UT-Austin Professor Ousted Amid Sexual Misconduct Claims

AUSTIN, TX — A professor at the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin was ousted this week amid growing allegations of sexual misconduct.

Officials at the music school on Monday evening said composition professor Dan Welcher would not be returning to the university following allegations that arose last Thursday, the student-run university newspaper The Daily Texan reported.

The allegations against Welcher first surfaced in a VAN Magazine article, detailing accounts from several students of frequent inappropriate sexual comments and at occasional “uncomfortably affectionate” written and verbal communications, according to the article. Inspired by the "me too" movement involving victims coming forward against violators, one student told the magazine how Welcher allegedly grabbed his face and kissed him on the mouth after a meeting.

University officials confirmed Welcher would no longer teach at the school. For his part, Welcher apologized via email, as the UT-Austin newspaper reported. “I'm profoundly sorry to have unwittingly brought shame and embarrassment on the Butler School,” Welcher said in the email obtained by The Daily Texan. “I know there is nothing I can say to undo the discomfort I have apparently caused some students, except I'm sorry."

>>> Read the full story at The Daily Texan