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Hikmet Budak resigned his endowed chair in plant sciences and left Montana State University after an internal investigation determined that he’d sexually harassed and discriminated against students to the point that several left his lab and one contemplated suicide, according to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. The report, sent to the Chronicle anonymously, found evidence that Budak discriminated against students and staff based on their disabilities, national origins, sex, gender, religion and marriage and family status.
Budak denies all allegations against him, which include joking about shooting students, calling them fat and otherwise commenting on their weight, yelling at women for having boyfriends or husbands, and touching female students in ways that made them uncomfortable. He also allegedly told students from Turkey that they shouldn’t hang out with American students because they would make them lazy and try to convert them to Christianity. Budak did admit having an affair with a student to investigators but didn’t tell administrators, as required by university policy, because he was married. Budak did not respond to requests for comment. His attorney is quoted in the report as saying that his leaving was the university’s “desired result.” The university says its investigation was fair.
