Ohio Wesleyan, other colleges grapple with policies on faculty/student relationships - people & places - Brief Article

Matrix: The Magazine for Leaders in Education, April, 2001 by Al Branch

In the wake of an alleged stalking case involving a student and a professor at Ohio Wesleyan University, some colleges may consider reexamining their policies involving faculty/student relationships, according to published reports. While many schools have spelled out what is appropriate and what is not appropriate behavior between faculty members and students, not all institutions adhere to such guidelines, nor do all offer strongly worded by-laws on the matter.

Columbus, Ohio, police say that Conrad Kent, a humanities professor at Ohio Wesleyan, recently complained that one of his former female students, Erum Ahmed, had been stalking him via e-mail and at his home.

At press time, Ahmed was in federal custody and charged with using interstate communications and traveling across state lines to threaten someone, according to the Associated Press. Kent and the former student allegedly had a nine-month affair, which Kent has admitted to. The professor was placed on administrative leave.

"We should not condone exploitive sexual relationships," said university President Thomas Courtice in a prepared statement.

Soon after the allegations became public, Courtice issued a letter to students and faculty members stating the school was considering drafting a consensual-relationship policy for its employees and students.

"Fraught with the potential for exploitation" is how the Washington, DC-based American Association of University Professors describes sexual relationships between students and faculty, according to AP.

"Even when both parties may have consented, the development of a sexual relationship renders both the faculty member and the institution vulnerable to possible later allegations of sexual harassment in light of the significant power that exists between faculty members and students," the association's policy reads.