Interim Chancellor Sam Goldman said Tuesday he was about to reinstate one of the university’s most recognized figures and resolve the sexual harassment allegations against him when the professor died.

Goldman said he wished the allegations against history professor John Y. Simon, who died July 8, had never become public. Instead, the professor’s removal from his office in January came to light, leading the president of a nationally renowned historical institute to say he will fight to move it out of SIUC.

“Some people went public when they shouldn’t have. It’s kind of holier-than-thou – ‘the world has a right to know.’ No they don’t. Not on situations like that,” Goldman said.

Simon taught at SIUC for 44 years and made it the home of the Ulysses S. Grant Association, a historical institute that housed Simon’s acclaimed “The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant” and other works. Frank Williams, president of the association, vowed Sunday to move the association to another university because of the way Simon was treated.

Simon was accused of sexual harassment and locked out of his office in January. When he died, he did not know the specifics of the allegations against him, the former leader of the faculty union that represented Simon has said.

Williams said the university did not follow due process in its investigation of the allegations.

Goldman said Williams’ assessment was not true.

“(Williams) went after us on due process. He was wrong. We do follow due process,” Goldman said.

“What he did was he picked up various stages of the process,” he continued. “What is important is how it was going to end, not what was going on during the discussions, and he never mentioned that. It was not going the way he portrayed it.”

Goldman said privacy laws prevent him from talking publicly about the specifics of the case, but he would have explained them to Williams in a face-to-face meeting. He said Williams has not responded to his request to meet.

Williams did not return a call for comment Tuesday.

Shortcomings in the university’s sexual harassment policy had been identified in 2005, when former Chancellor Walter Wendler commissioned a panel to make recommendations of changes in the policy. The recommendations were submitted to Wendler in April 2006, but the changes have yet to be enacted.

Goldman, who has been chancellor since April, said administrators have taken too long to change the policy.

“We plead guilty. It’s taking too long. There’s no doubt it’s taking too long. We’ve got to get out with it,” Goldman said.

Recommended changes include more transparency in the investigation for both the accused and the accuser to ensure due process has taken place. Goldman said he has seen the draft of changes but would not comment on what changes were made.

When he was commissioned the panel, Wendler initially gave it a deadline of Feb. 28, 2006, but the final report was not returned until April of that year. In November, Wendler was removed from the chancellor post.

Wendler, now head of the School of Architecture, said he does not know if the fact that he left office affected the progress of the report, but hopes the issue is resolved.

“It’s been so long now I can’t remember the report, but obviously it’s always good to have a clear, direct policy. It’s really not my place to comment,” Wendler said.

Simon is not the first professor to be removed from campus in the past year because of sexual harassment allegations.

Distinguished professor emeritus Cal Meyers, who runs the SIUC Meyers Institute for Interdisciplinary Research in Organic and Medicinal Chemistry, filed a federal lawsuit Aug. 12 against the university. The lawsuit cites due process violations and a breach of contract for the institute.

Meyers has denied the accusations and said the investigation against him did not follow a fair procedure.

The current sexual harassment policy fails because it does not allow the accused to confront witnesses, cross-examine witnesses or be represented by counsel, said Leonard Gross, an SIU law professor and chairman of the Southern Illinois Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

“In short, none of the elements of due process are met in this (policy), and this has resulted in this Simon mess, the lawsuit involving Cal Meyers, and other individuals being caught in the mix,” Gross said.

The requirements for an effective sexual harassment policy are not hard to meet, Gross said, and there are recommended procedures readily available.

He said he suspects someone is blocking the process, as changes to the policy have not been made in two years.

“In many cases, we’ve got people who are using sexual harassment as a vehicle to get rid of people they don’t want without giving them any due process at all in hopes that they won’t make a stink about it because they don’t want to have the publicity engendered by being labeled a sexual harasser,” Gross said.

The reason some may suspect the process is faulty is because the specifics of cases and investigations are kept secret to protect both the accused and the accusers, Goldman said.

He said administration has a responsibility to protect accusers from retaliation. As in the case of Simon, the university must also protect those who are accused during investigations, he said.

“You want to accuse me of secrecy? Yes, I’m guilty. But you have to respect a person’s reputation. Once it gets out, right or wrong, it’s over. There will always be doubt in people’s minds about Simon, no matter what,” Goldman said.

If retaliation occurs, the accuser should be allowed to make additional charges, Gross said. But he said that is not an excuse to deny due process.

Gross said those who have not been given due process in the past should be reinstated until they get it.

“If people don’t get that, they’re going to file suit. We’ll lose our funding from the Grant Association, and our reputation is going to fall because we’re not doing the right thing,” Gross said.

Editor’s Note: This story has been changed to reflect the following correction: John Y. Simon was locked out of his office in January, not December as was originally reported.

Sean McGahan can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 254 or [email protected].