Jordi Matas Dalmases, in an image from the University of Barcelona's transparency portal.
The Vice-Rector for Institutional Relations, Communication and Language Policy of the University of Barcelona (UB), Jordi Matas, submitted his resignation this Wednesday after being involved in an alleged case of harassment of a student. The student reported the harassment and the center's management investigated the matter and concluded that no sanction was necessary against Matas. The events occurred in 2016 and an investigation by eldiario.es has accessed the improper messages sent by the vice-rector to the student who reported the events to the equality unit. On Tuesday, the University Library rejected the dismissal of the vice-rector on the grounds that it was a “closed case”. Reading the news has led to students, faculty and staff calling for the Vice Rector to resign. A resignation that, as the UB announced in a statement, took place this Wednesday.
Matas sent a student a message saying: “Today I dreamed about you again, we had a great time.” The vice-rector insisted that he wanted to see her and accused the young woman of not paying attention to him and didn't answer his cell phone messages (“You make me sad”). When the student tried to stop him from being her thesis tutor, Matas began chasing her. Her classmates created a Telegram group to help her so the teacher couldn't find her. “One day we managed to get it out of the classroom window,” recalls one of the testimonies collected as part of the investigation. The young woman eventually confessed her case to another teacher, who helped her file a complaint with the Equal Opportunities Office. Although Matas' messages were used as evidence, the investigation launched by the university concluded that “there was no reprehensible attitude.”
After the report was published, criticism of the UB's management only increased. On Tuesday, 200 students gathered in the Faculty of Literature demanding the professor's resignation, and several professors even presented a letter to the rector Joan Guàrdia calling for an “independent investigation” and the “precautionary” dismissal of Matas.
This Wednesday, the UB released a statement condemning sexual harassment. The university justifies itself by saying that since the reported events took place in 2016, the protocol in place at the time was applied and it asks for “prudence and respect” towards the people and institutions involved.
“Given the need to preserve the institution, we inform you that Dr. Jordi Matas submitted that day his resignation from his leadership duties in order to take, without institutional restrictions, the legal actions he deems appropriate to defend his honor. “, the letter concludes. .
Ultimately, the UB chooses the middle path and ensures that “the academic framework is incompatible with any kind of harassing behavior” while at the same time “no behavior of public lynching, slander or violent and denigrating mechanisms of legitimate interest” takes place. “.
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