Former St. Paul college professor accused of urinating on student's backpack

Paul Walsh, Star Tribune on Oct 9, 2026

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A former Macalester College professor faces a felony charge for allegedly urinating around the St. Paul campus, including on a student’s backpack.

Paul Jerome Fischer, 56, of St. Paul, was charged Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court with first-degree property damage in connection with the acts that spanned more than a year until December 2025.

Fischer was charged by summons ahead of a Nov. 4 court date. Court records do not list an attorney for him. The Minnesota Star Tribune has reached out to Fischer for a response to the allegations.

Under law enforcement questioning, Fischer said he developed a habit of urinating in a cup and disposing the contents in trash cans or lab sinks around campus, the criminal complaint noted. He said he believed he spilled urine on the student’s backpack while pouring it in the trash near his office.

According to the complaint, police received a report about a student saying someone urinated on her backpack on Dec. 5 while she stepped away for a few moments and left her belongings on a table, where she was studying in a common area outside Fischer’s office in the private college’s Olin-Rice Science Center.

“She believed Fischer urinated on her backpack while she was gone because he was the only one around during the incident,” the complaint read.

Investigators contacted campus police and learned that Fischer “had been caught urinating around campus” and ended up resigning after 25 years at the private college of roughly 2,000 students, the complaint added.

From Nov. 11, 2024, to Dec. 5, 2025, “there were six reports of urinations occurring on campus, all in the Olin-Rice Science Center and included urine located in trash cans, individuals’ water bottles and inside other professors’ decorations,” the complaint continued.

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