In a nutshell, nothing will be done. They’ll talk to the student, he will deny, he said she said, yadda yadda, no proof, and that’s it.
So what really happened?
I have an international student (H) from India who took videos, yes videos, not a photo, of my butt when I was bent down helping a student. I asked the student (L) who witnessed it what happened. He was visibly uncomfortable retelling the story, but he said that when I was bent over, H was right up behind me, crouched as well, recording my backside on his phone from different angles... So that was new news to me and I was even more shocked.
I told my chair, who then shared the news to HR/security. They got back a day later and said that because it’s a public building (we’re in a separate building around the corner from the main campus) that technically it’s not punishable because you can film people in public spaces. Now if that excuse doesn’t make your head roll I don’t know what will. Seriously, what kind of bullshit excuse is that? So if I saw it happen and turned around and slapped his phone out of his hand (because I know punching someone in the face is punishable anywhere) would it matter? Because we’re in a public space right?
So anyway, nothing is going to be done. Nope, not even removing him from the last day of class, which is Friday, because it’s too short notice. So if we have a rapist among us, you can expect the same snail pace progress.
Here’s a backstory for context: H already has 2 warnings against him. In December, he approached one of my female students one dark morning when she was alone walking to school. She usually walks with two other girls, but this day, she was alone. He ran up behind her and put his arm around her shoulders, totally startling her. They don’t actually know each other aside from knowing they are in the same class, so this was completely uncalled for. He then asked if she would be his girlfriend, and she said no (obviously) and he proceeded to pester her on why, and THEN he tried to force her to kiss him, and then he tried to kiss her!!!
My female student didn’t show up for class that day, which is unusual. She sent me an email at the end of the day explaining what happened and that she was so embarrassed and upset that she didn’t want to be in his presence, so she went home.
Of course I sent all this to security and my chair…. And guess what? Nothing. He was spoken to, and he claimed in his culture that this was ok and he doesn’t know better. And that was it. Off scotch free.
Another incident occurred when a different female student of mine complained to me that H was demanding she give him the answers to the assignments… “you WILL give the answers to me,” demanded H rudely, getting visibly angry towards her. These are two separate instances with H with two different people.
He’s also suspected of cheating on tests. I had a suspicion, which was later confirmed by the math teacher who had the same suspicion.
The thing is, I actually liked H before all this. He’s very nice to my face, but he’s rude to other people. We have shop helpers, and at one point H told the helper that he was wasting his time, while looking for a tool for H, that H asked for.
Fast forward to now, H is claiming all the same bullshit. “In India it’s common to share answers and collaborate. I need to film the lessons for educational purposes because my English is weak and the teachers speak too fast”
Today, H tried to talk to me and he said “miss I have been accused of filming your behind. I can assure you I film all my lessons because it is hard for me to understand.” Then he proceeds to scroll through the hundreds of videos on his phone. Cue me, just dumbfounded, as I see several thumbnails of videos that I am in. He’s trying to deflect from the conversation and explain that he had a video of this lesson from February or that lesson from last week. So I said “first of all, you are absolutely not allowed to film the lessons without an explicit accommodation from the college which says you can do that. You do not have an accommodation. Secondly, you cannot film people without asking. Thirdly, show me the videos you took of me on Friday, and I will decide for myself if this is forgivable.” He says, “I cannot, I deleted the videos.” And I said ok let’s look in your deleted album. He says “mam this is an old phone.” Like no … it’s not an old iPhone, here I’ll show you where to find it. Then he says “no … I emptied my deleted album.”
I said “then I don’t believe a SINGLE word that comes out of your mouth anymore.”
The only glimpse of enjoyment I get from this whole thing is the knowledge that he failed his final exam and that all the instructors are aware of his antics and are going to make next semester super fun for him.
After Friday I’ll never have to see him again. I was offered a new role at another company with an offer I really can’t refuse. I’ll be jumping ship and leaving teaching for a while.
It’s bittersweet.
Edit: I wanted to include that I didn’t end up having a conversation with my class about boundaries and harassment and such. Honestly, the rest of the students are great. And knowing that I had two students there who had my back just confirmed it. It’s always good to read the riot act at the beginning and perhaps occasionally throughout a semester, and I wish I did at one point. But to be honest, these kids already know all this. They’ve been nothing short of respectful, aside from H, who blindsided me. Even if I did have a conversation with the class like I originally intended, it would’ve gone in one ear and out the other for a person like H who also apparently doesn’t understand English very well.
Edit: for those who are suggesting title IX, I’m in Canada- I’m not sure what the equivalent would be.
