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Professors at two more institutions have resigned amid sexual harassment allegations against them. Lehigh University said Tuesday that James Braxton Peterson, former director of Africana studies and associate professor of English, resigned during a campus investigation that eventually found “sufficient cause” of sexual misconduct on his part, The Morning Call reported. Lehigh officials said in a campuswide email that they were notified in November of allegations against Peterson, who was then placed on leave and not permitted on campus during an investigation. Peterson resigned before the inquiry was complete, but officials said their findings would have otherwise triggered termination proceedings. A regular media commentator on race, Peterson hosted a podcast on Philadelphia’s NPR affiliate, which will no longer be distributed in light of the allegations, a station spokesperson said.
Florida Gulf Coast University also believes that a former professor of music there sexually harassed multiple students, according to local ABC affiliate WZVN. Five women told university investigators that Rod Chestnutt harassed them, in some cases hinting that he wanted to have sex and or asking them back to his home or a hotel after a musical performance. Chestnutt, who resigned this fall, is also alleged to have commented on female students’ appearances or touched them. A university report on the matter says that Chestnutt’s behavior was “unwelcome, severe, persistent, pervasive” and damaging to the complainants' educations, according to WZVN. University spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Chestnutt.
