From The Tribune staff reports
TUSCALOOSA — A high-ranking official at The University of Alabama has been arrested and charged with trying to engage a sex worker.
Myron Pope, the vice president of student life at UA, was arrested for solicitation of prostitution on Thursday, February 17, by the West Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force. The Tuscaloosa Police Department confirmed the arrest to UA’s student newspaper, The Crimson White, which first reported the news.
Pope is currently free on $1,000 bond. Following his arrest, Pope resigned his post at the university, an after-hours email informed faculty and staff on Friday, February 18.
“I have difficult news to share today,” UA President Stuart Bell wrote in that email. “Vice President of Student Life Myron Pope has resigned from the University following his recent arrest. We understand that this news will be difficult for our community. I will appoint an interim Vice President of Student Life and that person, along with the many professionals in that division, will remain available to all of us. Please continue to take care of yourselves and one another.”
Pope, a former Crimson Tide football player, officially took the student life post on May 4 of 2020 to much fanfare, as the university announced his hiring in February of that year.