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article titled Geoffrey Marcy, Astronomer at Berkeley, Apologizes for Behavior which was published
on The New York Times website October 10. The letter was originally posted on the website of Ohio
State Universitys Department of Astronomy.
We are writing to give feedback on a story which appeared in the October 11 edition of the NYTimes,
titled "Geoffrey Marcy, Astronomer at Berkeley, Apologizes for Behavior" by Dennis Overbye.
Appended at the end of this letter is a Letter to the Editor to be considered for publication.
The authors of this letter are all professional astronomers and physicists, from across the world.
Women are dramatically underrepresented in our field and other sciences, in part because of the
sexism and misogyny that this article reinforced.
This article epitomizes the culture that champions the voices of predators and minimizes the
experiences of survivors. Mr. Overbye's piece repeatedly sympathizes with Marcy, portraying him as
a misunderstood, empathetic educator. This viewpoint is captured in the title of the article, and it is
reinforced by quotes from Marcy and his wife that Marcy was "condemned without knowing all of the
facts" and "the punishment Geoff is receiving here in the court of hysterical public opinion is far out of
proportion to what he did". Not only are these statements false (see the next paragraph), but they
employ the damaging tactic of painting female targets and their supporters as overly sensitive
trouble-makers.
And we do know the facts. 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.
This article downplays Marcy's criminal behaviors and the profound damage that he has caused to
countless individuals. It overlooks the continued trauma that Marcy inflicts to this day as a Berkeley
professor, and it implicitly condones his predatory acts. In doing so, it discourages women from
speaking out when they have been violated, and it undermines the safety and learning environment
of all students.
Mr. Overbye has a serious conflict of interest in reporting this story as Overbye has a longterm
collegial relationship with Marcy and has championed Marcy's work in previous NY Times articles
(http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/13/science/finder-of-new-worlds.html). Overbye's bias is evident
when Overbye refers to this situation as "Dr. Marcy's troubles" and when devoting three paragraphs
at the top of the story on Marcy's wife's opinions of the crimes.
Moreover, Overbye omits several relevant details of the case. Specifically, the investigation found
Marcy violated sexual harassment policies over a decade (2001-2010), a fact never mentioned in this
article. Overbye also failed to capture the gravity of the crimes. For example, one complainant said,
"Marcy placed his hand on her leg, slid his hand up her thigh, and grabbed her crotch
(http://www.buzzfeed.com/azeenghorayshi/famous-astronomer-allegedly-sexually-harassedstudents). In another instance, Marcy was observed "giving an undergraduate a back massage, with
his hand underneath her shirt, alone and after hours in the lab." In omitting this information and
focusing on Marcy and his wife's feelings, Overbye fosters sympathy for a sexual predator and
exacerbates the culture which allowed him to prey on unsuspecting students.
Marcy's story deserves national coverage because it demonstrates an extreme yet persistent
problem that occurs on many college campuses and in many fields. For example, Marcy's case
parallels that of MIT physics professor, Walter Lewin. Mr. Overbye mentions the Lewin case, saying
"Two years ago, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology... cut ties with Walter Lewin... after finding
that he had sexually harassed at least one student." There are two factual errors in that sentence:
MIT cut ties with Lewin less than one year ago, and the complainant brought evidence that Lewin
harassed at least ten students, not one
(https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/01/23/complainant-unprecedented-walter-lewin-sexualharassment-case-comes-forward).
We request that you retract this article based on its false information, the clear bias of the author, the
omission of relevant details, and the harm it is doing to your readers. Furthermore, we ask you in the
future to consider that sympathy and support should be given to the survivors, not to the perpetrator.
Additionally, we have authored a brief Letter to the Editor to be considered for publication in the NY
Times summarizing the short-comings of Overbye's article:
Re "Astronomer Apologizes for Behavior", October 11: By emphasizing Geoff Marcy's apology and
his wife's opinions, this article champions the voice of a sexual predator and minimizes the continued
trauma of his targets. Overbye's piece repeatedly sympathizes with Marcy, portraying him as a
misunderstood, empathetic educator who was "condemned without knowing the facts" and given
punishment "in the court of hysterical public opinion". Furthermore, given Overbye's long history of
sourcing Marcy, the piece lacks the objectivity it deserves.
We do know the facts of this case. Berkeley undertook a formal investigation and found Marcy guilty
of repeated harassment and sexual assault of students spanning almost a decade. Marcy abused
his position of power, betrayed his responsibilities as an educator, and caused profound damage with
his criminal acts. By overlooking the gravity of Marcy's predatory behavior, this article discourages
women from speaking out and undermines the safety of students.
This story deserves national coverage because it demonstrates an extreme yet persistent problem
on college campuses. However, sympathy and support should be given to the survivors, not the
perpetrator.
Thank you,