CSU didn't investigate claims that Fullerton president inappropriately touched students
California State University officials were notified about reports accusing the Fullerton campus president of inappropriately touching students but never launched an investigation, according to internal records and statements.
The first report, made in August 2019 to the Cal State Fullerton campus, accused President Framroze “Fram” Virjee of hugging a student and kissing her forehead, making “her feel very uncomfortable.”
Two other reports, also made to the campus, involved separate incidents while Virjee gave a tour of the school one day in November 2021. One alleged that “Virjee attempted multiple times to force himself upon” a student, touching her and trying to hug her, despite her objections. The other accused the president of touching a student’s arm and rubbing her back “without her consent” — behavior that she and a witness agreed was “unacceptable.”
The campus official in charge of enforcing sexual harassment policy “assessed the information” and determined that “the alleged conduct at face value did not violate university policy,” CSU officials said in a statement. An investigation was unwarranted, and the campus official did not alert the chancellor’s office, according to the statement. The official followed CSU policy, the statement said.
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Experts who reviewed the records for The Times said the reports should have been sent to the chancellor’s office and investigated by parties outside the university because they involved the most powerful official on campus.
“When presidents are involved, there’s no way it should be done on campus,” said Sharon Reiter, a former associate vice president at Cal Poly Pomona who oversaw sexual harassment investigations before retiring in 2020. “If something comes down and it’s not in his favor, you’re in his crosshairs … potentially.”
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-21/csu-didnt-investigate-claims-that-a-president-inappropriately-touched-students
