The Red and Black

Issue date: 1/31/08 Section: News

Media Credit: JAKE DANIELS William N. Bender's office in Aderhold Hall (above) retains his name tag on Wednesday at 4:07 p.m. Just five minutes later, at 4:12, Bender's name tag is removed. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: JAKE DANIELS At 4:12 p.m., the name plate was gone. [Click to enlarge]

"People do bad things"

"Different levels of awareness"

"This was not an issue"

"Go have a beer together"

"Not being proactive"

"Do I find this repulsive?"

Seconds of silence

Special education professor William Bender was found in September to have sexually harassed female students, but according to some in the administration, other students had no right to know.

"I'm not sure where it's going forward to post their name on the board so everyone knows," said Beth Bailey, Associate Director for Legal Affairs during a Wednesday meeting with The Red & Black.

Bailey said students should not be aware of every accusation made against their teachers.

However, these are not mere allegations.

Bender resigned on Sept. 27, 2007, one day before he was deemed in violation of the University's Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy.

During the meeting inside his office, Provost Arnett Mace said, "We as an institution have to protect as much as we can the names of people until they have been found guilty."

Bailey said Bender's students were not notified in the following four months after the violation because such an action would violate Bender's due process.

"You've got to give someone the ability to go moving forward," she said during the meeting.

Rather than disclose the violation to students, officials in the College of Education felt it would be best to reassign Bender's duties until his resignation goes into effect May 6.

He now teaches two online graduate courses in special education, but was scheduled to teach both online and in the classroom this semester, said department head Anne Bothe.

"Teaching online took away that alone in a room aspect," she said.

He retained an office at the school but official class meetings were conducted online, Bothe said.

Bender was warned in a letter from former Associate Director for Legal affairs Kimberly Ballard-Washington that any more substantiated claims of harassment would lead to his immediate termination. The Provost did not give a direct answer for the silence either.

"You're entering into areas I don't think we can discuss," Mace said.

Allegations against Bender go back 20 years, with documented complaints from a student that he was "in the practice of asking students out on dates" and that he told her "he and his wife were getting a divorce but that she (Bender's wife) wasn't horney (sic) enough for him."

He also faced complaints of drunken behavior with students during a party at a Council for Exceptional Children convention in Atlanta.

Cheri Hoy, former department head and now Associate Dean for Faculty, labeled the school's initial reaction to the claims as "cutting edge."

The "cutting edge" tactics she referenced were reprimands to Bender from the College of Education that his actions were not creating a positive image of the school.

She said Bender didn't face stiffer punishment at the time because she received conflicting accounts from students.

Bender only admitted to attending the party, Hoy said.

Bailey made a distinction between the University's sexual harassment policy in the early '90s and now, saying there was a less specific policy before.

She said the complainant was required to go before a panel and express their complaints, which they often refused to do.

In November 1998, the policy was changed, making the reporting process more accessible for complainants and more clearly defining the responsibility of the University, Bailey said.

"They didn't really have firm (legal principles) in place," she said of the time when Bender first faced allegations.

Mace also said the perception of sexual harassment has evolved in recent years.

"Different people would have interpreted things differently at that point in time," he said. He added that various displays of affection are interpreted differently. Mace said the tenure revocation process made the situation more difficult.

When Bothe first discussed the situation with Ballard-Washington, of Legal Affairs, she was met with red tape last year.

"You can't fire him because he's got tenure," Bothe was told by Ballard-Washington.

Bailey said that the University could not fire Bender, even after he was found in violation of the policy in September.

Had Bender not resigned, she said, the process could have taken multiple years to untangle.

"There is due process for everyone, Bailey said. "But there are extra layers of due process for faculty."

Want to read more? Check out the main story on the Bender case.

Editor's Note: The Red & Black will examine the tenure revocation process Friday.

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