Student's hunger strike ends as professor accused of sexual harassment is put on leave

A University of Rochester student who went on a hunger strike for nearly six days in an attempt to force the firing of a professor accused of sexual harassment is eating again after officials put the teacher on administrative leave.

A statement from the school -- that was hand-delivered to senior student Lindsay Wrobel before it went out to the campus community on Tuesday -- said professor Florian Jaeger has been placed on administrative leave as a newly-formed committee looks into claims of sexual harassment, the Rochester Campus Times reported.

“This was the hardest week of my life,” an emotional Wrobel told the newspaper while washing down a cookie with Gatorade and Naked juice at a campus café. “That cookie was the best-tasting thing I’ve ever eaten in my entire life.”

The email from the school’s Board of Trustees says Mary Jo White, a former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission and a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, will lead the investigation.

“White and her team have conducted numerous independent investigations involving sexual abuse and harassment at educational and other institutions,” the email read, according to the Campus Times. “The Board of Trustees believes integrity is the cornerstone of every great university, and only a rigorous, methodical, focused, and transparent process will be acceptable.”

The board said the investigation should be wrapped up by the end of the year and its findings will be distributed to the public.

A complaint filed against Jaeger, who works in the school’s brain and cognitive sciences department, alleges that he hosted drug-filled hot tub parties and had “unprotected sex with students, sent unwanted photographs of his genitalia to a female student, [and] lamented to others that he might have sexually transmitted diseases,” according to the New York Post.

The university earlier told Fox News the “allegations have raised very real concerns and caused pain both on campus and in our wider community.”

It added: “The university takes any allegations of such behavior very seriously, and is committed to ensuring that students, faculty and staff feel supported and safe."