Robert Paxton, President of Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, Iowa, was removed from his post by the Board of Trustees. They unanimously approved his resignation after a heated debate over a beer party photo that was taken on July 4th.
Paxton, 13 years on the job, was photographed aboard a boat with a group of partying young people. He is seen opening the spigot of a beer keg and holding over the open mouth of a young woman. The photo was leaked to the Des Moines Register and published by them.
Paxton told school officials that all of the people in the boat were old enough to drink. It turns out his 19 year old son was also on the boat and ended up getting arrested for second offense drunken driving early the next morning. Paxton says his son did not drink on the boat.
Days after the photo was taken, and before things escalated, Paxton signed a new contract which guaranteed him a hefty compensation package. Under the agreement, he will received $400,000 to be paid in two installments in January 2009 and January 2010.
In 2002 Paxton was indicted on charges of felonious misconduct in office, including falsification and tampering with public records. The case dealt with student athletes being awarded false grades. The charges ended up being deferred after he took responsibility for the transcript fraud.
Check out photo below.
Source: desmoinesregister.com