Female Students Had To Remove Shirts In MoCo College Class: Feds

SILVER SPRING, MD — A Montgomery College professor required female students attending his class to remove their shirts and wear only their bras while he also commented on their bodies, a federal investigation found.

The professor's conduct was detailed in a Wednesday announcement by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR). In the announcement, the agency said it reached an agreement with Montgomery College's Takoma/Silver Spring campus Wednesday after it conducted a federal sexual harassment investigation into the school stemming from the professor's "harassing conduct."

According to the OCR, female students were asked to remove their shirts so he could demonstrate a medical assessment; however, the assessment did not require clothing removal or commentary on their bodies, officials said.

Neither the agency nor the school identified the professor.

According to the OCR, college officials immediately placed the professor on paid administrative leave after students reported his actions. He was later fired after college officials completed an internal investigation.

During the OCR's investigation, officials determined the college complied with federal Title IX guidelines by conducting a prompt investigation of the allegations against the professor; however, federal officials also found the college did not properly notify all affected students once the internal investigation was complete.

The agreement announced Wednesday included several actions Montgomery College officials must take, including notifying all affected students that the investigation into the professor's conduct was completed. The school will also be required to provide the OCR with the results of its 2022 Title IX climate survey and a summary of the steps it has taken in response to any concerns raised by that survey.

"The shameful underlying facts in this investigation – of a college professor subjecting his entire class to sexual harassment as a condition of instruction – are galling and categorically unacceptable under Title IX," Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine Lhamon said in a statement. "I am deeply grateful to Montgomery College for swiftly responding with a thorough investigation and action to address the effects of the hostile environment created by the professor on the students in his class, and I appreciate the additional commitment Montgomery College made to fulfill its remaining obligation under Title IX to ensure that the discriminatory effects end for all its students."

The letter to Montgomery College and the resolution agreement are available online.