Sujit Choudhry, ex-UC Berkeley law dean, returns from absence
Former UC Berkeley Law School Dean Sujit Choudhry, who resigned in the spring amid sexual harassment allegations, returned to campus last week after a six-month absence, drawing student ire and concerns about his presence and future role at the university.
[...] UC President Janet Napolitano reportedly requested that Choudhry be barred from the campus for the rest of the term and as his case proceeds through a faculty investigation into possible code of conduct violations.
UC Berkeley officials would say only that university procedures “do not provide for automatic exclusion from campus of accused faculty while the process is pending.”
On Thursday, the interim law school dean, Melissa Murray, advised faculty, staff and students that the former dean would be back in his office this semester.
University officials suspended Choudhry after his former assistant, Tyann Sorrell, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit in Alameda Superior Court, saying that her boss hugged, kissed and touched her over several months and that the campus did nothing to stop it.
The case was among several questioned by critics, who said faculty, staff and administrators were given lenient and arbitrary punishment for violating the sexual misconduct policy.
Law students met Friday to discuss the former dean’s return and planned to hold a town hall meeting this week to discuss concerns, including Choudhry’s role on campus, how often he’d be present and when the administration knew he would be back, according to a Boalt Hall Student Association memo.