A Harvard University professor has been placed on leave following sexual misconduct allegations by more than a dozen women.
Jorge Domínguez, a Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) government professor, was put on administrative leave on Sunday, the Harvard Crimson reported.
The move comes just days after a Chronicle of Higher Education report that detailed stories of sexual harassment by Domínguez toward Harvard faculty and students. These instances, according to the women’s reports, spanned nearly 40 years.
Since that article, even more women have spoken out. The Chronicle has since put the total at 18 women alleging inappropriate behavior by Domínguez.
Sunday evening, FAS Dean Michael D. Smith announced Domínguez’s leave in an email sent to the FAS community.
“I write to announce that the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) has placed Jorge Dominguez on administrative leave, pending a full and fair review of the facts and circumstances regarding allegations that have come to light,” Smith wrote in the email, a copy of which was forwarded to Metro.
“I want to state unequivocally that the FAS will not tolerate sexual harassment,” the letter continued. “I encourage anyone who has witnessed sexual harassment in the FAS, recently or in the past, to come forward and share their experiences with our Title IX coordinators.”
This isn’t the first time Harvard has disciplined Domínguez. According to a 1983 Crimson article, another faculty member in the government department lodged a sexual harassment complaint against Domínguez, for which he was stripped of his role as chairman of the interdisciplinary Latin American Studies Committee.
Domínguez reportedly made “repeated off-color or paternalistic remarks and, on one occasion, a pass at her,” according to the 1983 article.
In the reports by the Chronicle, multiple women said that Domínguez made them uncomfortable by touching them inappropriately and repeatedly trying to kiss them.
