Dr. Paul W. Barrows has given 16 years of dedicated service to the University of Wisconsin. No one has ever suggested that he did anything other than superb work, nor has anyone ever filed complaint about him. Yet, because of former Dean of Students Luoluo Hong and her campaign against him, Paul Barrows is no longer the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. That is a loss for the University and its students.
As to Dr. Barrows' supposed misconduct, the Steingass Report dispels any notion that he did anything wrong regarding his leave and places the entire responsibility for that leave on the university. The report also shows that the relationship that he had with MC (improperly referred to as \Jane Doe"" in the report) was, in fact, consensual as he has always described it and that the relationship did not violate the University's Consensual Relationship Policy.
Consequently, that relationship and the behavior of the parties in it was no one's business but theirs. What sense does it make to have a consensual relationship policy if an administrator can be pilloried for consensual conduct that does not violate it?
The report describes another consensual relationship that Dr. Barrows had with a woman who was neither a student nor an employee of the University at its inception. However, it was that relationship that Dean Luoluo Hong brought to Chancellor Wiley's attention on June 22, 2005 when Hong claimed Dr. Barrows had sexually harassed this woman and that he had been warned about it. Dean Hong never verified that information.
As the Steingass Report explains, the woman involved denies that she was ever sexually harassed. Yet, Hong's information caused Wiley to refuse to keep Barrows in the job of Special Assistant to the Chancellor at a salary of $150,000, instead placing him in a position at less than half that salary.
The report also describes interviews with two women who claim to have been sexually harassed by Dr. Barrows. One woman described events that supposedly took place five years ago and the other, events that supposedly took place 18 months ago.
Steingass did not interview Dr. Barrows about those allegations. By failing to do so, she ignored information that would have made her report thorough and balanced. Instead, it merely presents a one-sided set of unrebutted allegations. That is hardly fair treatment.
Last week, the university also released the secret memorandum sent to the Chancellor by Dean Luoluo Hong on November 1, 2004. That memo makes many unsubstantiated allegations about Dr. Barrows that were hidden from him until June 19, 2005, even though they caused him to be fired from his Vice-Chancellor position.
The Hong memo makes many wild claims, including an assertion, that because of racial solidarity, women of color would never complain about the behavior of an African-American administrator. As well as an assertion that African-American men on campus believed that Dr. Barrows was their ""mack daddy,"" which was tantamount to Hong calling him a pimp. Yet, the Chancellor never confronted Dean Hong about her wildly inappropriate and biased statements.
No one should be removed from his job based on a secret memo. Nor should a person being investigated be denied the opportunity to respond to the claims made against him. Moreover, no one should be subjected to public accusations that impugn his conduct, character and reputation without a full due process hearing that would allow him to clear his name.
Dr. Barrows demands such a hearing. After benefiting from his 16 years of service and then allowing him to be publicly vilified, the university owes him at least that much consideration.
