Dartmouth professor cleared of sexual harassment claims by student who went on hunger strike
A Dartmouth College math professor has been cleared of a sexual harassment allegation from a graduate student who accused him of groping himself in front of her.
Maha Hasan Alshawi made national headlines last year when she went on a weeks-long hunger strike in order to force the university to launch an investigation. Among her allegations were that Professor Alberto Quattrini Li “grabbed himself inappropriately” in front of her in November and December 2019, according to New Hampshire Public Radio.
She also claimed that Li left her off an underwater robotics research trip to the Barbados as retaliation.
But Li countered that Alshawi wasn’t invited because she hadn’t completed the necessary research, according to outside investigators brought in by Dartmouth. He was also able to prove that he was not on campus during some of the dates identified by Alshawi.
“We find that there is insufficient evidence to support, by a preponderance of the evidence, a finding that (Li) engaged in any conduct that would constitute Sexual or Gender-Based Harassment or Retaliation,” the report states.
“We also find that the College followed its procedures and reached reasonable and factually-supported conclusions in evaluating the information available to them at the time.”
The investigators also said Alshawi lost some credibility because she had made similar accusations against another professor at the American University in Cairo.
Alshawi is no longer enrolled at Dartmouth, according to NHPR.
