Eva Hagberg Fisher

Retired campus architecture professor Nezar AlSayyad filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the UC Board of Regents and Chancellor Carol Christ to reduce his suspension after allegations of sexual harassment.

Retired campus architecture professor Nezar AlSayyad, who was suspended over sexual harassment allegations in August, is now suing the UC Board of Regents and Chancellor Carol Christ over his suspension.

AlSayyad was suspended for three years without pay effective Aug. 13, after he was found to have sexually harassed a campus graduate student between 2012 and 2014. AlSayyad's suspension is still in place, according to Wolch.

The new rules, made public by The New York Times on Wednesday, would extend beyond federal guidance for college sexual misconduct cases to include a narrower definition of sexual harassment and the steps campuses are legally required to take to address it.

Campus architecture professor Nezar AlSayyad has been suspended for three years without pay after an investigation that found he sexually harassed a graduate student.

Eva Hagberg Fisher, a former doctoral candidate in the campus architecture program, filed a complaint with the Title IX office in March 2016 against AlSayyad, alleging that he regularly hugged her, invited her for drinks or dinner and gave unsolicited compliments on her appearance while she was studying under him.

A year ago, an anonymous graduate student instructor, or GSI, found himself uncomfortable when his undergraduate student asked for a hug, stating that the GSI was “more of a classmate” than an instructor.

I write this op-ed an ocean away from the Berkeley campus. As I recollect my experiences over the past three years, my breathing shallows. A familiar arm pain resurfaces.

UC Berkeley students and alumni created a petition to remove Nezar AlSayyad after the architecture professor allegedly sexually harassed a former student.