Former dean of students and director of
residence life.
LINKEDIN/COURTESY
By Mack Olmsted, Features Editor & Zoe DeFazio, Senior Writer
Following allegations of inappropriate sexual contact with a Manhattan College student and revelations of sexual performances distributed on X, formerly known as Twitter, and OnlyFans, Manhattan College fired Matt Lewis, associate dean of students and director of residence life, on Nov. 29, 2023.
The college considers personnel matters private and refused to comment on Lewis’s specific situation but did not deny the allegations.
“Once the College was made aware that one of its employees engaged in activities that may be in violation of Manhattan College’s Code of Conduct, it took immediate and decisive action to protect the well-being of all concerned,” the college wrote in a statement to The Quadrangle. “Upon the conclusion of its investigation, that employee was terminated from the College. Manhattan College is committed to upholding the highest standards of ethical conduct, and we will continue to take appropriate action as necessary to uphold those standards.”
The night Lewis was fired, he posted on X, “Well… someone at work found my alt (X account) and OF (OnlyFans) and now I’m losing my job.” “Alt” refers to an alternate social media account a user uses to share different content aimed at a different audience from their main account.
One of Lewis’ followers on X replied, “Gosh Sir, that is so insane, is that even possible? How can they just fire you for that?! Sending you so much sympathy and strength Sir!!”
To which Lewis replied “Thanks boy, but they definitely can.”
Shortly after The Quadrangle attempted contacting Lewis, the posts were taken down and a Quadrangle reporter was blocked from both Lewis’ main and alt X accounts. Multiple attempts to contact Lewis by The Quadrangle were unsuccessful.
Lewis began his role as director of residence life in January 2023 and later took over the additional role of associate dean of students. During his time at the college, Lewis and his partner lived directly adjacent to undergraduate students on the eleventh floor of Horan Hall, one of the apartment-style residence halls on campus.
Lewis shared living facilities including a common room, laundry and garbage facilities with students. There have been no allegations that anything inappropriate occurred between students and Lewis in his room on campus.
The Quadrangle has learned that Lewis has exchanged sexual photos with a student who was unaware of his position at the time. Following an exchange of messages, Lewis proposed meeting at a location off campus. Lewis did not show up; when the student learned of Lewis’s position, they shared the information with friends, one of whom anonymously reported the situation to the college.
The Manhattan College consensual relationship policy prohibits sexual and/or romantic relationships between employees and undergraduate students. Violations of this policy can result in disciplinary action and possible termination.
Additionally, Lewis has an OnlyFans account where he sells pornographic content of himself, as well as a graphic X account where he posts sexually explicit content containing videos, images, and text–some of which referred to him at work.
Towards the end of his time with his previous employer, Hampshire College, Lewis posted on X asking his followers if he should “masturbate in his office”. In March 2023, Lewis posted again on X that he’s been “having some fun in Manhattan” with a photo that X covered with a sensitive content warning.
Lewis’s position as director of residence life made him responsible for the educational leadership, policy formation, software implementation and direction of the college’s student residential life program.
During his tenure, Lewis had a seat on the school’s Student Life Committee, where in October he suggested that the college should buy larger beds for the Jasper Hall housing facility, according to meeting minutes acquired by The Quadrangle.
The residence life department has long been trying to find strong footing, having gone through four different residence life directors over six years.
William Atkinson will be the replacement interim director of residence life, according to the college. Atkinson has spent more than eight years with the college, starting with his role as an interim area coordinator. He then moved up the ranks in residence life over the years, with his current title being assistant director of residence life for housing operations, according to his LinkedIn.
Who vets these people
Vetting is not always that simple, as a lot of educational, as well as other, institutions would rather avoid a media spotlight and invite lawsuits and other negative press, and fail to tell the full story about a previous employee and the real reasons for their “leaving.” They simply want to move on, much like the behavior of the Catholic Church in quietly transferring abusive priests and posting them in another parish or school w/o any alert about the individual’s behavior. Clearly, for someone being hired in a position of continuing close contacts with students, such as a residence advisor, you would hope more would have been done.