ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Some University of Georgia faculty are concerned having U.S Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as the institution’s graduation speaker sends the wrong message after a year of sexual harassment scandals on campus.
The university announced Friday that Thomas would be the commencement speaker, setting off rounds of angry and frustrated e-mails between faculty members. Thomas, a Georgia native, faced a bitterly contested confirmation process for his appointment to the Supreme Court in 1991 after his former employee, Anita Hill, accused him of sexual harassment.
Some faculty members said they were outraged that the university would ask Thomas to speak when UGA has been facing criticism that administrators have been slow to address sexual harassment complaints filed against faculty members.
“What a slap in the face this is to everyone who has been working to bring to light the realities of sexual harassment, and to establish appropriate methods and offices for addressing this significant problem on our campus,” Chris Cuomo, director of UGA’s Institute for Women’s Studies, told The Red & Black student newspaper.
UGA spokesman Tom Jackson said Thomas has a close relationship with the UGA School of Law and has visited campus several times to give lectures.
“We’re honored to have an associate justice of the Supreme Court bringing our commencement address,” Jackson said.
Some faculty members told The Associated Press they planned to speak on the issue during the University Council meeting Tuesday afternoon. Associate professor Janet Frick said she was using her two psychology lectures Monday to educate students about the history of Thomas’ appointment to the Supreme Court.
“They were barely born when this was going on,” Frick said. “They don’t know some of this history. We would do our students a favor to educate them on what took place and on each side. It would be doing our job as an institution to examine these issues more fully.”
The 17-year-old scandal surrounding Thomas’ confirmation to the Supreme Court was revived last fall when Thomas published a memoir, “My Grandfather’s Son,” calling Hill a greedy, mediocre employee who was used by political opponents to make claims she had been sexually harassed.
Hill published a column in The New York Times the week the book was published defending her position and reinforcing her accusations against Thomas.
At UGA, three professors have resigned since September because of sexual harassment complaints. Last month, UGA President Michael Adams announced he is establishing three ombudsman positions to focus on the complaints and creating a women’s center on campus.
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