Eastman expels student who complained about sex-pest prof

A year ago we reported that Rebecca Bryant Novak, a doctoral student at Eastman School of Music, was having trouble over a complaint she made of sexual harrassment against a faculty member.

We now understand that she has now been expelled from the School. It claims she failed to make academic progress.

Here’s what her people say:

Shortly into her first semester as a Ph.D. student in fall 2023, Rebecca Bryant Novak complained about abusive behavior by a professor who she said would scream at students and make lewd, sexist comments.

After a year-long investigation, a panel of faculty and administrators agreed that the professor had indeed violated Rochester’s harassment policy and that Eastman’s Title IX coordinator had grossly mishandled her complaint.

Despite all this, Eastman allowed the same school authorities to retain oversight of Bryant Novak’s academic trajectory — with one official telling her that the school restricted her performance times because of her complaint against the professor.

When Bryant Novak complained, Eastman did nothing. As a result of the alleged retaliation, Rochester opened a second investigation into Eastman’s mishandling of the situation in December 2024, and Bryant Novak publicly disclosed the university’s new investigation in a Substack article on Feb. 10.

Two weeks later, Eastman abruptly expelled Bryant Novak, citing a failure to make academic progress. In doing so, the school ignored its written policy that calls for students to be given ample notice if they are in danger of falling short of academic standards.

“There was no due process or hearing,” Bryant Novak said. “The university’s administrators were more concerned about protecting the faculty than adhering to their own rules and addressing bad behavior. They basically tried to destroy my career beyond all comprehension.”

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