Committee to study gender harassment

In response to the results of a 2003 survey on the quality of Caltech graduate student life, President David Baltimore has appointed a task force to investigate issues of gender harassment on campus.
Members of the Graduate Student Council and Women in Engineering,

Science and Technology have in recent months begun releasing results from the survey, which was conducted last spring. “The latest report raises a number of important issues related to gender harassment and the academic climate at Caltech that I believe require an institutional
response,” Baltimore wrote in a March 26 e-mail memo to the Caltech community.

The task force, which will study the issues raised in the report and make appropriate recommendations, comprises Vice President for Student Affairs Margo Marshak and Professor John Bercaw, cochairs; Professors Jed Buchwald, Janet Hering, Dianne Newman, John Preskill, and Barbara Wold; Mike Miranda, division administrator for biology; and Candace Rypisi, director of the Women’s Center. The committee will be assisted by Karen Greenwalt, associate general counsel; Michael Hoffmann, dean of graduate studies; and Miriam Feldblum, senior director of student affairs projects, and will consult with other campus organizations, faculty, students, and staff.

Baltimore wrote, “As we await the results of the Task Force’s work, I would like to reiterate the Institute’s commitment to providing an academic and work environment that is free of harassment and, as provided in the Institute’s Policy on Unlawful Harassment, to addressing specific harassment concerns promptly. The hostile and intimidating environment created by harassment is the very antithesis of the spirit of free and open intellectual inquiry that forms the foundation for everything we do at Caltech.”

Due to the significance and impact of the issues raised in the report, Baltimore said, he has asked the group to submit its recommendations before the end of the academic year. The report will be released to the Faculty Board and to other campus departments as appropriate.
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