Professor ousted; UD students protest harassment policy

Hundreds of University of Delaware students rallied Friday afternoon, calling for transparency in the school's harassment policy following accusations that a professor offered a student an "A" in exchange for sexual favors.

The gathering, which was attended by more than 300 students and teachers, started at Memorial Hall. Most of the event's attendants sat on the building steps facing the Green, while others stood or sat near the building.

"End the silence. End the shame," UD students and faculty chanted as the event started. The chants, however, silenced as one of the organizers, Sage Carson, spoke up and began asking for people to give their stories on sexual harassment and assaults.

For more than 90 minutes, student after student stood and spoke out about incidents that they had endured. They also urged for changes in the school's policy.

"We have the power to change it," said Harry Lewis, a UD freshman who spoke before the crowd Friday. Lewis of Morristown, New Jersey, told of an attack he survived in high school.

He asked for more transparency in the school's sexual harassment policy.

"This really will hopefully show the university that we care a lot about this and that even if they want to sweep it under the rug that's not going to be that easy," Lewis said.

Another woman got up and said that after filing an informal complaint about a teacher who made advances towards her, including kissing her, she was inspired now to file a formal complaint.

"Hopefully the university will do something about it," she said.

The school declined to comment on specifics of the issue that sparked Friday's event. But a letter published Thursday by University Provost Domenico Grasso came closest to explaining the incident in response to a story in the student newspaper, The Review.

"It is important for the University community to know that this matter was handled promptly and appropriately, with the sensitivity and clear communication with the student and her advocate and in accordance with all university policies and the requirements of federal law."

The matter began when Eric Tranby, a professor in the sociology department, was accused by a student in May of offering her a top grade in exchange for sexual favors.

UD Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs Matthew J. Kinservick said Friday that the professor was on administrative leave and Tranby's resignation would formally come at the end of the academic year.

"He will not be back to campus," Kinservick said. "I can't talk about the reasons for that."

The school would not say if Tranby was being paid during his administrative leave.

Andrea Boyle Tippett declined to comment on the accusations. Tranby could not be reached for comment Friday; a phone number in his name was disconnected.

The student, who graduated last year, said there was no transparency in the school's policy, adding that after she filed her complaint she did not know what had happened to Tranby until reading about it in The Review's article.

"They still haven't told me anything," she told The News Journal. The woman, who is not being identified by this newspaper, said she was surprised by the turnout, saying she'd thought maybe 50 people would go out and only because a professor told them to go for a grade.

"But I think those people wanted to be there," she said. She hoped the rally put pressure on UD to make some changes in their policies concerning these matters.

The rally ended with a march to the home of UD's President Patrick T. Harker. He did not come out as several participants chanted for a brief time.

UD sophomore Matthew Scott, another of the organizers, said they were happy with the turnout and hoped the university hears and deals with student complaints that have so far gone unheeded.

"We're here to state to the administration that something needs to be done," he said. "That we need change."

The school has a policy against sexual and other unlawful harassment, including "a demand for sexual favors accompanied by implied threats about the person's employment or academic status, or implied promises of preferential treatment."

UD officials said they were proud their students held the rally and wanted their voices to be heard.

"The University of Delaware is proud of its students for organizing this event to talk about a very important topic facing all colleges and universities today," Boyle Tippett said in a statement. "Student safety is among our top priorities, and we take this issue very seriously. We welcome the input of our students and look forward to learning what they have to say."

Also present at the rally was sociology professor Chrysanthi Leon, who the student turned to last year. Leon, who teaches about these matters, became the former student's advocate and also called for more transparency and to let people know what's going on and prevent it from continuing.

Leon also applauded Friday's rally, saying that students needed to speak up if there were to be any changes. "The bigger issue is not resolved," Leon said. "The bigger issue is how can we change our policies and make it clear that we need to do things that indicate that we won't accept sexual coercion of students by professors, that we won't accept any other kind of sexual violence."

Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @eparra3.