Harvard Prof. Eric Rentschler Sanctioned for Violating Sexual Harassment Policies

Germanic Languages and Literatures professor Eric Rentschler was placed on two-year administrative leave for violating the Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ sexual and gender-based harassment and professional conduct policies, Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra announced in an internal email on Thursday.

The email, which was obtained by The Crimson, was sent to members of the Germanic Languages and Literatures department and the Art, Film, and Visual Studies department. Rentschler holds appointments in both departments.

“Professor Rentschler’s conduct has violated the fundamental norms of our community,” Hoekstra wrote in the email. “In my role as FAS Dean, I have determined that sanctions are warranted and proportionate to the severity of the behavior.”

Rentschler did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. FAS spokesperson Holly Jensen declined to comment further, citing a policy of not commenting on personnel matters.

Rentschler is the latest in a string of tenured FAS academics found to have violated sexual harassment or professional misconduct policies in the past several years, including professors Roland G. Fryer Jr., John L. Comaroff, and Jorge I. Dominguez.

The announcement suggests that Hoekstra — whose tenure as dean has not yet lasted a full year — will be forced to address the same issues of misconduct allegations within the FAS that plagued her predecessor, Claudine Gay.

Rentschler’s two-year administrative leave is effective immediately and he will be barred from teaching at Harvard and from attending Harvard-sponsored events and meetings, according to the email.

At time of publication, Rentschler’s page on the Germanic Languages and Literature department website listed him as “on leave” for the spring 2024 semester.

After his leave concludes, Rentschler will only be allowed to teach non-required classes and will be prohibited from taking on new undergraduate or graduate advisees for an additional two years. After that period concludes, Hoekstra will reevaluate whether she will lift “some or all” of those sanctions.

Rentschler’s current Ph.D. students will be allowed to switch advisors, and any advising activity during his leave will be required to occur remotely.

The sanctions follow a review by the Office of Dispute Resolution and the FAS. Rentschler “had the opportunity to participate” in the review, per Hoekstra’s email, which did not say whether he had engaged in the process.

—Staff writer Tilly R. Robinson can be reached at tilly.robinson@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @tillyrobin.

—Staff writer Neil H. Shah can be reached at neil.shah@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @neilhshah15.