Ohio University’s Board of Trustees determined Monday that OU Faculty Senate’s special committee must reconsider its report on journalism professor Yusuf Kalyango during a special meeting.
After several investigations, Kalyango was found by OU’s Office of Equity and Civil Rights Compliance to have sexually harassed two students. A Faculty Senate special committee recommended Kalyango’s tenure and privileges be fully restored, although the body at-large voted for the Board to disregard the recommendation when considering Kalyango’s status as a tenured professor.
The Board entered an executive session for several hours before voting on a resolution to object the report.
After reviewing the report, the Board had serious questions, Secretary to the Board Dave Moore said of the resolution. The Board’s concerns surround the committee’s standard of evidence, failure to permit the cross-examination of Kalyango by the university’s representative, failure to define the grounds where findings were made, misunderstanding of the moral turpitude specification in the handbook and review process.
The Board requests Faculty Senate respond to the objections by submitting a reconsideration to the Board secretary within 21 days. That report will be discussed at the Trustees’ April 2021 meeting.
“A decision of this importance spirits careful and thoughtful deliberation,” Board Chair Janelle Coleman said. “We appreciate the patience of all while the Board comes up with this necessary review.”
