As the number of signatures increased on a petition condemning sexual harassment, so did comments about harassment in other academic departments.

The “UGA Community Condemns Sexual Harassment” petition was written and posted online last week in response to articles published in The Red & Black about College of Education professor William Bender.

Several faculty members from Bender’s department and other College of Education departments signed the petition, which calls for the University to “condemn publicly, and forcefully, the harassment that has taken place on this campus.”

“Although this latest horrendous example, as most previous cases, has been a faculty member harassing students, I would like to see effective measures taken also to hear cases of any students, faculty or staff harassing any other students, faculty or staff in any way,” wrote Bonnie Cramond, a professor in the educational psychology and instructional technology department of the College of Education.

Other people posted comments anonymously to ask the University to research faculty in departments outside of the College of Education.

“I personally faced harassment from an anthropology professor, who has since left the department,” one person wrote anonymously.

“I felt faculty members and staff (TAs) were partial towards me after the incident. I felt discriminated against in that department. I seriously think professors and staff members should go through anti-harassment training.”

Janet Frick, a psychology professor and primary author of the petition, said the petition gives a voice to members of the University community who want to discuss the issue.

“We can’t call a press conference to hear what each individual person thinks, so this petition has given us the chance to make a united statement,” Frick said Friday in a telephone interview.

She said she was impressed by extensive support of the petition and by the diverse demographics of the people who signed it.

“There have been a lot of men who have signed, and it really has been balanced with students, faculty and staff,” she said. “I’ve been really pleased to see how the University community has rallied around this.”