Dear former colleagues,
I was in the Emory University History Department PhD. program from fall of 2014 until I finished my Master’s degree in winter 2017. I’m writing to you because my experience with Emory University’s grievance process convinces me that there is in fact no protection for graduate students who have suffered abusive advisors, discrimination, or retaliation. I also strongly suspect similar situations exist at other universities, and all graduate students should be aware of the ways their institutions’ grievance processes may be designed to fail.
In spring 2016 I was hospitalized for depression. It seemed prudent to disclose my condition to my advisor, Dr. Clifton Crais. At first he was sympathetic, so I was surprised when, early that summer, he said he was concerned about my ability to finish my PhD because of my mental illness, and seemed to discourage me from continuing in the program.
In the following months, he told me I was not allowed to use other students’ notes or book reviews to study for comprehensive exams, then suddenly revoked his permission for me to take exams and told me to leave with a Master’s. When I refused, he told me I could take exams if I completely revised the exam list for which he had given me verbal approval, and gave me an unsatisfactory grade on a pass-fail course with no explanation. I ultimately failed exams, and my committee members refused to let me retake them.
The History Department’s current director of graduate studies, Dr. Thomas Rogers, was aware of the actions Dr. Crais took against me, and I told him that I believed Dr. Crais was attempting to force me out of the program because of my mental illness. I had hoped the department would think twice about giving Dr. Crais more students, but in spring 2018 I learned they had admitted two more Africanists who would presumably be Dr. Crais’ advisees.
That summer, I sent the department a detailed account of the ways I thought Dr. Crais abused his authority, including his comments about my mental health. After several weeks, the chair of the department, Dr. Joseph Crespino, told me the department could not take action on my grievance because the department’s policy is narrowly tailored to handle complaints from students who are still enrolled.
A day after I received Crespino’s email, I received an email from my former advisor, accusing me of entirely fabricating my account and demanding that I “retract [my] complaint, with apology,” or else he would “initiate a series of legal actions against [me], including defamation.”
I forwarded Dr. Crais’ threat to Dr. Crespino and wrote complaints to the deans of Laney Graduate School, Emory’s ombudsperson Dana Yarbrough, and the Office of Equity and Inclusion reiterating my original complaint, and including Dr. Crais’ retaliatory email.
Laney Graduate School and the ombudsperson’s office told me that OEI was the only proper channel to submit complaints involving discrimination and retaliation. In subsequent conversations, representatives of both offices expressed aspirations for policy change, but said they could not affect my individual case.
The Office of Equity and Inclusion’s representative spoke to me about the case, and said that, due to their 180-day statute of limitations, the only part of my “inquiry” that was relevant was Crais’ threat to pursue a defamation case against me. That threat, they determined, did not rise to OEI’s (publicly unspecified) standard of “retaliation” because “anybody has the right to pursue legal action against anybody else at any time,” and further that the lawsuit had not actually materialized.
This seems to be in direct contradiction to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s definition of retaliation, which explicitly includes filing a civil lawsuit against the complainant. The EEOC has also ruled that “a threat does not have to be carried out to violate” EEOC protections.
I pointed out these guidelines in an email to OEI. In response, the OEI representative wrote simply, “There is no appeal process under OEI’s guiding Policy.” In a later email, she said it was “tenuous” whether Emory’s policies barring retaliation protected former students.
Since then, another potential student has been admitted to study African history at Emory.
I filed a charge against Emory University for retaliation with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but the investigator assigned to my complaint said graduate students aren’t considered employees by the EEOC, despite the National Labor Relations Board’s 2016 ruling that they are.
I’ve also filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, but since Betsy Devos’ administration has been dismantling protections against discrimination, I have low expectations.
Given the endemic mental illness among graduate students, Emory’s failure to protect me from discrimination, or even to investigate the truth of my allegations, threatens the welfare of countless others. If students do not feel they can seek treatment or ask for accommodation without having their careers destroyed, they may sacrifice their sanity to stay in academia.
Emory’s refusal to sanction Dr. Crais for retaliation has even more widespread implications. It means students put their future at risk if they complain about any kind of discrimination or harassment. If students are afraid to speak up, there is simply no limit to the abuses advisors can get away with.
I hope that you will push Emory to improve its grievance procedures, to protect both yourselves and the next generation of scholars.
You can find the documents I have collected regarding my case here. I wish you all of the best in your academic careers.
Sincerely,
A former historian
Cid Standifer 