“Show me a grad student I can f*ck”

This happened in the 1980’s. A friend from graduate school had just gotten a job at a very good department with a well-rated graduate program. I had a job at another well-rated graduate program. I attended a conference at my friend’s department where one of our former teachers, a well-known person, Professor A, someone we both admired and respected, was going to be a featured speaker.

My friend told me that when Professor A arrived, the first thing he said to my friend was “Show me a graduate student I can fuck.” My friend was, needless to say, quite taken aback and somehow got himself out of the situation.

Notice that this behavior was despicable in more than one way. Apart from the obvious issue of how Professor A regarded female graduate students, there is the issue of how he treated my friend. My friend was a minority male junior professor who was now being pressured to do something he could not approve of in order to curry favor and secure male bonding with a more powerful (white) senior philosopher who was in a position to advance his career or not.

The story of what Professor A did changed my opinion about him forever after that event.