The Privilege of Isolation: Why the Professor May Be an Island, but the Citizen May Not
Universities often romanticize the solitary scholar. Isolation, in that context, can be read as prestige: distance equals depth. Outside the academy, however, a similar solitude is treated as deviance. The isolated professor is a thinker; the isolated citizen is a threat.
Further reading
- Harvard: institutional report on sexual harassment policies and vetting (university framing of “prestige + oversight).
Within elite institutions, autonomy can shade into immunity. History shows that when charisma meets hierarchy, power imbalances follow—especially in professor–student relationships. The rhetoric of freedom can obscure real harms.
Further reading
The liberal paradox appears when institutions preach “safety and consent,” yet struggle with enforcement at the core. Cases at top universities show how reputations and structures can delay accountability even when students raise alarms.
Further reading
- Yale Daily News: Panel on Thomas Pogge found “unprofessional conduct,” but no harassment finding.
- ProPublica: Columbia’s Hadden settlements exceed $1B across >1,000 claims.
- AP News: Columbia & NY-Presbyterian $750M settlement; policy failures outlined.
- Columbia University Medical Center: “Rebuilding Trust” page on Hadden case.
By contrast, outside the academy, solitude is often pathologized. The “lone wolf” artist or dissident—unaffiliated with prestige institutions—can be interpreted as unstable or dangerous even when they harm no one. Solitude, it seems, is permitted when it is credentialed.
Further reading
- Academic Sexual Misconduct Database: institution-indexed case summaries (Harvard) (useful for comparing institutional vs. non-institutional narratives).
The church—another powerful institution—shows a similar asymmetry. For years, systemic investigations have documented abuse and cover-ups, not only at the edges but within central structures. Institutional prestige did not prevent harm; at times, it shielded it.
Further reading
- Boston Globe Spotlight (2002): Geoghan case and systemic reassignment.
- Pennsylvania Attorney General: statewide grand jury report hub (Catholic dioceses).
- Vatican (2020): McCarrick Report — institutional knowledge & decision-making.
- France CIASE/Sauvé Commission (2021): summary estimating scale of abuse.
Institutions often narrate abuse as peripheral—“bad apples at the margins”—but major inquiries (press, prosecutors, independent commissions) show recurring patterns at the core. The lesson is not that institutions are uniquely bad, but that prestige cannot substitute for transparency and enforceable protection.
Further reading
We need a consistent ethic: solitude is a human right, not a privilege reserved for the tenured. And where power meets vulnerability, accountability must be clearest at the core—not only at the edges. That is how communities preserve freedom without excusing predation.
Further reading
© Jam X. Written in collaboration with AI.
