UC Bamboozled the LA Times

In the LA Times article of October 22 relating to consensual student/professor dating bans, a UC spokesperson was interviewed by the reporter as to the frequency of violations of the UC code on consensual relationships.  The LA Times reported on the UC response in the following terms-

“Since 2003, a handful of cases of possible faculty violations of the policy have been formally reviewed, according to UC spokesman Brad Hayward. No professor has been dismissed, although a few were disciplined with warning letters that are considered confidential personnel matters, he said.”

Such is simply not the case.  Maybe Brad Hayward was misinformed by the UC upper echelon or he was engaging in a terminological manipulation to avoid telling the truth.

UCLA administrator/professor Adolfo Bermeo was dismissed in 2005 for violating the UC consensual relationship policy. The case was reported in detail by the UCLA Daily Bruin on March 22, 2005.  There were student protests in support of Adolfo Bermeo. Bermeo admitted to a consensual relationship with an enrolled student and the relationship came to the attention of the UCLA administration.  Even though it was asserted that the relationship came to the attention of the UCLA administration by the invasion of Bermeo’s privacy, UCLA Chancellor Albert Carnesale felt that it did not matter how the relationship was discovered, disciplinary action would be taken against Bermeo.  In defending his actions, “the chancellor pointed to the age difference and “extraordinary” power gap between the director and student and said what Bermeo did doesn’t miss statutory rape by that much.”

Although it was not reported by the Daily Bruin that Bermeo was dismissed for a consensual relationship, as of April 2005 Bermeo could not be found at UCLA.  He has since resurfaced in Washington DC as a retired UCLA professor employed by a non-profit organization focusing on helping minority students obtain their educational goals.

 So Adolfo Bermeo continues with the good work he did at UCLA.  He would still be at UCLA if UCLA respected faculty members rights to privacy and association and if UCLA did not have a zero tolerance policy for consensual relationships code violators.

Of course, the UCLA and UC administrations do not admit that such cases are hidden under the informal policy of allowing the alleged offenders to resign and retire.

As for the LA Times reporter, Larry Gordon, the dankprofessor believes he naively accepted the UC’s Brad Hayward’s  statement at face value and ended up being bamboozled by the California higher education establishment.

 —————————————————————
If you wish, you can write to me directly at dankprofessor@msn.com
Guest commentaries should also be submitted for consideration to the same email address.

Barry M. Dank aka the dankprofessor.

© Copyright 2007