Lawsuit accuses former U of I professor of sexually assaulting, harassing students

An 87-page lawsuit filed Tuesday against the former head of the East Asian Language and Culture Department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alleges a reign of terror that includes accusations of preying on young Chinese women and sexually assaulting students.

Two former students and another professor are suing Gary Xu, who worked at U of I from 2006 until 2018, when he was “allowed to resign” by the university.

Ann Olivarius, the lead attorney on the case, said she was “aghast” when she heard the allegations.

“People are terrified,” Olivarius said. “And he’s gotten away with it.”

Olivarius’ team investigated the claims, and they hoped the university would address the issues, but it didn’t, she said.

Chris Harris, senior director of strategic communications for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said in a statement the university is “aware of the filing and are reviewing it. We cannot comment on any of its contents at this time.”

“Professor Gary Xu, was placed on administrative leave Jan. 1, 2016. He later resigned, and left the university in August of 2018,” the statement reads. “Issues of sexual misconduct and sexual harassment threaten every aspect of our university missions and they inflict personal and professional harm on members of our community.

“The University investigates and takes appropriate action whenever conduct is reported that may jeopardize or impact the safety or security of our students or others. The current administration is reviewing and revising disciplinary processes to allow us to take quicker and more forceful action when employment misconduct is proven.”

Xu’s abuses of students and others started early, according to the lawsuit.

“From the beginning of his career, and particularly after receiving the additional pedigree of department head from UIUC, Xu abused his power and authority,” according to the suit. “He felt entitled to take whatever he wanted from his young students, and he did. He raped at least two of his students, had sexual relationships with others, and tried to sexually exploit many more. He physically assaulted at least three young women.”

Xu played “brutal mind games” to pit students against each other and against professors, exploiting their labor to the tune of “hundreds of thousands of dollars” while paying the students who did the work nothing, showed up unprepared and caused students to leave their studies early when his “predatory conduct” became unbearable, the lawsuit alleges.

Xu also allegedly had relationships with students. Xingjian Sun, one of the plaintiffs, entered a sexual relationship with Xu from 2013 to 2015, when Sun was 19, and Xu was 45, according to the suit.

He sexually assaulted her, tried to pimp her out to Chinese artists for commercial gain and forced her to arrange a threesome for him with another student while Sun was pregnant with his child, according to the lawsuit. Xu allegedly coerced Sun to have an abortion.

Sun reported Xu to the university but later dropped those reports to protect herself. The university took “no meaningful action in response to these reports,” according to the suit.

But they did take action after Xu allegedly tried to run her over while she was fleeing from his apartment.

When police came she told them of the abuse and sexual assaults she faced, leading to a year-long university inquiry, though Xu was allowed a “voluntary” exit that gave him two more years’ salary while he went on to teach at other schools, according to the suit.

Another student, Xing Zhao, alleges that Xu required her to do countless hours of unpaid work and also sexually harassed her on numerous occasions. When it became clear that Zhao would not “entertain Xu sexually,” he barricaded her in his office and locked her in his car, according to the suit.

Xu also went after a professor from another university who tried to shed light on the allegations against Xu, the suit says.

Ao Wang, a professor at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, knew Xu because of his “poor reputation” through academic circles, the suit says. Wang posted an article online outlining Xu’s alleged history of sexual abuse, garnering dozens of responses, some of them alleging further abuse.

Xu allegedly lashed out and tried to undermine Wang’s career and threatened to kill Wang, according to the suit. He filed suit in China against Wang.

In 2018, Xu faced similar accusations on social media, which were reported on by The Art Newspaper. At the time, he issued a statement categorically denying the allegations.

Xu told the publication last year: “The nature of the online mob under the name of sexual harassment is terrible. I am 100% for the #MeToo movement, but this is not even remotely related to that. First of all, you have to have a real accuser, not second-hand speculation, and you also have to have second and third accusers come out, to verify time and place, and all the details [of alleged incidents in which] they have been exposed to danger to.”

Xu could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Olivarius said she will be suing the Urbana-Champaign campus in another week or so.

“They had information on this man and no one did anything about it,” Olivarius said. “It’s extraordinary.”