I read a fascinating article the other day by Katie Herzog about a professor accused by a colleague of inappropriate behavior. The woman who lodged the complaints got her picture on the cover of Time Magazine as a part of the MeToo Movement.
But four independent (and painstakingly thorough) investigations ruled that the professor did not break any school rules, much less any laws.
The professor was able to keep his job but the destruction of his reputation has made his life miserable.
Recently, years after the original false allegations, Herzog visited campus and found a group of 40 students protesting this professor. They didn't want new students to be unaware of what this professor had "done".
She asked one of the student organizers if he had ever read any of the 4 reports which exonerated the professor and the student confessed that he had not.
Herzog writes, "What he had read were the articles about it in the media, and what he'd heard were the rumors that trail [the professor] around like an unwanted guest."
Herzog ends her article with this kicker from that same student: "If I hear something from multiple people, I have no reason to doubt it."
It is wise to remember that there is no actual PROOF in "social proof".
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