University police said they have not been able to confirm
whether Professor Adolfo Bermeo’s e-mail accounts were broken
into, a crime that could have exposed the professor’s alleged
relationship with a student.
Authorities said Bermeo filed a report before spring break,
saying his e-mail may have been compromised and his privacy
invaded.
“We investigated the report and at this point we’re
unable to confirm whether his computer was hacked into,” said
Nancy Greenstein, director of university police community
services.
The university is investigating whether Bermeo, director of the
Academic Advancement Program and associate vice provost for student
diversity, had a relationship with a student. If allegations are
true, he may have violated a new policy passed by the UC Board of
Regents in July 2003 prohibiting student-faculty relationships.
At a meeting with around 100 students from the AAP before spring
break, Chancellor Albert Carnesale said the university might
sanction Bermeo, but added that he had not committed a crime.
Some students at the meeting voiced their concern that a
potential invasion of the professor’s privacy spotlighted the
alleged relationship.
Carnesale said the way the possible violation of policy came to
light did not matter in the context of the university
investigation, but assured students that university police would
look into the possibility of a crime.
According to the regents’ policy, Bermeo could face
sanctions ranging from a letter of censure to dismissal from the
university system.
The UC Board of Regents changed its policy regarding
student-faculty relationships in the summer of 2003, making the
rules stricter and banning consensual relationships between the two
groups.
Before the new policy, faculty members were discouraged from
dating students and warned that such actions could seriously
compromise the academic environment.
University spokesman Phil Hampton said he did not have any
additional comments about the alleged violation.
“There are privacy concerns that prevent disclosure of
certain details,” Hampton said.
A student who wished to remain anonymous said Bermeo apologized
to his winter-quarter Chicana/o studies M124 class for having
relations with a student.
Bermeo began working at UCLA in 1985 after earning his doctorate
in 1981. In 1998, he received the Chancellor’s Fair and Open
Academic Environment Award for promoting a fair, open and diverse
academic atmosphere.
He has been the director of AAP, a program focused on helping
around 6,500 students with academic success, for two decades.