In an email sent to students and staff this Wednesday, March 13, the director of Sciences-Po announced that he was leaving his position. In question, his referral with his ex-partner to the criminal court for domestic violence.
For the students, the morning mail was a surprise. “He had come back so we didn’t expect him to leave again straight away”, confirms a student. In an email sent this Wednesday March 13 to staff and students, that Release was able to consult, the director of Sciences-Po, Mathias Vicherat, announces that he has decided to leave his position “in order to preserve” the institution.
This former classmate of Emmanuel Macron at ENA was taken into police custody on December 3 with his ex-partner, both accusing each other of domestic violence. If none of them filed a complaint, they were referred to the criminal court in connection with this case. It was after learning of his dismissal that Mathias Vicherat decided to resign, as he explains in his email.
Contacted by Release, the Paris prosecutor’s office confirms that the now ex-director of Sciences-Po and Anissa Bonnefont, his former partner, were summoned for “mutual violence within the couple”. They are both accused of “violence against a spouse leading to incapacity to work for more than 8 days”. Furthermore, the prosecution specifies that “only the public prosecutor” to the “responsibility to initiate proceedings” and that a complaint is not necessary: “When people report facts likely to cover a qualification”the complaint is “without impact on the criminal procedure, on the prosecution or on their right to become a civil party”.
“An unparalleled joy to work with you”
Mathias Vicherat had already temporarily withdrawn in December 2023 after a mobilization of unions and feminist collectives. Before returning to his duties at the end of January, again under criticism from a certain number of students who demanded his resignation. He always challenged the “accusations of violence which were formulated and disseminated against (him)”as he recalls in the email sent this Wednesday, and is confident about the capacity of justice “to establish the reality of the facts”. “Sciences-Po is an admirable institution. It was a great honor and an unparalleled happiness to work with all of you for its development”he concludes.
In agreement with the Minister of Higher Education and Research, “an interim administration will be appointed in the coming days […] until the appointment of the next management”for its part indicates the management of Sciences-Po Paris to students and staff.
Mathias Vicherat succeeded Frédéric Mion as head of Sciences-Po Paris in November 2021, who was forced to resign in February of that year for having concealed suspicions of incest targeting political scientist Olivier Duhamel. In the wake of the Duhamel scandal, a movement denouncing sexual violence in political studies institutes (IEP) emerged, first on social networks under the keyword #SciencesPorcs.
“His return to school was an offense and a mark of contempt”
Among the students, the sudden announcement of his departure came as a surprise. Met in front of the rue Saint-Guillaume campus this Wednesday morning, Thomas, a master’s student, said he learned of his departure like all his classmates while he was in the middle of class. For him, the resignation of Mathias Vicherat is a relief. A “logical decision”he said: “You cannot promote an agenda to combat gender-based and sexual violence by being accused of violence yourself and referred to court.”
Same story among those who have been calling for his departure for several months. “Mathias Vicherat could no longer remain at the head of Sciences-Powrites the Student Union in a statement. His return to school was an offense and a mark of contempt for all victims of gender-based and sexual violence. […] We deplore the immense delay in this resignation and the shameful support of the school’s management for the return and retention of Mathias Vicherat, despite the firm opposition of the student community.”
The union, classified on the left, is now calling for “turn the page on these repeated crises which shame all school communities by initiating a profound reform of its management of SGBV”. “The next few months will be decisive for Sciences-Po. The procedure for appointing a director must be put in place quickly, and must be transparent and democratic by involving all of the institution’s communities. And that in the end someone is appointed who is up to the challenges of VSS and the fight against discrimination”complete with Libé Inès Fontanelle, one of the representatives of the Student Union.
Updated at 10:40 a.m. with more elements and quotes from the Paris prosecutor’s office.