MOVING TO FRONT FROM YESTERDAY--UPDATED
A number of folks have been flagging this story: this version is free (but heavily dependent on Stevens), while the CHE story (which is much more informative) is behind a paywall. Briefly, Prof. Stevens has been barred from campus pending a psychological evaluation by a psychiatrist retained by the university. This grows out of complaints from her colleagues, in particular, an incident with the Associate Chair of Political Science, Alvin Tillery. Professor Stevens's account is here and Prof. Tillery's account is here. From the CHE article:
The university reviewed Ms. Stevens following a run-in she had in March with Alvin Bernard Tillery Jr., associate chair of political science. After the incident, each accused the other of screaming and shouting.
Mr. Tillery says Ms. Stevens’s behavior has felt "creepy" ever since he arrived at the university three years ago. He says she has screamed and sobbed in his office, spun tales of conspiracy theories — including charging the university with tapping her phones — and denigrated his scholarship in African-American studies. All of that, says Mr. Tillery, has made him worry that Ms. Stevens is unstable.
Then there was the confrontation in his office last March. "Do I think she might shoot me?" he asks. "Absolutely. It happens all over the country."
Although Prof. Stevens reports having an attorney at her webpage (which is wise!), it's not clear that her defense was reviewed by the attorney, since it fits rather too well with the allegation of spinning "tales of conspiracy theories." Of course, it may be she is correct to be paranoid and suspect a conspiracy, but on the evidence so far, it is very far from clear what is going on. This may be a case of Northwestern retaliating against an outspoken professor or it may be a case of a faculty member behaving very badly, to the point that an African-American colleague of hers fears for his safety. (Longtime readers may recall that Prof. Stevens championed the cause of the undergraduate complainant against Peter Ludlow several years ago, claiming that Ludlow had engaged in "criminal" mimsconduct. While the University found Ludlow in violation of the university's rules about sexual harassment, they did not find against him on any of the allegations that might have been criminal, and no criminal charges were ever filed.)
Readers with more information, preferably from parties other than those central to the dispute, should feel free to e-mail me more information.
UPDATE: A friend of mine who knows Prof. Tillery "reasonably well" calls him an "extraordinarily nice guy" who "treat[s] people with a lot of respect," which is consistent with the outpouring of support from former students on his Facebook page.
ANOTHER: More details from IHE:
While Stevens associates the university's recent actions against her with her activism, others disagree.
Alvin B. Tillery Jr., associate professor and associate chair of political science, said that he was personally scared of Stevens and would leave Northwestern if she returned to the department. In an interview and in email messages, he said that she spread false reports about him, questioned whether "spousal/diversity hires" such as himself were "plants" from the university and said that spousal/diversity hires should not be allowed to vote in faculty meetings.
He described her bursting out in sobs and growling at him. He also said that a colleague told him that "Professor Stevens had suggested that one of her male students on the wrestling team had volunteered to enter my office and do violence to me on her behalf."
As these events escalated, Tillery said, he began to fear for his safety. Tillery also provided Inside Higher Ed with a series of emails and letters he sent to Northwestern officials saying that he felt unsafe and that something needed to be done to protect faculty members from Stevens. The emails show that Northwestern received repeated requests to do something about Stevens, and that these communications did not refer to Stevens's politics.
Tillery went out of his way in communications with Inside Higher Ed to praise Stevens as a scholar.
He said that he has been told a Northwestern investigation into charges he and Stevens made against each other backed his position. While he said he was not given a copy of the report, he is still on campus and she is not....
S. Sara Monoson, a professor and chair of political science at Northwestern, backs Tillery's view of the situation. In an email, Monoson said, "I can tell you that her original accusation against Professor Tillery early last spring and her abhorrent attacks on him now are not isolated incidents but rather part of a pattern of uncivil and threatening conduct by Stevens toward various individuals in our department (faculty, graduate and undergraduate students and staff) over the course of years.
"She has a long history at Northwestern of gross incivility toward her co-workers and some students that has caused extreme disruptions of normal department business for years. Her behavior towards colleagues and graduate students inside the department of political science was worsening in truly frightening ways last year, prompting many expressions of alarm. Yes, some members of my department worried that she seemed to be out of touch with reality and feared for the safety of the workplace."
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