Harvard, one of America's Ivy League Universities, has officially imposed a ban on professors having sex with their students and any romantic relationships between the same.
In a statement issued by Harvard on Thursday, it has been clearly stated that all faculties are prohibited from engaging in sexual relations with undergraduates. However, they can date graduate students as long as they are not under their supervision, reports The Guardian.
According to the statement graduates are also not allowed to date undergraduates if they are in a position to "grade, evaluate, or supervise the undergraduate."
The change is brought about as part of a formal review of its policy on 'Title IX', the federal civil rights law, which prohibits sex discrimination in education. It was found that the University's stand on "relationships of unequal status" was not strong enough, reports Fox News.
History professor Alison Johnson, who led the committee, said, "Undergraduates come to college to learn from us," she said. "We're not here to have sexual or romantic relationships with them."
During the process, the committee is said to have done thorough research on the ways power dynamics can contribute to sexual harassment.
"We wanted to emphasise that the central characteristic of any relationship between a professor and an undergraduate in the College should be pedagogical," said Johnson.
