- UB Stir at the University of Barcelona over the sexual messages of the vice-rector Jordi Matas, tried for the 1-O: "I have dreamed of you again"
The vice-rector of the University of Barcelona (UB), Jordi Matas, has resigned from the position following the revelation, last Monday in Eldiario.es, of details about the alleged case of sexual harassment of a student in 2017.
The pressure for the rector Joan Guàrdia to take measures had been increasing in the last few hours, but the governing body of the UB had ruled out making a move and referred to the internal investigation that the centre carried out six years ago and which was closed with the filing of the complaint.
In a statement, the University of Barcelona reported today that Matas "has submitted his resignation from his management responsibilities in order to be able to launch without institutional limitations the legal actions he deems appropriate to defend his honorability".
Hours before the resignation was announced, more than 100 professors at the school had signed a letter addressed to the rector in which they demanded a new "independent investigation" into the case and the "precautionary dismissal" of Matas.
The dean's office of the Faculty of Law of the UB, where the professor teaches, had also published a statement in which it called for "assuming individual and collective responsibilities". "We regret that the absence of an adequate protocol of action at the time of the events resulted in a procedure that had a revictimizing effect and did not make the affected student feel safe at the university," the agency said.
Yesterday, about 200 students gathered in the Faculty of Arts of the historic building of the UB to ask for the resignation of the professor and accuse the rectorate of protecting him.
- Articles Gerard Melgar
- Sexual harassment