WESTERN MASS. –  A report from the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) has declared Holyoke Mayor and former congressional candidate Alex Morse innocent of accusations of inappropriate relationships with students.    

Morse, who ran against and was defeated by long term Congressman Richard Neal during the September 2020 Massachusetts primary election, was accused of abusing his power while teaching at the university to engage in relationships with students. The accusations first came to light in a letter published by the college newspaper, The Daily Collegian, by the College Democrats of Massahcusetts on Aug. 7, just weeks before the primary election.

One day after the article was published, UMass released a statement outlining their policy regarding relationships between faculty and students, and said they would be conducting an investigation into Morse’s interaction with students. The findings of the lengthy and thorough report were released to the public on Jan. 13.

While Morse admitted to having consensual relationships with local college students in a statement on Aug. 9, he said he had never used his position of power as mayor or as an adjunct professor to do so. He then went on to apologize for anyone that may have been made uncomfortable by their interaction.

The report, which was conducted and prepared by Saul Ewing Arnstein and Lehr, LLP, begins first by outlining the allegations against Morse. It read, “The College Democrats’ email raised three central allegations: (1) Morse regularly matched with its members and other students on dating apps such as Tinder and Grindr; (2) Morse used College Democrats events to meet college students and to later connect with them via social media in a manner that made the students uncomfortable; and (3) Morse had sexual contact with college students including UMass Amherst students.”

Over the course of the investigation a total of 11 potential witnesses were contacted with eight providing testimony and cooperating with the investigation. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the report said the witnesses “were interviewed via videoconference.” The witnesses, to respect their privacy and identity, were identified as witness one through eight throughout the report and were made up of a pool of students, UMass Democrats members and alumni.

The report outlined that as new students enrolled in both UMass and the UMass Democrats, “they learned of Morse’s reputation within UMass Democrats from upperclassmen and alumni who maintained contact with the group.” The report states in 2018 Witness Two had Morse identified as a potential “match” on their dating app, leading them to deduce “that Morse’s age preference was set low enough to capture the then-18-year-old Witness Two.”

While that student didn’t match with Morse on the dating app, the report said another student “revealed that Morse was known to match with UMass students, some as young as 18 years old on Tinder and other social media applications.”

“Student B also revealed that he personally matched with Morse on Tinder while he was a student in Morse’s class or soon after the class ended,” the report stated. The report also went on to state that while “no witnesses report having heard anyone express discomfort with Morse’s conduct prior to the fall of 2019, the general consensus among UMass Democrats students, past and present, was that, at the very least, More’s conduct was “weird,” in that his having engaged in dating and sexual relationships with university students was, according to witnesses, an open secret.”

However, Witness Four indicated in the report that during their time at UMass from 2015 to 2018 while he knew of two students who matched with Morse on the dating app, “the communications between these students and Morse never escalated to in-person meetings or sexual contact.”

Additionally, another example provided in the report discussed when Witness One recognized Morse after he attended a College Democrats’ event in the previous spring, “during which the two participated jointly in a discussion.”

After matching with Morse on Tinder and exchanging “a couple of messages over a few days, Witness One sent Morse a photo from the event where they first met and asked of Morse, ‘Now, do you remember me?’” Following that exchange, the report said Morse replied ‘yes’ and “promptly un-matched with Witness One.”

The report, which is a total of 32 pages long and consists of photos of conversations and social media interactions, ultimately said that while Morse admitted to pursuing consensual relationships “with students he met using dating apps,” there was “insufficient evidence of Morse having engaged in such conduct with students for whom he had grading, supervisory or employment responsibility,” as outlined in the university’s rule.

It continued, “Further, while the evidence supports a finding that a number of students, including those who Morse engaged with on social media, were made uncomfortable by Morse’s conduct, there is insufficient evidence that Morse unreasonably interfered with any student’s academic performance or with a student’s ability to participate in university programs or activities as is required by the University’s sexual harassment policy.”

While Morse did not break any rules regarding the university’s policies surrounding sexual harassment and relationships with students, the report left “for the university’s leadership to assess whether Morse’s pursuit of dating or sexual relationships with students, while not violative of the text of existing policies, conflicts with the university’s general expectations for the conduct of its employees, including those requiring employees to conduct themselves in a manner that accords respect to themselves and others.”

Morse, who maintained his innocence throughout the allegations, released a statment alongside a news article outlining the findings via Facebook on Jan. 14.?

He said, “As I expected, the UMass investigation confirms what I’ve said since this began:?that I?have never violated Title?IX or any UMass employment policy.?I?hope this lays to rest the unnecessary and invasive intrusion into my personal life.”

He continued, “If I?have anything, it’s my integrity.?And I can’t quite explain in words the impact this has had on me in recent months.”

Morse said he intended to continue to use his job “to help my city and it’s people” until his last day as mayor and believed that politics didn’t need to “get personal and sometimes destructive.” He added,?“I’ve always believed in a politics worthy of the people we fight for.”