Jack Hitt, Joan Blythe, John Boswell, Leon Botstein, and William Kerrigan

About the author: Harper's Magazine contributing editor Jack Hitt moderated this forum discussion among educators Joan Blythe, John Boswell, Leon Botstein, and William Kerrigan.

Regulations proscribing student-professor romances have increased greatly in the last few years (over two dozen colleges have formally declared such relationships illicit). A forum on the subject of student-professor sexual relations was organized by Harper's Magazine. Moderated by Jack Hitt, a contributing editor of Harper's, four distinguished college educators expressed their views on this perennially controversial topic. While opinions on specific areas of the subject often varied both in degree and substance, the majority of panelists stressed the positive aspects of student-professor romantic ties.

The following forum is based on a discussion held over dinner at the Terrace, a restaurant on...