The director of once of France’s most prestigious higher education colleges, Sciences Po in Paris, is to stand down temporarily after being interviewed by police over accusations of domestic violence.
Mathias Vicherat said he would withdraw from his position for a period, the length of which was to be decided by the establishment’s governing bodies. He made the announcement after students at the college – whose alumni include Emmanuel Macron and several other presidents as well as prominent business leaders and top civil servants – staged a sit-in last week calling for his resignation.
It is the second scandal to hit Sciences Po, one of France’s grandes écoles, in recent years after the previous director resigned over accusations he covered up allegations of child abuse against the chair of the governing board.
Vicherat, 45, who denies the allegations, was held in police custody this month after he and his partner made mutual accusations of violence. She accused him of pushing her to the ground; he accused her of slapping him.
After they were released the following day police said neither Vicherat nor his partner, who has not been named, had injuries that could prevent them from working and neither wished to lodge an official complaint. Police said the preliminary investigation would continue.
In a letter to the Sciences Po governing board, Vicherat said he proposed to step down temporarily under agreed “terms, timetable and duration”. He wrote that he “denies the acts of violence that have been reported in the press and on social media networks”.
“I have never, under any circumstances, committed such acts. I would like to emphasise that at the end of our time in police custody, no complaint was lodged and no legal restrictions or restraining order was issued,” he added.
Last week, Vicherat had written to students, professors and staff as well as the university’s administrators to say he had heard their complaints and would respond.
In November 2021, Vicherat took over as head of Sciences Po after Frédéric Mion was forced to resign for having covered up suspicions of child abuse involving the political scientist Olivier Duhamel, then president of the foundation that finances the university. Vicherat was elected by a large majority of the governing body of the college, officially called the Institute of Political Studies, and the funding foundation.
Duhamel, one of France’s most high-profile political scientists and media commentators, was accused of sexually abusing his stepson in the 1980s in a book written by the victim’s twin.
Duhamel made no public comment in response to the accusations but resigned from the Sciences Po foundation and his work as a commentator for French television and radio, saying he had been the victim of “personal attacks” and wished to “preserve the institutions in which I work”. Three months later, Le Monde and other French media reported he had admitted the accusations to police.
The offences were beyond the time limit for prosecution and no charges were brought. Mion, who was accused of knowing about the allegations but keeping silent, acknowledged “errors in judgment in my handling of the allegations” and resigned.
On his arrival at Sciences Po, Vicherat had said the fight against sexist and sexual violence was an “absolute priority”.
Inès Fontanelle, a student representative on the Sciences Po Paris council, on which professors and illustrious alumni also sit, said: “Mathias Vicherat came in to put in place emergency measures [against sexist and sexual abuse]. He had a duty to set an example.”