Faculty-student relationships banned by proposed W&L policy
Washington and Lee University is putting it down on paper: Student-faculty sexual or romantic relationships, even those that are consensual, will soon be prohibited.
On Feb. 27, the administration released a draft of a policy banning such relationships. According to Provost June Aprille, the policy could take effect by the end of this academic year.
The policy would officially prohibit all mutually consensual romantic or sexual relations between undergraduate students and faculty or university employees. Relationships between law students and employees of the law school are also prohibited.
Relationships between law students and employees outside the law school, who cannot directly affect the student’s academic development, are “strongly discouraged,” and the university will not defend those relationships if claims of sexual harassment arise.
Aprille has been working on the policy with other administrators and faculty members since her arrival at W&L last summer. President Ken Ruscio distributed a copy of the proposed policy to faculty and staff last month and asked for feedback.
Aprille and Steven McAllister, the university’s vice president for finance, will review their comments, but won’t necessarily make suggested changes, said Aprille. The policy will not be voted on by the faculty, but simply reviewed by Aprille and McAllister.
Julie Woodzicka is a psychology professor and a member of the Student Faculty Hearing Board, a body that hears allegations of prohibited discrimination, harassment, sexual misconduct or hazing involving students, but not faculty. Woodzicka said she agrees with the policy and that most other professors do as well. Her only complaint is the top-down approach to its creation.
“I can see the administration’s point in just saying, ‘This is how it’s going to be,’” she said. “But I think faculty might have felt more validated if given the chance to engage in debate.”
According to Aprille, nothing specific sparked the creation of the consensual relations policy.
“It’s a policy that every institution like ours should have in place to protect students and to protect faculty and staff as well,” she said. Administration members declined to say whether student-faculty relationships have been an issue in the past.
But Woodzicka said that since her arrival at W&L in 2000, she has run into a handful of instances.
“I don't want to make it sound like it’s a problem; I don't think it happens that often. But in the time I've been here I can think of four or five times, mostly with the same faculty,” she said. “My first year or second year here there was a professor who brought a student to Fancy Dress, and I was at a pre-party with them. There were some extenuating circumstances of why, but it was still very strange and people were talking about it like crazy.”
Several faculty members were reluctant to discuss the proposed policy. But Margaret Elkins, a W&L senior and student vice-chairwoman of the Student Faculty Hearing Board, supports it.
“I think it’s definitely good that something’s going to be set in stone so something can actually be done about it,” Elkins said.
Virginia Military Institute has a similar policy prohibiting not only student-faculty relationships but also cadet relationships between cadet commanders and rank-and-file cadets. The University of Virginia also prohibits student-faculty relationships. According to Aprille, who previously served as provost at the University of Richmond, that institution had talked of creating such a policy. Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista does not have one.
According to Aprille, no disciplinary action has been set for violating the policy. She said she could not comment on how the university might treat student-faculty relationships that existed prior to the policy.
But Woodzicka believes that most professors, even without the prospect of punishment, should know that student-faculty relationships are wrong ethically.
“I think it makes all faculty feel like we're a little bit compromised,” she said.
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