Faculty senators at the University of Southern California passed a resolution Wednesday demanding that the school’s president resign, amid a sexual abuse scandal.
USC’s faculty senate passed the resolution calling on President C.L. Max Nikias by a unanimous 24-0 vote with four abstentions, reported The Washington Post Thursday night.
“Things reached a crisis point, where we couldn’t see a realistic path forward with him as president,” USC Academic Senate president Paul Rosenbloom said. “We called for his resignation for the good of the university.”
Rosenbloom and other USC faculty made their demand a week after a report that the school’s former gynecologist, George Tyndall, a nearly 30-year veteran of the school, had improperly taken photos of students’ genitals, touched female students inappropriately while examining their pelvises, and made sexually suggestive comments concerning their bodies, reported The Los Angeles Times.
USC suspended Tyndall in 2016 after a nurse reported him to the school’s rape crisis center, but administrators permitted the gynecologist to resign with a monetary payout in summer 2017.
“Unfortunately, a thorough review of files during the 2016 investigation revealed that there had been complaints about Dr. Tyndall in prior years, and that the former health center director chose to manage those complaints independently,” Nikias wrote in a May 15 email to the USC community. “In 2013, the former health center director did make a report to [the office of equity and diversity] prompted by alleged racist comments made by Dr. Tyndall. [The office of equity and diversity] investigated, and at that point in time, did not find conclusive evidence of a policy violation.”
Nikias linked to an investigation into the former gynecologist, consisting of a statement of facts and letters from various university officials.
“While we have no evidence of criminal conduct, we have no doubt that Dr. Tyndall’s behavior was completely unacceptable,” the USC president said. “It was a clear violation of our Principles of Community, and a shameful betrayal of our values.”
The school came under fire in summer 2017 after the unearthing of photos and videos depicting its former medical dean, Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito, taking drugs and spending time with drug users and criminals. (RELATED: USC Starts Procedure To Fire Former Medical Dean Amid Drug Abuse Scandal)
The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to USC for additional comment but received none in time for press.
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