A former Central Connecticut State University student who is one of several women to accuse a theater professor of sexual misconduct is sharing her story with NBC Connecticut.
“He’s the authority and I am the student, as a 21-year-old kid, still trying to find her way in the world,” Anna Kelly, now 35, said. “I was at a complete loss.”
University President Zulma R. Toro announced Wednesday that Professor Joshua Perlstein is on paid administrative leave while the school and an independent law firm investigate the allegations first reported by the campus newspaper, The Recorder.
“Getting to the bottom of how reports of alleged sexual misconduct were handled in the past and setting a new standard for their handling in the future is of the utmost importance to me – as the leader of this University and, quite frankly, as a woman in a male-dominated field who has experienced the intended and unintended effects of sexual misconduct,” Toro said in a statement.
“I wish that the culture had changed a decade ago,” Kelly told NBC Connecticut.
But now the CCSU graduate is saying “me too” after first sharing her experience with the student-run newspaper.
“As a 21-year-old who has been sexually harassed by a professor it is an extremely painful process,” Kelly said.
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Kelly met Perlstein while taking an acting class during her sophomore year in the early 2000s.
“It was clear that he kind of played favorites,” she recalled, “and I was one of the favorites.”
The music education major said she trusted him as a mentor, but said that all changed following an encounter in 2004. Kelly said she met Perlstein at his on-campus office to catch up.
“He said you know why don’t we go to the park across the street instead,” Kelly said.
At the park, while seated on a bench, she said the conversation became more uncomfortable.
“Maybe the whole reason why I moved to Connecticut was to meet you, maybe you’re my destiny,” Kelly said recalling what Perlstein told her. “He said I remember the first day you walked into my class and the whole room just spun around me.”
Kelly said the professor kissed her against her will and after walking back to campus he inappropriately touched her during a hug. She said the harassment didn’t stop there.
“He sent me emails and he also approached me several times on campus after I said don’t come near me again, I will never speak to you again,” Kelly said.
NBC Connecticut reached out to Perlstein for comment again on Wednesday.
“I am cooperating fully with the University. That's all I want to say,” Perlstein said in an email.
“He needs to be permanently removed,” Kelly said.
Kelly added she filed an official complaint with the university in 2004. She provided the author of the newspaper article with a copy of the school’s investigation report, which said the school recommended Perlstein have no further contact with her.
“This story is really about the students finding the courage and the strength to come forward,” said Ruth Bruno, Managing Editor of The Recorder.
Bruno broke the story this week after a six-month investigation during which Kelly and seven other former students and staff came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct by Perlstein spanning more than a decade. He has worked at CCSU in the theater department for more than 20 years.
The article has made an impact on campus.
“I mean the reason I got into journalism is because you see things that go on and you want them to change,” she said. Bruno plans to stay on top of this story with more questions for the administration.
“We’re looking for what’s going to change in policy,” she said.
While Kelly wishes the university had done more in 2004, she said she is pleased to see CCSU taking action now after the student newspaper published the allegations from several women.
“I really want to applaud the president of CCSU for taking such quick and definitive steps,” Kelly said. “This has been a long time coming and I think the action needs to be quick and drastic because clearly there’s a broken system.”
