Co-director of the University of Florida's Documentary Institute, Dr. Churchill Roberts, advised two grad students who defied the wishes of campus officials by returning to Haiti after the January earthquake to finish work on a documentary.
"I said if you choose to go, there's no way we could fund you, and you can't use university equipment...and so they thought about it, and went on their own"
University leaders at first wouldn't let grad students Jon Bougher and Roman Safiullin use the extra video they shot in Haiti for their thesis film. Eventually officials relented, but then investigated Roberts to see if he enabled them to go.
The university's investigation caused quite a stir on campus, and in the world of academia. On Wednesday, May 19, The Chronicle of Higher Education published a detailed article about the investigation.
Late Wednesday afternoon, an internal investigation found the charges against Roberts were unsubstantiated.
The faculty union President feels UF's Provost, Joe Glover, owes all parties involved an apology.
"For overreaching on this matter, alleging the violation when none took place, investigating and harassing a professor and interfering with the instructional relationship between instructor and student" said union President John Biro.
Roberts says he loves UF, but is disappointed with the current administration.