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The student who complained about an image he had shown dropped the class.
By SARAH SCHWEITZER
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 10, 1999
TAMPA -- University of South Florida officials have reinstated a teaching assistant who was reassigned to other duties after displaying a sexually explicit image to art students.
The teaching assistant, Derek Washington, was reinstated after the freshman who had complained about the image dropped out of the Introduction to Art class.
The image, titled "N----- screwing a white woman," shows Washington, who is African-American, having sex with a white woman.
The female student complained that the sexual nature of the photograph amounted to sexual harassment, prompting university officials to reassign Washington while they investigated. The reassignment sparked protests last week from students and professors.
Washington, a 38-year-old painter and sculptor, said Tuesday that his return to the classroom was met with applause and cheers.
"The truth of the matter is that the image was not that big of a deal. The class is one that deals with a lot of cutting edge issues in art," he said. Colette Glover-Hannah, a university spokeswoman, said policy required the Washington be removed after the sexual harassment complaint. The student's decision to drop out of the class, Glover-Hannah said, cleared the way for Washington's return.
Washington said he brought the image to class at the urging of professor Diane Elmeer, who was teaching students about controversial art, Glover-Hannah said.
University policies, she said, would not prevent him from showing it to the class again.