Sciences Po director steps aside after domestic violence arrest

The director of Sciences Po, Mathias Vicherat, has temporarily stepped aside after he was interviewed by police over domestic violence allegations.

Mr Vicherat and his former partner were detained by police on 3 December after each accused the other of domestic violence, Le Monde reported; they were released the following day. Students demanded Mr Vicherat’s resignation over the allegations, which he denies, with up to 100 protestors staging a sit-in at Sciences Po’s main campus in Paris.

In a letter sent to staff and students on 11 December, Mr Vicherat says: “I have suggested to the president of the National Foundation for Political Sciences, Laurence Bertrand Dorleac, that I temporarily step away from my functions according to terms, a timeline and a duration of her choosing.”

Denying “the acts of violence that have been reported in the press and on social media”, he continued, “I would like to stress that, following our time in custody, no complaint was filed, no measure of judicial supervision or restraining order issued.”

Mr Vicherat became director of Sciences Po in November 2021 following the February resignation of his predecessor Frédéric Mion, who admitted to knowing about child abuse allegations against the then-chairman of the university’s governing board, political scientist Olivier Duhamel, and failing to act upon them. Professor Duhamel resigned from the board after his stepdaughter alleged in a memoir that he had sexually abused her twin brother.

Hundreds of Sciences Po students went onto share their own experiences of rape and sexual abuse on the social network X, under the hashtag #sciencesporcs (“science pigs”), alleging endemic abuse at the institution and a failure of staff to address it.  After he was appointed director of Sciences Po, Mr Vicherat said combating sexist and sexual violence was an “absolute priority”.

In a statement released on social media, local and national branches of L’Union Etudiante, France’s student union, described Mr Vicherat’s temporary resignation as “insufficient and late”, saying the decision was unlikely to have been made had students not protested. The move would not resolve the “major crisis” embroiling Sciences Po, the union said, calling on Mr Vicherat to “set an example and take responsibility” by permanently resigning.

emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com