The announcement last night of Professor of Government Douglas A. Hibbs Jr.'s resignation comes 18 months after another case of alleged sexual harassment in the Government Department last catapulted the issue to the forefront of campus debase. That incident ultimately led to the revision of Faculty guidelines for handling sexual harassment claims.

Reports in the fall of 1983 that then-Dean of the Faculty Henry Rosovsky had disciplined Professor of Government Jorge I. Dominguez for sexual misconduct Ignited a debate that grew in intensity through the academic year.

The later release of official Harvard survey results which suggested widespread incidence of harassment on campus fanned the controversy. It did not subside until last May's Faculty decision adopting revisions to its then-existing system, established in 1978, for processing victims' complaints.

Involved Junior Faculty Member

In September of 1983, Rosovsky's reported censure of Dominguez received wide publicity.

Dominguez, Harvard's leading expert in Latin American politics, was accused of harassing a junior faculty member in the Government Department. After finding merit in the assistant professor's formal grievance, Rosovsky reportedly removed Dominguez from his position as chairman of an interdisciplinary committee on Latin American studies.

Dominguez declined at the time to comment on the charges of harassment.

During his investigation of the complaint, Rosovsky also learned that Dominguez had made improper sexual advances toward a graduate student, sources told The Crimson. The newspaper obtained the text of a letter to the graduate student in which Rosovsky expressed regret about Dominguez's "abuse of authority."

Following published accounts of the professor's conduct, several students withdrew from his classes in protest.

Dominguez was at least the third professor accused of sexual misconduct in recent years. In December 1979 according to published reports, Professor of Government Martin L. Kilson was reprimanded for making advances towards a female member of the Class of 1983. And in 1982, Rosovsky wrote a letter admonishing visiting professor and prominent poet Derek Walcott who allegedly harassed a female freshman in the spring of 1982.

After widespread publicity about the case, the Administrative Board later changed the woman's grade in Walcott's course from a "C" to a "pass."

Unprecedented Level of Concern

While each of the cases attracted attention, the Dominguez case generated an unprecedented level of concern among students and faculty. Most of all, the case focused serutiny on the problem of sexual harassment and the manner in which the University dealt with it.

Rosovsky drew sharp criticism from some quarters, from both faculty and students, for his refusal to make public the details of his punitive action. They alleged that the dean's action fostered the appearance of tolerance for professors' misconduct.

In October 1983, less than a month after the initial reports about Dominguez officials released the results of a University wide survey conducted the previous spring suggesting that that incident was merely the tip of a much larger iceberg. More than one all female respondents reported that they had experienced some form of sexual harassment at Harvard by individuals in positions of authority.