Simmons Gift
Washington Post's Graham Speaks
Project Outreach
HBS Show
Rauner Honored
Wanted: Leaders for the New Millennium
New Exec Ed Building
Investigation Leads to Sanctions, Recommendations

New Building Takes Shape   Alumni returning to campus for this year's reunions will no doubt notice the new Executive Education housing facility under construction on the north end of Kresge lawn. Ground was broken for the six-story, 96,000-square-foot structure last August. When completed next February, the building will contain 170 bedrooms, gathering areas, staff offices, and an interior courtyard. Below is a construction photo taken this winter; at right, a rendering of the completed building by architects CBT/Childs Bertman Tseckares, Inc.

Investigation Leads to Sanctions, Recommendations

This spring, while the Class of 1998 was preparing to leave HBS to launch promising careers in business management, they, along with the entire HBS community, were also struggling to come to terms with a disturbing situation that existed within one section of the class during the 1996Ð97 academic year.

On April 9, a letter to the HBS community from Dean Kim B. Clark and a statement from the Faculty and Staff Standards Committee (FSSC) reported the results of an investigation that had found a pattern of behavior within one class section that "violated basic principles of professional conduct, mutual respect, and trust." Without naming the individuals involved, in keeping with federal law protecting student privacy, the FSSC described incidents ranging from writing and passing notes with explicit sexual content in class to unwelcome physical contact and violations of the privacy of classmates at section events.

"These behaviors seriously interfered with the ability of other students to learn," the report stated. "The HBS classroom is a unique place where students exchange ideas and are encouraged to take risks as they try to persuade each other of the best course of action; it is a place where students and faculty can teach and learn together. In order to make this happen, students must build an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect. We have reason to believe that this atmosphere did not always exist in that section."

Responding to the evidence, the committee imposed various sanctions on the offending students as a condition of graduation. It also recommended continued training for faculty, staff, and students on managing section norms and behavior more effectively, specifically in the area of sexual harassment and gender dynamics.

Dean Clark pledged his full support in working with students, faculty, and administrators to establish procedures "for preventing these kinds of situations in the future and for addressing violations of our standards in a fair and prompt manner." He noted that the School has begun to include sessions in the Foundations curriculum to address such issues and that a new community standards disciplinary process has been adopted.

"The mission of the School is to educate leaders, and one of the most basic tenets of leadership is to treat others with respect," Clark stated in a separate interview. "I promise that the School will do all it can to help students understand the connection between our mission and how we treat each other in and out of the classroom."

June 1998 Table of Contents: Table of Contents Salute to 1998 Diversity and Community Alumni Resources Profile Q & A Theory & Practice Update