Respected Berkeley astronomy professor is allegedly a serial sexual harasser

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I'm not saying he didn't do them. I'm saying he could be autistic or otherwise thick-headed enough to not realize his touching wasn't wanted, especially when nobody says anything.

Sooooooooo, his tendency to sexually assault women who he has authority over is not so much terrible and disgusting but.. er - quirky?

Is what their fault? I'm not saying it's their fault they got groped. I'm saying that raising a stink about one groping could have prevented future gropings. Is that true or not?

Not.
 
really? you don't think with all the publicity that is happening now, he is less likely to grope someone in the future?
I thought you read the article.
But over the next year, Murray-Clay says, more women came forward with complaints. So in September 2005, she went to the department chair, Don Backer. She says Backer, who died five years ago, defended Marcy and told her he could not respond to anonymous accusations.
After another undergraduate came forward with a complaint a year later, Murray-Clay, along with three other female graduate students and postdocs, tried to register an official complaint at the university level. But there, too, they were told they could not do so on someone else’s behalf.
Back in 2005 this shit was being reported.
 
Maybe he thought they were romantically involved. They were clearly familiar. If he made passes on her before, like what they implied in that article(kissing, massaging) and she never told him to get away, then of course he's going to escalate to more serious groping. It didn't sound random at all.

Not like we know all the facts anyway.

Are you for real? He's been married since 1994. The four reported (I bet there are more unreported) incidents happened between 2001 and 2010. It happened to students.

"Not like we know all the facts anyway" is a worthless statement as it can be said when plenty of facts are available.

Probably. Most of us learn at a young age that you can't just go around touching everyone because some of them might not like it. This guy is learning this lesson now, the hard way, and it might have been avoided if more women would speak up immediately.

Maybe read the articles posted in this thread? Your posts in this thread are bizarre af.
 
I wonder why the victims in cases like these wait so long to file a complaint. I feel like the consequences would be so much harsher if they struck when the iron was hot. Why don't they make a scene when they are touched this way? I know if someone grabbed my crotch without consent, you would fucking know about it that very moment.
I haven't been in anywhere near as bad situations as that, but definitely ones in which guys were being fucking creeps and inappropriate. My mindset during stuff like that is:

  1. Is this really happening?
  2. Is this some accident? Okay, it's really happening.
  3. Did I do something to make him think this was okay?
  4. How can I knot make this worse in the short term AND long term?
  5. Don't escalate. Do not escalate.
  6. Hope the guy goes away and try to avoid him again at all costs.
And then after the fact you still wonder if shit actually happened, if you're making a big deal out of nothing, etc. You ask yourself: was it my fault in any way? What are the consequences for me if I speak up? (Usually greater than what the actual perpetrator will face.) Is it worth it? A lot of times, the answer is no. I think for a lot of women, only once they hear that other women can corroborate their story, do they say: Okay, maybe my story is believable now. But it takes a while to get at that point. Particularly with all the victim blaming shit.

So while yes, some women will speak up during such situations, a lot of us don't for (IMO) understandable reasons.
 
I thought you read the article.
Back in 2005 this shit was being reported.

through official channels, that's why it didn't work. the internet is always a better choice. now everyone knows about it and this guy's groping days are likely done.

He's not a dog. The onus is not on anyone else to stop his bad behavior.

no the onus isn't on anyone else but if they can help then why not try?
 
through official channels, that's why it didn't work. the internet is always a better choice. now everyone knows about it and this guy's groping days are likely done.

You the same internet where you're questioning whether or not he did it or if he did, it wasn't his fault?
 
I've had this guy as a Professor. I always thought his obsession of the women's tennis team was odd. It's starting to make sense.
 
You the same internet where you're questioning whether or not he did it or if he did, it wasn't his fault?

I never questioned that. He did it and it was his fault, even is he autistic or mentally challenged. All I was asking "what kind of apology did you want" in the first place. But yes, THAT internet.
 
Good thing it's not Fillpenko.

Yep.

This guy was in a couple of our group meetings when I was involved in research. I didn't know anything about the allegations since I didn't work very closely with him or the rest of the department, but I heard a lot of people I worked with afterwards saying it was about time. The slap on the wrist is just ridiculous, especially when you read at the same time about the well-liked math lecturer who's about to be fired for being a good teacher. Tenure is fucking awful, and although I understand why the department wanted to keep it hush hush (he was famous, of course, and it's really hard to lose someone like that), it's just absolute shit to discourage women from entering STEM like this.
 
Berkeley professor is a pervy fuckwit and the school does nothing about it

Color me surprised /s

Shame that he wasn't fired
 
Is UCB full of creeps or something?

Not that, my post was unclear which is why I edited it.

I meant more along the lines of even though almost all UC's talk a lot about punishing for sexual harassment claims and claim to be ahead of the curve on issues like this when it comes down to the wire, tenure > all.

Also I do not agree with grade deflation which is a practice that both LA and Berkeley do, but that's off topic.
 
no the onus isn't on anyone else but if they can help then why not try?

I think the point you're missing, is that the probable result of them speaking up wasn't that they would help others, it was that their careers and education would come to an end, without any repercussions for the Professor.

I mean, that's exactly what we're seeing now, except minus the professional consequences for the women (because they're maintaining anonymity, have left the field of astronomy and/or waited until after they left to make their accusations). I mean, you're basically asking: "Why didn't they completely sacrifice their futures, in exchange for a statistically insignificant chance at helping other women?"
 
Here's a great blog post by another professor about the training faculty receive regarding sexual harassment: http://blogs.berkeley.edu/2015/10/11...t-do-is-worse/

It's...fucking awful.
Great read, thanks for posting. I know I shouldn't read the comments, but I can't tell if the comment by "Radical Empathy" is satirical or not... :S Middle paragraph seems like a giveaway that it's satirical, but then the following one suggests it's not... WTF?

The aftermath of this scandal also leaves me disappointed in Berkeley, but not in the administration’s decision not to fire Marcy. I am disappointed in the apoplectic response the community has had to this issue, and the lack of empathy toward a greatly distinguished scientist who has made some terrible decisions. People were shocked at the email that said “Please remember that this is hardest on Geoffrey”, but they forget that this IS hardest on Geoffrey.

None of this is to condone his behavior. If he can’t behave in a professional way, then he can’t be a professional. But honestly, all he did was give some sexy massages and touch someone’s crotch. I WISH someone would give me sexy massages and touch my crotch! (I fear that if I use my name, then nobody ever will, hence the anonymity.)

At this point, the damage is done and he should resign. Unfortunately, female astronomy students might choose not to come to Berkeley if he is a professor, in light of this debacle. I can’t imagine him coming back to campus to teach a class again.

what the
 
Great read, thanks for posting. I know I shouldn't read the comments, but I can't tell if the comment by "Radical Empathy" is satirical or not... :S Middle paragraph seems like a giveaway that it's satirical, but then the following one suggests it's not... WTF?



what the

Ahahahahaha. Great b8 m8.
 
Probably. Most of us learn at a young age that you can't just go around touching everyone because some of them might not like it. This guy is learning this lesson now, the hard way, and it might have been avoided if more women would speak up immediately.

No, he's not stupid, he always knew it was inappropriate. He just kept doing it because he was in a position of power and could get away with it.

I feel like you're trying really hard to live in some delusion where he's really not that bad for some reason.
 
What if Marcy was being blackmailed into sexually molesting students? What if it was all a 20 year fugue state? Aliens? Aliens. We don't have all the facts.
 
Probably. Most of us learn at a young age that you can't just go around touching everyone because some of them might not like it. This guy is learning this lesson now, the hard way, and it might have been avoided if more women would speak up immediately.

LOL really? You're basically saying: women should not pretty themselves up during graduate dinners, because they're asking to be groped and raped.
 
I'm not saying he didn't do them. I'm saying he could be autistic or otherwise thick-headed enough to not realize his touching wasn't wanted, especially when nobody says anything.

Oh please enough with the autistic bullshit. I know autistic people and that's pretty much not how it works. You are just giving him excuses.
 
BuzzFeed: "Geoff Marcy has “initiated the process” of leaving the University of California, Berkeley, according to an email sent to the astronomy department."
Geoff Marcy has announced his intention to step down as a faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley, according to an email obtained by BuzzFeed News.

The email, sent on Wednesday, was signed by Gibor Basri, the interim chair of Berkeley’s astronomy department.
“It’s a relief to know that Geoff Marcy will no longer have access to UC Berkeley students,” Jessica Kirkpatrick, one of the complainants in the sexual harassment investigation, told BuzzFeed News. “I hope the university is using this opportunity to re-evaluate it’s process and policies so that vulnerable students have better protections in place to guard against sexual harassment from faculty moving forward.”
Marcy has also resigned as principal investigator of the $100 million Breakthrough Listen project, a large scientific research program aimed at finding life beyond Earth.

Edit: Another source, if you're not a fan of BuzzFeed or if it's blocked.
Nature: "Berkeley astronomer in sexual harassment case to resign"
Astronomer Geoffrey Marcy is stepping down as a faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley, following revelations that a university investigation found he had sexually harassed multiple students between 2001 and 2010.

A 14 October e-mail from Gibor Basri, interim chair of the Berkeley astronomy department, said that Marcy had initiated the process to leave the faculty. Marcy has been a professor there since 1999, and maintains an adjunct position at San Francisco State University.
“I think the university betrayed the trust and safety of its students by not removing Marcy earlier,” says Laura Lopez, an astronomer at Ohio State University in Columbus. She led an effort in which more than 260 astronomers complained to the New York Times about their early coverage of the case.

“His resignation ensures that he cannot harm more students in the future, but the damage he has caused and the culture which enabled it to happen still need to be addressed,” Lopez adds.
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https://twitter.com/hubbahubble/status/654368382284865537
 
I'm defending reason more than him but you all seem to be taking it personally. I just want everyone to stop jumping to conclusions.

"Reason." Not jumping to conclusions. Okay.

This guy is learning this lesson now, the hard way, and it might have been avoided if more women would speak up immediately.

I'm saying he could be autistic

I'm saying that raising a stink about one groping could have prevented future gropings. Is that true or not?

through official channels, that's why it didn't work. the internet is always a better choice.

IHe did it and it was his fault, even is he autistic or mentally challenged.

Let's run down this mental marathon of fuckery.

- 60+ year old professor has apparently never learned in the history of his life that sexual assault is bad.
- The women apparently did not speak up even though we know they did.
- Maybe he's autistic.
- Still inferring that women didn't speak up.
- Apparently no one ever took this to the internet.
- Not only is he autistic but mentally challenged too.

What a beacon of reason. Is that you, professor?
 
"Reason." Not jumping to conclusions. Okay.

Let's run down this mental marathon of fuckery.

- 60+ year old professor has apparently never learned in the history of his life that sexual assault is bad.
- The women apparently did not speak up even though we know they did.
- Maybe he's autistic.
- Still inferring that women didn't speak up.
- Apparently no one ever took this to the internet.
- Not only is he autistic but mentally challenged too.

What a beacon of reason. Is that you, professor?


"Subtle" assault apologists are everywhere. I am not surprise.
 
When I went to college there was a situation similar to this with a political science professor. A couple girls came forward but nothing ever really came of it, now he splits his time between teaching at school and serving as a congressman. Absolutely ridiculous when dudes like this get off scott free.
 
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