Hudson Valley Community College President Roger Ramsammy is on paid administrative leave and under investigation for sexual harassment.
HVCC has a temporary leader in place after the Board of Trustees placed Ramsammy on administrative leave Wednesday.
In a statement to WAMC, the board says it takes any misconduct claims seriously. WNYT first reported on the allegation by a college staff member. The college in Troy says Louis Coplin, the recently retired vice president of student affairs, will be officer-in-charge until the matter is resolved.
Ramsammy's personal attorney calls the misconduct claim baseless, saying the educator "has always, without exception, conducted himself professionally and respectfully with all employees at all times." The board says it hopes to conclude the matter as soon as possible. Democrat Peter Grimm of District 1 is the Rensselaer County Legislature Minority Leader.
"It's a distraction right now, and we have to keep doing business as business should be done," said Grimm. "But also, I think it's the right thing to do whether there's investigation. Certainly, people are innocent until proven guilty. But if there is a case that there is any truth to this, we certainly wouldn't want a person in a position that has any intimidation factor or anything on any of the staff."
Republican Troy Mayor Carmella Mantello says the allegation comes as a surprise: "Certainly the investigation, you know, will take its course. I love the president, I love what he's doing and I just hope you know that it ends up in a good spot," Mantello said.
Ramsammy, chosen as HVCC's seventh president in 2017, serves on several regional boards and commitees. According to the college's website he "has earned numerous awards for leadership, effective and inventive teaching, online instruction and academic program development." University at Albany President Havidán Rodríguez spoke about Ramsammy at an event in April: "President Ramsammy is defining how a community college can meet the needs of its community by expanding what community means. A community college need not limit its ambitions based on its geography," said Rodríguez.
Ramsammy was recently credited with HVCC's becoming the first community college in the United States to join the United Nations’ Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training Network, also known as TVET. Under the program, international students will be able to receive work skills training they can then use to train workers in their home countries.
"We call it ‘train the trainers program,’ OK? And that’s what it is. We bring them, and they’re not doing a degree, we’re doing skilled-trades short-term training," said Ramsammy. A native of Trinidad, he was the first in his family to attend college and prior to arriving in Troy held academic and administrative leadership positions at community colleges in Florida and Virginia.
"Hudson Valley has always been one of the schools in the New York system that has always maintained a very high level of programs. In fact, when you look on some of the major sites and you look at the some of the top programs, they actually are at Hudson Valley Community College. So they are a very good example of school, a school that has been doing it right for many, many years," Ramsammy said.
Reached for comment, Republican state Senator Jake Ashby of the 43rd district called the allegations deeply disturbing.
