• Hazing Deaths Database:
  • Blog
  • Storytelling
  • Bio
  • High School Sexual Hazing Incidents
  • Campus Speaker: Hazing & Binge Drinking
  • Hank Nuwer: selected media coverage
  • World Hazing Incidents
  • “Hazing,” “Sons of the Dawn,” “Legend of Jesse Owens”

Hank Nuwer's Hazing Scholarship Site

Follow me on Social Media

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Good and bad news at Franklin College: Kerry Prather in as acting prez; Thomas Minar out in disgrace after police sting

January 15, 2020 By Hank Nuwer Leave a Comment

All: Here is some good and bad news from Franklin College, my employer where I have loved working almost 18 years.  Athletic director Kerry Prather, a very capable FC administrator, has agreed to serve as acting president of FC while a national search for a president is underway.

Former President Thomas Minar was fired for cause from Franklin College and also terminated from the board of trustees at Pomona College. Here is the story written by my journalism student at FC late last night.

Personally, I am quite sad over the downfall of the former president and hope he can find a second chance in life to redeem himself. I can find nothing to condone in Minar’s behavior toward a supposed online minor male allegedly exposed by a Sturgeon Bay (WI) undercover police officer. Like my colleagues, I hope Mr. Minar can get counseling, and I fully support the American legal concept that a person is innocent until a court pronounces a guilty verdict. I also support full public transparency as the investigation proceeds by police, Franklin College, and possibly Pomona College.

However, I believe the Franklin College and Pomona College board of trustees did the right thing by dismissing him given the disturbing nature of the alleged circumstances and presumed age of intended victim. Moreover, I can only hope that Minar’s downfall doesn’t reflect badly on Franklin College or  other LGBT college presidents.

In the meantime, like all other employees at Franklin, my first duty is to make sure FC students get through this scandal and get counseling from our staff when and if needed. The Sturgeon County (WI) police have not yet charged Minar with any crimes due to an “ongoing investigation” that presumably will include a search of his computer files. Minar repeatedly has cited that he is married to Dr. Frank Becker, an academic physician at Northwestern University and director of pulmonary and critical care at Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital.

Except from the Franklin.  Disclosure: The author Taylor Wooten is one of my fine FC journalism students. Hank Nuwer

Following his recent arrest and termination from Franklin College, former President Thomas J. Minar has been removed from the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, Pomona College in California.

The news was announced in an email sent out to the Pomona College community on Monday. In the email, Board of Trustees secretary Christina Ciambriello explains that Minar, who had been on the board since 2018, has been removed.

Minar was arrested in Wisconsin on Jan. 6 on charges that include use of a computer to facilitate a sex crime, child enticement and exposing a child to harmful materials or narrations. He was released from custody on a $7,500 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 17.

To end the statement, Ciambriello addresses the severity of the issue by offering resources to the students at Pomona College.

“As authorities investigate in Wisconsin, we acknowledge that this kind of information can be deeply troubling,” said Ciambriello. “On our campus, please do not hesitate to access help through our Title IX Office, Monsour Counseling and additional resources if you have been affected by this news.”

On Tuesday, it was announced that, effective immediately, former Director of Athletics, Kerry Prather, will act as the College’s acting president.

“The team-first mentality that has served Kerry tremendously well in the athletic realm for more than three decades will be an asset to his role as acting president of Franklin College,” Chair of the Board of Trustees, James Due, said.

Thomas Minar

In June 2019, Minar announced that he would be stepping down as president after the 2019-20 school year. Since that announcement, Franklin College has hired national recruitment agency Isaacson Miller to assist in the search for the college’s 17th president.

 

Filed Under: Hazing News

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Contact Inquiries

Hank Nuwer

Correspondence: Hank Nuwer at Hnuwer@hanknuwer.com   Phone number upon request.  Available presentations USA, … Email to book a date.

Sons of the Dawn

Sons of the Dawn: A Basque Odyssey: Hank's novel is for teens 11-18 but also meant to be enjoyed by … Read More

Hazing Deaths Database:

… Read More

Tallahassee police label December FSU fraternity death an accident, not hazing. Deaths involve FSU SAE and Sig Ep.

Here is the story link The death of a popular Florida State University student found unresponsive inside the Sigma Phi Epsilon house in December has been determined accidental, according to an autopsy released late Tuesday. The District Two Medical Examiner’s Office said the death of William Eppes Proctor, 22, was due to “right epidural hematoma due to […]

Pullman Police Chief Jenkins drops the ball in Big-Little death.

The police chief missed the deadline to post hazing charges. Shame on Pullman Police and the Prosecutor for letting the one-year statute of limitations expire in the “Big-Little” death of Sam Martinez, a travesty, at Washington State’s Alpha Tau Omega house. “We had our eyes on a potential more serious offense, that was manslaughter, and […]

Death of a rookie at Lyon College

The bruised body of James Gilfedder is undergoing an autopsy at this time while his teammates continue to play.   Gilfedder’s parents told Arkansas media that their son’s body was battered, and he consumed a fifth of alcohol at a team “hazing party.”  Police are waiting for autopsy results before commenting.  Media said the house […]

Another 2020 close call — TCU

Moderator: This is the same university that had injured pledges in September 2020: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article218683030.html Benton McDonald  -INCIDENT #2.  So similar to death of Nicky Cumberland at University of Texas–Moderator January 28, 2021 TCU placed a fraternity on probation after a hazing investigation revealed that students involved in a car crash last November had been sent […]

Archives


Hank Nuwer's Hazing Scholarship Site is proudly powered by WordPress