More than 100 Harvard University students walked out of a class taught by a professor who was allowed to return after being accused of forcibly kissing and groping students.
Video footage showed anthropology professor John Comaroff sitting at the front of his class on Tuesday, Jan. 24, as a series of students started to stand.
“We don’t want to be taught by someone who has still not been held accountable for, or made amends for their sexual misconduct,” one female student said, reading from her phone.
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“John Comaroff spent his career harassing, silencing and retaliating against students,” she continued, as others pulled out signs and stood in protest.
“He does not belong at Harvard,” she continued, calling for those who “agree” to walk out “because enough is enough.”
Most of the students then started to file out of the room, chanting “Justice for survivors” and “No more Comaroff, no more complicity.”
Comaroff
Comaroff — who was returning to teaching after two periods of unpaid administrative leave — smiled and nodded at the protesters.
“Smile in hell, a**hole,” one of the last to leave told him, according to the Harvard Crimson.
Only two students remained in the classroom, the student newspaper said. Three students remained enrolled in the class as of Tuesday, while only one student was still registered for Comaroff’s other course, the Crimson noted.
Protesters also stuck signs and copies of a lawsuit on Comaroff’s door.
The professor was first put on paid leave in 2020 after an investigation by the paper found that at least three female graduate students had complained of harassment and professional retaliation.
He was put back on unpaid administrative leave in 2022 after two internal investigations found he’d violated Harvard’s sexual harassment and professional conduct policies, the Crimson noted.
Three accusers — Lilia Kilburn, Margaret Czerwienski and Amulya Mandava — sued the school last year, alleging a “decade-long failure to protect students from sexual abuse and career-ending retaliation.”
It accused Comaroff of having “kissed and groped students without their consent, made unwelcome sexual advances, and threatened to sabotage students’ careers if they complained.”
Kilburn said she had an emotional response to Tuesday’s walkout.
“When I saw what Harvard undergrads did today, I wept,” she tweeted.
“Because no one should have to go through what I went through with John Comaroff to get an education.”
One of the activist groups behind the walkout, Our Harvard Can Do Better, called for his resignation, saying his continued presence on campus was shameful and a danger to students.
“His employment sends the message that sexual abuse and misogyny are acceptable at Harvard & beyond,” the group tweeted.
Comaroff’s attorneys have said he “categorically denies ever harassing or retaliating against any student.”
They told the Crimson that the professor also “categorically denies that he ought to resign” and “is doing nothing to create unsafe conditions for any Harvard student.”
“He is fully authorized to teach Harvard students who sign up for his courses,” they wrote, adding that “the claim that he poses a danger is ludicrous in light of the actual facts.”
Watch the videos below.
“We don’t want to be taught by someone who has still not been held accountable for or made amends for their sexual misconduct. If you agree, please join us in walking out of this classroom”
— lilia kilburn 🌷🌻🌹 (@LiliaKilburn) January 25, 2023
today, for the second time, Harvard students walked out of John Comaroff’s classroom. https://t.co/460zljnjWH pic.twitter.com/MiLRJNlL8H
