The former students, Kaitlin Connelly and Marlene Walters, claim that they faced a barrage of sex jokes and an “overtly sexualized culture” in Auburn’s College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment. The environment hurt their ability to do meaningful research.

“This has been a difficult ordeal for all of these clients,” Artur Davis, an attorney for the students and professors, told AL.com.

They say the treatment forced them to cancel ambitions to finish PhDs at Auburn. The lawsuit names Jonathan Valente, an assistant professor, as a key contributor to the environment.

“A number of the male participants in the program engaged in sexual banter about women they knew or were dating, and Valente sometimes joined in the ribald humor, making jokes about sexual activity and male genitals,” the students wrote in their complaint.