I work at a university, and we recently ended our spring semester. A graduating senior in my department that I had become relatively friendly with left a thank you card in my mailbox, which was pleasant and could possibly be read as mildly flirtatious. After commencement I texted them to thank them for the card and congratulate them on graduating (they had left their number in the card). We had a mildly interesting conversation about her next steps, plans for the summer, etc. but again nothing untoward. Cut to a few days later, and we've been frequently texting about life, having more of a conversation than we ever had when she was in school, when all of a sudden she (very bluntly) let me know that she is interested in me, and would like to go out on a date. I'm conflicted because, while I would like to go out with her, I'm not sure if it's ethical to have a relationship with such a recent graduate, and at the very least I worry it could potentially look inappropriate to my colleagues in the department.
Some potentially important information:
- I am new to the department, and overlapped with her for less than one academic year (her senior year)
- I was never her professor or instructor of record
- I supervised her occasionally in an academic lab setting. At most maybe 3-4 weeks over the course of the semester.
- University policy is that student/instructor relationships are forbidden, I do not know if that includes former students.
I want to avoid any sort of impropriety, but seeing as she's now graduated, made the first move, and we're close in age, I'm wondering if I'm being overly cautious. Any advice on dealing with these extremely blurry ethical lines would be greatly appreciated.
Tl;dr: A student from my department who recently graduated asked me, a professor (but not her professor) on a date. I'm unsure if it's ethical to go out with her.
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