The truth at last, or at least some of it, about Peter Rathjen, the U of Adelaide, the U of Melbourne, the U of Tasmania, etc. [Updated Sept 3, 2020: University of Melbourne "leader" finally speaks]

Peter Rathjen, former VC and president, U Adelaide

It may take a long time for the mighty to fall, but more and more often these days, they eventually do.

Such is the fate of Australian scientist Peter Rathjen, immediate past Vice-Chancellor and president of the University of Adelaide. Today in Australia, Bruce Lander, an Independent Commissioner Against Corruption, released a statement about his investigation of Rathjen, who has a long history of sexual misconduct.

The statement, a brief summary of a much longer report that is being kept secret, outlines Rathjen's latest abuses, which included the sexual harassment (including unwanted sexual touching) of two women employed by the University of Adelaide. Lander found that their allegations of harassment (or perhaps more properly, assault) after a university function in April 2019 were true. Lander also found that Rathjen lied both to him and the university's Chancellor about a number of matters related to his past misconduct.

I was gratified to see (pp. 5-6 and 8 of Lander's statement) that the inquiry included questions about prior misconduct that I had previously published on this blog. My first mention of allegations against Rathjen were very brief, part of a much longer report in July 2019 on bullying and sexual harassment by the former director of the University of Adelaide's ancient DNA lab, Alan Cooper. More recently, I expanded on those allegations, in a blog post last May. When confronted with these allegations, Rathjen lied about them several times, as Lander reports.

The report also confirms one of the most serious allegations against Rathjen, that he sexually assaulted a student while science dean at the University of Melbourne. I had originally withheld the name of the university involved at the request of a colleague of the victim of that attack, but since it is now public--and widely reported in the Australian media--there is no longer any point in doing so. This also raises serious questions about whether multiple institutions in Australia "passed the harasser" despite their knowledge of Rathjen's misconduct, thus allowing him to undeservedly climb to the summits of academia.

Indeed, there are already signs of damage control across Australian universities. Here, for example, is a message sent by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Tasmania on the heels of the ICAC report. Note that  Vice-Chancellor Rufus Black states that an investigation at UTAS found no evidence that Rathjen had committed sexual harassment or sexual assault while there. He didn't need to, however. As I reported, while Vice-Chancellor at UTAS,  Rathjen protected a convicted pedophile from being kicked off campus even after he had re-offended, and despite a campaign led by #MeToo activist Nina Funnell and others to get the university to do the right thing.

From: Professor Rufus Black <listserv@UTAS.EDU.AU>

Subject: Peter Rathjen ICAC report released | We stand ready to support our community

Date: 26 August 2020 at 9:33:56 am GMT+2

Reply-To: <vice.chancellor@UTAS.EDU.AU>

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VICE-CHANCELLOR Professor Rufus Black Dear Colleagues, The South Australian Independent Commission Against Corruption has today released a statement regarding its investigation into the immediate past Vice-Chancellor of our University, Professor Peter Rathjen. The statement upholds that Peter Rathjen engaged in conduct which was both unwanted and unwelcome with two women, and that he subsequently lied to try to protect his position. We believe the accounts contained in the ICAC statement, including its information that there was a complaint regarding Peter Rathjen’s conduct during his time at the University of Melbourne prior to coming to our University. When ICAC made public its investigation into Peter Rathjen’s behaviour, despite it not involving our University, we undertook our own investigation and to date have determined that there was no known evidence of sexual harassment or sexual assault involving Professor Peter Rathjen during his tenure at the University of Tasmania. Today I want to assure you that there is no tolerance at our University for sexual harassment or sexual assault. If there are unreported, undetected issues in Tasmania, we are ready to support anyone with experiences they want to share, knowing how difficult it can be to come forward. If staff or students want to share experiences related to Peter Rathjen’s time as Vice-Chancellor, we ask that they make contact with Chief People Officer Jill Bye at jill.bye@utas.edu.au. While details of the ICAC report relate to things that happened elsewhere, for many, especially those who worked with Peter Rathjen, they may feel all too close to home. If so, general support and counselling is available to University staff and students if they need support relating to news of the ICAC report. Staff should phone 1800 650 204 and students should phone 1800 817 675. We are ready to support our community through an episode that will be challenging and confronting for many. Not only have we no tolerance for sexual harassment or assault, as a community we look to a future where our culture is consistently inclusive, equitable and supported by the strength that diversity brings. Yours, Professor Rufus Black, VICE-CHANCELLOR

Professor Rufus Black Vice-Chancellor Office of the Vice-Chancellor University of Tasmania Private Bag 51, Hobart, TAS, 7001 T: +61 3 6226 2003 vice.chancellor@utas.edu.au CRICOS 00586B

Black's letter is typical, and will be typical going forward, of attempts by university administrators to jump clear of the Rathjen scandal and claim that they either did nor know or took action as soon as they did know. And they will point to the fact that Rathjen (and  thus perhaps his victims) finally got justice as proof that the system works. Actually, it does not work very often, as the failure of the University of Melbourne to alert the academic community about Rathjen's crimes indicates.

At the University of Adelaide, for example, officials continue to look the other way despite clear abuses in the School of Education and the dental school, situations on which I have also reported (see the long, long  list of  comments on this blog post for details about the dental school and allegations of bullying, mismanagement, and  abuse.)

I'd like to end on a personal note, one which I find amusing, as serious as it is. As readers of this blog know, I have been sued for defamation by University of California, Santa Barbara archaeologist Danielle Kurin, whose misconduct I have reported on extensively. As part of the "evidence" that I falsely accuse academics of being sexual predators and the like, Kurin includes a number of examples. One of them, mentioned in section 44 of her Amended Complaint, is none other than that of Peter Rathjen.


Update August 27:  Elise Worthington and  Conor Duffy of Australia's ABC have more today on the University of Melbourne investigation, which Rathjen lied about when asked, according to the ICAC statement. Serious sexual misconduct is a euphemism here for sexual assault.


Update August 28: Adelaide bully and enabler express their concerns about the ICAC report and Rathjen. 

As usually happens when an institution suddenly faces a public scandal, its leaders have issued statements to the rank and file expressing their concerns and assuring everyone that they are there to listen. The first of these comes from Faye McCallum, head of the School of Education, whose own history of bullying I reported on earlier; the second from Mike Brooks, who has been appointed interim Vice-Chancellor and President to replace Rathjen, and who earlier (as Deputy VC for Research) was a key enabler of Alan Cooper, ancient DNA director at Adelaide fired for bullying students and postdocs.

Note that McCallum says everything is going to calm down and advises staff not to talk to the media. Only when staff started talking to the media did anything start to change.

From: Vice Chancellor <vice-chancellor@adelaide.edu.au>
Sent:
Subject: [Alluniversity] ICAC Findings

Dear Colleagues

Earlier this week the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (ICAC) issued a public statement and findings following his inquiry into allegations of improper conduct by the University’s former Vice-Chancellor, Peter Rathjen.  Professor Rathjen was found guilty of serious misconduct under the ICAC Act.

ICAC made no findings of maladministration or misconduct about any person other than the former Vice-Chancellor.

Findings about the former Vice-Chancellor are deeply shocking. I acknowledge the distress caused to the victims impacted by the behaviour of the former Vice-Chancellor.

This news will have been profoundly disturbing to staff and students as well as members of our wider community.

As our Chancellor, Ms Catherine Branson AC QC, has repeatedly stated, the former Vice-Chancellor’s conduct is unacceptable. It is grossly at odds with the values, conduct and behaviour expected of any staff member. The University is fortunate to have had the benefit of the Chancellor’s exemplary leadership over the period of the ICAC inquiry.

All of the recommendations made by ICAC to improve or clarify our policies and procedures have been accepted in full.

I strongly encourage any staff or students who have experienced sexual assault or sexual harassment to come forward and report it tocomplaints@adelaide.edu.au.  You will have the University’s full support.

Along with the senior leadership, I am personally committed to fostering a culture and environment in which staff and students can thrive and feel safe, valued and welcome. All members of our community deserve to be treated with the utmost respect and collegiality.

Kind regards

Mike

Professor Mike Brooks FTSE FACS

Interim Vice-Chancellor and President

The University of Adelaide | Adelaide SA 5005

( 08 8313 5201 | * vice-chancellor@adelaide.edu.au

Update August 30: There has been a huge amount of media coverage in Australia about Rathjen's final downfall, which I have not been posting here because I assume that readers in Australia at least are seeing much of it (and a frustrating amount of it is behind firewalls, meaning I can't read a lot of it myself.) But I did want to link to this very good piece in The Guardian by Tory Shepherd. Tory was one of the first journalists to begin reporting on the rot inside the University of Adelaide (aside from me, of course) back when I was reporting on the many abuses of former ancient DNA director Alan Cooper. She also was very good about crediting the work of the reporter who broke the Cooper story, something that both Science and Nature refused to do in their own coverage of the firing of one of ancient DNA's leading pioneers. 

As I have said many times, the most important reason to credit the previous work of other journalists is not professional courtesy--although journalistic ethics actually requires it--but to put readers in the picture about how particular stories came about. In the Cooper case, for example, it was important for readers to know that former members of his lab had approached a reporter and told their stories, and that only then had the university begun its own investigation. By not mentioning this, Science, Nature, and any other publication that failed to cite the previous reporting gave readers the false impression that the University of Adelaide had simply begun the investigation because it was concerned about protecting its staff--rather than the truth, which is that Adelaide was concerned about protecting its reputation.

In the case of Peter Rathjen, fortunately, the  ICAC statement specifically referred to my previous reporting (pp. 5-6) and the role it played in the investigation, which makes it (more) difficult for media accounts to ignore it.

In Tory Shepherd's case, as I say above, she was always good about not only professional courtesy but also providing that essential context for readers. In her Guardian piece, Tory points out that Rathjen's reputation for sleaziness was long known:

"But to many in South Australia’s academic world, the finding was hardly surprising.

Rumours about Peter Rathjen’s conduct have been swirling for years. After his appointment in 2018, he became a well-known mover and shaker in Adelaide, a deal-maker. He was media savvy, often described as charming. In private, he was often described to Guardian Australia as sleazy."

and:

"The incident has prompted obvious disgust at Rathjen’s behaviour but also questions about the university’s handling of the complaints, about its culture and about its payout to Rathjen.

“The number of people expressing a total lack of surprise at this finding is absolutely damning,” prominent University of New South Wales academic Darren Saunders tweeted.

“The number of people in power who ignored the ‘rumours’, particularly those who were still in Adelaide when he returned … or those he knew in other places and didn’t say or do anything … if people who have the power and authority to make change don’t, who will?” former University of Adelaide postdoctoral fellow Hannah Brown replied."

The fall of Rathjen is a promising sign that a combination of action by fed up colleagues on the inside of the corrupt system, monitored and reported by journalists, can begin to lead to changes. There are a LOT of other well known sexual predators and bullies out there still, and I would to think that their days are numbered--along with those of the hierarchical, inhumane system that put them there and still allows them to thrive.


Update August 31, 2020: Protests at University of Adelaide.


From The Advertiser:

TERTIARY

Adelaide Uni students protest, demand review

into Peter Rathjen’s time at Adelaide Uni after

ICAC finding

Chris Russell, The Advertiser

August 31, 2020 5:10pm

Subscriber only

The culture at Adelaide University that allowed former vice-chancellor Peter Rathjen to run the institution – even while under investigation for misconduct – must change, student leaders said on Monday.

Calling for a review into Prof Rathjen’s tenure, about 100 students and staff attended a protest on the university campus on Monday.

“We need to make sure decisions have not been influenced by the vice-chancellor’s inability to understand sexual consent,” student union board member Arabella Wauchope said.

The protest was called following the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Bruce Lander finding Prof Rathjen committed “serious misconduct” by groping two women staff members during a work trip to Sydney in April 2019.

Prof Rathjen also lied about his behaviour.

Stella Salvemini, president of the Women’s Collective, which organised

the protest, said students were upset they were kept in the dark about the investigation for so long.

“We hope the new Chancellor, Catherine Branson, will involve student

representatives in what the university does going forward,” she said.

“We have faith in her because of her background as a former head of the Australian Human Rights Commission. “We expect her to do a good job in cleaning up the culture.”

SRC women’s officer Rebecca Etienne said students had been angry and distressed by the ICAC report.

Ms Branson has pledged to adopt all recommendations made by Mr Lander to improve governance and policies aimed at eliminating sexual harassment but has not demanded Prof Rathjen repay his settlement payout.

However, Sharna Bremner, from a group called End Rape On Campus, said the university had previously promised to follow a very similar set of recommendations made in 2017 by the Human Rights Commission.

The university had self-reported it met those earlier pledges.

The Women’s Collective will present a petition to the university administration.

Pictured (image not available): University of Adelaide Women's Collective

president Stella Salvemini with fellow student leaders

Rebecca Etienne and Arabella Wauchope.


And from the Adelaide Women's Collective (with apologies for the poor quality image:)

Update September 3, 2010: A letter from the University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor

It took some time, but the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, Duncan Maskell, finally got around to making a statement about the Peter Rathjen affair--although with extreme delicacy. Peter Rathjen is a "former senior leader from this University," and what was clearly referred to as serious sexual misconduct in the Lander statement is now "an incident that occurred." Here is the statement, comment afterwards:

A statement far more to the point was made earlier by the president of the University of Melbourne Student Union and others:

Statement on sexual harassment conducted by Professor Peter Rathjen — 28 August 2020

Hannah Buchan, UMSU President

Aria Sunga and Naomi Smith, Officer Bearers UMSU Women’s Department 

CW: Sexual Assault and Harassment

.

The UMSU Womenʻs Department is disgusted to hear of the sexual harassment committed by Peter Rathjen, the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Adelaide. We condemn the University of Melbourne’s complicity in allowing a perpetrator of sexual harm to continue work in the University sector.

Yesterday, the South Australian Independent Commision Against Corruption (ICAC) announced that it found that Professor Peter Rathjen, the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Adelaide, had committed serious misconduct by sexually harassing two colleagues in 2019. An ABC investigation has found that a former employer of the Rahtjen, the University of Melbourne, was aware of previous cases where Rathjen had harassed people and yet they failed to inform the University of Adelaide.

Professor Rathjen was employed at the University of Melbourne from 2006 to 2011. And it was during this time that a former student alleged he committed serious sexual misconduct while he was the Dean of Science between 2006 to 2008.

The student reported this case to the University of Melbourne in May of 2018 and the University upheld the misconduct complaint. Despite upholding the misconduct complaint the University failed to refer the new findings to the University of Adelaide – where Professor Rathjen was Vice-Chancellor. Their failure to refer to these findings enabled Rathjen to continue to offend at another University campus.

This is not the first case that has been in the media this year where the University reveals its negligence and complicitness in its responses to cases of sexual assault and harassment. It is time the University or Melbourne owned up and took responsibility for sexual assault and a harassment that occurs within the University community. The University again is showing its true colours where it upholds perpetrators in power rather than survivors. We are deeply concerned with the clearly consistent amateur approach that the University takes with responding to sexual assault and harassment. The University must do better.

UMSU also unequivocally stands with survivors – we hear you, we believe you, and we support you.

We call on the University to:

• To adequately respond to the allegations that they failed to inform the University of Adelaide of the misconduct findings against Rathjen.
• To release appropriately anonymised data on the outcomes of their sexual harassment misconduct cases.
• To appoint external investigators, with appropriate sexual assault and harassment sensitivity training, for all sexual assault and harassment misconduct cases.
• To increase funding and resources to the Safer Community program and ensure all itʻs processes are independent from the University.

In the coming days we will be penning an open letter to the Vice-Chancellor Duncan Maksell, asking him to respond to our demands, and also creating a petition to collect student signatures in support of this letter. We will not rest until the University takes responsibility for their complicity and makes substantial institutional changes.

Find the ABC article here: https://amp.abc.net.au/article/12601766?__twitter_impression=true

If this has brought up any issues or concerns for you, we encourage you to contact the following services:

Centre Against Sexual Assault House http://www.casahouse.com.au/

Phone 24 Hour hotline:  03 9635 3610

1800 Respect:

https://www.1800respect.org.au/

Phone: 1800 737 732, Interpreter: 13 14 50

UMSU Sexual Harm and Response Coordinator; Dr. Patrick Tidmarsh: patrick.tidmarsh@union.unimelb.edu.au

Unimelb Safer Communities:  https://safercommunity.unimelb.edu.au/

Phone: 9035 8675

I will let a current professor from the University of Melbourne, who asked not to be identified, comment on the Maskell letter:

"These are fine sentiments. However, those who protected Rathjen in the interests of protecting their institutional reputations are now scrambling to dissociate themselves from him. You can read here that Duncan Maskell joined the university in January 2019. He quotes himself from that time, where he states that he has zero tolerance for sexual harassment. That was well before Rathjen was found 'guilty' of sexual assault. Despite Maskell’s strong words, no public announcement was made, and the universities of Adelaide and Tasmania were not informed. Maskell himself 'passed the harasser'. This on the pretext of protecting the victim. Of course, there was no necessity to name the victim or even the details of the sexual assault. Conveniently, this meant there were no consequences for Rathjen, as he was a former employee and not subject to sanction, and no reputational damage to the University of Melbourne from it becoming known that senior academics there sexually assault postgraduate students."