March 15, 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:

Nineteen more women.

Since our letter to you on February 7, 2018, where 10 of us came forward with accounts
of bullying and harassment, 19 new women — Northwestern University students, alumni
and staff — have reached out to us with statements about Alec Klein’s behavior.

Disturbing patterns continue to emerge in the allegations:

● Extended closed door meetings

● Sexually suggestive comments
● Talking about his sex life
● Inappropriate touching
● Commentary on bodies and appearances
● Asking about personal lives
● Requesting hugs in exchange for leaving work early
● Verbal abuse
● Hostile, discriminatory work environment
Several of these women have chosen to participate in Northwestern’s ongoing
investigation of Alec Klein. But others are too afraid to speak out further.

Their voices should still be heard. Collectively, the women quoted below have decided
to share portions of their unaltered messages to us, and where noted, their diary
entries:

● “I thought I was the only one. I thought there was something wrong with
me, because the way he acted made me feel so horribly
uncomfortable...that I just needed to toughen up and brush it off. When I
stopped working for him, I accepted the futility of pursuing a journalism
career. For three years I was afraid even to enter Fisk, to speak with other
professors about recommendations or finding a new advisor, terrified I
might run into Alec. I skipped Medill’s graduation ceremony so I wouldn’t
have to see him.”

● “He gave unwanted neck and shoulder massages while I tried to work at
that table. While I worked, he would pace and wax poetic about his sex
life, and complain about his wife in ways that made me feel like crying. He
would tell me very personal things about her. I remember feeling this
terrible empathy, like I couldn’t believe another woman out there was
being treated this way, and wondering if she had anyone to tell. That is, in
many ways, the most painful part: the knowing about other women who
are hurt, but not knowing them. Even worse is knowing she may have
been in the dark about him.”

● (From one woman’s 2013 diary entries describing her interactions

with Klein at a university event and a lunch)​:
“One thing was really weird tonight, though, and that was that it almost
seemed like Alec Klein was hitting on me. Maybe ‘hitting on me’ is the
wrong term, but it definitely seemed like he was trying to cozy up to me
 with a definite goal in mind, and he showered me with compliments all
night long.”

“When he first saw me, he said that I looked great, and that he thought I
should dress up every day. He told me that I looked like I should be at the
Academy Awards accepting an Oscar.”

“Multiple times, [he] said I was a ‘delicate flower.’ … He told me that I

shouldn’t bother with dating college boys. He swept his arm around the
room to indicate all of the male students and was like, ‘You see all of
them? They’re all ten years behind you.’”

“He asked me whether I’d ever been in love... He asked me about my past
relationships, which I also thought was inappropriate... Constantly,
throughout our conversation, he said stuff like, ‘Across the board, looking
at everything, you are nearly perfect.’ He said I was the kind of girl that
guys would keep, and said that he bet there were lots of boys who secretly
liked me right now. He asked if I thought I would be good at interpreting
their feelings if that were the case.”

● (From another woman’s 2015 diary entry describing an extended

interview for an internship):
“I am being groomed. How do I know? The special attention, the flattery,
the long hours of very personal conversation spent trying to earn my trust.
He’s a textbook predator, accomplished and awarded, but with failed
relationships due to emotional immaturity, leaving him sexually frustrated.
I’m not falling for this.”

● “He repeatedly commented on my appearance. Especially my hair and my

figure. Once he asked me to “look into his eyes” as he tried to ‘figure out
what color they were.’

● “I worked as an intern at the Medill Justice Project and while Alec never
made a pass at me I remember saying to my mother ‘my new boss acts
 like he wants to hook up with me’. My colleagues and I wrote off his
actions as weird and called him socially awkward. We said it was creepy
that he only hired attractive women to work at the MJP and found his quiet
demeanor off-putting.”

● “I remember Klein would close the door when we were alone in his office.
On multiple occasions, he asked me about my boyfriend, who attended a
different school. Even at the time I recall feeling uncomfortable. I don't
really remember any substantial work ever getting done, even though I
was supposed to be helping him on his work projects. He mostly talked
and asked me questions, oftentimes, about my personal and social life.

At one point, I told Klein I wanted to pursue a career in broadcast

journalism. ‘So what are you going to do about that THAT?’ he said,
motioning to my face. When I asked what he meant, he said: ‘Don't you
need to be physically attractive to be on TV?’...That conversation crushed
me.”

● “He verbally abused me over a trivial matter in a meeting he requested

that left me in tears nearly a decade ago. At the time, I complained to
Medill about Mr. Klein's behavior because I was concerned he would treat
other students that way in the future. But Medill took no action."

● “He made other unwarranted physical contact, such as grabbing my hand

and holding it. Once, while going over a report I had written (which I now
strongly suspect was not intended to be used anywhere, just an excuse to
have me work in his office), he asked me to sit in his desk chair while he
leaned over me and whispered his comments in my ear. I explicitly
suggested he could do track changes and we could conference after, but
he said this was faster.

When he made edits to written work that directly contradicted things he

had told me to do in previous conversations, and I spoke up to ask him
why or explain my writing choices, he would repeatedly interrupt me. It
 offended me so much that when I spoke up to ask him to stop interrupting
me and let me finish a sentence, he essentially threw an adult tantrum.
There is no other way to describe it. He sent me out of his office, without
my coat or belongings, where I waited for 30 minutes. I knocked two
separate times during that time, was met with silence, and on my third
attempt he opened the door, wordless. I immediately grabbed everything
and left.”

● “​I would see him at dining halls on campus and we would sometimes eat
lunch together. It was usually during or after these lunches when he would
comment on my body. What ‘great shape’ I was in. Or how nice I looked.
Often surveying my body. I distinctly remember what I was wearing (beige
sweater, black Under Armour leggings) when he made one of these
comments while admiring my legs.”

We urge you, Dean Hamm: Believe these women. As the university concludes its
investigation and reports to you its findings, we implore you to hold Alec Klein
accountable for his actions.

Respectfully,
Medill Me Too
medillmetoo@gmail.com