The dean of the College of Social Work “acted inappropriately” at a student orientation when he wore a shirt emblazoned with “Rub my Nuts,” according to a report by Ohio State’s Office of Human Resources.

WILLIAM MEEZAN
The report also concluded that dean William Meezan again “acted inappropriately” at a faculty search committee meeting by stating his preference for non-foreign minorities.

RUDOLPH ALEXANDER
Social work professor Rudolph Alexander filed the complaint on Nov. 20, 2008. Alexander is the same professor who has sued Meezan and OSU for racial discrimination and destruction of public records, and who is alleged to have called Meezan a “gay leprechaun” and told a class of students the dean had AIDS.

Meezan admitted to investigators that he wore the shirt at the New Student Orientation event in September 2008. Alexander alleged that this violated OSU’s sexual harassment policy.

College of Social Work dean William Meezan speaks at a student orientation with a shirt emblazoned with 'Rub my Nuts.' Meezan said it was an attempt at humor, but Human Resources disagreed. Photo Courtesy of Rudolph Alexander.PHOTO COURTESY OF RUDOLPH ALEXANDERCollege of Social Work dean William Meezan speaks at a student orientation with a shirt emblazoned with ‘Rub my Nuts.’ Meezan said it was an attempt at humor, but Human Resources disagreed.
In the report, Meezan stated that his intent in wearing the shirt was to communicate to the audience that he could be funny, and he did not think the shirt was anything more than an “innocent joke.”

Witnesses said they heard complaints that the shirt was sexually charged, harassing and offensive, and demonstrated a lack of sensitivity toward women.

The investigation concluded that while the action does not represent a pattern of behavior by Meezan, it was “inappropriate and unacceptable” under OSU’s sexual harassment policy and “particularly troublesome since the person engaged in the conduct holds the position of Dean.”

In the report, Meezan acknowledged that, in retrospect, he should not have worn the shirt.

Meezan did not respond to an e-mail request for comment and Alexander could only confirm that he filed the complaint.

Alexander’s second allegation against Meezan was that during a faculty search process Autumn Quarter, Meezan stated that, “we had a lot of Asians in our current application pool, and these Asians would not be considered.” Alexander considered this discriminatory and racist.

Meezan told an investigator he actually told the search committee that, “given the populations we serve in Ohio, I prefer to hire a Black or Latino faculty member, but of course we will look at all applicants. If Asian, I prefer to hire an Asian-American given the way OSU treats/counts minorities on campus.”

Meezan clarified the last part of his statement by saying that during his time as a member of the university-wide Diversity Council, he heard someone comment that Asian students and faculty would not be a priority at OSU.

Mo Ye Lee, who chaired the search committee, stated in the report that she felt Meezan’s intentions were not to discriminate but to develop “an area of priority and then focus on it.” Lee did admit that Meezan’s charge caused heated discussion among the committee and some thought his statements were discriminatory. Lee also said that during the process the committee debated the importance of candidates’ fluency in English.

Teresa Early, another member of the committee, gave a similar recollection of the events. She said Meezan was more focused on diversity and that he stated that in departments such as math and physical sciences, “diversity looked better than it was because they hired a number of Asians.”

Jacqueline Monroe, another member of the committee, had a different recollection. She said the criteria for hiring a minority constantly changed and when Lee asked Meezan for clarification he said to Lee, “that means no more of you.” She also said that another faculty member stated, “I don’t know Asians that speak well enough.” Monroe stated in the report that “Dean Meezan’s statement was racist, he is absolutely clueless about how he comes up to people and he offends groups of people on a regular basis.”

Meezan noted that the faculty search committee eventually offered the job to an African American who turned down the job. Eventually a foreign-born Asian got the job.

The investigation concluded that Meezan’s preference had the initial effect of not giving everyone a fair chance and, as a result, Meezan “acted inappropriately, unjustifiably, and with extremely poor judgment in his charge to the search committee.” The report also stated that in this case the discussion of candidates’ ability to speak English was directly related to their ability to teach students, and therefore was not in violation.

Based on the investigation, Human Resources has ordered Meezan to “be sensitive to the impact his behavior has on the work and academic environment,” and that he must inform future committees of how to conduct a proper search.

Disciplinary action, if any, will be decided by the Office of Academic Affairs. Susan Williams, the vice provost for academic policy and faculty resources, wouldn’t say if, or when, Meezan would be disciplined.

Richard Oviatt can be reached at [email protected].