Belated notice of Lasaga dismissal draws student ire

Last year, Antonio Lasaga shocked the Yale community by pleading guilty to charges of child pornography.

FILE PHOTO A year after leaving Yale on charges of child pornography involvement, Antonio Lasaga is fighting for tenure and his reputation.

The former Say-brook Master and geology professor, however, was still a Yale employee on an unpaid leave of absence until Wed., Jan. 24, when the University Tribunal Panel decided that Lasaga's tenure should be revoked and his employment terminated.

The case against Lasaga has been dragging on since 1998, when the FBI stormed into the Saybrook Master's house. There they found downloaded child pornography on his computer and two video tapes involving a 13-year-old boy engaged in sexually explicit acts.

While Lasaga's arrest provoked much controversy at the time, it has been several years since this event, and indeed, almost a year since he pleaded guilty to this crime. Thus, the event is not in the forefront of many students' minds. However, Lasaga's dismissal has caused the student body once again to look upon this issue.

Graduate students working on Lasaga's computer over the summer of 1998 noticed that there was some suspicious material on his hard drive. Upon confirming their suspicions, they tracked down the origin of the Internet files and reported Lasaga to authorities. This prompted an FBI investigation into the matter, which resulted in the professor's subsequent arrest.

Lasaga originally pled guilty to two charges of child pornography in a plea bargain, which included a recommendation for a lighter sentence of 10 to 14 years. It is now uncertain, however, whether or not one of these charges will be dropped. Currently, Lasaga faces multiple fines and up to 14 years in prison.

Lasaga has decided to appeal the decision issued by the University Tribunal, and his case will be heard by members of the Yale Corporation. While his case may be heard by the Corporation in its entirety, it is allowed to delegate a smaller panel to consider the matter.

Yale has no official policy for firing faculty members and revoking their tenure. A member of the faculty would not necessarily be dismissed simply because he or she was convicted of a crime. "Our standards are consistent with those of the American Association of University Professors' standards," Levin said.

According to this organization's Website, a professor's tenure can only be revoked for "adequate cause, except in the case of retirement for age, or under extraordinary circumstances because of financial exigencies." Child pornography is considered to be one of these "adequate cause[s]."

A recent article in The New York Times stated that this is the first time when the University Tribunal has ever recommended that Yale fire and revoke the tenure of a faculty member. While University President Richard Levin, GRD '74, does not know whether this is indeed true, he did say, "it's not been done in last 32 years, I know."

According to Levin, Lasaga was informed of the Tribunal's decision on Tues., Feb. 20, almost a month after the decision to revoke his tenure. Nevertheless, Yale students did not learn of his dismissal until Levin released a statement on Sun., Mar. 18 detailing the ruling.

The delay in this announcement has incited some anger in the Yale student body, causing the Yale Daily News to publish an editorial on Wed., Mar. 21 complaining about the time it took for Yale to release this information, and criticizing what they called the "slow and sluggish process" of the Tribunal's decision-making process.

Sarah Gray, MC '04, agrees. "I think it's ridiculous that the Administration refuses to release more information concerning this issue. The students deserve to know more about what went on."

However, other students think differently. "I understand that this is a touchy issue, and can see why the Yale Administration would not want to publicize Lasaga's dismissal. It's not great publicity for the school," Samantha Jay, BK '04, said.

Levin could not say whether the ambiguities in Lasaga's case were what contributed to the delay in the announcement of his firing. "Why did it take so long?" he asked, before providing a tautological reponse to his own question: "Because things are always delayed."

The lack of information concerning this issue is typical, as many people involved have not commented on the case.

Back to News...