Tracey’s Story: I WAS IN GRADUATE SCHOOL

In 2015, I was a enrolled in (of all things) an online graduate program when I was sexually harassed by one of my male professors. As an online student, my photo was always visible to anyone and everyone with whom I engaged. This was the school’s policy. So, my professor definitely knew what I looked like.

The abuse began as a way to control me (a graduate student who had complained about processes) and was seemingly making trouble and additional work for the professor. Well, guess what? My professor found the ultimate way to get back at me and began a harassment campaign which would eventually lead to my ouster from the program. Nothing I ever did was right, my projects, papers, and assignments were overly scrutinized and picked apart while some classmates reportedly performed below me. In fact, I was an honor student with a 3.6 GPA, then suddenly began submitted subpar work. It didn’t make sense.

I complained to all the right people, departments, etc on campus and beyond. However, my complaint was scovered up, swept under the rug and there was a calculated plan to kick me out of the graduate program. I am now $162,000 in debt due to student loans taken out to attend graduate school and have not been able to find substantial work in order to pay this bill. Major depression as well as bankruptcy is imminent for me.

I also scoured the Internet looking for a sexual harassment attorney, but to no avail. A black woman could not be trust and was not a credible witness. Black women do not get harassed based on their skin color and there is no basis for our allegations. Here I am four years later and still seeking restitution, praying for an attorney, hoping for things to happen to my abuser that are so bad I can’t write them here. I have been hurt to the core of my bones and this pain is not fair.