Thread by @williamrblack

Alright there's no need to keep this inside the whisper network, it's in the public record & people should know so they can make an informed decision. Plus I wanna highlight some things we can learn. Renee Warner was one of Michael Landis's students at Tarleton State University

In March 2017, according to a screenshot Warner shared with the Tarleton student newspaper, Landis texted her, "Wanna get together for dinner, drinks, & movies? My wife will be away ... so it'll just be me & the dogs. #lonely" texannews.net/former-tarleto…

Warner said she was disappointed because she really looked up to Landis as an anti-racist ally

Warner says she became so uncomfortable she stopped attending Landis's class, then failed the class and left Tarleton at the end of the semester without graduating.

Warner filed a complaint with the Title IX office and was reportedly told there were three other similar complaints against Landis.

This all came out in the Tarleton student newspaper (see link on first tweet). Warner later alleged that, during a trip she & Landis & two other students took to a Historians Against Slavery Conference, one of the students shared a room with Landis texannews.net/breaking-news-…

An internal investigation concluded that Landis was not guilty of sexual harassment but did find his actions "highly inappropriate and unprofessional." The Associate VP of Academic Affairs recommended termination docs.google.com/viewerng/viewe…

In April 2018, four more allegations against Landis were reported in the Tarleton student newspaper, three of them anonymous. Braiden Foster alleged that Landis grabbed a necklace she was wearing that came to "the middle of [her] breasts" & complimented it

Foster said Landis then invited her--in front of the whole class--to have drinks with him that weekend, even though she'd already said her parents would be in town

She would no longer see him in his office: “If he had the courage to ask an 18-year-old to ditch her parents and to come drink with him—a married man who is in his 30‘s—in front of a classroom of students, what’s stopping him from doing more when he’s alone with me in a room?”

When Foster told other faculty about the incident, they "played it off like he was just a weird teacher"

Another student tells a story about what happened when she attended a conference at Texas A&M with Landis and another professor. As they were driving back, Landis allegedly asked if they wanted to see his dogs (again with the dogs). She said sure, assuming they'd all be going

Landis then allegedly said he'd need to mow his lawn too, and then dropped off the other professor first. The student finally said she just wanted to head home, which is what happened.

Two other students have alleged Landis offered to buy them drinks at a bar when they were underage

I wanna close with what I believe is a revealing Twitter exchange--a pattern of behavior we should all, especially men, keep an eye out for. In July 2017, someone alerted Landis to an AP story reposted by the Tarleton student newspaper, which fed into #BlueLivesMatter rhetoric

Landis replied thus, apparently unaware the Texan News Service was the Tarleton student paper (though he didn't admit that in the ensuing exchange)

Quanecia Fraser, a journalist for the Texas News Service, urged Landis to see the paper's original reporting. But Landis maintained the paper had not sufficiently covered race & police brutality, saying, "Just be aware of the choices you make."

Fraser later interviewed Landis about neo-Confederates, and Fraser subsequently sent her a wink-emoji reply about it. IMO seems to be a pattern of negging, flirting, grooming

The punchline? Quanecia Fraser then wrote the two articles reporting the allegations against Landis

So: don't neg or groom or flirt with your students. Don't exploit your work/reputation as an ally. Don't exploit the teacher-student intimacy meant to foster learning & growth.

How many students flunk their class rather than see their harasser two/three times a day? How many decide not to be a history major?? Esp at smaller schools where avoiding a professor isn't an option if you're gonna take that major

Don't laugh it off when a student tells you something is wrong. Don't make them second-guess themselves.

When I first read the allegations, I confess I merely unfollowed Landis. Why? For fear of retribution? Whatever the reason, it was bullshit. Today I'm blocking him & I should've done it sooner.

And don't @ me about kicking a man while he's down, though I admit it'd probably be harder to call out someone who's tenured & more established. Not gonna lie.

Anyway I'd like to conclude with this quote from Braiden Foster: "I hope [my daughter] never ever has to feel unsafe where she should always feel safe." texannews.net/were-finally-b…

P.S.

P.P.S. @nellgluckman with some great reporting at the Chronicle: chronicle.com/article/A-Prof…

Landis has apparently been sending emails to other historians trying to make allies. He's alleging there's a conspiracy against him because he's the "first [person] to challenge white supremacy" at Tarleton

Another small thread:

Also if you like her art & wanna support her, check out Renee Warner's account:

Another story:

Landis told Rebecca Brenner the same sorta thing he told Keri Leigh Merritt--that the student newspaper and the Stephenville Sons of Confederate Veterans were conspiring against him

And then there's this

Another story:

Later:

A story from a @tarletonstate student, shared with her permission: