19 More Women Accuse Northwestern Professor Of Misconduct

EVANSTON, IL — A group of former Northwestern University students and employees who last month accused a journalism professor of predatory behavior said in a second open letter to university administrators Thursday that an additional 19 women come forward with similar allegations against Alec Klein.

The letter was signed by Medill Me Too and addressed to the dean of the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communication and the provost of the university, as was the initial Feb. 7 letter that alleged Klein's inappropriate workplace conduct was an "open secret."

Over the following five weeks, the 19 women, including Northwestern staff, alumni and students, contacted the signatories on the statement to recount similar experiences with the professor, revealing "disturbing patterns" of behavior, according to the March 15 letter.

"Several of these women have chosen to participate in Northwestern’s ongoing investigation of Alec Klein. But others are too afraid to speak out further," it said.

Klein, the director of the Medill Justice Project investigative journalist program, is a former professor at Georgetown and American universities and newspaper reporter with the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and others. His lawyer said he has never been the subject of any misconduct allegations in a 30-year career.

The letter included excerpts purportedly from the diaries of women who were the subject of unwanted romantic attention at school and work functions.

One described Klein as a "textbook predator, accomplished and awarded, but with failed relationships due to emotional immaturity, leaving him sexually frustrated." Another said she skipped graduation to avoid seeing him after he gave her unwanted massages and volunteered intimate details about his sex life.

The allegations ranged from unwanted touching, sexual discussions and commentary about women's appearance, bodies and attractiveness. The sexist and bullying behavior created a hostile work environment, according to the accusers.

Klein categorically denied the allegations when they emerged. He said many them had already been investigated, with complaint determined to be unfounded. His accuser was found not to be credible, he said.

Andrew Miltenberg, Klein's attorney, responded to what he described as the continuing "wholesale butchery" of the professor's life by suggesting the #MeToo movement had become his client's judge, jury and executioner.

"Shame on these individuals for publicly trying to destroy Prof. Klein’s life and that of his family, and denying him the due process that is a fundamental principle of this country," he said.

Klein has not been charged with a crime nor served with a lawsuit. He has requested and been granted a leave of absence from Northwestern as the school investigates the allegations.

The professor intends to maintain his silences out of respect for the investigative process, his attorney said.

"Clearly, these individuals are intent on destroying Prof. Klein publicly, so that regardless of his innocence, he is ruined," Miltenberg said.

One of the members of the Medill Me Too group, Alison Flowers, called on investigators to believe the women who have come forward with stories about Klein.

“So far, we are encouraged that the university is listening to the new women who have come forward and re-interviewing those of us who has spoken up in the past. We urge them to not only listen to us, but when tasked with judging credibility, choose to believe us," she said.

"This isn’t about any single accuser. This is about the preponderance of our accounts.”

More:

• Professor Takes Leave From Northwestern Due To Misconduct Claims
• "We Hear You": 15 Medill Faculty Members Back Journalism Professor's Accusers

March 15 open letter from Medill #MeToo addressed to Medill Dean Bradley Hamm and Northwestern University Provost Jonathan Holloway:

Nineteen more women.

Since our letter to you on February 7, 2018, where 10 of us came forward with accounts of bullying and harassment, 19 new women — Northwestern University students, alumni and staff — have reached out to us with statements about Alec Klein’s behavior.

Disturbing patterns continue to emerge in the allegations:

• Extended closed door meetings
• Sexually suggestive comments
• Talking about his sex life
• Inappropriate touching
• Commentary on bodies and appearances
• Asking about personal lives
• Requesting hugs in exchange for leaving work early
• Verbal abuse
• Hostile, discriminatory work environment

Several of these women have chosen to participate in Northwestern’s ongoing investigation of Alec Klein. But others are too afraid to speak out further.

Their voices should still be heard. Collectively, the women quoted below have decided to share portions of their unaltered messages to us, and where noted, their diary entries:

• “I thought I was the only one. I thought there was something wrong with me, because the way he acted made me feel so horribly uncomfortable...that I just needed to toughen up and brush it off. When I stopped working for him, I accepted the futility of pursuing a journalism career. For three years I was afraid even to enter Fisk, to speak with other professors about recommendations or finding a new advisor, terrified I might run into Alec. I skipped Medill’s graduation ceremony so I wouldn’t have to see him.”

• “He gave unwanted neck and shoulder massages while I tried to work at that table. While I worked, he would pace and wax poetic about his sex life, and complain about his wife in ways that made me feel like crying. He would tell me very personal things about her. I remember feeling this terrible empathy, like I couldn’t believe another woman out there was being treated this way, and wondering if she had anyone to tell. That is, in many ways, the most painful part: the knowing about other women who are hurt, but not knowing them. Even worse is knowing she may have been in the dark about him.”

• (From one woman’s 2013 diary entries describing her interactions with Klein at a university event and a lunch):

“One thing was really weird tonight, though, and that was that it almost seemed like Alec Klein was hitting on me. Maybe ‘hitting on me’ is the wrong term, but it definitely seemed like he was trying to cozy up to me with a definite goal in mind, and he showered me with compliments all night long.”

“When he first saw me, he said that I looked great, and that he thought I should dress up every day. He told me that I looked like I should be at the Academy Awards accepting an Oscar.”

“Multiple times, [he] said I was a ‘delicate flower.’ … He told me that I shouldn’t bother with dating college boys. He swept his arm around the room to indicate all of the male students and was like, ‘You see all of them? They’re all ten years behind you.’”

“He asked me whether I’d ever been in love... He asked me about my past relationships, which I also thought was inappropriate... Constantly, throughout our conversation, he said stuff like, ‘Across the board, looking at everything, you are nearly perfect.’ He said I was the kind of girl that guys would keep, and said that he bet there were lots of boys who secretly liked me right now. He asked if I thought I would be good at interpreting their feelings if that were the case.”

• (From another woman’s 2015 diary entry describing an extended interview for an internship):

“I am being groomed. How do I know? The special attention, the flattery, the long hours of very personal conversation spent trying to earn my trust. He’s a textbook predator, accomplished and awarded, but with failed relationships due to emotional immaturity, leaving him sexually frustrated. I’m not falling for this.”

• “He repeatedly commented on my appearance. Especially my hair and my figure. Once he asked me to “look into his eyes” as he tried to ‘figure out what color they were.’

• “I worked as an intern at the Medill Justice Project and while Alec never made a pass at me I remember saying to my mother ‘my new boss acts like he wants to hook up with me’. My colleagues and I wrote off his actions as weird and called him socially awkward. We said it was creepy that he only hired attractive women to work at the MJP and found his quiet demeanor off-putting.”

• “I remember Klein would close the door when we were alone in his office. On multiple occasions, he asked me about my boyfriend, who attended a different school. Even at the time I recall feeling uncomfortable. I don't really remember any substantial work ever getting done, even though I was supposed to be helping him on his work projects. He mostly talked and asked me questions, oftentimes, about my personal and social life.

At one point, I told Klein I wanted to pursue a career in broadcast journalism. ‘So what are you going to do about that THAT?’ he said, motioning to my face. When I asked what he meant, he said: ‘Don't you need to be physically attractive to be on TV?’...That conversation crushed me.”

• “He verbally abused me over a trivial matter in a meeting he requested that left me in tears nearly a decade ago. At the time, I complained to Medill about Mr. Klein's behavior because I was concerned he would treat other students that way in the future. But Medill took no action."

• “He made other unwarranted physical contact, such as grabbing my hand and holding it. Once, while going over a report I had written (which I now strongly suspect was not intended to be used anywhere, just an excuse to have me work in his office), he asked me to sit in his desk chair while he leaned over me and whispered his comments in my ear. I explicitly suggested he could do track changes and we could conference after, but he said this was faster.

When he made edits to written work that directly contradicted things he had told me to do in previous conversations, and I spoke up to ask him why or explain my writing choices, he would repeatedly interrupt me. It offended me so much that when I spoke up to ask him to stop interrupting me and let me finish a sentence, he essentially threw an adult tantrum. There is no other way to describe it. He sent me out of his office, without my coat or belongings, where I waited for 30 minutes. I knocked two separate times during that time, was met with silence, and on my third attempt he opened the door, wordless. I immediately grabbed everything and left.”

• “I would see him at dining halls on campus and we would sometimes eat lunch together. It was usually during or after these lunches when he would comment on my body. What ‘great shape’ I was in. Or how nice I looked. Often surveying my body. I distinctly remember what I was wearing (beige sweater, black Under Armour leggings) when he made one of these comments while admiring my legs.”

We urge you, Dean Hamm: Believe these women. As the university concludes its investigation and reports to you its findings, we implore you to hold Alec Klein accountable for his actions.

Respectfully,
Medill Me Too
medillmetoo@gmail.com

Response from Alec Klein's lawyer, Andrew Miltenberg:

Until this, Prof. Klein has never been the subject of any allegations of mistreatment or misconduct during a career that has spanned some 30 years.

The #METOO movement is undoubtedly important as it gives voice to those who have been victims of sexual abuse and harassment. Still, it is not meant to be, nor can we let it become, judge, jury and executioner. Yet this is exactly what is being done to Prof. Klein. Shame on these individuals for publicly trying to destroy Prof. Klein’s life and that of his family, and denying him the due process that is a fundamental principle of this country. Through innuendo, implication, conflated half-truths and even some outright lies, a group of individuals at Northwestern University continue their wholesale butchery of the life of Prof. Alec Klein. These individuals continue to publicize outrageous and slanderous statements knowing that Professor Klein has -- and will -- maintain his silence so as to respect the Northwestern University investigative process. Clearly, these individuals are intent on destroying Prof. Klein publicly, so that regardless of his innocence, he is ruined.