The only thing clear about Fordham philosophy prof William Jaworski is that some people didn’t like what he had to say. Had he done something, as in sexually molest a student, it would be understandable that he was a target of student outrage. But there isn’t a whisper of anything of the sort.
“Right now it’s unsubstantiated allegation,” [Associate Dean of the School of Professional & Continuing Studies Cira] Vernazza said. “The key is to substantiate or not. Right? So that’s the procedure. That’s the investigative procedure. So try to be fair about it. We don’t know because we don’t know. If you have firsthand experience, you should come forward.”
Firsthand experience of what? There isn’t the slightest clue given. But that didn’t stop two seniors from deciding to rise up to save others from . . . something.
Allegations had been swirling around William Jaworski for years.
An associate philosophy professor at Fordham University, Dr. Jaworski was accused of making female students feel “uncomfortable” and “unsafe,” according to a letter he received from the university. Many formal and informal complaints were made against him, two of which were substantiated, one for sexual harassment and another for unprofessional conduct. The letter said the “pattern of behavior” had gone on for over a decade.
Most of us engage in a “pattern of behavior” when it entails being us. Who we are. And if who we are isn’t as woke as thoroughly modern college co-eds want us to be, dedicating ourselves and our pedagogy to making children feel comfortable and safe, then there’s a fairly decent chance being who we are, our “patter of behavior,” will make them feel unsafe.
If you’re not quite following what it is that Jaworski is accused of doing, even if random females have feelings of discomfort about it, maybe his academic interests will explain.
The professor had intended to teach a course on “sexuality and morality from a traditionalist perspective,” his lawyer said.
Doesn’t the mere word, “traditionalist,” make any decent co-ed shudder, writhe in fear and agony? No wonder they feel unsafe, with a philosophy professor whose approach fails to fully embrace their feelings. The lawyer, by the way, is Andrew Miltenberg, who has become the premier lawyer defending against Title IX and political correctness excesses on campus. He’s a very busy guy these days.
But official channels, such as the myriad Title IX compaints filed against Jaworski have proven inadequate as far as some female students are concerned, as even their ease of conviction has failed to capture his awfulness and end his reign of traditionalist terror. So two decided to fix his wagon themselves.
Many formal and informal complaints were made against him, two of which were substantiated, one for sexual harassment and another for unprofessional conduct. The letter said the “pattern of behavior” had gone on for over a decade.
So at the beginning of this semester, two seniors, Samantha Norman and Eliza Putnam, decided to do something about it. On the first day of class in January, they visited two of Dr. Jaworski’s Philosophical Ethics classes, taught at the university’s Lincoln Center campus, in Manhattan, before the instructor arrived. Standing in front of a white board with about two dozen students folded into desks in front of them, they delivered a warning.
Who were these two students? Victims of Jaworski’s pattern of unsafeness? There’s no suggestion that they were harmed by Jaworski’s weaponized traditionalism, but they heard rumors and their passion compelled them to take action to end the tyranny of discomfort.
“We introduced ourselves and said, ‘We just want you to know that there’s a history of allegations against this professor and multiple Title IX complaints,’” Ms. Putnam said.
They told the students to take care of themselves and take care of each other, they said. They were in and out in less than five minutes.
How was their moving bravery rewarded? Did they get extra tassels at graduation for being white knights? On the contrary.
Just a few days later, the women received an email asking them to meet with the department of public safety. At first, they thought the university might be trying to learn more about Dr. Jaworski’s behavior. But it soon became apparent that they were the targets. The university began a formal investigation as to whether they had violated its code of conduct for dishonesty, disorderly conduct and verbal harassment.
This month, they were told that the dishonesty charge had stuck. While it will have little practical effect, it is a black mark on their record, one the women feel is aimed at stifling their speech.
But the two at least save one student from unpleasant feelings.
Ivoryona Williams, a sophomore, was in the class Ms. Putnam visited. She said that after she heard what Ms. Putnam had to say, she dropped the class.
“I can’t be in this class,” she said. “I just know for my well-being, I don’t want to be in any type of compromising situation.”
And what of the two courageous women who risked a black mark on their record by warning a class of students that their professor was a danger to their welfare? They got a lawyer.
“The conspiracy of silence about sexual abuse deprives future victims of the opportunity to protect themselves,” [former NLRB member Kent] Hirozawa said. “What these students did to try to break the cycle was generous and courageous, and what they told their fellow students was true. It is ironic that Fordham should punish them for ‘dishonesty.’ The only dishonesty here is Fordham’s attempt to silence them and hide the truth.”
Wait, what? Jaworski “sexually abused” someone? Who? What? Where? When? What is this “truth” they’re hiding? Two women went into a professor’s classroom to instill fear and loathing in his students, trying to “break the cycle” of something, but what?
Hirozawa’s calling their act “generous and courageous” is what a lawyer shooting blanks should do, obfuscate with empty words what can’t be explained in any comprehensible way otherwise. But remarkably, not a single word of what Professor Jaworski said or did that is even claimed to be inappropriate appears anywhere.
But spreading rumors of . . . something, instilling fear of . . . something, is close enough if it saves some female student from discomfort. And if that’s not good enough to suspend a prof, not to mention smear him in the New York Times, then what good is Title IX anyway?
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