Law Schools, Sex

Professor Resigns After Accusations Of Sleeping With Students

A well-regarded professor is out after a secretive investigation process and reports that a Title IX investigation uncovered relationships with students.

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Arthur Rizer

Arthur Rizer

The viral marketing campaign for our Best Law School Scandal bracket is really top-notch this year, because we have a now-resigned professor who allegedly slept with multiple students in his classes — a fact reportedly uncovered in a Title IX investigation (the school did not return requests for comment).

Not that these aren’t allegations we’ve seen before, but this time we have the added wrinkle of a faculty in turmoil over the school’s tight-lipped and heavy-handed investigation of a — by all accounts — well-liked and well-respected colleague.

Arthur Rizer, until late last week a professor at West Virginia University College of Law, is a former WVU Law Professor of the Year with a focus on national security law. A retired Lt. Colonel, he served in Fallujah and has a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He’s also a candidate for a Ph.D. in Criminology from Oxford. This all adds up to a rare academic specimen. Last week came the news that Professor Rizer had resigned:

Resigned

The events that led to his fall from WVU all started a few weeks ago when the school abruptly canceled a planned Roast in Professor Rizer’s honor:

2nd student

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A bunch of law students roasting a professor… I’m sure that was going to be a f**king laugh riot.

Soon afterward, Professor Rizer’s classes were handed over to other instructors and he was sent home for a “personal matter.” Those in the loop knew that there was some sort of investigation afoot, but the details were kept under wraps for understandable privacy reasons. But, as usual, the academic respect for privacy had the unfortunate side-effect of fomenting resentment among third-parties.

1faculty

Seems fair enough. While the school is keeping a lot hidden, if the reports we’ve received, then frankly, consensual relationships with adults don’t seem like a big deal. Sure, the conflict of interest of sleeping with someone in your class is deserving of discipline, but, really, in a state where you can marry your sister, is it a fireable offense to hookup with a twenty-something attorney-to-be? Obviously, if there were more serious allegations that would be another matter, but so far we’ve only learned of this more benign brand of misconduct.

In any event, Dean Gregory Bowman deftly explains the messy blur that a closed process creates.

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2faculty

Exactly. While there’s understandable reluctance to turning over an academic investigation — in fairness, very different than a criminal inquiry — to the court of public opinion (or “the mob” depending on your point of view), the Star Chamber approach runs the risk of making everyone look worse in hindsight. But that door swings both ways. Imagine a version of this article restricted only to these documents — the emails and the resignation — would it not appear gravely prejudicial? Speculation could run wild toward far worse offenses, especially with Dean Bowman’s cryptic warning.

But the whole affair is over, for now anyway. Whether Professor Rizer ever returns to a classroom or goes into the think talk or civilian security advisor world remains to be seen.

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