Harvard bans sex between professors and undergraduates

Lori Grisham | USA TODAY Network

Harvard University banned romantic and sexual relationships between professors and undergraduate students in a revised policy published Monday.

The previous policy cautioned against relationships with undergraduate students, but did not formally ban them, Anna Cowenhoven, Harvard's director of communications, told USA TODAY Network.

Relationships between faculty and graduate students are not prohibited unless a student is under the supervision of the professor.

The change was made in order to include "a clear prohibition" that reflects the "faculty's expectations of what constituted an appropriate relationship," according to a statement issued by Harvard.

"Undergraduates come to college to learn from us," Alison Johnson, a history professor who led the Faculty of Arts and Sciences panel that revised the policy, told Bloomberg. "We're not here to have sexual or romantic relationships with them."



University and college policies on student-professor relationships vary. Many discourage relationships, but don't outright ban them.

However, in recent years some universities, such as Yale University and the University of Connecticut, have revised their policies in light of sexual harassment concerns, according to reports. Arizona State University faculty voted in January to ban relationships between professors and the students they have authority over.

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