Paul Cubeta: Sexual Harassment Hearing and Cover-Up

Description

After four male students told the college administration that Bread Loaf Professor Paul Cubeta had sexually harassed and assaulted them, the college held an internal hearing that resulted in no official ruling. Cubeta resigned from his position as director of Bread Loaf, but was granted another position as director of development. The administration did not make any of the information regarding the charges public, despite several editorials the following year from The Campus that addressed the incident, asked for information regarding the charges, and criticized the college's decision to keep them secret while awarding Cubeta another job at the college. The Burlington Free Press also reported that College English professor Robert Hill had approached Dr. Robison (Middlebury's President) in the mid-1970’s and said, “that Cubeta was harassing male students,” yet nothing was done. The Campus published news stories, opinion pieces, letters to the editor, and editorials about this topic.

Date

1988-1989

Collection Items

The Campus: "Sexual harassment hearing creates questions of responsibility"
This is The Campus' first news article about the 1988 Paul Cubeta sexual harassment hearing, and the college's subsequent actions. The Campus editors had been investigating rumors of the hearing (which had been over a year prior) throughout the fall…

The Campus: "Setting precedents"
This Campus editorial centers around an opening
night address to the Bread Loaf School of English given by James Maddox in June 1989. The article includes an excerpt from Maddox's speech, and admires his transparency and straightforward manner of…

The Campus: "Weaving Tangled Webs"
This Campus editorial discusses the troubling nature of the college's reaction to the Paul Cubeta hearing and it's aftermath. The authors, who had covered the Cubeta hearing for the Campus, accuse Middlebury's administration of caring more about it's…

The Campus: "Cease and Desist"
This "To the Editor" opinion piece urges The Campus to cease posting stories related to the Paul Cubeta incident, and follow their own advice to handle the topic with more sensitivity. Broderson states that the "scoop" has already been published, and…

The Campus: "Addressing the issues?"
This Campus editorial discusses the fact that Middlebury's President Robison finally addressed the Paul Cubeta incident, yet refused to admit the administration handled it poorly. The article addresses the fact that College English professor Robert…

The Campus: “What can be learned”
This "To the Editor" opinion piece praises The Campus' coverage of the Paul Cubeta hearing and the Middlebury administration's actions. Martin also discusses what the college community and administration can learn from the manner in which the Paul…

The Campus - "SGA assesses issues"
This Campus news article discusses the SGA's main assessments and concerns as they concluded their fall session in 1989. The article discusses "CIA recruitment, sexual harassment and lighting on campus" among other topics. In terms of sexual…

The Campus: "What is 'responsible journalism?'"
Both of these "To the Editor" opinion pieces praise the Campus for what Baran and Zeltvogel see as responsible investigative journalism on the topic of Paul Cubeta. They also both contradict Professor Bakers views as published in the Nov. 17, 1989…

Boston Magazine: School for Scandal
This in depth article describes in detail the allegations and testimony of all four students who came forward in the Paul Cubeta hearing with testimony about sexual harassment and assault. It tells the story of their lives, their relationships with…

The Campus: "Bread Loaf official protests administrative cover-up in sexual harassment case"
This opinion piece is written by Robert Pack, a professor at the Bread Loaf School of English, a professor to the young men who came forward in the Cubeta sexual harassment hearing, and a longtime friend of Cubeta himself. In this article, Pack…
View all 10 items