Three Harvard graduate students are suing the university alleging sexual harassment and retaliation by a prominent anthropology professor, John Comaroff. Two of the students involved in the suit shared their experience with Jim Braude on Greater Boston Wednesday.
The lawsuit alleges Comaroff kissed graduate student Lilia Kilburn on at least two occasions and also graphically described how she would be raped and murdered if she traveled to Africa. When students Amulya Mandava and Margaret Czerwienski joined Kilburn in sharing warnings about Comaroff with other students, they say he retaliated.
"He had threatened myself and Margaret with career-ending retaliation because we had been sharing warnings with students in our department about his pattern of harassment and abuse," said Mandava.
Czerwienski said she told other professors, as well as filed a Title IX complaint, and no action was taken by the university.
Carolin Guentert, a lawyer representing the students said, "We believe that only this is the tip of the iceberg. There's so much more here." She added that there are also serious allegations lodged against additional professors in Harvard's anthropology department.
The students said their future careers in anthropology have been squashed due to Comaroff's retaliation.
"We hope to shine a light on what has been quiet and bubbling under the surface and ignored for far too long," Guentert said. "As we alleged in the complaint, there's a history of misconduct here which Harvard knew about."
Harvard said in a statement, "Harvard University disputes the allegations of the lawsuit brought by Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLP, which are in no way a fair or accurate representation of the thoughtful steps taken by the University in response to concerns that were brought forward, the thorough reviews conducted, and the results of those reviews.”
Watch: Harvard students speak out about sexual harassment
