Sex scandal cover-up and forgery
On February 26, 2014, two documents were leaked online disclosing an alleged blackmail attempt by Aguillard's former assistant, Joseph Cole. [3] [4] The first document, released minutes from an executive committee meeting of the Louisiana College Board of Trustees, contends that Cole threatened to leak "office secrets" to The Alexandria Daily Town Talk or Save Our Louisiana College unless the college paid him $25,000 cash plus overtime pay and benefits. [5] Cole claimed that Aguillard forged signatures on official SACS documents, abused pain medications, and had knowledge of an incident in a hotel room involving Cole, pornography, and two Louisiana College male college freshmen prior to his hiring of Cole as his executive assistant. [6]
The second document contained the college's agreement to pay Cole the $25,000; in exchange, Cole was to sign a non-disclosure agreement with the college. [7] The document contains a letter from the Armour Law Firm, which then represented Louisiana College. This document confirms Cole's claims that Aguillard had forged multiple signatures on official SACS documents and had hindered an internal investigation into the matter. [7] When Aguillard, who had previously recused himself from the matter, insisted that Armour immediately surrender all of the information pertaining to the Joseph Cole dispute, the law firm decided not to renew its contract with Louisiana College and wrote:
Several of the signature pages of reports which were provided as part of the College's report to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools were significant in that they called into question the authenticity of signatures, including thouse of Tim Whitman, Peggy Pack, Dr. Charles Quarles, and Michael Travers. The Vice President Evaluation of Dr. Michael Travers was even post-dated "May 10, 2011," but was sent to SACS on March 1, 2011. Further, evaluations by Dr. Searcy were stamp dated for 2009-2010 before he was even employed at Louisiana College ... Dr. Aguillard rescinded his decision to recuse himself from the Joseph Cole issue and demanded the Joseph Cole file from the Armour Law Firm and Dr. Tim Searcy ... In my opinion, for me to comply with Dr. Aguillard's written and verbal demand to release him documentation concerning the examination of the allegations against Dr. Aguillard is inappropriate...given the circumstances such as those outlined in this letter, I do not believe that I can continue to represent Louisiana College.
— Bonita Armour, Leaked LC Documents [7]
Forced Resignation
Though Aguillard originally remained president-emeritus and a faculty member after he was forced to resign the Louisiana College presidency, he was finally terminated from both positions [9] and stripped of the president-emeritus title in the spring of 2016 following an evaluation by the school's board of trustees. [10] In September 2016, Aguillard filed suit in the 9th Judicial District Court in Alexandria to seek damages for "civil conspiracy" involving breach of contract, assault and battery, and emotional distress. The defendants include Louisiana College, Aguillard's permanent presidential successor Rick Brewer, private investigator Don Benton Connor Sr., and the insurance underwriting firm RSUI Indemnity Company. [11] An out-of-court settlement was believed to have been pending in December 2016. [12]
Then in late May 2017, Louisiana College filed a civil suit seeking unspecified damages for defamation against former President Aguillard, [13] who it alleges "engaged in a regular and pervasive campaign to undercut" the institution including "ghostwriting faculty member grievances" against the administration. The suit cites an "anonymous package" reportedly circulated by Aguillard of "derogatory statements" about the college. Individual plaintiffs include Louisiana College president Rick Brewer and Cheryl Clark, whom Aguillard accused of having illegally changed the final grades of more than "a dozen nursing students." [9]
