INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Film producer Harvey Weinstein's lawyer Ronald Sullivan Jr
assault charges will not be allowed to continue as dean of a residential house on campus, a university official said on Saturday.The Ivy
League university's move to end the role of law professor Ronald Sullivan Jr and law school lecturer Stephanie Robinson, Sullivan's wife, at
Winthrop House follows protests over his representation of Weinstein.Sullivan and Robinson in 2009 became the first African-American faculty
deans in Harvard history when they took their positions at Winthrop House, one of several undergraduate residences at the Cambridge,
Massachusetts, university.Their terms as faculty deans were scheduled to end on June 30
Harvard College Dean Rakesh Khurana said in a statement that he had decided not to keep them in their roles at Winthrop House beyond that
date."Over the last few weeks, students and staff have continued to communicate concerns about the climate in Winthrop House to the
college," Khurana said."The concerns expressed have been serious and numerous
The actions that have been taken to improve the climate have been ineffective, and the noticeable lack of faculty dean presence during
critical moments has further deteriorated the climate in the house," Khurana said.Khurana has previously said Sullivan's decision to join
Weinstein's legal team was a matter of academic freedom and that everyone is entitled to a vigorous legal defense.Sullivan and Robinson
continue to hold their positions at Harvard Law School.Sullivan and Robinson said in a joint statement that they were "surprised and
dismayed" by the decision."We believed the discussions we were having with high level university representatives were progressing in a
positive manner, but Harvard unilaterally ended those talks," they said.In January, a judge approved Weinstein's request to have Sullivan
join his legal team.Prosecutors in New York accuse Weinstein, 67, of forcibly performing oral sex on a woman in 2006 and raping another
Weinstein faces five criminal charges, including rape, and could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.He has pleaded not guilty to
the charges.More than 70 women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct
He has denied all accusations and said any contact was consensual.Students at Winthrop House staged a sit-in this month to protest
Sullivan's defense of Weinstein, according to a report at the time in the Harvard Crimson student newspaper
Students denounced Sullivan in other actions earlier this year.(This story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is
auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Get the latest election news, live updates and election schedule for Lok Sabha Elections 2019 on
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