February 7, 2018

Bradley J. Hamm
Office of the Dean
The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing
Communications
Northwestern University

cc: Jonathan Holloway

Office of the Provost
Northwestern University

Dear Dean Hamm:

This is Medill’s #MeToo moment.

Today, we are writing to tell you that Alec Klein’s time is up. His harassing
behavior. His predatory behavior. His controlling, discriminatory, emotionally
and verbally abusive behavior has to end. We all know about it. We’ve
experienced it. It’s time you heard us. It’s time you listened.

Some of us date back to his first class at Medill almost a decade ago. Others of
us worked under him as staff and fellows of the Medill Justice Project. His
misconduct is now an open secret at Northwestern University to the point that
many students have boycotted his class, robbing them of the opportunity to
pursue investigative journalism at Medill.

Each one of us, the undersigned, has experienced harassment or bullying at the
hands of Alec Klein.

And let’s be clear: Some of us have also experienced sexual harassment and
sexual misconduct.

• He attempted to kiss a prospective employee, prior to hiring her.

On the same occasion, he asked if she smoked marijuana and
asked to smoke with her and ordered her several cocktails.
• He asked a female employee to come to his hotel room “for
drinks” on a business trip.
• He gave unwanted neck massages while a female employee was
trying to work.
• He asked for a hug in return for giving an employee a requested
day off.
 • He made other unwarranted physical contact, such as grabbing
a student’s hand during conversations.
• He made sexually graphic remarks at work.
• He talked about his sex life and pressed for explicit details about
others’.
• He frequently commented on employees’ physical
attractiveness, appearances, attire and bodies.
• He told female students they would be good fits for broadcast
journalism because they were “good-looking.”
• He asked if an employee was having another baby when she
mentioned that her stomach hurt.
• He asked an employee if she was a stripper.
• He sent texts “intended for his wife” to a female student.

But many more experienced a different type of abuse. We were belittled,

insulted and berated.

• He repeatedly accused students of insubordination and

reprimanded them to the point of tears over minor or perceived
offenses, such as pushing back on an editorial misjudgment or
offering an alternative method to pursue an investigation, or
agreeing with a peer’s suggestion instead of what Alec Klein
proposed. Several of us were summoned into his office
individually, made to sit on a short cushion in a corner as he
hurled accusatory vitriol about our mistakes and then refused to
accept any apology. He sometimes retaliated by lowering
students’ final term grades even though these disagreements had
nothing to do with academic performance.
• He continued to show retaliatory behavior after discovering that
students went to senior staff at Medill to voice their concerns
about him.
• He often required excessive and unnecessary closed-door
meetings during which he pressed several of us to divulge
deeply personal details about our lives, only to later use this
information against us as a tool of manipulation.
• He retaliated against an employee by giving her a poor
performance review after she defended herself against his verbal
abuse.
• He has said: “You aren’t as smart as you think you are.”
• He has said: “You will never be a journalist.”
 • He told one of us, after learning her mother is a professional
writer: “Your mother is a writer, I’d expect you to be a better
writer.”
• He questioned whether an employee had actually attended her
grandfather’s funeral after she had requested and taken the day
off.
• He told one of us she needed an A- to earn his recommendation.
He later promised a male student in the same class a
recommendation in exchange for a B+.
• He scolded employees for “taking too much credit” for their
work and in one instance denied any credit until proof was
provided.
• He has yelled at employees and students and accused them of
“ignoring him” for not immediately answering his phone calls or
emails — at times, outside of working hours, or when one
employee was on vacation, despite her returning his call within a
few minutes.
• He has hung up the phone on several people who have
challenged or called out his behavior.
• He was openly dismissive in class to a student who struggled
with English and made it apparent that he did not like her Middle
Eastern accent. According to this student, he “killed” her
confidence and made her feel like “nothing,” and he screamed at
and hung up on her friend whom she had put on the phone with
him for help.
• He has said about and to female students that they are “too
emotional” and “immature.”

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Testimony of Alec Klein’s awful behavior continues to spread through a whisper

network of female students and alumni at Medill. Some of us, years later, can’t
shake the hurtful and demeaning things he said to us. Some of us have had to
seek counseling and therapy in the aftermath of his behavior. This has to stop.

We are writing this letter because despite numerous allegations, investigations

and complaints — and at least one settlement — Alec Klein is still teaching. He
still has tenure. He is still leading the Medill Justice Project, a crown jewel of the
institution. Many of us have spoken to Title IX officers. We’ve spoken to other
university officials and still, nothing happens.

We are not seeking to merely reprimand Alec Klein. We are demanding

accountability for his dangerous behavior. He is a liability and a predator among
your faculty. Yet his actions have gone unchecked for years, further traumatizing
more and more women. Medill has not only let us down — it has also failed to
protect us.

This #MeToo reckoning joins a host of other women who are collectively
unmasking powerful men across the globe. We have seen many men of great
talent — even some of our journalism heroes — fall. But know this: Alec Klein is
no hero. And journalism, especially the emerging journalists who come to Medill
to learn in a safe space, will be better served without him.

We know many unheard voices remain. Medill alumni, colleagues, students and
others may send their stories here: medillmetoo@gmail.com.

Respectfully,

Alison Flowers, MSJ 2009, Medill Justice Project 2011-2013

Meribah Knight, MSJ 2009
Kalyn Belsha, MSJ 2009
Olivia Pera, Medill Justice Project 2014-2015
Suyeon Son, Medill Justice Project 2012-2013
Lorraine Ma, BSJ 2013, Medill Justice Project 2011
Yana Kunichoff, MSJ 2009
Natalie Krebs, BSJ 2013, Medill Justice Project 2011
Lauryn Schroeder, MSJ 2013, Medill Justice Project 2013-2014
Fariba Pajooh, MSL2016, Medill Justice Project 2016-2017