CUNY Educator Denies It's Him in Viral Pantless Photo as School Issues Apology

An educator who works at the City University of New York's (CUNY) Early College Initiative program has posted a questionable pantless photo of himself that has gone viral.

J. Michael Steele, 52, allegedly tweeted his photo without his pants on, which was taken inside the classroom. But he was wearing his face mask, shirt, briefs and a pair of sneakers.

He implied in the photo's caption that it was hot both inside and outside the building, thus he took off his pants. He also wrote that none of the kids were around for "this blackmail photo."

When probed by the New York Post, Steele apparently denied he was the man in the image and then turned his social media account to private. However, his now-hidden post was screen-captured by LibsofTikTok, which reshared and called out the CUNY educator's pantless photo. The post has received dividing comments from the netizens.

Viral pantless photo: Cheers and jeers

Some sided with Steele and said that his photo was harmless as the pantless educator was "just being silly" and making jokes with a friend about New York's unbearable heat wave. They also pointed out that there were no kids with him. There were netizens who agreed that the educator made a joke in poor taste but they saw no sexual provocation.

"If he was teaching a classroom dressed like this then absolutely it would be a problem but he was just having fun," one of the commenters on Twitter post said.

Others, however, said that CUNY needs to re-evaluate its screening process for educators as this behavior should not be tolerated in an educational environment. Another commenter also reshared a photo of a reply from someone who knows Steele, asking him to take down the image to save his career.

Still, others were more curious as to who took the photo of the educator because it was a full body image and not a selfie. This suggested that he had company in the classroom. The rest found it silly that Steele took time to wear a mask that covered his face while he was pantless.

CUNY issues a statement of apology

Following the viral pantless photo, CUNY issued a statement apologizing for the incident. A CUNY official cited that "appropriate action" has been undertaken after the post was brought to their attention but they will not comment on personnel matters.

According to Daily Mail, Steele has been working at CUNY for 10 years. The program is geared towards helping prepare public school kids, from the 6th to 12th grades, for university courses. However, his specific function does not include directly working with the students. Prior to this, Steele was a teacher and principal at public schools in Massachusetts and Detroit.

CUNY is America's fourth-largest university system after California State University, State University of New York (SUNY) and the University of California. It also has the most diverse students hailing from many parts of the world and employs more than 6,500 faculty members.