Myron Pope
Myron Pope, vice president for student life at the University of Alabama resigned after being arrested for soliciting prostitution. Pope was one of 15 people arrested during a sting operation in the Tuscaloosa area.
On the other side of the state, Richard Hansen resigned as dean at Auburn University's pharmacy school after allegations that he had sexually harassed a female student. Hansen retained his position as a tenured faculty member of pharmacy.
Pope's arrest was the result of an area-wide law-enforcement effort in West Alabama. From a report at al.com:
The investigation that led to the arrest of Myron Pope, the vice president of student life at the University of Alabama, also landed 14 other people in jail, the authorities said Saturday.
Pope, who is also a former Crimson Tide football player, resigned after the West Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force charged him with soliciting prostitution.
In a press release on Saturday, Capt. Phil Simpson, the task force commander, said 15 men were arrested on Thursday and Friday nights after arranging to pay for sex through an app. When the men arrived at an agreed upon location, they spoke with an undercover officer, Simpson said.
Pope was booked into the Tuscaloosa County jail on Thursday and released after posting $1,000 bail.
The authorities have not released the other men’s names. Simpson said all of the men are charged with a misdemeanor count of soliciting prostitution, though some face additional felony charges.
“If buyers were not seeking commercial sexual services, sex trafficking would no longer be profitable,” Simpson said in a press release. “We hope these operations targeting buyers show that we take this very seriously. Our goal is to prevent future exploitation of human trafficking victims who are forced or coerced into prostitution.”
The university announced Pope's resignation in a statement on Friday, and President Stuart Bell said he would appoint an interim vice president of student life:
Pope had held the position since May of 2020. He previously worked for the university as a clinical assistant professor in the higher education administrative program, according to a press release announcing his appointment. He also served as director of recruitment programs/alternative certification from 1997-2000.
In 1992, Pope was a walk-on member of the Crimson Tide football team that beat Miami to win the national championship.
At Auburn, allegations against Hansen came to light after a report in the student newspaper. From al.com:
Richard Hansen, the dean of Auburn University’s pharmacy school, has resigned from his role as dean, the university announced in a campus email Friday.
The change came a day after The Auburn Plainsman student newspaper published a report about alleged sexual harassment by Hansen against a student.
“The creation and maintenance of a safe environment for our students will always be the highest priority for Auburn,” university officials said in the campus-wide email. “The university prohibits sexual harassment and addresses all reports under its policies, including allegations of off-campus conduct when appropriate.”
Hansen remains a tenured professor in the college, according to a university spokesman, who said that disciplinary action regarding faculty, up to and including dismissal, are handled according to the faculty handbook, but declined to comment further.
The email did not detail the allegations against Hansen or whether any of them were found to be credible or were related to his departure.
Hansen became dean in 2017. He did not respond to a request for comment from AL.com, and AL.com has not been able to independently verify The Plainsman’s reporting.
The allegations against Hansen reportedly involve off-campus conduct:
The Plainsman reported Thursday that in April 2021, Hansen made inappropriate comments to a student working at an off-campus bar. After she complained to the university, she said he again came to the bar and made her uncomfortable.
Richard Hansen
According to The Plainsman, the Title IX office investigated the incident, found the complaint credible, and said that Hansen had “created an intimidating and offensive University environment for [the student].” It is not clear whether Hansen ever received disciplinary action at the time; The Plainsman story details conflicting reports about how the school handled the incident under its policy for off- campus Title IX violations. In 2020, new federal guidance led many universities to adjust previous Title IX guidance and change oversight of off-campus harassment and assaults.
Prof. Dan Surry has been named acting dean of pharmacy at Auburn.
