Many astronomers in and out of Berkeley, however, were not satisfied with the university’s response, and they worried that the university was more interested in circling the wagons and protecting its star than in addressing the suffering of victims of sexual harassment.

Their fears were reinforced when an email went around to the astronomy department on Friday from the interim director of the department, Gibor Basri, that said, in part, “Of course, this is hardest for Geoff in this moment.”

Dr. Basri was one of the signers of the faculty statement that criticized the secrecy of the proceedings, saying it had compromised their own efforts to maintain an open environment free from discrimination. “We regret the harm caused by our faculty, and reject any suggestion that our sympathies should be with the perpetrators of sexual harassment,” the letter said. Twenty-three active and retired members of the astronomy department signed the letter.

A group of graduate students in the Berkeley department issued their own statement Monday, denouncing Dr. Marcy’s actions and the university’s handling of the affair so far.

“The university’s failure to impose meaningful consequences on Geoff Marcy — offering instead vague threats of future sanctions should the behavior continue — suggests that Berkeley’s administration values prestige and grant money over the well-being of the young scientists it is charged with training,” the statement said. A link to it and another letter signed by 32 postdoctoral researchers at Berkeley was posted to the Astronomers Facebook page by Jeffrey Silverman, an astronomer at the University of Texas at Austin.

The postdoctoral researchers urged the department to terminate its association with Dr. Marcy. “We believe,” they added, “that U.C. Berkeley and the astronomy department must transform their policies and practices toward sexual harassment. The first step we suggest would be public statements by the department and university that affirm the bravery and strength of the complainants and condemn Prof. Marcy’s behavior.”