A college professor in the United States has been fired for allegedly asking female students to remove their shirts, according to Fox5 DC. The action was taken after an investigation by the Office for Civil Rights within the Department of Education in the incident, which concluded that the unnamed professor from Montgomery College’s Takoma/Silver Spring campus in Maryland created a hostile environment for his female students by requiring them to strip down to their sports bras ostensibly as part of a class demonstration. The professor then commented on the half-naked bodies, according to the report.
The professor has been at the school since 2007 and reportedly requested students in his nursing class. When the students refused, he told them they would receive failing grades for the semester if they didn’t comply. The students then reported the professor’s actions to Montgomery College. After the three-month investigation, the college decided to fire the professor.
Montgomery College also agreed to a settlement with the Department of Education that rescinds the professor’s written warning and imposes other requirements, including mandatory training on sexual harassment for all faculty members. The college also agrees to notify students affected by the professor’s actions that their rights have been violated and offer support services.
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon applauded the college for a prompt response to the allegations and for mostly following Title IX guidelines. Still, she pointed out that it failed to notify affected students of the investigation’s conclusion. “To be fully compliant with Title IX, the university must promptly and equitably respond to a complaint of discrimination based on sex,” she wrote in her letter to Montgomery College.
Despite the controversy surrounding the incident, a spokesperson for Montgomery College says it “appreciates the thorough investigation conducted by OCR and fully supports its determinations and resolutions outlined in its final report, which was made public this week.”
In other higher education news, two faculty members were recently fired at Ohio University for allegedly retaliating against a student who complained of discrimination. One of the women, who is a lesbian, filed the complaint. The other woman, a Muslim, is suing the university over alleged incidents of discrimination.
