The pride of Ball State University is walking the streets of Muncie, not behind bars and still getting a paycheck.
For 21 years, tenured associate professor George Mundrake has taught students while having a history of calling 911 dispatchers while drunk. Arrested on April 26, Mundrake's drinking history roared to a crescendo after he was charged with sexually assaulting a student, who sat in a car bleeding from his face after the incident, according to 911 and Muncie police officials.
So why does he still have a job after all his history?
The university has to care about the safety of its students with a professor such as this on staff.
If nothing is done, it only gives future professors a green light to be belligerent. Imagine taking a class with Mundrake if the university doesn't fire him. You could be listening to his lecture while thinking of how he was charged with assaulting a fellow student, or maybe of his silly mug shot. At least another professor proctored his final so students didn't have to go through that.
The university has to set an example and nip this problem in the bud. What Mundrake did was stupid, but if the university keeps him here, they are equally at fault.
Mundrake is set to teach classes for the second session of Summer Semester, but he really doesn't need to be here. He could be a shining example of Education Redefined if he did teach. Students could be taught by someone who police say sexually assaulted a student.
Mundrake was released on $7,000 bond and is on a non-disciplinary suspension, but he still gets paid. Now, the university has to go through an involved bureaucratic process to do the correct and easy thing.
Mundrake has to have a conference with the dean of the Miller College of Business. Within 30 days, the dean can recommend to the provost whether to keep or get rid of Mundrake. Afterward, the case could go before the Provost, University Senate's Judicial Committee and the Board of Trustees.
Mundrake has a history of calling 911 dispatchers drunk, Randy Wiggins, 911 communications supervisor said. And it's not that people should not be given a second chance.
It's a question of whether people deserve a third, fourth or fifth chance at screwing up.
And if he has had a history of acting out with alcohol, maybe he has a history of other illegal activity as well.
The professor is charged with four misdemeanor charges: criminal mischief, resisting law enforcement, public intoxication and battery. His pretrial conference is May 22, and Mundrake could go to prison up to a year if convicted on all four charges.
Tony Proudfoot, associate vice president for marketing and communications, said this was offensive to the university, but denied to comment on where
Mundrake was in this process of the bureaucracy. The answer is as simple as pulling off a band-aid. Fire him so students can relax for the rest of the summer and not have to worry about him.
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