Gallegos complainant goes public on sexual harassment allegations against a professor.

Jacob Jones Daily Evergreen staff The complainant in the sexual harassment case against a WSU professor has decided to come forward to encourage further administrative action.

Christina Garcia, an education graduate student at WSU, expressed her desire to go public to The Daily Evergreen on Tuesday. This was almost nine months after she filed a sexual harassment complaint in February against Bernardo Gallegos, a distinguished professor of education. “When she decided to move forward with this, I said I would support her all the way,” said Christina’s husband Martin Garcia, Evergreen staff columnist and graduate student.

Christina and Martin Garcia have repeatedly stated in letters and reports they feel the administrative response is not enough to protect students.

“If we felt good about it we wouldn’t have come forward,” Martin Garcia said.

Taking a public stance was a difficult decision to make after remaining anonymous to protect their privacy, Martin Garcia said, but it was ultimately Christina’s choice.

It is unfortunate that lawyers and the media have been needed to force the university to do its job, he said.

Christina Garcia filed a civil lawsuit and tort claim against the university after a CHR investigation final report stated Gallegos had violated the WSU Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Policy. She is asking for monetary damages and Gallegos’ dismissal, according to the tort claim from May 31.

The CHR report stated Gallegos violated policy by drinking wine and touching her during a meeting at his home on Feb. 1.

“[Gallegos] imbibed of an alcoholic beverage and told the complainant that she was attractive, [which] was not consistent with high standards of professional conduct between professor and student,” the report stated.

CHR Director Raul Sanchez said the report speaks for itself.

After reviewing the CHR findings, Judy Mitchell, dean of the College of Education, recommended Gallegos attend counseling with Salisbury Consulting in Idaho. Sexual harassment discussions and workshops were also scheduled within the college.

Mitchell said two discussions this week have helped the College of Education understand growing concerns.

“The sessions were designed to respond to people’s questions and discuss issues,” she said.

The College of Education has not faced a widely publicized case before, she said. Media coverage can have a lot of consequences for a lot of individual lives.

The morning of Oct. 27, the Evergreen printed a story with findings against Gallegos from a Center for Human Rights investigation final report that was filed April 1.

The Daily Evergreen received a 355-page public records file on the Gallegos case the afternoon of Oct. 27. The Evergreen editorial staff became aware of Martin Garcia’s relationship to the complainant after reviewing the records on Oct. 29.

Martin Garcia wrote a column on revoking tenure from offending professors on Oct. 27 while the editorial staff was unaware of his relationship to the complainant.

The newspaper also printed a staff editorial on Oct. 28 calling for a zero-tolerance policy against all faculty and staff members found violating WSU policy on sexual harassment.

“Martin Garcia has never been involved with the news section or the editorial board of The Daily Evergreen,” said Joe Barrentine, editor-in-chief of The Daily Evergreen.

The Evergreen first heard of the Gallegos case last spring from staff columnist Bruno Baltodano – approximately 30 days after Christina Garcia filed with the CHR.

The Garcias tried to contact an Evergreen reporter, but later decided against speaking out. The story was revived last month when Baltodano received a copy of the CHR investigation final report on Oct. 3.