Early Warning Signals of Tuesday's Shutdown Part 3 Tuesday, February 08, 2022
Red flags trailed ex-UCLA lecturer across elite universities By STEFANIE DAZIO, 2-8-22, Associated Press
A trail of red flags about his behavior toward women followed Matthew Harris on an academic journey that took him to three of the nation’s most prestigious universities — Duke, Cornell and then the University of California, Los Angeles. Former graduate classmates at Duke and Cornell, where he studied before becoming a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA in recent years, described him as inappropriate and creepy, with obsessive behaviors like sending excessive emails and text messages to some women that became harassment and, in at least one case, sexual harassment. Another said she changed her morning routine at Duke for weeks after Harris learned her schedule and texted her messages like, “I’m here, where are you?” Last week, a SWAT team in Colorado arrested Harris after he allegedly emailed an 800page document and posted videos threatening violence against dozens of people at UCLA, prompting the school to cancel in-person classes for a day. The so-called manifesto contained numerous racist threats and used the words “bomb,” “kill” and “shoot” more than 12,000 times. Wearing a green jail jumpsuit with his wrists handcuffed, Harris did not speak Tuesday during his brief appearance in federal court in Denver. Another hearing is scheduled for Feb. 23 and a judge ordered him to remain in federal custody without bail. Assistant Federal Public Defender Jennifer Beck told the judge Harris is looking to hire private counsel. Beck did not immediately return a request for additional comment. In online class reviews, interviews and emails obtained by The Associated Press, current and former students at all three universities alleged negligence by the schools for letting Harris slide previously, despite his concerning conduct. “I have no idea how this guy is still teaching,” one of his UCLA students wrote in October 2020 in an anonymous class review. UCLA Faculty Association Blog: First Quarter 2022
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