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After facing criticism for allowing a professor found to have harassed students to resign rather than be terminated, Drake University said this week that it handled the situation as well as it could, the Des Moines Register reported. In an email to faculty and staff members and students, President Marty Martin said there are two ways to remove a tenured professor: accepting a resignation or referring the case to a disciplinary committee in a process that would have been “protracted and stressful” for all parties.
Mahmoud Hamad, an associate professor of political science at Drake, resigned in December following reports that he spanked female students and had them sit on his lap. A university investigation found that he had “physically, sexually and verbally intimidated” some students and violated the university’s consensual relationship policy, though Hamad denied the charges.
Hamad will not teach until the resignation takes effect June 1, but students have accused the university of being secretive about the case and too easy on Hamad. They didn’t learn Hamad had stopped teaching until April, for example. Drake’s Faculty Senate in a statement condemned Hamad’s actions but supported the university’s action in the case, according to the Register.
