Harvard Students Walk Out On Professor Accused Of Sexual Misconduct, Demand His Resignation

Hundreds of Harvard University students staged a walkout on John Comaroff, an anthropology professor who is at the center of allegations made by female students that he groped and forcefully kissed them.

Comaroff had to call off his 3 p.m. class Tuesday after students at the packed lecture theater began to stand up one by one. One female student read out a statement from her phone saying: "We don't want to be taught by someone who has still not been held accountable for or made amends for their sexual misconduct," according to New York Post.

"John Comaroff spent his career harassing, silencing, and retaliating against students," she continued, with other students displaying signs in solidarity with her. As soon as her statement ended, the room was filled with chants of "Justice for survivors," and "No more Comaroff, no more complicity."

A video of the protest posted on Twitter by Harvard student Rosie Couture has gone viral as of Thursday with almost 150,000 views at the time of writing.

Comaroff returned to the classroom after an administrative leave spanning from January 2022 to the fall of that year.

The history of the professor's troubles, however, goes as far back as August 2020 when he was placed on his first-ever unpaid leave after three students — Lilia Kilburn, Margaret Czerwienski, and Amulya Mandava — brought allegations that Comaroff sexually harassed them and other students in the institution.

One student accused him of sexist remarks in which he, in what was described as a "tone of enjoyment," said that lesbians in Africa are either subjected to "corrective rape" or killed.

The whistleblower students went on to file a lawsuit against the university for ushering him back into the classrooms and ignoring multiple sexual harassment claims.

The university's decision to continue his leave until the fall of 2022 came after an internal investigation found Comaroff's verbal conduct violated Harvard's policies around sexual and gender-based harassment and professional conduct, The Harvard Crimson reported.

Kilburn said she was overcome with emotions seeing 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, claiming his continued employment in the university will mean more danger to students and is shameful for the institution.