MIT has completed their investigation into the behavior of author and professor Junot Díaz, and has cleared him to return to teaching classes this fall. This spring, Díaz was publicly accused of sexual misconduct and verbal abuse, and the school opened an inquiry into his conduct with women at the school. “To date, MIT has not found or received information that would lead us to take any action to restrict Professor Diaz in his role as an MIT faculty member, and we expect him to teach next academic year, as scheduled,” the university said in a statement, according to the Boston Globe. “This is the extent of public comment and information available on this personnel matter.’’
After the author Zinzi Clemmons confronted Díaz at a literary festival in Sydney, Australia, the author Alisa Valdes penned an essay describing an encounter with Díaz and his misogyny. Both the Pulitzer Prize board and the Boston Review (where Díaz is fiction editor) opened inquiries into Díaz’s conduct following the allegations. The Boston Review said it would retain a relationship with Díaz; Díaz stepped down from the Pulitzer board in May. The author’s agent Nicole Aragi told the Globe she was pleased with MIT’s investigation: “I expected no less,” she said. “And I’m expecting positive outcomes from any inquiries that test the allegations.”
