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Berkeley Astronomer Geoff Marcy Will Resign After Sexually Harassing Students

A world-famous astronomer will leave the university after he admitted to sexually harassing at least four students.

Geoff Marcy, an astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley who admitted to violating the university's sexual harassment policies has decided to resign. The news was first reported by Buzzfeed News but has been confirmed by Motherboard.

Marcy, a world-famous exoplanet astronomer and chair of the university's Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence apartment, groped, kissed, touched, and massaged at least four students, according to a university report obtained by Buzzfeed late last week. Despite the report's findings and an admission of guilt from Marcy, the university opted not to discipline him. Instead, the university said it would have zero-tolerance for any future transgressions.

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"This is to inform our community that Geoff has initiated the process that will lead to his no longer being a faculty member at UC Berkeley," Gibor Basri, interim chair of Berkeley's astronomy department wrote in an email to students.

#FireMarcy pic.twitter.com/A5UQ6ugv8A
— spooky caug (@incaugnito37) October 14, 2015

In an open letter published on his university website, Marcy apologized but said he did "not agree with each complaint that was made." Marcy and the university's weak response was immediately hit with sharp criticism from both within Berkeley and from the broader scientific community.

"This incident, and its handling by the relevant authorities, are symptoms of problematic attitudes ingrained in UC Berkeley as a whole, and the Astronomy Department in particular," Berkeley's astronomy graduate students wrote in a letter published earlier this week. "The University's failure to impose meaningful consequences on Geoff Marcy—offering instead vague threats of future sanctions should the behavior continue—suggests that Berkeley's administration values prestige and grant money over the well­being of the young scientists it is charged with training."

Monday, Berkeley's astronomy faculty called for Marcy's resignation in a strongly worded letter signed by 27 faculty members: "We regret the harm caused by our faculty, and reject any suggestion that our sympathies should be with the perpetrators of sexual harassment … we believe that Geoff Marcy cannot perform the functions of a faculty member."

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Criticism came from outside Berkeley, too. A New York Times article about Marcy's history of sexual harassment emphasized the point that he "apologized" and contained numerous quotes defending his actions. A group of 268 physicists and astronomers co-wrote a letter to the editor condemning the newspaper's coverage of the incident, Berkeley's initial response, and Marcy's actions.

"Berkeley undertook a formal investigation and found Marcy guilty of repeated harassment over almost a decade. Marcy abused his position of power, betrayed his responsibilities as an educator, and sexually assaulted students. Despite these truths, Marcy was not punished," they wrote. "This article epitomizes the culture that champions the voices of predators and minimizes the experiences of survivors. [The reporter's] piece repeatedly sympathizes with Marcy, portraying him as a misunderstood, empathetic educator."

Marcy has now resigned, both from his position at Berkeley and as principal investigator of Breakthrough Listen, a $100 million project aimed at finding alien life. Motherboard requests for comment from the Berkeley school of astronomy and multiple Berkeley faculty members were not immediately returned. The graduate student and faculty letters referenced in this article are embedded below.

Ucb Astro Faculty Statement

GradStudentResponse--TitleIXReport