TO THE EDITOR:
I write to express concern and disappointment regarding the recent actions by a chemistry professor who invited Playboy magazine to photograph the "Girls of the ACC" at his home.
A soap opera has unfolded as the professor touted, then excused, then apologized for his actions in the press. Faculty members in the chemistry department immediately disassociated themselves from his conduct and then set the record straight that no one there had invited his actions. Others have done their best to communicate important lessons drawn from these incidents, and I will do the same.
Professors have ethical obligations to their students. We are duty-bound to teach knowledgeably, respectfully and effectively. We also function as role models whose actions have powerful symbolic significance. Conduct by professors outside the classroom that is or is perceived as exploitative or disrespectful creates reasonable concerns among students that they will be exploited or disrespected in classes and labs.
It's not a question of First Amendment rights, making money renting out one's home or impressing outsiders with etchings or balconies. It's about impeding student learning, burdening their growing self-concept as scientists and undercutting their joyful struggle to engage in new ideas and challenges - whatever their gender, viewpoint or personal attributes.
It's about whether women, long discouraged from pursuing many opportunities in the hard sciences, will be deterred from taking classes needed to become doctors, researchers or chemistry teachers.
It's about whether one's department needs to rearrange teaching assignments because students avoid classes taught by professors whose judgment they distrust.
It's about being an ethical professional who does not need to claim bragging rights as "one of the boys."
It's about cleaning up messes caused by behavior that can't be justified, explained or excused. It's good to know that everyone understands that it's time to get on with that work.
