WHEN STUDENTS come to the University, they expect a certain degree of freedom: academically, socially and (certainly) sexually. In 1993, when History Prof. and director of Studies In Women and Gender Ann Lane wrote a policy to ban student-faculty relationships, it didn't pass, precisely because both the faculty board voting on it and University students thought it infringed upon their freedom. "We were not telling students they couldn't have sex, which is what they kept saying we were telling them. It is not about sex. It is about power," says Lane. The result of this was a compromise on the policy -- student-faculty relationships are not banned, but they're not encouraged either. "It just says to be careful," she continues.
Students, however, need to realize that although they may consider sleeping with a professor no different than sleeping with a fellow student, the former can have drastic consequences. "Is it really consensual," Lane points out, "when you're 18 and the man is 45?"
"Well I figure the University will protect me if anything goes wrong," says first year University student Traci Kelly. If you file charges, this might be true, but the University's stance on sexual harassment is nowhere near as rigid as its position on lying, cheating and stealing. Many students figure that they can sleep with their professors (or other students for that matter), and if anything non-consensual occurs, the University will be on their side. But although the University follows the single sanction for the honor code, punishment for sexual crimes is decided on a case-by-case basis. Matthew Hamilton, for example, was simply "banned from the first year dining hall and from the Aquatic and Fitness Center," said former University student and rape victim Annie Hylton in an interview with the Hook. Her rapist was not expelled, and he graduated with the rest of his class.
With professors, the situation is even stickier. "Tenured faculty," says Ann Lane, "they never touch those. You'll never see him again, but they won't fire the guy. If you need to take a class that particular professor gives, the college will make arrangements."
Why then would a student put him or herself at risk and pursue a relationship with a faculty member? "When it's a teacher, there are women that will find that attractive because it'll make them feel important," says Lane, who is currently writing a book on the subject. "But it exists the other way around, too. And the same-sex relationships also exist although predominantly it is a male professor and a female student. A middle aged married man, usually."
"I think girls just like being taken care of," says Kelly. "We like older men."
Regardless of the reason for these relationships, the reality is that most of them have very negative consequences. Relationships between faculty and students affect not only the pair but also the University community in general. Even in a place as large as this you can't guarantee that at some point in your undergraduate or even graduate studies, you won't end up taking classes with a certain teacher or that he or she won't be in a committee concerning you. As in any relationship, there is no guarantee that it will last -- a relationship with a University professor, however, could potentially affect your career.
"You can't mediate relationships, though," argues fourth year University student Mark Brewster. "They are both adults and as long as the relationship isn't highly characterized by the power differential between the professor and the student... And how do you judge whether it is or not? People need to make those judgments on their own and with the help of their peers."
There is no right or wrong answer to the question of whether or not it is okay to date a professor at the University; however, students must take into account the fact that as teachers, these individuals hold a position of more power within the community. And even though students may be old enough to date, they are still not full adults. In her research for the book, which Lane said she did mostly outside the University, professors would take advantage of that. "He [the professor] would invite students to his house and give them alcohol and pot, both of which are obviously illegal. The students would never report him."
Before entering a relationship with a faculty member, then, students should remember that although not all faculty-student relationships end badly -- some, in fact, end in happy marriages -- the possible negative consequences far outweigh the positives.
Andrea Arango is a Cavalier Daily Viewpoint writer.
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