Some Grinnell students and alumni say they are glad that Michael Lawrence, Grinnell College’s former business and finance career adviser, no longer works at the College because they alleged he engaged in unprofessional work conduct.
The behavior, students said in interviews with The Scarlet & Black, violated what they considered to be professional boundaries and was in some cases, they believed, inappropriate toward women and racist toward international students.
Lawrence was formerly the director of the business and finance career community in the Center for Careers, Life and Service (CLS) and was also a supervisor at the Wilson Center Catalyst, a joint program between the Donald and Winifred Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership and the CLS. Lawrence left the College on Feb. 23, 2026.
There is no indication of whether Lawrence resigned or was forced to do so, or that Lawrence’s departure is related to a bias incident report a former Catalyst worker filed against Lawrence.
Mark Peltz, the Daniel and Patricia Jipp Finkelman Dean of Careers, Life and Service, wrote in an email to The S&B that he could not comment on individual personnel matters, per College policy. In spring 2025, Candice Lu `26 filed a bias incident report with the College alleging that Lawrence engaged in retaliation, preferential treatment and racial bias.
Alison F. Kanne, Lawrence’s lawyer, wrote in an email to The S&B in December 2025 that the investigators concluded “the evidence and information available in this investigation did not rise to the level of discriminatory conduct using the preponderance of the evidence standard.”
In August 2025, Lu received an amended notice of investigation addressed to Lawrence from human resources that said they had received a report that Lawrence may have reached out to two individuals involved in the investigation during the summer.
The S&B obtained a copy of the notice, which said, “At this time, the College is implored to further investigate these concerns as it relates to retaliation.” One of the individuals involved in the investigation said Lawrence contacted the individual during the summer, which The S&B corroborated.
The College staff handbook states that “all employees are expected to abide by certain rules of conduct that will protect the interests and safety of all employees and the College, as well as adhere to the Grinnell College core values.”
This includes “establishing and maintaining a safe and nondiscriminatory workplace and educational environment for all College community members free of discrimination, harassment, and/or inappropriate treatment and does not condone or tolerate such conduct by or against any employee, student, or guest.” Infractions of College policies include “unsatisfactory or unprofessional work performance or conduct.”
When reached by phone by The S&B, Lawrence declined to comment and directed The S&B to his lawyer.
Kanne, when asked for comment from Lawrence about allegations made to The S&B by students and alums, wrote in an email to The S&B in April that “Mr. Lawrence contests all of the allegations as false, and although he has evidence to disprove most or all of them, he does not want to engage in newspaper gossip and add fuel to a fire that shouldn’t/doesn’t exist. Rather, he will address the issues appropriately in a court of law, including with the newspaper as necessary.”
Lu said after the investigation ended she had not expected any changes in Lawrence’s status.
“I’m glad something is being done,” she said.
The S&B interviewed one current and three former student employees at the Wilson Center, as well as one alum who was advised by Lawrence at the CLS.
All of them said Lawrence’s departure was unexpected. The alum who was advised by Lawrence preferred to remain anonymous due to the alum’s visa status. Another former student employee preferred to remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation from Lawrence.
Lawrence worked for the College for eight years. His departure from the CLS allegedly has changed how students receive advising related to business and finance.
Both the anonymous student and Nicholas Lampietti `25, who worked as a staff member at the CLS for two years, and as a member of the Catalyst under Lawrence, said they warned other students that Lawrence engaged in problematic behavior.
Both the anonymous student and anonymous alum said Lawrence made remarks that they thought were racist toward international students and their specific nationalities, which they found offensive.
Lampietti and the anonymous student said they found comments Lawrence allegedly made about women in their presence to be inappropriate.
“Making these strange, inappropriate comments was not out of the ordinary for him,” Lampietti said.
Three students who worked at the Catalyst said they were on a phone call with Lawrence when Lawrence proposed hiring a female student and said the others in the Catalyst could continue working while the female student would get coffee.
Lampietti, Lu, the anonymous student and the anonymous alum also said they felt that Lawrence engaged in unprofessional work conduct.
“His pattern of behavior and his actual code of conduct when it comes to advising students is, to me, wildly inappropriate,” Lampietti said.
Lampietti said when he asked Lawrence for help preparing for a job interview, Lawrence refused, but asked Lampietti to take notes during the interview so Lawrence could brief another student who was interviewing for the same position.
“To ask me to take notes during an interview to pass to another student for something we were both up for, not as friends with that student, but through him, that to me is a huge boundary violation,” Lampietti said.
Dennis Mboya `27, a current student employee at the Wilson Center whom Lawrence advised at the CLS, said he had not witnessed problematic behavior from Lawrence.
“I tried to think about a world where Mike is racist,” Mboya said. “And I don’t know if I can say this. He doesn’t really hang out with white people very often, from what I can see. It almost looks like it’s the opposite.”
Mboya said Lawrence was a mentor to him. “I’ve met this guy 100 times and of all 100, I just haven’t had any reason, any point, to have any suspicion,” he said.
However, Mboya said that “I’m pretty sure there’s a lot of people that didn’t like him, for whatever reason.”
“I always thought he [Lawrence] was a pretty difficult person to replace because of the position he’s in and the experience he has,” Mboya said.
Beatriz Polo Diz `27, a former Catalyst mentor and advisee of Lawrence at the CLS, wrote in an email to The S&B that she has only had positive experiences with Lawrence. “I could never even imagine Mike being racist or discriminating [against] international students, on the opposite, he is the first to try to help international students,” Polo Diz wrote. “He consistently demonstrated awareness of the unique challenges we face.” Polo Diz wrote that she was grateful for Lawrence’s help, both professionally and personally. “Mike is someone who cares deeply about student success,” Polo Diz wrote. “He does have a strong personality and loves to joke around, but in all my interactions with him, I never witnessed behavior that I would consider racist or disrespectful.”
Peltz wrote that a search is ongoing to hire a new director of the business and finance career community. He wrote that he hopes to have the next director hired by the start of the 2026-27 academic year.
This article has been updated to include comments from Beatriz Polo Diz and to note that Michael Lawrence declined to comment on any allegations. Updated on 4/20/26 at 6:51 p.m.
