Published by the MIT News Office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.

Keyser Expects Report in Fall

Sexual Harassment

Keyser Expects Report in Fall

Associate Provost Samuel Jay Keyser anticipates that the MIT Sexual 
Harassment Committee will issue a final report during the fall term this 
year, recommending changes in the policy on harassment.

Professor Keyser, the chair of the committee, said in an interview that 
the 22-person committee was divided into subcommittees on policy, 
education and procedures, and has made a great deal of progress on 
matters of policy and on ways of educating the community.

(The current MIT policies on the Complaint and Grievance Procedures for 
Those Who Work and Study at MIT (from the 1990 edition of Policies and 
Procedures, now at the printer) appear on Page 5.)

Sexual harassment occurs in a great variety of situations in the MIT 
community, he said.

"One of the major issues is that an offended person needs to know how 
much control she or he gives up to the institution when making a sexual 
harassment complaint," he said.  

"In making that decision appropriately, she or he needs to be extremely 
well informed by the institution. A crucial part of the information 
which the offended person  needs to know to make an informed decision 
has to do with what are the responsibilities of the person or persons to 
whom she or he might go, and who has what obligations to act within the 
system.

"That translates into,  how can you provide an offended person  with 
maximum information before any communication begins?" Professor Keyser 
said. 

"Harassment is a negative sum situation. Once harassment has occurred, 
there's almost no way to undo the damage. So the best move is to create 
a climate in which the occurrence of harassment approaches zero--a 
climate of prevention.

"The issue is extremely important and difficult because it involves 
serious consequences for the lives of so many people. Some of the 
stories I have been told are just chillingÑeven a word spoken can injure 
people for decades," Professor Keyser said.

He said the press of exams and other matters made it impossible to 
finish the task this month, but that he anticipated the group would make 
a final report sometime in the fall term.