Maryland Professor Fired After Ordering Female Students to Strip Off During Class

The Takoma Park/Silver Spring campus of Montgomery College, Maryland. Google Maps/Screenshot via The Epoch Times

A Maryland college professor has been fired from his role after officials concluded he sexually harassed multiple female students during lessons, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office (DOE) for Civil Rights (OCR) announced on June 28.

The DOE said it had concluded its inquiry into the sexual misconduct incident at the Takoma Park/Silver Spring campus of Montgomery College and established that the professor, who has not been identified, “engaged in sexual harassment of female students” when he asked them to strip off during a class he taught.

The professor’s inappropriate conduct was first reported by a student in October 2019.

According to the DOE, the professor had told at least 11 female students to remove their shirts and wear only their bras during his lesson under the guise of conducting demonstrations and assessments.

After removing their shirts, some of the women put on their lab jackets in an effort to protect their modesty but the professor “demanded that they remove their jackets,” officials said.

He then began commenting on their bodies “ostensibly to demonstrate a medical assessment despite the fact that the assessment did not require the clothing removal, or the bodily commentary,” according to the DOE, including commenting on their “nipples and breast positioning” and asking the students to “separate their breasts so they could conduct the assessment,” the DOE said.

His actions, Montgomery College concluded, amounted to “unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that was sufficiently severe” and created an “intimidating, hostile, and offensive academic environment.”

Student ‘Failed Class’

Montgomery College placed the professor on paid leave while it conducted its own investigation into the claims before ultimately terminating his employment less than three months later.

The investigation into the professor’s behavior was prompted by a complaint from one of the students who claimed to have reported the incident to college staff who then failed to interview her or provide her with information about her rights.

Additionally, one of the students involved in the incident claimed to have failed the class and told officials she believes this was because the professor harassed her.

Following the college’s probe, the educational institution agreed to help that student re-enroll in the course and paid for her to retake the classes. It also “provided tuition reimbursement or paid for at least three other students in the class to retake the course,” the DOE said, and offered the impacted students supportive services such as counseling and academic assistance.

It is unclear if the college reported the incident to the police.

While the OCR found that the college’s investigation followed the obligations and requirements of Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, and was “prompt and equitable” in its response, it also found that the college had failed to provide some of the students involved in the incident with information regarding the outcome of the probe or that the professor was terminated.

This, the OCR said, raised concerns that the college may have failed to take the necessary steps to “ensure that a hostile environment did not persist for affected students.”

‘Shameful Underlying Facts’

Under a resolution between the DOE’s OCR and Montgomery College, all students in the professor’s class must be notified by Aug. 15 that the college completed its investigation into the professor and concluded that he created a hostile environment on the basis of sex and was terminated.

Additionally, the college must share the results of its 2022 “Title IX climate survey” with the OCR and provide a “narrative summary” of the steps it has taken to address concerns raised by the survey so that officials can establish whether further measures need to be put in place to ensure students are able to access education without discrimination.

Montgomery College welcomed the outcome of the probe.

“We appreciate the thorough investigation conducted by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights in regards to this matter. The College fully supports the determinations and resolutions outlined in its final report, made public this week,” a spokesperson for Montgomery College said in a statement to Maryland Matters.

In a separate statement, the DOE’s Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon said the “shameful underlying facts” of the probe into the professor are “galling and categorically unacceptable under Title IX.”

“I am deeply grateful to Montgomery College for swiftly responding with a thorough investigation and action to address the effects of the hostile environment created by the professor on the students in his class, and I appreciate the additional commitment Montgomery College made to fulfill its remaining obligation under Title IX to ensure that the discriminatory effects end for all its students,” Lhamon said.

A spokesperson for Montgomery College told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement: “We appreciate the thorough investigation conducted by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights in regards to this matter. The college fully supports the determinations and resolutions outlined in its final report, made public last week.”

The spokesperson also clarified that the professor was placed on paid administrative leave in October 2019, one day after the report was filed and was terminated in January 2020.