A former University of Delaware student is speaking out after her allegation that her professor offered her a good grade in exchange for sex sparked both an investigation and student protests at her school.
“He told me what specific sexual acts he wanted to perform with me,” said the student who did not want to be identified.
The student claims University of Delaware sociology professor Eric Tranby, who also served as her advisor, offered her an “A” in exchange for sex during the past school year. She also claims Tranby told her he had sex with other students in his office after normal hours.
“He said, ‘Oh well, you know, we just cover up the webcam and pull the blinds down,’” she said.
The student says she refused to have sex with the professor which caused Tranby to send her an email apologizing and begging her not to tell anyone.
“I told him that I would tell and he begged me not to, saying I would ruin his career and he would give me an ‘A’ anyway,” she said.
NBC10 reached out to Tranby for comment but we have not yet heard back from him. In a statement on an education website and to Delaware’s student newspaper, Tranby denied the allegations. Tranby also claimed school investigators never found he did anything wrong. Despite this, he still wrote a letter to his colleagues saying he would take a leave of absence and resign at the end of the school year.
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Tranby’s accuser believes the school didn’t investigate the allegations thoroughly, didn’t keep her informed about any developments and wanted the entire ordeal to be swept under the rug.
“You realize that they are not doing anything for me,” she said. “Or if they are I don’t know about it. I don’t know what’s taking place. It needs to stop. Somebody needs to do something and it needs to stop.”
The accusations against Tranby and the university’s subsequent investigation sparked protests amongst students with many feeling there was a lack of transparency in the school’s sexual harassment policy.
A spokesperson for the University of Delaware told NBC10 they couldn’t comment on the specifics of the case and that all student and personnel matters are considered confidential. The spokesman also wrote that the matter was “handled promptly and properly with sensitivity to the complainant and clear communication with all parties involved.”
“The personal safety and well-being of our students and the campus community are top priorities for the University of Delaware,” the spokesperson wrote. “The University has focused on ways to protect the members of its community from sexual misconduct, including sexual harassment and sexual assault, and has taken steps to ensure any and all complaints are handled appropriately. “
The spokesman also shared the school’s policy on handling sexual harassment allegations.
“If a sexual harassment complaint is made by a student, employee or visitor, federal law requires the University to take immediate and appropriate steps to investigate the complaint or otherwise determine what occurred,” the spokesperson wrote. “In order to protect the privacy of both the complainant and the respondent in a sexual harassment complaint, the University's policy provides that confidentiality must be maintained to the fullest extent possible throughout the process. The University takes this confidentiality requirement seriously because many victims would not come forward without it.”
