AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – A University of Texas professor at the center of a scandal over the school’s failure to discipline employees for off-campus crimes has been found dead.
Tenured pharmacy professor Richard Morrisett was discovered in his home Thursday night.
A statement Friday by Gregory Fenves, president of the University of Texas System’s flagship Austin campus, didn’t provide a cause of death but said, “We recognize these are difficult times on campus.”
Morrisett last year pleaded guilty to assaulting his girlfriend in 2016. The Austin American-Statesman reported recently that he wasn’t disciplined by the school.
The same day Morrisett’s body was found, Fenves announced policy changes that mean university employees who commit off-campus crimes could face discipline, even in cases that don’t threaten campus safety or university operations.
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