WHITEWATER, Wis. – The chancellor for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater said he will return to campus Monday after being cleared of allegations of sexual misconduct. Chancellor Dwight Watson had been on paid leave during a system-level UW investigation. Watson had been accused by a student he befriended by inviting invited the student, his son and his son’s mother to live with him in 2014 when he was a dean at the University of Northern Iowa. After the student graduated, the man told Northern Iowa officials that Watson had sexually harassed him. The university cleared Watson. On unrelated matters, the man went to prison. Meanwhile, Watson became provost at Southwest Minnesota State. When the man was released from prison, Watson invited him to live with him again. When Watson took over at UW-Whitewater, he and the man moved to Whitewater. This September the man renewed his accusations. Accused again, Watson told UW investigators that he had wanted to give the man a stable home. A number of UW System officials were aware that the man was living with Watson. Several UW administrators attested that they were aware of the relationship, which they said was nonsexual and that the man had become unstable because he wasn’t taking his medication.
