Journalism instructor Jay Gilmore has submitted his resignation and will not return next semester, Gaylord College Dean Andrea Miller confirmed to OU Daily on Feb. 28.
The Daily has learned through subsequent interviews with Gaylord students and faculty and documents provided to the Daily that Gilmore was the subject of at least three Title IX reports during his time teaching at the university from August 2023 to December 2024.
Report one, as obtained by the Daily, was filed by a faculty member who alleged Gilmore had “been sexually pursuing” her since August 2023, according to her formal complaint. Report two was filed by a student who alleged Gilmore abused power in the classroom and crossed boundaries into her personal life.
The allegations in the reports, per Title IX documents the complainants shared with the Daily, were deemed inactionable by the Institutional Equity Office.
The office found that the allegations in report one from the faculty member did not meet the “preponderance of evidence,” and no policy violation occurred.
After an intake interview and two interviews with an investigator, the Institutional Equity Office determined the student’s allegations in report two “do not rise to a policy violation” and denied her request to file a formal complaint.
Both reports one and two included more than 550 text messages reported to the Institutional Equity Office. Gilmore sent 512 messages to the faculty member from Aug. 17, 2023, to Oct. 31, 2024, and 67 messages to the student from April 12, 2024, to Sept. 23, 2024.
According to text messages obtained by the Daily, two text messages to the faculty member included references to porn. On another occasion, Gilmore sent the faculty member a meme that said “FETS LUCK.” Gilmore also called the faculty member “Love.” In messages to the student in report two, he used the nicknames “my gurl” and “star.”
Report three was filed by a faculty member on behalf of another student following a classroom incident in which Gilmore insinuated female students’ moods were possibly linked to pregnancies and menstrual cycles. Three other Gaylord students in that class confirmed the nature of the incident to OU Daily. The student in report three ultimately opted not to proceed.
“I kind of just stopped trying to report anything because they made it so confusing,” that student told the Daily, referring to the Title IX intake process.
Reached by the Daily on Feb. 28, Gilmore did not confirm he had resigned and said he was still employed with the university.
Gilmore told OU Daily to email any questions to his university email. OU Daily sent Gilmore a list of four questions regarding his time at OU and the circumstances surrounding his resignation.
He never answered.
The Daily is withholding the identities of those involved in all three reports, given their fears of professional and legal reprisals, but the complainants in reports one and two, who proceeded with intake interviews, agreed to share some of their Title IX correspondence.
Jay Gilmore's office on Feb. 28.
OU Title IX process, policies
According to OU's policy, once a report or formal complaint of Title IX sexual harassment or a complaint of other prohibited conduct is received, the Institutional Equity Office will contact the complainant to discuss supportive measures, the investigative process and how to file a formal complaint.
According to the policy, to request a formal complaint of sexual harassment, the complainant must submit a physical or electronic document with their name, a request for an investigation and allegations against a respondent.
Sexual misconduct is defined as “conduct that occurs outside the context of the educational program, or outside the United States, but where the conduct otherwise meets one or more definitions of Sexual Harassment.” Sexual misconduct investigations must be authorized. If the respondent is an employee, the chief human resources officer must authorize the investigation in writing. If the respondent is a student, the director of Student Conduct must authorize the investigation and state that the conduct is within the university’s jurisdiction.
The allegations in report one were deemed inactionable under the university’s sexual misconduct policy, according to a document obtained by the Daily.
Upon a formal complaint, a written notice is sent to the complainant and the respondent, according to OU’s policy. The complaint is then investigated, and parties are given a chance to review and respond to the evidence. Subsequently, an investigative report is produced, and a hearing is held before a determination is made. Both parties can appeal the ruling. If warranted, sanctions and remedies are implemented. Under certain circumstances, informal resolution is offered — if both parties agree — at any time before the determination.
Short stints, various roles, course changes
Gilmore served as a Gaylord instructor and was a freelance producer with SoonerVision, providing in-house video production for the OU athletic department. Additionally, he occasionally worked in an on-air role with KOCO in Oklahoma City.
At Gaylord, he taught upper-division courses including Electronic News Gathering Tech; Intro to Broadcast Journalism; Journalism Ethics; Visual Reporting; and Race, Gender, Class and Media. This spring, he was scheduled to teach study-abroad classes through Gaylord in Arezzo, Italy. However, his courses were reassigned this semester, and the Italy class did not go forward as planned. The Arezzo trip is now scheduled to be taught by two Gaylord advertising faculty members this summer.
On a resume obtained by OU Daily, Gilmore lists teaching positions at Middle Tennessee State University from 2017-18, West Virginia University from 2018-19, the University of Memphis from 2019-21 and Belmont University from 2021-23. Gilmore’s LinkedIn does not reference any past positions in higher education or his time at OU. His personal website, as of April 23, includes his time at West Virginia University, the University of Memphis and OU.
“I want the students here to feel like I impacted their lives,” Gilmore said in an article published in Gaylord Extra, the college’s in-house newsletter, in September 2023. “I might not even feel like that. But if they tell me that, I'll just trust their word and walk with some humility. So if I can (make) students think ‘I'm glad he's our professor’ or ‘I'm glad he works here. I'm glad I was in this class.’ When I leave, I'll be happy. I'll be thankful and grateful.”
Gaylord College internal strife
Miller, who started as Gaylord’s dean in July — the first woman to hold the position in a non-interim capacity since the college was founded in 2000 — brings to the role experience working in professional newsrooms and on college campuses.
At Gaylord, Miller inherited a college lauded as No. 2 in the nation for news programs, according to the Broadcast Education Association, but also one challenged by internal strife.
Last year, the Daily reported nearly half of the college’s female full-time faculty and staff signed a letter sent in September 2023 to college and university leadership detailing an alleged hostile work environment and years-long culture of discrimination, nepotism, violation of policies and secrecy in the college. Several signers of the letter had also filed reports alongside or on behalf of students who had allegedly faced discrimination, harassment and more.
“Numerous complaints have been filed with Title IX, not only by women faculty and staff but by students, that get routinely dismissed,” a faculty member, who asked to remain anonymous due to fears of retaliation, said in a story published in April 2024.
Gilmore had started at OU just before the letter was sent. The first text message between Gilmore and the faculty member in report one was sent Aug. 17, 2023.
The issues the letter raised about the workplace environment in Gaylord a year and a half ago — issues the college paid a consultant $22,000 last spring to examine — parallel challenges still playing out in the building.
Miller, reached again by the Daily just before spring break, declined to discuss specifics of Gilmore’s resignation, including his statement that he had not resigned.
As of early April, Gilmore is no longer listed on the Gaylord College faculty webpage.
Gilmore, in his last communications with the Daily, was brief.
“Seems like you know more than me,” he said. “Trust your sources. I look forward to reading your work. Please don’t use my cell phone number anymore.”
This story was edited by Anusha Fathepure, Peggy Dodd, Ismael Lele and Ana Barboza. Mary Ann Livingood and Grace Rhodes copy edited this story.
