Title IX Retaliation from UChicago
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Dear reader,
My name is Zain Jamshaid. I was terminated from my PhD program toward the beginning of my seventh year in retaliation for filing a title IX complaint against a faculty member who sexually assaulted me at the University of Chicago. This expulsion has left me without health insurance or income in the middle of a global pandemic and without a visa to stay in the US, where I have spent the past twenty years of my life.
To elaborate, I was sexually assaulted by a faculty member in the Department of Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Chicago in both 2015 and 2016, all documented via medical and police records. I immediately brought this to the attention of family members and non-UChicago friends. An acquaintance of mine filed a complaint on my behalf with the Title IX office, with Bridget Collier, in 2017 but the University did nothing and never made an outreach to me, in blatant violation of Federal Law. Ms. Collier, and her associates, were derelict in their duties as mandated reporters. (I was too scared to come out about this then on my own, as an immigrant in a very precarious position, especially under the Trump administration, which discriminated against and demoralized so many immigrants and people of color).
These assaults led me to develop PTSD, also extensively medically documented. I would often find myself in emergency rooms due to acute panic attacks (I still take medication for the panic disorder and PTSD I developed after my assaults). I also had to take a year-long medical leave of absence from the University (17-18).
On May 11 of last year (2020), I filed a Title IX Complaint against this faculty member. The University did not help me. They carried a Title IX hearing in bad faith where they only interviewed my assailant's colleagues and friends. Family members, law enforcement, and medical professionals were never contacted in their "investigation." The University's Title IX office has a long history of botching Title IX cases and has been under numerous federal investigations for these very issues. Moreover, the Office of Disciplinary Affairs, led by Jeremy Inabinet, facilitated this Professor’s retaliation and counter-“complaint” against me, which is illegal. Outrageously, the kafkaesque “complaint” held that my sexual assault disclosures and Title IX complaint were harassment OF the faculty member them-self.
Jeremy Inabinet has a deplorable history of terrorizing victims of sexual assault as can be read here: https://www.chicagomaroon.com/article/2018/1/23/university-chicago-second-assailant/
The following article sheds some light on the University's troubled history with sexual assault and campus safety: https://www.chicagomaroon.com/article/2017/5/1/special-problem-university-chicagos-troubled-histo/
After my initial sexual assault disclosures last March, the administration and the program (specifically, Allyson Nadia Field, Jennifer Wild, and Jim Chandler) began a relentless retaliation against me after I moved to file a Title IX complaint. Mere days after my official Title IX complaint (May 11) and without the faintest hint or indication of this from the program ever in the past, the department, through an extremely rude letter penned by Allyson Nadia Field, slapped me with an “academic probation.” Immediately after, they eviscerated my dissertation committee ("the department has decided that [such-and-such a person] has been removed from your committee"); stopped sending me notifications for social and professional developments events; deprived me of dissertation-advising/mentoring by cutting off direct access to my Chair, who, having abandoned his responsibilities as an academic advisor soon after my complaint, spent much of the year supporting and protecting my sexual assailant and only fretting about the "reputation” of the department; illegally (see Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990) rejected my medically documented (sexual-trauma induced PTSD) disability accommodations (July 28) and finally, in a decision that completely blindsided me, removed me from the program 16 days ago, at the very end of the quarter, under the guise of "lack of academic progress," though I have drafts of all four of my chapters written, two of which I submitted in late August and October. I received a letter about the removal from Shea Wolfe, the Dean of Humanities, and was told to never contact her or anyone in the program again. When I asked Shea Wolfe if the cruel and patently retaliatory decision could be appealed, I immediately received a very distressing and threatening letter from Eric Heath, UChicago’s Associate Vice President of Safety & Security, who told me that the University may take legal action against me if I ever contacted Shea Wolfe and Daniel Morgan again. This decision was after years of me being a straight A student; (co) teaching 7 courses, in which I never received a single negative evaluation; presenting at (and organizing ) numerous conferences; and having articles currently under review for publications. I was also in the midst of job applications just a few days ago and was so looking forward to graduating in just six months, in May.
I am utterly distraught and devastated and scared. The timing of this decision (in the middle of the holidays, and a raging pandemic that has shut so many of us in our homes, making travel nearly impossible) is extremely cruel and insidious.
As a gay immigrant who has continuously lived in this country since age seven, this retaliatory and cruel decision may have all kinds of unforeseen immigration consequences for me (I am currently working with an immigration advocate to look into options for me to stay in the country). A return to rural Pakistan, a region I have not seen in 25 years, would mean a sure death for me as an out gay man, and the department and administration are quite aware of this (indeed, they exploited this very vulnerability to get me out of the picture as they knew well that my expulsion could likely immediately put me in removal proceedings).
The University has retaliated against me for reporting my sexual assault and harassment by one of its faculty members. It has done so by removing me from the program. It has become increasingly clear that without legal pressure (i.e. litigation) the University will not give me justice. Through litigation, I could be reinstated in the program and the University would very likely be forced to give me damages for what I have endured over so many years through its willful, unconscionable, and illegal negligence, and through its subsequent retaliation by expelling me. Litigation is costly (it averages about $100,000 in such Title IX cases) but I believe I would be liable for substantial damages: this faculty's abuse (and the University’s subsequent documented negligence in 2017/2018) caused me anguish that I never should have to do endure. It cost me both financially (for my treatments of the abuse) and psychologically and emotionally. Now, the costs for me are even higher: by retaliating against me and terminating me from the school for having the hubris and temerity to disclose the crimes (sexual assault) committed against me at the University, they have done incalculable damage to my professional life. Indeed, they may have completely destroyed it.
The funds I am requesting will be used for my legal fees and for the litigation. It is now the only way for me to seek redress for the crimes committed against me by the University of Chicago. I intend to litigate this issue in the coming months (January-February) and I need your assistance in doing that. Litigation will protect me and may very likely force University of Chicago to make monetary amends for the way it has treated (and damaged) a victim of sexual assault. It would go a long way in restoring some normalcy to my life. It would give me the justice that has for so long been denied to me, a student-victim of sexual assault.
I will be eternally grateful for any assistance from you as I seek justice through legal channels, which seem to now be the last resort for me. Your assistance (you may remain anonymous) could very well save my life, and I truly mean and believe that. A legal win for me will also send a clear message to the University of Chicago that it must do better for victims of sexual assault on campus. You may feel free to share my GoFundMe with anyone you wish, someone you think could help me.
Please consider helping me in my pursuit of justice.
Thank you for reading my story,
Zain Jamshaid
My name is Zain Jamshaid. I was terminated from my PhD program toward the beginning of my seventh year in retaliation for filing a title IX complaint against a faculty member who sexually assaulted me at the University of Chicago. This expulsion has left me without health insurance or income in the middle of a global pandemic and without a visa to stay in the US, where I have spent the past twenty years of my life.
To elaborate, I was sexually assaulted by a faculty member in the Department of Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Chicago in both 2015 and 2016, all documented via medical and police records. I immediately brought this to the attention of family members and non-UChicago friends. An acquaintance of mine filed a complaint on my behalf with the Title IX office, with Bridget Collier, in 2017 but the University did nothing and never made an outreach to me, in blatant violation of Federal Law. Ms. Collier, and her associates, were derelict in their duties as mandated reporters. (I was too scared to come out about this then on my own, as an immigrant in a very precarious position, especially under the Trump administration, which discriminated against and demoralized so many immigrants and people of color).
These assaults led me to develop PTSD, also extensively medically documented. I would often find myself in emergency rooms due to acute panic attacks (I still take medication for the panic disorder and PTSD I developed after my assaults). I also had to take a year-long medical leave of absence from the University (17-18).
On May 11 of last year (2020), I filed a Title IX Complaint against this faculty member. The University did not help me. They carried a Title IX hearing in bad faith where they only interviewed my assailant's colleagues and friends. Family members, law enforcement, and medical professionals were never contacted in their "investigation." The University's Title IX office has a long history of botching Title IX cases and has been under numerous federal investigations for these very issues. Moreover, the Office of Disciplinary Affairs, led by Jeremy Inabinet, facilitated this Professor’s retaliation and counter-“complaint” against me, which is illegal. Outrageously, the kafkaesque “complaint” held that my sexual assault disclosures and Title IX complaint were harassment OF the faculty member them-self.
Jeremy Inabinet has a deplorable history of terrorizing victims of sexual assault as can be read here: https://www.chicagomaroon.com/article/2018/1/23/university-chicago-second-assailant/
The following article sheds some light on the University's troubled history with sexual assault and campus safety: https://www.chicagomaroon.com/article/2017/5/1/special-problem-university-chicagos-troubled-histo/
After my initial sexual assault disclosures last March, the administration and the program (specifically, Allyson Nadia Field, Jennifer Wild, and Jim Chandler) began a relentless retaliation against me after I moved to file a Title IX complaint. Mere days after my official Title IX complaint (May 11) and without the faintest hint or indication of this from the program ever in the past, the department, through an extremely rude letter penned by Allyson Nadia Field, slapped me with an “academic probation.” Immediately after, they eviscerated my dissertation committee ("the department has decided that [such-and-such a person] has been removed from your committee"); stopped sending me notifications for social and professional developments events; deprived me of dissertation-advising/mentoring by cutting off direct access to my Chair, who, having abandoned his responsibilities as an academic advisor soon after my complaint, spent much of the year supporting and protecting my sexual assailant and only fretting about the "reputation” of the department; illegally (see Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990) rejected my medically documented (sexual-trauma induced PTSD) disability accommodations (July 28) and finally, in a decision that completely blindsided me, removed me from the program 16 days ago, at the very end of the quarter, under the guise of "lack of academic progress," though I have drafts of all four of my chapters written, two of which I submitted in late August and October. I received a letter about the removal from Shea Wolfe, the Dean of Humanities, and was told to never contact her or anyone in the program again. When I asked Shea Wolfe if the cruel and patently retaliatory decision could be appealed, I immediately received a very distressing and threatening letter from Eric Heath, UChicago’s Associate Vice President of Safety & Security, who told me that the University may take legal action against me if I ever contacted Shea Wolfe and Daniel Morgan again. This decision was after years of me being a straight A student; (co) teaching 7 courses, in which I never received a single negative evaluation; presenting at (and organizing ) numerous conferences; and having articles currently under review for publications. I was also in the midst of job applications just a few days ago and was so looking forward to graduating in just six months, in May.
I am utterly distraught and devastated and scared. The timing of this decision (in the middle of the holidays, and a raging pandemic that has shut so many of us in our homes, making travel nearly impossible) is extremely cruel and insidious.
As a gay immigrant who has continuously lived in this country since age seven, this retaliatory and cruel decision may have all kinds of unforeseen immigration consequences for me (I am currently working with an immigration advocate to look into options for me to stay in the country). A return to rural Pakistan, a region I have not seen in 25 years, would mean a sure death for me as an out gay man, and the department and administration are quite aware of this (indeed, they exploited this very vulnerability to get me out of the picture as they knew well that my expulsion could likely immediately put me in removal proceedings).
The University has retaliated against me for reporting my sexual assault and harassment by one of its faculty members. It has done so by removing me from the program. It has become increasingly clear that without legal pressure (i.e. litigation) the University will not give me justice. Through litigation, I could be reinstated in the program and the University would very likely be forced to give me damages for what I have endured over so many years through its willful, unconscionable, and illegal negligence, and through its subsequent retaliation by expelling me. Litigation is costly (it averages about $100,000 in such Title IX cases) but I believe I would be liable for substantial damages: this faculty's abuse (and the University’s subsequent documented negligence in 2017/2018) caused me anguish that I never should have to do endure. It cost me both financially (for my treatments of the abuse) and psychologically and emotionally. Now, the costs for me are even higher: by retaliating against me and terminating me from the school for having the hubris and temerity to disclose the crimes (sexual assault) committed against me at the University, they have done incalculable damage to my professional life. Indeed, they may have completely destroyed it.
The funds I am requesting will be used for my legal fees and for the litigation. It is now the only way for me to seek redress for the crimes committed against me by the University of Chicago. I intend to litigate this issue in the coming months (January-February) and I need your assistance in doing that. Litigation will protect me and may very likely force University of Chicago to make monetary amends for the way it has treated (and damaged) a victim of sexual assault. It would go a long way in restoring some normalcy to my life. It would give me the justice that has for so long been denied to me, a student-victim of sexual assault.
I will be eternally grateful for any assistance from you as I seek justice through legal channels, which seem to now be the last resort for me. Your assistance (you may remain anonymous) could very well save my life, and I truly mean and believe that. A legal win for me will also send a clear message to the University of Chicago that it must do better for victims of sexual assault on campus. You may feel free to share my GoFundMe with anyone you wish, someone you think could help me.
Please consider helping me in my pursuit of justice.
Thank you for reading my story,
Zain Jamshaid
Organizer
Zain Jamshaid
Organizer
Chicago, IL
