Law school e-mail decries sexism in student’s comments

After a law student at Rutgers-Camden commented in a class evaluation on a female professor's outfits, an administrator sent a clear message to law students and faculty: Sex- or gender-based comments will not be tolerated.

Adam Scales, vice dean and professor at Rutgers-Camden's law school, wrote in an email to students that he had come across "an evaluation that explored, in some detail, the fashion stylings of one of your professors."

The professor is a woman, he wrote in the Jan. 21 email, also sent to all faculty members.

"Women are frequently targets of evaluative commentary that, in addition to being wildly inappropriate and adolescent, is almost never directed at men. Believe me, I am about the last person on this faculty for whom the 'sexism' label falls readily to hand, but after a lifetime of hearing these stories, I know it when I see it," he wrote.

"Anyone who doubts this would find it instructive to stop by and ask any one of our female professors about this and similar dynamics."

The email was first reported this week by the industry blog Above The Law. Scales declined to comment Thursday and has not spoken publicly about the message.

As word of the email spread, supportive tweets and Facebook posts started cropping up — "Excellent!" "About time!" and "Good for Rutgers" among the commentary.

John Oberdiek, the acting dean of the law school, said in a statement that he fully supported Scales' message, even if Scales had not meant to publicly champion the cause.

"As you know, this communication was intended to be shared only with the Rutgers Law community. However, once it found its way into the broader conversation, it became clear that it had struck a chord," he said in the statement.

"We stand by the vice dean's strong statement against treating women faculty differently; we hope other schools will consider how student evaluations may play an unintended role in perpetuating stereotypes that have no place in professional education."

As for "the bit of fashion advice" that prompted the public rebuke, Scales wrote, he removed it "in a nanosecond."

Student evaluations are public, and part of faculty members' permanent records, he noted.

"If you have any doubts that posterity will somehow muddle through without the benefit of your fashion advice," Scales wrote, "allow me to dispel them once and for all."

The full text of Scales' email is below: