#uwallen — Public Fediverse posts

After 6 months, the #UWAllen School’s HR investigation finds no evidence that rises to the level of harassment and blames me for not gaslighting the women about that. The report, which is presented as neutral and definitive, contains a number of errors, including accidentally publishing my name and mixing up the women. It concludes with the same set of recommendations that the women raised in their original letter 6 months ago.

#UWAllen says the student skit is back on, but the students must provide a disclaimer and "context" for the skit (about grad-student eating robots) because it might make some people uncomfortable.

Let me be clear, the people that are “uncomfortable” when you criticize the system are not the ones being harassed but the ones in power. The CSE holiday skit has always been about punching up at faculty (and in the past, the chair with Dr CSE, which I always enjoyed because everyone was making fun of my advisor with me :D). A little bit of ribbing was healthy for everyone when the power dynamics in a PhD program are so skewed.

This time, those in power are uneasy because the skit directly (and rightly) ridicules their poor handling of an extremely bad situation. The women affected and other marginalized students (like the ones that wrote the skit) are not uncomfortable talking about this topic because they have to live it. Every time I start ranting about my own harassment, it's those that have benefitted from the system that are uncomfortable. The discomfort comes from confronting the truth that if: a) the system has always worked for them and b) is fundamentally rigged, then they have unfairly benefited from their privilege and maybe don't deserve to be where they are. If your self-worth is entirely derived from your academic achievements then this can feel like a personal attack. So let’s not pretend the murder robots are the issue.

@irene oh my god this is terrible. UW CSE is not the place it was when I was a grad student there. Thank you for sharing this and for standing up for our #UWAllen students. I am writing Magda.

Unbelievable. #UWAllen administration has cancelled the annual holiday party student skit because it (obliquely) criticizes the way that the sexual harassment incidents have been handled. I’ve seen the script and it’s a smart satire of students being eaten by murder robots that lampoons recent ethical AI concerns and how students have been banned from protecting themselves (from sexual harasser/murder robots).

This is the first time in DECADES, that the skit has been cancelled (the only other time was when the holiday party itself was cancelled in 2020). To cancel the skit as a way to stifle student speech is unacceptable.

If you are angry and an alum that has enjoyed previous skits, please email the school’s director, Magda. This is something that she can easily fix. The students are organizing an alternative skit after the official holiday party. I will be using this fund to help them pay for anything that they need (eg props, food). https://chuffed.org/project/fight-sexual-harassment-in-the-allen-school

#anthrotwitter
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RT @uwcse
#UWAllen leadership is aware of recent “discussions” involving Pedro Domingos, a professor emeritus (retired) in our school. We do not condone a member of our community engaging in a Twitter flame war belittling individuals and downplaying valid concerns over ethics in AI. 1/11
https://twitter.com/uwcse/status/1337649032454279168