publicly, some friends and colleagues advise me not to get into it with her, because she is widely admired (for good reason) for her <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0102172">#MeToo research</a> and advocacy--which includes a number of journal articles and testimony before the U.S. Congress--and also because she has a large social media following (larger than mine, anyway.) Although I have <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/08/can-science-stop-sexual-harassment-in.html">sometimes taken issue</a> with her overall approach, I have always acknowledged her contributions, even though she has never publicly <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2018/12/sexual-abusers-i-have-known.html">acknowledged mine</a> (<a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/leading-peruvian-archaeologist-ousted-u-s-national-academy-sciences">see also</a> here.)</p><p>That may seem odd, since I am, as a statistical fact, the most prolific #MeToo reporter in the U.S. I haved investigated dozens of cases of abuse and abusers, which have led to the termination or forced resignations of a number of scientists as a direct consequence. In nearly every case, my reporting began when survivors of abuse approached me and asked me to look into particular situations. Without their bravery, I would have nothing to report, as I have constantly tried to remind readers of my reports.</p><p>I will have more to say below about what I think Clancy's motivations are. That is important to understand because many of her followers, and others new to the debate, tend to think she must be right because of her own good reputation as a #MeToo advocate. But we must always remember the case of BethAnn McLaughlin, a pioneer of the #MeTooSTEM movement in the sciences who turned out to be not only a <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/bethann-mclaughlin-metoostem-harassment-activism">self-serving bully</a>, but also <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/04/style/college-coronavirus-hoax.html">guilty of dishonesty in her use of a fake social media persona</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>So now to Clancy's lies. Let's take them in order.</b></p><p>1. <b>Clancy claims that I have been "abusive" to her.</b> False. From time to time, but more frequently in the past two years, I have responded more directly to the lies she has told about me, which I outline in the posts linked to in the first paragraph of this post. These lies include vicious and dehumanizing attacks such as the one below, which she addressed to BethAnn McLaughlin (the former @McLNeuro) herself in April 2019:</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgykRasrmRA-ltEkbI3DE1BTz-xvwVAWUrnClxcp9eJqfxpUTv7fZ0P_Js8KpYqq9_q13A0E9z5WDp8AxTFOVpOWWkkHqRb2esi1KSltHSlr0dHpLadS9Bd7pG48PvOkDFNKAqaimuswYBT57fTZwoDOf641xHlQrbVd4BSU_dMM87SK6GtJKcHAGhPgA/s1334/Clancy%20Balter%20is%20garbage%20person.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="750" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgykRasrmRA-ltEkbI3DE1BTz-xvwVAWUrnClxcp9eJqfxpUTv7fZ0P_Js8KpYqq9_q13A0E9z5WDp8AxTFOVpOWWkkHqRb2esi1KSltHSlr0dHpLadS9Bd7pG48PvOkDFNKAqaimuswYBT57fTZwoDOf641xHlQrbVd4BSU_dMM87SK6GtJKcHAGhPgA/w225-h400/Clancy%20Balter%20is%20garbage%20person.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>What prompted this attack? As I explained in an earlier post in some detail, two survivors of sexual assault at the hands of <b>David Yesner</b>, a former University of Alaska archaeologist, asked me to help them when Yesner showed up unexpectedly at a meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Albuquerque. When the meeting organizers refused to do anything about it, despite my showing them proof of Yesner's abuses, his ban from the UA campus and revocation of emeritus status, and that the University of Alaska had banned him from being anywhere near activities of UA students, I (peacefully) escorted Yesner from the meeting so that the survivors could feel comfortable attending sessions that he was also attending. The upshot was a <a href="https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/an-archaeology-meeting-finds-itself-in-the-middle-of--metoostem-65737">huge upsurge of condemnation of the actions of SAA leaders</a>, which is still going on to this day.</p><p>Despite my actions, which were widely praised and appreciated at the time (notwithstanding the spreading of totally false rumors that I had been violent with Yesner and had fought with security guards), Clancy and McLaughlin publicly branded me as the villain. The trope that I was doing all this to enhance my reputation and my career (now more than 44 years long and hardly in need of enhancing) spread widely, as it had in response to Clancy's earlier attacks on me.</p><p>2. <b>Clancy says in the Tweet that I subpoenaed her in a lawsuit that had nothing to do with her</b>. Again, a total and blatant lie. The lawsuit had a lot to do with her, and her with it. Clancy had spent months talking with the legal team for Danielle Kurin, a former archaeologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who had sued me for defamation in federal court for exposing her many abuses, which include retaliation against students who had filed Title IX complaints against her former partner and husband. (Particularly ironic given Clancy's work to strengthen the Title IX system.)</p><p>So in reality, Clancy was a potential witness in the case. Because she was talking directly with Kurin's legal team, and was properly listed by them in disclosures mandated by the federal rules of civil procedure. (Clancy claimed in a declaration that this had been without her permission, which only indicates that her lawyer apparently failed to explain civil procedure to her.)</p><p>Indeed, only when her collaboration with Kurin was publicly revealed did Clancy say that she was leaning away from testifying, although she would not have had a choice--both sides in the case could have subpoenaed her.</p><p>Why did we subpoena Clancy? Because, as we knew and as discovery in the case confirmed, she instigated and orchestrated a so-called "ethics complaint" against me with my professional organization, the National Association of Science Writers, as part of her campaign to block and discredit my reporting and my own advocacy on behalf of survivors. That complaint, which was bogus from top to bottom and which I will say even more about in future posts, was used by Kurin's team to try to prejudice the judge against me, which it apparently did; <b>the complaint was used again by Castillo in the trial against Marcela Poirier</b>, the brave anthropologist who reported him to the NAS, in an attempt to discredit my accurate reporting about Castillo and prejudice the Peruvian judge against Marcela--again, with evident success.</p><p>In other words, willingly or not, in her zeal to try to discredit me and my reporting, <b>Clancy put herself directly on the side of the abusers. </b>On a personal note, I will say that the use of Clancy's handiwork by Castillo against Marcela was the last straw for me.</p><p>3. <b>That brings us to the third lie, and possibly the fourth, depending on how you count falsehoods</b>. Clancy says in her Tweet that I asked her to do something, which was not clear, about something, which was also not clear. <b>Nonsense</b>. In my attempts to help Marcela Poirier defend her case, something that was in the interests of all survivors of abuse, I and others asked many colleagues in anthropology and archaeology to step up and make public statements on her behalf. Some responded in helpful ways. The <b>Institute of Andean Studies</b>, which represents scholars in the fields of study closest to that of Castillo himself, <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/03/support-builds-for-peruvian.html">issued a strong statement</a>; likewise, the <b>National Academy of Sciences</b> took action to bring its viewpoint before the judge, which I hope to be able to discuss soon.</p><p>On the other hand, both the <b>Society for American Archaeology</b> and the <b>American Anthropological Association</b> refused to do anything to help Marcela. In the case of the SAA, the organization did not respond to multiple pleas, but accidentally copied me on an email from its president indicating that this was deliberate; the AAA used what turned out to be a frankly bullshit technicality to avoid its responsibility to help a colleague in trouble. (In a later post I may publish the correspondence with each organization if readers feel they need more details.)</p><p>That brings us to Clancy and her colleagues. I wrote more than once to her and her three colleagues who had carried out the SAFE study of harassment in field situations linked to above: <b>Katie Hinde</b> of Arizona State University; <b>Robin Nelson</b> of ASU; and <b>Julienne Rutherford</b> of the University of Illinois, Chicago. I asked that we put aside our differences to help an anthropologist whose courage they would normally have appreciated. Was I unclear about what I was asking them to do, or about the circumstances that had led to Marcela being sued by Castillo?</p><p>You be the judge. Here is the email I sent to the four of them:</p><p><br /></p><p><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;">Dear colleagues,</span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">As you probably know, Luis Jaime Castillo Butters was ejected from the National Academy of Sciences last October after an investigation upheld allegations of sexual harassment against him. This was the second institution to find the charges credible; earlier the sexual harassment commission of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Castillo's home institution, came to similar conclusions, although for "technical reasons" the university has not seen fit to discipline him.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">One of the researchers who reported Castillo to the NAS was Marcela Poirier, a Peruvian anthropologist. Marcela's role is briefly outlined in this news story in <i>Science</i>:</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.science.org/content/article/leading-peruvian-archaeologist-ousted-u-s-national-academy-sciences&source=gmail&ust=1654438760523000&usg=AOvVaw2GDu92SfowT8Ab0Ik3h-lW" href="https://www.science.org/content/article/leading-peruvian-archaeologist-ousted-u-s-national-academy-sciences" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.science.org/<wbr></wbr>content/article/leading-<wbr></wbr>peruvian-archaeologist-ousted-<wbr></wbr>u-s-national-academy-sciences</a><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Castillo is now suing Marcela for defamation in the Peruvian courts, asking about $50K in damages and that she be jailed for 30 months. Despite her courage, she is very scared about what might happen. The hearing of the case will be held the morning of April 8 using the Google online platform. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Marcela has three witnesses who will appear on April 8, including me; Castillo has 15, all of which appear to be "character" witnesses. I am a witness because my reporting on Castillo was instrumental, as all involved agree, in the two institutions deciding to launch investigations, as the <i>Science</i> story makes clear.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Of course we have had sharp disagreements in the past. But this is obviously not about me, but about Marcela, and an attempt by a powerful archaeologist to intimidate her and all other survivors into silence. Castillo has even managed to intimidate senior colleagues in Peru and the United States into not speaking out about his misconduct.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Thus I call upon you to do anything you can to support Marcela, perhaps by issuing a statement or in other ways encouraging the anthropology community to speak out both formally and informally. If you wish to copy me on what you do, I am happy to amplify it on social media; but most importantly, I hope that as #MeToo and anti-harassment researchers and activists, you will lend your support. I don't need to tell you that if Castillo succeeds in this action, it will be a setback for the movement, and a signal to survivors that they are better off keeping silent.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">With thanks and best regards,</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Michael</div><p><br /></p><p><b>Not one of the four of them responded to my pleas on Marcela's behalf.</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Why is this happening?</b></p><p>The dispute between me and Kate Clancy has two origins stories, one involving her complaints about how she was quoted in a story I had done for <i>The Verge </i>about a <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2016/10/24/13359794/smithsonian-sexual-misconduct-investigation-miguel-pinto">sexual assault at the Smithsonian Institution</a> (detailed in my blog post about her linked to above), and the second about my handling of a <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2018/09/metoo-investigation-of-famed.html">story involving one of her friends and colleagues</a>, Holly Dunsworth at the University of Rhode Island. (Since Dunsworth's complaints about me appear in the NASW ethics complaint which was leaked and has now been read by thousands, and since she has been public about them numerous times on social media, I am using her real name here.) In essence, Clancy seized upon what was, at the time, a well-intentioned miscommunication between Holly and myself to publicly attack me and my reporting, a strategy that Dunsworth at first refrained from joining--I believe because she herself knew that it was not true. Why she changed her position is something I will explore in another post, coming soon.</p><p>I used to think that Clancy actually believed her rhetoric that I harassed survivors and told their stories without permission (never true, then or now.) But the persistence of her attacks, and the easily provable dishonesty behind them, has changed my mind about this. I believe that, despite all the good she has done, which I have repeatedly acknowledged, Clancy sees me as some kind of competition, and her main motivation for the attacks is some kind of misguided, twisted professional rivalry. Unfortunately, because Clancy has many followers and because her otherwise positive reputation leads her colleagues to trust her, the lies not only get believed, but widely disseminated. (Right-wingers have no monopoly on this unfortunate social psychology.) I know few people who would find it acceptable to have their reputations impugned without responde, and I certainly do not, or do not any longer.</p><p>To some extent, as I suggested in <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/08/can-science-stop-sexual-harassment-in.html">this critique of the approach Clancy and other #MeToo advocates have taken</a> to the fight against harassment and other forms of abuse, the dispute between me and her reflects the reality that the first wave of #MeToo campaigning has run out of ideas. That focus was on advocacy, the adoption of anti-harassment guidelines and stiffer penalties for violating them, in an attempt to change the culture within academia, the sciences, and other walks of life. But it has not turned out to be so easy, as the recent #MeToo "backlash" shows.</p><p>My own view, as I expressed it, is that for the culture to change there first have to be very severe consequences for abusers, on a case-by-case basis. That's why the failure of so many archaeologists and anthropologists, including Clancy and her colleagues, to come to the aid of Marcela Poirier is so serious. The effective consequence of that and other such failures is the <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/01/anatomy-of-metoo-coverup-case-of.html">enabling of the abusers</a>, who are beginning to see that they can not only get away with their misconduct but actually try to punish the victims and others who have accused them. (The case of <a href="https://michaelbalter.substack.com/p/recorded-live-in-new-york-an-all?s=w">former MIT cancer researcher David Sabatini</a> is another example of how supposed advocates for women in science have tried to enable an abuser.)</p><p>I will end by reaffirming that despite the years of personal attacks, I have no intention of stepping aside from the #MeToo fight. To that end, let me close by urging everyone reading this to <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/marcelas-community-support-fund"><b>support Marcela Poirier by donating to her defense fund.</b></a> She is now appealing the court's finding, and needs to pay her legal bills which are mounting up. And if she loses again, she will have to come up with nearly $50,000 for simply telling the truth about an abuser who deserves no one's support. By supporting Marcela, you can become not just an "ally" of survivors, which anyone can give lip service too, but an actual "accomplice," one actively involved in the struggle.</p><p><br /></p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><strong>Update June 20, 2022</strong>: In today’s <em>New York Times</em>, feminist pioneer and author <a href="http://susanfaludi.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Susan Faludi</a>, whose 2006 book <a href="http://susanfaludi.com/backlash.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">“Backlash”</a> exposed the war on women that is now in full force, published an opinion piece entitled "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/20/opinion/roe-heard-feminism-backlash.html?referringSource=articleShare" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank"><strong>Feminism Made a Faustian Bargain With Celebrity Culture. Now It’s Paying the Price.</strong></a><strong>” </strong>The piece reflects many of the concerns I and others have expressed over the past few years, on social media and other venues, about white middle class feminism and its weak, short-sighted approach to the systemic nature of sexism and misogyny. Faluci concludes that this form of feminism, among other things, has left us largely defenseless against the current attack on reproductive rights.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-45786944513019515612022-06-04T12:05:00.003-04:002022-06-04T12:18:10.766-04:00Peruvian anthropologist Marcela Poirier is taking a hit for survivors of abuse by Luis Jaime Castillo Butters. Now is the time for colleagues to step up and support her.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8LwlMaPzuDqGWjEuLaA5QJsBGIAc_6yKjpnmAmSH-uiMf_XeVLCnO9qVwJ9aBxPwF_KLZHrWHOZ_x8Bm7PFzHWVyet97Pi8o_E3jqMlAr-X_4Q9Jiu9e80XoFJ239spi3pMwZMNxgZlUPIvEEk7PvYV70ryv1hEBbpqzaiSTMG9tXaS-Zbg98Oj4OiQ/s1356/Marcela%20Poirier.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1356" data-original-width="1152" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8LwlMaPzuDqGWjEuLaA5QJsBGIAc_6yKjpnmAmSH-uiMf_XeVLCnO9qVwJ9aBxPwF_KLZHrWHOZ_x8Bm7PFzHWVyet97Pi8o_E3jqMlAr-X_4Q9Jiu9e80XoFJ239spi3pMwZMNxgZlUPIvEEk7PvYV70ryv1hEBbpqzaiSTMG9tXaS-Zbg98Oj4OiQ/s320/Marcela%20Poirier.jpg" width="272" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>Since this blog has a large and long-time following, I want to appeal to all readers to support Marcela Poirier, who was on the <a href="https://michaelbalter.substack.com/p/in-peru-a-major-travesty-of-justice?s=w">losing end of a decision by a Peruvian judge</a>, who decided to believe a powerful Peruvian archaeologist and former culture minister that Marcela had defamed him.</p><p>Of course she did not, as my reporting--along with independent investigations by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the sexual harassment commission of Castillo's own university--demonstrated clearly. (For background to the case, <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/03/twice-confirmed-sexual-harasser-luis.html">please see this link</a> and several others on this blog.)</p><p>Marcela and her attorney, <a href="https://twitter.com/alvabren?lang=en">Brenda Alvarez</a> (a well-known fighter for social justice in Peru) are appealing the case, but that takes money. And if they lose, then Marcela is on the hook for nearly $50,000 in penalties. (The judge also issued a suspended sentence of one year, eight months in prison. Castillo had asked that she be locked up for 30 months.)</p><p>The good news is that Marcela's case has become a <i>cause celebre</i> in Peru, and <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/03/support-builds-for-peruvian.html">many are defending her,</a> including <a href="https://hytimes.pe/2022/05/30/el-caso-de-marcela-poirier-es-el-de-una-justicia-sin-perspectiva-de-genero/">in the Peruvian press</a>.</p><p><b>What can you do? Easy</b>. Please give what you can to <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/marcelas-community-support-fund"><b>Marcela's defense fund</b></a>, set up on a GoFundMe page. And whether or not you can donate, please use your social media platforms to spread Marcela's brave story and ask others to give as well.</p><p>Together, we can defeat this so-called #MeToo backlash, which is spreading like wildfire around the world and must be defeated. Survivors cannot be asked to go back in the closet and suffer in silence about the abuses they have experienced.</p><p>Thank you.</p><p><br /></p><p>PS--Please feel free to use the Comments section of this blog to send messages of support to Marcela, and to tell stories of your own. From Australia to California to Peru, this blog has become widely known as a safe place to share experiences.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-7111596580668216422022-05-30T11:03:00.010-04:002022-06-10T14:12:39.851-04:00Still more evidence that disgraced @ucsantabarbara archaeologist Danielle Kurin exploited a mother’s grief to try to get tenure—and that the university administration knew, or should have known, she was doing it. [Updated June 10, 2022]<p><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiWnTPSXoR2z0jDw1KfosFyljNbTi6KvteoD6vPgpjDc4KUKkVbgVgUN2W-MQGfN5G5zhL6U8hVfua6SJHDLM2uo178Kjntd5g15umQmuqLwqOYNVQTOyXhYVN2_IpCe5Qc7IEenHkUcrfVG07vkqITYRoe4pz1SuvR9Rs2yEbpwYaitx8bqJXmnTrJg/s508/Jack%20Cantin.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="339" data-original-width="508" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiWnTPSXoR2z0jDw1KfosFyljNbTi6KvteoD6vPgpjDc4KUKkVbgVgUN2W-MQGfN5G5zhL6U8hVfua6SJHDLM2uo178Kjntd5g15umQmuqLwqOYNVQTOyXhYVN2_IpCe5Qc7IEenHkUcrfVG07vkqITYRoe4pz1SuvR9Rs2yEbpwYaitx8bqJXmnTrJg/s320/Jack%20Cantin.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jack Cantin/ Noozhawk<br /><br /><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>This past March, I <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/03/california-public-records-act-documents.html">reported on documents I had received</a> via the California Public Records Act which shed new light on the resignation of archaeologist Danielle Kurin from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Kurin, whose career featured a <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/11/a-guide-to-my-reporting-on-alleged.html">Title IX finding against her for retaliation against students, ejection from an archaeological group for failing to provide a safe environment at her field school in Peru, and other abuses</a>--none of which prevented the university <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/01/serial-abuser-danielle-kurin-is-gone.html">administration from granting her tenure</a>--finally bit the academic bust after an internal university investigation into her handling of the case of a missing teenager.<p></p><p>(Full disclosure: In June 2020, Kurin sued me for alleged defamation in federal court; after 13 months, the case was settled, <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/10/metoo-journalist-declares-settlement.html">and then unsettled</a>, due to Kurin's violation of the court-sanctioned agreement. Discovery documents in the case upheld every word of my reporting about her.)</p><p>The evidence from those records, combined with other reporting, make it likely that <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/01/new-evidence-suggests-former-uc-santa.html">Kurin had attempted to exploit the grief of a mother</a> who entrusted her with a search for her missing teenager's remains (he disappeared in the 2018 Montecito debris flow, which killed nearly two dozen people.)</p><p>The university has now completed its production of documents to me. They include a remarkable letter that Jack Cantin's mother, Kim Cantin, wrote to the university in May 2021. I am including <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/04/kim-cantin-to-hale-and-walsh-re-kurin.pdf">a link to it here</a>, and will quote some of the salient sections below. I strongly suggest that readers look at it closely.</p><p>The letter is dated May 15, 2021. It is addressed to Charles Hale, the UCSB dean of social sciences, and Casey Walsh, chair of the UCSB anthropology department, in which Kurin worked from 2013 to January of this year, when she abruptly resigned. (Kurin was on a forced administrative leave for three years of that time, 2016-2019, after being disciplined as a result of the Title IX for retaliating against students.)</p><p>The letter is a glowing testimonial to Danielle Kurin, whom Kim Cantin praises highly for her work on the search for her missing son. Kim tells Hale and Walsh that remains of her son have apparently been found, and expresses hope not only that Kurin will get tenure, but also that the department and UCSB will receive credit for the discovery. Kim also states that "Professor Kurin has no idea that I am writing to you today."</p><p>However, in the context of the entire letter, that statement is probably only literally true, in the sense that Kurin did not know Kim was going to write on that particular day, or that Kim did not specifically tell Kurin that she planned to write the letter. That's because the letter, in whole and in part, bears the marks of information and issues that Kurin had clearly fed to Kim, including who it should be addressed to (both Hale and Walsh, as dean and department chair, were intimately involved in preparing Kurin's tenure dossier, and the department had recommended against tenure the previous January.)</p><p>Here, for example, is what Kim says about Kurin's tenure bid, which Kurin probably told Kim was in danger due to the negative recommendation of her department:</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgT3E5OKHPEZCNAQck3wwTf_xSWL3_21VX_0XKLoVcigsSUG8Q2tugi68heZCdBFG0TU4izFp_XDSskPxeFIq9xshqJRXjWQ2pRHqDcTEPKlRZ8sUvMMjlv59ipx6-uw2NpmRLT_1uEiDWalEtUz4hmPZ_7TfjWOgDchLCH8IO-iFDi5Z-7qSkLUZO1rQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="237" data-original-width="1014" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgT3E5OKHPEZCNAQck3wwTf_xSWL3_21VX_0XKLoVcigsSUG8Q2tugi68heZCdBFG0TU4izFp_XDSskPxeFIq9xshqJRXjWQ2pRHqDcTEPKlRZ8sUvMMjlv59ipx6-uw2NpmRLT_1uEiDWalEtUz4hmPZ_7TfjWOgDchLCH8IO-iFDi5Z-7qSkLUZO1rQ=w640-h150" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>The letter includes lots of other details about Kurin which the archaeologist clearly had to be the source of. But these features are circumstantial, and my speculations about them as well. What is more revealing is the date of the letter, May 15. According to the <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/cantin-v-sb-county.pdf">Complaint in a lawsuit</a> filed against the Sheriff and County of Santa Barbara by Kim Cantin, the first finding of human remains by Kurin and her student team came on May 10 (I have <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/01/new-evidence-suggests-former-uc-santa.html">reported on this Complaint in an earlier post</a>.) But Kim and Kurin did not publicly announce these finds until July 22, exactly a week after the initial settlement of the defamation suit Kurin filed against me. The reason given at the time was that Kurin needed the time to analyze the fragmentary human remains and determine if they were indeed Jack's.</p><p>Parenthetically, there are a lot of contradictions in what both Kim and Kurin told the press in July about when the first remains were found. At that time, they and the students are quoted as saying that this happened over Memorial Day weekend 2021, ie, exactly a year ago. But according to Kim's legal complaint, they were first found much earlier. Either way, the Sheriff/Coroner have yet to announce their findings concerning the identity of the bones, after an investigation that has gone on for nearly a year. In the meantime, <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/03/california-public-records-act-documents.html">serious issues were raised about Kurin's handling of the bones</a> and her clear violation of California's Health and Safety code concerning handling and mandatory reporting of human remains (that law forbids any further excavation of a site after the first human remains have been found.) Indeed, those concerns led to the UCSB investigation, which ultimately led to Kurin's apparently forced resignation.</p><p><br /></p><p>With this background, let me now outline the key issues:</p><p><br /></p><p>1. The letter from Kim makes it clear that Kurin was already telling her, no more than five days after the very first fragmentary remains were found and probably much sooner, that she had found Kim's missing son. Yet according to Kurin's own statements, there is no way she could have known that without analyzing the bones. The claim that they were found together with remains of Jack's clothing and items from the family's destroyed home made it a possibility, but without DNA analysis and other studies, that kind of evidence would have been very circumstantial at best. For Kurin to tell a grieving mother with that much certainty that her son had been found was unethical and unconscionable; even if Kim jumped to conclusions about the certainty of the identification, it's fair to say that Kurin's statements to her led her to believe it.</p><p>2. The letter makes clear that the anthropology chair and the dean, who had a direct line to the top administration, knew by May 15, 2021 that Kurin was claiming to have identified Jack Cantin. And as anthropologists, the five day interval between the discovery of the <i>very</i> fragmentary remains and Kim's letter should have been a major red flag for them. If it were not a red flag then, it should have been on July 22, 2021, when Kurin went public on local TV and in print about being "90%" sure she had found Jack. Nevertheless, the UCSB administration went on to grant Kurin tenure in August, countermanding the department's own recommendation.</p><p>3. According to the released records, neither Hale nor Walsh appear to have notified anyone else in the department that Kurin was claiming to have found Jack Cantin, nor that the long search that she and UCSB students in her charge had supposedly been successful. On September 9 of last year, <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/03/california-public-records-act-documents.html">acting chair Sarah McClure (Walsh was on sabbatical at the time) wrote to Hale and Walsh to express her concerns</a>. According to the email exchanges provided by the university, neither of the two men told McClure that they already knew about the remains and the circumstances of their discovery. Rather, Hale commented that "This sounds very serious" and suggests that the UCSB counsel be informed of the situation. The emails indicate that the three went on to have a meeting about the issues, but the results of that meeting are not included in the documents I received. Among the concerns, of course, was whether Kurin had not only exploited Kim Cantin in her now desperate bid for tenure, but UCSB students as well, who--according to documents I reported on earlier--were led to believe they were part of a major forensic discovery.</p><p>4. Despite the clear contradictions and issues surrounding the claims Kurin was making and the timing of the finds (which, as I have indicated before, dovetail neatly with events in Kurin's defamation suit against me), the university administration gave Kurin tenure in August 2021, against a departmental recommendation. I have also written earlier about the way that the administration, and UCSB Chancellor Henry Yang, <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/01/serial-abuser-danielle-kurin-is-gone.html">enabled Kurin and her abuses over many years.</a> In still other reporting, I have presented evidence that Kurin was also <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/01/anatomy-of-metoo-coverup-case-of.html">enabled by colleagues at UCLA</a>, including Cotsen Institute of Archaeology director Willeke Wendrich.</p><p><br /></p><p>Kurin is now gone from UCSB, and probably from academia, forever (at least in the United States.) But those who enabled her over the years to abuse students (and who allowed her to come back to UCSB after a string of well documented abuses) are still in their positions of power over the lives of students and other colleagues. One can only hope that this is not the end of the story.</p><p>Indeed, it probably is not. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff (and its affiliated Coroner's office) have yet to announce publicly the results of their own long attempts to identify the human remains, including attempts to extract DNA from them (which has apparently been difficult due to their damaged state--leading some to suggest that the bones actually came from Kurin's lab, which housed an extensive osteology collection, including the remains of ancient Native Americans.) Kim Cantin's lawsuit, which has been put on hold pending settlement negotiations, is still ongoing, another factor in why the Sheriff has not yet released its own conclusions.</p><p>Perhaps Kim Cantin should now sue UCSB and Danielle Kurin for their apparent collaboration in misleading her into thinking that her son had been found. Perhaps she will. Her attorney is reputed to be one of the best in Santa Barbara, and I have no doubt that he has her best interests at heart.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Afterthoughts:</b></p><p>Although Kurin is gone from UCSB, her sock puppets on social media (which in most cases are her as well) have accused me of being "obsessed" with Kurin because I keep writing about her. Of course, since she sued me for $18 million in the famous Southern District of NY and kept me and my six-attorney legal team busy for 13 months, I have taken a great interest in her, understandingly I think. But in reality, until her enablers at UCSB and at UCLA have been forced to accept responsibility--until their is accountability for the damage Kurin did to so many over the years--I am not likely to shut up about her.</p><p>I should also mention that whether or not Kurin planted the bones to be found by the students, as some who know her well suspect, it is possible that the remains could belong to the Indigenous peoples of the area. Indeed, behind the scenes local tribes have expressed a lot of concern, and some outrage, about the way the university and the Sheriff handled this situation, and there is likely to be more coming out about that after the final investigation results are announced. According to Kim Cantin's lawsuit, the Sheriff and Coroner did not cordon off nor do further searches of the area where the first fragmentary remains were found. Either they were remiss, or they realized early on that Kurin was not to be trusted in this matter.</p><p>(See also: <a href="https://twitter.com/mbalter/status/1485632917212737540?s=21&t=bXk1phApBfjlUG6TFYjkPQ">https://twitter.com/mbalter/status/1485632917212737540?s=21&t=bXk1phApBfjlUG6TFYjkPQ</a>)</p><p><br /></p><p><b>More thoughts June 2, 2022</b>: <b>DNA testing of the human remains. Who told Kim that would destroy them?</b></p><p>As I was filing away my copy of Kim Cantin's Complaint against the Sheriff and County of Santa Barbara, I was reminded of still more suggestions that Kurin badly led Kim astray. Kim came to oppose suggestions by the Sheriff that the largest of the bones, a shin bone, be sent out for DNA testing.</p><p>For example, section 45 of the Complaint records Kim's opposition to an Undersheriff's suggestion that the shin bone be sent to Marshall University Forensic Lab for DNA analysis. According to the document, "Plaintiff is informed and believes that DNA testing of this sort will destroy the bone, since the process requires dissolving the bone to obtain the organic component, collagen."</p><p>In Section 50, the Complaint again states that "further testing... will destroy it and any evidentiary value it might have."</p><p>Of course, modern DNA testing uses very small samples of bones or other material, and the idea that the shin bone or any other remains would be destroyed seems misplaced. Who told Kim that? Someone who didn't want the bone to be tested, and who never attempted to obtain DNA analysis of the remains, despite spending more than two months "analyzing" them? As I indicate above, so many unanswered questions.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Update June 3, 2022: </b>A reliable source within the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s department tells me the department should be releasing its findings in the Jack Cantin case around the end of this month or early July. It appears that Sheriff-Coronor Bill Brown has decided to wait to break the news until after the June 7 election, in which he will <a href="https://santamariatimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/santa-barbara-county-sheriff-to-face-off-with-lieutenant-challenger-in-june-primary/article_ea786915-0ee1-5a43-b63d-38607876654b.html">face off against challenger Juan Camarena</a>, a veteran of the Santa Barbara police department. Observers of Santa Barbara County politics say that waiting until after the election to reveal the department's findings in the Jack Cantin case will probably make sense once we know the results.</p><p><b>Update June 9, 2022: <a href="https://www.noozhawk.com/article/election_santa_barbara_sheriff_coroner_brown_camarena_20220607">Sheriff Bill Brown re-elected</a>. </b>As I suggest above, Brown's victory should smooth the path to release of the Sheriff-Coroner's investigation very soon. Please check back here for updates. Meanwhile this Reddit post, which I included in response to a comment on an earlier post, is interesting reading.</p><p><br /></p><p><iframe height="324" id="reddit-embed" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups" scrolling="no" src="https://www.redditmedia.com/r/UCSantaBarbara/comments/s8w2gw/remember_danielle_kurin_anthropology_prof_here_at/htkj89e/?depth=1&showmore=false&embed=true&showmedia=false" style="border-style: none; border-width: initial;" width="640"></iframe></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /> </p>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-17707208161638561142022-04-01T11:15:00.010-04:002022-06-09T10:48:39.220-04:00The truth begins to emerge, at last, about the Max Planck Society's smear campaign against archaeologist Nicole Boivin. Boivin tried to play by the rules, but underhanded motivations have led to her removal as a director at Jena for the second time. [Updated June 9, 2022: Boivin's open letter to education/research minister gets coverage and traction]<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0rJuAUtPsTLHyBQK7C5JMCpU2ACJjJspomdacoL-tFQKCBt_9najrQBVkIttxhQWRLuspnXnbjTZVjdvOZ8f6bBNJPM6VsjSJyX9VDZJ_QybXaxb3_zIxP4bn22rxToZwXGY-m3tSFzRI05KfUL9yuR1AKkDaMi8gcv4bmhxXFMc6gOdtBO3leW9hkw/s408/Nicky.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="306" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0rJuAUtPsTLHyBQK7C5JMCpU2ACJjJspomdacoL-tFQKCBt_9najrQBVkIttxhQWRLuspnXnbjTZVjdvOZ8f6bBNJPM6VsjSJyX9VDZJ_QybXaxb3_zIxP4bn22rxToZwXGY-m3tSFzRI05KfUL9yuR1AKkDaMi8gcv4bmhxXFMc6gOdtBO3leW9hkw/s320/Nicky.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nicole Boivin</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>For nearly five years, Canadian archaeologist Nicole Boivin has been fighting attempts by the Max Planck Society and a couple of former colleagues to remove her as archaeology director at the <a href="https://www.shh.mpg.de/en">Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History</a> in Jena, Germany. They succeeded once; then a court intervened and restored her to her post; and now she has been removed again, by the Max Planck Society's Senate.<div><br /></div><div>That leaves the Jena institute with no directors. In effect, the Max Planck Society has gutted the research center it created, after putting millions into it. That's because the two other founding directors, geneticist Johannes Krause and linguistics/animal cognition researcher Russell Gray, flew the Jena coop a couple of years ago. They are now in scientific residence in Leipzig, Germany, where the powerhouse <a href="https://www.eva.mpg.de/index/">Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology</a> is located.</div><div><br /></div><div>Boivin objected to the effective dismantling of the Jena institute, and that is the source of her troubles. Krause and Gray mounted a behind-the-scenes smear campaign against Boivin, and because of their prestige in the scientific community--and, many would argue, <a href="https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/how-a-prestigious-scientific-organization-came-under-suspicion-of-treating-women-unequally-a-96da63b5-19af-4fde-b044-445f9cfd6159">because they are men and Boivin is a woman</a>--they have come close to succeeding. In doing so, they were able to magnify small issues and complaints into major accusations of scientific misconduct and bullying by Boivin (see below.)</div><div><br /></div><div>I have been reporting on these events from the beginning. But because Boivin wanted to go through the Max Planck system, despite its proven bias against women scientists--who form a small percentage of the powerful directors corps--she tried to fight this battle without publicizing it (even as her adversaries told their "story" far and wide.)</div><div><br /></div><div>More recently, however, the story has received considerable coverage, especially in <i>Science</i> and <i>Nature</i>, although their coverage have often bought into the Max Planck administration's line to a considerable extent. Boivin has had great difficulty telling her story, not surprising when a woman is going up against a male-dominated institution.</div><div><br /></div><div>But Boivin is finally beginning to tell her story. One of the most detailed accounts has just been published in the Ostthuringer Zeitung (March 30) in German. A pdf of the article can be <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/03/nicky-forced-out-again-the-truth.pdf">accessed here</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>And below is an English translation of the article, which I have had confirmed as accurate. The story told here conforms with my own reporting on the matter. Unfortunately, because they had personal reasons for wanting to abandon the Jena institute and move to Leipzig, Krause and Gray were willing to throw a colleague under the bus--a colleague who was fighting to maintain the integrity of a new institution, where important research, by Boivin and her colleagues, continues to be carried out.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is an ongoing story, and I will update it as necessary.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dismantling of a top researcher (by </span></b>Sibylle Göbel)</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Society funded with tax billions again removes renowned Jena scientist from office</span></b></p><p class="p2" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Jena. Despite massive criticism from renowned scientists of the previous procedure, the Senate of the Max Planck</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Society (MPG) has now removed the only remaining director of the Jena Max Planck Institute for the History of Man</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(MPI) from office for the second time. The senate of the MPG approved the decision on Friday by an "overwhelming</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">majority," the MPG spokeswoman confirmed on request. There was only one dissenting vote. The Canadian Nicole</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Boivin, who came to Jena from Oxford University in 2016, is accused of "scientific and non-scientific misconduct" as a</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">result of lengthy investigations. The case is raising a lot of dust, especially because there have been several removals</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">of female MPG directors in the recent past. This has solidified the reputation that the MPG, which receives billions in</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">taxpayer funding, is hostile to women.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Revolt of the former professors</span></b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">At the same time, the MPG - precisely because women are heavily underrepresented in its ranks as executives -</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">should have a special duty of care toward them. Among female employees and MPG members, however, the current</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">case has spread fear and terror. And it is hardly likely to inspire women to join the MPG. The decision by the MPG</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Senate, which includes Thuringia's Science Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee (SPD) as a guest, is the culmination of a</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">conflict that has been simmering for a long time. The starting point: Nicole Boivin did not agree with her two director</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">colleagues who wanted to relocate the Jena institute, which was only established in 2014, to Leipzig. Leipzig,</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Johannes Krause and Russell Gray argued in October 2017, was far more suitable as a location - partly because it had</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">an international airport. Instead of investing the available funds - in the double-digit millions - in Jena, a completely</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">new institute could be built in Leipzig.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Boivin, however, who had just settled in Jena with her family and built up her department, was against this plan. A</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">falling out with Krause and Gray ensued, culminating in Boivin's accusations of bullying against her two colleagues at</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">the end of 2018 and a complaint about the lack of duty of care on the part of MPG President Martin Stratmann. An</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">audit and misconduct investigation began posthaste. And because that presumably did not lead to the desired result,</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">MPG Vice President Ulman Lindenberger questioned Boivin's doctoral students. "During these investigations," says</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Boivin's lawyer, Sascha Herms, "essential procedural rules of the MPG were disregarded." Boivin, for example, was</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">not heard in the manner that is customary in a constitutional procedure. In addition, the investigations were</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">conducted in a completely non-transparent manner. Furthermore, the many positive feedbacks from employees and</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">doctoral students were not taken into account, but only complaints about Boivin were collected. In a letter to MPG</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">President Martin Stratmann at the end of 2021, even emeritus professors at the MPG expressed irritation that</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">exculpatory objections in favor of Boivin were "not taken seriously". They themselves had only learned of the case</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">from the press. In their letter, they also complain that the MPG leadership allowed the conflict in Jena to escalate</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">further instead of mediating it.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">As a result of the investigations, Nicole Boivin was relieved of her function as director in October 2021 in an</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">emergency decision by the MPG president. But she was not satisfied: the scientist went to court and in December</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">2021 obtained a temporary injunction to reinstate her until the facts of the case were finally clarified. The MPG</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">immediately filed an appeal.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Principal investigator becomes acting director</span></b></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Now, then, another dismissal - this time by the Senate. The decision is said to have been preceded by heated debates</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">in the sections. For MPG spokeswoman Christina Beck, however, it underscores "the confidence in the work of the</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">commissions, which pursued the clarification of all allegations and the recommendation of how to deal with them</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">with great care and neutrality". The head of Boivin's department was again appointed on an interim basis - and again</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">with Ulman Lindenberger, the principal investigator. Boivin herself was allowed to remain a scientific member of the</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">MPG, which continued to allow her "independent research work". Beck does not want to go into the question of</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">whether - as is currently being rumored in Jena - the current Jena MPI is to make way for an MPI for Geo-</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Anthropology and Nicole Boivin stood in the way of this with her reconstruction plans. The consultations</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">on the Jena MPI have not yet been completed, she says. The MPG will retain the Jena site in any case. Thuringia's</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ministry of Science is more explicit: According to a spokesperson, the MPG has informed the federal/state</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">community, as the financial supporter of its research activities, about its plans to found an MPI for geoanthropology.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Discussions are currently underway within the MPG regarding the scientific orientation, but also the future location</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">of such an institute. "Jena is being considered as a location because of its expertise and the existing institutes.</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The chairman of the geo-anthropological commission, which decides on the future of the site, is: Ulman</span></p><p class="p3" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Lindenberger.</span></p></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><b>Update April 2, 2022</b>: <b>Science story on the above events gets some things right, some things wrong.</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Late last night, <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/max-planck-archaeology-director-removed-after-alleged-bullying?utm_campaign=NewsfromScience"><i>Science</i> posted its story on the above events</a>, with reporting by my colleague Andrew Curry. This latest in a series of reports by <i>Science</i> is better than previous ones, which failed to seriously give Boivin's side of the story, in that it raises questions about the Max Planck Society's process (or at least quotes those who have done so.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Some thoughts:</div><div><br /></div><div>1. The article makes clear that the Max Planck Senate voted to remove Boivin with a very limited knowledge of the allegations against her and possible exculpatory facts. However, it accepts without question the Society's contention that it could not have given the Senate the commission's report because otherwise the identities of complainants and other witnesses would be revealed. As most know, this is nonsense, because it is routine to redact names in such documents.</div><div><br /></div><div>2. While Curry quotes scientists who question the Max Planck process, it is very odd that he did not identify Christiane Nusslein-Volhard as a Nobel laureate. During the 25 years I was at <i>Science</i>, we routinely did so, and I do not believe that practice has changed. Either Curry did not know this (he can tell us if he wants) or he left out this identification, which would have added weight and prestige to what she had to say. Nusslein-Volhard is, by the way, the only woman from Germany to have received a Nobel in the sciences. [<b>Update</b>: See below]</div><div><br /></div><div>3. Curry refers to "conflicts" between Boivin and the other two Jena directors, Krause and Gray, without giving readers any idea what those conflicts were about--even though, I have reason to believe, he knows full well, and even though the German press has already discussed those origins of the Nicole Boivin affair publicly. This is a real failure by <i>Science</i> (it's entirely possible that Curry has tried to tell that story and been nixed by the journal's editors, but he can tell us if so), especially as there is considerable evidence that Krause and Gray launched a smear campaign against Boivin after she resisted moving the Jena institute to Leipzig. In other words, there is evidence that Boivin, in her attempts to defend the integrity and future of the institute she had just joined, interfered with the career plans of the two men.</div><div><br /></div><div>4. Finally, Curry does not, in this story, provide readers with any evidence that Boivin actually bullied colleagues or plagiarized their work. This is problematic because Curry is no doubt aware of evidence that Krause and Gray poisoned the well early on, and thus allegations against Boivin have to be evaluated in the context of an internecine war in which younger researchers were forced to choose sides. Two men against one woman: I don't need to spell out how the power balance weighed out, especially in the clear context of Max Planck's <a href="https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/how-a-prestigious-scientific-organization-came-under-suspicion-of-treating-women-unequally-a-96da63b5-19af-4fde-b044-445f9cfd6159">serious problems with gender discrimination</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let's hope that future stories by <i>Science, Nature</i>, and other English-language publications catch up with what the German press has already explored in some detail.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Further update</b>: I have since learned that Andrew Curry did indeed know that Christiane Nusslein-Volhard was a Nobel laureate. He included that information <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/archaeologist-accused-bullying-reinstated-max-planck-institute">in an earlier story</a>. During my 25 years at <i>Science</i>, I cannot recall an incident in which a Nobel laureate was not referenced that way, since it is considered a key and critical part of a scientist's identification (rightly or wrongly.)</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Why would <i>Science</i> engage in apparently biased reporting about the Boivin case?</b> Here I am going to engage in some informed speculation, and clearly label it that. Please recall that I was a member of the journal's anthropology/archaeology reporting team for nearly 20 years. Both Gray and Krause, but especially Krause, were the subjects of many important stories we did--I did a <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/researchers-discover-new-lineage-ancient-human">number</a> of <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/earlier-birth-indo-european-languages">them</a> myself. Knowing how the reporting and editorial processes at <i>Science</i> work, I can state confidently that its editors and reporters would not want to antagonize Krause by delving too deeply into the origins of the Nicole Boivin story and how her troubles at the Max Planck began. In other words, <i>Science</i>'s anthropology team has a potential conflict of interest in its reporting on the Boivin case.</div><div><br /></div><div>That may sound like a serious charge, but actually it is par for the case for much of science journalism. To a large extent (and I am speaking here as someone who taught the subject for many years, at the graduate level, at two major universities) science journalism is access journalism. Relatively little real science investigative journalism is actually done, at least in fields like anthropology (I was lucky enough to do a fair bit of it when I was at <i>Science</i>, but it was the exception to our usual practices.) In other areas of science, such as environmental journalism, investigative stories are more common. This is a subject I will explore more in the near future.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>June 9: Boivin's open letter to Germany's minister for Education and Research attracts media coverage</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Yesterday, June 8, Nicole Boivin posted an <a href="https://zenodo.org/record/6603751#.YqHsChPMLs0">open letter</a> to Bettina Stark-Watzinger, Germany's education and research minister, calling for her ministry to begin conducting oversight of the autonomous Max Planck Society, which oversees an annual budget of about 2 billion Euros in public funds. Using her own case as an example, Boivin pointed out that female directors--who make up only 18% of the total--have been subject to gender-based harassment in recent years, and that three have been demoted under questionable circumstances.</div><div><br /></div><div>The letter has received <a href="https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/bildung/max-planck-gesellschaft-ehemalige-institutsdirektorin-fordert-schaerfere-kontrolle-der-max-planck-gesellschaft-a-36d0f751-acc8-4a60-b28a-f46c72dc74e4">coverage in the German press</a>, and also in an important piece in <i>Nature</i> <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01600-7">by its German correspondent, Alison Abbott.</a> (Abbott had <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-03492-5">earlier reported on an open letter signed by 145</a> female scientists around the world expressing concern about the Max Planck's penchant for dismissing female directors. Meanwhile, male directors who have brought lots of prestige to the Society <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2019/01/an-alleged-metoo-story-told-at-last.html">often have their sins forgiven</a>.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Abbott's new piece is worth reading in its entirely, because it includes some disturbing details. As Boivin has claimed in her own case, Abbott cites the concerns of current and former Max Planck Society scientists that due process was repeatedly violated in a number of misconduct investigations the Society carried out, and that an atmosphere of intimidation and fear has made it difficult for scientists to speak out.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Harding, Palatino, serif; font-size: 18px;"><b>"The run of demotions has led to an atmosphere of fear among MPI directors, says developmental biologist Herbert Jäckle, an emeritus director at the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences in Göttingen. 'They are concerned about how the investigations are going, but afraid to speak out,' he says."</b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Harding, Palatino, serif; font-size: 18px;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div>And when the Max Planck Senate finally voted to demote Boivin, Abbott reports, there was no discussion of the documents it had been given on which the decision was supposed to be based. A number of observers have told me that the Senate vote was basically a rubber stamp of what the Max Planck and its president, Martin Stratmann, wanted it to do.</div><div><br /></div><div>As further evidence of the atmosphere of intimidation within the Society, Abbott writes:</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; font-family: Harding, Palatino, serif; font-size: 18px;">"Nature</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Harding, Palatino, serif; font-size: 18px;"> spoke to six Max Planck directors who had been demoted, were under investigation for non-scientific misconduct or who had raised concerns about procedures internally. All had similar criticisms about the lack of transparency and perceived bias in MPS investigations, which they say involve too few independent arbiters. (All the directors asked not to be named for fear of retaliation.)"</span></b></div><div><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Harding, Palatino, serif; font-size: 18px;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Harding, Palatino, serif; font-size: 18px;"><br /></span></b></div><div>I find it amazing that some directors, who had almost unlimited power over their institutions, have been reduced to a state of fear and cowering. That means Boivin is one of the few directors who has been willing to speak openly about the due process issues. </div><div><br /></div><div>I've talked to a number of scientists about all of this, some of whom say they know someone who was "bullied" by Boivin or know someone who knows someone who was. The problem is that these bullying allegations, and another allegation that Boivin appropriated someone else's work, actually have nothing to do with the reasons that she came under investigation by the Society. Rather, as Boivin describes in her open letter--and as I have independently verified--she came under attack as part of a smear campaign against her by two "colleagues" at the institute in Jena, as described above.</div><div><br /></div><div>(We once again see the damage done by the perennial "whisper network" in science, which protects not only the truth but also rumors and gossip.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Martin Stratmann is now the lame-duck president of the Max Planck, and a new president should be named very soon. Stratmann has left the Society discredited and in a muddle about its priorities and its commitment to encouraging women in science; many scientists are expressing hope that a new president might be able to breathe new life into what has become an aging dinosaur of an institution, in which men rule and those who step out of line can be ex-communicated with little chance to mount a defense.</div>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-9050042173243081982022-03-30T11:24:00.004-04:002022-03-30T17:00:11.106-04:00California Public Records Act documents provide new insights into the departure of Danielle Kurin from UC Santa Barbara<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSiDkRC_mi9HzinJgBpHsNwHFgGEk7OTzUZXMkcIRrWeKLTBgVU6hFL44LJpky-4plIu-nEMusPUUBjPf6Ph_jNnVmdB1g2wAGwaArY1jhIPzcPMpVLqBxD1vW2CViFSQbGwuO087lD176NauyZUrIHvpy5IonQkST8H3fMr21jCh5OUqAPKN1msyz2A/s478/Anthropology%20building%20(1).jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="251" data-original-width="478" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSiDkRC_mi9HzinJgBpHsNwHFgGEk7OTzUZXMkcIRrWeKLTBgVU6hFL44LJpky-4plIu-nEMusPUUBjPf6Ph_jNnVmdB1g2wAGwaArY1jhIPzcPMpVLqBxD1vW2CViFSQbGwuO087lD176NauyZUrIHvpy5IonQkST8H3fMr21jCh5OUqAPKN1msyz2A/w640-h336/Anthropology%20building%20(1).jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Archaeologist Danielle Kurin is gone but not entirely forgotten in the UCSB anthropology building<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p>Last January, most members of the University of California, Santa Barbara anthropology department breathed a deep sigh of relief when one of their colleagues, archaeologist Danielle Kurin, <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/01/new-evidence-suggests-former-uc-santa.html">abruptly resigned the tenured position</a> she had fought years to get. Kurin's departure seemed an appropriate, if long delayed, resolution of her years of well-established abuses and enabling of abuse, leading to a Title IX, censure by the university, three years of administrative leave, ejection from a leading archaeological organization, and other dramas. (For a guide to my reporting on all these matters, <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/11/a-guide-to-my-reporting-on-alleged.html">please see here</a>.)</p><p>In the midst of all these events, Kurin filed an $18 million defamation suit against me in federal court. Before the case was settled (and later <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/10/metoo-journalist-declares-settlement.html">unsettled after she violated our agreement</a>), my attorneys and I received thousands of pages in discovery, which not only fully backed up my reporting but provided even new details of her misconduct. Unfortunately, to avoid months of litigation, we had to agree to a court "protective order" to get most of these documents in a timely manner; the court order prevents me from revealing what was in them.</p><p>However, many of the documents, at least those that involve UCSB directly, are accessible via the California Public Records Act. I began requesting selective records soon after the case was over. The university has taken months to process them, but is finally releasing them to me in batches. This post is an update on two issues important to understanding why Kurin is no longer at UCSB: Her 2018 settlement with the university after the Title IX proceedings, which included the three year administrative leave; and indications that the university had investigated Kurin for possible misconduct during <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-strange-case-of-montecito-mudslide.html">her anthropological work for the mother of a missing teenager</a>, victim of the 2018 Montecito mudslide (Montecito is a community just next to Santa Barbara.)</p><p>As I write, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's office has not yet wrapped up its investigation of Kurin's claim that she had found the remains of Jack Cantin, whose mother has never given up the search for her missing son. According to Raquel Zick, spokesperson for the Sheriff, this is now due mostly to continuing negotiations in <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/01/new-evidence-suggests-former-uc-santa.html">a lawsuit that Jack's mother, Kim Cantin, filed</a> against the county and the sheriff because it would not give her a death certificate for the bones that Kurin and her student team had supposedly found.</p><p>This means that the Sheriff and coroner have probably concluded their attempts to identify the human remains, although we are awaiting official word about that. The new documents shed some light on the role of both Kurin and the university in this and other matters, and I will go through them in what follows.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Kurin's 2018 settlement with UCSB: Three strikes and you're out.</b></p><p>In 2016, after Danielle Kurin was found in a Title IX proceeding to have retaliated against students who reported her partner (and later husband) for acts of sexual harassment at her archaeological field sites in Peru, she sued the University of California on the grounds that they had denied her a promotion despite the disciplinary action. The case dragged on for nearly two years. But in March 2018, the university settled all claims with Kurin. The settlement was never made public, nor even the details of the Title IX, even to members of Kurin's department. In February 2020, based also on a public records release, I first reported on the Title IX; now, for the first time, I can publish <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/03/kurin-settlement-agreement-with-ucsb.pdf">the settlement, which is accessible here.</a></p><p>What follows is brief commentary on some of its provisions. Note that only one section is partly redacted, which I will explain.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Sections 1-4:</b> These are fairly standard provisions in a settlement of this kind, and spell out when Kurin can return to full compensation as an assistant professor</p><p><b>Section 5:</b> Kurin is banned from the UCSB campus for the three years of her leave, except for supervised removal of materials from her office and lab. Given her confirmed retaliation against students, this provision was presumably to protect them from possible abuse at her hands.</p><p><b>Section 6</b>: Kurin's "tenure clock" is suspended until she returns to work at UCSB. Note that while the university could have fired Kurin--and in such similar, egregious circumstances, many institutions have done just that--the UCSB administration (and probably the University of California central administration) decided to give her another chance, for reasons they have never explained to anyone.</p><p><b>Section 7</b>: This section refers to the <b>Letter of Censure</b> put into Kurin's personnel file for the three years she was on leave. I earlier published this letter, as part of the settlement agreement in the Kurin v. Balter lawsuit, but I am <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/03/censure-letter-marshall-to-kurin-signed-and-acknowledged-1.pdf">linking here to the better quality version</a> I received via the California Public Records Act. The Letter of Censure, which Kurin and her attorney attempted to hide from me and my attorneys during the lawsuit, details the charges the university confirmed against her. It demonstrates clearly that she lied to the court and to her colleagues about the nature of the discipline against her and the reasons for it.</p><p><b>Section 8</b>: This section forbids Kurin from knowingly working with any UCSB students during her leave. I have no evidence that she did so. However, as I reported earlier, the Institute for Field Research allowed Kurin to bring students from other institutions down to field schools in Peru in 2017 and 2018 <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/01/anatomy-of-metoo-coverup-case-of.html">despite its knowledge that she had been subject to a Title IX</a>; that led to a sexual assault against a student in 2018 at the hands of Kurin's then husband.</p><p><b>Section 9</b>: This is the only section which includes redactions, and only partially. The unredacted part indicates that before Kurin can return to work, <b>a psychotherapist must certify that she is fit</b> to return to do so. I have reported earlier, based on independent sources, that the settlement required Kurin to undergo an extended period of psychotherapy. The redactions were presumably for privacy reasons. However, those who know Kurin say that she has had mental health issues for years, and that her family has been greatly concerned with that. This could generate some sympathy for Kurin, but condemnation of those who <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/01/serial-abuser-danielle-kurin-is-gone.html">allowed her to continue to abuse students in various ways and enabled her</a> legal attacks on those who told the truth about her.</p><p><b>Sections 11-31</b>: These sections are again pretty standard legalese typical of such settlements and not particular to Kurin's situation.</p><p><b>Section 32</b>: In terms of what happened later, this is probably the most important provision of the agreement. It outlines what could happen to Kurin if she commits similar misconduct again. In brief, <b>she would be subject to dismissal with no right of appeal.</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjFk7ZW7VLgCK_rELmev1_w2YjzgG0BkGRJgeL6ez_cOoDaI-REu49vL4C2G_VXeOYopJzm2knIIlh3_M6fKyn2sZ0EF3krEujmWFjo1TTRziNotTy1g92-DfJKZ1AfU1lVWu_GqYaQgNPiP3oj43UuDQY3XmTjDNEBcpsare9ZV9BwsrXQAQMkWGZYFg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="305" data-original-width="468" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjFk7ZW7VLgCK_rELmev1_w2YjzgG0BkGRJgeL6ez_cOoDaI-REu49vL4C2G_VXeOYopJzm2knIIlh3_M6fKyn2sZ0EF3krEujmWFjo1TTRziNotTy1g92-DfJKZ1AfU1lVWu_GqYaQgNPiP3oj43UuDQY3XmTjDNEBcpsare9ZV9BwsrXQAQMkWGZYFg=w640-h418" width="640" /></a></div>Of course, this provision is subject to interpretation, and Kurin could have argued that other kinds of misconduct--such as that which has been alleged against her by her own department concerning the Jack Cantin matter--would not lead to automatic dismissal. But it seems likely that her sudden resignation was due to her knowledge that she might be charged with misconduct by UCSB, or indeed had been at the time she departed.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Kurin's department reported serious concerns about her handling of the Jack Cantin case to the UCSB administration.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I have reported earlier that, according to sources at UCSB, the administration had launched an investigation of Kurin's alleged mishandling of the Jack Cantin remains, including clear violations of the California Health and Safety Code, which required her to immediately report any new human remains to the Sheriff's office and not to excavate them in any way.</div><div><br /></div><div>The new records provide some new details of how that investigation came about.</div><div><br /></div><div>On July 22, 2021, a week after the federal judge dismissed Kurin's lawsuit against me, she and Kim Cantin notified the local Santa Barbara media that Kurin's team had found, and identified with "90% certainty," the remains of Jack Cantin. The news clearly took the Sheriff's department by surprise, which apparently found out about it on that evening's TV news.</div><div><br /></div><div>I did not write about this <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-strange-case-of-montecito-mudslide.html">until October of last year</a>, because during the brief time it was in effect, the settlement between me and Kurin did not allow me to write about her. But according to the records, members of Kurin's department were concerned much earlier. In a September 9 email, Sarah McClure, then acting director of the anthropology department, notified department chair Casey Walsh and Dean Charles Hale of her concerns, <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/03/kurin-cantin-sarah-report-to-casey-charlie.pdf">which she spelled out in detail.</a> The most salient part of McClure's email is as follows:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiF3XUSadFQTifXPfmBVgsKVrmhbOUd6Eio0mujlkiFDaXJVx9WrCMJ7XQFzYPIsdBzdYvYYWXbxP2_JcpGvOVq7QS39Y6FNjORuSE3aDIO2Y2QOcPYMMg40lUmaATNIMt7rnDc0efOiCTxv4FKeiwpD5ZzBvcFuhcdVdvewRUXwLULRu4MU-LNC29sXA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="84" data-original-width="468" height="114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiF3XUSadFQTifXPfmBVgsKVrmhbOUd6Eio0mujlkiFDaXJVx9WrCMJ7XQFzYPIsdBzdYvYYWXbxP2_JcpGvOVq7QS39Y6FNjORuSE3aDIO2Y2QOcPYMMg40lUmaATNIMt7rnDc0efOiCTxv4FKeiwpD5ZzBvcFuhcdVdvewRUXwLULRu4MU-LNC29sXA=w640-h114" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>The released emails indicate that both <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/03/cantin-casey-can-be-there-for-mtg.pdf">Walsh</a> and <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/03/cantin-sarah-yes-to-meeting-time-charlie-serious.pdf">Hale</a> agreed to a meeting about the issue. In his response, Hale, who is the direct conduit to the upper administration, comments, "This sounds very serious." Hale suggests that the UCSB counsel be notified of the problem.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>It seems reasonable to assume that this was the genesis of the investigation my sources tell me the university proceeded to instigate. I am awaiting other documents, which should be produced by the end of April. At that time, I hope to be able to update this story. And, with luck, by then we will know the Sheriff's final conclusions on the purported Jack Cantin remains, along with any statements they might make on the role that Danielle Kurin played in all this.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Addendum:</b> I should have mentioned that at the time of release of these records to me, Dean Charles Hale had not responded to the UCSB public records office's request for his emails. Since Hale is the conduit between the department and the upper administration, I will be insisting that these be produced as required by California law.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-14890151101989876742022-03-23T09:31:00.003-04:002022-04-04T18:54:12.440-04:00Support builds for Peruvian anthropologist Marcela Poirier, target of vicious retaliation by a powerful sexual harasser [Update April 4: Institute of Andean Studies issues strong statement of support'<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-F9TO-ywfPnpgswIKihzIDgrSVfgUNLy7QSKhhNWyMMDOmdRbmUi6FoYkdojyFnbq9n_N9IEVX2q7xvsYJgVEI7GaU-wl-tKAV27g2scoF9226ksV3bmb8kCkH1dEZsUOiEv7pIxoltH21a5PJ_OGvN8l2xiVLTvQVQIRMm-dCXHY_xWATWSUouDNkw/s1170/Marcela%20support%20statement%20jpeg.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1170" data-original-width="912" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-F9TO-ywfPnpgswIKihzIDgrSVfgUNLy7QSKhhNWyMMDOmdRbmUi6FoYkdojyFnbq9n_N9IEVX2q7xvsYJgVEI7GaU-wl-tKAV27g2scoF9226ksV3bmb8kCkH1dEZsUOiEv7pIxoltH21a5PJ_OGvN8l2xiVLTvQVQIRMm-dCXHY_xWATWSUouDNkw/w498-h640/Marcela%20support%20statement%20jpeg.png" width="498" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p>As I <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/03/twice-confirmed-sexual-harasser-luis.html">reported earlier</a>, Peruvian archaeologist and former culture minister Luis Jaime Castillo Butters has sued Peruvian anthropologist Marcela Poirier for defamation, following her truth-telling about his long history of sexual harassment and bullying, including to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. After an investigation, the <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/leading-peruvian-archaeologist-ousted-u-s-national-academy-sciences">NAS rescinded Castillo's membership</a>, the first time an international member has been kicked out of the Academy.</p><p>Earlier, the sexual harassment commission of Castillo's university, the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, found the allegations to be supported by the evidence. However, the PUCP has taken no action against him, and he is still teaching there; even worse, the university has <a href="https://larepublica.pe/sociedad/2022/02/24/pucp-estudiantes-podrian-ser-suspendidas-tras-visibilizar-a-docentes-denunciados-por-acoso-sexual-atmp/">threatened to suspend students</a> who protested and demanded that it take action.</p><p>The hearing in this case will be heard by the court in Lima, in an online session, on April 8. <b>Marcela faces a possible 30 months in jail and and approximately $50,000 in damages</b>, if the court decides to give Castillo what he is demanding. I will be one of the witnesses, testifying to the findings of my reporting on Castillo, which was based on the accounts of numerous survivors.</p><p><b>Fortunately, support for Marcela is building</b>. The above statement in her support was just published, signed by more than 100 organizations, feminist groups, and individuals. (I hope to have an English translation of it available soon and will post it here.)</p><p>Meanwhile, the NAS, along with the <a href="https://instituteofandeanstudies.org/">Institute of Andean Studies</a>--which brings together many of the scholars in Castillo's field of study--have been alerted about this emergency situation, and the IAS is now looking into it. I am awaiting an update from the NAS about what action, if any, it plans to take.</p><p>I hope this show of support for Marcela in her own country will trigger the consciences of her colleagues in the United States (Marcela got her PhD at Purdue University) and around the world to the point where they will speak out against this <b>blatant and vicious retaliation against a colleague who simply told the truth about an abuser.</b> I have also written personally to four American anthropologists well known for their #MeToo advocacy (the authors of <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0102172">the groundbreaking "SAFE" study</a>), in hopes that they too will issue a statement of solidarity.</p><p>Please watch this space for further developments.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Update April 4</b>: The <b>Institute of Andean Studies</b>, the professional organization closest to Castillo's area of research, <a href="https://instituteofandeanstudies.org/announcements/ias-statement-on-sexual-harassment-april-2022">issues a strong statement</a> prompted by his lawsuit against Marcela Poirier. This is the way to step up.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-63505073025916679772022-03-11T11:05:00.004-05:002022-04-04T18:53:53.226-04:00Twice confirmed sexual harasser Luis Jaime Castillo Butters, archaeologist and former culture minister of Peru, uses his power and that of his university to retaliate against those who told the truth about him. An update on a grotesque #MeToo story. [Update: Court hearing is April 8] ][Updated April 4: Inst Andean Studies issues strong statement of support]]<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjCCBHTtk-Zi_nS2uL0uuu1XfvQFaN0A6xbWp925ZGGU0riBT7wH3k10F-melPn8ln8wYKlmdXQBfxyy4O97-v38VrM0fQ-OF8ByqOPauTxqcBmi3YBdova9jkcp3nJ4NGU4v6ynAwOYg-zvoQcdcjxW2sUJZF7R91dHJ5Ukl-u7oNaZorOijfeT1Q5mw=s275" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjCCBHTtk-Zi_nS2uL0uuu1XfvQFaN0A6xbWp925ZGGU0riBT7wH3k10F-melPn8ln8wYKlmdXQBfxyy4O97-v38VrM0fQ-OF8ByqOPauTxqcBmi3YBdova9jkcp3nJ4NGU4v6ynAwOYg-zvoQcdcjxW2sUJZF7R91dHJ5Ukl-u7oNaZorOijfeT1Q5mw=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>The man pictured above, Luis Jaime Castillo Butters--former culture minister of Peru and current archaeology professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) in Lima--has twice been found by key institutions with which he was affiliated to have committed sexual harassment of students. First, his own university upheld the allegations (<a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/06/andean-archaeology-has-metoo-problem.html">which I first reported in June 2020</a>), when PUCP's sexual harassment commission examined the evidence and <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/02/special-sexual-harassment-commission.html">found it to be highly credible</a>. On that occasion, however, Castillo could not be disciplined or fired because the relevant anti-harassment policies were not in effect at the time he committed the abuses.</p><p>Then, last October, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, in which Castillo had been an international member, ousted him from the organization after <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/leading-peruvian-archaeologist-ousted-u-s-national-academy-sciences">its own investigation found him to have committed misconduct</a>. During these events, Castillo has repeatedly threatened survivors of his abuse and other witnesses with defamation lawsuits, including this reporter (as of yet, he has taken no action against me, despite threats from his attorney that he would do so.)</p><p>However, Castillo, with the enabling and support of the PUCP, has begun to follow through on the threats. <b>He has now sued a truth-teller, Lima-based anthropologist Marcela Poirier, for defamation. Castillo is asking the court to award him 200,000 Peruvian soles (about $50,000 U.S.) and to jail her for 30 months.</b></p><p>In her report on the action by the NAS, Science reporter Meredith Wadman described Poirier's role:</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 18px;">"Marcela Poirier, an anthropologist with a Ph.D. from Purdue University who worked for 1 year at a field school that Castillo Butters frequently visited, filed a complaint with NAS in the spring that included the PUCP commission’s report and asked the academy to oust Castillo Butters. Now a manager of cultural and educational resources in Lima, she told </span><cite style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #262626; font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 18px;">Science</cite><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 18px;">Insider today that NAS’s move 'sends the message that change is possible, and that justice—however imperfect—can be achieved.'"</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 18px;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 18px;">(Note: Marcela Poirier was not one of my informants and was not one of the survivors I wrote about in my blog.)</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: "PT Serif", serif; font-size: 18px;"><br /></span></p><p>As if that were not bad enough, Castillo's university, the PUCP, is threatening students who disseminated allegations on social media against Castillo and another professor accused of misconduct, Daniel Parodi, with suspension. (For Peruvian press reports, in Spanish, see <a href="https://wayka.pe/alumnas-pucp-podrian-ser-suspendidas-por-denunciar-publicamente-a-profesores-acosadores/">here</a> and <a href="https://larepublica.pe/sociedad/2022/02/24/pucp-estudiantes-podrian-ser-suspendidas-tras-visibilizar-a-docentes-denunciados-por-acoso-sexual-atmp/">here</a>; and this <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexWhitfield99/status/1496527635404533766">Twitter thread</a> which provides some visual details of the campaign against misconduct by faculty.)</p><p>And as if <i>that</i> were not bad enough, <a href="https://twitter.com/saesletras/status/1497000792804536322">Peruvian police attacked students who were demonstrating</a> outside the university, demanding that it take action (click link to see video.)</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg3bobtRQ_1L79RQlqgvPpt-XYQghZ473hlA5dxJzjNYEH9fmKJ7JAhfmeuelaVf-_7T_obqqgAAlDjGZlKOH7tNbEvNFgo5mvgizgmA1IZvmYOXrzVKpk5hVlOl40gREG8NNYBsKbqc0sN4aAG_9wtqnAVn1dAVHRX8LffDcdYnY64jD13ekqSIWbjSg=s680" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="680" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg3bobtRQ_1L79RQlqgvPpt-XYQghZ473hlA5dxJzjNYEH9fmKJ7JAhfmeuelaVf-_7T_obqqgAAlDjGZlKOH7tNbEvNFgo5mvgizgmA1IZvmYOXrzVKpk5hVlOl40gREG8NNYBsKbqc0sN4aAG_9wtqnAVn1dAVHRX8LffDcdYnY64jD13ekqSIWbjSg=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>According to the Peruvian press reports, the complaints against Castillo and Parodi were shared on social media by student organizations, including the Federation of Students of the PUCP-FEPUC and the Federated Center of Letters. The site Wayka.pe quoted 19 year old Adriana Verastegui, Gender Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Federated Center for General Studies: "We thought it important to alert other students about the public complaints against these professors." In retaliation, Castillo and Parodi reported her and others to PUCP officials for "defamation." Scarlett Huanis, another student denounced by both Castillo and Parodi, said: "It is not the first time that we have been forced to publicly demand more concrete actions from the university on issues of bullying and sexual harassment of female [students and teachers.]</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhnexVTj0DwVLRNbSehWetLzXWb4OFAy_LRrhxUQ-o1JiaAp94PW21hzqOQtMnBGVt__9Nao1ds7ebeqlmPEGE3KLWdWtgOM6YdmFn8eLTwyHJ2ZSB2vu0zELbYozURHyi0_z6exsynoaw7Re-af8f5ZRb32z5PIzYMnf8TA-ut9RLvuS-cxjyhPV-xSA=s1250" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="735" data-original-width="1250" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhnexVTj0DwVLRNbSehWetLzXWb4OFAy_LRrhxUQ-o1JiaAp94PW21hzqOQtMnBGVt__9Nao1ds7ebeqlmPEGE3KLWdWtgOM6YdmFn8eLTwyHJ2ZSB2vu0zELbYozURHyi0_z6exsynoaw7Re-af8f5ZRb32z5PIzYMnf8TA-ut9RLvuS-cxjyhPV-xSA=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">La Republica/ Lucia Castro</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p>I have not personally investigated the allegations against Parodi, so I will not say more about him here. But my reporting has found convincing evidence of significant misconduct, including harassment, bullying, and sleeping with students, against Castillo. After my first report, cited above, some of Castillo's supporters, along with a crew of sycophants who owed their careers to Peru's most powerful archaeologist, began attacking the survivors who had come forward as well as myself. The survivors <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-victims-of-peruvian-archaeologist.html">bravely issued a letter defending their allegations</a>, and I have written myself about the <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/09/there-are-also-three-direct-allegations.html">lies that Castillo's supporters have spread</a> about them and my reporting.</p><p>In response to all of these allegations, and even to the NAS's decision to eject Castillo from its ranks--the first time the Academy has ever expelled an international member--the PUCP has done absolutely nothing to protect students from his abuses. Thus Castillo continues to teach his classes at PUCP.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg7-3Blr1vaIQEpbRgqxrW2nUFjqlXB0Y1S0jMXaVPGgMnAgQjN7c1MyYqWWuLEdvls7JY_WDQO7RdAQle2BGxi9pucQMPZaEZP-wXeyT2SdIQodWCqKsAUzdnAoQlM-Y-K7jLIZwTxt3yXJ_utYDc7Hmdm4IWHTRZusWp2mCer02nHaF16KpEc2JSt6Q=s1024" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg7-3Blr1vaIQEpbRgqxrW2nUFjqlXB0Y1S0jMXaVPGgMnAgQjN7c1MyYqWWuLEdvls7JY_WDQO7RdAQle2BGxi9pucQMPZaEZP-wXeyT2SdIQodWCqKsAUzdnAoQlM-Y-K7jLIZwTxt3yXJ_utYDc7Hmdm4IWHTRZusWp2mCer02nHaF16KpEc2JSt6Q=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Castillo is still teaching; late word is that Parodi has now been removed from his classes)</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p>The university gave<a href="https://larepublica.pe/sociedad/2022/02/24/pucp-estudiantes-podrian-ser-suspendidas-tras-visibilizar-a-docentes-denunciados-por-acoso-sexual-atmp/"> the Peruvian publication La Republica</a> its supposed reasons for not acting against Castillo:</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #1f1f1f; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 17.6px;">"Por otro lado, en cuanto a las investigación que se realizó hacia los docentes denunciados en redes sociales, Ana Neyra señaló que las anteriores comisiones de investigación de la PUCP n</span><mark class="hl_yellow" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Roboto; font-size: 17.6px; padding: 0.2em;">o pudieron encontrar ninguna prueba probatoria para sancionar al docente Luis Castillo, a pesar de que se cuenta con una investigación periodística y cinco testimonios de por medio en su contra."</mark></p><p><br /></p><p>Google translation:</p><p><mark class="hl_yellow" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0.2em;">"On the other hand, regarding the investigation that was carried out towards the teachers denounced in social networks, Ana Neyra [the PUCP's secretary of instruction] pointed out that the previous investigation commissions of the PUCP could not find any probative evidence to sanction the teacher Luis Castillo, despite the fact that he has a journalistic investigation and five testimonies against him."</mark></p><p><mark class="hl_yellow" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0.2em;">(Note that this is not correct. The evidence against Castillo was indeed probative, according to the sexual harassment commission, but he got off essentially on a technicality.)</mark></p><p><mark class="hl_yellow" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0.2em;"><br /></mark></p><p>In addition, Castillo, who has long had an affiliation with Harvard, first formal and now informal, has recently been showing up at Zoom talks about Andean archaeology featuring Harvard professors, according to witnesses. His presence has reportedly caused a great deal of discomfort among many in the virtual audience.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>What is to be done?</b></p><p>With a few notable exceptions, including of course the brave survivors of Castillo's abuses and truth-tellers like Marcela Poirier, the archaeology community has been pretty silent about all of these attacks on colleagues in Peru fighting against sexual misconduct and bullying. As I have reported, some archaeologists, including some based in the U.S., apparently not wanting to get on the wrong side of Peru's most powerful archaeologist, have actually either defended him directly or attacked his accusers.</p><p>It's time for that to stop and for things to change course. I think it is entirely reasonable to insist that the archaeology community (and the broader scientific community) come to the defense of those who are under attack by abusers, to raise their voices (and not just anonymously on this blog, sorry to say), and make their intentions clear. In my view, Castillo must be completely isolated from the archaeology community, all collaborations with him must cease, and the PUCP should be directly called out for its enabling of him by refusing to take any action.</p><p>Perhaps the comments section of this blog can serve as a forum for discussion of what can be done, as well as updates on what is being done (as has been the case on some of these blog posts, to good effect.)</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgN4eOymo2WobwEaeIQYe7QOpsmV567SpEG4P3g4PDrZ2fAdsZFk1-G3B_1KqrNW_cbSZiBx56zktN5W8I9k-PbyHJHjBs9V1gNqth19EoK9wF2SPzIRy7Wq0XTcW-28IzrgwXZg3Y-Ug-jIg0wa4qyTDeD0Hl5bHuuO1D1iZvaXDR6TijZmIDhGh_WKA=s1276" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1266" data-original-width="1276" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgN4eOymo2WobwEaeIQYe7QOpsmV567SpEG4P3g4PDrZ2fAdsZFk1-G3B_1KqrNW_cbSZiBx56zktN5W8I9k-PbyHJHjBs9V1gNqth19EoK9wF2SPzIRy7Wq0XTcW-28IzrgwXZg3Y-Ug-jIg0wa4qyTDeD0Hl5bHuuO1D1iZvaXDR6TijZmIDhGh_WKA=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Enough with PUCP intimidation"</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><b>Update March 18</b>: The hearing in Castillo's case against Marcela Poirier will be held online on the morning of April 8. I am one of the witnesses for Marcela; Castillo has also mustered a long list of apparent "character" witnesses. Please watch here for regular updates, and please do what you can--either as individuals or organizations--to come to Marcela's support.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Update April 2</b>: Please see comments below for the text of an urgent plea I sent to the leadership of the <b>Society for American Archaeology</b> and which has gone unanswered for more than two weeks.</p><p><b>Update April 4</b>: The <b>Institute for Andean Studies</b>, the professional organization most closely associated with Castillo's area of study, issues a <a href="https://instituteofandeanstudies.org/announcements/ias-statement-on-sexual-harassment-april-2022">strong statement of support</a>. This is the way the step up.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-17106314609518644962022-02-11T11:11:00.002-05:002022-02-11T12:10:53.158-05:00Paleontology's #MeToo enablers<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAxuatDjPMrreeJHMCtOt0NXLYTK4g6LZ-aOnw_7TknqF1-EBx976gCPVaCofX0oavp-KfCwp2MUDvS6tGtSPa-sM2irPltOAKFz0O9cSF_cxiw11uZLBsVT_t5wb4fW-42jfQWs81D_9Hc2upZGkin_IG2_-5T-7tn8iICxI-26oVlwuT_ThSB3unTw=s2222" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2222" data-original-width="1596" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAxuatDjPMrreeJHMCtOt0NXLYTK4g6LZ-aOnw_7TknqF1-EBx976gCPVaCofX0oavp-KfCwp2MUDvS6tGtSPa-sM2irPltOAKFz0O9cSF_cxiw11uZLBsVT_t5wb4fW-42jfQWs81D_9Hc2upZGkin_IG2_-5T-7tn8iICxI-26oVlwuT_ThSB3unTw=w288-h400" width="288" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Philip Currie /Jason Woodhead/ Wikimedia</td></tr></tbody></table>This past week has seen one of the most grotesque episodes in the long, sorry saga of sexual harassment and other misconduct issues on university campuses: The issuance, and then quick retraction, of a letter of support for accused sexual abuser and Harvard anthropologist John Comaroff by 38 colleagues supposedly concerned that he did not get due process.<p></p><p>I say supposedly, because it turned out that most of the signatories, by their own admission, had little knowledge of the facts of the case; four of them declined to join the retraction, for reasons which I will let other reporters explore. In signing the letter, these colleagues appear to have followed their basic instincts as academics, which is to quickly rush to the side of a powerful peer no matter what the consequences for his or her alleged victims.</p><p>The actions of the 38 signers fall into the category of what many #MeToo activists call "enabling," and which others see as full-blown complicity with abuse, depending on the circumstances. I have written a fair bit about enabling recently, both as <a href="https://michaelbalter.substack.com/p/enablers-gonna-enable-credibility">a general problem spanning all walks of life</a> and as a specific issue in <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/01/anatomy-of-metoo-coverup-case-of.html">a case I was personally involved in</a>.</p><p>In those posts I argued that it is time to shift emphasis from the individual abuser and focus much more on the institutions and individuals that make the abuse possible, and without whom it would be nearly impossible. That will mean, in many cases, putting the spotlight on powerful, widely respected individuals, and creating a lot of discomfort for those who admire them, are dependent on them, or otherwise are reluctant to see the captains of their ships thrown overboard.</p><p>Last July, I wrote about the long history of <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/07/paleontology-alleged-sexual-harasser-is.html">harassment and related misdeeds</a> by a paleontology graduate student, Aaron van der Reest, a protege of the famous University of Alberta dinosaur hunter Philip Currie and his wife, paleobotanist Eva Koppelhus. Among the things I was told by a large number of sources was that Currie and Koppelhus were well aware of complaints of harassment by van der Reest even before it became an issue within the Dinosaur Research Institute DRI) in 2018, and that Currie was aware that the university was investigating complaints that had been lodged by at least two alleged victims and supported by a number of other witnesses.</p><p>I also reported that Currie admitted to me that he had become aware of an earlier stalking episode when van der Reest was working at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta in the early 2000s. As Currie put it to me in an email:</p><p><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;">I did subsequently hear (ironically when Donald Trump was elected) of the "sexual predation" story from someone close enough to it that they knew the person involved. However it is very hard to act on something when people don't want to become directly involved.</span></p><p>Yet, as a I reported, Currie continued to support van der Reest in his career even after the allegations became an issue within the DRI, whose board members became badly split on whether the organization should continue to fund him. Van der Reest is now working on his PhD in the University of Saskatchewan geological sciences department, where he is being allowed to teach undergraduates despite that department (and university's) full knowledge of the allegations against him. (More on that shortly.)</p><p>Given that Currie admits to being aware of the "sexual predation" story since at least the winter of 2016/17, I am going to expand here on what actually happened, based on testimony by direct witnesses. In particular, I am reproducing an email I received from a direct witness to the events at the Royal Tyrrell Museum. I have disguised the names of the individuals involved to protect their identities for the moment (it is possible that some of these witnesses will decide to go public in the near future.) I have also done some editing and redactions for the same purpose, and cut a few statements which were based on second half information or otherwise are unverifiable by other witnesses. However, I have let it run quite long, so that readers can have the full context for the severe stalking and violent conduct that van der Reest was seen to have directed at the young woman identified as "L."</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiID3MtXrPKJtuhIMOiTPgfSBqNajtUfcZAHWpi9ysZpEoNKqLL1Ni3xdFjij_eZ8MZALzGbqCbSRIBwK5mh-_mSYDOHgc4ybO13z4UN_6Y5PHjbhsN7WT8RYN8J0pOz6yWDI2Li_S_bl9XCY6lxp-3zKrwPw-M8rFFW5HqRZl-AoZtRK5KB4xKifoyzQ=s550" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="370" data-original-width="550" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiID3MtXrPKJtuhIMOiTPgfSBqNajtUfcZAHWpi9ysZpEoNKqLL1Ni3xdFjij_eZ8MZALzGbqCbSRIBwK5mh-_mSYDOHgc4ybO13z4UN_6Y5PHjbhsN7WT8RYN8J0pOz6yWDI2Li_S_bl9XCY6lxp-3zKrwPw-M8rFFW5HqRZl-AoZtRK5KB4xKifoyzQ=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eva Koppelhus<br /><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;">Dear Mr. Balter,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Having just read your blog post on Aaron van der Reest, I am very sad to hear his tale has continued into the modern era. I worked with and lived beside Aaron in his brief tenure at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in May and June of 2003.<br /><br />Given your paragraph outlining the vague accusations of this time at the Tyrrell, I thought I'd provide what I know about "Creepy Stalker Aaron" (our nickname for him as there multiple staff members at that time named Aaron...). I hope this is of some slight use, even just as background...<br /><br />On the subject of institutional failure, I immediately I want to praise the Tyrrell's middle management of the time, in particular the two female supervisors (Aaron's direct supervisor, and another I will refer to as Landlord, as she was Aaron's landlord) involved in the ordeal. They used every procedural and institutional method they could to get rid of Aaron once his predation became more widely known. To the museum's greater credit the upper management did not resist these supervisors' efforts, and he was removed within a matter of weeks... which in our post Metoo world is still rare.<br /><br />The Tyrrell did not fail its female staff institutionally, as the UoA and potentially UoS are in your story. <br /><br />I apologize if this is rather long. It turned into self therapy, for the overwhelmed and out of his league 22 year old I was at the time. I have held significant frustration about Aaron, and his literally getting away from real consequences back in 2003... while his transgressions were not as severe as these more modern ones, we all sadly predicted the exact tales in your story. <br /><br />I was forced by proximity to be quite close to Aaron for those two months. He lived directly across the street from me, and so not only was he my neighbor, but he started to befriend my roommate. In addition to all of this one of my best friends of this time was the roommate of Aaron's eventual fixation and predatory target. So I had a front row seat to his predatory behavior and firing.<br /><br /><br />Disclaimer: I was not a supervisor in the below events. However due to my proximity to Aaron and being a key witness to his behavior, I was in a lot of formal and informal meetings with supervisors during the time. So the below is based on these communications. The museum may have a slightly different formal version, but I can vouch this is my personal understanding of the behind the scenes to these events if there is a discrepancy :<br /><br />I can say Aaron was NOT <u><b>formally</b></u> fired for sexual harassment. So you can amend that in your article. It was commonly known he was being investigated for it, but this did not conclude, and ultimately (sadly) played no part in his termination.<br /><br />There <b><u>were</u></b> allegations made against him, but an investigation was deemed too lengthy and risky by supervisors. They wanted him gone quickly, partially for the museum's operations and also genuinely to just protect their female staff. <br /><br />Further as he had violated terminable staff procedures, it was easier to use these, as the investigation and dismissal would be rather instant. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Aaron worked at the day dig program, where tourists would pay to go out on a real fossil dig for the day. He was one of the dig overseers/guest services personnel. I'm not sure when the program began, but it ended after 2004.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">This dig was located at a vaguely remote location within Drumheller's city limits, and was about 10-15 minutes removed from the main roads..<br /><br />Aaron had begun clandestinely taking the museum's program van from the dig site during his lunch breaks and driving into town to pick up take away. This was absolutely against the rules, as the van was the emergency backup on site should there be an accident on site and someone needed to be driven to medical aid (even during lunch!).<br /><br />At the start of the week he was fired (sorry I can't remember exact dates 18 years later... either the last or second last week of June 2003) he ran into other museum staff at a local restaurant. Seeing him depart in the museum van, they reported it to his supervisor and the other museum personnel. <br /><br /><u>My understanding</u> is this was the biases for his termination. I <u>believe</u> they proved his serially doing this through a discrepancy with the van's mileage. I do know with the eye witnesses they could immediately prove the single time in any case... the van incident(s) were the main formal basis for his dismissal (though there was more I was led to believe, touched on in my alleged section)<br /><br />Also in this week there was a complaint put in with the local RCMP about his harassment of a coworker (my friend's roommate). However this was never followed up with charges, and I believe she only submitted a brief statement with physical evidence when making the compliant. His being fired mere days later was a large part of the lack of follow up. More on this incident in the alleged section.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The same day as his firing, the Landlord supervisor, evicted him for not paying his rent. This left all of his stuff to deal with, and she hoped this would prevent him from lingering and lurking... in particular around his main target's home (more detail in alleged)</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />Thankfully for the only time while we knew him, he did NOT lurk around the scenes of his crimes (much like you outlined in your blog post.. him being around the labs and conference when told not too. He did this a LOT in 2003 as well.)<br /><br />Given he called me from a nearby payphone asking me to store his stuff, I think this plan worked. Especially as I denied his request!</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>***</b></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />Aaron was quickly known for being "creepy" around the female staff. and soon fixated upon a fellow summer staffer I'll call L. I wish I was still in contact with her, so she could reach out to you. My friends from this time and I are trying to find her online, and encourage her to share her story with you (and I'm sure she'd welcome the chance! It definitely defined the first half of her summer at the Tyrrell ).<br /><br />I was as close as any of that year were to L., as she did not form any real solid long term friendships with our group sadly. I was very good friends with her roommates, and hung out with the household of them quite a bit. </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />L. was an anxious and socially awkward person, but unbelievably friendly and sweet. Unfortunately all the ingredients for a perfect predation target. Basically she was too friendly for her own good (and I'm not meaning that in a blaming way. Just as a personality type. I quite liked her, and helped out in the situation as best I could, as I hope will be apparent).<br /><br />There were a number of inciting incidents, but I was not personally involved, and thus will not repeat my half memories of them. By two to three weeks in, it was clear Aaron was obsessed with L., and she was starting to get very uncomfortable around him. However he was blatantly ignoring her polite attempts at saying she was not interested in his advances.<br /><br />Where I can confirm harassment first hand, was one night in mid May walking back home from the bar (I and Aaron lived about 10 blocks from the L. household) me and roommate arrived at their quadplex to a disturbing sight.<br /><br />In the darkness looking through L.'s ground level basement apartment window, was a hunched person. As we walked up challenging them, it was Aaron who suddenly stood up startled. He attempted to play it off as just him just "looking for L". To which one of us sarcastically countered "by looking through her bedroom window?"... he denied this is what he was doing, and came up with some pathetic deflection like tying his shoe or similar. Roommate assertively told him to leave, and he grudgingly pretended to.<br /><br />I popped in to their place, if just to try and let him get a head start, so I wouldn't have to walk with him. I can't remember if L. was home on this instance (there were more than one as you'll see). What I do know, is Aaron had NOT left the area. As when I left the L. household, he suddenly appeared beside me at their street corner, and proceeded to tell me bullshit excuse stories about what he was doing when we caught him and that he was JUST coincidentally arriving when we had... I didn't have the courage to tell him I knew he was lying.<br /><br />I do not remember if this was the first time he was caught hovering by L.'s bedroom window, but it was not an isolated incident. It happened multiple times (I don't recall how many). I <u>believe,</u> the roommates caught him <u>at least</u> once more (before or after the time I was present for), and once she herself woke up to see him starring at her. It finally ended when she put up curtains or some sort of cover in the window... though he would show up frequently after dark ringing the door bell or knocking to "check if she was around"... <br /><br />As Drumheller is a smaller town, most of our socializing was at the bars. There were three main ones museum staff would go to. I don't recall if this evolved due to Aaron, but what I DO remember is our not openly sharing WHICH was going to be the meet up for a particular evening until he wasn't around at work... Aaron began a nightly habit of walking between the various bars on patrol to "casually" bump into L. should she go out.<br /><br />It got to the point where she was self isolating and hiding at home out of fear of his "just showing up" constantly. To try and re-empower her, we decided to dress up in costumes one night and go pseudo confront him. She dressed up as a bee from a popular music video and vented in a silly way (her style!), but the "aggressive" strategy was me and one of the roommates cross dressing. I came in, in drag, and sat down between Aaron and L. Every time he tried to talk to her, I'd interrupt and pretend to flirt with him. He did not like this, and after about 15 minute angrily stormed out.<br /><br />There were numerous other incidents I was not present for, and now only have half memories of. So I won't muddy the waters with them.<br /><br />My main role ended up being the L. household's lookout. Aaron's two sidedness (the fossil expert vs the predator) came into play in these early days. My rather academic roommate fell in with Aaron's science passion. So they were hanging out all the time. Meaning I was hanging out all the time. I was not a fan, given what he was doing to my friend's house... However it meant I could be a spy of sorts.<br /><br />The moment Aaron left my place, I knew his "having other things to do", meant he was going to embark on the 10 block walk to L.'s house. So I'd immediately call them and give them the heads up. It helped prepare and prevent house call ambushes. They'd either go out, or make the house "battle ready", by looking outwardly like they were out.<br /><br />The final major incident, and the one for which the RCMP complaint was lodged, happened at an otherwise normal night out at the bar. I do not recall details of the beginning of the evening, but Aaron's arrival and departure that night are my main memory of him.<br /><br />Towards the end of June, Aaron's predation and inappropriate behavior was a widely known secret amongst the summer staff (who all hung out as a rough unit). People had taken to telling Aaron one hangout venue, and we'd actually end up at another... I did not practice this myself, and I wish other's had not. It just made Aaron angry, and if L. was present when he'd arrive, he would get very aggressive and possessive towards her as a result of the lie and wasting of his time and energy.<br /><br />This one evening in late June, someone had lied to Aaron again, and he was absolutely livid when he tracked us down. He stormed in, and beelined straight for L. He immediately got physically domineering towards her, and was making it clear he was not going to let her leave his proximity. She got instantly uncomfortable, and tried to get away, and he tailed her.<br /><br />L. hit a point within 15-20 minutes where she couldn't take it anymore, and made for the door. He was hot on her heels... This is where L.'s disorganized supporters (my biggest regret, is I wish we'd pooled our efforts sooner) sprang into action. Her roommate and myself were in pursuit, as was his landlord (the true hero of the story!). Aaron grabbed L.'s arm incredibly violently, leaving finger bruises across her arm right in front of us, and at this Aaron's Landlord physically intervened shoving him away and berating him for his unpaid rent (but <b>just as a front to protect L. I must emphasis!)</b>. Giving L. a chance to escape with roommate. The landlord and I tailed him home, as we both lived in that area, and I deemed she could use some backup after the confrontation.</div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">The next day L. was encouraged to go to the Police, and a complaint was filed. However Landlord in around this time discovered the Van incident(s), and began using this to get rid of him. She had little faith the museum could discharge him due to harassment easily... especially as he did not do it towards L. at work (he was out at the day dig site all the time)</span><br /><br /><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">She was successful. He was called into a meeting. Part of his dismissal I was told, included being for claims of harassment, and that as a result he was barred from the Tyrrell. I am not sure if this is still (or ever was formally) mandated, but Landlord was confident of it at the time. </span><br /><br /><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">In the grand finale, we were so worried about Aaron's demonstrated following up on things, that we took L. to the Day Dig site, to protect both her and the program site from potential revenge.</span><br /><br /><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;"> We had reason to believe he did stop by the L. household (he was spotted close and walking in their direction by a staff driving by), but no one was home (they were at the dig site), and my roommate and myself were dismissive to him in his desperate phone calls to our place for help or support that last day. Thankfully he gave up on the museum and town by midafternoon, and was observed by staff catching the early evening Greyhound out of town. </span><br /><br /><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Thankfully that was the last time I had to directly speak with him. He tried to add me on facebook in the early 2010's but I blocked him without responding.</span><br /><br /><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">***</span><br /><br /><br />As I wrote above, I have included most of the detail provided by this witness so that readers can get the full context of the long and drawn out predatory behavior van der Reest exhibited towards L., and the valiant efforts that her friends made to protect her. This account was confirmed to me by another source, with direct knowledge of the circumstances of van der Reest's termination from the museum. This source writes (again, I have redacted a few phrases that might identify them):</div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;"><div dir="auto"><span style="font-size: small;">... to confirm Aaron's reason for termination from the Museum... The official reason for his release was not for sexual harassment, it will have been for lack of performance or some such thing. I don't recall the actual wording but do remember having a number of conversations with him regarding his "creepy" behaviour. Creepy was the word used by a number of his co-workers. I had only ever received complaints about him making his co-workers feel creeped out. Even after some candid conversations he could not demonstrate a change in his behaviour, that was his chance. After which his employment was terminated.</span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-size: x-small;">There are perhaps a number of justifications for why his termination wasn't listed as sexual harassment, but none of them are really valid through today's lens or any lens for that matter. This most likely would have been the first signs he was a predator.... But I can say it was clear to him and to everyone in the room why he was being terminated.</span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I was always proud that I did the right thing... I often use this as an example of having difficult conversations and doing the right thing no matter what, but now I feel like I didn't do enough...</span></div><div dir="auto"><br style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /></div></div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;">This source felt that they did not do enough because, by not officially terminating van der Reest for sexual harassment but using other pretexts for letting him go, the museum allowed a younger sexual predator to blossom into an older sexual predator, which he was later to become according to the accounts of the numerous witnesses I cited in my original report. Van der Reest was able to tell people that he was let go from the museum unfairly or for some minor offense, such as the misuse of the van.</div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;">I quoted Phil Currie above saying that he heard about this early incident around the time of Trump's election, that is, the winter of 2016/17. When I asked him to tell me more about what he heard, he cut off all further communication. However, according to witnesses, Eva Koppelhus knew as early as 2013, around the time that van der Reest came to work with her and Currie, that the new student had run into trouble at the Royal Tyrrell, although it was not clear how much Koppelhus knew about what the trouble was. Nevertheless, the couple's responsibility to find out what had happened was engaged early on; and after Currie heard that it involved sexual predation, there was no excuse (then or now) for them to do anything short of finding out all the facts (and there were many who would have told them had they asked.)</div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;">Nevertheless, as I reported earlier, Koppelhus continued to defend van der Reest even after numerous women had complained about his behavior, and several sources have told me that she blamed the women for "putting themselves in that situation."</div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;">With Currie and Koppelhus as his van der Reest's very powerful protectors, others who tried to do the right thing, or wanted to do the right thing, were at a loss. "Many of us have felt helpless to act because we fear the impact on our careers, especially if we burn bridges with a world-leading paleontologist," one researcher told me. "At the same time, we [were] dismayed by the inaction of the [University of Alberta] and its staff, and that Aaron has been allowed to continue in his career without any consequences."</div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;"><b>On to Saskatchewan.</b></div><div style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="background-color: white;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNO-0HOrMrZ0vG_u9VVvwdi-dUbLp-niGptPF8bmy3NrfyhzoNhrj4rZ124TVAns66PIsGVKHdN10eItIraTQEbOKj7pbgjZmrSvmd30_FHtI0zLkL9nf1CU9Eteg676VE9CWaXUWtzPdHmsLlWPzC0SceReolCDUFLvmgev22BZ9RvyIuS98UE-WHPA=s203" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="203" data-original-width="165" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNO-0HOrMrZ0vG_u9VVvwdi-dUbLp-niGptPF8bmy3NrfyhzoNhrj4rZ124TVAns66PIsGVKHdN10eItIraTQEbOKj7pbgjZmrSvmd30_FHtI0zLkL9nf1CU9Eteg676VE9CWaXUWtzPdHmsLlWPzC0SceReolCDUFLvmgev22BZ9RvyIuS98UE-WHPA" width="165" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Luis Buatois</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b></div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;">As I reported earlier, thanks to letters of recommendation from Currie, van der Reest was able to secure a graduate student position at the University of Saskatchewan, in its geological sciences department. His advisors for his PhD work there are Luis Buatois and Gabriela Mangano. </div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGjD12Cx3V2DrFS2f8MLg4GXO5CP1OGwklrmup7UeMSL1-pFZIuAv1kPPtWxnnAcN79dnVnDKUSbF9veCxYsxu6esU6qJxpTb1AT1pJuJcN-CHx7eSFsxbW9J1qbZecpq3SgBrI-xg9GlXOF6jWUDcbWeunTgCni71k5LAiraXTi3e4ePMOe1iQNyOuQ=s200" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgGjD12Cx3V2DrFS2f8MLg4GXO5CP1OGwklrmup7UeMSL1-pFZIuAv1kPPtWxnnAcN79dnVnDKUSbF9veCxYsxu6esU6qJxpTb1AT1pJuJcN-CHx7eSFsxbW9J1qbZecpq3SgBrI-xg9GlXOF6jWUDcbWeunTgCni71k5LAiraXTi3e4ePMOe1iQNyOuQ" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gabriela Mangano</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;">I do not yet know exactly what they knew about van der Reest when they agreed to be his advisors--neither they nor the university will respond to such questions--but I do have it confirmed that they are fully aware of his history now. Yet as of this writing they are continuing to serve as his advisors, and the department--apparently out of fear of a lawsuit if they do not--is reportedly allowing him to teach undergraduates face to face. This has caused a great deal of internal concern in the department, among undergrads, graduate students, and at least some of the faculty, but so far there is no indication that anyone is willing to do anything about it. Due to circumstances that I will describe in an upcoming post, that may soon have to change.</div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;">I have talked to a few colleagues privately who say they think it is unfair to call Currie and Koppelhus "enablers," and I understand the instinct to think the best of researchers who have contributed so much to paleontology. Believe it or not, on the scientific context, Phil Currie is still one of my heroes too, and I often talked to him when I was covering dinosaur and bird evolution for <i>Science</i> magazine. But the fact is that without their support for van der Reest over many years, he would not have been able to harass so many women. And if they were concerned about his career, they should have made it clear to him that he had to change his behavior. There is no evidence that they ever did; in fact, just the opposite.</div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;">Enabling and enablers of abuse do not wear signs on their chests identifying them as such. It's the daily acts of looking the other way, making excuses, writing letters of recommendation, and even attacking the victims, that add up to complicity with the abuses. This is what now needs to change, and for which we now need to show zero tolerance.</div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-34494852023453121582022-01-31T15:26:00.001-05:002022-01-31T15:28:24.762-05:00Anatomy of a #MeToo coverup: The case of Danielle Kurin, the Institute for Field Research, and UC Santa Barbara<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2mHngCcLkpVbrgmP3k7LtWyvwSQlIbTsiVKP1n_I1emtttZRQ48tCqy6FJFZQt5UEuEp9Wxghp7Lu97w0BHYU9Syzg1oRJNnjMehi6h8QfJrKi0Iw-PNWLxbgKVwDiiFY5hgKIfIMlTE2Fri4ac7ERMNbm3yuKyNARuadOu16FkRaWtN8QHNZHwjXPQ=s1600" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1066" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2mHngCcLkpVbrgmP3k7LtWyvwSQlIbTsiVKP1n_I1emtttZRQ48tCqy6FJFZQt5UEuEp9Wxghp7Lu97w0BHYU9Syzg1oRJNnjMehi6h8QfJrKi0Iw-PNWLxbgKVwDiiFY5hgKIfIMlTE2Fri4ac7ERMNbm3yuKyNARuadOu16FkRaWtN8QHNZHwjXPQ=w426-h640" width="426" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Willeke Wendrich, director of UCLA's Cotsen Institute of Archaeology</td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <p></p><p>In <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/01/serial-abuser-danielle-kurin-is-gone.html">my previous post</a>, I reported that University of Santa Barbara, California archaeologist <b>Danielle Kurin</b> had abruptly resigned her tenured position in the UCSB anthropology department in early January--an action that is being widely celebrated in the department and in the anthropology and archaeology communities Kurin was supposedly part of. That's because <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/11/a-guide-to-my-reporting-on-alleged.html">Kurin's abuses of students over many years</a>, which included retaliation, bullying, and exploitation of young researchers for her own benefit, were very well known, and at the same time enabled by so many individuals and institutions.</p><p>In that earlier post, I argued that it was time to begin calling Kurin's enablers to account, and I went into some detail about who the major enablers were and what they had done. As many readers here will know, in June 2020 Kurin sued me for $18 million in defamation damages. The case dragged on for 13 painful months before it was <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-kurin-v-balter-lawsuit-is-over-with.html">settled</a>, and then <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/10/metoo-journalist-declares-settlement.html">unsettled</a>, as it were, after <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/10/metoo-journalist-declares-settlement.html">Kurin violated the agreement</a> we had come to.</p><p>During the discovery phase of the litigation, my attorneys and I received roughly 4000 pages of documents concerning Kurin from UC Santa Barbara and the Los Angeles-based <a href="https://ifrglobal.org/">Institute for Field Research</a>, on whose academic board Kurin sat from 2016-2018 and which sponsored some of her field schools in Peru. About half of those pages were from UCSB and half from IFR. However, as I have mentioned in earlier posts, both institutions insisted that the documents be put under a court protective order, such that they could not be published and could only be used in the lawsuit. To avoid months of litigation over this unjustified attempt to hide documents that were clearly in the public interest from being revealed, my attorneys and I agreed, pending motions to the federal judge in the case to release them.</p><p>While I am obviously not allowed to reveal the contents of the documents, I can say that they backed up my reporting 100%, and that there was absolutely no privacy or other justifications for their being kept secret. Nevertheless, when the case settled and the judge dismissed it with prejudice, the court order required that the documents be destroyed and deleted.</p><p>However, the protective orders we signed with UCSB and IFR included the following language:</p><p><br /></p><p><i>"Nothing herein shall affect or restrict the rights of any party with respect to its own documents or to information obtained or developed independently of materials afforded confidential treatment pursuant to this Order."</i></p><p><br /></p><p>Of course, before the lawsuit was filed and before these protective orders were signed, I had independently developed many sources and obtained access to many documents concerning how UCSB and IFR handled the Danielle Kurin matters, and I continued to do during the lawsuit--and I continued to do so after the lawsuit was dismissed. So while I obviously cannot "forget" what I read in the protected discovery documents, I am also free to report on information I have developed on my own. Over the past months, I have done just that; and fortunately, after everything that has happened, new sources, at both IFR and UCSB, have been willing to talk to me and to provide me with documents independently of the discovery materials. At the same time, I have filed a series of <b>California Public Records Act</b> requests for documents held by UCSB and UCLA, and those are now starting to be produced, with minimal redactions.</p><p>Because of the sensitivity of the sourcing for what follows, and the need to protect individuals who fear either retaliation or chastisement from their peers, I am going to be careful how I attribute the information I will lay out below. However, everything I will say is confirmed by individuals who were present for the events discussed, and by documents, including IFR board meeting minutes, emails, and other material.</p><p>While I will be quoting out of the documents, I will not be posting them here. For reasons I will not discuss, doing that could possibly identify who gave them to me, or at least provide clues to those who might want to retaliate against those sources. All reporters should be mindful of how <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/reality-winner-interview-prison-nsa-1261844/">careless handling of documents helped send NSA whistleblower Reality Winner to jail</a>, a mistake <i>The Intercept</i> has yet to take full responsibility for.</p><p><b>What the documents and sources demonstrate is that Willeke Wendrich, director of UCLA's Costen Institute of Archaeology and chair of the IFR governing board, lied to me, some of her colleagues, UCLA students, and others about what she and the IFR board knew about Danielle Kurin's Title IX proceeding at UCSB in 2016. In fact she and the IFR governing and academic boards knew no later than October 2016 that Kurin had been subject to a Title IX and had been put on administrative leave.</b></p><p>Why did Wendrich and others lie about it? There may be multiple reasons, but fear of litigation by victims and survivors of Kurin's retaliation and her husband's sexual harassment was clearly one of them. I will have more to say about that as I report on this new investigation.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>A chronology of coverups and lies.</b></p><p>From a moral point of view, it matters not just that someone has lied, but who they lied to. The first batch of documents I received from UCLA consists of <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/lesure-emails-redacted-21-9428.pdf">41 pages of emails to and from <b>Richard Lesure</b></a> in May and June of 2020, shortly after <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/03/uc-santa-barbara-kept-misconduct.html">I first reported about a sexual assault and other incidents</a> at Kurin's 2018 IFR-sponsored field school in Peru. Lesure is <a href="https://ioa.ucla.edu/people/richard-lesure">an archaeologist at the Cotsen</a>, and has also served as an advisor to IFR. Upon reading this reporting, on May 29, 2020, graduate students at the Cotsen Institute wrote a letter to Wendrich and other faculty expressing concerns about the allegations and asking for answers to a number of questions. (I earlier quoted a short section of this letter; the entire text is reproduced in the Lesure emails.)</p><p>In response, Lesure, Wendrich, and other Cotsen faculty convened a "Town Hall" meeting with the students on June 11, 2020, which included various UCLA officials including a dean and the head of the Title IX office. I <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/06/a-ucla-town-hall-on-meto-and-related.html">reported in detail on this Town Hall</a>, based on sources at the meeting and a recording that was made of it, shortly afterwards. At the time of my original report, <b>Wendrich insisted that neither she nor the IFR board knew about Kurin's Title IX back in 2016</b>, and accused me of "unethical" reporting for saying that they did. Wendrich and others repeated these falsehoods at the Town Hall. And in the Lesure emails, we read the following, where Wendrich clearly lies to her own colleagues:</p><p><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">From: Wendrich, Willeke [mailto:wendrich@humnet.ucla.edu]</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Sent: Tuesday, June 2, 2020 11:13 AM</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">To: Richard Lesure <lesure@anthro.ucla.edu></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Cc: Jason De Leon Glenn Wharton <glennwharton@ucla.edu>;</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Greg Schachner <gschachner@anthro.ucla.edu></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Subject: RE: Update for/consultation with Cotsen Institute Advisory Committee</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Richard,</p><p class="p2" style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I’m afraid we cannot put on the agenda: “faculty affiliated with the IFR invited to respond to</p><p class="p2" style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">allegations in Michael Balter’s blog”. The term “respond to allegations” is problematic, because</p><p class="p2" style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">those allegations are not against UCLA faculty affiliated with IFR. I am willing to discuss why his blog</p><p class="p2" style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">is misleading and what Balter’s methods are. That would be an important learning point for the</p><p class="p2" style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">students. The only “allegation” that concerns me directly is that I supposedly lied when I told Balter</p><p class="p2" style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">that I or the IFR board did not know that Kurin was on administrative leave because of Title IX</p><p class="p2" style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">allegations. I did not know and I did not lie. There is really not much more to say about that. Perhaps</p><p class="p2" style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">reframe as “discussion of Michael Balter’s blog and methods”</p><p class="p2" style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Thanks,</p><p class="p2" style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p2" style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Willeke</p><p><br /></p><p>This false statement was consistent with what Wendrich told me while I was reporting on these events in 2020:</p><blockquote style="background: white; border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(39, 174, 96); color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 15px; vertical-align: baseline;" type="cite"><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Michael,</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I am thoroughly disappointed with your lack of journalistic ethics. You are publishing falsehoods. IFR was not aware of any title IX investigations and accusations prior to the 2018 field school. I made this very clear in our email conversation.</div><div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Willeke</div></div></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><b>Now let's look at the facts</b>. For the benefit of easy comprehension, and for those who are new to this story, I will take a chronological approach.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>2014-2016</b>: As I reported on this blog in 2020, after the defamation suit was filed, the UCSB administration received reports of abuse and bullying of students by Kurin beginning in 2014, the first year of her tenure track position. Two of these stories can be found <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/08/university-of-california-santa-barbara.html">here</a> and <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/08/university-of-california-santa-barbara_13.html">here</a>. And beginning in September 2015, the UCSB Title IX office received complaints from students who said they had been sexually harassed by Kurin's partner and later husband, <b>Enmanuel Gomez Choque</b>. In early 2016, the university <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/02/at-uc-santa-barbara-and-in-peru.html">opened a formal Title IX investigation and put Kurin on administrative leave</a> pending its outcome. The UCSB administration, however, kept these proceedings secret from the anthropology faculty, except for the department chairs, who were told not to tell anyone what they knew.</p><p><b>June 14, 2016</b>: The Title IX office issued its report, which concluded that, based on a preponderance of the evidence, <b>Gomez had engaged in sexual harassment and Kurin had retaliated against students who reported it.</b> At that time, Kurin had proposed to IFR that they sponsor field schools in Peru that she was holding again that year, and IFR had agreed to do so. There is no evidence that Kurin ever told IFR that she was under active investigation for misconduct, and there is no evidence that IFR knew before this time.</p><p><b>June 16, 2016</b>: While IFR was the sponsor of the scheduled field schools in Peru, which were to begin in July, formal academic credit was given through UCLA Extension. Sometime between June 14 and June 16, according to sources, the dean of academic affairs for UCLA Extension (and later IFR board member) <b>Kevin Vaughn</b>, himself an anthropologist, was told of the Title IX findings. On June 16, Vaughn and then IFR executive director <b>Ran Boytner</b> wrote to the students who had signed up for Kurin's field schools and told them that they were <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/02/at-uc-santa-barbara-and-in-peru.html">cancelled due to "health and safety reasons."</a></p><p>According to sources, Vaughn was aware at that time of the Title IX findings against Kurin and Gomez. Exactly what he told Boytner at that time is not clear. But at some point between then and October 2016, Boytner did become aware that Kurin had been subjected to a Title IX, and reported that to the IFR board at a joint meeting of its governing and academic boards. The following is based on multiple sources who were present at that meeting, and other documents including minutes of the meeting. Given the obvious sensitivity of the sourcing, I will have to be careful about how I describe this so as not to compromise both the sources who were there and those who provided me with these documents, independent of the discovery in the defamation case. But it is gratifying that some individuals who might have been inclined to protect IFR's institutional interests earlier no longer see that as the highest priority, given the evidence of lying by Wendrich and the subsequent events concerning Danielle Kurin. Importantly for the purposes of accurate reporting, the eyewitness accounts correlate exactly with what was recorded in the meeting minutes.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXCID-9f7aRN4rgcaLbz90JNG9eVaEIy7Z0Y8D5JgCEIEDV_l9_7ogw6UcYvpQIk9iLwvGKGBMxllPTB22sGu6y4Agksaj-XAybBPDLBzwW89sKJnb4UsXCJXT5dr8N9HVQ5gt2K2CzufxRzAD3K2tcqMcyAUcTpOfqaMxvJMM-31rFfG_K_m9vucSZA=s1334" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="1334" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXCID-9f7aRN4rgcaLbz90JNG9eVaEIy7Z0Y8D5JgCEIEDV_l9_7ogw6UcYvpQIk9iLwvGKGBMxllPTB22sGu6y4Agksaj-XAybBPDLBzwW89sKJnb4UsXCJXT5dr8N9HVQ5gt2K2CzufxRzAD3K2tcqMcyAUcTpOfqaMxvJMM-31rFfG_K_m9vucSZA=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ran Boytner</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><b>October 7 and 8, 2016: Joint meeting of IFR's governing and academic boards.</b></p><p>This meeting took place at the IFR's offices in Los Angeles. Among those attending:</p><p>Governing board members: <b>Willeke Wendrich (UCLA), Lynn Swartz Dodd (USC), Fred Limp (U of Arkansas), Anthony Graesch (Connecticut College), Yuval Bar-Zemer (industrial developer.)</b></p><p>Academic board members: <b>Danielle Kurin (UCSB), Charles Stanish (former Cotsen director), Tim Williams (University College London), Barra O'Donnabhain (University College Cork), Benjamin Porter (UC Berkeley), Alex Fisch (Mayor of Culver City, CA.)</b></p><p>Also present were IFR executive-director <b>Ran Boytner</b>, some IFR staff members, and the institute's legal counsel, <b>John Given</b>, as well as <b>David Goldman</b>, the program director for humanities and social sciences at UCLA Extension.</p><p><br /></p><p>On the second day of the meeting, October 8, Boytner led a session called "The State of the IFR." Among the topics were "programs with issues," of which two were identified at the meeting: Kurin's field school at the site of Sondor in Peru, and a sexual assault case at the <a href="https://r7c6h8a2.stackpathcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Italy-Prane-Siddi-2016-Report.pdf">IFR's field school at Prane Siddi, Italy</a>.</p><p>Few details were given at the meeting about what happened at Prane Siddi, but it does appear from the minutes of the meeting that IFR was taking it seriously and working with the director, Emily Holt, to insure that students would be safe the following year.</p><p>On the other hand, the discussion of Kurin's Title IX was extensive. Boytner told those gathered that Kurin's July field school had been cancelled due to a Title IX investigation, and that UCLA Extension had paid for the "consequences" of that last-minute action (according to sources, reimbursing the students for fees, flights, and other expenses.) Boytner, who according to those present was very supportive of Kurin, told the gathering, according to the minutes, "allegation is not proven, unknown what the allegation is."</p><p>But Kurin, <b>who was present at the meeting and acknowledged the Title IX</b>, lied to the board members about the charges and also about the status of the investigation. She told colleagues that the investigation was ongoing, that UCSB had not really told her what the charges were, and--as she would repeat far and wide over the years, up to the present--that the allegations had been brought by "racist gringas" who were bigoted against Gomez (by this time Kurin and Gomez had married at a ceremony in Santa Barbara; they were also married in the Peruvian church the previous year, September 2015.)</p><p>Kurin also explicitly <b>told everyone that she was on administrative leave</b> (<i>contra</i> Wendrich statements above.)</p><p>Of course, Kurin knew full well what the charges and the findings were, because she received the Title IX report right after it was finalized on June 14, 2016. Nevertheless, she offered to resign. This brought about a motion, which, according to the minutes of the meeting, was proposed by Fred Limp and seconded by Charles Stanish, declining Kurin's offer of resignation and keeping her on the academic board. The motion carried unanimously.</p><p>The meeting also addressed the strong opinion of Boytner and Wendrich that, pending the outcome of the Title IX investigation that was actually completed, Kurin be allowed to offer her field school in 2017. However, Kevin Vaughn (who was not present at the meeting) had earlier communicated to the IFR board that UCLA Extension would probably not allow academic credit for it in subsequent years, and David Goldman of UCLA Extension, who was present, was apparently unable to clarify the situation. At that point Wendrich insisted that "IFR should go forth with the Field School with or without credits from UCLA Extension," according to the minutes. (In fact, that is exactly what happened; in 2018, the field school was held under IFR sponsorship with academic credit from Connecticut College.)</p><p>The minutes also reflect concerns that without Kurin's field school, IFR was in a worse financial position. The minutes quote developer Yuval Bar-Zemer as saying, "marketing-wise it was excellent, filled completely, super popular; what measures can we add to the program to protect us legally?"</p><p>Of course, as we now know, the Title IX was only the first step in Kurin's disciplinary proceedings, which went on until early 2018. At that time, as part of a settlement with UCSB, <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-kurin-v-balter-lawsuit-is-over-with.html">she signed a "Letter of Censure" which found her culpable of multiple counts of misconduct</a>; the settlement allowed her to come back to work after a full three years of administrative leave was completed, provided that she did not offend again and that she complete a lengthy course of psychotherapy. (The Letter of Censure is now a public document; my other statements are based on sources familiar with the settlement terms.)</p><p>According to sources present at this meeting, the board members showed an odd lack of curiosity about what Kurin had actually been charged with, and seemed to accept her explanations at face value--even though then, as now, a Title IX most often involves sexual harassment or misconduct of some kind. There was also no apparent discussion of Kurin's partner Gomez, although Boytner and some board members were likely to be aware that he was playing a major role in the field school.</p><p>As an example of how much benefit of the doubt Kurin was given, even though UCLA Extension had abruptly cancelled the 2016 field school for "health and safety reasons," no one at the meeting reportedly expressed concern for student safety--<b>the main concerns discussed were financial and legal</b>. Even more: a motion to appoint Kurin to the IFR Merit Based Scholarship Committee (proposed by Wendrich) passed unanimously.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>October 20-21, 2017</b>: Joint meeting of the IFR governing and academic boards.</p><p>By the time of this meeting, Kurin had held her summer field school in Peru, albeit without academic credit for the students attending. As I have reported earlier, there were again incidents of sexual harassment by Gomez, and Kurin <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/07/of-divorce-deception-and-defamation-did.html">repeatedly offered marijuana to the students in an apparent effort to placate them</a>, thus putting them in potential serious danger with Peruvian police. However there were no formal complaints made, although the students did share their experiences with others.</p><p>A full year had now gone by since the last joint board meeting. Yet the minutes of the 2017 meeting do not reflect any updates, or even discussion, of Kurin's Title IX proceedings. Perhaps during this time, Wendrich and some other board members were privately briefed on what that case was really about. Or, just as likely according to the evidence, they did not really care. At the academic board portion of this meeting, <b>Kurin was appointed to three more committees</b>: The Opportunity Scholarship Review Committee (seconded by Wendrich); the Merit Based Scholarship Review Committee (seconded by Wendrich); and the Post Board Meeting Academic Review Committee (seconded by Wendrich.)</p><p>We also read Motion 11 at the meeting: "Having conducted due diligence of the Peru-Sondor project, we--the IFR Academic Board--express our desire to continue working with Dr. Danielle Kurin as the director of IFR field school(s). Proposed by Wendrich, motion adopted.</p><p><b>March 2018</b>: Kurin signs the settlement with UCSB, mentioned above, in which she agrees to accept responsibility for her misconduct in a "Letter of Censure" which is put in her personnel file for three years.</p><p><b>April 17, 2018</b>: IFR executive-director Ran Boytner writes an email to the IFR boards and IFR staff to announce that Kurin has come to an agreement with UCSB. Botyner states in part:</p><p>"I meet [sic] with Danielle Kurin at the [Society for American Archaeology meeting] and am delighted to share with you that the dispute with UCSB is now resolved. Danielle is a functioning officially active Assistant Professor there. How and why is confidential but Danielle shared with me that she will begin teaching classes again at UCSB on [sic] April 2019." (Kurin actually returned to work that fall.)</p><p>Boytner adds: "As we all know, the past two years were a trying period for Danielle," and goes on to list all the things she did over that time instead of sitting "idle."</p><p>At least one member of the board, <b>Jason De Leon </b>of UCLA, responded to Boytner's email, saying, "excellent news!" I have not yet talked about De Leon in this post, but in my report on the Cotsen Town Hall I pointed out that <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/06/a-ucla-town-hall-on-meto-and-related.html">he was likely to have been aware of the Title IX from the beginning</a>, and also that he lied about his knowledge--at the same time he was publicly attacking me for supposed false and unethical reporting.</p><p><b>What can we conclude so far?</b> That the IFR governing and academic boards knew that Kurin was subject to a Title IX, knew that she was still on administrative leave, and nevertheless asked very few questions about it all (at least that they shared with their colleagues.) Did Wendrich and Boytner know what the actual charges were, based on their relationship with Kevin Vaughn and other colleagues who did know? Did they discuss any of this with UCSB officials, in an attempt to protect students in their field schools?</p><p>What we can conclude, beyond any doubt, is that they lied about what they knew. And, that their actions allowed the following to happen:</p><p><b>July 2018</b>: A <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/03/uc-santa-barbara-kept-misconduct.html">student is allegedly sexually assaulted by Gomez</a>, Kurin's then husband, at her IFR sponsored field school. After threatening retaliation against students if they reported it, Kurin sees the writing on the wall and reports it herself to Boytner. After a very slow start, IFR begins an investigation which lasts until that October. It includes interviews with the sexual assault victim and other witnesses.</p><p><b>October 2018</b>: <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/03/uc-santa-barbara-kept-misconduct.html">IFR's investigations concludes </a>that there was misconduct at the 2018 field school. Kurin is banned from holding field schools and she is removed from the IFR academic board.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFOPbLk4a1dvFxVFsWeUc3O7DfZecpfKOaYNT81z_OutQ7SBCY_Ozkv5wgapIxo9wyFRzMKhjGeknm0_Z-U-OYplTC_-4EbTtyDIONXeIn6bv0noVtab1PgZSY_8J7fgA9UJ5EhaVcKgr2nLqkUzOzeT77DMDNImWJGFSTCe6sNrIOqtBCoGQNcKBCyA=s2048" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhFOPbLk4a1dvFxVFsWeUc3O7DfZecpfKOaYNT81z_OutQ7SBCY_Ozkv5wgapIxo9wyFRzMKhjGeknm0_Z-U-OYplTC_-4EbTtyDIONXeIn6bv0noVtab1PgZSY_8J7fgA9UJ5EhaVcKgr2nLqkUzOzeT77DMDNImWJGFSTCe6sNrIOqtBCoGQNcKBCyA=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Boytner's message to 2018 field school students</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>October 13, 2018</b>: Meeting of the IFR Board of Governors.</div><p>Motions are proposed and adopted to send out letters about the investigation's findings to certain parties (not named.) Actions are proposed to improve IFR's handling of sexual harassment issues, including sexual harassment training for all field school directors and discussion of sexual harassment guidelines with students at the beginning of each school.</p><p>Last item on the agenda: Send a thank you letter to Danielle Kurin.</p><p><b>September 2018</b>: [Note slight switch in chronology]</p><p>According to multiple sources, Kevin Vaughn began discussing privately with numerous colleagues what had happened at Kurin's 2018 field school. Some faculty, considering themselves mandatory reporters, informed the UCSB Title IX office. That office reportedly takes no action; likewise, in 2020, UCSB's Title IX office receives numerous complaints from students and faculty, again declines to take any action.</p><p>There is no evidence whatsoever that Wendrich or any IFR board member or official informed UCSB of its findings and Kurin's removal from all activities with the organization. Did they violate their own responsibilities as mandatory reporters?</p><p><b>June 2020</b>: Kurin sues me for defamation. J<b>uly 2021</b>: Case is settled and dismissed.</p><p><b>Jan/Feb 2021</b>: UCSB anthropology department recommends against her receiving tenure.</p><p><b>August 2021</b>: UCSB Chancellor Henry Yang overrules department decision, awards Kurin tenure.</p><p><b>January 2022</b>: Kurin abruptly resigns, claiming that she was searching for a more "meaningful" job and that it had nothing to do with the <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/01/new-evidence-suggests-former-uc-santa.html">latest revelations concerning her apparent misconduct in the Jack Cantin case</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Conclusions</b>: Danielle Kurin's misconduct, as I have argued repeatedly and <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/01/serial-abuser-danielle-kurin-is-gone.html">most recently in as much detail as I could</a>, could not have taken place--nor could should have hurt the numerous students she victimized over the years--<b>without being enabled by those who had the power to stop her.</b> I can only hope that this latest report will help bringing those enablers to account.</p><p>Kurin may be gone from UCSB, but this story is far from over. I will continue to report as always.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Note:</b> I have invited Wendrich and De Leon to respond to or comment on this report and I will publish what they say, if anything, in full.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com65tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-34825185555490614812022-01-19T12:09:00.016-05:002022-01-29T17:46:10.265-05:00Serial abuser Danielle Kurin is gone, but her enablers are still in business. Part Two of a full report on this sad saga. [Updated Jan 29]<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi2qUBDl5dJKBJyoBa5-s3y6qSpgB58FaJ1gzqnRsYzccTAgLGrA-nLajljLQk4y24u-w_ueBaECUGZeI0O8rGwG2BRInlMEIuTQvSwHa8ZtcTbLpyR__ISrzkTsC4UqWbIF9oVv6SFQL1DbKOGym31MCsvt1hquB6ikevrz1wSUr9C_XdCE_SnTx0APQ=s2464" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2464" data-original-width="1648" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi2qUBDl5dJKBJyoBa5-s3y6qSpgB58FaJ1gzqnRsYzccTAgLGrA-nLajljLQk4y24u-w_ueBaECUGZeI0O8rGwG2BRInlMEIuTQvSwHa8ZtcTbLpyR__ISrzkTsC4UqWbIF9oVv6SFQL1DbKOGym31MCsvt1hquB6ikevrz1wSUr9C_XdCE_SnTx0APQ=w429-h640" width="429" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UCSB Chancellor Henry Yang</td></tr></tbody></table> <p></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/01/new-evidence-suggests-former-uc-santa.html">As I reported yesterday</a>, after <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/11/a-guide-to-my-reporting-on-alleged.html">years of documented misconduct</a>, former University of California, Santa Barbara archaeologist <b>Danielle Kurin</b> has abruptly resigned the tenured position she was just awarded last August. Exactly what led to her resignation is still unclear, although it appears to be linked at least in part to issues that have been raised concerning her handling of human remains she claims belong to a missing teenager, a victim of the 2018 Montecito mudslide that took 23 lives. Neither Kurin, her attorney, nor UCSB are commenting so far on the reasons for her resignation, but many students and faculty at UCSB--along with other colleagues in the archaeology and anthropology communities--are celebrating her departure. One former student at UCSB was reported to have started jumping up and down with glee in his living room upon hearing the news of her resignation, and similarly jubilant reactions are widespread.</p><p>The celebrations are tinged with lingering suspicions, however, that the resignation might not be real and that somehow Kurin will re-emerge at UCSB or elsewhere. Those suspicions are not, however, the result of paranoia or the ascribing of magical powers of invincibility to this still junior researcher in her late thirties. Rather, they reflect a knowledge and understanding that Kurin has been enabled all these years by people who do have power of various kinds; and, that enabling has occurred despite full knowledge by these individuals of her serial abuses and her toxic, very psychologically disturbed personality.</p><p>In the end, Kurin has turned out to be a very sad case. She survived for many years in academia, both as a graduate student at Vanderbilt University and an assistant professor at UCSB, despite many acts of destruction and self-destruction along the way. Those included acts of retaliation against students that landed her with a three-year administrative leave and a Letter of Censure in her personnel file, only removed earlier this year but <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-kurin-v-balter-lawsuit-is-over-with.html">now made a permanent public document.</a> And in the end, her desperate efforts to achieve tenure at UCSB despite her record of misconduct--including a 13 month long defamation suit against this reporter that may have cost her family $100,000 or more in attorneys' fees--may have led to her downfall, as <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-strange-case-of-montecito-mudslide.html">her efforts to play local hero</a> to the Santa Barbara community and to the family of missing teenager <b>Jack Cantin</b> appear to have backfired on her badly.</p><p>To many following this sordid saga, the <i>Kurin v. Balter</i> lawsuit might have seemed emblematic of two people who in various ways were obsessed with each other. Kurin certainly holds me responsible for the destruction of her career, even though her reputation was badly tarnished long before I had ever heard of her. As for me, I must say that I had moved on to other stories at the time that she sued me; the lawsuit forced me to focus a lot of my time and energies on her. It also made me determined that I would do everything I could, as a #MeToo advocacy journalist, to expose the truth about her abuses and help her victims get justice and the assurance that she would never be able to hurt anyone ever again.</p><p>It also made me determined to go beyond Kurin, an individual who would have been powerless without powerful enablers, and call to account the people and institutions who made her abuses possible over so many years. Lately, after focusing so much since the <b>Harvey Weinstein</b> revelations on celebrity abusers, the media have begun to take a closer look at those who have enabled them and their misdeeds. The just concluded <b>Ghislaine Maxwell</b> trial certainly <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-ghislaine-maxwell-trial-a-metoo-question-are-enablers-criminally-liable/2021/12/15/687c1468-584e-11ec-9a18-a506cf3aa31d_story.html">raised those issues</a>, as did earlier revelations about <b>Jeffrey Epstein</b>, whose continuing abuses were enabled by attorneys, scientists, and other hangers-on. Likewise, Harvey Weinstein could never have gotten away with his crimes--which finally put him in jail--without a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/25/harvey-weinstein-trial-helpers-enablers">coterie of enablers and sycophants</a> who worshipped his power and granted him the right to abuse women.</p><p>In academia and the sciences, which get much less attention from the media but are often rampant with sexual harassment, bullying, and other abuses, institutions worried about their reputations or losing the grant funds that senior researchers bring in, and faculty worried about their careers or the opinions of their peers, often either looking the other way when informed of misconduct, or--even worse--siding with the abusers against survivors and gaslighting the victims into giving up their attempts to call them to account. I have been a #MeToo reporter for more than six years now, <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2018/12/sexual-abusers-i-have-known.html">working on dozens of investigations</a>. In every case, the abuser was enabled either by colleagues in their departments, by their institutions, or both.</p><p>It is this enabling, which is deeply embedded in our culture and institutions--from the corner McDonalds, to academia, to Hollywood, to the media, to government, and beyond--that must be addressed if the abuses are ever to stop. The enabling is itself made possible by unjustified imbalances in power and elite hierarchies that stifle the human spirit everywhere they are found. Individuals and institutions must be made responsible for their complicity, because without them the abusers would have no power or ability to carry out their acts.</p><p>So, in the case of former Associate Professor Danielle Kurin, let us take a look at who the enablers were.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>The University of California and UCSB Chancellor Henry Yang. </b></p><p><b>Henry Yang</b> has been Chancellor of UCSB since 1994. Thus he was the top responsible official at the university when, between 2014 and 2016, at least <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/08/university-of-california-santa-barbara_13.html">two</a> <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/08/university-of-california-santa-barbara.html">students</a> in Kurin's osteology classes complained of being bullied and humiliated by her both privately and in front of other students. In both cases, the alleged abuses were reported up the university administration chain, via deans and the ombudsman, but no disciplinary action against Kurin was taken--nor, to my knowledge, was she even issued a warning.</p><p>The timing is damning, because beginning in 2015 students at UCSB began <a href="https://mayawwong.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/college-campus-sexual-assault/">demanding that Yang do more to deal with sexual assaults</a> on campus, including by <a href="https://www.independent.com/2015/05/15/students-stage-sit-cheadle-hall/">sitting in at his office</a>. The general tenor of the news coverage at the time was very critical of Yang's failure to address the problem adequately. Two years later, students were <a href="https://dailynexus.com/2017-05-04/students-return-to-ucsb-chancellors-office-to-reiterate-demands-for-sexual-violence-reform/">again forced to confront Yang</a> about continuing sexual assaults, and his reputation for lack of real concern about the problem continues to haunt his legacy at UCSB. Recently I have talked to members of the UCSB community who know Yang well; they tell me that his greatest fears include anything that brings bad publicity to the university, and lawsuits against the institution.</p><p>Perhaps it is no surprise, then, that when Kurin was found to have committed misconduct by a Title IX investigation (retaliation against students who reported her then partner and later husband for sexual harassment) and then formally charged with misconduct, she was not fired. This decision, which would have been Yang's alone to make, clearly illustrates his enabling of Kurin, since she went on later to commit still more misconduct, as I have reported.</p><p>Retaining Kurin at that time, even though firing her was a definite option, could not have been justified on any academically compelling grounds. She was still very early in her career and her time on the tenure track; she had yet to compile any kind of national or international record of stellar publication (indeed she never did, according to other archaeologists and anthropologists I have talked to); and she could have easily been replaced with other highly qualified candidates (including in her field of bioarchaeology, which is anything if not crowded.) Kurin did, however, sue the university in 2016, arguing that she should have received a promotion even though she was on administrative leave for misconduct. That lawsuit was resolved when Kurin engaged in a settlement with the university in March 2018.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEieGOOejGemVwpPvRmmTW6KcENvq100wDiL2w1mCgJ3knWVL-RoEpHbYTQZgXk86bt-NStawxCbQ8cC2MnEgzOErTFebH5ViHG98zjmkwupwUEohmQfGDCfNfEt3V3HnXvEp_ZW3-Tev2mQ6dRuXJvDv_wSh91Mlogs_VKbyqHx2Hjk7phxwBO-22mkPg=s321" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="321" data-original-width="242" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEieGOOejGemVwpPvRmmTW6KcENvq100wDiL2w1mCgJ3knWVL-RoEpHbYTQZgXk86bt-NStawxCbQ8cC2MnEgzOErTFebH5ViHG98zjmkwupwUEohmQfGDCfNfEt3V3HnXvEp_ZW3-Tev2mQ6dRuXJvDv_wSh91Mlogs_VKbyqHx2Hjk7phxwBO-22mkPg=s320" width="241" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UCSB Executive Vice Chancellor David Marshall</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p>Although the 2018 agreement was confidential, Kurin refers to it in her Amended Complaint against me in the <i>Kurin v. Balter</i> lawsuit. We received a copy of it as part of some 2000 pages of documents UCSB gave us in discovery in the lawsuit. UCSB insisted on keeping all of these documents confidential (except the <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-kurin-v-balter-lawsuit-is-over-with.html">"Letter of Censure"</a> against Kurin, which it agreed to release at the request of Kurin and her attorney when her lawsuit against me was settled.) Rather than fight with the university for months over the unjustified sealing of these records, my attorneys and I agreed to a "protective order" which forbade us from releasing them publicly. However, I currently have a California Public Records Act request submitted to the university for release of the settlement and other documents.</p><p>The federal judge's protective order, however, makes clear that if I am able to access any of the documents or learn of their contents by other means, I am not prohibited from doing so. In the case of the settlement, sources have independently described its contents to me. For the purposes here, two clauses stand out:</p><p>1. Kurin agreed to undergo an <b>extended period of psychotherapy</b> as a condition of her returning to work.</p><p>2. Kurin agreed that if the university ever again found her to have committed misconduct, <b>she could be terminated with no right of appeal</b>.</p><p>The latter condition is obviously relevant to speculations about why she resigned her tenured position.</p><p>During this and other later events, Yang's second-in-command was <a href="https://evc.ucsb.edu/">Executive Vice-Chancellor <b>David Marshall</b></a>, pictured above. While I assume that he played key roles in everything related to Kurin, his own position regarding what the university should or should not do about her is not clear. Had the lawsuit continued, we would have taken his deposition and questioned him, along with Yang and other officials, under oath.</p><p>To return to Yang's role and attitudes: In July 2020, a student at Kurin's 2018 field school in Peru <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/07/student-sexually-assaulted-by-then.html">wrote to Chancellor Yang</a>, using her real name, to describe how she had been sexually assaulted by Kurin's then-husband, <b>Enmanuel Gomez Choque</b>, and asking him to do something about the circumstances that had allowed this to happen. Neither Yang nor anyone on his staff ever responded to this student. I don't think I need to explain to readers here the callousness that this failure to even acknowledge the student's letter represents. Even more fundamentally, it goes directly to the issue of enabling, which Yang is clearly guilty of.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqhB-4FlElWCMUb7PYm5j4P0ldunt5lqmQ6g8MYzvhAp9wq92Fn6uURPXwzz6yYTvH-3jN7GOaQB3QdhTfS9-deDL6YHJ7ZXS9qbazVLbk_4cvjY5GvlwmtkELlpklkYEomdjnBKVGYGqP-SSpntH2WqcskA13KYk7kWWBaJQllYnhB7yUAxNiYlT1FQ=s300" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiqhB-4FlElWCMUb7PYm5j4P0ldunt5lqmQ6g8MYzvhAp9wq92Fn6uURPXwzz6yYTvH-3jN7GOaQB3QdhTfS9-deDL6YHJ7ZXS9qbazVLbk_4cvjY5GvlwmtkELlpklkYEomdjnBKVGYGqP-SSpntH2WqcskA13KYk7kWWBaJQllYnhB7yUAxNiYlT1FQ" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charles Hale, UCSB Dean of Social Sciences</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p>Of course, the greatest act of enabling of Kurin occurred when Chancellor Yang awarded Kurin tenure in August of last year, despite a clear recommendation against it by Kurin's anthropology department. Yang could not plead ignorance of Kurin's reputation in the department, and neither could David Marshall: A member of the department, <b>Charles Hale</b> (pictured above) is also the Dean of Social Sciences. Since Kurin returned to teaching in September 2019, Hale has been regularly apprised of her continuing abuses by students and faculty alike. Thus there was a direct conduit of information between the department, the executive vice-chancellor, and the chancellor about Kurin and her behavior.</p><p>Nevertheless, Yang rewarded Kurin for her years of abuses with a permanent tenured position. Since Kurin is in her late thirties and there is no mandatory retirement age in the University of California system, had she not resigned, she could have gone on for 40 or more years of contact with students and other colleagues--unchecked, as it were, unless she committed serious misconduct and the university chose to do something about it. In <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/01/new-evidence-suggests-former-uc-santa.html">my previous post</a>, I put forward various hypotheses for why Chancellor Yang might have done this. To those I would add one more: That the university told Kurin she could have tenure if she dropped the defamation suit against me, which was bringing a great deal of negative publicity to UCSB. Whether this is true, I do not know; but the lawsuit settled in July, and she was awarded tenure in August, one of the last faculty members at the entire university that the Chancellor finally decided on.</p><p>Before leaving the question of the responsibility of the university and its officials, it is important to mention the key role that the University of California General Counsel's office, based in Berkeley, played in decisions concerning Danielle Kurin. The key player here was <a href="https://www.ucop.edu/uc-legal/ldrshp_org-chrt.pdf">Senior Counsel <b>Michael Goldstein</b></a>, who can be found in this massive office's organizational chart. Although any discussions between Goldstein and UCSB officials are subject to attorney-client privilege and thus beyond the scope of discovery and normal journalism, he had to have been aware of the attempts by Kurin and her counsel to withhold key evidence in the case. It is also a fair assumption that this office advised Yang to give Kurin tenure, if indeed he needed to be prompted to do so.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Smithsonian official and noted anthropologist Richard Kurin, father of Danielle.</b></p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi1CzdwTaDd05GmdgUhwvscZ7wV-dNOfCZxdzwOxnRKW-1eNqm92yu1FpyE5HVI_149DsTkpmwei1eEGD--oXX-SyTgJByXF67ohy5bEarWli6Y7Ql0tU5-qLCgIWDegB5DhtxzRBDNjblSH_UYEX0za_Hy41_nEL3gVRGkYSgdYibubfvEzZRahaYzng=s720" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="494" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi1CzdwTaDd05GmdgUhwvscZ7wV-dNOfCZxdzwOxnRKW-1eNqm92yu1FpyE5HVI_149DsTkpmwei1eEGD--oXX-SyTgJByXF67ohy5bEarWli6Y7Ql0tU5-qLCgIWDegB5DhtxzRBDNjblSH_UYEX0za_Hy41_nEL3gVRGkYSgdYibubfvEzZRahaYzng=w275-h400" width="275" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Richard Kurin/ Smithsonian/ Wikimedia Commons</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p>Danielle Kurin's father, <b>Richard Kurin</b>, has been a direct and indirect enabler of Kurin's abuses since she was a graduate student at Vanderbilt University, and perhaps even earlier. That's because Danielle regularly invoked her father and his power in threats against fellow students, generating real and ongoing fear among her colleagues, then and now, that her father--a powerful scientist--could harm them and their careers in various ways (these would include during job searches, grant applications, and so forth.)</p><p>Had Danielle simply been boasting about her powerful father, the fears may not have taken hold. But in fact, Kurin told colleagues that her parents had paid for her 2016 lawsuit against the University of California, and there is every reason to think that he also bankrolled her recent defamation suit against me (Richard was very involved in the strategizing for that lawsuit all along its course. Danielle's sister, <b>Jaclyn Kurin</b>, an attorney who works for a prisoner's rights organization on the East Coast, was also involved.)</p><p>I mentioned earlier and in the previous post that Danielle Kurin's serious psychological issues were not only well known to her colleagues, but also formally recognized in her 2018 settlement with UCSB. I don't doubt that Kurin's family tried to get her the help she obviously needed; but by encouraging and even bankrolling a lawsuit against the journalist who was truthfully reporting her abuses, they clearly acted to enable not only an attempted coverup of her past misdeeds but also any future ones she might have committed or might still commit. (I would do almost anything for my own daughter, but that would not make it right.) Indeed, the lawsuit explicitly explained that Kurin had sued me so she could get tenure unhindered by my reporting. There is no ambiguity here.</p><p>One last thing about Richard Kurin: As described in the section below, Kurin and her attorney attempted to hide the smoking gun "Letter of Censure" from us. We were told by Kurin's attorney that Richard Kurin possessed a copy of this document, which may implicate him in this attempted coverup of key evidence.</p><p>Will Richard Kurin continue to help Kurin threaten colleagues as she attempts to continue whatever career she might be able to have now? (Not likely in U.S. academia.) I hope that this discussion of his role, along with the disastrous ending of the course that Danielle's family helped her set, will dissuade him from doing so, or at least help others (including the Smithsonian administration) to dissuade him.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>David Scher and the Hoyer Law Group.</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi9tDWqA5mjcLWE3gTRXJgvGh60erqab9NdmqGV84J6njW63zrUNdqPLXcwamN4ACQDTyXZFdt3ODP31dzl4uRfScytkx6tPHrTriON3EaLmcaNOSRViBSy2Ow0K6r3A_xiEGmVIrqJKj1NTuaLlv-RNg1ke6ZLUpZbid_KTCwxynFyODkXgykIhU_Ymw=s375" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi9tDWqA5mjcLWE3gTRXJgvGh60erqab9NdmqGV84J6njW63zrUNdqPLXcwamN4ACQDTyXZFdt3ODP31dzl4uRfScytkx6tPHrTriON3EaLmcaNOSRViBSy2Ow0K6r3A_xiEGmVIrqJKj1NTuaLlv-RNg1ke6ZLUpZbid_KTCwxynFyODkXgykIhU_Ymw=s320" width="269" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Attorney David Scher</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.hoyerlawgroup.com/attorney/scher-dave/"><b>David Scher</b> of the Hoyer Law Group</a> has represented Danielle Kurin for a number of years, and still does. Scher's specialty is not defamation law--a fact which showed clearly many times during his representation of Kurin--but rather whistleblower and employment law (especially false termination.) He is politically liberal, so it's unfortunate that he became a hired gun for the Kurin family in its attempts to stifle not only freedom of the press but also intimidate victims and survivors of Kurin's abuses. Whether he did it for the money or out of real sympathy for Kurin is for him to tell us.</p><p>As I mentioned in the previous post, Kurin's Amended Complaint against me was a litany of lies, up to and including clear perjury. I will not elaborate much more here, as over the past two years this blog has included a large number of posts about the various things that Kurin and Scher did to try to distort the record and bias the federal judge in the case against me. By the time the case settled, we had asked the court for sanctions against both Scher and Kurin for misconduct, and in particular for their attempts to hide the all-important Letter of Censure from us despite a clear legal obligation to produce it in discovery. As we told the court:</p><p><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">After filing our June 15 letter, we received additional documents from the University of California</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Santa Barbara (“UCSB”) that showed that Plaintiff Danielle Kurin and her attorney improperly</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">sought to block from disclosure the Letter of Censure that UCSB issued against Dr. Kurin on</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">February 28, 2018. The Letter of Censure is a critical piece of evidence that Dr. Kurin has sought</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">to conceal from the outset of this matter (and successfully did so until June 4). She omitted any</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">reference to the Letter in her original or amended Complaints, thereby providing an extremely</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">misleading and false representation of the facts of this case. The Letter has been marked</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">“confidential” subject to the Protective Order of February 18, 2021 (“Feb. 18 Order”) and thus</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">cannot be described in detail in this public filing, but a copy can be provided in camera at the</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Court’s request.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Accordingly, we seek to file motions requesting that 1) the Court remove the confidentiality</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">designation from the Letter of Censure (and other documents produced by UCSB that evidence</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Dr. Kurin’s misconduct related to the allegations in this lawsuit) as permitted under Paragraph 11</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">of the Feb. 18 Order; and 2) that Dr. Kurin be sanctioned, including through dismissal of this</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">lawsuit, for intentionally seeking to destroy or conceal the Letter of Censure—key evidence in this</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">case.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">This alleged misconduct was actually typical of how both Kurin and Scher behaved during the 13 months of the lawsuit. In essence, Kurin would tell a lie to Scher, who would pass it on to my attorneys without vetting it and doing due diligence to make sure that representations he made to us and to the court were accurate, to the best of his ability. Many of Scher's emails to my attorneys were clearly written by Kurin with only minimal editing. Had the case continued, we certainly would have asked the judge, as we did above, to lift the protective order on the UCSB documents. Having seen every page of them myself, I can say that they not only backed up my reporting 100%, but that there was <b>absolutely no legitimate justification for making them secret</b>--rather, the public interest should require that they be released in their entirely.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Of course, Kurin had the right to sue me for defamation if she really thought that I had defamed her, and she had the right to counsel to help her do it. One can also say that Jeffrey Epstein had the <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/7/30/20746983/alan-dershowitz-jeffrey-epstein-sarah-ransome-giuffre">right to hire Alan Dershowitz</a> to represent him against charges of sexual abuse and trafficking of minors, and Harvey Weinstein had the right to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/10/boies-schiller-loses-lawyers-over-controversies-involving-theranos-harvey-weinstein.html">hire David Boies </a>to help him in his legal fight. But an attorney passes from being a defender to being an enabler when they help a litigant engage in dishonest attempts to hide from the consequences of their misconduct and abuses. In one case, Scher had a process server go to the home of one of our witnesses despite a signal from us that we would accept service for her, in a blatant attempt to intimidate her and her family. This is the kind of attorney and law firm Kurin and her family hired to represent her.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In my Constitutionally protected, First Amendment opinion, David Scher was an enabler of abuse in the way he represented Danielle Kurin.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Update Jan 19: </b>Scher’s propensity for simply repeating anything that Kurin tells him is illustrated by his comments in the story today in the Santa Barbara Independent about Kim Cantin’s lawsuit against the Santa Barbara Sheriff, in which he told the reporter that Kurin’s resignation had nothing to do with the mudslide case and that she left to pursue more “rewarding” work.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>UCLA Cotsen Institute director Willeke Wendrich, former Institute for Field Research director Ran Boytner, and the IFR governing and academic boards.</b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgXxAJEIgge72c13GBdnj1wZdf93aTlwKO_681XMDBZALh7RJYknjraLpcoybdlE1biVGG-CUxQnaUAPr-oax2osibcWYUo0djLEiRnmI4Rem3ODW3izW-f2PQmwP8LF_bCMArI-z3YTJd4zOzWlMI7-X6MQYauq0ujU4pK0qdv6Wprd6ChkkHgD0Latw=s1600" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1066" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgXxAJEIgge72c13GBdnj1wZdf93aTlwKO_681XMDBZALh7RJYknjraLpcoybdlE1biVGG-CUxQnaUAPr-oax2osibcWYUo0djLEiRnmI4Rem3ODW3izW-f2PQmwP8LF_bCMArI-z3YTJd4zOzWlMI7-X6MQYauq0ujU4pK0qdv6Wprd6ChkkHgD0Latw=s320" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Willeke Wendrich / UCLA<br /><br /><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>I will deal just briefly with the role of the <b>Institute for Field Research</b> and its leaders, as I have written extensively about the role they played on this blog (see <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/03/uc-santa-barbara-kept-misconduct.html">here</a>, <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/03/chief-of-international-archaeology.html">here</a>, <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/04/field-school-directors-ask-why-umbrella.html">here</a>, and <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/06/a-ucla-town-hall-on-meto-and-related.html">here</a>.)<div><br /></div><div>The basic story is that IFR and its two boards, governing and academic, were made aware in 2016 of the fact that Kurin was subject to a Title IX proceeding at UCSB. That led them to cancel her IFR sponsored field school in 2016, but they allowed her to have field schools in 2017 (albeit without academic credit) and in 2018 (with full academic credit.) When I reported on the 2018 on this blog, <b>Wendrich</b> and IFR officials had a lot to answer for, ie, what they knew and when they knew it. Wendrich lied to me and also to the UCLA community in claiming that she only found out about the Title IX when she read my reporting. Moreover, even after IFR conducted an investigation of the 2018 events at its official field school, which included an alleged sexual assault by Kurin's husband and Kurin's attempts to intimidate students into not reporting it, Wendrich and IFR failed to inform UCSB of what had happened (again, Wendrich lied to me when she said that IFR had made the findings widely known. While Kurin was kicked off the board and banned from holding field schools, IFR's lawyers apparently told them to keep it quiet for fear of legal liability.)</div><div><br /></div><div>And in the course of lying, Wendrich publicly accused me of unethical and dishonest journalism for calling her out on her lies, thus gaslighting her own colleagues.</div><div><br /></div><div>In other words, Wendrich, <b>Boytner</b>, and IFR clearly enabled Kurin when they allowed her to continue to hold field schools after 2016, and also enabled her when they failed to make the results of their investigation known to the academic community, including UCSB officials. (I will be using the California Public Record Act to try to find out what UCSB knew and when they knew it about the 2018 events; as explained above, I already know the answer to the question but am not at liberty to discuss it at this time.)<p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Enablers gonna enable. If so, we must take the fight against abuses right to their doors.</b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The discussion above does not exhaust the list of enablers of Danielle Kurin. It also includes a <b><a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-misadventures-of-metoo-reporter_20.html">well-known #MeToo advocate</a></b> who was talking to Kurin's legal team for several months about testifying on her behalf (similar to the way that some <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/21/us/times-up-metoo-sexual-harassment.html">officials of Time's Up were helping Andrew Cuomo</a> attack sexual harassment survivors; a <b>small group of anthropologists</b> who were trying to discredit my reporting and block my exposures of abusers in that tightly knit field, for reasons I have discussed elsewhere and will write about at the appropriate time; and even <b>a <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-misadventures-of-metoo-reporter.html">leading association of science writers</a></b>, which allowed its complaint procedures to be exploited by those anthropologists and thus, willingly or inadvertently, helped Kurin's attempts to bias the judge in the defamation case against me. I will have more to say about all this in good time.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">As I said at the beginning, Kurin is gone, her power to abuse students--at least for now--taken away. But her enablers are still around, still powerful, and--like enablers everywhere--they might help other abusers if they are not brought to account for what they did. Making those enablers accountable is the next step, and the next task, for those who want to create a world free of harassment, assault, bullying, and the other evils which have festered for way too long.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Update Jan 29, 2022: </b>Yesterday, in response to a California Public Records Act to UCLA, I received documents indicating once again that Willeke Wendrich lied to her own colleagues, as well as to me, when she told them that she did not know about the 2016 Title IX proceeding against Danielle Kurin until at least 2018. As I will report in detail soon, at an October 2016 joint meeting of the governing and academic boards of the Institute for Field Research, then executive director Ran Boytner told the gathered colleagues that Kurin was under investigation by UCSB under Title IX, a fact which Kurin herself—who was present at the meeting as a member of the academic board—acknowledged to everyone. The board members were also told that Kurin was under administrative leave due to the Title IX. They decided to take no action as a result of these revelations, and in fact allowed Kurin to hold IFR field schools in both 2017 (not for credit) and 2018 (for credit) despite the fact that she continued to be on administrative leave.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Why the lies? As a student was sexually assaulted by Kurin’s then husband at the 2018 field school, one possibility is that they were advised by their legal counsel not to admit that they had known anything about Kurin’s history. It’s for them to tell us.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In addition to these documents, I now have testimony from sources present at this board meeting, as well as details of the minutes of the meeting, and I will provide further details about these events soon.</p></div>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com37tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-55883282123188754232022-01-15T08:03:00.018-05:002022-01-25T10:27:36.508-05:00New evidence suggests former UC Santa Barbara anthropology professor Danielle Kurin exploited a grieving mother and vulnerable students in her bid to get tenure. Now she has resigned. Part one of a full report. [Update Jan 25: Kim Cantin drops her lawsuit against the Sheriff while negotiations over the remains continue. Students begin to speak out about Kurin's role]<p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhu4JcAYe4gdcdA8pKxkHfVfUSgK5N4btpdkCyzCiDyfzn4dIjPSxmxb--vsg8SrDuRJYGsPH6sgEpIblhNaX-KqCbnranIntIGH-kToYbRHB228eaz5EX9Y1ddcXVvnNQpD91wj3FfkNrXX9jYbNrQy8jObtbGDv27FbtDXG8GLHdgw1uc5dKg_QudGw=s1280" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhu4JcAYe4gdcdA8pKxkHfVfUSgK5N4btpdkCyzCiDyfzn4dIjPSxmxb--vsg8SrDuRJYGsPH6sgEpIblhNaX-KqCbnranIntIGH-kToYbRHB228eaz5EX9Y1ddcXVvnNQpD91wj3FfkNrXX9jYbNrQy8jObtbGDv27FbtDXG8GLHdgw1uc5dKg_QudGw=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UCSB students aid in the search for missing mudslide victim Jack Cantin<br /><br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Earlier this month, University of California, Santa Barbara anthropology professor Danielle Kurin, whose long history of misconduct and abuses <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/11/a-guide-to-my-reporting-on-alleged.html">I have been covering for the past two years</a>, abruptly resigned from the tenured position she had only been awarded last August. Given widespread opinion among her colleagues at UCSB and in the wider archaeology and anthropology communities that this history made her a danger to students, Kurin had to go to extraordinary lengths to get the university to give her tenure--including <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-kurin-v-balter-lawsuit-is-over-with.html">suing me for defamation</a> for my fully accurate and well documented reporting on her misconduct.</p><p>Last July, Kurin announced that she had discovered with "90% certainty" the remains of missing teenager Jack Cantin, a victim of the 2018 Montecito, California mudslide, which took the lives of 23 victims. Many other experts were <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-strange-case-of-montecito-mudslide.html">highly skeptical of this claim</a>, and thought it equally likely that she was exploiting the grief of the teenager's family in her efforts to get tenure (which she did, the following month.) But the Santa Barbara Sheriff and its coroner's office have not yet confirmed Kurin's identification; their investigation is now in its sixth month, and the department has continued to decline to comment on its status.</p><p>Moreover, numerous anthropologists and archaeologists have told me, Kurin has violated California law, as well as the ethics of her profession, in her handling of the remains, most importantly by not informing authorities of at least some of the finds. This is a particularly sensitive issue in the Santa Barbara area, which shelters many burials of Chumash Native Americans. As an archaeologist, Kurin had to have known this.</p><p>This past week I discovered, mostly by accident, that Jack's mother, Kim Cantin, had quietly filed a lawsuit against the Sheriff and Santa Barbara County, claiming that her rights to bury her son were being violated by the withholding of the very fragmentary remains. In the lawsuit, Kim and her attorneys relied almost entirely on the supposed expertise of Kurin, whom they judged more competent in the quest to identify the remains--even though Kurin had not performed any of the requisite tests for identifying unknown bones, including DNA testing, and Kurin is not a qualified forensic anthropologist. <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/cantin-v-sb-county.pdf">The full text of the Complaint can be accessed here</a>. The lawsuit had not become public because Kim Cantin and her attorneys soon entered into talks with the Sheriff about the matter. While a judge was assigned to the case, Cantin and her attorneys did not pursue it as those discussions continued, her lead attorney told me.</p><p>I am not going to say much more now, because a local Santa Barbara publication will be running a story on the lawsuit very shortly. Having spent months trying to interest the local press in their own local story, I do not want to steal too much of their thunder. But one of the most remarkable and damning revelations in the Complaint is that Kurin apparently tried to pass off one of her own students as a "peer reviewer" of her own analysis of the remains. To avoid Google searches linking the student with Kurin, I will call her "VB" here, although she is named in the Complaint which is publicly available; thus I have not redacted it.</p><p>VB is not, as the Complaint describes her--most likely based on what Kurin told Kim Cantin and her lawyers--a doctorate at Washington State University. Rather, she is a graduate student, on whose committee Kurin sits along with other researchers. Kurin is on her committee because VB's PhD thesis is based on materials from Kurin's archaeological sites in Peru. Whatever VB's expertise may be--and graduate students often know as much or more than their professors--she is not a trained forensic anthropologist, and Kurin's use of her as a peer reviewer represents an obvious conflict of interest at the very least. It also appears to represent an ethical breach of great magnitude, especially if she used VB for this purpose in an attempt to convince both Kim Cantin and the Sheriff's office that her analysis had been confirmed by other experts.</p><p>(Indeed, some months ago, the Sheriff's spokesperson, Raquel Zick, told me that their investigation had been delayed while they waited for Kurin to have her report "peer reviewed." Why Kurin could not, or did not, ask a qualified forensic anthropologist to do that review is one of the outstanding questions in this very sordid drama.)</p><p>I will have much more to say about all this once the local publication runs its story, including some commentary on why Kurin may have resigned and the very important role of powerful enablers in allowing Kurin to continue to abuse students for so many years.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Update</b>: While waiting for the local Santa Barbara media to publish on this, I will post some additional comments. One is that there is a strange discrepancy between what the Complaint says and what Kurin, Kim Cantin, and the UCSB students told the news media last July when they publicly announced their claim that they had found Jack Cantin's remains. All of them told the local media that they had begun finding human remains during Memorial Day weekend, which began on Friday May 28 (that's also the day that Kurin scuttled settlement talks she was engaged in with me and my lawyers.) But the lawsuit says that the first remains were found on May 10. I have also noted before that the public announcement was made on July 22, exactly one week after the federal judge in the lawsuit approved the agreement between Kurin and I and dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice. All of this requires explanation.</p><p><br /></p><p> * * *</p><p><b>January 17, 2022: Full update, truth-telling, nothing left out edition.</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p>As I noted above, I have been waiting to publish this full story until a local Santa Barbara publication ran its story, as appreciation for the local media <i>finally</i> recognizing that it had ignored a major scandal in its midst: The apparent cynical exploitation of grieving mother Kim Cantin by Danielle Kurin in her quest for tenure at UCSB despite her long history of misconduct. That publication is the <i><a href="https://www.independent.com/">Santa Barbara Independent</a></i>, whose reporter has been investigating the Montecito mudslide story since last October, when I brought it to his attention. </p><p>That story almost ran in early January, but was held back for reasons I will not discuss here. Then, on January 10, I discovered via a Google search that Kim Cantin <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/cantin-v-sb-county.pdf">had quietly filed a lawsuit in federal court</a> against Santa Barbara County and its Sheriff-Coroner, William Brown, seeking the return of human remains she believes belong to her son Jack, who went missing after the devastating Montecito mudslide of 2018, which killed 23 people (also missing is <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-mudslide-missing-20180115-story.html">two year old Lydia Sutthithepa</a>; more about her later.)</p><p>I shared this information with the <i>Independent</i> reporter, whose interest had already been rekindled by Kurin's abrupt resignation of her tenured position. The Montecito mudslide, and the purported finding of Jack's remains, were both major events for the greater Santa Barbara community, and word about finding Jack was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/24/us/missing-teen-remains-mudslide-california/index.html">picked up by national media</a>. Out of appreciation for the <i>Independent</i>'s willingness to do a story about all this, and its assurance that it would run its story no later than last Friday, I held off publishing my own report, willing to allow my colleague in Santa Barbara to have the scoop. But when it became clear that his story would not run on Friday, I published the brief placeholder report above.</p><p>Today, Monday, the <i>Independent</i>'s story has still not run, with no explanation about the delay--or, and I hope this is not the case, killing of the story, possibly out of fear of a lawsuit from Kurin (the huge role that fear of being sued by the litigious Danielle Kurin has played in this long saga will be explored below.)</p><p><b>[Update: The story has now run, please see below.]</b></p><p>If the publication finally does run its story, I will celebrate that here, with commentary of my own. In the meantime, however, it is time to explore, in one place, the many facets of the sordid Kurin drama, a story of a toxic personality allowed to run mostly free for the past eight years. In her wake, many victims and survivors who are still suffering the consequences of her abuses.</p><p>I will say a number of things here that I have not said before, and provide links to past stories for the guidance of readers who have not kept up with this complicated story. As might be imagined, the sourcing is very sensitive on some of what I will have to say, which will explain a certain vagueness in attribution in some parts. But as always in my reporting, all statements below are based on direct witnesses and participants in the events, multiply sourced and corroborated in all instances--except where I engage in speculation, which I will make clear.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Why did Danielle Kurin get tenure at UCSB, and why did she abruptly resign?</b></p><p>Danielle Kurin received her <a href="https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/e72bdcc5-1a02-49b8-9727-1db180d76af9/Kurin_Bio-Bibliography_last%20edit_Sept_15_2020.pdf">PhD from Vanderbilt University in 2012 and began teaching at UCSB as a visiting professor in 2013</a>. (See also <a href="https://www.cakeresume.com/danielle-kurin?locale=en">here</a>.) In fall 2014, she was appointed to a tenure track assistant professor position in the university's anthropology department. Even at the time, fairly or unfairly, questions circulated in the anthropology and archaeology communities about whether she was the most qualified candidate; again, correctly or not, it was widely assumed that Kurin's father, <a href="https://www.si.edu/about/bios/richard-kurin">anthropologist Richard Kurin</a>--a powerful American scientist and major official at the Smithsonian Institution--had either used his influence to help her get hired, or that Kurin had used his name and reputation to enhance her own reputation. I mention Richard Kurin here because of the outsized role he would end up playing in the Kurin saga.</p><p>During her visiting professorship in 2013, Kurin appeared to be on her best behavior, and favorably impressed many members of the anthropology faculty. But from the very first year of Kurin's tenure track position, the UCSB administration <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/08/university-of-california-santa-barbara_13.html">began receiving reports</a> that she was bullying students in her osteology and other classes and abusing them in various ways. These reports <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/08/university-of-california-santa-barbara.html">continued into 2015 and 2016</a>.</p><p>In September 2015, UCSB received word that Kurin's partner and later husband, Peruvian archaeologist Enmanuel Gomez Choque, had sexually harassed students at Kurin's field school in Peru, and a T<a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/02/at-uc-santa-barbara-and-in-peru.html">itle IX investigation was launched</a>. Kurin was subsequently put on administrative leave pending the outcome. That investigation concluded that Gomez had more likely than not sexually harassed students, and that Kurin more likely than not had retaliated against students who had reported that harassment--a very serious violation of her responsibilities as a faculty member. As a result, <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-kurin-v-balter-lawsuit-is-over-with.html">the findings were referred to UCSB's Charges Committee for adjudication</a>. The Committee found the following (excerpted from the Letter of Censure issued to Kurin on February 28, 2018:)</p><p><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Dear Professor Kirin:</p><p class="p1" style="font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">As you know, the campus Charges Committee found <span class="s1" style="font-size: 10px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">probable </span>cause for multiple violations of Part 11,</p><p class="p1" style="font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Sections A & C, of the faculty Code of Conduct, including explicit and implicit threats against a</p><p class="p2" style="font-size: 12.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s2" style="font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">complainant that would be interpreted by </span>any reasonable recipient <span class="s2" style="font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">as </span>harassing and retaliatory; and</p><p class="p2" style="font-size: 12.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">additional acts <span class="s2" style="font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">of harassment </span>and threats of retaliation€ occurring in the <span class="s2" style="font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">time period </span>after the Title IX &</p><p class="p2" style="font-size: 12.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Sexual Harassment Policy Compliance Office specifically reiterated the need for <span class="s2" style="font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">confidentiality and</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">cautioned against retaliation. You have received a copy of the Charges Committee report, as well as the</p><p class="p1" style="font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Title IX report, and no* acknowledge that, as described in the Charges and in the Title IX report, there</p><p class="p1" style="font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">were instances in whici your conduct fell below your own standards and those embodied in the Faculty</p><p class="p1" style="font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Code of Conduct. Attached to this letter of censure are a copy of the "Harrison/Gomez/Kuhn</p><p class="p1" style="font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Investigative Report (#2017470) ("Title IX Report") and a copy of the "CONFIDENT1AL-REFERRAL</p><p class="p1" style="font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">OF COMPLAINT TO <span class="s3" style="font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">COMMITTEE </span>ON PRIVILEGE AND TENURE AND PROPOSED</p><p class="p1" style="font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">DISCIPLINARY SANIbTION" (the "Charges") that I filed with the Santa Barbara Division's Committee</p><p class="p1" style="font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">on Privilege and Tenure on May 22, 2017.</p><p class="p1" style="font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-size: 11.5px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">But Kurin was not fired, which was certainly an option the university had in this situation. Instead, her administrative leave was extended to a total of three full years, during which she received most of her salary. But the UCSB administration never told the anthropology faculty why she was on leave, except for consecutive department chairs who were sworn to secrecy. Despite rumors about retaliation against students, neither faculty nor students were told anything officially. In maintaining secrecy, the administration, and most notably UCSB Chancellor Henry Yang and Executive Vice-Chancellor David Marshall, were able to prevent any protests against the retention of a faculty member who had threatened students and retaliated against them, on multiple counts.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">To make matters worse, when asked about it, Kurin routinely lied about what had happened. She told some colleagues that she and Gomez had been exonerated, and those colleagues--notably <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/03/chief-of-international-archaeology.html">former Institute for Field Research director Ran Boytner</a>, who had enabled Kurin's field schools in Peru--repeated these lies to others. Even those who knew about the Title IX, including Willeke Wendrich, director of the board of governors of IFR and of UCLA's Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, helped foster the falsehood that news of Kurin's Title IX only came to them after I began reporting on it in early 2020.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Kurin went so far as to perjure herself on the matter in <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2021/07/kurin-first-amended-complaint.pdf">her defamation suit against me</a>, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. In the Amended Complaint in this litigation, filed in June 2020, we read the following:</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;">"53. Between 2016 and 2018, Kurin engaged in the UCSB investigatory and disciplinary process, and utilizing the proper forums available to her as a professor, she amicably settled the matter with UCSB in March 2018. Neither UCSB nor any other entity found Kurin guilty or liable for any misconduct."</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In the second sentence of this statement, Kurin and her attorney, David Scher of the Hoyer Law Group, told a federal court an obvious and baldfaced lie. (I will have more to say about Scher, what he knew and when he knew it, lower down.) I have been told that it is almost impossible to get prosecutors to charge litigants in civil cases with perjury, otherwise I certainly would have pursued that avenue. And this was just one of many such lies in the Amended Complaint.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I have laid out this chronology in detail so that the full context for Kurin receiving tenure can be understood. But before I go on, I must include an important detail: In 2016, while she was on administrative leave the Title IX investigation was continuing, Kurin sued the University of California, arguing that she had been denied a promotion she was entitled to despite the disciplinary proceedings. To the best of my information, the 2018 settlement was designed to deal with those issues as well.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">We must now turn to the role of the anthropology department faculty. I want to emphasize that from the beginning, in 2014, there were faculty members who did their best to investigate and deal with Kurin's obvious abuse of students and her manifest psychological issues (these were a topic of discussion among faculty and students at Vanderbilt as well.) Those faculty efforts continued after the Title IX investigation was launched. But their efforts to alert the UCSB administration to the "Kurin problem" were met with complete resistance; higher level administrators took over all dealings with the situation and swore those faculty who were aware of the allegations to secrecy, as indicated above.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">And, as word spread that Kurin had sued the university, fear of antagonizing the administration was compounded with fear of being sued by Kurin. Indeed, Kurin told colleagues that her parents had mortgaged their house to pay for the lawsuit against UC, and so faculty and students alike kept their heads down for fear that they would be on the firing line of Kurin and her father, whose power was feared as well.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">But as much as I admire those faculty who really tried to do something, I have to fault them for not doing more to try to figure out why Kurin was on administrative leave and making that known to the department. Thus when concerned archaeologists came to me in September 2019 and asked me to look into all this, it was a simple matter to file a California Public Records Act and--after several months of UC's lawyers chewing over the matter--getting hold of the investigations of Kurin and Gomez and their conclusions. This was something the anthropology faculty could have done at any time.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Why was Kurin not fired in 2016, or 2018? This is a major question to which I cannot claim to have the full answer. I will discuss in detail below those who enabled Kurin to keep her job, including her father and of course UCSB Chancellor Henry Yang, who had the ultimate say in the matter. Even after 2018, when the IFR kicked Kurin out of the organization (she was on its academic board) and banned her from its field schools after <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/03/uc-santa-barbara-kept-misconduct.html">Gomez allegedly sexually assaulted a student</a> that year, the university did nothing (those events from summer 2018 occurred just a few months after the university signed a settlement with her that allowed her to keep her job.)</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Was the university afraid of another lawsuit if they fired Kurin? That is possible, but UC's General Counsel's office, which has been involved since the Title IX, has enormous resources and could easily defend against such litigation. Was the university, and Chancellor Yang in particular, trying to protect the institution's reputation, which would be greatly harmed if students and their parents knew that it had harbored an abusive faculty member? My guess is that all of these factors played a role. But the bottom line is that the university enabled Kurin from the very beginning; in doing so, it made it possible for Kurin's then husband to sexually assault a student at her 2018 field school, a student <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/07/student-sexually-assaulted-by-then.html">who is still suffering from that experience.</a></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">We must now move from the question of why UCSB did not fire Kurin to the more recent question of why they gave her tenure when they had the choice not to. Again, this was ultimately Chancellor Yang's decision, although the UC General Counsel's office was almost certainly involved.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">As I mentioned above, a core of Kurin's colleagues in the anthropology department tried hard to get rid of her. This was no secret in the department and so it will be no secret in this post. What follows is based on multiple sources, so Kurin and her attorneys should give up trying to guess or out sources for my reporting. Ultimately, the entire department was on record as opposing her tenure.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In September 2019, Kurin returned to teaching from her three year administrative leave. Despite the disciplinary nature of this leave, the university gave her partial credit on her tenure clock; thus she became eligible to apply for tenure in fall 2020, and did. As she stated explicitly in her lawsuit against me, and as her attorney <a href="https://dailynexus.com/2020-07-11/ucsb-asst-professor-sues-journalist-for-defamation-over-reportings-about-title-ix-violations/">David Scher told the student paper the <i>Daily Nexus</i></a>, the purpose of the litigation was to counter what Kurin considered lies that I was telling about her so that her tenure process could continue unimpeded (by the truth, as it were.) Kurin claimed that she had an excellent reputation and was well regarded by colleagues at UCSB and the anthropology community until I began reporting about her.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The reality, of course, was very different. So when Kurin came up for tenure, a core of the anthropology faculty began to discuss how to block her from getting it. But they made what I and some department members think was a fatal mistake: Rather than invoking Kurin's long history of misconduct, they decided to focus on her scholarship, which was probably borderline for a tenure candidate. The reasoning may have been sound: If they focused on her misconduct, Kurin could more easily claim that the department was biased against her, and the administration was likely to take the entire process out of the department's hands. But the plan backfired: While the department did indeed recommend against tenure on scholarship grounds, the administration overruled the department--a rare event in tenure proceedings--and granted her tenure last August.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Why did they do this? There are various hypotheses, some more charitable to Chancellor Yang and the UCSB administration than others. The less charitable interpretation is that the university was determined to continue its long policy of enabling Kurin no matter what, and the welfare and safety of students be damned (of course, this was the end result no matter what the motivation.) A more charitable interpretation might be that the UC General Counsel, which has been heavily involved in the Kurin matters from the beginning in the person of Counsel <a href="https://www.ucop.edu/uc-legal/attorneys-staff/bios/michael-r.-goldstein.html">Michael Goldstein</a> in Berkeley, advised UCSB that Kurin would be very likely to win her protest of the department's recommendation if she sued the university over it. The fact that she settled the case against me in July 2021, while the tenure decision was still pending, suggested to some that she was gearing up for another lawsuit which might be as costly as the one against me (her family spent an estimated $100,000 on representation by David Scher and the Hoyer Law Group.)</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Instead, this hypothesis goes, the administration figured that Kurin was bound to screw up again sooner or later, and then UCSB would have firm grounds to terminate her. In support of this idea, I have it from numerous sources that over the past year a number of complaints about Kurin have been passed up to the administration from both students and faculty. In addition, Kurin demonstrated her mental instability by creating <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2021/06/camilleoncroton-full-screen-capture.pdf">a very sick and disturbing sock puppet</a> attacking me last year, which the administration was well aware of. (Kurin and Scher admitted to my legal team and to the federal judge that she had created and curated this Twitter account. She also created others that we were aware of.)</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">(In 2020, the administration had <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/07/uc-santa-barbara-turns-back-wave-of.html">rejected a number of Title IX complaints that were filed against Kurin</a> on jurisdictional grounds, so it was certainly aware of what victims and their allies were saying.)</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">And then, of course, there was the case of Jack Cantin and Kurin's involvement with what may well have been a fraud on the Cantin family, as discussed briefly above. According to sources, the university was investigating this matter at the time of Kurin's abrupt resignation, and it may have been the decisive factor. I have a series of California Public Records Act requests active at the university exploring the events leading up to Kurin's resignation; if they are refused I will seek legal counsel to challenge any attempts to privilege secrecy over much needed transparency.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">And so on to the Jack Cantin case.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Kim Cantin quietly sues Santa Barbara County and its Sheriff-Coroner, relying on Danielle Kurin as chief expert over all others. Was Kim duped by Kurin?</b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">As reported above, last October 18, <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2022/01/cantin-v-sb-county.pdf">Kim Cantin sued Santa Barbara County and its Sheriff-Coroner</a>, William Brown (who, by the way, is <a href="https://www.independent.com/2021/12/08/lieutenant-faces-off-with-sheriff-bill-brown/">up for re-election</a> this coming June.) However, according to Kim's lead counsel, <a href="https://cappellonoel.com/attorneys/a-barry-cappello/">A. Barry Cappello</a> of the widely feared Santa Barbara law firm of <a href="https://cappellonoel.com/">Cappello & Noel</a>, the lawsuit was never formally served on the defendants. Instead, the attorneys quickly entered into negotiations with the county on Kim's behalf. Cappello told me that it was the firm's policy not to comment publicly on lawsuits it was engaged in, and that "We are currently attempting to resolve this litigation."</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">However, the Complaint in the case is a public court record, and so anyone can access it directly from the court or from the link I provide above.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I have already commented above on Kurin's use of a graduate student, VB, to "peer review" her forensics report, thus engaging in an apparent attempt to fool Kim Cantin, her attorneys, and the Sheriff's office into thinking that she had the last word and the most expertise in her identification of the very fragmentary remains as those of Jack Cantin.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The Complaint provides a clear reminder of just how tragic the 2018 Montecito mudslide, which took 23 lives, was for the families that lost loved ones, and how traumatic the events:</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"...On the night of the mudslide, Kim and
all of her family were swept away by the mud: her husband, Dave; their son, Jack,
17 years old; their daughter, Lauren, 14 years old; and their dog, Chester. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">20. Kim, Lauren and Chester were swept away as the avalanche of mud,
carrying trees 50 feet long and boulders the size of cars, slammed into the house,
tearing it apart. Kim came to a stop approximately 200 yards from the house.
Badly injured, she was taken to the hospital after she was found. Lauren was
literally buried alive within approximately 100 yards from the house. She managed
to breathe from only a small pocket of air, until her cries were heard and she was
pulled from the mud and taken to the hospital. Dave, who was outside when the
mud hit, was killed; he was swept down to the beach, where his body was
recovered. Chester, found near Lauren, also was killed. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">21. Jack’s body was never recovered. He had been inside the house, and
should have been found close to Kim, Lauren and Chester."</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Kim Cantin had long complained that the Sheriff's office did not do enough to find her missing son. I will not opine on that question here, other than to say that others in the Montecito community reportedly felt the same way, but also that any parent of a missing child would probably feel the same way in the same situation. In 2020, Kim made connection with Kurin, who reportedly agreed to help search for Jack and involved a group of undergraduate students in the effort.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">We then read the following:</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"27. On or about May 10, 2021, the Professor and her team discovered
suspected human bone. The team collected two specimens, a fragment of cortical
bone, and a toe bone. The team confirmed they were bone, and Professor Kurin
then notified Kim. The specimens had been found with artifacts from Kim’s house,
including remnants of carpet and remnants of Jack’s underwear. Kim called the
Sheriff and told him about the remains and where they were found, and asked about
the next step. She also asked the Sheriff to treat the bones carefully since she
wanted them back."</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">An odd feature of this statement is that when Kim and Kurin announced having identified Jack's remains on July 22 of last year--exactly a week after <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-kurin-v-balter-lawsuit-is-over-with.html">Kurin settled the lawsuit with me</a>--the media reported them, as well as some of the students, to the effect that the first remains had been found during Memorial Day weekend of 2021, that is in the days after Friday May 28--which also happens to be the day that Kurin and her attorneys scuttled the first round of court-mandated settlement talks with me and my attorneys.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The Complaint further states:</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">"36. Professor Kurin’s team had continued to search after May 10, 2021,
through approximately mid-July 2021. They found additional bone remains, which
they confirmed were human and which showed evidence of blunt force and/or
thermal trauma, consistent with fires and the live electrical wires and transformers
that had exploded during the mudslides. Those remains, like the original two, were
also recovered with artifacts connected to the Cantin house, including but not
limited to Jack’s bathroom tile. After recovery, recording, and analysis, the bones
were delivered to Kim, who understood that the Sheriff’s Department had given up
the search, and that this was a recovery situation, not a criminal investigation."</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">This paragraph confirms <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-strange-case-of-montecito-mudslide.html">my original reporting about the Cantin case from last October</a>, in which I pointed out that Kurin (and also Kim Cantin, of course, as well as the students involved) had failed to follow the <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=HSC&division=7.&title=&part=1.&chapter=2.&article=">California Health and Safety Code concerning the discovery of human remains</a>, which requires that all excavation stop and that authorities be notified. While Kim Cantin could be forgiven for thinking, as she states in the Complaint, that the Sheriff was no longer interested in the matter and that there was no point informing the department of further discoveries, as an archaeologist and a supposed forensic anthropologist, Kurin certainly knew better. In fact, any archaeologist working in California and the Santa Barbara area is well aware that there are many burials in the area of <a href="https://www.sbnature.org/collections-research/anthropology/chumash-life/">Chumash Native Americans</a>, and that <a href="https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/chis/chumash.pdf">not only local law but also federal law applies to possible Chumash remains</a>.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I will leave it to readers to look over the entire 17 page Complaint and draw their own conclusions about its significance. However, the conclusions I draw, based on the evidence, are as follows:</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">1. Danielle Kurin accepted the mission of looking for Jack Cantin in 2020, possibly out of real concern but also aware that the mission would enhance her chances of getting tenure.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">2. Kurin represented herself as an expert in forensic anthropology, a field in which she has no formal training, to Kim Cantin and to Kim's attorneys when they prepared the lawsuit. That allowed her to pretend that she had more expertise than the Sheriff's own anthropologists, including Rick Snow of Knoxville TN (Snow declined to discuss the case with me on the record.)</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">3. Faced with having to defend her interpretation of the human remains as the definitive one, Kurin hatched the plan of asking a graduate student wholly dependent on her for obtaining her PhD, VB, to pose as a "peer reviewer" of Kurin's analysis. Kurin apparently did not reveal VB's real identity and role to Kim Cantin nor to her attorneys, dishonestly pretending that VB had a PhD and was some kind of independent scientist when she was nothing of the sort. (I have insisted elsewhere that VB should not be blamed for this.) If Kurin had really been interested in having her work peer reviewed, wouldn’t she have chosen an established and reputable forensic anthropologist to do it?</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">4. Kurin, who has long had the habit of <a href="https://www.montecitojournal.net/2021/08/05/jack-brought-us-all-together-after-42-months-community-finds-its-lost-son/">cultivating a group of undergraduate students around her</a>, <a href="https://www.ksby.com/news/local-news/ucsb-anthropology-students-helped-in-search-for-montecito-teens-remains">used those students in the search</a>, <a href="https://keyt.com/news/santa-barbara-s-county/2021/07/22/kim-cantin-love-found-jack/">flattered them</a>, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc6phZnrK5o">implicated them innocently</a> in t<a href="https://keyt.com/news/santa-barbara-s-county/2021/07/22/kim-cantin-love-found-jack/">he ruse that she performed</a> in her effort to impress the UCSB administration and achieve tenure.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">5. The Sheriff-Coroner is now in its sixth month of investigating Kurin's claims, starting from when they were publicly announced on July 22, and has yet to confirm them. As things stand now, there is no definitive evidence--and perhaps no evidence at all--that the remains that Kurin and her students found belong to Jack Cantin.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">6. Perhaps Kurin will turn out to be right that Jack Cantin has been found, and perhaps not. In the meantime, a grieving mother has apparently been given false hopes by an anthropologist who clearly used the situation to try to achieve glory and tenure, and succeeded briefly in both. She is now gone from UCSB, and no longer possesses the credentials as a university anthropologist that she used to insert herself into this tragedy. It's up to UCSB to tell us why she abruptly resigned, and whether the Cantin case had something to do with it.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Who were Kurin's enablers in her long history of abuse?</b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I have made comments above that express my own conclusions about this. Kurin was enabled by UCSB, by its Chancellor Henry Yang, by her attorney David Scher, and by her father, Richard Kurin. In a followup post, I will have a lot more to say about how they did it and the consequences of their actions and those of others who have been involved in this sordid saga, which has left so many victims in its wake.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Note: </b>I asked Danielle Kurin and her attorney, David Scher, multiple times to comment on this story. Neither have responded so far. As Kurin knows, she has a standing invitation to respond to anything I publish about her. The university has declined to confirm or deny that she was under investigation at the time of her resignation.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Update Jan 25: Kim Cantin drops her lawsuit against the Santa Barbara Sheriff and County, but negotiations over the remains claimed to be those of her missing son continue.</b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The Santa Barbara publication <i>Noozhawk</i> is reporting that <a href="https://www.noozhawk.com/article/mother_of_jack_cantin_drops_lawsuit_over_sons_remains_20220123">Kim Cantin has dropped her lawsuit</a> against the country while negotiations with the Sheriff-Coroner over the disposition of the remains continues. The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning that it could be refiled if Kim is not happy with the outcome. Unfortunately, <i>Noozhawk</i>, along with the <i>Santa Barbara News-Press</i> which has now <a href="https://www.independent.com/2022/01/19/mother-of-debris-flow-victim-sues-santa-barbara-sheriff-over-sons-remains/">also covered the story of the lawsuit</a>, have so far avoided telling readers about the long history of misconduct by former UC Santa Barbara anthropologist Danielle Kurin, whose claims to have found Jack launched this whole new chapter in the tragic Montecito mudslide story.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Exactly what Kim's dismissal of the lawsuit means is not yet clear, although it seems possible that she has now agreed to the Sheriff-Coroner's insistence that the remains be subjected to further testing, especially DNA testing. At the moment, we cannot be sure if the remains are even human, as experts other than Kurin have suggested they might be animal rather than human. Hopefully the Sheriff will now be able to determine that with some scientific certainty.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">Meanwhile, some of Kurin's former students are beginning to break their silence about how their former professor handled this whole mess. Thus we find this on a Reddit page devoted to discussing issues at UC Santa Barbara:</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi6R5eKprl7qwyJyryN_etjpkp3mZJZp8tXhGcnFjfw-6noEA8ghyP0-esBgZwg3N0SXRrn6VETYA67wh8wDCoCATTNYG2F8KFSb4_fp2H0YqWuvAiw5FICxPQjIjQ7SwHS58-0RRAObYwbRpHFNo3fpriUba7yWBQXjCi3oUMGkNfk1VbyF6q46UvbSA=s386" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="386" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi6R5eKprl7qwyJyryN_etjpkp3mZJZp8tXhGcnFjfw-6noEA8ghyP0-esBgZwg3N0SXRrn6VETYA67wh8wDCoCATTNYG2F8KFSb4_fp2H0YqWuvAiw5FICxPQjIjQ7SwHS58-0RRAObYwbRpHFNo3fpriUba7yWBQXjCi3oUMGkNfk1VbyF6q46UvbSA=w400-h353" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The comment is anonymous (using a pseudonym) and I have not yet authenticated it, but it is consistent with what I have heard from other sources--especially the cult-like atmosphere that Kurin created among the undergraduates who worked with her on the search for Jack. And while Kurin is now gone from UCSB and reportedly from Santa Barbara too (in times of stress she usually stays with her parents in Virginia) the <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2022/01/serial-abuser-danielle-kurin-is-gone.html">process of bringing those who enabled her to account is just beginning</a>.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">It's looking increasingly possible that Danielle Kurin, in her desperation to get tenure despite her many years of misconduct, may have defrauded Kim Cantin, UCSB students, and the still grieving Santa Barbara and Montecito communities, by insisting that she had found Jack when she had no real evidence for the claim. But there may be a silver lining. The bodies of Jack Cantin and <a href="https://oag.ca.gov/missing/person/lydia-sutthithepa">two year old Lydia Suthitheppa</a>, who was also among the 23 killed in the mudslide, may still be out there under the mud and debris, awaiting a genuine discovery.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>More thoughts, Jan 25</b>: One interesting aspect of this story is that the Sheriff's office has not done the easy thing, which would have been to just say, "Oh, yes, let's just say this is Jack" and let Kim Cantin bury the bones as her son. Instead, for six months the Sheriff seems to have stuck to protocol, unwilling to confirm Kurin's identification nor to change Jack's status as a "missing person." That is, the Sheriff has not done the easy thing politically, but the hard thing, it seems to me anyway (no one outraged by the Sheriff's actions, including Kim Cantin in her lawsuit, has explained what his motivation would be for making life more difficult for Kim.) By following proper procedure, the Sheriff seems to be following the law, even though he is up for re-election in June. I suspect the Sheriff has known for months that Kurin had no basis for declaring the remains were Jack's. It would be interesting to know what communication may have occurred between the Sheriff and the UCSB administration leading up to Kurin's abrupt resignation.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com73tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-269057965470493762021-12-13T09:49:00.002-05:002021-12-13T16:16:15.410-05:00In Brazil, scientists, students, advocates, and journalists show us how to deal with sexual abuse cases. [Update Dec 13: Avilla has been suspended by his department pending a university investigation]<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjl6iNVuyKy3KsQJgdCiutZBOlx4SKpdGb4yzT4JdFDDn1txN_z7u2KM5y76Lv9FJ-nfRjCOdVlqLxhzrbk7EL-JP2OVchA3lAwR2-PKUQoJnm1GWb4OfWktDXwAJVe5zZmpGpCB9QevPqbEWJ2osa2RqHTge3AfaVbH4vPOGkD09y2Upfgf8uV9kEXSQ=s2544" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1236" data-original-width="2544" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjl6iNVuyKy3KsQJgdCiutZBOlx4SKpdGb4yzT4JdFDDn1txN_z7u2KM5y76Lv9FJ-nfRjCOdVlqLxhzrbk7EL-JP2OVchA3lAwR2-PKUQoJnm1GWb4OfWktDXwAJVe5zZmpGpCB9QevPqbEWJ2osa2RqHTge3AfaVbH4vPOGkD09y2Upfgf8uV9kEXSQ=w640-h310" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Earlier this month, I reported on a shocking number of <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/12/brazilian-scientists-and-students-say.html">sexual harassment, assault, and bullying accusations</a> against paleontologist Leonardo Avilla of the <a href="https://ufrj.br/en/">Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro</a> (UNIRIO). This reporting came about after I was approached by another paleontologist in Brazil, Mario Dantas, a fierce advocate for victims of abuse who had compiled a number of testimonies by victims and survivors of Avilla's misconduct. I first <a href="https://twitter.com/mbalter/status/1465424284982161415">published a Twitter thread</a> on the accusations, and then followed up with the blog post on December 4.</p><p>The result was an explosion of outrage among Brazilian scientists and #MeToo advocates and activists, who had all heard these kinds of stories so many times before. And last night, December 12, the popular Brazilian television program <a href="https://g1.globo.com/fantastico/noticia/2021/12/13/professor-universitario-do-rio-e-acusado-de-cometer-abusos-morais-e-sexuais-nos-ultimos-14-anos.ghtml">Fantastico devoted a full 13 minute segment to the charges</a>, which readers can view at the link (I will provide a synopsis of the Portuguese language program in English below). As a result of all the publicity, UNIRIO--whose officials had been told about Avilla's conduct for years but did nothing--has finally opened an administrative inquiry into the allegations; sources tell me that other legal actions are likely to be launched very soon.</p><p>Avilla's initial reaction was to Tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/profdrleoavilla/status/1467926148881465349?s=21">a statement that included clear threats</a> against the survivors and their allies for making the accusations public. But that did not dissuade victims from appearing on the program, albeit with most of their identities hidden to protect them, and it obviously is not going to help Avilla avoid the consequences for his actions at long last. Of course, in the first days after the accusations became public, a number of parties, including Avilla's attorney (who appeared on the Fantastico program), insisted that there was no proof against Avilla and that he was being subjected to a public inquisition. The fact that there are currently some 36 witnesses against him did not seem to interest these skeptics, nor did any of them express sympathy for survivors in any way--very typical of the way these cases often go down.</p><p>I think there is a lot to learn from this case about how to deal with #MeToo situations in academia and elsewhere. First, when an institution ignores or tries to cover up years of misconduct, you abandon hope that there will be justice without going public in a big way. Then, you find journalists who have shown commitment to these issues and approach them with the story. At the same time, you talk to survivors and provide them with the support to be brave and act together to expose the abuser. When the story does go public, you approach even more journalists with higher profiles and platforms--such as the reporters at Fantastico--and show them how much interest there already is in the story.</p><p>Of course, in the case of Leonardo Avilla, the fact that there were so many victims of his abuse made it easier to do all of this. But still, our Brazilian colleagues have shown us how it can and should be done.</p><p>What you don't do is rely on "whisper networks" to protect vulnerable students and others from abusers, because only those who are privileged enough to be part of the network get the word; you don't allow legal threats or other pressures to dissuade you from seeking justice (an excuse even tenured professors often use); you don't gaslight the victims into thinking that they were somehow responsible for the actions of others more powerful than them; you don't leave it to others to take up your own responsibilities; and you don't try to discredit journalists and advocates who show their commitment to these issues time and time again (I speak as a frequent victim of just such underhanded tactics). </p><p>As they say here in the U.S., if you see something, you say something.</p><p>I will continue to update this reporting on the Avilla case, which in many ways is just beginning. Bravo to all the brave colleagues, from the most vulnerable to the most influential, who decided that this case was just one injustice too far.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>An English language synopsis of the Fantastico program, based on notes kindly provided by Mario Dantas</b></p><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639393003473" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">A professor of paleontology at UNIRIO is being accused by students and fellow researchers of moral and sexual abuse.</div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639392979202" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639393058523" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The cases came to light on the internet, when paleontologist Mario Dantas, from the Federal University of Bahia, published the reports he had heard, without mentioning Avilla's name.</div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639392979202" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639393086914" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">American journalist Michael Balter read the reports and published Leonardo's name, inviting victims to contact him privately.</div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639393100555" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639393660711" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Avilla always began the approaches to his victims by acting friendly and kind. Later he would tell sexual jokes, justifying that this was necessary to create an intimacy so they could work better together. </div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639394100097" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639394100295" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Geoscientist Cristina Bertoni appears on camera. She wrote a paper with Avilla, but because she refused to have sex with him, he published the article without her name.</div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639393661175" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639393661175" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Avilla's lawyer appears on camera. As defense arguments, the lawyer insisted that all was consensual; that relationships between men and women were normal, have taken place since the beginning of the humanity, and promote the perpetuation of the human species.</div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639394852440" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639394853133" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The lawyer claimed that Leonardo tried to kill himself as a result of the charges, failing to mention that Leonardo's behavior promoted mental illness and suicidal thoughts in several of the students. [MB: There is no indication whether the suicide attempt actually took place and if so, how serious it was.]</div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639395205464" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639395201491" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">UNIRIO has launched an administrative proceeding after biology students filed a formal complaint. In a statement, the rectory said that it repudiates harassment of any kind.</div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639395201491" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639395201491" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639395201491" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Update Dec 13: <a href="http://www.unirio.br/news/nota-atualizada-sobre-denuncias-de-assedio">Avilla has been suspended</a> pending a university investigative procedure.</b></div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639395201491" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639395201491" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639395201491" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEisKgibQT7U0lv5m0ZGdA0JfsDKwCX4jiusc4odicmPp0ycT0ewQmykqWktc0U55HPsDrh9TD0a_aiQDsCvmL-ReiTQl4uB2lyFWUGZeI9PEOe_PKr-3A-3-n47-XRdF-a5ZjQU_WiexjKdCNYvYoyf5A91EEW-TjAdU14FQpvaVxF6groiomZCn3E-iw=s1394" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1394" data-original-width="1160" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEisKgibQT7U0lv5m0ZGdA0JfsDKwCX4jiusc4odicmPp0ycT0ewQmykqWktc0U55HPsDrh9TD0a_aiQDsCvmL-ReiTQl4uB2lyFWUGZeI9PEOe_PKr-3A-3-n47-XRdF-a5ZjQU_WiexjKdCNYvYoyf5A91EEW-TjAdU14FQpvaVxF6groiomZCn3E-iw=w533-h640" width="533" /></a></div><br /><b><br /></b></div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639395201491" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639395201491" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></div><div id="m_-8433405973090163622yMail_cursorElementTracker_1639395201491" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></div>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-65896455799895742812021-12-04T16:50:00.003-05:002021-12-06T14:02:37.375-05:00Brazilian scientists and students say enough is enough from a paleontologist well known for sexual harassment and bullying of students [Update Dec 6: UNIRIO students call for action, unity, and offer help to victims]<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZU_TcoIKz4k/YavbjE5-lyI/AAAAAAAAOHQ/J5PXwN2reW8aYjfsFjvtokbE9xs9qGp4ACNcBGAsYHQ/s200/Avilla.jpg" style="clear: left; display: block; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" height="380" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZU_TcoIKz4k/YavbjE5-lyI/AAAAAAAAOHQ/J5PXwN2reW8aYjfsFjvtokbE9xs9qGp4ACNcBGAsYHQ/w380-h380/Avilla.jpg" width="380" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leonardo Avilla/ UNIRIO</td></tr></tbody></table>Leonardo Avilla is a paleontologist at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil (UNIRIO). He specializes in the evolution of mammal, and runs a lab at UNIRIO which has hosted a large number of students.<div><br /></div><div>Late last month, I was approached by Brazilian colleagues who asked me to help expose his long history of sexual harassment, assault, bullying, and degrading of students going back nearly a decade. They provided me with painful and very detailed testimonies from nine students who had either worked closely with Avilla or stopped working with him as soon as his behavior became clear.</div><div><br /></div><div>Given the detail and obvious credibility of these first hand accounts (no rumors or second hand accounts were included in the dossier) I <a href="https://twitter.com/mbalter/status/1465424284982161415">published a Twitter thread</a> stating that I was investigating the matter and inviting others to contact me. In response to that thread and a couple of others, I heard from two more victims of Avilla's alleged misconduct, for a </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>total of eleven detailed accounts.</div><div><br /></div><div>What immediately struck me was the similarity of the accounts, even though they occurred over a number of years and the events took place in various locations, including Avilla's home, his lab, and field sites in Brazil and elsewhere. Most of the survivors were women who had been sexually harassed in various ways, but there were also a few men who said they had been bullied by Avilla and humiliated by him. In one case, a male student told me that Avilla had made it a condition of his staying in the lab that he would send him a nude photo of his female partner. Avilla routinely insisted that his students play a "truth or dare" game with him in which they would share intimate details of their sex lives, or in some cases disrobe to display parts of their bodies. Avilla would also insist, as part of this game, that female students kiss each other.</div><div><br /></div><div>Avilla also told many students that he had an "open marriage," and that his wife would not mind if they had sexual relations with him. In other cases, Avilla tried to organize sexual encounters involving more than one student. Some students, who were already well along in their studies and had nowhere else to go, gave in to these demands and suffered lasting shame and psychological harm as a result. A number of them left paleontology, a field that had been the dream of many.</div><div><br /></div><div>In several cases, Avilla forcibly kissed female students he had gotten alone either in his house or other situations, or forced them to put their hands on his genitals. (He was always inviting students to his home, which at first they thought was a sign he wanted to help them, and sometimes carried out these assaults when his wife was in another part of the house), according to several accounts. He would also send sexual explicit photos to students as part of his efforts to entice them into sexual situations.</div><div><br /></div><div>More than one female student who accepted Avilla's hospitality woke up in bed to find him touching their bodies and trying to remove their clothing.</div><div><br /></div><div>To avoid identifying particular students, I am withholding most of the details at this time, until and unless the students decide they want to be named. But Avilla has already begun threatening victims and other witnesses with legal action, as well as more senior academics who are helping the students get justice. Remarkably, many of the students report that when they told others about their experiences, it turned out that Avilla's behavior has been known in the Brazilian paleontology community for many years.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is a developing story and I expect to publish regular updates as appropriate. But I will end with the comment of one young female paleontologist who was not close enough to Avilla to be a victim herself, but knew of the agonies of a friend:</div><div><br /></div><div>"I love paleontology, and we know that scientists generally follow this profession as if a dream. It saddens me how many dreams he has killed, how many incredible women Brazilian paleontology has lost."</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Update Dec 6, 2021: Students call for action and offer solidarity for victims.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>In a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/100002256967088/videos/1039872016627576/">new Facebook post</a>, students at UNIRIO, Avilla's university, publicly call for action and investigation of Avilla's misconduct. Here are rough Google translations of the texts, and please see the videos as well.</div><div><br /></div><div><pre class="tw-data-text tw-text-large tw-ta" data-placeholder="Translation" dir="ltr" id="tw-target-text" style="background-color: #f8f9fa; border: none; color: #202124; font-family: inherit; font-size: 28px; line-height: 36px; margin-bottom: -2px; margin-top: -2px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 0.14em 2px 0px; position: relative; resize: none; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 270px;"><span class="Y2IQFc" lang="en">It's time to put a stop to violence and harassment in academia.
The DACM is in solidarity with the victims of harassment by the IBIO professor who is being denounced, and is available to act as a mediator between the victims and the institution, ensuring that the integrity of each one is respected.
If you were a victim, we need to hear from you. Look for us, or look for each one of us in particular. Breaking the silence is the chance to prevent this cycle of violence from persisting. We are at your disposal.</span></pre><pre class="tw-data-text tw-text-large tw-ta" data-placeholder="Translation" dir="ltr" id="tw-target-text" style="background-color: #f8f9fa; border: none; color: #202124; font-family: inherit; font-size: 28px; line-height: 36px; margin-bottom: -2px; margin-top: -2px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 0.14em 2px 0px; position: relative; resize: none; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 270px;"><span class="Y2IQFc" lang="en">
Undersigned link:</span></pre><pre class="tw-data-text tw-text-large tw-ta" data-placeholder="Translation" dir="ltr" id="tw-target-text" style="background-color: #f8f9fa; border: none; color: #202124; font-family: inherit; font-size: 28px; line-height: 36px; margin-bottom: -2px; margin-top: -2px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 0.14em 2px 0px; position: relative; resize: none; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 270px;"><span class="Y2IQFc" lang="en">
https://forms.gle/keF9CBm2hmBnTAF36</span></pre><pre class="tw-data-text tw-text-large tw-ta" data-placeholder="Translation" dir="ltr" id="tw-target-text" style="background-color: #f8f9fa; border: none; color: #202124; font-family: inherit; font-size: 28px; line-height: 36px; margin-bottom: -2px; margin-top: -2px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 0.14em 2px 0px; position: relative; resize: none; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 270px;"><span class="Y2IQFc" lang="en"><br /></span></pre><pre class="tw-data-text tw-text-large tw-ta" data-placeholder="Translation" dir="ltr" id="tw-target-text" style="background-color: #f8f9fa; border: none; color: #202124; font-family: inherit; line-height: 36px; margin-bottom: -2px; margin-top: -2px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 0.14em 2px 0px; position: relative; resize: none; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 270px;"><pre class="tw-data-text tw-text-large tw-ta" data-placeholder="Translation" dir="ltr" id="tw-target-text" style="border: none; font-family: inherit; font-size: 28px; line-height: 36px; margin-bottom: -2px; margin-top: -2px; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 0.14em 2px 0px; position: relative; resize: none; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 270px;"><span class="Y2IQFc" lang="en">Undersigned by the Investigation of Harassment Complaints by IBIO - UNIRIO
After allegations of sexual and moral harassment against a professor at IBIO - UNIRIO, the Academic Directory Chico Mendes and the Academic Athletic Association Charles Darwin invite students and former students to collaborate with this petition, which calls for the urgent establishment of a Special Commission for Investigation of the Complaint and the immediate removal of the accused teacher until the conclusion of the inquiry.</span></pre></pre></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile Avilla has issued a response on Twitter, which includes implied legal and other threats. I stand by my reporting.:</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://twitter.com/profdrleoavilla/status/1467926148881465349?s=21">https://twitter.com/profdrleoavilla/status/1467926148881465349?s=21</a></div>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-77403198786765305252021-10-27T16:18:00.018-04:002022-01-07T19:55:03.654-05:00The Strange Case of the Montecito Mudslide Human Remains [Updated Nov 1]. [See Comments for some pertinent observations]<br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wsiSJsghsWA/YXmi4VTcRXI/AAAAAAAAOC0/zPtyWQInGTsP2ORA12CAYNxAjaEwphDYQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Montecito%2Bmudslide.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wsiSJsghsWA/YXmi4VTcRXI/AAAAAAAAOC0/zPtyWQInGTsP2ORA12CAYNxAjaEwphDYQCNcBGAsYHQ/w640-h360/Montecito%2Bmudslide.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Montecito mudslide, Jan 2018/ U.S. Coast Guard photo/ Wikimedia Commons<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Early in the morning of January 9, 2018, the wealthy suburb of Montecito, California, just east of Santa Barbara, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-montecito-mudslides-20180114-story.html">was hit with an avalanche of mud</a> that destroyed numerous homes and took 23 lives. After a devastating fire in the hills above the town, followed by a huge downpour of rain, there was nothing to stop the earth and debris that bore down on the unprepared inhabitants. Two of the dead and missing, a small child and a teenager, were not recovered by rescuers.</div><div><br /></div><div>There would be a lot of recriminations in the months to come, as <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-montecito-debris-basins-20181220-htmlstory.html">Santa Barbara County officials were blamed</a> for the lack of preparation. The people of Montecito were angry, and many still are. One of the dead was <a href="https://www.montecitojournal.net/2021/07/08/his-legacy-lives-on-camp-rancho-alegre-renames-road-in-honor-of-dave-cantin/">Dave Cantin</a>, a popular local Scoutmaster, whose body was found washed down near the Pacific Ocean beach. Dave's wife, Kim, was spared, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-col1-montecito-mudslide-california-disaster-musician-survivor-20190411-story.html">as was their daughter, Lauren.</a> But despite extensive searching, their teenage son, Jack Cantin, was never found. But <a href="https://www.ksby.com/news/local-news/ucsb-students-join-search-efforts-for-missing-mudslide-victims-in-montecito">Kim never gave up hoping</a> that one day he would be laid to rest. Neither did many of her neighbors.</div><div><br /></div><div>In January of this year, Kim Cantin approached the University of California, Santa Barbara to see if any of its scientists could help with the search. UCSB put her in touch with Danielle Kurin, an archaeologist and forensic anthropologist at the university. For Kurin, the timing could not be better. She was up for tenure, and it was not sure that she was going to get it. There were two reasons for that. </div><div><br /></div><div>First, Kurin had recently come back to work from a three-year administrative leave after the university, in a Title IX proceeding, had found that <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/02/at-uc-santa-barbara-and-in-peru.html">she had retaliated multiple times against students</a> who had reported her former husband--a Peruvian archaeologist who worked with Kurin at sites in and around the city of Andahuaylas--for sexual harassment. Many of her colleagues in the university's anthropology department, along with archaeologists across the United States and Peru, felt she was a "danger to students" (as many put it in just those word) and should not be rewarded for her documented misconduct. Feelings were even stronger after her colleagues found out that her husband was <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/03/uc-santa-barbara-kept-misconduct.html">accused of sexually assaulting a student in 2018</a>, and that Kurin was kicked out of a field school umbrella organization for failing to provide a safe environment for the students.</div><div><br /></div><div>Second, in June 2020, Kurin had sued me, the journalist who reported on her misconduct with the help of many survivors and other witnesses, for defamation. After 13 months <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-kurin-v-balter-lawsuit-is-over-with.html">the case was eventually settled</a>; but very recently, after Kurin violated the settlement agreement, I <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/10/metoo-journalist-declares-settlement.html">declared the agreement null and void</a>.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Obviously I am not objective where Kurin is concerned, and I expect that any discerning reader will examine what I say carefully to see how well I back it up. However, what I can say is that during the litigation, my attorneys and I received thousands of pages of documents in discovery, and that every page backed up my reporting fully. Indeed, some of the documents revealed additional details we were not originally aware of, which only made the case against Kurin worse and more definitive.</div><div><br /></div><div>Very shortly after Kurin agreed to help try to find Jack Cantin's remains, her department met to decide its recommendation on her tenure bid. According to several sources, the verdict was thumbs down. That left the decision to the university administration, which overruled the department's recommendation in August and awarded her tenure. I have heard a number of hypotheses as to why UCSB gave her tenure, ranging from threats by Kurin to sue the university--something she had also done back in 2016 when she was denied a promotion while on administrative leave--to a deal by the university to award her tenure if she dropped the lawsuit against me, which was very embarrassing to the institution, to possible pressure from Kurin's father, Richard Kurin, a major official at the Smithsonian Institution and a very powerful scientist who is widely feared by Danielle's colleagues. I don't know whether any of these scenarios are correct, or whether the truth could involve a combination of all of them.</div><div><br /></div><div>But the university took no public action between February 2021, when the department was likely to have passed on its recommendation, and August 2021, when tenure was awarded.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the meantime, Kurin and her volunteers worked in the hills of Montecito, trying to find the remains of Jack Cantin.</div><div><br /></div><div>On July 14, 2021, Kurin and I signed the settlement agreement, and she applied to the court to dismiss the case the same day. The following day, U.S. District Judge Vincent Briccetti of the Southern District of New York, who was overseeing the litigation, approved the settlement and ended the lawsuit.</div><div><br /></div><div>On July 22, seven days later, Kurin and Kim Cantin <a href="https://www.ksby.com/news/local-news/remains-of-montecito-teen-missing-since-2018-mudslide-found-mother-confirms">announced to the media</a> that Jack Cantin's remains had been found. Kurin told reporters that she was "90 percent" sure that the remains belonged to Jack, and provided the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office with a one-page fact sheet explaining her findings. However--and this is a very key part of the story--the remains were <a href="https://newspress.com/researchers-share-details-on-discovery-of-jack-cantins-remains/">reportedly found nearly two months earlier</a>, over Memorial Day weekend, by Kurin and her team.</div><div><br /></div><div>The delayed reporting of the remains to county officials clearly put the Sheriff's Office in a tricky situation. In a <a href="https://www.edhat.com/news/sheriffs-office-addresses-story-of-newly-found-19-debris-flow-remains">terse statement</a> issued later on July 22, the Office made it clear that they were not taking Kurin's word for it, pending their own investigation; and, that they had found out from a media report rather than from Kurin directly. It is worth citing the statement in full:</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">"Today the Sheriff’s Office received the <a href="https://keyt.com/news/santa-barbara-s-county/2021/07/22/kim-cantin-love-found-jack/" style="backface-visibility: hidden; background-color: transparent; background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ff6600; outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transform: translate3d(0px, 0px, 0px); transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out 0s;" target="_blank">KEYT news story</a> that indicated that the remains of Jack Cantin, a 17-year-old who has been missing and presumed dead since the devastating 1/9 Debris Flow in 2018, had been found.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Later today the Sheriff / Coroner’s Office received, and is in the process of reviewing, a one-page 'Fast Fact Forensic Report' prepared by a UCSB anthropologist, Dr. Danielle Kurin, that was referenced in today’s news story. In the 'Fast Fact' report she opined that the remains 'are consistent with those of Jack Cantin,' and that she is 'over 90% certain that these remains are those of Jack Cantin.'</p><p data-autoattached="true" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Sheriff / Coroner investigators are seeking the full report from Dr. Kurin. Once obtained, it will be reviewed as part of the ongoing investigation. In the meantime, the case of Jack Cantin’s disappearance remains open. We will continue to work closely with the Cantin family on this case, as we have since the day he disappeared."</p><p data-autoattached="true" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><br /></p><p data-autoattached="true" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">The local media, however, cast little doubt on Kurin's claim, and a number of stories--at least in their headlines--<a href="https://www.independent.com/2021/07/22/remains-discovered-of-teen-killed-in-2018-montecito-debris-flow/">declared flatly that Jack had been found</a>.</p><p data-autoattached="true" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">As I write, however, the Sheriff's Office, along with the country medical examiner and coroner, have not announced the results of their own investigation of the remains, which is still ongoing. Raquel Zick, the Sheriff's spokesperson, told me that there are a "lot of moving parts" to the investigation and that one reason for the delay (now more than three months) is that they were still awaiting Kurin's more detailed report. And that, she told me, was delayed because Kurin wanted to have it "peer reviewed," even though it is not an academic paper.</p><p data-autoattached="true" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">I have talked to a number of law enforcement sources and anthropologists about the two-month delay between the supposed finding of the human remains and the announcement to the media (not to law enforcement, as I mentioned above). They were unanimous that holding onto the remains, or even removing them from where they were found before notifying law enforcement, was a violation of California's <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=HSC&sectionNum=7050.5.">Health and Safety Code</a> concerning the handling of dead bodies. The relevant section reads:</p><p data-autoattached="true" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><br /></p><p data-autoattached="true" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 14.688px;">(b) In the event of discovery or recognition of any human remains in any location other than a dedicated cemetery, there shall be no further excavation or disturbance of the site or any nearby area reasonably suspected to overlie adjacent remains until the coroner of the county in which the human remains are discovered has determined, in accordance with Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 27460) of Part 3 of Division 2 of Title 3 of the Government Code, that the remains are not subject to the provisions of Section 27491 of the Government Code or any other related provisions of law concerning investigation of the circumstances, manner and cause of any death, and the recommendations concerning the treatment and disposition of the human remains have been made to the person responsible for the excavation, or to his or her authorized representative, in the manner provided in Section 5097.98 of the Public Resources Code. The coroner shall make his or her determination within two working days from the time the person responsible for the excavation, or his or her authorized representative, notifies the coroner of the discovery or recognition of the human remains.</span></p><p data-autoattached="true" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 14.688px;"><br /></span></p><p data-autoattached="true" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">In other words, according to the experts I have consulted, neither Kurin nor Kim Cantin (with whom we must have considerable sympathy) had the right to remove the remains and examine them in any way. As one leading American forensic anthropologist put it to me, after I asked them to comment without specifying the circumstances other than that it concerned a mudslide victim (I also promised them anonymity so they could opine freely):</p><p data-autoattached="true" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><br /></p><p data-autoattached="true" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: small;">"Ethical questions are often difficult ones especially in the abstract. On the surface the scenario you describe is odd. In many states when a forensic scientist encounters human remains they are required to contact authorities, usually an ME [medical examiner] or law enforcement. This is especially true if the remains are known to be recent enough for a possible I.d. Is it possible that the remains are “premodern” and unlikely to be identifiable? Could the conditions of discovery indicate that the mudslide occurred many decades ago…or longer? If the remains are, say 100 years old or more, then the laws and probably the ethics are variable among jurisdictions. Having said that, if the remains are associated with recent events (a known mudslide?) then I would question, on both legal and ethical grounds, the decision not to contact authorities."</span></p><p data-autoattached="true" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p data-autoattached="true" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Obviously the circumstances remain murky. Zick would not tell me whether or not the Sheriff was looking into possible legal issues in the case, and neither Kurin nor her attorney have responded to a number of questions I have posed to them about those circumstances (not surprisingly, of course.) Nor, to date, has the UCSB press office responded to questions about what they knew about Kurin's work in this area, whether they were informed after Memorial Day that she had purportedly found the remains, where the remains were analyzed, and other relevant questions.</p><p data-autoattached="true" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Based on certain indications I have been given, I believe that the Sheriff's Office will be closing its investigation and announcing its own conclusions fairly soon. Until then, the identity of the bones found by Kurin and her volunteers <a href="https://daniellekurin.co/stories">remains an open question</a>.</p><p data-autoattached="true" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><br /></p><p data-autoattached="true" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><b>Update Oct 28: </b>The Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Office confirmed to me today that the investigation of the remains purported to be those of Jack Cantin is still open.</p><p data-autoattached="true" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><br /></p><p data-autoattached="true" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><b>Update Oct 29:</b> <b>The right way to deal with human remains.</b></p><p data-autoattached="true" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">A contact in California has alerted me to an incident, also concerning the finding of human remains, that occurred in May of this year, shortly before Danielle Kurin claims to have found what she alleges are the remains of mudslide victim Jack Cantin.</p><p data-autoattached="true" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">According to <a href="https://www.noozhawk.com/article/human_remains_found_in_montecito_determined_to_be_native_american">a report in the June 3 edition of the Santa Barbara publication <i>Noozhawk</i></a>, on May 24, Sheriff's deputies were summoned to Riven Rock Road in Montecito after construction workers found some human remains in a trench they were digging. From the deteriorated state of the bones, investigators quickly suspected they belonged to an earlier Native American, which was later confirmed by a forensic anthropology consultant called into the case. According to the <i>Newzhawk</i> report, the California Native American Heritage Commission was contacted to discuss release of the remains with them, and possible determination of which tribe they may have belonged to.</p><p data-autoattached="true" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Notice that the forensic consultant came to his conclusions within a week of those bones being found, whereas Kurin's report on the purported Jack Cantin remains had yet to be submitted to Santa Barbara county authorities five months after they were found and three months after she announced her conclusions to the media. Notice also that the construction workers immediately contacted authorities after the Native American remains were found, as the law requires.</p><p data-autoattached="true" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: Lato; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 10px;">Do the remains found by Danielle Kurin really belong to Jack Cantin? How much of the skeleton was found, a question that has yet to be answered by Kurin or the Sheriff's Office? Could they, too, belong to a Native American who lived in the area many years ago? Presumably, as an anthropologist who has worked on ancient burials in Peru, Kurin has the expertise to know whether or not that is a possibility. But so far very little information has been released.</p></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Further update Oct 29: </b>Some people have suggested to me privately that Danielle Kurin might have planted the bones she found, or her team found, from the very large collection of bones stored in her lab at the university (Kurin regularly teaches osteology and other anthropology courses.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Given Kurin’s history, I have always thought that possible, but there is no evidence for it and I am not making any claim of that sort. However, the following chronology, which I partly laid out in the main post above, should be considered. [<b>Please note that this chronology has been corrected as of Oct 30</b>]</div><div><br /></div><div>—Kurin and her volunteers began looking for Jack Cantin’s remains in February 2020, the same month that I began reporting on her 2016 Title IX for retaliating against students who reported her partner and later husband for sexual harassment (she knew my report was coming some weeks before it was first published.)</div><div><br /></div><div>—Kurin knew that her department would take up the question of her tenure in January of this year. Indeed, they met on January 29 to discuss it. Soon afterwards, the department recommended against tenure.</div><div><br /></div><div>—Kurin and I, with the help of a mediator, tried to settle the case over a period of nearly eight weeks in April and May of this year. We seemed to come close to an agreement, but those talks broke down on May 28, as I announced at the time on Twitter. May 28 was the Friday that began Memorial Day weekend.</div><div><br /></div><div>—Kurin told the news media that the bones were discovered over Memorial Weekend, ie, 29-31 May.</div><div><br /></div><div>—Kurin withheld telling the Sheriff’s Office and the media that the bones had been found.</div><div><br /></div><div>—On July 14, Kurin v. Balter was settled with an agreement that I would no longer report about her if she would allow the publication of a smoking gun document which showed my reporting had been right all along.</div><div><br /></div><div>—On July 22, Kurin and Kim Cantin announced to the media that they had found bones Kurin was “90% certain” belonged to Jack. The Sheriff found out about it only after seeing media reports, and then made contact with Kurin who supplied them with a one-page summary of her findings.</div><div><br /></div><div>—Today, more than three months later, the Sheriff/medical examiner/coroner have yet to announce their findings in what continues to be an open investigation.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think that readers, and local reporters in Santa Barbara and vicinity, might have some questions to ask Kurin, UCSB, and the authorities. But I do hope Kurin is right about her identification. It would give the Cantin family the closure they have sought for nearly four years. I also hope that the Cantin family has not been exploited for an ulterior motive.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Update Oct 30: A very pertinent observation.</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>I’m pulling up a comment that was posted today because I think it gets to the heart of the problem here. Kurin says she is “90% certain” that the remains her team found were those of Jack Cantin. But that can only have been after she analyzed them over a period of two months, according to her own timeline. What if she is wrong, or had realized during that two months she was wrong about the identification? If so, she would have withheld human remains from authorities for that period of time, as the commenter remarks.</div><div><br /></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17); color: #111111; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 14px;">Anonymous said…</span></div><div><div class="comment-body" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-position: 0px 0px; border: 0px; caret-color: rgb(17, 17, 17); color: #111111; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“I hope a real forensic anthropologist will chime in to explain exactly why the chain of custody is so important and how it was potentially destroyed, in this instance, by Danielle Kurin deciding she knows better than law enforcement how to handle newly-discovered remains. There’s a whole world of evidence handling that she knows nothing about as she’s not trained in that field.<br /><br />What if, for example, these remains belong to a homicide victim and Kurin’s treatment of them destroyed critical clues? What of THAT grieving family if such an unthinkable thing actually proved true?<br /><br />The laws concerning these issues exist for a reason and we can’t just sit back and stay quiet when they are violated so egregiously and with so little concern for protocol.”</div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Update Nov 1: Did Kurin involve innocent students in a violation of California law?</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>The article below names four students who worked with Kurin in the recovery of the purported remains of Jack Cantin and appear to be direct witnesses to their unearthing. Many believe that Kurin violated the CA Health and Safety Code by withholding both the bones and news of the discovery from law enforcement authorities for two full months, whether or not they really turn out to be Jack Cantin’s. If so, Kurin may have involved innocent students she was supervising in a crime, even if they did not know it. What reason did she give the students for keeping it secret for so long? Unfortunately, they may end up having to talk to authorities about that, if they have not already.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.ksby.com/news/local-news/ucsb-anthropology-students-helped-in-search-for-montecito-teens-remains">https://www.ksby.com/news/local-news/ucsb-anthropology-students-helped-in-search-for-montecito-teens-remains</a></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Update Jan 7, 2022: Kurin has resigned her tenured position at UC Santa Barbara. Watch this blog and my Twitter feed, @mbalter, for further details.</b></div>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com143tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-88151221077854123642021-10-20T18:57:00.004-04:002021-10-23T12:12:09.256-04:00#MeToo journalist declares settlement agreement with UC Santa Barbara archaeologist accused of misconduct to be null and void [Updated Oct 23, 2021]<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S3bjU02lTSw/YXCdKo_1T5I/AAAAAAAAOCQ/f4bcc-tgAq4Dhowoc669onAKK74gTLO1ACNcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Kurin%2BReddit%2Battack%2Bon%2BBalter.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S3bjU02lTSw/YXCdKo_1T5I/AAAAAAAAOCQ/f4bcc-tgAq4Dhowoc669onAKK74gTLO1ACNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/Kurin%2BReddit%2Battack%2Bon%2BBalter.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p>This past July, I settled a defamation suit against me, filed by University of California, Santa Barbara archaeologist Danielle Kurin in June 2020, as described in <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-kurin-v-balter-lawsuit-is-over-with.html">a blog post I published at the time</a>. Kurin had sued me for my accurate and fully supported reporting about her history of misconduct.</p><p>Today I have sent the following notice to Kurin's attorney, David Scher of the Hoyer Law Group. The attachment referred to in this email is reproduced above.</p><p><br /></p><p>October 20, 2021</p><p><br /></p><p>Dear Mr. Scher,</p><div><br /><div>This past weekend, your client, Danielle Kurin, blatantly violated the settlement agreement between me and her in at least two distinct ways.</div><div><br /></div><div>Upon information and belief:</div><div><br /></div><div>Using an anonymous account, Dr. Kurin posted, or directly caused to be posted, three comments on a long-running Reddit thread devoted to discussing allegations concerning her conduct over the past years. The link to this active thread is here:</div><div><br /></div><div><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.reddit.com/r/UCSantaBarbara/comments/ml2aaq/danielle_kurin_anthropology/&source=gmail&ust=1634856511708000&usg=AFQjCNGQ18Jgz38YZRFG8eCNZbWOaXxoDg" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/UCSantaBarbara/comments/ml2aaq/danielle_kurin_anthropology/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.reddit.com/r/<wbr></wbr>UCSantaBarbara/comments/<wbr></wbr>ml2aaq/danielle_kurin_<wbr></wbr>anthropology/</a><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>In one comment, Dr. Kurin or her direct representative made a defamatory attack against me, which was screenshotted and is attached to this email.</div><div><br /></div><div>In a second comment, Dr. Kurin attacked a witness in the Kurin v. Balter litigation, a former student of hers who had made a complaint to UCSB about bullying and other abuse she alleges took place in Dr. Kurin's osteology class in 2015 (the individual known as "Lara.)</div><div><br /></div><div>In a third comment, Dr. Kurin attacked a former fellow graduate student at Vanderbilt, and included in the attack an email between that colleague and her parents concerning a landlord-tenant dispute that took place more than a decade ago (an email that only Dr. Kurin and her family would have had possession and knowledge of.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Later that weekend, Dr. Kurin deleted the anonymous comments, and then followed on Sunday morning with a lengthy <i>apologia </i>for, and supposed refutation of, her alleged conduct, under her own name, responding to allegations that appeared only on my blog and represented only my reporting.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the ensemble of these actions, Dr. Kurin repeatedly violated terms of the legally binding agreement.</div><div><br /></div><div>1. She wrote about me directly on social media, something expressly forbidden by the agreement.</div><div>2. She disparaged me on social media, also expressly forbidden by the agreement.</div><div>3. She responded in detail to my reporting about her, also a violation of the spirit of the agreement if not the letter.</div><div><br /></div><div>One might have hoped that after Dr. Kurin received tenure from UCSB, she would no longer feel the need to baselessly attack me, either in the courts or on social media, especially given the enormous support my reporting received during discovery in the lawsuit. Alas, she does not seem to be able to restrain herself, even though she no longer needs to fear the damages she falsely claimed I was causing her.</div><div><br /></div><div>Under these circumstances, and by her actions, Dr. Kurin has invalidated the agreement between us.</div><div><br /></div><div>I therefore declare the settlement agreement to be null and void, and I will no longer be bound by it, as of the date and time of this email.</div><div><br /></div><div>With best regards,</div><div><br /></div><div>Michael Balter</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div> * * * *</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Before it disappears, here is the text Kurin posted on the Reddit page Sunday morning. It is full of false statements and misinformation:</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="_2mHuuvyV9doV3zwbZPtIPG ZvAy-PJfJmB8pzQxpz1sS" style="align-self: flex-start; border: 0px; display: inline-block; flex: 0 0 auto; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="_3GfQMgsm3HGd3838lwqCST" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/DanielleSKandCachi/" style="align-self: flex-start; border-bottom-left-radius: 50%; border-bottom-right-radius: 50%; border-radius: 50%; border-top-left-radius: 50%; border-top-right-radius: 50%; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: inherit; height: 28px; line-height: inherit; margin: 6px 0px 0px; 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font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px 8px; max-width: 800px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 661px;"><span class="_1RIl585IYPW6cmNXwgRz0J" face="IBMPlexSans, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px); font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; vertical-align: baseline;">level 1</span><div class="-Xcv3XBXmgiY2X5RqaPbO _1S45SPAIb30fsXtEcKPSdt _3LqBzV8aCO9tge99jHiUGy" data-testid="post-comment-header" style="align-items: flex-start; background-color: white; border: 0px; display: flex; flex-direction: column; font-family: IBMPlexSans, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; justify-content: center; line-height: inherit; margin: 10px 0px 6px; min-height: 18px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="_1a_HxF03jCyxnx706hQmJR" style="align-items: center; border: 0px; display: flex; flex-direction: row; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: inherit; height: 18px; justify-content: flex-start; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="_3QEK34iVL1BjyHAVleVVNQ" style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="_2mHuuvyV9doV3zwbZPtIPG" style="border: 0px; display: inline-block; flex: 0 0 auto; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a class="wM6scouPXXsFDSZmZPHRo DjcdNGtVXPcxG0yiFXIoZ _23wugcdiaj44hdfugIAlnX" href="https://www.reddit.com/user/DanielleSKandCachi/" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">DanielleSKandCachi</a><div class="sMaSljeAO1a-nAhrURxdj" id="UserInfoTooltip--t1_hh0k75a" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div></div><span class="_2ETuFsVzMBxiHia6HfJCTQ _8b8fUdBRxCYj9MkNpFvvv" color="var(--newCommunityTheme-metaText)" style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; flex: 0 0 auto; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 16px; margin: 0px 4px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">·</span><a class="_3yx4Dn0W3Yunucf5sVJeFU" href="https://www.reddit.com/r/UCSantaBarbara/comments/ml2aaq/comment/hh0k75a/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3" id="CommentTopMeta--Created--t1_hh0k75a" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" style="align-self: baseline; border: 0px; font-family: "Noto Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">3d</a><div class="_3XoW0oYd5806XiOr24gGdb" style="align-items: center; border: 0px; display: inline-flex; flex-wrap: wrap; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; z-index: 5;"></div></span></div><div class="_3cjCphgls6DH-irkVaA0GM" data-test-id="comment" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: IBMPlexSans, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 2px 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 659px;"><div class="_292iotee39Lmt0MkQZ2hPV RichTextJSON-root" style="border: 0px; color: #1a1a1b; font-family: "Noto Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px -1px; overflow: auto; padding: 0px 0px 1px; vertical-align: baseline; word-break: break-word;"><p class="_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0.25em; vertical-align: baseline;">Hi Folks, lots and lots of misinformation on this thread, and lots of cruelty between commenters.</p><p class="_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0.8em 0px 0.25em; vertical-align: baseline;">To my students: I can understand how what you read about me online would make you scared and angry. If I read such things about someone I would feel the same way. But the overwhelming majority of what you read (especially the most abhorrent stuff) is just false (or at the very least it's been decontextualized to the point of being virtually meaningless).</p><p class="_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0.8em 0px 0.25em; vertical-align: baseline;">If you feel scared or uncomfortable, just talk to me--bring a friend if you'd like. We can also arrange to have a mediator present. I just want you to be able to fully engage and enjoy the class and feel safe in our interactions.</p><p class="_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0.8em 0px 0.25em; vertical-align: baseline;">I don't fake being a good teacher, I am a good teacher. I lift my students up because they are hard workers and good human being who deserve compassion and support. It's not an act. My 'charm' isn't a manipulative tactic. I do hold adults accountable, and I have a strong personality, and that has been the source of some tension--and you can see that frustration in the comments.</p><p class="_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0.8em 0px 0.25em; vertical-align: baseline;">Let me be perfectly clear. I never harassed or abused anyone, nor did I ever enable or condone such behavior by anyone.</p><p class="_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0.8em 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">My alleged act of retaliation? I wrote an email to a third party that was totally unrelated to allegations of misconduct, that included a line saying, "I'm sure your reputation will precede you." That's it. My letter of censure -- the most mild form of punishment available -- came after years of a flawed investigation (during which time I was on leave, as is standard). The letter was rightly expunged from my record and I was granted those years back on the tenure clock, and my funding was reinstated. I was awarded tenure, deservedly so.</p><p class="_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0.8em 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><p class="_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0.8em 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><p class="_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0.8em 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>Update Oct 22, 2021:</b><span style="font-weight: inherit;"> There are a great number of outstanding issues related to the Danielle Kurin matters, which I plan to cover in an upcoming blog post or series of posts, as necessary. In the meantime, I have pinned a thread to my Twitter page laying out what I see as the most important questions. I hope that blog readers will <a href="https://twitter.com/mbalter/status/1451295897774698506">navigate over to that thread</a> and share it if they like.</span></p><p class="_1qeIAgB0cPwnLhDF9XSiJM" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0.8em 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>Afterthoughts Oct 23, 2021: </b>The defense that Kurin posted on Reddit, reproduced just above, suggests that she is still refusing to take responsibility for her past actions, despite the existence of so much evidence that they took place. The blog entry linked to at the beginning of this post includes the full text of the Letter of Censure, which Kurin signed in agreeing to take formal responsibility for her actions. Although the letter was removed from her personnel file after three years, the charges brought against her by UCSB—the result of the university’s lengthy investigation—still stand as a record of what she did and what she acknowledged having done, which included multiple charges of retaliation against students. Readers should not be fooled by this clumsy sleight of hand and Kurin’s current efforts to erase the record.</p></div></div><div class="_3KgrO85L1p9wQbgwG27q4y" style="align-items: center; background-color: white; border: 0px; display: flex; flex-flow: row nowrap; font-family: IBMPlexSans, Arial, sans-serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="_1E9mcoVn4MYnuBQSVDt1gC _2oM1YqCxIwkvwyeZamWwhW _1ewTEGuogtFmDvDII2T2Yy" id="vote-arrows-t1_hh0k75a" style="align-items: center; border: 0px; display: flex; fill: inherit; flex-direction: row; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 3px 4px 4px -4px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><button aria-label="upvote" aria-pressed="false" class="voteButton _2m5vzALl8kQdr9kwIFUo5t" data-click-id="upvote" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: initial; border-style: none; border-width: initial; border: none; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font: inherit; height: 24px; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: initial; vertical-align: baseline; width: 24px;"><span class="_2q7IQ0BUOWeEZoeAxN555e _3SUsITjKNQ7Tp0Wi2jGxIM _22nWXKAY6OzAfK5GcUqWV2 qW0l8Af61EP35WIG6vnGk _3edNsMs0PNfyQYofMNVhsG" color="var(--newCommunityTheme-actionIcon)" style="border-bottom-left-radius: 2px; border-bottom-right-radius: 2px; border-radius: 2px; border-top-left-radius: 2px; border-top-right-radius: 2px; border: 0px; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 24px;"></span></button></div></div></div></div></div>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-78955053978170855822021-10-15T16:50:00.001-04:002021-10-15T19:27:45.902-04:00Journalists are friends of the First Amendment, and of courts that uphold it against bogus defamation claims.<p>As readers of this blog know, I often post here on #MeToo matters. That will still be the case with most original investigations. However, I am increasingly posting commentaries on this subject on my new Substack newsletter, <a href="https://michaelbalter.substack.com/">"Words for the Wise."</a></p><p>I hope you will navigate over to <a href="https://michaelbalter.substack.com/p/journalists-are-friends-of-the-first">my latest post on that platform</a>.</p><p>While you are there, I hope you will explore the archives. If you like what you see, please consider subscribing. There are some special deals on offer!</p><p><br /></p><p>Best to all, Michael</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Update Oct 15</b>: <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/leading-peruvian-archaeologist-ousted-u-s-national-academy-sciences">A story in </a><i><a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/leading-peruvian-archaeologist-ousted-u-s-national-academy-sciences">Science</a> </i>about the National Academy of Science's ejection of Peruvian archaeologist Luis Jaime Castillo Butters from international membership, a process that began with my reporting about his misconduct.</p>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-76915999696697173802021-09-14T12:04:00.004-04:002021-09-14T12:04:26.120-04:00A warning to students in archaeology and anthropology: Enmanuel Gomez Choque<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EltWQr0uYDs/YUC_t0YHJFI/AAAAAAAAN3s/BZtes8zdP70Lp4pyn8TzoDhECOPOoBYjwCNcBGAsYHQ/s748/Gomez%2Bphoto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="748" data-original-width="588" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EltWQr0uYDs/YUC_t0YHJFI/AAAAAAAAN3s/BZtes8zdP70Lp4pyn8TzoDhECOPOoBYjwCNcBGAsYHQ/s320/Gomez%2Bphoto.jpg" width="252" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enmanuel Gomez Choque</td></tr></tbody></table>As readers of this blog know, one of its primary purposes is to report on investigations of sexual harassers, abusers, and bullies in academia. I have engaged in dozens of such investigations over the past six years, and this reporting has achieved significant results. A number of abusers have been either fired or forced to resign, and/or been shunned by the academic communities they are part of.<div><br /></div><div>In those cases where an abuser has not been removed from the position in which he or she was able to harm others, the blog has served as a site to post warnings so that students and others can be warned about going into certain situations.</div><div><br /></div><div>This warning post concerns Enmanuel Gomez Choque, an archaeologist who lives and works in the region of Andahuaylas, Peru, and whose record of abuses is well established from investigations carried out by two institutions: The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), and the Institute for Field Research IFR.) I have reported about Gomez on this site several times since early 2020, and those interested in seeing the earlier reports can search this blog to find them. So what follows is a reiteration of those investigative findings, by the institutions as well as my own reporting.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Gomez was subject to a Title IX investigation at UCSB, which found him to have harassed students. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">I received the Title IX investigative report on Gomez from UCSB through the California Public Records Act. The events covered by the Title IX investigation took place during 2015 in and around Andahuaylas. A number of students had complained that Gomez's actions "created a hostile and learning and working environment for the female participants, several of whom are current UCSB students," the report states. At least one other complainant was a student from a university in another state; although that university is named in the report, the student in question has requested that the university not be identified to protect her privacy. I have agreed to do so.</div><div style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">I should add that UCSB decided it had Title IX jurisdiction over Gomez because UCSB students were involved and because Gomez was associated with a laboratory at the university at the time of the events (and continued to be until early 2020.)</div><div style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">There were several allegations against Gomez: That he had engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior with a female student at a dance club, including forcibly kissing her; that he had made inappropriate sexual jokes in front of students; and that he had engaged in sexually hostile behavior against a female student during a trip to a pilgrimage site. The allegations also included charges that Gomez had tried to get the female students to adopt "sexy poses" so that he could photograph them.</div><div style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">My own reporting revealed allegations outside the scope of the Title IX investigation, that Gomez had sexually assaulted at least two students in other years. To protect the identity of these victims, with whom I discussed the allegations directly, I am not giving details of those sexual assaults.</div><div style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Gomez attempted to defend himself, submitting statements to the investigators claiming that he had not engaged in the alleged behavior, and that the alleged victim of the forcible kiss had actually tried to kiss him instead and he had turned his head to avoid it. Gomez also claimed that the accusations of sexually inappropriate jokes were misunderstandings based on a differences of language and culture between him and the female students.</div><div style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">The allegations against Gomez were based on eight witnesses. On page 27 of the report, the investigators concluded that the accusations, based on a preponderance of the evidence, were "substantiated."</span></div><div><span style="color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><b>Gomez abused female students in Peru at least as early as 2011 and continuing until at least 2018.</b><br /></span></span><p></p><div><br /></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">In the course of my investigations, I have heard from women who were harassed or assaulted by Gomez going all the way back to 2011, and very often in the same way.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;"> Those students (or former students) who wish to remain anonymous I have identified by numbers.</span></div><div><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><b style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Student No. 1</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">: "Hi Michael, I've thought a lot about reaching out after I saw your article... in 2011...Manuel forcibly kissed me in a club on that trip. There were also several witnesses, whose names I've blurred [on a contemporaneous messenger thread she attached] since I don't know how they feel about being involved."</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><b style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Student No. 2</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">: This student describes going to a club with Gomez and a group of students in 2017 (the year after the Title IX findings.) "We were dancing in a group when Enmanuel came over and started dancing with me, pretty close up onto me. I thought he was showing me how to dance a particular dance, but he was way too close and touchy...I felt uncomfortable and asked another woman...if I could dance with her because he kept pushing himself at me....The rest of the [time in Peru] I felt very uncomfortable being alone with Enmanuel and and tried to avoid being alone with him as much as possible."</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">These are just some examples of the kind of behavior which I have tracked between 2011 and 2018. But in 2018, two years after the Title IX findings, things seem to have hit a new level of misconduct, and some students finally took a stand.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><b style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Taylor Johnston</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;"> is a student at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta. She told me that in 2018 she had a lot of contact with Gomez. "Manuel was always around me and trying to get me alone," she recalls. At first she thought it was because she speaks Spanish well, and Gomez speaks English very poorly. At one point, Johnston says, Gomez took a group of students to an archaeological site called Tukri. "None of us brought alcohol," Johnston says, but "Manuel was pushing that we needed to go into town and buy beer. He was pushing all of us to drink." Johnston says that Gomez told them it was disrespectful to refuse, just as he did during the 2015 field season.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">Johnston says that they were accompanied by another academic from a university in Peru, and that both of them behaved towards her in ways that were "totally inappropriate," including "grabbing my ass." After they returned to Andahuaylas, Johnston says, Gomez would drunkenly try to get into the house where the students were staying, banging on the door and asking for her early in the morning. After that she began to distance herself from Gomez, she says.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">Johnston also told me about a day trip the group took to some nearly ponds, where the students went bathing despite the cold of the Peruvian winter (which is summer in the Northern Hemisphere.) In an incident reminiscent of one described by the 2015 students, Johnston says she was wearing a sweater over her bathing suit to keep warm. "Take off your sweater, I want to see your body in your bathing suit," Johnston recalls Gomez saying.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">After Johnston began to keep her distance from Gomez, she and other witnesses say, Gomez began to take an interest in another young researcher I will call </span><b style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Student No. 3</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">. On the night of July 13/14, shortly before the end of the field season, the students and Gomez went out to a club. According to several witnesses, Gomez began plying the students with drinks, especially Student No. 3. "He was bringing us shots every twenty minutes," Johnston says. "He kept pushing them on [Student No. 3.] He was with her all night at the club, dancing with her." Suddenly, around 1:30 am, the students realized that Gomez and Student No. 3 were no longer there. They began a frantic search for her, calling Gomez's cell phone and leaving messages but getting no answer.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">At 5:30 am, Gomez returned with Student No. 3 in a taxi.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">When </span><b style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Student No. 3 </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">saw my initial report from last month, she contacted me directly.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background: 0px 0px white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Hello Mr. Balter,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background: 0px 0px white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I saw your article on the bio anthropology Facebook news page... I...was personally assaulted by Manuel. Two days before leaving on a night out Manuel fed me drinks all night and then forcefully kissed me. There’s time missing from that night where I was with him alone and other members from the field school could not find me. This is very painful for me to write and think about, but I cannot fathom not saying something...The whole situation was very traumatic and I wish I had pressed charges, however this all happened two days before we were leaving and I wanted to get away as soon as possible..."</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background: 0px 0px white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;"></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">In a followup email, Student No. 3 added:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background: 0px 0px white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Hi Michael,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><div style="background: 0px 0px white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I can tell you a bit more, but there really is a lot of time missing. We started at a karaoke bar and after that I tried to go home. I remember Manuel saying no no we are staying out and putting me in a cab with him. I believe we went to a different night club after that but I’m not really sure. It goes pretty blank after that. The last thing I remember is being put into a cab by Manuel and him telling me “not to tell anyone” and when I got back...everyone was panicking and scared about where I had been. If I’m being honest with you, there’s no doubt in my mind non- consensual acts happened. I had bruises and aches the next morning but the fact is that I do not remember more than the kiss and then being put in the cab by Manuel."</div></div><div style="background: 0px 0px white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="background: 0px 0px white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="background: 0px 0px white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The events that took place in 2018 were investigated by the IFR and its governing board, which, according to sources, concluded that "inappropriate" behavior had taken place. IFR took measures to insure that its field school students would not come in contact with Gomez again.</div><div style="background: 0px 0px white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="background: 0px 0px white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="background: 0px 0px white; border: 0px; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Since I have written about Gomez in the past, I am hopeful that archaeologists and other academics will do everything they can to warn their students and colleagues about his past conduct so that individuals can make informed decisions about whether to put themselves in contact with him. To that end, I hope readers of this blog post will make sure that it gets the widest possible distribution.</div><div><br /></div></div>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-13968527159580602452021-09-10T16:47:00.005-04:002021-09-10T16:47:54.365-04:00The latest on Ran Boytner, former executive director of the Institute for Field Research<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rtrVHeVB9tY/YTvDq1LtB8I/AAAAAAAANog/0Pjh60F1jMoMlh0PS9pHrHfFcKSj5nIwQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1334/Boytner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="1334" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rtrVHeVB9tY/YTvDq1LtB8I/AAAAAAAANog/0Pjh60F1jMoMlh0PS9pHrHfFcKSj5nIwQCNcBGAsYHQ/s320/Boytner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="color: #500050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">For those who have followed the events of the past year or two concerning the Institute for Field Research and its former director, a colleague writes with the following information. For those not up to speed on this, please search "Boytner" on this blog; for legal reasons I am limited in how much linking to past posts I can and want to do. I have slightly edited the following to keep it factual without commentary.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #500050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The website of Twin Cairns, Ran Boytner’s new company, is up and running:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twincairns.com/&source=gmail&ust=1631392945722000&usg=AFQjCNFaoTUD1v4RfhwuyHJcGynAwKc4PQ" href="https://twincairns.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">https://twincairns.com/</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Boytner’s record at UCLA and IFR is probably why his name is nowhere to be found on the website. (For details see previous posts on this blog.) The investors would doubtless want to keep it this way.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Except that Twin Cairns is managed by Anthropocene Trust:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://businesssearch.sos.ca.gov/Document/RetrievePDF?Id%3D202028110180-29101625&source=gmail&ust=1631392945722000&usg=AFQjCNHYyp_PkMs9Dh2aV5oa0wgHvxGpSw" href="https://businesssearch.sos.ca.gov/Document/RetrievePDF?Id=202028110180-29101625" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">https://businesssearch.sos.ca.<wbr></wbr>gov/Document/RetrievePDF?Id=<wbr></wbr>202028110180-29101625</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.anthropocenetrust.org/home&source=gmail&ust=1631392945722000&usg=AFQjCNFWhX6l9jGEojsriQ_GowaZOMkXPw" href="https://www.anthropocenetrust.org/home" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">https://www.anthropocenetrust.<wbr></wbr>org/home</a><br style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And Ran Boytner is the Director of Anthropocene Trust:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" /><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://rpanet.org/Sys/PublicProfile/55951484/5426137&source=gmail&ust=1631392945723000&usg=AFQjCNH-rEUJxUD0DzeDCxK63v8JvHBfkg" href="https://rpanet.org/Sys/PublicProfile/55951484/5426137" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;" target="_blank">https://rpanet.org/Sys/<wbr></wbr>PublicProfile/55951484/5426137</a> "<br /></p>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-27927387544202338862021-08-13T06:42:00.001-04:002021-08-13T06:42:30.432-04:00Recent posts on "Words for the Wise" -- the newsletter for those whose interests know no bounds.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nfdE-c0ZrI4/YRZMekvlwJI/AAAAAAAANl0/Eg-b54CJcH4401YE1-FRdutWYhIz939nACNcBGAsYHQ/s599/Chronicler.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="330" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nfdE-c0ZrI4/YRZMekvlwJI/AAAAAAAANl0/Eg-b54CJcH4401YE1-FRdutWYhIz939nACNcBGAsYHQ/s320/Chronicler.jpeg" width="176" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p><br /></p><p>The past two weeks have seen a wide mix of topics on <a href="https://michaelbalter.substack.com/">"Words for the Wise,"</a> which is what the newsletter is all about: Everything from science to politics to travel to controversies of all sorts. Below are the highlights. And don't forget the 60 day trial subscription special offer, risk free!</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Journalism, politics, and #MeToo.</b></p><p><a href="https://michaelbalter.substack.com/p/are-journalistic-ethics-ready-for">Are journalistic ethics ready for prime time?</a> A commentary on Andrew Cuomo's resignation and his brother's behind-the-scenes drafting of the governor's responses to sexual harassment allegations. That's a serious no-no according to journalism's leading Code of Ethics. Will CNN do anything about it?</p><p><a href="https://michaelbalter.substack.com/p/slapp-and-anti-slapp-netflix-hits">SLAPP and anti-SLAPP: Netflix hits back at Alan Dershowitz</a>. Dershowitz continues to insist he did not have sex with Virginia Roberts Giuffre when she was a teenager, at the instigation of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Netflix let them both talk in its documentary about Epstein; was that just too much free speech for the famed First Amendment advocate?</p><p><a href="https://michaelbalter.substack.com/p/jeffrey-epstein-harvey-weinstein">Jeffrey Epstein, Harvey Weinstein, Julie K. Brown, Felicia Sonmez, and how the media has mucked up #MeToo coverage.</a> A review of Julie K. Brown's new book, "Perversion of Justice," and the many issues it raises.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Spirit of Place.</b></p><p><a href="https://michaelbalter.substack.com/p/spirit-of-place-free-at-last-in-the">Free at last in the new Slovakia.</a> I was there for the fall of Communism. There was freedom in the air, until it became clear that this also meant the rise of capitalism.</p><p><a href="https://michaelbalter.substack.com/p/spirit-of-place-the-white-mosques">The White Mosques of Jerba</a>. There are 300 mosques on this Tunisian island. A short tour.</p>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-65058141656548768222021-08-11T10:49:00.000-04:002021-08-11T10:49:21.274-04:00Why Texas A&M archaeologist Filipe Castro was fired: Documents from the Texas Public Information Act<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Td2gv5o9B8/YRPLM1_fiCI/AAAAAAAANlM/XQ0WqdyB4aMYumfDapRHM74n5Np6ghecQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1746/Castro%2Bfired%2Bfront%2Bpage.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1270" data-original-width="1746" height="291" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Td2gv5o9B8/YRPLM1_fiCI/AAAAAAAANlM/XQ0WqdyB4aMYumfDapRHM74n5Np6ghecQCNcBGAsYHQ/w400-h291/Castro%2Bfired%2Bfront%2Bpage.png" width="400" /></a></div>Last January, <a href="https://theeagle.com/news/a_m/one-a-m-professor-fired-one-disciplined-after-investigations-into-conduct-and-commentary/article_13e2f49a-5489-11eb-bbe6-d77728f65119.html">Texas A&M University fired marine archaeologist Filipe Castro</a>, after receiving numerous complaints about his conduct. The complaints included allegations of sexual harassment, which <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2019/09/texas-am-anthropology-rife-with-sexual.html">I reported on back in 2019</a> (along with accusations against several other anthropology department members), as well as political comments Castro had made to students about Donald Trump and related issues.<p></p><p>After Castro's termination, I requested, and received, copies of the investigative report and other related documents from TAMU's public records office. With apologies for the delay--caused by my being absorbed in a <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-kurin-v-balter-lawsuit-is-over-with.html">defamation suit against me</a> filed by another archaeologist--I am publishing those documents now.</p><p><b>Full disclosure</b>: Castro has begun harassing me on Facebook messenger about my reporting on him, calling me a liar and expressing glee that I was sued; he apparently had not heard about the outcome of the case. But his harassment has prompted me to public these documents, which ideally I would have done months ago.)</p><p>Before I get to that, let me repeat what I published earlier about Castro's conduct back in 2019, based on discussions with a number of sources:</p><p><br /></p><i><b style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"Filipe Castro: Extreme sexism, harassment, unethical behavior.</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><b style="background: 0px 0px rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></b><span style="background: 0px 0px white; border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Filipe Castro, a maritime archaeologist at TAMU, is accused by multiple colleagues of some of the most blatantly sexist behavior I have seen in a university professor. Sources say that Castro would make crude anti-Semitic jokes during his lectures, along with sexist remarks. He told some male students that he only hires "hot girls" as research assistants. On another occasion, he declared that "American girls are extremely dumb and only good for blowjobs."</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background: 0px 0px white; border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Castro also directed his sexism directly at female students in the department, reportedly telling them that it was a "man's world" and they should just accept it. He often attempted to intimidate, humiliate, and demean female students; his behavior was an open secret in the department.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background: 0px 0px white; border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Multiple sources also attest that Castro attempted on several occasions to appropriate the work of students for his own purposes and credit. He was also extremely abusive to students under his tutelage, especially women. I cannot say more about this, to protect sources, but this behavior has been described to me in detail and there is no ambiguity about its extremely unethical nature.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background: 0px 0px white; border: 0px; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As in almost all the cases described in this post, department leaders, including the department chair, were aware of this abusive behavior but Castro was apparently never sanctioned for it. Says one former student: "Instead of protecting us and punishing illegal behavior, they made him a full professor." And former students who had to endure abuse from Castro say they don't trust the university to do anything about it now; they still fear retaliation even though they have left TAMU. "It is still very painful, and I am still afraid," a former student says.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /></i><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;"><i>I don't know how many dozens of times I have heard similar statements from former graduate students from university departments all over the world."</i></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;"><b>TAMU's 2021 conclusions</b></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">Let's start with the </span><a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2021/08/felipe-viera-de-castro_investigation_redacted.pdf" style="font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">university's investigation of Castro's conduct</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;"> (all of these links lead to pdf files from the university's records production to me.)</span></p><p>This is a 126 page document dated October 20, 2020, which includes numerous redactions apparently designed to protect student privacy. This and other documents make clear that there were two main threads of the investigation: Complaints that Castro was virulently anti-religion and anti-Trump and other right-wingers; and complaints that Castro made numerous sexist comments to students in class. Some examples:</p><p><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"In discussions with Dr. Castro it is clear that he has a deep-seated resentment towards religion and</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">in particular the Catholic Church. It is also clear that he uses language that some may interpret as</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">vulgar and interjects his own stance and personal situation in those comments."</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Of particular note were comments in regard to gender and sex. Students mentioned highly</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">inappropriate comments from Dr. Castro about male and female genitals. One reported Dr. Castro</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">saying he does not mind if ladies’ “pussies” are hanging out of their shorts because where he came</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">from there were nude beaches. Another reported comments that Dr. Castro wishes he was not</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">circumcised so he could enjoy sex more. Dr. Castro also commented in that class that he did not</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">have his son circumcised so he could enjoy sex more.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"In addition, comments on politicians were often times grossly inappropriate. Two of those were</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">that Dr. Castro stated in class that he “would cut off Jeff Sessions head and play soccer with it”</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">and that he would “hang Trump by Biden’s entrails”.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In terms of the sexist behavior, the investigation relied heavily on my blog posts about Castro for leads to conduct its own inquiry. The investigators cite my lack of cooperation with the inquiry, which I tried to explain was due to my desire to protect the identities of my sources; but the investigators clearly interpreted that as a belligerent attitude on my part.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In the end, the investigators found that Castro had clearly violated university rules, concluding as follows:</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"As discussion above, Dr. Castro appears to have crossed the line and violated the rules. In addition</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">to demeaning students who did not agree with his stances on religious matters, his introduction of</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">hanging Trump with Biden’s entrails and playing soccer with a politician’s head certainly has no</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">relation to the subject. His inappropriate comments about male and female genitals were</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">unprofessional and disrespectful. Many students commented on the fact they stopped going to class</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">as Dr. Castro always went on rants and tangents against politics and religion and that all you needed</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">to pass the class was already available from old tests online.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This investigation of this issue is now forwarded to the Dean of Faculties for review of Dr. Castro’s</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">unprofessional and inappropriate behavior."</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b>Emails, disciplinary findings and intention to dismiss, Castro's letter of resignation.</b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><b><br /></b></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The investigative file included <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2021/08/emails.pdf">185 pages of emails</a> between Castro, his department chair, university officials, and others, which served as background for the inquiry. I will not comment on them here.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">On January 7 of this year, Mark Weichold, TAMU's Interim Provost and Executive Vice President, <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2021/08/notification-of-intention-to-dismiss-for-cause-felipe-viera-de-castro.pdf">wrote to Castro to inform him of the university's intention to dismiss him</a> from his tenure position, citing violations of a number of university policies.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">And on January 18, Castro <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2021/08/castro-2021-resignation-accepted.pdf">wrote to anthropology department head Daryl de Ruiter</a>, tendering his resignation--on the condition that the university did not dismiss him for cause.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">While this last document indicates that de Ruiter accepted Castro's resignation, according to local news reports <a href="https://www.kbtx.com/2021/01/12/texas-am-fires-one-faculty-member-reprimands-another/">Castro was nevertheless fired by the university</a>. (My queries to the university press office to clarify whether Castro was fired or allowed to resign went unanswered.)</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">So there you have it. It is clear from these documents that Castro's political statements, which made him a target of right-wingers (some of whom tried to enlist me in their cause) were one important reason for his departure from the university; but his sexist statements and behavior was another. </p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">In a Facebook message today, Castro told me that he is "enjoying my retirement immensely, away from resentful witch sniffers like you!"</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">I think we can all be thankful that he is no longer teaching students. Time is up for abusers.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #e4e6eb; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="background-color: #e4e6eb; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-39747691507170722222021-07-29T11:15:00.012-04:002021-09-21T13:20:58.693-04:00Paleontology: An alleged sexual harasser is passed out of a famous dinosaur lab. Have institutions failed yet again? [Updated Sept 21 2021: A pattern of sexual harassment in the U Saskatchewan Geological Sciences department?]<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aStv7ORZ5uo/YQKTNthIEcI/AAAAAAAANi8/Js8nRlsk8ukvuvCjWJ_FowODUtFqX6eGACNcBGAsYHQ/s800/Aaron%2Bvan%2Bder%2BReest%2BLinkedIn.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aStv7ORZ5uo/YQKTNthIEcI/AAAAAAAANi8/Js8nRlsk8ukvuvCjWJ_FowODUtFqX6eGACNcBGAsYHQ/s320/Aaron%2Bvan%2Bder%2BReest%2BLinkedIn.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aaron van der Reest</td></tr></tbody></table>This past May, a group of paleontologists in Canada, familiar with <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2018/12/sexual-abusers-i-have-known.html">my reporting on #MeToo issues in the sciences</a>, asked me to look into allegations concerning a former student of the famed dinosaur researcher <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_J._Currie">Philip Currie</a> of the University of Alberta (UA) in Edmonton.<p></p><p>The student, Aaron van der Reest, received his bachelors and masters degrees at UA, and is now working on a PhD at the University of Saskatchewan. After my preliminary reporting (which included an extensive on the record interview with Currie) revealed substantial evidence for allegations not only of sexual harassment but sexual assault by van der Reest, I wrote to him and asked him to discuss it with me.</p><p>That outreach to van der Reest was met on June 21 with <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2021/06/attorney-for-paleontology-student.html">a cease and desist letter from his attorney</a>, with a clear threat to bring a lawsuit against me if I pursued the investigation (the attorney wrote that I had no "authority" to investigate the allegations.) I immediately put the letter online and provided readers with some preliminary background to the inquiry (as many readers of this blog know, this was far from the first time I have been threatened with legal action for trying to help survivors of abuse tell their stories.)</p><p><b>At least one direct witness to van der Reest's conduct also received a similar cease and desist letter about the same time. </b></p><p>Nevertheless, thanks to the courage of numerous colleagues, I was able to continue my reporting. The results are published here.</p><p>As always, I relied strictly on sources who had directly witnessed or experienced the events I describe below. I never rely on rumors or second-hand information, except as leads for finding sources who do have first-hand knowledge, in keeping with normal journalistic practices. Although most of the sources have asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, I have corroborated what they told me with others. About a dozen people spoke to me for this investigation, roughly split between women and men. [<b>Update: </b>This number is steadily increasing as new sources, having seen this report, are getting in touch with me.]</p><p><b>For full disclosure</b>: During the years that I covered dinosaurs and bird evolution for <i>Science</i> magazine, I occasionally covered Currie's research and also <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2010/05/did-first-feathers-prevent-early-flight">solicited comment from him</a> about the research of others.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Hunting for fossils and hunting for women</b></p><p>Unlike archaeology and anthropology, related fields which have produced a number of sexual predators who have gone on to exercise significant power over students and other colleagues, so far paleontology has been spared a large number of public #MeToo or bullying scandals. The two most notable cases I am aware of, both of which I was involved in as a reporter, concerned <b>Matthew Baron</b>, formerly of the University of Cambridge, and <b>Nick Longrich</b> of the University of Bath. <a href="https://twitter.com/mbalter/status/960211444309680128">Baron was accused</a> by a former partner of domestic abuse, and Longrich <a href="https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2018/08/university-of-bath-offers-more.html">lost a 1 million pound Leverhulme grant</a> after his pattern of bullying students was publicly exposed.</p><p>That doesn't mean women in paleontology have it any easier, however. As a 2018 article in <i>Smithsonian</i> entitled "<a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/many-ways-women-get-left-out-paleontology-180969239/">The Many Ways Women Get Left Out of Paleontology</a>" documented, paleontology remains a largely male-dominated terrain in which women have to fight hard to overcome the barriers which kept them out of the field until fairly recently (despite some legendary exceptions like Mary Anning.)</p><p><b>Aaron van der Reest</b> came to UA as an undergraduate student in 2013, and began working with Currie and his wife <a href="https://apps.ualberta.ca/directory/person/ebk">Eva Koppelhus</a>, an expert in fossil plants at UA, almost immediately, according to sources who were present at the time. Currie and Koppelhus were reportedly friends of van der Reest's family; van der Reest's mother had died shortly before he began attending the university (van der Reest later <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/university-of-alberta-dinosaur-aaron-van-der-reest-1.4161251">named a raptor he discovered in Dinosaur Provincial Park after his mother</a>.)</p><p>Van der Reest quickly became known for two traits, <a href="https://www.geologypage.com/2017/08/dino-hips-discovery-unravels-species-riddle.html">one positive</a> and one negative: He was <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rare-dinosaur-fossil-is-unearthed-covered-in-feathers-skin/">talented at finding dinosaur fossils</a>, and he developed an early habit of hitting on female students in the lab and in the field.</p><p>"Aaron always came off as desperate and he would fixate in turn on the women in the lab," says one former colleague. Van der Reest was somewhat older than the other students. "He would often express that he felt he was running out of time to have kids because of his age," this source recalled, "and so it frustrated him that he could not find a partner. Clearly, this intimidated women and they responded negatively."</p><p>One female paleontologist confirmed this impression. "I have certainly been in situations where he has made me exceptionally uncomfortable," this young researcher told me. "I have also witnessed multiple situations that made me concerned for the well being of other young women."</p><p>At the beginning, van der Reest's fellow students tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, some of them told me, thinking that his desperation to find a mate made him unaware of appropriate boundaries. But it soon became clear that the paleontologist was engaging in predatory behavior. For example, he would talk incessantly about his mother's death, which, while it no doubt affected him greatly, became a regular pick-up line to try to get women sympathetic and interested in him.</p><p>(Allegations that some years earlier van der Reest was fired from a job at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta, for sexual harassment were conveyed to me, but I was not able to confirm them.) [<b>Update Jul 30, 2021</b>: I have now been able to confirm that van der Reest was let go because of what was widely regarded as his "creepy" behavior towards women; while the museum may have given other reasons at the time, this was the real one.]</p><p>It also became clear to many of his colleagues that van der Reest harbored sexist attitudes towards women. "In camp, on three different occasions, I heard him describe three women as having 'great bodies and great asses,'" one paleontologist told me. </p><p>Van der Reest's colleagues became increasingly alarmed at his behavior, especially when he began to pursue an undergraduate student about 15 years his junior. At the same time, Currie and Koppelhus, impressed with his prowess at finding fossils, took him on as a masters student in 2017, and gave him his own office in their lab at UA--unusual even for grad students.</p><p>Up to this time, there is no evidence that anyone expressed their concerns about van der Reest's conduct to Currie, although sources tell me that Koppelhus was made aware of it earlier and also observed some of it herself (Koppelhus has so far not responded to repeated requests for comment.)</p><p>"In the office, he continued to cycle through the women in the lab, approaching them under the guise of wanting to conduct research with them, but constantly flirting at their meetings," a former member of the lab told me. Finally, van der Reest went too far: According to a victim, who told me her story directly and in detail, van der Reest sexually assaulted her at a location off campus. (I am not giving details, including time and place, to protect her identity.)</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Currie is finally put in the picture; the university launches an investigation.</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nP_RgppOUD8/YQK1-EtHsDI/AAAAAAAANjE/8XkJHSX8J_AlsNxKvO5v1YxtJjQZ5vQdQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1197/Phil%2BCurrie.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1197" data-original-width="860" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nP_RgppOUD8/YQK1-EtHsDI/AAAAAAAANjE/8XkJHSX8J_AlsNxKvO5v1YxtJjQZ5vQdQCNcBGAsYHQ/w230-h320/Phil%2BCurrie.jpeg" width="230" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Philip Currie/ Jason Woodhead/ Wikimedia Commons</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p>In the spring of 2018, a paleontologist familiar with the above events told Currie and Koppelhus, without mentioning any names including van der Reest's, that there was a "serious problem" in the field camps that included sexual harassment and assault. Currie described this moment to me:</p><p>"When I first heard there was a problem, in spring 2018, somebody sat down and said we have a problem in the lab. Somebody there was in fact doing some things he wasn't supposed to do. Sexual harassment was implied but not said, and the name of the person was not said either."</p><p>Soon afterwards, according to Currie and other witnesses, the senior paleontologist sent around UA's sexual harassment policies to everyone in the lab. "I said basically I don't know who is causing the problem, but that I won't tolerate it, if anything is happening it has to end." Currie says that he made everyone sign a statement that they had looked at the regulations.</p><p>While many colleagues in the lab already knew or suspected that the culprit was van der Reest, Currie says that he continued to have no idea who it was until about fall 2018. At that time, during a meeting of the board of the <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2010/05/did-first-feathers-prevent-early-flight">Dinosaur Research Institute</a> (DRI), a private organization which funds paleontology research and in which both Currie and Koppelhus play a major role, a letter was read to those present which named van der Reest and provided some details of the allegations against him.</p><p>Currie says that the DRI board decided not to take any action at that meeting, but rather to develop an "ethics statement" to deal with such situations. Nevertheless, Currie and others say, the board was very divided about how to handle the situation (more on Currie's own position shortly.)</p><p>In early December 2018, according to numerous sources, a number of individuals contacted the office of the dean of students, <a href="https://www.ualberta.ca/alumni/volunteer/alumni-council/andre-costopoulos.html">Andre Costopoulos</a>, to report van der Reest's behavior. All told, there were two formal complainants and at least eight others who offered to provide testimony for a formal investigation. Currie recalls going with van der Reest to two meetings with the dean to discuss the investigation. During the first, they were told that an inquiry had begun, and van der Reest was instructed not to frequent the lab or make contact with students and other colleagues, nor to work at paleontology field camps; during the second meeting, Currie says, the dean admonished van der Reest for violating those restrictions.</p><p>Thus, despite the ban, one female paleontologist told me, van der Reest "would linger in the hall and talk to us in the doorway, eventually moseying into the room anyway. We saw him often in places he wasn't supposed to be."</p><p>(The university's public records office declined my request for documents about the investigation, telling me that it could neither "confirm or deny" that the inquiry had taken place. Likewise the communications office declined to discuss the matter with me, citing privacy concerns.)</p><p><br /></p><p><b>The investigation drags on; van der Reest is banned from a paleontology meeting; Currie reportedly continues to support van der Reest's research and funding requests.</b></p><p> In his interview with me, Currie insisted that he had been kept out of the loop by his junior colleagues, about the allegations concerning van der Reest and about the investigation as it proceeded. "I have nothing to hide," Currie told me, adding that he was "angry when [I was] shut out of this. People on both sides were cutting me out, students and others who were friends were assuming I knew all about it and was hiding things." Currie speculates that colleagues might have avoided telling him "to protect me, perhaps," adding that "none of the victims ever talked to me directly."</p><p>But other sources close to the situation have different memories.</p><p>"[Currie] was spoken to by others about Aaron, about other things that Aaron had done," says one paleontologist. "One, a trusted senior associate, told him that Aaron was a 'predator.' Still, he did nothing. His colleagues, and the chair of the faculty were perplexed and bothered that the supervisor took no action and kept Aaron as his student. As a result, as long as Aaron was at the university, the graduate students took it upon themselves to warn incoming undergraduate and graduate female students about him."</p><p>As for Koppelhus, she "went into denial and started going on about how the women should be smarter than to get themselves into risky situations" one colleague told me.</p><p>According to several sources, for a long period of time Currie and Koppelhus continued to support van der Reest's requests for funding from DRI, at the same that other board members vehemently opposed it. The couple continued this stance even after van der Reest was banned from attending the October 2019 meeting of the Society for Vertebrate Paleontology in Brisbane, Australia, after organizers were informed of the situation (according to one witness, van der Reest showed up at the meeting anyway, hanging out in a nearly cafe and at one point being escorted out of the meeting by security.)</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Once again institutions fail to act; van der Reest continues his career at the University of Saskatchewan.</b></p><p>According to Currie and others, the university never told anyone the outcome of its investigation into van der Reest's conduct. Van der Reest himself told colleagues that it was over, and indeed he was allowed to finish his masters at UA, under Currie's supervision.</p><p>Some sources told me that van der Reest was represented by at least one attorney during the investigation, "lawyers that were a bit too good for someone on a grad student stipend," one student said, adding that the university wanted victims to file police reports, which they were reluctant to do.</p><p>"I never got anything from the dean's office [and] never anything from Aaron formally," Currie says, adding that he told van der Reest "you've got to get a letter from the university saying it's over, otherwise who is going to believe you? He said it was a good idea, he would do that, but several months later he had not produced one to me, and never has."</p><p>Meanwhile, at the DRI, the debate over whether or not to fund van der Reest continued. I asked Currie to respond to assertions by sources that he continued to support the grant despite everything that had happened. Since Currie has continued on the record, I think it best to quote his full response to me, for full context, which he emailed me on July 8:</p><p><br /></p><p><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;">Hi Michael. Sorry about the delayed response but we are in the field now and connections are sporadic (there were none yesterday or earlier this evening, so I suspect it has something to do with how many people are online in the park). </span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Interesting to hear that you learned about what went on in a DRI meeting when this flared into a major dispute that almost tore the organization apart because several of us were accused of telling people (specifically Aaron) outside of the organization that he should retract his grant request, which he did. No, it was not me (or Eva) who told him to withdraw, even though I am sure many in that meeting probably wished he had never put in the grant request in the first place. In the long run, it is not an issue because the board turned down the grant request for now, and Aaron withdrew the request within days of the meeting. But the accusations of people talking of board matters outside of the meetings is clearly a huge concern, because it is working in two diametrically opposing directions (some accusing board members of talking directly with Aaron, and others taking those accusations to you...and both sides accusing the others of breach of confidentiality).</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">You may have got a version of this email last night (I thought I had sent it then, but found this in the 'draft' box this morning). Thank you for continuing to be fair by checking with both sides. Now we are off to the field for the day. Phil</div><p><br /></p><p>Meanwhile, van der Reest, having matriculated from UA with his masters, began applying for PhD programs. Currie says that he wrote "at least a half dozen" letters of recommendation for the student, but says that he always included a note referring to the investigation at UA. "I don't believe in foisting problems off on other people," Currie told me. "I always included a statement at the end that Aaron had had some troubles, I don't have the details, they should contact [UA] and find out the status."</p><p>Van der Reest was eventually accepted at the University of Saskatchewan to do his PhD studies with <a href="https://artsandscience.usask.ca/profile/LBuatois#/profile">Luis Buatois</a>, where he is now based. I made two attempts to contact Buatois for comment and to ask what he knew and had been told about van der Reest's past history; eventually a vice provost responded to my queries, emphasizing how seriously her university takes misconduct allegations but asking me not to contact Buatois or other staff or faculty again (I politely declined to agree to this.)</p><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><span face=""Segoe UI", sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Dear Mr. Balter,<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><span face=""Segoe UI", sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><span face=""Segoe UI", sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">The University of Saskatchewan has robust policies and procedures associated with both Discrimination and Harassment and Sexual Assault Prevention. These policies are diligently enforced, and the university will respond immediately to any complaints that are brought forward. Due to privacy restrictions, members of the university community are not permitted to provide you with information regarding individual students. Please do not have any further contact with Professor Buatois or other faculty or staff regarding specific student matters.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #006a40; font-size: 12pt;">Patricia McDougall,</span></b><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;"> PhD</span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt;"><br />Vice Provost Teaching, Learning and Student Experience</span><span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-size: 10pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 5.5pt;"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #006a40; font-size: 10pt;">University of Saskatchewan<u></u><u></u></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: #006a40; font-size: 10pt;">Teaching, Learning and Student Experience (TLSE)</span></b></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Lessons learned: Institutional failures continue to allow harassers to be passed. Who is taking responsibility for the consequences?</b></p><p>Throughout this report I have said that the allegations against van der Reest are just that, allegations, and we simply don't know what the University of Alberta concluded in its investigation--for the simple reason that the university will not tell anyone. What I have been told, however, is that some of the victims and witnesses were reluctant to go on the record and be named in the investigation. Given how most institutions handle (or mishandle) misconduct accusations--something that I and many other #MeToo reporters have documented time and time again--it is no surprise that vulnerable students do not trust them to do the right thing and to protect them from retaliation and other consequences of coming forward.</p><p>What makes matters worse is that institutions always insist on "confidentiality," and repeatedly tell victims and other witnesses that they should not talk publicly about what is going on. But way too often, this chronic lack of transparency is designed to protect the reputation of the institution, rather than the victims and survivors of abuses. In some cases, it allows perpetrators to maintain that they were exonerated by an investigation when that was either not the case, or barely a half-truth.</p><p>(Nevertheless, I am told, some of the more junior administrators at UA involved in the investigation did take it seriously, even if the end result was buried and kept even from the complainants.)</p><p>But while the accusations against van der Reest are "only" allegations, my reporting, based on a significant number of direct witnesses, gives them serious credibility, I think anyone honest person reading this would agree.</p><p>Aaron van der Reest is still a student, early in his career. But so far nothing has happened that would discourage him from engaging in sexual harassment, or even sexual assault, in the future. In fact, his first reaction to the realization that his conduct might be exposed was to retain an attorney and begin threatening both this reporter and witnesses.</p><p>Until the publication of this report, it is likely that very few at the University of Saskatchewan knew about his past history; obviously, they will know now. What they do with the information, time will tell. I hope they will not create, through negligence and apathy, new victims in the future.</p><p>As for van der Reest, somehow he thought that by threatening a reporter and other witnesses with legal action he would escape the truth and consequences of what he has done. I believe in redemption and in the principle that people can change. But van der Reest should not be surprised if, in the future, others refuse to give him that benefit of the doubt.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Update July 30, 2021:</b> It often happens that after I publish an investigation of this kind, additional sources get in touch to tell me what they know. That has already happened, and I will be processing the information they are providing. I can say now that I have confirmation that <b>van der Reest was let go from the Royal Tyrrell Museum</b>, some years before he began at University of Alberta, for sexual harassment (his conduct towards women was widely regarded as "creepy.") See also the note in the text above.</p><p><b>Update July 31, 2021:</b> More witnesses are approaching me to discuss their knowledge of van der Reest's past behavior, including the events at the <b>Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology</b> described above that led to his termination from the museum. The key event was van der Reest's <b>severe and incessant pursuit</b> of a young woman he had apparently become obsessed with, to the point that he was making her miserable and her friends and colleagues had to go to extreme lengths to protect her. Museum officials were made aware of this, but found a pretext to terminate him due to his unauthorized personal use of a museum vehicle.</p><p>Philip Currie was a <a href="https://dinomuseum.ca/media/about-dr-philip-currie/">cofounder of the museum</a> and reportedly working at the museum when these events took place. I have asked him to comment on what he knew at the time about van der Reest's abuses and the circumstances of his termination from the museum, and will report back if and when he responds.</p><p><b>Meanwhile I am going to ask van der Reest's attorney to rescind all "cease and desist" letters he has sent to me and witnesses of this misconduct, and to provide assurances that he will not abuse the laws of Alberta and of Canada to help his client intimidate victims and witnesses into being silent about what they have experienced and observed. Obviously any such legal action would ultimately fail.</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Update August 3, 2021: Phil Currie acknowledges being aware of earlier sexual harassment allegations concerning Aaron van der Reest more than a year before the events of 2018.</b></p><p>As I reported above, van der Reest was let go from the Royal Tyrrell Museum (in 2003) at least in part because of serious allegations of sexual predation of a colleague. I asked Phil Currie what he knew about this and when he knew it. It turns out that he heard about it no later than winter 2016/17, by his own account, from what appears to have been a reliable source. As my discussions with Currie continue to be on the record, I am pasting in his response to my question, which is comes first, then followed by my latest email to him. I will update this thread again if he responds.</p><p><br /></p><p>July 31</p><p><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: small;">Dear Phil,</span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Since the story was published, witnesses to what happened at the museum in 2003 have approached me to fill in details, which I have been updating on the post.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">It is now clear that Aaron engaged in severe predation of a young woman during May and June of that year, who had to be protected from his relentless pursuit of her. I am told that the museum finally had a reason to formally terminate Aaron when he engaged in unauthorized personal use of a van, but that the museum knew about the sexual harassment and that this figured into the decision to get rid of him.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">My question is what you knew or were told about these events at the time or afterwards. Did museum officials or anyone else tell you what happened at the time or later, and what did Aaron tell you about why he was let go from the museum?</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Thanks for any responses you can make. I hope you will continue to engage in the transparency you have shown so far in this matter, which allows me to be as fair as possible in my reporting.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">best regards,</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Michael</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">August 2</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div dir="ltr" style="font-size: small;">Hi Michael. There is not too much I can report about that incident. There was (and probably still is) little contact between the people at the Tyrrell Museum who do research and the people that hire the summer staff. I was not aware of who had been hired for the summer that year because they started after our fieldwork started in Dinosaur Provincial Park (May 10th). Researchers are usually not asked to evaluate prospective student summer staff applications (particularly if it is not directly under their program). Aaron (I assume) was presumably part of the Day Digs public excavation program, so not in my jurisdiction (and it was in a different part of the province). I never heard any skuttlebut about his hiring, employment and termination until long after he had come and gone. And even then there were many different versions as to why he was let go (including "lording it over" other students, using a government truck in an unauthorized way, running out of funds, etc.). I suspect that the story you have is correct that when he was terminated he was not told what the real reason was behind the decision. I did talk to him at some point when he became my student (at that time I thought the "lording it over" other students was the reason he was let go) and he genuinely seemed shocked that he did not know there was an alternative reason for him being let go. I did subsequently hear (ironically when Donald Trump was elected) of the "sexual predation" story from someone close enough to it that they knew the person involved. However it is very hard to act on something when people don't want to become directly involved. Hope that helps. Cheers, Phil</div><div dir="ltr" style="font-size: small;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-size: small;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-size: small;"><br /></div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;">August 2</div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;">Hi Phil,</div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;">I have pulled my thoughts together about this and hope you will respond to a few more questions.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;">As you probably know, you are getting a lot of criticism right now from colleagues who have long admired you and your science. A lot of this is happening on Facebook, in particular the Women in Vertebrate Paleontology group. I admit to being perplexed myself, as one who has long considered you a scientific hero.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;">If you heard credible information (or even just rumors) around the time Trump was elected (winter 2016/17), did that not raise a red flag for you? And when further allegations came up in 2018, which led to Aaron being investigated (there was more than one complainant at that time, and numerous other witnesses) did that not raise the red flag even higher?</div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;">To be frank, it seems that you are putting a lot of the blame on colleagues who you said would not come forward or would not talk to you about these things. But in talking to colleagues, it is clear that many or most saw you as Aaron’s protector and sponsor, not just around #MeToo issues but other matters around the lab (office space, etc.) and within DRI concerning his grant funding request (you have said that was divisive but all my sources say you supported Aaron at least initially.)</div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;">So, as a reporter it’s not my job to give you suggestions about what to say, but perhaps it is time for you to express some contrition about the way you handled all this, or at least some self-criticism and acknowledgement that you could have handled it better? Aaron is now at Saskatchewan and the exposure of his story is not likely to help him there, it would seem.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;">As things stand now there are some who are beginning to see you as Aaron’s chief enabler, and I am sure that is not an impression you want to leave with anyone.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;">Thanks for any thoughts you can send my way,</div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;">Michael</div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;"><b>Update Aug 19, 2021: </b>I am now hearing credible allegations of sexual harassment concerning two male faculty members in the University of Saskatchewan Geological Sciences department. These are apparently well known situations to those colleagues who have been in the department over the past years. Perhaps this helps to explain why Aaron van der Reest was able to be admitted to the department despite his past history, which Phil Currie says he made known those who recruited him? Anyone who wants to share information can get in touch with me privately, in complete confidence.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;"><b>Continued update: </b>Thanks to a number of brave sources, I can now update the reporting to indicate that one of the two male faculty members referred to above is <b><a href="https://artsandscience.usask.ca/profile/BPratt#/profile">Brian Pratt</a>. </b>I hope to be able to name the second one soon.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;"><b>Update Aug 20</b>: The other individual is <b><a href="https://artsandscience.usask.ca/profile/WPatterson#/profile">Bill Patterson</a></b>. I always wait before naming someone to be sure I have enough sources and direct testimony. There has been an outpouring of sources coming forward about two these men as well as others, and in other Canadian universities. In some cases the institutions have taken token actions but these abusers are still in their posts. Let's clean this up.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-size: small;"><br /></div><div dir="auto"><b>Update Sep 21</b>: Last month I invoked Canada's freedom of information laws to request all records that the University of Saskatchewan possessed concerning sexual harassment allegations and investigations involving <b>Brian Pratt</b>, mentioned above. I have just heard back from the university's Legal Office that the university <i>"refuses to confirm or deny that these records exist or ever did exist."</i> This is not helpful to students who need to know whether it is safe to work with Pratt, or indeed if the university's Geological Sciences Department is providing a safe environment.</div></div><div style="font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="font-size: small;"><div class="adm" style="margin: 5px 0px;"><div class="ajR h4" id="q_2940" style="background-color: #e8eaed; border-bottom-left-radius: 5.5px; border-bottom-right-radius: 5.5px; border-radius: 5.5px; border-top-left-radius: 5.5px; border-top-right-radius: 5.5px; border: none; clear: both; color: #500050; cursor: pointer; font-size: 11px; line-height: 6px; outline: none; position: relative; width: 24px;"></div></div></div></div>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-23456229825575090652021-07-18T17:14:00.009-04:002021-07-21T13:53:52.893-04:00The Kurin v. Balter lawsuit is over, with a settlement between the parties.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BCCbonYZqJs/YPFjoUqx67I/AAAAAAAANgo/5CiiOX_XXEgPiYxg2fHVD8XRRmKUsAfWgCNcBGAsYHQ/s656/Case%2Bdismissed%2Bby%2BBriccetti.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="328" data-original-width="656" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BCCbonYZqJs/YPFjoUqx67I/AAAAAAAANgo/5CiiOX_XXEgPiYxg2fHVD8XRRmKUsAfWgCNcBGAsYHQ/s320/Case%2Bdismissed%2Bby%2BBriccetti.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>Thirteen months after University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) archaeologist Danielle Kurin sued me in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of NY for allegedly defaming her, the lawsuit has been dismissed by the federal judge in charge of the case. Kurin and I have agreed to a settlement of the lawsuit, one which involves some give and take as I will explain in a moment. Often, such legal settlements are kept confidential, but this one is not. While I will not actually publish the settlement agreement, I am free to discuss what is in it. Most importantly, I think that the agreement safeguards both freedom of the press and the rights of victims and survivors to tell their stories.</p><p>None of my reporting about Danielle Kurin will be deleted, retracted, corrected, revised, or clarified in any way. What I wrote about her stands and will remain published and available as it is. From my perspective, this is a just outcome, as I stand by all of my reporting, which has been supported by the thousands of pages of discovery documents obtained during the lawsuit, from UCSB and other sources. Most of the documents remain under a court protective order and cannot be revealed--with one critical exception.</p><p>In settling the case, Danielle Kurin and I made a trade, in which each of us gave up something we wanted. For her part, Kurin (and UCSB) agreed to lift the protective order on a document I consider to be the most important of all the thousands of pages we received, the Letter of Censure in which UCSB formally charged and reprimanded Kurin for her misconduct in 2015/2016.</p><p>For my part, I have agreed not to write or report about Kurin ever again after the publication of this final blog post. To some, it may seem odd that after fighting for 13 months for my First Amendment rights to do just that, I would now give them up voluntarily. I will explain the calculations I made in doing this below. But first, I think it is important for readers to see and understand the Letter of Censure, which was part of Kurin's academic personnel file for three years and is published here for the first time.</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>The Letter of Censure</b></p><p>In what follows, I will avoid providing links to my previous posts to avoid republishing them, in keeping with a non-disparagement clause in the settlement agreement (that clause applies to both me and Kurin.) However, everything is on the blog, and readers can find specific reports by searching or scrolling for them.</p><p>As I previously reported and is now a matter of public record, in June 2016 Kurin and her partner and later husband, Enmanuel Gomez Choque, were found to have committed misconduct in a Title IX investigation conducted by UCSB. Gomez was found to have sexually harassed students at a 2015 archaeology field school in Peru led by Kurin, and Kurin was found to have retaliated against a student who filed a Title IX complaint. The inquiry included interviews with witnesses who described to investigators acts by Kurin which could have been construed as retaliation and intimidation against others as well.</p><p>(Kurin married Gomez in February 2016, while the Title IX investigation was ongoing; she divorced him in 2019, final decree effective December 1 of that year.)</p><p>In her First Amended Complaint against me filed in federal court, Kurin described these events as follows:</p><p><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">52. During the course of its investigation, UCSB became aware of communications </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Kurin had with participants who had been on the trip to Peru. UCSB then investigated Kurin’s </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">interactions with the individuals.</span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">53. Between 2016 and 2018, Kurin engaged in the UCSB investigatory and disciplinary process, and utilizing the proper forums available to her as a professor, she amicably settled the matter with UCSB in March 2018. Neither UCSB nor any other entity found Kurin guilty or liable for any misconduct.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">It is true that Kurin reached a settlement with the university that allowed her to remain employed there, but put her on a three year administrative leave that expired in fall 2019 when she returned to teaching (these statements are based on my prior reporting and not the UCSB protected documents.) But the last sentence of this excerpt, that UCSB did not find Kurin "guilty or liable for any misconduct"--central to her defamation charges against me--must be evaluated in light of the Letter of Censure.</p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">The Title IX was just the first step in Kurin's disciplinary process, as the Letter of Censure reveals (with apologies for the poor reproduction.)</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-N2TqeT84gic/YPCG1cmdwOI/AAAAAAAANgg/k4KjJnB7TWgDBiKlluY16U1v6MMteIRewCNcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1574" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-N2TqeT84gic/YPCG1cmdwOI/AAAAAAAANgg/k4KjJnB7TWgDBiKlluY16U1v6MMteIRewCNcBGAsYHQ/w491-h640/image.png" width="491" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>The Letter of Censure makes clear that the findings of the Title IX investigation were taken up by the <a href="https://senate.ucsb.edu/bylaws-and-regulations/campus-procedures-for-enforcement-of-the-faculty-code-of-conduct.pdf">Charges Committee of the UCSB Academic Senate</a>, the next step in the disciplinary process. The Charges Committee not only found that Kurin had retaliated against the Title IX complainant, but also engaged in "acts of harassment and threats of retaliation" against other students, including presumably other witnesses (these acts are documented in the Title IX findings).</p><p>During the three years that Kurin was on administrative leave, the reasons for her absence were kept secret from most other members of her anthropology department, except for the department chairs. As I reported previously, over several years, Kurin appeared to have misled colleagues about what had happened. For example, in a June 2020 department meeting at which Kurin announced to her colleagues that she had filed this lawsuit against me, she told them that the Title IX proceeding was wrong and unfair. Her signature on the 2018 Letter of Censure, taking formal responsibility for her actions, puts new perspective on her comments at that meeting.</p><p>I will have more to say about this process shortly.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Why have I given up my First Amendment rights to continue to report about Danielle Kurin?</b></p><p>As I wrote above, it may seem odd for a journalist who has fought for freedom of the press to then give up certain First Amendment rights. I feel that I owe readers an explanation for my thought processes, although I suspect that some will have already guessed what they were.</p><p>1. The <b>Letter of Censure</b> is a critical piece of evidence, not only for the lawsuit but also for revealing the truth about the events I wrote about for more than a year. Under the court's protective order, I was not entitled to publish it. Had I settled the lawsuit in such a way as to preserve my rights to continue reporting about Kurin, as I could have done--for example, on whether or not she gets tenure from the university, which has not yet been announced as of this writing--I would have sacrificed the revelation of this key document.</p><p>2. I have already reported in great detail about Danielle Kurin and others associated with her, including her former husband, <b>Enmanuel Gomez Choque</b>. If Kurin does something newsworthy in the future, the First Amendment rights of all other reporters in the world remain preserved.</p><p>3. On a more personal note, I feel that I have already reported and written enough about Danielle Kurin<b>. </b>Her filing of this lawsuit made it necessary to say a great deal more over the past 13 months, especially as new information came to light. I know that my friends and colleagues feel that I have done enough and should move on to other projects, as does my long suffering wife. <b>I helped survivors tell their stories</b>, which was always my job as a #MeToo reporter, and I am proud of that work.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Institutional failures: The role of UCSB.</b></p>In issuing a Letter of Censure to Danielle Kurin and putting her on administrative leave, the university actually <a href="https://www.ucop.edu/academic-personnel-programs/_files/apm/apm-016.pdf">invoked the least serious punishment available</a> to it under its policies on Faculty Conduct and the Administration of Discipline. The most serious punishment, of course, would have been dismissal from the university.<p></p><p>In my personal opinion, UCSB might have been able to avoid getting to this stage had it acted earlier and decisively in matters concerning Danielle Kurin's conduct. As I reported earlier, in 2014 and 2015, at least two students in Kurin's osteology classes complained about her conduct.</p><p>And yet 2014 was Kurin's first year as tenure track faculty at UCSB. Had the university made it clear to Kurin that this kind of behavior was unacceptable and that it could have serious consequences if it continued--had the university provided Kurin with help for the stresses she was perhaps undergoing as a new faculty member--it's possible that the later misconduct, retaliation and harassment, could have been avoided.</p><p>It is also possible that the sexual assault allegedly committed by Gomez at Kurin's 2018 field school in Peru might never have happened.</p><p>In my view, UCSB, like so many other universities and institutions, was probably more concerned about its own reputation than the well-being of the students and its professor. I don't think I have to tell readers here that this is a consistent and endemic pattern that everyone who tries to fight abuses has run up against. The lack of transparency and the secrecy of disciplinary proceedings may be necessary in some cases to protect the privacy of students and others, but the end result is that misconduct is covered up and victims and survivors are often abandoned and isolated. I can assure everyone that survivors only come to reporters as a last resort, when all other avenues to justice and truth have been blocked.</p><p>While I cannot discuss what was in the thousands of pages that UCSB gave us, I can say that those documents strongly suggest that the university did not act responsibly in this case. Institutions need to do much better, because the end result of throwing survivors under the bus <a href="https://michaelbalter.substack.com/p/investigation-the-franki-aymond-story">can be</a> <a href="https://michaelbalter.substack.com/p/investigation-the-franki-aymond-story-eb6">very serious</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Correcting the record.</b></p><p>When a lawsuit is settled, all of the documents filed with the court remain a public record under most circumstances. Those include Kurin's original pleadings in the case (Complaints), my responses to them, letters to the judge, protective orders, and so forth. So both Kurin and I will have to live with what we said about each other on the court docket, whether or not those statements were accurate.</p><p>The most comprehensive response to Kurin's allegations can be found in my <a href="https://mbalter.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/kurin-v-balter-amended-answer-to-first-amended-complaint-final.pdf">First Amended Answer</a> to the complaint, which goes over each of her many claims and responds to them in kind. Anyone wanting to know what this case was about in detail might consider reading it.</p><p>In letters to the judge and to the magistrate handling the lawsuit, Kurin and her legal team made statements that I consider to be demonstrably false. Most recently, they told the magistrate that I had been fired from the City College of New York (totally untrue), where I taught introduction to journalism during the 2019/2020 academic year; and that I was never a "professor" of journalism at any time (I was an adjunct professor at both Boston University and New York University.) </p><p>Some of their letters to the Court also reference false complaints that had been brought against me by a small group of anthropologists to the National Association of Science Writers (NASW), the key professional organization in my field which I belonged to for 35 years. I have previously corrected the record on the NASW allegations in prior posts on this blog, and I will continue to do so as time goes on.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Final thoughts, acknowledgments, and thanks.</b></p><p>I'd first like to say something about Danielle Kurin. I do not know if UCSB will give her tenure and allow her to continue to interact with students. Whatever happens, Kurin is in her late 30s and has most of her life ahead of her. And she has demonstrated certain talents, in particular her abilities as a teacher, which give hope that she might be able to turn away from her past conduct and do good in the world. Some commenters on earlier blog posts have said that they believe in redemption, and I do too.</p><p>But the evidence is crystal clear that, as Kurin acknowledged in writing when she signed the Letter of Censure, she engaged in conduct that fell below the university's standards for faculty conduct, and what should have been her own standards too. In my opinion, taking responsibility for her actions, not just in writing but in reality, is the only path forward for her.</p><p>The outcome of this lawsuit, which I consider very positive, would not have been possible without the steadfast representation, legal expertise, friendship, and support of <b>my <i>pro bono</i> attorneys at BakerHostetler: Mark Bailen, Melissa Carvalho, Anat Maytal, Renee Knudsen, Tara Turner, and Madison Gaudreau. </b>They obviously did not help me for the money, but for shared principles of justice, truth, and the First Amendment, and they will always have my gratitude and admiration. Their professionalism and loyalty to their clients has restored my faith in attorneys, which has sometimes been challenged over the years.</p><p>I also thank <b>Paul Safier, of Ballard Spahr</b>, who provided very important legal representation near the beginning of the case.</p><p>I thank the <b>Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press</b>, which put me in contact with the BakerHostetler team after I realized that fighting this lawsuit <i>pro se</i> was not realistic, and the <b>Committee to Protect Journalists,</b> which provided me with a grant to my legal defense fund.</p><p>Speaking of the legal defense fund, I of course want to thank the nearly 200 donors who contributed to my <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/freedom-of-the-press-defense-fund-kurin-v-balter">GoFundMe page</a>. Litigation is extremely expensive, and some were generous beyond belief and donated repeatedly. I salute them as friends in the good fight. These funds allowed me to get to this point of settlement and paid for the lawsuit's costs and expenses (but not legal fees.)</p><p>Special thanks to <b>Thomas Jung,</b> my cyber consultant, who provided invaluable help whenever it was needed.</p><p>To the <b>survivors, witnesses, and other sources</b> who helped with the reporting and later either stepped forward or answered the call to help with the lawsuit, my heartfelt thanks and gratitude. I did this for you.</p><p>To the <b>friends and colleagues </b>who supported me in so many ways, and are too many to name, I send love and the promise that if they are ever sued I will be right by their sides. Being sued can be interesting, but it is never fun, I can assure anyone who has not yet had the experience.</p><p>Finally to <b>my wife, Catherine</b>, who knows me better than anyone and who understands better than anyone why I fought this fight, and who I was doing it for. All my love.</p><p>This is my last blog post about Danielle Kurin, but it is not my last post about the #MeToo movement, nor about bullies and sexual predators. They can take no comfort whatsoever in the outcome of this case.</p><p><br /></p><p> -- 30 --</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RVQA7ie3a14/YPGGyE0qlfI/AAAAAAAANg0/kcGPmMgV2kAcRXjmsL-zQXY0Qom2DT3QwCNcBGAsYHQ/s2048/The%2BReal%2BCamille.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RVQA7ie3a14/YPGGyE0qlfI/AAAAAAAANg0/kcGPmMgV2kAcRXjmsL-zQXY0Qom2DT3QwCNcBGAsYHQ/s320/The%2BReal%2BCamille.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Real Camille</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p><b>Note: While I am not turning off comments for this blog post, I will be moderating them as usual. Please keep your remarks in the spirit of this blog post. I will not publish comments that defame or disparage Danielle Kurin, or myself, as per the agreement. So please keep your thoughts on the broader issues that were involved in this litigation or questions about the settlement itself. Thank you.</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Update July 21: Now that readers of this blog post have had a few days to comment on it and discuss the basic issues, I am going to shut off comments. I think that doing so is in the spirit of the settlement agreement, even if the letter of the agreement might not require it. I hope that those following these events will be able to find other venues and avenues to discuss them, independent of any platform that I have provided. Thank you.</b></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Michael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.com10