Assault charge could result in MU discipline

If Rosemary Ihetu returns to classes at MU, she could get a formal disciplinary hearing before MU’s Student Conduct Committee, which could expel her from school, said Christian Basi, an MU spokesman.

Ihetu was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of assaulting an associate dean in front of the MU’s Sinclair School of Nursing. She was released from Boone County Jail Wednesday evening after posting $20,000 bond, according to the Boone County Sheriff’s Department.

Basi said Cathy Scroggs, vice chancellor of student affairs, recommended a temporary suspension for Ihetu, 30, of Jefferson City, who was charged Wednesday with second-degree assault.

Ihetu said Wednesday her fight with Roxanne McDaniel, the MU Sinclair School of Nursing’s associate dean of undergraduate and master’s programs, stemmed from an “internal grievance” within the school. During the fight, Ihetu said she picked up a “large wooden stick” but did not strike McDaniel with it.

Ihetu declined to comment on the nature of the grievance, saying she respected the school’s ability to handle it internally.

MU police, which did not identify McDaniel by name, said she was treated and released from University Hospital after suffering injuries to her arms and the back of the head.

If the temporary suspension is approved by MU’s chancellor’s office, Ihetu will be notified by letter of her scheduled disciplinary hearing, which could result in a warning, probation or expulsion, Basi said.

A man who answered McDaniel’s home telephone said she would not comment on the incident.