Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Make a sustaining gift today to support local journalism!

UNH president says he needs an apology from protesters before meeting with student activists about campus sexual misconduct

A photo of UNH president James Dean
UNH
/
UNH
Last month, students unhappy with UNH’s handling of sexual assault protested outside the home of James Dean, which is located on campus.

The president of the University of New Hampshire, James Dean, says he won't meet with a new student group working to address sexual assault on campus until they apologize to him for what he called "disrespectful behavior."

Get NHPR's reporting about politics, the pandemic, and other top stories in your inbox — sign up for our newsletter today.

Last month, students unhappy with UNH’s handling of sexual assault protested outside the home of James Dean, which is located on campus.

Students at UNH have said they're disappointed with the administration’s response to their demands for more action to deal with issues of sexual violence on campus.

In an opinion piece published last week in Manchester InkLink by the UNH Sexual Violence Action Committee, student Isabella Luca noted: “A President at UNH shouldn’t make doing their job contingent on how happy and agreeable the student body is."

"President Dean should be meeting and communicating with students as it is the exact position he signed up for. Delaying this and asking for an apology from an unrelated group of students is unacceptable and shows us that finding solutions isn’t his top priority,” Luca said.

In a statement Monday, a UNH spokesperson said the school condemns all forms of sexual violence and is working on the issue. But the spokesperson said Dean would not meet with the new student group until they apologized for what he called the jeering and ridicule they displayed when he tried to speak during their earlier protest at his home.

Tags
Related Content

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.