*Nadine saw her History professor getting on the same Taft-bound MRT train as she was. He didn’t see her, but from afar, she saw her professor holding hands with a stranger. She moved closer to the couple only to find out that her professor was holding hands with her batch mate, who was at least 10 years younger than the professor.
Professors and teachers are supposed to co-exist in a professional environment. Students are allowed to consult with their professors using a schedule the professor prescribes at the beginning of the term. It is expected that such consultations will serve as an extension of the classroom lectures and discussions. Queries on the curriculum offered are also welcome during the consultation hours.
However, there are some cases when this professional relationship shifts into a deeper kind. *Tintin, a student from the College of Liberal Arts, admits that she had a romantic relationship with one of her professors during her early years in the University.
“I was adjusting to the environment and he came to me as a nice teacher willing to help,” Tintin shares. Despite the difficult part of pretending that she and her professor were not in a relationship, she decided to continue to pursue the relationship and admitted that academic benefits do arise when a student gets romantically inclined with his or her professor.
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*Nadine’s attention was caught by the intimate affection publicly displayed by the couple. She informs The Lasallian that such actions did not stop until they reached the campus. She also always sees the professor and her batch mate together in school and at times, even hugging each other in campus.
The concern for the growing number of student-professor relationships and how such relationships get exposed to other students and the members of the academe is very much present in the University.
An assistant lecturer and DLSU graduate shares that there are many cases of student-professor relationships because of the decreasing age gap between students and newly hired professors. He continues that at times, DLSU graduates who pursue teaching careers in the University get life partners from the student body.
Student-teacher relationships have been a concern for most universities and schools in the past decades. Revisions of the schools’ codes of conduct and policies regarding such relationship have extensively reviewed.
DLSU is not an exception. Frequent revisions are made in both the faculty and the student handbooks to accommodate the increasing need to set limitations of student-professor relationships. The handbooks do not have specific guidelines on allowing or prohibiting student-professor relationships, but policies and guidelines for the prevention and investigation of sexual harassment is included in the student manual under Appendix K.
It can be harassment
According to a member of the Faculty Association (FA), student-professor relationships are considered harassment cases. A Commercial Law Department professor affirms that cases of student-professor relationships can be tried under the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995.
Sec. 3 of the act defines sexual harassment as “Work, education or training-related sexual harassment is committed by an employee, manager,…teacher, instructor, professor, coach, trainer, or any other person who, having authority, influence or moral ascendancy over another in a work or training or education environment, demands, requests or otherwise requires any sexual favor from the other, regardless of whether the demand, request or requirement for submission is accepted by the object of said act.
This means that romantic relationships between students and professors fall under the definition of sexual harassment even if both parties entered the relationship consensually. The application of the law is still unclear in instances when the professor was a former student of the University before the student-professor relationship started or the couple already had a relationship before being teacher and student.
The University of California-Berkeley, Yale University, University of Alabama (UA) and other American schools have included their policies on student-professor relationships in their faculty handbooks.
“The faculty in UA is forbidden to initiate or reciprocate sexual or romantic relationships with students currently enrolled in their classes or under their supervision. If there is a pre-existing relationship with a student who enrolls in professor’s, class the professor is required to disclose that information to the chair of his or her department or the dean of the college,” according to a commentary discussing the ethical dilemma behind student-professor relationships by Lisa Barbella of UA.
At DLSU, there are different types of offenses that are prohibited by Appendix K of the student handbook. These include physical assault of a sexual nature, unwanted sexual advances, propositions or other sexual comments, and retaliations for sexual harassment complaints. Any complaints or violations against the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995 will be handled in accordance with the policies of the University.
Sanctions for sexual harassments vary by the degree of the offense. The sanctions are severe reprimand, suspension and prejudice to subsequent promotion, and dismissal. The same law professor previously mentioned affirms that due process is still applied and clear protocols are set by Committee on Decorum and Investigation to ensure that investigations and hearings are fair.
The complaint can be filed by the aggrieved party or by any person having direct knowledge of the commission of the harassment.
A question of ethics
The Faculty Association member interviewed in the article admits that very few cases of consensual relations are reported. The professor recalls only one case of consensual relationship, where a party filed for sexual harassment. Considering that very few laws tackle consensual student-teacher relationships, the interviewed professor says that it remains unethical.
In a Supreme Court case, G.R. No. 115795 March 6, 1998, it ruled that, “It is but stating the obvious to assert that teachers must adhere to the exacting standards of morality and decency. There is no dichotomy of morality. A teacher, both in his official and personal conduct, must display exemplary behaviour.”
However, Cathie Carpio (V, POM-BMG) expresses that ethics is relative. “It’s whatever helps you sleep at night,” she adds. For students like Carpio, there is nothing unethical about student-professor romantic relationships.
Another student shares that in her opinion, what is unethical is using the relationship to gain advantage academically, but recognizes that such relationships can exist because both parties are old enough to know the consequences and be responsible.
“I think prohibiting that kind of relationship takes away an ounce of our [students’] rights. I think they should allow it,” Carpio adds.
“If the two eventually fall in love… this only lends substance to the truism that the heart has reasons of its own…” was also the concluding remark of the 1990 Chua-Qua v Clave case of a student-professor relationship that ended up in marriage.
However, one DLSU professor insists that “There is always a matter of influence or who says who in any kind of relationship. It just seems that in the student-professor romantic relationship, there are ethical dilemmas and risks present.”
A student’s close personal friendship, a romantic or sexual relationship with a professor can lead to conflict of interests. Favoritism and preferential treatment may arise from the relationship. Information like privacy of grades that need not be disclosed to any student is risked to be divulged.
“Teachers are in a position of authority and trust to foster the intellectual development of their students. When they engage in sexual relations with a student, they violate that trust implicit in a professional teacher-student relationship,” reminds Brian Martin, a professor from the University of Wollongong in Australia.
*Names have been changed as requested by the interviewees.
