Prominent conservative author and Obama critic Dinesh D'Souza has resigned from the from the presidency of The King's College, an evangelical Christian liberal arts school based in Manhattan, amid allegations that he was having an affair with a woman.
The "2016: Obama's America" filmmaker was forced to leave the school after the board of trustees for the New York City Christian school met Thursday following a report in an evangelical Christian publication that D'Souza attended a conference in late September with a younger woman whom he introduced as his fiance.
D'Souza has reportedly been married for 20 years. The story of D'Souza's relationship to a woman, Denise Odie Joseph II, was first reported by WORLD magazine.
Student newspaper The Empire State Tribune reported the board accepted D'Souza's resignation after 11 hours of deliberations.
In a statement later, board chairman Andy Mills said that the board had engaged in "careful consultation" with D'Souza before accepting his resignation "to allow him to attend to his personal and family needs."
"We thank him for his service and significant contribution to the College over the last two years," Mills said.
According to World magazine, D'Souza and the woman, Denise Odie Joseph II, stayed in the same hotel room during the Christian conference in Spartanburg, S.C on Sept. 28. Asked about being engaged while still married to his wife of 20 years, D'Souza reportedly said he had filed for divorce "recently." According to World, court documents show he didn't file until Oct. 4 - a week after the conference.
The event where the controversy arose happened on Sept. 28 in North Carolina and was called Truth for a New Generation. On Tuesday, D'Souza, who had been president of the college since 2010, said in an interview with the Associated Press that he and his wife, Dixie, were "living in a state of separation for two years" and said he did not share a hotel room with Joseph II, who he said was introduced as his fiancee at the event. "
"Obviously, I wouldn't have introduced her as my fiancee if I thought we were doing anything improper," D'Souza told the AP. He added that they had canceled their engagement. A college spokesman added that Mills had known about the separation for at least two years.
