GEORGETOWN, Ky. (AP) — The president of Kentucky’s Georgetown College has been fired after reports emerged accusing him of sexual assault and sexual misconduct against employees, the small Baptist liberal arts school announced Tuesday (Nov. 2).
William Jones was fired by the board of trustees after the college learned of “allegations of a sexual assault of a female College employee, inappropriate behavior with another female College employee, and other conduct in violation of Jones’s employment agreement with the College,” according to a news release.
Giddings Hall at Georgetown College. (Sydney Poore & Russell Poore/Creative Commons)
The college received the allegations on Oct. 31 and Board of Trustees chairman Robert Mills called a meeting of the board’s executive committee the next day. The full board voted to fire him on Monday. The college has hired outside counsel to continue the investigation, the release said.
“Georgetown College does not tolerate violence or misuse of authority. We hold our administrators, students and faculty to the highest standards of moral and ethical conduct,” Mills said in a statement, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. “We are surprised and deeply disappointed by what we have learned. We will support the members of our Georgetown College family who are directly impacted, and we will work cooperatively with ongoing or any future investigations.”
Officials did not release further details about the allegations.
Rosemary Allen, the school provost, was named acting president of the college by the board of trustees. The school, which is not connected to Georgetown University in Washington, is located about 10 miles (16 kilometers) north of Lexington.
According to the colleges website, Jones was named president in 2019 and previously worked as the president of Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas.
