‘Toxic Culture’: Prominent Law School Dean Quits After Students Stage Walkout - Yahoo News
The University of Montana law school dean announced his resignation on Thursday amid allegations his administration tried to discourage women from reporting sexual assaults and mishandled other misconduct allegations.
In a Thursday letter to the Alexander Blewett III School of Law community, Dean Paul Kirgis wrote that he and Associate Dean Sally Weaver would step down from their roles. Kirgis, who joined the university in Missoula in 2015, will remain as a tenured faculty member. In a statement, the school said that the provost will temporarily oversee the law school.
“I have come to the conclusion that the School of Law and its students would be best served by a change in leadership,” Kirgis said in a Wednesday night resignation letter. “Consequently, I have decided to step down as dean. My priority is to make that transition in a way that minimizes disruptions for students, faculty, and staff. I will work with those groups and the provost to plan the process and timing for this transition.”
Their resignations come just two days after more than 100 students and community members staged a walkout and rally at the law school to demand Kirgis’ and Weaver’s termination after allegations emerged that they ignored or mishandled sexual assault and harassment complaints.
“At best, they are incompetent leaders, and at worst, they have created and perpetuated a toxic culture at the law school,” Everett Johns, a second-year law student, said during the rally, according to the Daily Montanan. “They have reinforced rape culture, and they have silenced and retaliated against victims.”
In a bombshell report, the outlet interviewed several women who accuse Kirgis and Weaver of discouraging them from taking their allegations of sexual assault to the Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX—which handles sexual misconduct on campus. In all, at least 13 current and former law school students told the Daily Montanan that the leadership at the school failed them, ranging from retaliation for raising concerns to waiting months before their concerns were resolved.
source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/toxic-culture-prominent-law-school-211708331.html
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