3 Professionalism

3.1 Be An Adult

College is a great time, and for many of you might offer a sense of new-found liberation. (I sure remember how liberating college felt for me!) It’s a space for exploration and experimentation of various kinds (legal, no doubt). However, it also provides opportunities to cross various lines, and unfortunately some people do so in awful ways.

Every now and then I hear disturbing statements from students about how they have been made to feel uncomfortable in class or in the department. I don’t mean intellectual discomfort—e.g., the kind you might get from having a heated debate about a technical subject with a fellow student—but the personal kind. These range from inappropriate comments to invitations to even touching and other physical contact. The subjects are almost overwhelmingly (but not exclusively) female students or from races underrepresented in computer science.

There’s a term for some of the behaviors I hear about. It’s called harassment. And let there be absolutely no doubt about this: harassment is against the law and it is completely against the norms by which we want to run this course and this department. (See Brown’s Title IX Web site.) We—the university, the department, and this course’s staff—have absolutely zero tolerance for it.

Your reaction might be to laugh it off, or to make (or think) snide remarks about political correctness or jokes about consent or what have you. You might think people just need to grow a thicker skin or learn to take a joke.

However, the subject of your harassment (and that’s what your remarks and actions are, harassment, even if you decide you would classify them as jokes) is forced, by the nature of classes and campus life, to be around you. That can make them uncomfortable to the point of wanting to stay away, or focusing more on you than on what they are here to learn. That hurts their education. That is not okay at all: you have no right to steal their hard-won education away from them. And often the harm goes much deeper: it hurts them psychologically in subtle and long-standing ways. And that’s why these are not laughing matters.

In light of recent reports about such issues on campus, Brown is taking additional steps to reduce this form of harm. Therefore, if I cannot appeal to your decency, intelligence, and collegiality, let me at least appeal to your self-interest. Do not mess around on this matter. It will not go well for you.

However, I prefer that you think of this in positive terms. Your classmates are your colleagues. Someday you may be each others’ start-up partners or co-employees; one of you may even be the other’s interviewer or boss. So start treating one another like professionals, and I mean that in the best possible interpretation of that phrase.

3.2 Disclosure

In principle, I would like to say that you are always open to come talk to me if you are facing any such issues. Unfortunately, I have to warn you that on account of being the director of our PhD program, I’m what Title IX law calls a Responsible Employee. That means, if you report an incident to me, I am required to report it to the Title IX coordinator at Brown. This will likely launch an investigation.

Usually, an investigation is a good idea. However, I realize this may put you in an uncomfortable position, and that’s certainly not what I want. Therefore, I need to tell you that if you want to do things confidentially, you should talk to one of the many resources listed here.

If you would like to learn more about Brown’s policies and resources, please see the university’s Title IX site.

Be safe, be happy, and have fun without taking away anyone else’s.