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NORMAL, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois State University Police report indicates former President Timothy Flanagan acknowledged yelling at an employee but denied he spat on or made contact with the man.
The Pantagraph in Bloomington (http://bit.ly/1h1iFk7) on Tuesday reported Flanagan, who resigned last month, voluntarily went to the ISU police Feb. 28 to talk about an alleged incident at the university-owned house he occupied. That was a day after superintendent of grounds Patrick Murphy made a report about a Dec. 5 incident.
Flanagan, who became ISU president in August, resigned days before being charged with a misdemeanor for an altercation with a grounds crew worker. Flanagan's lawyer has called the disorderly conduct charge unfounded.
The Pantagraph reports Flanagan told police Capt. Nichol Bleichner he yelled at an employee and shouldn't have. He then said he was seeking a lawyer.
Murphy was fired shortly after the incident and is seeking to get his job back. His attorney has asked ISU trustees to intervene on Murphy's behalf and "correct a serious wrong."
A female worker inside the Flanagan residence at the time of the incident, in a statement to police, described the tone of Flanagan's voice during the argument outside as being "very violent toward him (Murphy)." The employee's statement referred to similar outbursts by Flanagan on other occasions.
University officials have declined comment on Murphy's dismissal, calling it a confidential personnel matter.
After Flanagan's resignation, the university's governing board replaced him with Larry Dietz, the university's vice president for student affairs. Dietz was the runner-up to Flanagan in last year's presidential search.
Flanagan, formerly president of Framingham State University in Massachusetts, was appointed in May 2013 to replace Al Bowman, who left after a decade as ISU president.
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