Walcott Returning

A Boston University (B.U.) professor formally admonished this spring by Harvard for sexual harassment will return to B.U. in the fail, apparently without a further investigation. B.U. officials said late last week.

The professor, Derek Walcott, will complete the final two and a half years of a three-year appointment which began in January, said Patricia Craddock, chairman of the B.U. English Department.

"There still is no direct evidence of any wrongdoing on the part of Professor Walcott." Craddock said, referring to complaints at both Harvard and B.U. that the prominent poet had harassed female students.

The Harvard complaint was filed by a freshman after an incident last fall, when Walcott served as a visiting professor here. The student's accusation that the professor made offensive verbal advances resulted in a formal admonishment of Walcott by Dean of the Faculty Henry Rosovsky.

Rosovsky sent a letter earlier this month to Walcott and to B.U. saying that he "would be reluctant to approve his appointment to this Faculty in the future."

During Harvard's review of the complaint, a B.U. graduate student sent a letter to Harvard administrators, changing that Walcott had pressured her to sleep with him in exchange for helping her with her poetry.

The B.U. student did not complain formally to the Boston school, said Craddock, and B.U. plans no further action in regard to the case.

Craddock confirmed an earlier report that she had recommended Walcott for tenure at B.U. last October. Although she and another English Department administrator have said Walcott is still under consideration for a permanent appointment, officials, of the university's college of liberal arts said no tenure deliberations are underway.