During Wednesday’s CS 189 lecture, EECS professor Jonathan Shewchuk refused to address misogynistic comments he made the day before on the course’s EdStem discussion platform.
The original comment was made in response to a student asking for advice on both their inability to find a date in the Bay Area and their fears about finding work in computer science. Shewchuk responded by telling the student to “get out of the Bay Area” in order to find a girlfriend.
“You’ll be shocked by the stark differences in behavior of women in places where women are plentiful versus their behavior within artillery distance of San Jose and San Francisco,” Shewchuk said in the post.
Shewchuk has since issued a public apology on EdStem, where he said he did not intend to disrespect women and was trying to help a student. This apology came after a meeting with CS Division Chair Stuart Russell and EECS Chair Claire Tomlin to explain why his post was inappropriate. Tomlin also posted a public apology on behalf of her department.
Shewchuk has not responded to multiple requests for comment.
“We want to be absolutely clear that the offensive content of the original post goes against the values and Principles of Community we adhere to at UC Berkeley,” said UC Berkeley spokesperson Roqua Montez in an email. “The comment was hurtful and threatening to students - particularly women - in his class and beyond.”
Current and former students of Shewchuk, as well as other faculty, said they were not surprised by the comment. Junior Noemi Chulo, who previously took CS 189, said she was uncomfortable based on conduct she had previously heard about Shewchuk — including a transphobic joke on his website — which made her avoid him.
Shewchuk identifies as a “Smith & Wesson 460XVR .45 caliber revolver” and uses the pronouns “death/deathem/deathself,” according to his personal EECS web page. These details were removed from his website within the last two days.
Chulo, who is also a union representative, said she is in the process of drafting grievances on behalf of Academic Student Employees through the local UAW 4811 against UC Berkeley, specifically under claims of violating CS 189 employees' rights to a respectful work environment.
“Shewchuk is teaching around 700 students and he is allowed to have this impact on so many students even though he has been a known thorn in the side of EECS for years at the very least,” Chulo said. “It is disappointing, but not surprising.”
Junior Shaadi Ahmadzadeh said she no longer plans to take Shewchuk’s class next year as a result. She added that she would be uncomfortable learning under a professor who is “so blatantly misogynistic.”
EECS and CS faculty responded with an outpouring of support for female members of the staff and community. Michael Ball, an EECS lecturer, said the department is taking this as an opportunity to support teachers and students who have been hurt by Shewchuk’s comments.
“Regardless of how people feel about the professor, his conduct crossed multiple boundaries in this case,” Ball said.
Ball recalled the community response to campus EECS lecturer Peyrin Kao’s statements in November about the Israel-Hamas war.
Kao delivered a talk after his last lecture of the fall semester in support of Palestine, which was followed by swift administrative backlash.
“If Peyrin standing up for folks generates that response, we should also stand up for all the women in the department and say something publicly as well,” Ball said.
The public nature of this statement on an official class forum is especially concerning for Chulo. She added that Shewchuk is a tenured professor and his position comes with a level of expertise.
Before this, current CS 189 student Rebecca Dang said Shewchuk has kept lectures focused on course material. However, in the original EdStem post, Dang said other students were agreeing with Shewchuk, which made her feel unsafe to speak out against it.
“It just made me feel very objectified and uncomfortable because it was basically the implication that women in CS are just there to be potential dates,” Dang said.
This discomfort spread to current staff under Shewchuk, including Lydia Ignatova, a teaching assistant for the class. Ignatova said in an EdStem post that she was “appalled” by these comments and that the sentiment expressed by Shewchuk only furthered discrimination against women and nonbinary people in EECS, a department that already struggles with gender diversity.
CS 189 student Rachel Lowe said she was not personally offended by the statement because as a woman from the Bay Area, she's heard similar remarks before. However, Lowe said she wishes Shewchuk would further address the EdStem post or make a more personal apology. An EECS alumnus, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, spoke with other alumni and said this is an “embarrassment” for a department that is well respected within the EECS field.
“That’s the big problem, in my opinion,” Lowe said. “If other students are seeing that someone who’s experienced in the field can openly say stuff like that, students now probably think it is okay.”
