Renmin University of China has terminated the employment of a professor following an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against a doctoral student, the university announced on Monday evening.
In a video that circulated online on Sunday, a literature doctoral candidate, Wang Di, accused her mentor, Wang Guiyuan, of sexual harassment and coercion. She alleged that Wang Guiyuan pressured her into a sexual relationship and, upon refusal, subjected her to harassment for two years while threatening her academic progress.
Wang Di claimed to possess audio recordings and chat logs corroborating her allegations and sought legal action against Wang Guiyuan. In a 59-minute video posted on the popular microblogging platform Sina Weibo, she detailed the abuse while wearing a mask to protect her identity, sharing screenshots and original audio clips as evidence.
The video has received over 2 million likes, sparking widespread calls for the purification of academic environments.
On Monday morning, the Beijing-based university stated that it formed a task force on Sunday evening and conducted an intensive investigation overnight, reiterating its strict no-tolerance stance on teachers' ethical misconduct.
Later that evening, the university confirmed the truth of the allegations through its investigation. Wang Guiyuan was found guilty of grossly betraying the core responsibilities of education and violating university rules and professional ethics.
As a result, the university decided to revoke Wang Guiyuan's professorship, disqualify him as a doctoral supervisor, and dismiss him from his teaching position. Additionally, he has been expelled from the Communist Party of China.
The university intends to request the higher education administration to revoke his teaching qualifications and will report the matter to the relevant authorities for further legal action.
Wang Guiyuan, aged 65, was a professor at the School of Liberal Arts at Renmin University and formerly served as the Party chief and vice-dean of the school. According to public records, he was also a doctoral supervisor and head of the Chinese linguistics and philology discipline.
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