Arizona: Explosive report claims drama professor accused of forcing student to undress onstage, watch porn

Time of India

a day ago

Arizona: Explosive report claims drama professor accused of forcing student to undress onstage, watch porn. (Pic credit: MCC website)
A shocking investigative report by the Arizona Republic has unveiled disturbing allegations against a drama professor at Mesa Community College, Mace Archer, 56, who is accused of coercing students to strip, flirting, and exposing them to pornography during class.
School officials have launched an investigation into the claims, though students assert their complaints were ignored for months before the probe.
According to the report, students in Archer's drama class maintained a shared file documenting two years of alleged "sexual depravity." This file reportedly contains over a dozen anonymous accusations.
Among the most unsettling allegations are claims that Archer coached a student to "dive into" her personal experience of sexual assault for performance purposes and, in another alleged incident, straddled a student during a "demonstration."
He is also accused of playing "orgy porn" videos for his students.
Most disturbingly, Archer is alleged to have coerced three female students, some of whom were still teenagers, into taking off their clothes on stage. Under the guise of "vulnerability exercises" for midterms, students were reportedly forced to strip down to their underwear or go completely nude in front of Archer and their classmates.
A student in Archer's class, told the Republic that the purpose of the midterm was for students to face their fears, not to end up nude.
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However, she and other female students claim Archer made it precisely about that.
"On the first day, two women stripped down to their underwear. The person who got naked was on the second day," the student recounted. "We all knew what to expect." She described the scene of one student stripping silently, "She was just silent. She just took her clothes off. People were kind of shocked, but it was silent. No music, no talking, nothing."
The student was one of approximately 16 students in a second-level acting class taught by Archer, which she said was intended to test the limits of students' fear.
While school officials would not confirm to the Arizona Republic whether encouraging or watching students undress in an acting class constituted an explicit policy violation, the publication noted that school rules prohibit "any unwelcome conduct that a reasonable person would find so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it denies a person equal educational access."
Administrators for Maricopa Community Colleges, the district overseeing Mesa Community College, declined interview requests from the Arizona Republic. Lindsey Wilson, a spokesperson for the district, said in a May 19 email, "Because this is an active personnel matter, we cannot provide specific details to protect the privacy of those involved." Wilson added, "Our colleges take any allegations of misconduct seriously and are committed to fostering a safe, respectful, and supportive environment for students, faculty, and staff," assuring that appropriate action would be taken based on the investigation's outcome.
The Mesa Police Department confirmed it is not currently investigating the accusations.