Ringling College fires dean after students, alumni complain about his behavior

Ringling College of Art and Design has fired a dean and promised changes to the school’s complaint process after receiving a flood of concerns about the dean’s behavior earlier this year.

In a letter to students on Thursday afternoon, college President Larry Thompson said the school had “ended” the employment of Christopher Shaffer, the associate dean of students for Residence Life. In his former position, Shaffer oversaw campus housing and the student employees who worked as resident assistants, or RAs.

Shaffer could not be reached for comment. His attorney, Derek Bernstein, declined to comment on Friday afternoon.

The Bradenton Herald first reported on the complaints in July, after a Ringling graduate shared her concerns on social media. Megan Ruiz made a post on Twitter, urging people to avoid Shaffer, and the message garnered more than 2,000 shares and dozens of comments.

Current and former students soon shared their own complaints with Ringling College. During an interview earlier this year, Ruiz said the college dean shared students’ private health information and that he referred to a transgender student as an “abomination.”

Another graduate said she was sexually assaulted by a fellow student and that Shaffer asked her “invasive and blaming questions.” A mother also described the former dean as “demeaning” and “inappropriate.”

“We investigated about two dozen reports received through July 20,” Thompson said in Thursday’s letter. “Another nearly two dozen reports were received after July 21 that have been reviewed but not yet fully investigated.”

“Although there was no evidence of either violations of law by Mr. Shaffer or any issues of physical harm to students in any of these reports, there were behaviors described by complainants that do not reflect Ringling College’s values as an institution,” the letter continued.

Ringling aknowledged the host of complaints against Shaffer, but it seems his firing was less about the allegations and more about his decision to file a lawsuit against Ruiz. She responded in a prepared statement on Friday afternoon.

“This is all very scary, but I continue to have conviction to be a part of this,” she wrote. “I will stay strong. I’m not afraid of Chris Shaffer. I don’t want economically disadvantaged students, LGBTQ+ students, or students with disabilities or mental health conditions to continue to be mistreated.”

Lawsuit led to firing

As the internal review continued, Shaffer filed a lawsuit against Ruiz in early August, seeking more than $30,000 in damages for emotional distress, defamation of character and several other claims.

The lawsuit described recent complaints as an “anonymous recounting of ‘former students’ saying nasty and horrible things about Shaffer’s character and ethics.”

In a prepared statement on Aug. 25, Ruiz’s attorney said the lawsuit was “a clear attempt to bully Ms. Ruiz into silence in retaliation for her voicing legitimate concerns.”

Shaffer’s decision to sue the former student had a “chilling effect” and it led to his firing, according to Thursday’s letter from the school president.

“Although he had been informed that filing a lawsuit would likely be considered an interference with the investigation, he filed this lawsuit without our knowledge or consent, and we did not know about it until the later part of August,” the letter states.

“Ringling College has a strong and vested interest in ensuring a welcoming campus environment. One mechanism for fostering such an environment is to provide an effective conduit for anyone in the Ringling College community to raise issues and make complaints without fear of retaliation or retribution.”

President Thompson also outlined a plan to restructure the Office of Residence Life and the college’s process for receiving and handling complaints.

“The College will improve our communication with those who raise issues or file complaints and enhance our website to better outline the process for raising such concerns and to explain the follow-up that can be expected,” he wrote.

“While privacy policies and laws protect many details of the process and the outcome, we will work to do better to stay in contact with the complainant throughout the process and let the person know when any investigation has ended,” he continued.

In her statement, Ruiz said she was trying to effect positive change, and as a Ringling graduate with more than $150,000 in loan debt, she was concerned about the lawsuit and the financial repercussions. She was also concerned about the ongoing challenges at Ringling College.

“The College has pledged to make changes to their reporting system,” she said. “I hope that these changes will protect students in the future, but I’ll believe it when I see it. Shaffer did not act in a bubble. His behavior was allowed at the College for over 10 years. It’s very important to note that the College fired Shaffer because he filed a lawsuit with an Alumni, and not based off of the ‘dozens’ of reports submitted.”

This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 5:54 PM.