Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include communication from the university and the faculty member involved. 

A call for accountability and transparency was made at a rally hosted by the Coalition of Graduate Employees on April 15 outside Strand Agriculture Hall.

“A tenured faculty member, with a documented history of harassment and bullying, was allowed to return to his post after assaulting a graduate student,” said Rae Szymanski, a second-year master’s student studying plant breeding and genetics, in the opening remarks of the rally.

Over a hundred students and faculty gathered to share their disappointment in Oregon State University’s current systems of reporting and investigating bullying and harassment claims.

When asked about the situation, the university and faculty member declined to comment. The faculty member will remain anonymous while the Barometer investigates the inciting incident of the rally.

In an email, Vice President of University Relations and Marketing Rob Odom stated, “(Faculty member) is currently employed in a Professor (academic faculty) position. OSU does not comment on any other personnel matters.”

“We tried the formal routes, meeting with the dean, our department head, and then they brought in Employee Relations, which they didn’t warn us about. We tried to have a conversation, we did all the proper routes, but this is us being like, ‘take us seriously’,” said Andrea Retrano, a second-year PhD student in the Horticulture department.

“They’re just not listening to us and it’s been very belittling and condescending on their end,” Retrano said.

Szymanski also drew attention to the changes made to Title IX, a law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education, under the current Federal Administration.

“These changes include a narrower definition of sexual misconduct, meaning individuals are only protected by Title IX if their experience meets specific, limited criteria,” said Szymanski. “Additionally, changes to Title IX weaken protections for our transgender and non-binary colleagues who are even more likely to be targets of sexual harassment and gender discrimination.”

The attendees commented on their hopes for Oregon State’s policies moving forward.

“We want a faculty code of conduct. In the College of Ag, we have this document called the CARE document. Basically, we don’t think it has enough teeth and really (doesn’t) have strong protections for students,” Szymanski said.

“I would love to see all perpetrators take accountability for their actions. I’d love to see the administration be more transparent with their processes. And I’d love for students to have a safer way to talk about what’s going on because clearly, the avenues that have already been set up, like EOA and the Title IX office, aren’t working, so we need to restructure and do better,” said Chase Mauerhan, a second-year master’s student in the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program.

Some undergraduate students have the same feelings.

“People in power being held to account for what they do, whether they serve the students and the people that they’re supposed to represent. That’s accountability to me,” said William Ghozeil, a first-year undergraduate studying Bioengineering.

As a rebuttal to the College Student Services and Administration department’s mission statement, Chase Mauerhan said, “(Administration) are you living up to these expectations that you set forth onto your students? Are you acting equitably? Are you acting in a means that promotes access, community, institutional change? Are you prioritizing justice? From what I’m seeing right now, these are not your priorities. Which means the students are not your priorities.”

“To my fellow graduate workers: keep talking. Silence has, and never will protect us,” Mauerhan said.

The Barometer is further investigating the inciting incident of this rally, the allegations against the faculty member and the university’s procedures surrounding harassment reports.