Julie Cruse’s THE BURN LIST

Word Up welcomes Julie Cruse, the founder of academicabuse.com, to discuss her new memoir, The Burn List, which draws from her experiences of academic abuse across seven universities. This new memoir reveals how academia often creates a “retaliation-first” environment, where the cost of reporting misconduct is the professional destruction of the student, rather than the accountability of the institution. 

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ABOUT THE BOOK

A professor’s hand around her throat, and his words, “one way or another, I’ll find you,” kept her silent. Shackled with student debt and fleeing her abusive family, Julie Cruse had no defense against a hunter. So she fled … her degree first, then her career, then the long, airless years after. Decades later, tired of running, Cruse has one option left; to put her records in public view: The Burn List: A Memoir of Abuse from Home to Higher Education.

The Burn List follows Julie Cruse from an abusive childhood into two decades of escalating academic exploitation, where her vulnerability made her a target. Across seven universities, male faculty groomed, harassed, and ultimately retaliated against her, beginning in undergrad and ending with her forced exit from a PhD program-and her career. Based on documented communications, The Burn List reveals how unchecked power in academia can enable abuse and create conditions that resemble human trafficking.

The Burn List is not just one story. It’s a lightning rod, and it arrives at a pivotal cultural moment, as Title VII and Title IX failures dominate headlines. In a time when survivors demand accountability, The Burn List sets fire to silence-and hands readers the match.

Visit AcademicAbuse.com, where Cruse extends this survivor-led movement and tracks misconduct in higher education.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Julie Cruse is a writer, inventor, instructional designer, content strategist, and former academic with an MFA and MA. Spanning two decades, her educational innovations have served four Ivy League, four public, and two community colleges. Her distinctions include 30+ grants and honors, a
National Science Foundation fellowship, and recognition as Outstanding Alumni in Innovation. A first-generation student and creator of VICKiTM (patent-pending), the world’s first choreographic software, Cruse has turned her own story into a movement for transparency and survivor solidarity through AcademicAbuse.com.

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https://wordupbooks.com/event/2026-05-23/julie-cruses-burn-list