Kevin Mulcahy, political science professor, was placed on paid administrative leave last fall after he was arrested for allegedly entering another professor’s home, groping the housemate and in the process soiling his pants. The case was dismissed Feb. 6, and charges from Mulcahy’s 2006 arrest for allegedly being a peeping Tom were also dropped.”We decided [we’re] not going to make any formal charges,” said Tracey Barbera, Baton Rouge assistant district attorney. Barbera said the attorney’s office had regular discussions with Mulcahy’s lawyer, Drew Louviere.Louviere and Mulcahy did not return phone calls requesting comments.Despite his arrest, Mulcahy’s students welcomed the professor’s return to campus for the spring semester.”If you disregard his getting arrested, he really is a great professor,” said Michael Finkelstein, political science junior.Nicolas Lund, political science senior, said Mulcahy’s arrests don’t bother him at all, nor do they affect Mulcahy’s relationship toward students in the classroom.”[Mulcahy is] broadly informative and incredible educated,” Lund said. “Overall, [he’s] just a great teacher. It’s nice because [his lectures] go beyond the scope of the class … linking to real world applications, which you don’t see very often.”During the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav on Sept. 4, Eldon Birthwright, assistant professor of English, invited Mulcahy for drinks on his apartment patio, Louviere said. The two, and another neighbor, consumed a fifth of Chivas Regal, a scotch whiskey.After an hour of visiting over drinks, Mulcahy “suddenly became ill with diarrhea experiencing an uncontrollable need to use the bathroom,” Louviere said in an e-mail. Mulcahy told the other two, “I have to go,” and then proceeded to “rush through the door groping in the darkness to find the bathroom.”Louviere claims Birthwright took a butcher knife to Mulcahy’s throat, demanded he leave the apartment and escorted him outside.”Outside the apartment, Professor Mulcahy continued to apologize while Birthwright held the knife to his throat,” Louviere said. “Embarrassed by his soiled condition, Professor Mulcahy walked back to his nearby condominium.”Birthwright claimed Mulcahy “darted into the apartment and began taking off his clothes while grabbing onto [Birthwright’s] housemate,” in an e-mail from Birthwright to University officials that was obtained by The Daily Reveille,Birthwright did not return phone calls or e-mails regarding the matter.”I was able to [force] him out with the assistance of a neighbor,” Birthwright said in the e-mail. “At no point was he invited into the apartment. This was forced entry.”Louviere said Mulcahy entered the apartment to avoid the embarrassment of diarrhea and insisted Mulcahy “was not grabbing anyone.”Louviere said Birthwright may have misperceived what was actually happening. “We have evidence that he was in fact with diarrhea,” Louviere said, citing possession of Mulcahy’s soiled clothing.Louviere admitted Mulcahy was intoxicated but said Mulcahy was surprised when police came to his apartment to arrest him.In 2006, Mulcahy was issued a misdemeanor summons when a University student claimed Mulcahy followed him to his apartment and peeped through the window.Marian Caillier, Human Resources associate vice chancellor, said in an e-mail a faculty member may return to teach after suspension when it is determined the faculty member no longer poses a potential threat to himself or others.”According to LSU Human Resource Management, the University’s review of Dr. Mulcahy is complete,” said University spokeswoman Kristine Calongne in an e-mail.Mulcahy has been at the University for 28 years and teaches several courses in the political science department, including American government topics.—-Contact Mary Walker Baus at [email protected]