Another victim of sexual harassment in the College of Education has gone public.

Brian Everstine Daily Evergreen staff Susan K. Gardner hopes ending her silence involving an experience of sexual harassment will highlight institutional problems and end the victimization of WSU students.

Gardner is a graduate from the doctorate program in the WSU College of Education who is now an associate professor of higher education at Louisiana State University.

During her time at WSU, she learned from professors who spoke out on social equality and against discrimination. They helped to shape the type of woman she would become. Other events at WSU influenced her in a different way, one that went directly against the ideals she learned in the classroom.

Gardner said her graduate adviser, a professor in the College of Education, repeatedly sexually harassed her by making unwelcome and obscene advances against her will beginning in 2003. This included the adviser asking to go home with her, licking her ear, asking about oral sex and saying, “What I’d do to you if I wasn’t your professor.” Similar to the case involving education professor Bernardo Gallegos, she said the accused professor was a trusted supporter whom the victim relied on for guidance. She requested his name not be printed.

“How could someone that I respected and trusted do something so disrespectful?” Gardner asked.

After the final incident in fall of 2003, she looked for help in deciding what action to take against the professor. While asking for help, other professors told her that her adviser had done similar things to other women.

However, two professors told Gardner to not make a formal report because it would make her seem like a troublemaker and people did not want to hear about it, she said.

“[Two] female professors told me that I shouldn’t do it but a male professor said ‘yes, of course you should do it,’” Gardner said. “He was the only one who gave me positive feedback.” After talking to the accused professor, who told her to forget about it and stop crying, she said she filed a formal complaint with the WSU Center for Human Rights and its director, Ann Dougherty, in October 2003.

Gardner said according to the regulations of the CHR, a response is to be sent within five days after the complaint is made. No response was sent until she asked for it one month later.

She said this was only the beginning of WSU’s institutional ignorance and indifference to her and sexual harassment issues.

Since the report was made, Raul Sanchez replaced Dougherty as CHR director. He said the center has worked to complete all reports as soon as possible.

“To the extent that the CHR, at any point in the past, was slow in acting on investigations, I immediately recognized that there was a serious problem,” Sanchez said. “Investigations need to be done effectively and promptly and anything short of that is unacceptable.” The accused professor ignored all initial requests for an investigation and the CHR would not return Gardner’s calls for an update on the progress.

Gardner said after being ignored by the CHR for months, she e-mailed the administrator who oversaw the CHR. She said she never received a response.

“I was ignored and passed along in the system,” Gardner said.

By May 2004, the CHR had not completed an investigation report and she told an ombudsman she would sue if no response was carried out.

A CHR report was finalized later that month, she said.

The report found the accused professor violated WSU’s code for sexual harassment. It also concluded he had harassed other students, Gardner said.

Although it was filed more than a year and a half ago, Gardner was never told of any consequences or follow up to the report, she said. The only response she said she is aware of was a small workshop that was held in the College of Education.

Instead of focusing on the real problem that was occurring in the college, she said the training focused on hypothetical situations which made the situation worse.

“The person that was hired to do the training was completely incompetent,” Gardner said. “By the end of it, I was in tears and had to leave the building. I was singled out.” Judy Mitchell, dean of the college of education since 2003, said this year there was a presentation about sexual harassment at the opening faculty orientation.

Mitchell was not available for comment.

The climate in the college of education, the university and higher education in general can easily support sexual harassment and control the actions of the victims, Gardner said.

“Higher education breeds this behavior,” Gardner said. “There is a sense of power. Sexual harassment is not about sex, it is about power which is not being mitigated. From my own research, the only time that an institution does something is when they are threatened with a lawsuit or it goes to the press.” Recent accusations of sexual harassment have spurred dialogue on campus and some believe it goes well beyond the two highlighted issues in the college of education, said DaVina Hoyt, president of the Graduate and Professional Student Association.

“I would like to have a survey done to find out if this is a campus-wide problem,” Hoyt said. “The university must protect students and allow them to voice concerns without fear of retribution.” Gardner said other victims have gone to her for guidance because of her experience.

That is how she heard of Christina Garcia’s case against Gallegos.

Garcia contacted Gardner for assistance and said she is going through a similar situation, in that she was pressured to not make a complaint or do anything about it, Gardner said.

“I give Christina so much credit,” Gardner said. “She is extremely brave.” The lives of the victims will always be affected by sexual harassment, even if the situation is resolved, Gardner said.

“This is going to be an issue for the rest of my life,” she said.

By deciding to tell her story, Gardner said she can help make a difference in an institution which needs to change how it addresses harassment. Putting her name and story out will ultimately give strength to those who are afraid to speak out, she said.

“I am choosing to speak up and give my story,” she said. “If this can prevent one more woman from going through this, then it is a positive thing.”