Nick DiCicco

Nick DiCicco, Staff Writer

April 15, 2026

The Owl Statue, located behind Savitz Hall and Science Hall. Wednesday, April 2, 2025. Glassboro, N.J. (News & Photography Editor / Christopher Otto)

After a Rowan University assistant professor’s disturbing past was revealed, Rowan students shared their reactions and thoughts on what the university should do going forward. 

On March 27, 2026, The Whit published an article exposing the then-assistant teaching professor in the Department of Mathematics, Adam Abrams (Ph.D.), who was formerly known as Adam Zydney and who had previous charges of alleged possession of child pornography. On March 30, 2026, Abrams was removed from his position by the University. 

Students like Michael Barca, a freshman computer engineering major, not only heard about Abrams through The Whit but were also supposed to have a seminar with him. 

“The original teacher was teaching it. He couldn’t teach anymore because he had to take over another class,” said Barca. “So what happened is that Adam Abrams was going to go take it over. So he did like two lectures, and then poof, he was gone.” 

Barca says he never received an email from the university as to why Abrams would no longer teach the seminar. 

Kylie Tabak, a sophomore with a dual major in biochemistry and mathematics, would see Abrams in the halls at Robinson Hall, and says she is concerned that he was teaching students. 

“We do have some students here who are still minors, and that is a big concern, especially because I’m pretty sure he does teach lower-level classes,” said Tabak. “So there might be students in classes like that who maybe aren’t yet adults, which, even if they are adults, it’s still awful because of the power dynamic.”

The news regarding Abrams did not just reach those who interacted with him. Other students shared their views on the situation and how the university should respond. Adrianna Lopez, a freshman math major, had no prior knowledge of the situation before the interview. 

“I just think it’s kind of surprising that no one knew about it. Well, at least I didn’t know about it,” said Lopez. “I think when something like this happens, everyone should know in case of other people that have been around him.” 

While Lopez was not familiar with the story, other students were familiar with it through The Whit’s Instagram post or through their friends, who shared similar reactions. 

Michael Lignelle, a senior in computing and informatics, raised concerns about the university’s background checks.

“I’m kind of horrified that someone like that can slip through the cracks,” said Lignelle. “What happened, already happened, and there’s not much they can do about it now except make sure he obviously doesn’t go back.  But obviously, they need to do more extensive background checks and make sure people like this don’t come on our campus.” 

Tristan Kopp, a senior radio, television, and film major and political science minor, shared similar concerns but also spoke positively about the University’s transparency. 

“So we should really, I guess, look into the hiring process and make sure that background checks are actually done thoroughly and complete,” said Kopp. “I feel like Rowan is relatively transparent just in terms of, you know, the alerts that they send out for students, and general things going on.”

Despite student awareness about Abrams and the seriousness of the situation, the university has only sent an official statement to those who were enrolled in his classes, in addition to all information shared with The Whit so far.

The Whit recently reached out to several New Jersey higher education institutions, such as Stockton University, Monmouth University, and The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), about their background check process for potential new hires. While Stockton and Monmouth were unable to respond in time for publication, TCNJ’s Human Resources Department sent an email response to The Whit about the background check service that the college provides.

“We use an outside background check service provided by SterlingSolutions/FirstAdvantage called SterlingDirect. After an offer is accepted, we input the professors’ first/last name and email into the service, and it sends them a link to a form they’re required to fill out. Afterwards, the service runs a check for the professor in a County Court Search, State Search, and a Nationwide Criminal Search,” the email said. “Background checks include a SSN trace. Sterling’s website states that they run a check for previous names when doing their searches, but I have not seen it come up.”