Since it was reported earlier this month that Simon Goldhill, 69, kissed and touched a female student in her twenties without consent, two more women have alleged they were also sexually harassed by the professor.

The women, who are both academics, reported alleged incidents that took place 20 years apart. Goldhill has denied these allegations.

In February, a report by an external consultancy commissioned by the University to investigate the initial complaint against the professor concluded that Goldhill broke several university policies, including its code of behaviour, “by making unwelcome and unpermitted sexual advances in the form of an embrace, touching and kisses without reasonably believing that [the student] had consented to this behaviour”.

The incident occurred in autumn 2024, but the student did not file a complaint until March 2025, due to fears of damaging her academic and career prospects.

Following recent coverage of the incident, a woman has alleged that in January 2024, she was groped by Goldhill at the Society for Classical Studies’ (SCS) annual meeting in Chicago.

The woman said: “It was crowded and I was standing with a friend when Goldhill and his group were trying to get by us – and as he did so he pressed himself against me from behind and grabbed my ass.

“I was so shocked. And then I turned around and I saw who it had been. It was basically a drive-by groping. I reached out and grabbed my friend’s arm. And I told him immediately, ‘Simon Goldhill just grabbed my ass’.”

The woman told her former professor about the incident, who then raised the matter with the chair of the SCS ethics committee, Professor Ruth Scodel.

She was later told that Goldhill “claims not to have any idea what she was talking about,” and said she was advised not to talk about the allegation.

Scodel told The Times: “There was little we could do without a complaint that would initiate our procedures, but I spoke to Goldhill, who suggested that the woman had mistaken someone else for him.

“We could not see what else we could do without a complaint […] Goldhill certainly was a big fish, which is presumably why she was so concerned to remain anonymous and did not want to make a formal complaint.”

Scodel also told Varsity: “ I did not make sufficiently clear at the time that I was asking her not to talk only about my attempt at intervention, because I regarded it as falling under the confidentiality required of the committee, though I see how she would easily have taken it that way.

“That confidentiality is no longer possible anyway, and the incident helps establish what may have been a pattern of such behavior. […] I did say, and I think she was told, that I hoped that if the allegation was true my conversation with him would serve as a warning to him.”

Scodel added: “before this incident in January 2024 I had never heard any gossip about such behavior by Professor Goldhill”.

Goldhill said: “The alleged incident at the SCS annual meeting did not happen and I deny any wrongdoing. The SCS committee looked into the matter and did not find any wrongdoing on my part or any case to answer.”

Another woman alleged she experienced “incidents of unwanted physical contact” from Goldhill when she was a classics student at Cambridge in the early 2000s.

The woman said: “The worst of them was a forced embrace, a sloppy forced kiss, hands all over. These incidents happened over a few years in the early 2000s. They made me feel violated, stupid and disconnected from the world of scholars that I was trying to join. I felt I should keep it a secret.”

She continued: “When I read about the new incident, I felt it all come back, all that shame, panic and the isolation of it. I felt guilty for not having tried to take an action long ago that might have helped to prevent this student from going through something similar. And I am angry because, since the article was published, I have been in the presence of colleagues making excuses for him.”

Responding to the woman’s allegations, Goldhill stated: “I have not been provided with any specific details. In any event, I deny any such wrongdoing occurred at the University of Cambridge.”

It was also reported by The Times that the provost of King’s College, Gillian Tett, only became aware of the findings of the investigation into Goldhill – a fellow at King’s – when reading the article by The Times earlier this month. Tett was only able to obtain a copy of the report from the university authorities last week, despite it being produced in February.

This comes after Varsity revealed that colleges were not informed about the investigation into Goldhill.

An email sent to all King’s students on 10 April, following the publication of the initial article in The Times, said: “The College is waiting for information on the case from the University, which will inform any decisions on what actions the College might take, but we have not received that yet.”

The email continued: “Simon is now effectively suspended from teaching and from contact with students while the issue is being investigated and the College seeks to get access to the relevant information around the incident.”

Goldhill was able to continue teaching undergraduates for several months while he was being investigated for sexual and professional misconduct, only giving up teaching for the classics faculty in October, when the University commissioned an external investigation. An internal investigation into his misconduct had been ongoing since May.

As undergraduate supervisions are organised at the college level, Goldhill could still be assigned to students after he had stepped away from faculty teaching, though it is unclear whether he was.

Anna Bull from The 1752 Group, which is dedicated to ending sexual misconduct in higher education, told The Times: “Cambridge’s handling of this case appears to prioritise staff data privacy over keeping students safe. This is wrong. They should not be hiding behind GDPR [the General Data Protection Regulation] as an excuse for putting students at risk.”

A spokesperson for the Cambridge student group End Sexual Violence said: “The university’s handling of sexual assault allegations raises serious concerns about whether current procedures are adequate when it comes to supporting students who come forward and ensuring the wider student body is effectively safeguarded.”

A spokesperson for the University said: “The University of Cambridge takes all complaints of sexual misconduct very seriously and any concerns raised by staff or students would be looked into in line with the relevant University policies and procedures, and action would be taken, where appropriate. These processes are by their nature confidential so we will not be commenting further.”

The professor of Greek literature and culture is set to retire at the end of this year, but he could still be given the honorary position of emeritus professor. The date of the tribunal to decide whether Goldhill will receive disciplinary action is yet to be determined.

Due to concerns that the tribunal may not be completed before Goldhill’s scheduled retirement, the provost at King’s has sought legal advice on whether the College can run its own separate disciplinary process.