Professor Ronald Sullivan, and his wife, Stephanie Robinson, who is a lecturer at the law school, have been the faculty deans of Winthrop House, one of Harvard’s residential houses for undergraduate students, since 2009. They were the first African-American faculty deans in Harvard’s history.
But when Sullivan joined the defense team of Weinstein, the Hollywood producer, in January, many students expressed dismay, saying his decision to represent a person accused of abusing women disqualified Sullivan from serving in a role of support and mentorship to students. Weinstein is scheduled to go to trial in June in New York on rape and related charges.
On Saturday, Harvard College’s dean, Rakesh Khurana, emailed students and staff members at Winthrop House, informing them that he would not renew the appointments of Sullivan and Robinson as faculty deans after their terms end June 30. Khurana said in his email that the decision was informed “by a number of considerations.”
In a statement, Sullivan and Robinson said, “We are surprised and dismayed by the action Harvard announced today. We believed the discussions we were having with high-level university representatives were progressing in a positive manner, but Harvard unilaterally ended those talks.”
The decision not to renew Sullivan and Robinson’s appointments as faculty deans does not affect their positions at the law school, where Sullivan is a law professor and director of the Criminal Justice Institute.
A number of Sullivan’s colleagues came to his defense; 52 law school professors signed a letter supporting him, saying that his commitment to representing unpopular clients was consistent with his roles as law professor and faculty dean, and that Harvard should not pressure him to resign.
Danu Mudannayake, a junior who took a leading role in organizing the protests, said Saturday afternoon that she had not expected the college to act so definitively or so quickly.
“My honest reaction is just completely gobsmacked, but in the best way,” she said. “I’m very proud today of our college and our college’s administration for finally choosing to do the right thing.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.