Ex-Stanford University Dean Julie Lythcott-Haims Admits to Affair With Student

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ex-stanford-university-dean-julie-lythcott-haims-admits-to-affair-with-student

In a viral essay titled “I Had an Affair With My College Dean,” a female former Stanford University student revealed that she led an “affair” and “double life” with her college dean—who has been revealed to be Palo Alto politico and bestselling author, Julie Lythcott-Haims, 58.

Published July 10 on Autostraddle, 2011 Stanford grad Olivia Swanson Haas, who describes herself as a “bisexual writer,” wrote that she was 22-years-old when she became involved with Lythcott-Haims, who would have been about 42-years-old at that time. Haas said the experience was “a lot” for her to deal with at that age.

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“Especially in this particular collegiate environment," Haas wrote in her essay. “Going through the pomp and circumstance of senior year, meanwhile secretly sleeping with one of the most public figures on campus.”

Haas did not name Lythcott-Haims directly in the essay, but the description of her former dean's academic background and status as a “school celebrity” reportedly led many readers to connect the dots.

Contacted for comment by Palo Alto Online, Lythcott-Haims confirmed in a statement to the outlet that she is the dean mentioned in the essay and called the affair “inappropriate.”

“We’d been writing and recording music together and got to a point where we expressed love for each other,” claimed Lythcott-Haims, who was married to the father of her two children during the affair. “That is where it should have ended.”