Updated: Ludlow will not join Rutgers’ faculty

Ciara McCarthy, Editor in Chief

Philosophy Prof. Peter Ludlow will not join the faculty at Rutgers for the coming academic year, the school said Wednesday.

Ludlow will remain on Northwestern’s faculty, University spokesman Al Cubbage confirmed Wednesday. Ludlow is at the center of a Title IX lawsuit that alleges NU acted with “deliberate indifference and retaliation” after a student reported being sexually assaulted by Ludlow. The professor has denied the student’s allegations.

A spokesman for Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey told The Daily on Wednesday that Ludlow would not move to the school.

“When Rutgers learned of allegations against Professor Ludlow at Northwestern, the university requested relevant information from Professor Ludlow and his attorney,” spokesman Greg Trevor  wrote in a statement. “This information was not provided. As a result, Professor Ludlow will not be coming to Rutgers University.”

Ludlow’s attorney Kristin Case told The Daily on Wednesday evening that Ludlow could not provide all the information requested by Rutgers.

“Rutgers was demanding confidential information that was not Professor Ludlow’s to give, including confidential information about the student who made the allegations as well as numerous Northwestern administrators whose identities could not be successfully redacted. Northwestern University drafted a confidentiality agreement for Rutgers to sign and Rutgers refused to sign it,” she wrote in the statement. “Because of that we could not, in good faith or legally, share the information. If Rutgers has chosen not to offer the position based on that fact we believe such a decision is clearly unlawful.”

Ludlow was offered a job as the director of Rutgers’ Center for Cognitive Science, philosophy blog Leiter Reports announced in November. The blog, run by University of Chicago Law School Prof. Brian Leiter, said Ludlow had accepted the position.

Ludlow indicated that the information was accurate in a public Facebook post in November. “I read this on Leiter, so it must be true,” he wrote, linking to Leiter’s post. Multiple members of Rutgers’ faculty congratulated him on Facebook.

After the student filed suit against NU, bringing her allegations against Ludlow to light, Rutgers denied that it had offered him a job.

“This was not brought to our attention by either the candidate or his employer. We are looking into this matter thoroughly including requesting all relevant information to fully evaluate his candidacy,” Trevor said in February.

Students at both schools have organized to protest Ludlow’s employment. In March, NU students planned a sit-in of Ludlow’s undergraduate class, which evolved into a demonstration in protest of NU’s sexual assault policies and Ludlow’s continued employment. In the aftermath of the protest, the remainder of Ludlow’s Winter Quarter classes were canceled as was his scheduled Spring Quarter class. Rutgers students protested Ludlow’s candidacy at the school and asked administrators to change the hiring process for new faculty.

Ludlow, who has taught at NU since 2008, is not scheduled to teach any classes Fall Quarter, Cubbage said. Teaching schedules for the remainder of the next academic year have not been finalized.

This story has been updated with comments from Ludlow’s attorney and University spokesman Al Cubbage and additional details about the situation.

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