A Few More Details and Developments Regarding Brian Leiter's Unprovoked Bullying of Colleagues

So, reading from the number of hits on this blog since yesterday evening, I can assume that a precious few have missed yesterday's post on the bizarre and completely unacceptable behaviour of Brian Leiter towards Carrie Jenkins of UBC and Aberdeen and a number of other almost exclusively female academic colleagues.

Today, Feminist Philosophers, posted an update on Leiter's alleged attempt to apologise to Jenkins, and the devastating effects his behaviour has had on Jenkin's state of mind and health. Here, it also surfaces that Leiter's claims that another female philosopher had "tipped him off" about the completely neutral and impersonal post that had Leiter blow his top off as an attack on Leiter, is a blatant lie. It also recaptures some more detail on the bizarre Twitter attacks by Leiter on Jenkins, following the originbal harassment email this July.

The "September" statement I linked to yesterday in support of Jenkins, against Leiter's actions towards her and others and for withdrawing service forthe Philosophical Gourmet Report as long as Leiter has a role in it, is now again available as a Google page. Yesterday, it was taken down, as someone had reported it for violating user-conditions – which, apparently, it does not. On its dropbox site, the statement has now collected 260 signatories, as I write this. As mentioned yesterday, anyone in academic philosophy may add their signature by emailing septemberstatement@gmail.com from their institutional address and provide full name and institution.

Moreover, on the Read More Write More Think More Be More blog,  a number of further links, besides the ones I provided yesterday are presented. More importantly, this blog documents what was yesterday night circulated only as a rumour on Facebook and Twitter (photo shared by courtesy of Jason Stanley):

That is, besides the September Statement, the very institutional backbone of the PGR is now revolting in earnest. At least, it seems likely that this base of the power that Leiter has so badly abused is now slipping out of his grasp.

However, for my own part, while seeing this development as promising, I mostly hope that Carrie Jenkins and the others grazed by leiter's inconsiderate harassments, feel the support of their colleagues all over the American continent and the rest of the world and can take some comfort and healing out of it.