Report: Housatonic Community College professor placed on leave after giving Nazi salute during meeting

Economics Professor Charles Meyrick of Housatonic Community College has reportedly been placed on leave after giving the Nazi salute during a meeting of state college and university officials. Economics Professor Charles Meyrick of Housatonic Community College has reportedly been placed on leave after giving the Nazi salute during a meeting of state college and university officials. Photo: Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Buy photo Photo: Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Report: Housatonic Community College professor placed on leave after giving Nazi salute during meeting 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

BRIDGEPORT — A Housatonic Community College professor has been placed on leave after apparently giving the Nazi salute during a meeting of state college and university officials.

Mark Ojakian, president of Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, said he was horrified when staff told him about the incident.

“The reports of a faculty member’s outburst at a meeting last week, including the use of a Nazi salute, which required campus police to respond are appalling and unacceptable,” he said. “A number of faculty and staff who were present have reached out to me describing how they felt violated, unsafe, and shocked by what they experienced. This matter was immediately called to my attention and will be dealt with promptly and appropriately.”

According to a report from the Hartford Courant, Charles Meyrick, assistant professor of business and economics, “grew agitated, shouting during the discussion and eventually holding up his arm in a prolonged Nazi salute according to several faculty members who attended the meeting.”

The meeting was held to discuss aligning curriculum across the state’s community colleges, according to the report.

According to the Courant, “several faculty members said Meyrick’s agitation and anger are related to the controversy over the plans of (Mark) Ojakian and the Board of Regents for Higher Education (of which Ojakian is president) to eventually consolidate all 12 community colleges into a single statewide college.”

In July, the Board of Regents approved a plan to merge the state community colleges by 2023.

Ojakian disavowed the professor’s apparent actions.

“As I shared in a message to our CSCU community last week, this does not fit with our community’s culture and values, we must hold ourselves to a higher standard of civility, decency, and respect,” he said.