The conflict between Summer, her classmate Nora, and Professor Erik Laurie reflects real-world issues of sexual harassment in academia that prompted the United States congress to pass Title IX, a federal civil rights law passed in 1972 that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any education program receiving federal funding. It also requires institutions to establish procedures to investigate and resolve complaints of sexual harassment and assault (“Title IX and Sex Discrimination.” U.S. Department of Education, 2025). However, a significant power imbalance persists between faculty and students, as professors control grades, academic progress, and future recommendations. This dynamic can deter students from reporting misconduct, fearing retaliation or disbelief. When Summer first reports her discomfort with Laurie to Assistant Dean Richmond, he dismisses her concerns as a misinterpretation, an example of the institutional skepticism that scholar Jennifer Freyd terms institutional betrayal: “A college freshman reports a sexual assault and is met with harassment and insensitive investigative practices leading to her [death by] suicide […] This is institutional betrayal” Freyd’s research examines the role of institutions in traumatic experiences and psychological distress following these experiences” (Smith, Carly Parnitzke, and Jennifer J. Freyd. “Institutional Betrayal.” American Psychologist, vol. 69, no. 6, 2014, p. 575). This phenomenon occurs when an institution fails to support individuals who depend on it, often by downplaying or covering up wrongdoing to protect its reputation or valued employees.

Post-#MeToo, awareness of these issues has increased, but challenging a powerful faculty member remains difficult, as several high-profile cases illustrate. At Northwestern University, philosophy professor Peter Ludlow was the subject of multiple student complaints beginning in 2014. The university was sued over its handling of the allegations, and Ludlow ultimately resigned in 2015 while facing termination proceedings (Kingkade, Tyler. “Peter Ludlow Officially Resigns From Northwestern Amid Harassment Charges.” HuffPost, 3 Nov. 2015). 

At the University of California, Berkeley, prominent astronomer Geoff Marcy was found to have violated the school’s sexual harassment policies after years of complaints from female students and junior colleagues. Yet, he initially faced only minor sanctions before public outcry forced his resignation in 2015 (“Geoffrey Marcy, Prominent Berkeley Astronomer, Resigns after Sexual Harassment Judgement.” Science.Org, 14 October 2015). Similarly, Harvard government professor Jorge Domínguez remained on the faculty for nearly three decades despite repeated harassment complaints dating back to the 1980s, a case that prompted an external review of the university’s response failures (“Jorge Domínguez Loses Emeritus Status.” Harvard Magazine, 9 May 2019). This real-world context contextualizes the fear and helplessness Nora and Summer experience in Kennedy’s novel, grounding their fictional struggle in the documented realities of academic power dynamics and institutional failure. Professor Laurie’s retaliation against Summer by publicly shaming her academic work and attempting to sabotage her final project exemplifies how faculty can abuse their authority after being rebuffed or accused of sexual misconduct.