DENMARK, S.C. - The president of Voorhees College has been given extended administrative leave with pay and benefits until June 30, 2008, a college spokesman reported late Thursday.

The announcement was made following a meeting of Voorhees College Board of Trustees Chairman Marshall Bass and three members of the board with faculty and staff on the campus Thursday afternoon.

"On Thursday, Aug. 2, Voorhees College Board of Trustees took action with respect to its relationship with President Lee Monroe who has been on administrative leave from the college because of health reasons," said Don Fowler, a member of the board of trustees.

"Under the terms of the proposal, Dr. Monroe's administrative leave will be extended until June 30, 2008. During this period of time, Monroe will be available for advice and consultation with the chairman of the board and other officials of the college. Under the terms of the proposal, Dr. Monroe will continue to receive his salary, medical care for his spouse and himself and use of his automobile."

Fowler said Monroe will reside at his home in Wilmington, N.C. while he's on administrative leave.

"It is anticipated that there will be an interim (president) named in the immediate future," Fowler said.

Back in April, a jury found that a former Voorhees College professor was sexually harassed by Monroe and that Voorhees College "acted with malice or with reckless indifference to the federally protected rights" of the former professor.

Dr. Moreen B. Joseph brought the civil lawsuit against Monroe and Voorhees College, alleging that Monroe sexually harassed her and the college did nothing about it.

The jury awarded Joseph punitive damages of $400,000 and compensatory damages of $100,000.

According to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court, District of South Carolina, Orangeburg Division on July 13, 2004, the Louthian Law Firm of Columbia, representing Joseph, alleged that she was subjected to "lewd, gross and suggestive language of a sexual nature and unwanted touching" by Monroe for a period of several months in 2002 and 2003, creating a "hostile work environment."

Monroe and Voorhees College, represented by Evans Taylor Barnette of McCutchen Blanton Rhodes and Johnson, denied all of Joseph's allegations.

Joseph claimed that Monroe "repeatedly made unwelcome sexual advances and implied that if she would agree to his sexual advances, she would benefit personally and financially."

The complaint went on to state that Monroe suggested to Joseph that if she "received his sexual advances favorably, that she would continue to prosper as an employee of the college and implied that if she did not go along with his advances that she would regret that decision."

T&D Correspondent Vic Whetstone can be reached by e-mail at vwhets@bellsouth.net or by phone at 803-793-3402. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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