Thomas Roma

Photographer

Thomas Roma is a photographer best known for his work photographing the neighborhoods of Brooklyn, New York.  He was a professor at Columbia University’s School for the Arts, and has taught photography at numerous other schools, including Yale, Fordham, and Cooper Union.

In January 2018, five former students accused Roma of sexual harassment, sexual coercion and oral rape. The allegations were mostly said to have occurred in the 1990s.  Some of the allegations included:

Mid-1990s: A student accused Roma of touching her breasts and putting her hand on his crotch, sating that ““I thought I’d have to go along with it or it would be detrimental”.

1997: A graduate student accused Roma of mocking her in public in retaliating for rebuffing his sexual advances.

1999: An 18-year-old sophomore accused Roma of aggressively initiating an unwanted sexual encounter, after talking with her about having an affair.  She provided a “watered down” account of the incident to school authorities, who determined that no action was needed.

1999: A teaching assistant accused Roma of orally raping her.

Roma denied the allegations, but decided to retire from Columbia University the day after the New York Times published their article on the matter.