Following the confirmation of his Jan. 8 arrest in the Cayman Islands for marijuana consumption and ecstasy possession, Gerald M. Goldhaber said Tuesday he hopes to move on from past mistakes and regain the trust of the UB community.
"This was poor judgment and I apologize for it, and I hope to continue to serve the university community," said Goldhaber, a renowned pollster and UB communication professor, in an interview with The Spectrum. "Just in general, looking to the future, I hope to gain the trust of the students and the faculty at a place where I've spent thirty years of my life without incident."
What happens next, however, is out of the hands of Goldhaber and in the hands of UB officials.
"The issue here deals with a judgment of professional misconduct and whether or not these circumstances will be judged as professional rather than personal," said Dennis Black, vice president for Student Affairs. "Certainly whenever there is entanglement between teachers and students a specter of misconduct is raised."
"I can't speak for what the university will do," said Goldhaber. "It's not for me to comment on."
"Poor Judgment"
UB communication students Jose A. Sierra and Bernardo N. Tagliareni were also arrested by Cayman Islands police on Jan. 8. Along with Goldhaber, the two students spent two nights in jail and paid separate fines after pleading guilty on Jan. 15 to marijuana and ecstasy possession and marijuana consumption.
According to the Caymanian Compass, Goldhaber pleaded not guilty to possession of a small amount of cocaine and was also found with the drug crystal meth, which is not illegal in the Cayman Islands.
Goldhaber said he has owned the condo in which he was arrested since 1982, but this was the first time he hosted students there.
"I think it was accurately reported that we were arrested," said Goldhaber. "I guess somebody must have smelled the marijuana."
Goldhaber also issued a statement Tuesday in which he said his behavior "was definitely inappropriate and showed poor judgment" and added that such behavior would never happen again.
"I will do everything in my power to regain the trust of my university community," said Goldhaber in his statement.
Options For Discipline
But whether Goldhaber's university community will give him a chance to regain that trust is, for now, anyone's guess.
"Right now, everybody is working off press reports and statements," said Black. "Before the university does anything, we want to see the records and we want to talk to the people involved.
If UB decides to take action, Black said they would first pursue a "voluntary resolution," the specifics of which he could not comment on.
Black said that if there is no voluntary resolution, which the university will pursue first, then there could be a "hearing of professional misconduct or it can go to proceedings under the collective bargaining agreement. So for any charge against a staff or faculty member, that's the route we go."
In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, UB officials said "judgments will be made on the appropriateness of employee and/or student discipline" and that all procedures on the issue will be, "up until the final determination, confidential."
Class Will Continue
UB officials could not confirm whether Goldhaber will be in class this Thursday to teach his Political Communication class. However, they said the class will not be cancelled.
"Our message for students is that we expect that the course will continue," Black said. "Individual students with questions, concerns, or issues can go to Dean (David) Penniman (of the School of Informatics)."
Meanwhile, as the spotlight shines on Goldhaber, his two students who were arrested, Sierra and Tagliareni, also face potential disciplinary measures.
"Our general policy is that we review off-campus criminal acts of our students to make a determination as to whether they should be charged," said Black. "If warranted, we could file charges against them."
While Black said he could not discuss specific incidents, he confirmed that UB has used its drug and student-teacher relationship policies before.
"We have had ample off-campus drug incidents called into question before," he said.
Black also confirmed that the university has intervened in the past when students have alleged improper relationships with faculty.
Colleagues, Students Shocked
For many of Goldhaber's colleagues at UB, the news of his arrest was completely unexpected.
"I was really surprised, and I what I'd really like to know is more details," said Peter Nickerson, chairman of the Faculty Senate. "I've known him as a faculty member, and my understanding from talking to students who have been in his classes is that he's a very effective teacher. It really saddens me to read this."
While several faculty members chose to not comment on the circumstances of Goldhaber's arrest and its subsequent fallout, UB students across campus could be heard in the hallways this week voicing their opinions.
"I'm curious how this will affect his standing in the university," said Sanketh Guruswamy, a graduate student in environmental science. "What credibility is he going to have when he walks into a classroom and students say, 'Hey, that's the guy who does marijuana and crystal meth'?"
While some students condemned Goldhaber, others supported him.
"I think that it looks really bad for the university to have someone working here who has such a blemish on his name," said Alissa Wirth, a freshman psychology major.
"I heard from a lot of students that he's a really great professor," said April Pabilonia, a junior forensic science major. "He shouldn't be judged by all that. That's his personal business."
As for what UB should do, if anything, about Goldhaber, several students agreed that the university can not simply ignore the popular professor's arrest on drug charges.
"I'd at least suspend him for a while," said Jay Burdin, a freshman engineering major. "I just don't find it right to let him have his job back right away."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
