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Abuse of power by former law professor lasted ten to fifteen years
The law professor who resigned last year following an investigation into inappropriate behaviour entered into several hierarchically unequal relationships with female students and female staff at the faculty. This took place over a period of ten to fifteen years. Sources also report that manipulative behaviour was involved.
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The law professor, who worked at the UvA for about twenty years, resigned last year due to an investigation that revealed inappropriate behaviour. According to a press release issued by the UvA, a feeling of insecurity prevailed in the department concerned for a long period of time. Following reports in the summer of last year, the faculty decided to suspend the professor.
Discussions with insiders now reveal that abuse of power had been taking place within the department for at least ten to fifteen years. During that period, the professor entered into several hierarchically unequal relationships with female students and female university employees and exhibited manipulative behaviour. “In hindsight, it appears that an unsafe atmosphere prevailed,' says Professor Evert Verhulp (labour law), who for a long time headed the department to which the departed professor was affiliated. 'Looking back on the case with the knowledge I have now, I can only say that the faculty acted correctly.”
Other insiders, who only want to talk to Folia on condition of anonymity, describe the professor as someone with “high academic qualities” and at the same time as “very manipulative”. He flirted a lot, made 'inappropriate' comments and liked to exert influence over others. “I don’t think he always does it consciously, but his boundaries are genuinely different,” someone explains. An eight for a night, students joked. “That kind of thing isn’t good for the department. If you confronted him about something, you were quickly shut down: it wasn’t really possible to have a proper discussion about his behaviour. And how much can you say as a subordinate? In addition, the composition of our group was constantly changing: people on temporary contracts came and went, and that made it harder for issues to come to the surface.”
The difficult thing, everyone says, is that incidents often remain secret. Some women said afterwards that they felt partly responsible, says Verhulp. “You have contact, you participate nicely, and before you know it, you’re in bed with him. That feeling of guilt is difficult and leads to people not saying anything anymore.” He says he had “stomach ache” from the case. “I wondered if I could have seen it coming, if I had been naive.”
Confidentiality
Due to the confidential nature of the case, the faculty decided not to release any details about the incidents other than the press release. In addition, the professor and the faculty signed a confidentiality agreement, which also means that they cannot say anything about the content of the report by the Bezemer Kuijper & Schubad investigation agency. Insiders say that the UvA has acted “decisively” in taking these measures, but also see a problem in the lack of substantive explanation. “This gentleman can now pretend that nothing serious has happened,” say various sources. “You have to wonder what that means for the victims. I hope the faculty has learned from this and that they will never do it this way again.”
In addition, colleagues say that it has cast their department in a bad light: this “vague message” could make it seem as if they were a “disturbed department”. “People could easily think that this man was responsible for a lot of mess in the department, and that he was sent away because of that.”
The atmosphere in the department is now “surprisingly good”: less tension, good energy. “He was a huge mood maker, but also a mood setter,” someone says about him. “This case is so complicated: there is a lot of secrecy, a lot of shame. Everyone is now on the same page again.”
The UvA has not yet fully completed the administrative matters surrounding the departure of the law professor – for example, after his departure, he was still mentioned on the beadle’s monthly list of promotions and he is still listed as a professor in the UvA register of professors and PhD graduates.
The UvA cannot comment on the substance of the alleged facts. The investigation into the professor was conducted under the promise of complete confidentiality, and the UvA does not wish to betray that trust.
Folia has decided not to publish the professor's name. From a journalistic point of view, we find the incidents and the circumstances under which they could have occurred more interesting than the name. We have also taken the professor's privacy into consideration.
