Alex Morse is the openly gay, four-term Democratic mayor of Holyoke, Massachusetts who is currently running for Congress. Last week, he found himself ensnared in a college sex scandal. Now, he says he’s not letting his past sexual exploits ruin his political future.
The 31-year-old just announced that he has absolutely no intention of dropping out of the race after admitting to hitting on and having sex with multiple students at UMass Amherst, where he is a political science lecturer, as well from other schools in the Five College Consortium, while he was on the campaign trail.
Also, he says, anyone who wants him to end his candidacy is being homophobic.
Last Thursday, several students came forward to say Morse had connected with them on Tinder, Grindr, and Instagram, sending them suggestive DMs and, in some cases, propositioning them for sex following campus events.
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The College Democrats of Massachusetts accused Morse of using “his position of power for romantic or sexual gain” and making many of the students feel “uncomfortable.”
In a statement issued Friday, Morse admitted to having “consensual adult relationships, including some with college students” and apologized “to anyone I have made feel uncomfortable.”
“I want to be clear that every relationship I’ve had has been consensual,” he said. “However, I also recognize that I have to be cognizant of my position of power.”
After admitting to the behavior, many called on Morse to end his candidacy, which, honestly, is not all that unreasonable. In the post #MeToo era, college professors should absolutely know better than to proposition students for sex.
Well, last night, Morse issued another, more forceful statement, this time insisting he’s not a sexual predator, that he hasn’t done anything wrong, and that he has absolutely no intention of ending his congressional campaign.
Wrote Morse:
I want to be very clear about this. I have never, in my entire life, had a non-consensual sexual encounter with anyone. I have never used my position of power as Mayor and UMass lecturer for romantic or sexual gain, or to take advantage of students. I have never violated UMass policy. Any claim to the contrary is false.
Some might argue that it’s not really up to him to decide if he “took advantage” of his alleged victims. It’s kinda up to them to determine how his actions made them feel.
The statement continued:
As I’ve acknowledged, I have had consensual relationships with other men, including students enrolled at local universities that I’ve met using dating apps. While I am confident that a full investigation into these matters will clear my name completely of any unethical conduct, I also recognize that some students felt uncomfortable with interactions they had with me. I am sorry for that.
Morse went on to imply that he believes the story is a politically motivated smear, as it broke just three weeks before his primary.
Then he tried saying an attack on him, as an openly gay man running for higher officer, is an attack on all LGBTQ people.
Um, except that most LGBTQ people don’t sleep with their subordinates.
Added Morse:
To the many members of the queer community that have reached out to me in recent days, it’s clear that many of you feel that these recent events, and the language used in response, aren’t just an attack on me, but on all of us. You’re genuinely outraged, as I am, by the invocation of age-old gay stereotypes. You have reminded me that we’ve come too far to turn back. I want my freedom, and I want you to have yours, too.
Morse said he plans to continue his campaign “mindful of the fact that my personal life–and my consensual sexual activity–will be subject to scrutiny and fixation that are all too familiar to other members of the LGBTQ community.”
Then he seemed to draw comparisons between his sleeping with students to things like police raiding gay bars, bathhouses, and public restrooms.
“I say this not to shirk responsibility for having made anyone uncomfortable,” he concluded. “I am simply highlighting the fact that I am being held to a different standard, one deeply connected to a history of surveilling the sex lives of people like me.”
Read Morse’s full statement below.
My statement on the last 48 hours. pic.twitter.com/2RU5ht6jZ8
— Alex Morse (@AlexBMorse) August 10, 2020
And now, the responses…
This whole situation is pissing me off because it’s full of a bunch of rose idiots not understanding that the legality and age of the individuals aren’t the issues here. It’s the professors/lecturers-student dynamic. Y’all are just telling on yourselves.
— Matthew Mollinedo (@matt_mollinedo) August 10, 2020
The old trope of Lecturers shouldn’t sleep with students at the school they are lecturing at strikes again hey?
— Josh (@JDH9892) August 10, 2020
queer people face a lot of unjust structural challenges… having people highlight the problematic power dynamics of your sexual relationships with students is not one of them! homophobia is layered but dragging the rest of us into this was not the move
— Aki Yamaguchi (@thelilikoi) August 10, 2020
What you have done is horrific & egregious. You violated the basic charge of academic labor, which is creating a safe workplace & learning environment. You are a blight on the Left and on higher education. And anyone defending you is not a friend to either workers or students.
— Asheesh Kapur Siddique (@AsheeshKSi) August 10, 2020
He’s being attacked for abusing his power & all the white ppl who think this is perfectly acceptable terrify me. I have a daughter who’s college bound soon
— #Dear white feminists: I am not the one (@Kamalaallday) August 10, 2020
You had the opportunity to say, “I have never had a sexual relationship with a current or former student, and never discussed such a possibility with a student,” and instead used a Clintonesque formulation to avoid the real issue.
— Dave Kamper 🌹 (@dskamper) August 10, 2020
i don’t think the optics would’ve been any better if they had been female students
it’s a shame this is now a referendum on the right of powerful people to sleep with students, because most people, like myself, are strongly against that
— chests (@chests) August 10, 2020
Need a remind the “this is homophobia” folks that it was GAY STUDENTS who complained about this guy
— adlai (@aaadlai) August 10, 2020
Queerty has reached out to Morse for comment. We will update this post if we hear back.
Chrisk
Someone’s going to have to explain this one to me since he’s being accused of having consensual sex with adult men he met off of Grindr.
I feel like it’s playing some mind twister game of who’s the most woke.
Bromancer7
Yeah, it’s BS. The only time such a thing becomes an issue is if someone he hooked up with was an actual student of his, because that puts him in a position of power over that student — a big no-no. But there’s no indication of that being the case here. Being a lecturer doesn’t mean you give out grades or have students — it simply means you come to campus and give, well, lectures.
firstecho
Its exactly that. The twitter responses are such a woke Olympics. QUEERTY stop this.
UlfRaynor
Bigger question: why is a gay news site attacking and sex shaming an adult gay man for having consensual sex with another gay adult male?
So much for diversity and acceptance, I’d expect this from the Family Research Council, or Breitbart.
Maybe the author of this hit piece needs to go to a sensitivity training seminar or two or maybe just go to a gay bar or something and hang out with actual gay men.
pbrownatl
I would ask the same Q as Bromancer7. And besides a lecturer is different than a professor. Lecturers don’t hold any power. They don’t give out grades. He had no power over any student. Each was consensual, found on Grindr. If he is guilty, better watch out. The next trick you meet on Grindr, You might want to get their resume first.
DCFarmboy
Since he was teaching a class, he doesn’t get to bop the kids at the university. This is not a hard one.
arie570
Agreed. It said it was after campaign events too and not necessarily at his school.
masterwill7
Indeed, this is such bullshit!! If it was one of his own students I would think he was wrong… If it was just a student attending the same school he teaches it’s totally ridiculous!! A 31 yo gay man can have sex with any 18+ guy with consent as long he doesn’t have any power over them (job/school) in my opinion.
Kangol2
@pbrownatl, you are incorrect. Lecturers at most American colleges and universities do hand out grades, and would be doing so at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst if they–he–served as the primary leader of a course.
If he’s having consensual sex with men in general, more power to him. If he’s having sex with anyone in a course he’s teaching, it’s a violation of ethics and UMass rules, and grounds for being dismissed.
Ronbo
@Kangol2 The school did not take required legal action which indicates that “lecturer” has no grading responsibilities and Morse is not in violation.
You need to understand that the school has established and CLEAR responsibilities here. It’s not their first rodeo, old chap.
LumpyPillows
@Chrisk bingo we have a winner.
Kangol2
@Ronbo, full-time and part-time non-guest lecturers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst do have grading responsibilities, “old chap.” Look it up. The university did not take the “required legal action” because they did not know this was going on, and are now investigating, “old chap.”
Lecturers and adjuncts at that university, like most, do teach classes and hand out grades. If you don’t believe this, look it up. The Economics department, for example, employs eight lecturers, all of whom hand out grades and may supervise students, “old chap.”
You need to understand that the school has established and clear responsibilities and you clearly do not know what they are. I have no idea whether the students he was sleeping with were in his course(s). If they were not, he’s fine. If they were, he could be in trouble, “old chap.”
Ronbo
@kangol2 That is NOT what the University said when it cleared Morse of any violations.
Please stick with the truth, not your opinion. You know the saying about opinions and azzholes, right?
AxelDC
Sleeping with students is a big no no and a form of sexual harassment, gay or straight.
firstecho
Sleeping with students, you have power over is. He was not a professor with control over their grades or future. He was a lecturer. He contacted them on a dating app. Unless he said “im a lecturer at your school, sleep with me or else” theres no issue here.
DCFarmboy
He was giving out grades.
Kangol2
@firstecho, lecturers at most American colleges and universities do hand out grades if they are leading a course.
fresnoman4man
I watched a review of this on the Hill. My understanding is the alleged student had no knowledge of Morris’ Mayoral status let alone his status as a lecturer. It was after the revelation that he (the student) realized he had some relationship with a person of status that he became “uncomfortable”. WTF does that mean? OMG, send him straight to self righteous hell. I agree with the person who broke this on the Hill (who is Saudi) that this is is distraction by latter day Puritanism. I’m surprised the holier-than-thou wanks on this site haven’t condemned Morris as the reincarnation of Hester Primm, pilloried him and pinned a big Scarlet letter ‘A’ on his chest. I hope he upends the Incumbent corporate sycophant.
linniejr
I couldn’t agree more!!!
shakes_head
He’s a lecturer, not a professor, so he has no pull on their grades. One of the adults who claimed Morse contacted him didn’t even know he was a mayor, let alone running for congress, so didn’t use his status to abuse power there either. And College Dems of MA have a financial relationship with his opponent Richard Neal, which they didn’t disclose when they “broke” this nothingburger. No one was a minor, no one was a direct student of his, and there was nothing salacious about the online conversations that he had with these adults. Seems like a typical homophobic smear campaign by the democratic old guard that wants to protect a corporatist in a powerful position.
DCFarmboy
he was giving out grade. That is why it was inappropriate and in violation of university policy.
Kangol2
@shakes_head, lecturers at most American colleges and universities do hand out grades if they are leading a course. So if he was teaching a course in which any of these young men were enrolled, he’d be violating university ethics and would be a candidate for at being dismissed.
Ronbo
@Kangol2 When investigated by the school, no legal action was taken. The school is required BY LAW to protect the students.
By the way, just because you have a definition, does not mean that your definition is valid. The school took no action when investigated… so maybe you should stop pontificating on your opinion. Search: Academic ranks at UMass Amherst, Lecturer
Kangol2
@Ronbo, full-time and part-time non-guest lecturers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst do have grading responsibilities, “old chap.” Look it up. The university did not take the “required legal action” because they did not know this was going on, and are now investigating, “old chap.”
Lecturers and adjuncts at that university, like most, do teach classes and hand out grades. If you do believe this, look it up. The Economics department, for example, eight lecturers, all of whom hand out grades, “old chap.” The College of Natural Sciences employs lecturers and, as their website says, “The CNS Lecturers’ Professional Development (LPD) Fund awards eligible lecturers funding for activities that contribute to their scholarship and effectiveness as teachers and mentors.”
They TEACH and hand out grades, “old chap.” Pull your head out of your tuches and don’t “pontificate” on crap you have no idea about.
Ronbo
@Kangol2
That is not what the University posted when they cleared Morse. Please don’t fake being smart – everyone can see your authentic self.
GayEGO
As a gay man I must say I do not see that Morse did any wrong doing and did not force himself on anyone. This is just an attempt to smear him.
TMBisAOK
He had gay sex and that’s ALL this is about. That Queerty is pushing this negative narrative is effing disgusting!
firstecho
if he came on to them for sex during a lecture or in the classroom sure- he used a dating app. what is he suppose to do for relationships? Can he not date adults who happen to go to a college he lectures at?
DCFarmboy
Yes, he cannot date kids at the college he is teaching a class at. That is university policy, which he agreed to by taking the job.
Ronbo
@DCFarmboy This was investigated by the University resulting in no action taken. By law, the University is at risk and responsible for maintaining student safety. They would not risk losing certification for a lecturer.
GorgeousNotGeorge
For crying out loud, if he contacted you in Grindr or Tinder and you said no that’s fine. It’s not as if he propositioned you while in a lecture. Gay single men and women do have lives outside of politics. He is single, unattached and maybe a little horny. He didn’t say sleep with me because I am your professor or the Mayor. Two consenting adults can have a sexual relationship. Hypocrisy lies in those who thinks that the candidate should be a eunuch and should only talk/meet with someone who is not i in the similar field. Holyoke is a college town.
roddy
What’s the issue? As long as the student is over the legal age, ie, an adult and NOT in any of his classes, I see nothing wrong.
TMBisAOK
Queerty is clutching it’s pearls so tight I think it cut oxygen off to your brain! You’ve lost you GD mind over this! Have you been infiltrated by the right!?
DavidIntl
It is really quite frustrating that Queerty is piling on here. As long as none of those guys were current students of his, he had no power over them and did absolutely nothing wrong, legally or morally. It is extremely common – and in fact not a violation of most university guidelines on the subject – for teachers to have relationships with students at the institution, as long as they are not their students. I know many, many happy long-term couples that started exactly that way.
DCFarmboy
University policy say no bopping any of the students if you teach a class.
DavidIntl
Sorry, DCFarmboy – you have said it repeatedly here, but you are not correct. I looked up the school’s policy, and it is similar to that at many other institutions:
“faculty are prohibited from entering into a sexual relationship with any student or postdoc for whom the faculty member has any responsibility for supervision, evaluation, grading, advising, employment, or other instructional or supervisory activity”
If the students were not in his class, and it seems they weren’t, then he has every right to date them. In fact there are some college towns where it would be almost impossible to avoid dating students if you are a young, single professor, since in some places there is basically no one other than students in the town. Certainly if you open up a dating or hookup app in any Midwestern US college town, you get a very high percentage of students.
Saps48
This is a problem in the current academic climate when Twitter responder says “You violated the basic charge of academic labor, which is creating a safe workplace & learning environment” which until recently has not been the basic charge of academia.
Until the current ultra-sensitive climate, college was a place for students to mature and grow and face challenges and counter-positions, where one learns to argue for and against theories, ideas, dogma, concepts and doctrines and becomes an articulate and mature participant in the democratic process. (Whew!)
Today’s coddled mindset cannot brook any deviation from their previously formed or newly formed opinions, thus the need for “safe spaces” and uniform thought.
It is really just another symptom of the current zeitgeist, but these kids are the future leaders and policy makers. Good luck…!
dinard38
Yeah, I agree with everyone else. This is straight up BS!!! This has nothing to do with the #meToo movement, and shame on Queerty for making that comparison.
I’ve read the university’s policy, and it states that faculty can’t have sexual relationships with students whom the faculty member has any responsibility for supervision, evaluation, grading, advising, employment, or other instructional or supervisory activity. As of miss, it is not clear whether or not he had sex with a student taking his course. I would hope that he not be that careless. But you know…..when you’re horny…you don’t always make the best decision.
What I don’t understand…..and what irks me….is him apologizing. If he didn’t do anything wrong, why apologize??? He made himself look kind of guilty when he did that.
Regardless, he won’t be winning this campaign. The damage has been done.
firstecho
exactly. and its a shame since hes clearly a smart guy and a rising star. too bad he dared to want to get laid via Grindr. What a degenerate.
MichTKH
I don’t want to quibble over the exact language in the university’s policy or the nature of his relationship with these students as a lecturer: what he did was wrong – period. Crying “Homophobia!” in this situation is applying a double standard.
firstecho
Its not “quibbling” over the exact language. Its the entire intent of the policy. Theres no power imbalance here- to prevent implict or explicit situations of “sleep with me or you fail”. Him being a lecturer- someone with no power over grades or supervision- is whats important. If he approached them for sex in the classroom- clearly inappropriate regardless of his role. BUT. THATS. NOT. WHAT. HAPPENED. Dont take away the agency of these ADULTS who are students, who spoke with another adult on a dating and hookup app. Theres no threat of punishment or retaliation if they said no in this situation.
Kangol2
@firstecho, lecturers at most American colleges and universities do hand out grades if they are leading a course. They also may supervise students.
Why do you keep saying they don’t? Have you set foot on a university campus in the last 10 years? I can assure you lecturers do both, and if he was supervising any of these young men in any capacity, he should have slept with them, no matter how horny he was. Also, this is not a new policy; some universities began instituting such policies 25-30 years ago because of various harassment cases and sexual scandals.
If he was sleeping with consenting adult students at schools he was not teaching at or not in his division, department or courses, more power to him.
Ronbo
@Kangol2 It was investigated and closed by the University – without prosecution. What agenda are you pushing here?
Kangol2
@Ronbo, I’m pushing no agenda. I am responding to your and others’ comments about U. Mass Amherst lecturers, since you have no clue about academic teaching ranks there or elsewhere or, for that matter, how university investigations unfold. As I have stated more than once on here, based on easily searchable facts, lecturers do teach and hand out grades. They also may mentor students.
An August 10, 2020 WWLP.com 22 News article I viewed today says that “The University of Massachusetts Amherst has launched an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behavior against 1st congressional district candidate and Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse.” So the investigation has not concluded. Second, the article says that university policy is that “faculty are prohibited from entering into a sexual relationship with any student or post-doc for whom the faculty member has any responsibility for supervision, evaluation, grading, advising, employment, or other instructional or supervisory activity.” So if Mayor Morse was having consensual sex with students who fit none of those categories, he’s fine. If any of the students he was sleeping who fit those categories, it would be a problem were he still employed at the university.
More fundamentally, though, the article notes that Morse taught “Urban Government and Politics…in Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Spring 2018, Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015, Spring 2015, and Fall 2014.” He taught the course, he gave out grades, he may have mentored students in that class. It’s not that hard to grasp. One does not need “an agenda” to understand that.
Ronbo
@Kangol2 Morse was investigated and cleared by the University – without prosecution. Odd that you keep making false statements against a gay man.
tameron1
The optics here are just plain bad regardless of whether his sex partners were consensual or not. He needs to graciously bow out of the race and his political position. Personally, I think he makes LGBTQ people look bad, period.
HollandChrlstopher
That one person on Twitter is correct in that it’s not the issue of age or consent, but it isn’t the student-teacher dynamic either: It’s America’s obsession with sex. I’ve been living in Holland for the past year and suspect in much of Europe it wouldn’t get more than a passing glance. This bloggers labelling of consenting adults as “victims” isn’t just farcical, but dangerous. It endangers the livelihoods of adults, and does a disservice to actual victims. They are adults. They consented. What is it with the English speaking worlds habit of treating college age adults as children who need to be coddled? If there is a victim here it’s the accomplished 31 year old who has had his consensual sex life broadcast to the world and will forever be labelled a predator. In a era that romanticizes and fetishizes victimhood, it’s not surprising that some 20 year old’s have jumped at the opportunity to attach the label to themselves, months – maybe even years – after the fact.
Imwiththedogs
The thing people are overlooking, the guy is on Grindr, Tinder and Instagram. They’re connection sites, especially Grindr. If they didn’t want to sleep with him, all they had to do is say no. A bunch of homophobes’ and judgmental people!
DCFarmboy
The policy is designed to also prevent a student from deciding, “I’m gonna let this teacher have my 18 year old ass and then sign up to take his course and get an ‘A'”
pride777
Damn! I was considering running for president of the home owner association, but I guess that would put my partner and I in an unequal power position and we would have to stop having sex.
trsxyz
Haa-haa!!
AZ71
This entire issue is absurd. They are all consenting adults on various gay dating sites. And we cant ignore his age. He’s been accused of this during his age range of 25-31yo. College age kids are 18-26 too. Look where he is too! He works and lives near campus so anyone within 5 miles is going to pop up as his options. Unless he saw one of his students online and forced him to have sex to get a grade….there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with this. What is he supposed to do with every Grindr chat or Tinder connection?….Ask…oh I’m sorry. Are you a student at this university of 50k students? If you are I cant talk to you.
WSnyder
Would it be wrong for a gay man to have sex with some he meet on Grindr? No, of course not. Would the same apply to a Gay Mayor? No, BUT it does pose a risk of being exploited. Does it apply to a Political figure who gives College Lectures? No but again there’s a risk [see above]. What if someone who replies on Grindr turns out to be a student where he ‘Lectures’? The risk increases significantly if the student is known to him. However, a Mayor, giving lectures at a College, propositions a student? Sorry but in my book that’s forbidden fruit AND stupidly exposes the Mayor to political fall-out, if for no other reason is that he REPRESENTS his community as a Lecturer at said College.
People who are figures of authority have to be better than everyone else about understanding the Optics of situations, even IF that situation is not necessarily ‘illegal’ or ‘immoral’. Public perception is a thing, even IF it’s not FAIR. So a given situation, even if not illegal, still can have consequences, even if they really shouldn’t. But’s that the price of being a Public Servant. If a person in or seeking a political office doesn’t understand or want to accept that, too bad. That’s the ‘political reality’, that’s part of the cost you have to pay.
If, as a Politician, you want to change the ‘standards’ and steer public perception to become more lenient, best to do it while standing on firm ground and with a popular standing, NOT while you’re embroiled in a controversy of your own making.
wikidBSTN
OR – maybe – he should show some spine and leadership and call it for the BS that it is. If it is “unfair” as you say and it is about optics – then he should stand up for himself and put it in the “correct” light. I’m glad he is not caving to what amounts to a shrill, knee-jerk reaction to a political smear job.
dhmonarch89
is there a difference between professor and lecturer? When I think of lecturer, it’s someone who shows up on campus occasionally to lecture- they don’t give out grades, so the dynamic would be different.
DCFarmboy
He was hired to teach a class on a class-by-class contract, of which lasted five years.
Kangol2
As DCFarmboy says, a lecturer often is hired per course or on a longer term contract and thus or may have a more permanent position that is non-tenure track/non-tenurable. There are lecturers who lead courses, run programs, serve as program chairs and directors, etc. In all cases, they might teach and supervise undergraduate (and possibly graduate) students.
wikidBSTN
This is ridiculous – he was a lecturer – not a professor. He had no power over those students and he did not create an unsafe environment for anyone.
Funny (not really) how this comes out one week before the first debate and with insufficient time for UMASS to complete an investigation.
dannyboi2
Exactly… much to do about nothing. Still, I question his judgment thou, he’s a bit loose and careless knowing good and well appearances are everything in politics.
DCFarmboy
He did give out grades.
masterwill7
Are you his personal b sher DCFarmboy??? You seem te be doing a lot of work to make him look bad, as if you know anything about it! But let’s be clear, you do not.. You are just being annoying, now off you go….
Kangol2
@wikiBSTN, lecturers at most American colleges and universities do hand out grades if they are leading a course.
vancouverdoug
This is annoying. These were not his students who he was giving grades to. I was waiting for that to come up and nothing. The only way this is a story is if he did what has been going on for the history of colleges, giving a good grade if you sleep with the professor.
mrdarcy
“Morse had connected with them on Tinder, Grindr, and Instagram, sending them suggestive DMs and, in some cases, propositioning them for sex following campus events.” Right, so the “students” who are adults are already trawling Tinder and Grindr looking for sex. Hint: Being suggestive and proposition are all part of the Grindr hookup Hunt. Seriously? This is some next level Victorian morality shit.
hotdogla
professors sleeping with students is not okay, or doctors sleeping with patients, or flight crew sleeping with passengers, bosses with subordinates.
Ronbo
It was investigated by the University and closed without action. Clutch your pearls somewhere else.
badamsthies
Wait let me get this straight (pun intended): he had consensual sex with other men; those other men were not in his classes; those other men were not working for him; he did not hold power over any of the men he slept with or propositioned?
And then, college students are now upset that he had consensual sex; that he hit on them and they had to say not interested? And then, college students want to pretend to be adults by claiming they had to do what adults do: say not interested?
This is a non-story that wreaks of (homo)sex-negativity.
leo1008
“Some might argue that it’s not really up to him to decide if he “took advantage” of his alleged victims. It’s kinda up to them to determine how his actions made them feel.”
Who are the “some” under discussion? Is Queerty actually written by conservatives? or by extreme Leftists? on some issues it’s hard to see the difference.
Anyway, my own perspective: gay people already face tremendous problems with loneliness, and, despite advances that have been made (such as legalized same-sex marriage) it really and truly does remain difficult for a lot, if not most, gay people to find a level of interaction (sexual or otherwise) that others simply take for granted.
So, unless there is an extremely clear example of abuse (not something that “some” may interpret that way), reporting on this type of situation may in fact be actively harming the people that this website should be helping.
Eric R. Wilson
At the very least, this is a moral and ethical breach of decency. Teachers don’t sleep with students. Period.!! Maybe it needs to be tapped out in Morse code – but the predator needs to drop out of the race AND resign from Holyoke’s mayoralty.
DavidIntl
Quite incorrect. Teachers sleep with students all the time, and there is nothing morally wrong with that. My partner was a student – at the same institution where I teach – when we first met. The issue is only when the teacher is in a position of power over the student. When we are talking about people in different fields whose professional lives will never cross paths, there is no legal or other issue whatsoever.
jlogb
DCFARMBOY like a broken record….. got a dog in the fight?? I say more power to him. Consent. Bang away.
Yooper
College isn’t what it used to be, a place to explore, learn, argue, experiment. I was lucky enough to have a few great awakenings via a Physics Professor twice my age and a strapping Priest from the campus Newman Center. Those were the days…..
linniejr
I’m sorry,
I don’t care how any one is trying to frame this, what he did was wrong. Whether or not he was their teacher/professor, there is a line that you just don’t cross. I’m a gay man, and I would call for this man to step down. The fact that he is a teacher means that he has a stricter degree of standards and ethics that he is held too. A few years ago, a classmate/dorm mate of my son’s came on to me. The young man was very attractive, but the fact that he stayed in the same dorm as my son, I wouldn’t have dared cross that line. His actions put all of us (us being gay men and women) in a bad light. I reemphasize, what he did was wrong and people were right to call for him to step down.
John
What if they met at a local gay watering hole one Saturday night and were attracted to each other and were enjoying each others company and in the realm of conversation one asked the other what they did? I go to xyz College and you? Funny, I teach at xyz College. Oops sorry we can’t hook up, gotta go so I can find someone before closing time- And this was even less formal than that, hook-up apps. As long as he is not a current student and whose major is outside of the instructors department it is fine. Both adults and in reality no “power” over since it is not “dick for dat”
mudgeguy
I’m gob smacked that Queerty actually posted a screen shot of a tweet that had a total of, wait for it, 5 likes, and then we’re supposed to believe there’s some kind of massive outrage. wtf have you wombats been sniffing?
Jim
When I went to college having an affair with a student was not uncommon.
Having sex with a college student is not wrong. Having sex with one of YOUR students is.
John
Agreed-
linniejr
Whether his student or not, he crossed if nothing else an ethical line that shouldn’t have been crossed. In his position, he is held to a higher standard. Now if he had these hook ups with students who did not attend the college where he worked, that’s different, but if they were, he went too far.
John
He met them on an app and that is what the apps are for. Given his age and the age of most college students they are within the realm of his dating pool. They were consensual AND while they may have been students on campus they don’t appear to be students in his classes.
winemaker
Who’s this guy and really who gives a rats ripe ass crack? Really is this news that some rising politico screwed someone he shouldn’t have banged/? But being a liberal, this isn’t surprising at all as the liberal mantra ‘do as i say and not as i do fits here. Again, who really cares?
mecmass
Who is the rocket scientist who wrote this article?
QUOTE: “Morse went on to imply that he believes the story is a politically motivated smear, as it broke just three weeks before his primary.
Then he tried saying an attack on him, as an openly gay man running for higher officer, is an attack on all LGBTQ people.
Um, except that most LGBTQ people don’t sleep with their subordinates.:
GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEAD: ALEX MORSE DID *NOT* SLEEP WITH ANY SUBORDINATES. Stop lying. Stop implying that he did. Stop promoting the smear campaign.
Sheesh! Do you work for Richard Neal’s campaign??!! Grrrrrrrrrrr
krandall
Personally, I think I need more facts f I were to have to make a judgment about the morality of this. Here’s one reason why: When I was teaching at a college in D.C. I was in the “Supply Closet” in one of the classroom buildings (Really, that’s what they called it because the room was so small.) when I looked up as a man entered. He was an adult student of mine. He smiled, closed and locked the door, walked over to me, sank to his knees, and began fumbling with my zipper. I was in such a state of shock and confusion that for a moment I didn’t know what to say or do.
I relay this incident, the only one of its kind in my teaching career, just to point out that in my case, had there been an incident to investigate (there wasn’t) it would need to be pointed out that the man was a married adult student who I suppose it could be argued assaulted me. I don’t judge what happened to Morse, but I find a number of questions come immediately to mind. Did he know that these were students? Were any or all of them currently in one of his classes? Who made the “first move”? Did any of the incidents occur on college property, and, does that make a difference legally. It may not make a difference morally, but I’m curious about the legal technicalities of the situation. I also wonder if any of these students received failing grades, or grades higher than they deserved. Were they exempted from any assignments?
Again, I am not taking sides here, because I don’t have enough info, but I know from living and working in D.C. and at the heart of the federal government, as well as on various political campaigns, that the damage has now been done. The little genie is out of his lamp and growing exponentially by the day.
One thing I find interesting on a political level (as in, Would I vote for this man or not?) is his statement use of the word “power”: “I have never used my position of power as ….” And he uses it more than once. Had I been he, or his political advisor, I would have advised he use the word “situation”, rather than the word “power”. If you go back and look at the comments above where he defends himself using the word power and replace it with the word situation, he comes across quite differently.
Another thought: In the several years I was a professor, no matter what the situation, I never once thought of myself as possessing any “power”. The very thought of that would strike any teacher I know as laugh-out-loud funny. I do, however, pay close attention to people running for office who are seeking power and who are trying to inflate their egos. I used to always write my bosses speeches using the first person plural, rather than the first person singular, so that s/he might, for example, say “We have an economic plan that we will believe will make your lives better,” rather than “I have an economic plan that I think will make your lives better.” Running for office, and even governing, is always a team effort. Presidents find that out fast when they announce a plan publicly without consulting their advisors and the RNC or DNC tell them they’ll have to find the funds for that plan on their own.
Power does corrupt. I have seen it first hand. It is why I left my “most important, powerful” job in the federal government. I could feel the toxicity of my position of power eating away at my soul. One small bite at a time.