University fires professor after investigation into sexual misconduct

China’s Renmin University has fired a professor who sexually harassed a doctoral student, the university announced on Monday evening after completing an investigation into allegations that became public over the weekend.

On Sunday, a video surfaced online showing a PhD student in literature publicly accusing her mentor of sexual harassment and sexual assault. The student, Wang Di, claimed that her mentor, Wang Guiyuan, demanded a sexual relationship. When she refused, he allegedly harassed her for two years and threatened to prevent her from graduating.

Wang Di said she has audio recordings and chat logs to back up her allegations and is demanding legal punishment for Wang Guiyuan. In a 59-minute video posted on microblogging platform Sina Weibo, Wang Di wore a mask as she detailed the abuse allegations and shared screenshots of messages and original audio clips as evidence.

The post received over two million likes and many internet users called for improvements in the academic environment.

The Beijing-based university said Monday morning that it had set up a working group on Sunday evening and conducted an investigation overnight, underscoring its zero-tolerance policy toward unethical misconduct by teachers.

On Monday evening, the university announced that the investigation had confirmed the truth of the allegations.

A post on Weibo said Wang Guiyuan had seriously betrayed the fundamental task of teaching and supporting students and violated university regulations and professional ethics.

The university decided to withdraw his professorship, revoke his qualifications as a doctoral supervisor and terminate his teaching activities. Wang Guiyuan was also expelled from the Chinese Communist Party.

The university said it would ask the university administration to revoke his teaching license and report the case to the relevant authorities, as required by law.

Wang Guiyuan, 65, was a professor at the university’s School of Humanities and a former party chief and vice dean of the school. According to public records, he was also a doctoral supervisor and head of the Department of Chinese Linguistics and Philology.