Harvard College is removing a faculty dean who drew controversy for deciding to represent Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein at his rape trial this fall.
Harvard College Dean Rakesh Khurana said Saturday he would not renew the appointments of law professor Ronald Sullivan and his wife, Stephanie Robinson, as faculty deans when their terms end on June 30.
Students who lived in Harvard’s Winthrop House, the undergraduate student residence that Sullivan supervises — and where he also lives — had demanded he be removed from his job because of his work for Weinstein.
Harvard administrators conducted a “climate review” of Winthrop House in response to the complaints from students.
“The concerns expressed have been serious and numerous,” Khurana wrote in an email to students and faculty, obtained by the New York Times. “The actions that have been taken to improve the climate have been ineffective, and the noticeable lack of faculty dean presence during critical moments has further deteriorated the climate in the house. I have concluded that the situation in the house is untenable.”
Sullivan and his wife were the first black faculty deans in Harvard’s history.
