Julie Cruz says memoir details childhood assault and alleges predatory behavior in higher education

Julie Cruz, an author and former scholar, told a radio audience that her memoir The Burn List recounts sustained abuse from childhood and alleges predatory behavior by a professor in higher education.

Cruz said the book opens with a 1984 episode she says left her family destabilized: "this serial predator in town invaded our home and violently assaulted and raped my mother for like 10 hours straight," she said on the program, adding her family spent years fleeing and entering foster care. She identified a man from that period as "Mike Barrett," saying he has "a pretty long rap sheet with the local police." Cruz attributed those statements to her personal recollection and to material presented in her memoir.

The memoir also describes Cruz's later experience, which she characterized as coercion and sexual and physical threats by a professor while she was a graduate student. She said the professor rose through the ranks at a New York university, "climbed a tenure... now he's I think a full professor and he's a director of his program," and that she fears for other students. "That's part of the reason why I chose to speak out," she said, while noting she uses pseudonyms in the book to protect herself legally.

Cruz told the host she has not reported that alleged academic abuse to police, citing fear of retaliation, and said she believes filing a formal complaint would reveal her identity. In the interview she referred to the relevant reporting process as "Title N;" she and the host used that shorthand on air. Cruz framed the concern as a barrier to pursuing institutional complaints: "I can't even file a Title IX complaint against this guy because in order for me to file a Title IX complaint... I would have to disclose my identity," she said, explaining she feared immediate retaliation.

Cruz said The Burn List reproduces documented communications to illustrate grooming, threats and manipulation, and that the book also catalogs what she called routine violations in academia. She described having obtained findings from HR and legal processes in some cases she discussed in the memoir, saying those findings were "legally upholdable." She said the book includes practical strategies for students and workers to identify and respond to abuse.

Cruz said she has been in and out of therapy and that community dialogue has been a source of healing; she also mentioned a podcast she hosts, The Academic Verdict, which features anonymous survivor accounts. She directed listeners to academicabuse.com and her personal site, juliecruz.com, where she said readers can find the book and resources.

The program host thanked Cruz and the segment ended with a short break.

Sources: On-air interview with Julie Cruz.