College. Im pissed off i was put in a bad situation.

One of my professors did something extremely inappropriate to me last week. And I finally got the courage to report it on Friday.


Today I sent a heated message to my school letting them know I will be getting an attorney involved if it happens again for a discrimination suit.

I don't even want to have him fired.

I don't want anything to come of this other than TREAT ME WITH SOME RESPECT.

This whole situation is making me sick to my stomach with stress. My parents and roommate support me 100% knowing the full story yet I still feel so alone.

And I'm sooooo scared of retaliation seeing as my professor has access to my SS#, ect.

I just need to vent.

I think I'm going to go make myself throw up.

The best thing to do is talk to the human resources department. They take these things VERY seriously, and anything that could be seen as an act of retaliation will be taken even more seriously.

If the professor has any amount of sense he'll lay low as soon as word reaches him. Retaliation will be the last thing on his mind unless he never wants to work anywhere ever again.

I'm sorry you're having a hard time, Lorelai. I'm a professor myself, so here is what you should do.

For one, your professor does not have access to any of your personal or financial information. Only the Registrar's and Financial Aid offices will have that information. In addition, unless your professor is your academic advisor, he/she actually doesn't have any of your personal information aside from your student identification number. I can't even see the academic transcripts of students taking my classes unless I am their advisor.

You need to contact the department head of the professor that is giving you problems. Document everything. You must have a meeting with the department head. If things are not resolved within the department, then depending upon the severity of the professor's transgression, upper level management may become involved.

You may not need a personal attorney at all, although it's probably not a bad idea depending upon what happened. Most universities have an internalized system of checks and balances that actually work quite well and are relatively unbiased. I'm not sure which university you're currently attending, but try working with the university first. For all you know, you may be one last complaint in a string of issues and be the final straw the school is looking for to fire the professor.

That said, your post here is very emotional, and you may be fully entitled to that emotion. I don't know because I wasn't there. As a professor, I have seen many molehills turned into mountains by students. I have gotten hate letters from helicopter parents and disgruntled students before for unjustified reasons or simple misunderstandings. Please be certain to examine your university's official policies to see how to proceed. There are generally specific people you must contact to get the ball rolling on investigations.

One last thing. If something happened, it doesn't make sense to wait until it happens again. You must make a report with the department head of your professor, especially if the interaction was sexual in nature. That is a Title IX issue and taken extremely seriously by universities, as it affects federal funding.

More information on Title IX: http://www.titleix.info/history/history-overview.aspx