Students protest Warsaw University’s “hush up” of sexual harassment by leading professor

Students have protested at the University of Warsaw (UW), one of Poland’s top colleges, accusing the institution of “turning a blind eye” to sexual abuse. Their action was prompted by revelations this week that a prominent professor had been sexually harassing students for decades.

The university’s rector, however, says that they have taken appropriate action in response to the case. The professor – who can only be named as Andrzej M. under Polish privacy law – was removed from contact with students, his contract was terminated and, this week, he was reported to prosecutors.

But one of the students who organised Friday’s protest, Zofia Zdanowicz, told the Gazeta Wyborcza daily that Andrzej M. is being “allowed to retire as if nothing happened”. She and her colleagues also see his treatment as part of a wider problem.

“We will not be silent when the university community has been turning a blind eye to sexual harassment for years, when people experiencing violence want to scream and their words are swept under the carpet, when those who report their suffering [are] called ‘troublemakers’,” wrote the organisers of the protest.

Andrzej M. is a prominent linguist who has regularly appeared in the media as an expert on the Polish language. As well as his position at UW, he until last year served as honorary chair of the prestigious Polish Language Council, a body statutorily tasked with regulating the Polish language, similarly to France’s Académie Française.

It emerged this week that a number of women had accused Andrzej M., now aged 73, of sexual harassment stretching back over a period of 30 years, with some cases as recently as two years ago. “He’s a sexual predator; there were at least a dozen victims,” an individual familiar with the case told Gazeta Wyborcza.

An investigatory committee appointed by the rector, Alojzy Nowak, in January concluded that the claims against the professor were “credible”, said university spokeswoman Anna Modzelewska this week. Andrzej M. had by that point already been removed from teaching and other elements of his work.

Modzelewska also noted that the professor’s contract had been terminated, though added that this would only formally take place on 31 March, the end of the current semester, in accordance with Poland’s law on higher education.

However, an academic involved in Polish studies, speaking to Gazeta Wyborcza anonymously, said that “the professor is simply due to retire at the end of March as if nothing happened”.

After the case was reported by the newspaper on Tuesday this week, Nowak announced on Wednesday that he would submit a notification to prosecutors of suspected crimes by Andrzej M. On Thursday, Warsaw district prosecutor’s office confirmed it had received the notification, reported the Polish Press Agency (PAP).

In his statement, Nowak also assured that all “appropriate steps were taken” after the university was first informed of the claims against Andrzej M. in December 2021. “I am sorry that such situations took place at our university,” added the rector, referring to Andrzej M.’s actions.

However, during an address to a Polish studies congress on Wednesday, Nowak also declared that such things “happen, or can happen – though shouldn’t happen – anywhere and in any department”. He added that “half of what they’re writing [in newspapers] is untrue”, reported Onet.

Some students have branded the institution’s actions insufficient. “We resent the University of Warsaw’s attempt to hush this up, its inadequate reaction, and lack of appropriate support for the victims,” says Zdanowicz, the organiser of Friday’s protest.

An investigative article by the Tygodnik Powszechny weekly found that victims said Andrzej M.’s behaviour was no secret at the university.

“Everyone knew that the professor has ‘sticky hands’ and likes to be surrounded by women,” a lecturer from the same faculty, who chose to remain anonymous, told the weekly. “But no one suspected that he is a sexual predator, as everything was happening behind closed doors.”

The case shows that “sexual harassment is still belittled”, Krystyna Kacpura, director of women’s rights group Federa, told Gazeta Wybocza. “People say: ‘maybe he patted her, maybe touched where he shouldn’t.’ We need to educate that it’s a crime.”

In a separate case last year, a number of actors, mostly women, who attended the world-famous film school in Łódź came forward with claims of abuse during their time as students. In response, the school’s management apologised and launched an investigation.

As a result, in November three lecturers were excluded from work with students, two handed in their resignation, while in case of one, a notification about the possibility of committing a crime was submitted to prosecutors.

Main image credit: Jacek Marczewski / Agencja Wyborcza.pl

Agnieszka Wądołowska

Agnieszka Wądołowska is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She has previously worked for Gazeta.pl and Tokfm.pl and contributed to Gazeta Wyborcza, Wysokie Obcasy, Duży Format, Midrasz and Kultura Liberalna