Yep, the Norman Conquest pretty much ended that behavior! 
Nerdy or not, the proscriptions against this should be quite well known to professors in any dept, anybody in authority on campus. Sheesh, every few years, I (female) have to certify via an abuse awareness program.
Not sure what impact reporting him now would have, after the fact. (Just saying.) Iâd talk with my girls about, next time, whirling and elbowing as an auto response.
Sorry this happened. Sheâs allowed to be her own nerdy and not have to endure this. Well, supposed to be free of this sort of concern. 
Stepping in to speak on behalf of all the professors out there who are angry about the [insert word of choice that probably wouldnât pass the filters] male (usually) professors who do stuff like this and give our profession a bad name: Report anybody who does anything like reaching into your shirt without your permission. Immediately. @intparent, your daughter needs to send an email directly to that universityâs Title IX Coordinator (they should have one), possibly with a courtesy cc to the department chair. She should detail what happened, when it happened, and who else was there (witnesses are useful).
Theyâll investigateâare required to, in fact. It could be that this was a one-time slip, and theyâll sit down with the guy and hopefully make him more aware of physical boundaries and the like. However, some people are serial offenders, and keep getting away with âlittleâ transgressions, because they can. The paper trail when people actually do report such behaviors, however, is the only thing that can lead to them being exposed for what they are.
I take back my hesitation about reporting, at this point. Apologies. Dfbdfb, youâre right, as are others. I recall DHâs dept had issue with a creepy guy. Long story, but their success in moving him out had a lot to do with gals who had been wiling to report, the collection of reports of offenses.
I would report it to the Dept. Chair and let him take it to the Title IX Coordinator. This reflects poorly on the University so he should want to know about it.
But personally I would also send an email directly to the professor â I would not be able to let it go until I told** him** myself how poorly he conducted himself. Probably go in one ear and out the other, but I would feel better for telling him directly in my own words.
That email will also serve as a record of what transpired and could be included in the communication to the Dept. Chair.
The professor was way out of line and should be reported.
The guy on the plane was also inappropriate. He should be called out for that. I know at your Dâs age I likely would not have spoken up, but I would now. I would tell him that I am not interested in seeing those picture, please keep them to yourself.
I would bet that OPâs daughter will be hesitant to report as she may fear word getting around to other programs she is interested in and she may fear being labeled as a troublemaker. This is why men like this continuously get away with doing this kind of ****. The prof is clearly in a position of power here as the daughter is not even in the program yet, just hopeful of making it. I would bet there were no witnesses around to observe, either, as he is probably well aware of his actions. He can simply take advantage of that power differential at his whim because most women in this position will not risk reporting him.
Iâd strongly suggest not emailing the guy directlyâthere are too many ways that can go sideways.
Title IX investigations are supposed to be confidential. Yeah, they arenât always, but even if the confidentiality is breached Iâd suggest that there are enough people out there who object to that sort of behavior that the rumor of someone being a âtroublemakerâ, while still a concern in some cases, is much less a concern than a lot of people expect it would beâthere are allies willing to support someone who raises such concerns in ways that wouldnât have been the case even, say, 10 years ago.
Thanks for weighing in with your advice from inside an academic setting, @dfbdfb. It sounds very wise and helpful to me.
Iâd have to send an email directly to him to get it off my chest â but thatâs just me. Youâre right it can go sideways as he will most likely reply denying it. And so it goesâŠ
I am just thinking that this is a young woman who is not considering that University anyway â so does she really want to become embroiled in their Title IX investigation? Her call in the end but my advice is to document exactly what happened to the Dept. Chair and call it a day. Give more info if requested via email.
@18yrcollegemin, my D does have an offer in hand from the department. But that means little â her life could be miserable if she came in being labeled a troublemaker, even with an offer. Not that she is going there.
@intparent: I hope she has another offer (or several) that she prefers.
I work in a STEM field, and Iâve worked in industry and in academia. I have seen behavior in academia (Iâm thinking of you, Dr. Well-Known Professor) that leave me aghast â things that would maybe get you fired in industry (and if not fired, at least sent to HR for multiple remedial classes of Sexual Harassment Training.)
I really donât get it. I think calling such an offender a âclueless nerdâ lets such perpetrators off too easy. Iâve worked with a lot of scientists, and most of them are well-aware that such behavior is not socially acceptable and totally out-of-bounds. Why do offenders keep offending? Maybe because they keep getting away with it, given the power differential between professor and student.
Itâs not an isolated problem. Jason Lieb (a molecular biologist) at University of Chicago was âallowed to resignâ after he was accused of harassment by several women. Looks like he may have behaved in a a similar fashion when he was at UNC and Princeton.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article58130433.html
@intparent - sorry that this happened to your daughter! Good luck to her in finding her grad school home.
@VeryHappy, she has 5 other offers. So she is lucky to have choices.
I would report him. As I said way back when this thread started, thatâs inappropriate. Often names will flip around and someone may grab your lanyard and flip your name to the front, but that is an entirely different situation than someone reaching down inside your shirt and pulling the name tag out. In addition to reporting the prof, I suggest they get longer lanyards. Iâm really serious - they shouldnât be so short that they slide down inside a shirt in this day and age when people wear all types of clothing to business and business-like functions and not everyone is wearing a collared shirt with buttons up the front.
I hope that she reports him after sheâs accepted another offer. Let them conclude, correctly or not, that his actions figured into her decision.
I recently heard a story of a girl who was interviewed for a college by a male alum who then called her and asked her out. She was hesitant to say anything because she was afraid that it would affect her admission. We have to teach our daughters not to put up with that BS. Those in power are counting on women with something to lose not reporting them.
Longer just means if it slips into a shirt or behind a scarf, whatever, itâs that much harder to pull out. No one should flip your tag around, either. Hands away from her body, period. Even a hand on a shoulder, IF acceptable to the recipient, is not for strangers. Maxima not where there is a power imbalance.
I donât care if it âslippedâ or she had it in there because it was flapping as she walked. Hands Away. Period.
Right, ask her name. As we tell children, use your words.
In my opinion, thatâs inappropriate, too. Possibly even frightening to have someone grab something thatâs around your neck.
Your daughter needs to speak up. I have a beautiful college-aged daughter, and no one messes with her. Good Lord, sheâd take him out, even if just verbally. She would have had wrist in a painful grip and be asking what he thought he was doing before he knew what hit him.
The length of the lanyard has ZERO relevance to this discussion. The man did what he did â why are we trying to transgress and discuss something else?? Is a short lanyard responsible for him putting his hand down her shirt? And who said the lanyard was too short anyway? It could have slipped down her shirt for many other reasons â maybe she bent over and when she stood up it fell into her shirt. Do we now have to protect this man from himself by mandating âlonger lanyards.â
There were options available â how about simply saying âhey we cannot read your lanyardâ or saying nothing at all and letting her discover it on her own?
He put his hand down her shirt and publicly embarrassed this young woman.