The Chronicle of Higher Education reports today that Robert A. Paxton, President of Iowa Central Community College, resigned this week after this picture was published in The Des Moines Register (the former president is the one holding the spigot of a mini-keg over the young woman’s mouth):
The picture in question is of a boat party on an Iowa lake, about 100 miles from the community college’s Fort Dodge campus. The scene is not exactly a modern version of Renoir’s famous "Luncheon of the Boating Party," although both depict young women imbibing alcohol.
Mr. Paxton, 52, is handling a small Coors Light keg being held over the woman’s mouth. Nearby, another woman appears to be tipping a bottle of vodka.
After circulating around Fort Dodge, the photograph eventually arrived at the state’s flagship newspaper, The Register.
Mr. Paxton initially defended himself when questioned by a reporter, saying he never actually opened the keg’s tap.
"The thing didn’t work," he said. "If I was doing anything, I was grabbing it and trying to put it back down."
None of those drinking at the party were underage, said Mr. Crimmins, and neither of the young women in the photo were students. Mr. Paxton’s son, John, is in the picture. The senior Mr. Paxton said his son, a student at the college, was not drinking on the boat. But in another damaging revelation, the newspaper reported that John Paxton was arrested and charged with drunk driving the day after the picture was taken. He has pleaded not guilty. …
In his comments to The Register, Mr. Paxton said that he was not drinking the day of the boat party and that his detractors were intruding into his private life. "A girl takes a picture on a boat and somehow somebody gets hold of it and runs it up the flagpole," he said. "I mean, you could be in the same situation. Any of us could."
It is probably a stretch to say that a newspaper would publish an embarrassing photograph of the average citizen. But for college presidents, the risk is real.
Press and blogosphere coverage:
(Hat Tip: Jim Maule.)
