Faculty Senate votes to withdraw special committee report regarding Kalyango tenure

The Ohio U Faculty Senate met on Feb. 9, where they withdrew a special committee report regarding Yusuf Kalyango’s tenure (Screenshot by Kate Marijolovic).

*Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story identified Jennifer Fredette and Devika Chawla as serving on Faculty Senate, which is incorrect. Fredette and Chawla do not serve on Faculty Senate and spoke at the meeting in their role as professors. Additionally, the story in The Athens NEWS mentioned in this story was published Thursday, not Friday. This story has been updated to reflect that.

Information on Ohio U’s Survivor Advocacy Program can be found at https://www.ohio.edu/survivor. Information on the Survivor Advocacy Outreach Program can be found at https://www.saopseoh.org/. 

The Ohio University Faculty Senate voted Monday night to withdraw a December special committee report recommending the Ohio U Board of Trustees reinstate journalism professor Yusuf Kalyango’s full tenure. 

The official resolution passed by the Senate stated, “Be it resolved that the Faculty Senate calls for the report of the Faculty Senate’s specially convened committee be withdrawn and not considered by the Board of Trustees by the President.”

The special hearing committee report, which was made publicly available by The Athens NEWS Monday morning, recommended the Ohio U Board of Trustees reinstate Kalyango with full tenure. 

The report was originally written in December, but many senators were unaware of its existence until a story published Thursday in The Athens NEWS revealed the report’s recommendation.

Kalyango was suspended in 2018 after an investigation conducted by the Ohio U Office for Equity and Civil Rights Compliance (ECRC), also known as the Title IX office, found he had sexually harassed a graduate student. Following his suspension, Kalyango remained employed by Ohio U to conduct research, a role in which he did not work with students. 

The special hearing committee report recommendation was made in direct contradiction of the ECRC investigation’s findings, the decisions of two ethics committees who reviewed the findings of the ECRC, and previous support from upper-level faculty at the Scripps College of Communication for the removal of Kalyango’s tenure throughout the investigative process.

During the Senate meeting it was also revealed the committee conducted its own investigation of the case, despite being unqualified to do so. The committee also held the evidence to a higher legal standard, typically used in criminal — rather than university — proceedings. 

Political Science Professor Jennifer Fredette said the committee improperly applied the “clear and convincing” evidence standard. University standards state that a preponderance of evidence is 51% likely to be true, unlike those applied in criminal proceedings, which require evidence to prove someone guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Fredette presented the resolution to withdraw the special committee report. 

The ECRC, as an impartial office, is the only office qualified to handle Title IX investigations. Members of both ethics committees, which only reviewed the ECRC’s findings, received ethics training prior to working on the committees. Members of the Faculty Senate Hearing Committee received no such ethics training. 

“Basically, this committee did what they were not supposed to do and then did not have training to do so,” said Senator Amy White, a member of one of the Senate’s two professional ethics committees.

Numerous senators expressed frustration with the report and its findings during Monday night’s meeting. 

“As a faculty member, I was shocked when I read about this committee’s decision,” Senator Sarah Webb said. "I think that the decision itself sends a message to our campus community that we don’t believe survivors and that we don’t trust our own systems and policies.”

“Are we saying as a collective that the office that is trained in doing these investigations, the ECRC, does not hold any water in this institution?” Devika Chawla, a professor in the college of communication studies, asked the Senate. 

Senators were concerned with how the committee’s report looked to students, many of whom took to Twitter over the weekend to express their frustration with Ohio U’s handling of Title IX investigations. 

Senator Howard Welser said, “I hope that [students involved] can see that Ohio University and the ECRC aren’t necessarily advocating for their rights in this situation. Probably the only way for them to experience justice would be for them to engage in a federal lawsuit against Ohio University. I think it’s clear that we are not in a position to provide them with justice, and I would imagine there's plenty of evidence to show that their experience was not what any of us would think is ethical.”

On the other hand, Mary Rogus, a journalism professor at Ohio U, resigned from the Scripps College of Communication Scholarship Committee on Monday afternoon after voicing support for Kalyango in a series of now-deleted posts to Twitter made over the weekend. 

“With all of my heart, I would like to express deep regret that my words caused hurt to other survivors of sexual misconduct. That was not at all my intention, but clearly, I did not think through how my words would be perceived,” Rogus wrote in a tweet announcing her resignation from the scholarship committee.

Women’s Panhellenic Association President Maggie Old started a petition advocating for the termination of Kaylango’s tenure. Started three days ago as of publication, the petition currently has over 1,000 signatures and will be brought to the Student Senate general body meeting on Wednesday. 

Some Senators were concerned that the handling of allegations against Kalyango could possibly set a precedent for de-tenuring.

“I don’t understand how censoring a faculty committee strengthens your position or protects students or faculty,” Senator Jacqueline Wolf said. “I don’t understand how this faculty committee threatens anyone’s rights or doubts anyone, and to wipe out the rationale and the decision of an entire Faculty Senate committee strikes me as a very, very dangerous precedent.” 

Senator Chawla responded to Wolf’s remarks, saying, “Tenure protects academic freedom, it does not give you license to conduct physical or sexual misconduct. I do not believe that this committee was convened to protect tenure. It was a hearing.”

Wolf said she was only supporting an individual’s right to defend themselves against serious charges.

The matter of Kalyango’s tenure now rests with the Board of Trustees. 

In a press release put out Monday afternoon, prior to the Faculty Senate meeting, Ohio U stated, “The Yusuf Kalyango matter is ongoing, and the university is not currently able to comment on the details of the proceedings due to provisions within the faculty handbook.” 

The statement also said that recommendations made by the Faculty Senate do not define the outcome of any de-tenuring review. According to the statement, the Ohio U Board of Trustees will make the final decision regarding Kalyango’s tenure and is currently working on a schedule to review the matter.