A University of Alabama official has resigned after being arrested on a charge of soliciting prostitution.

Tuscaloosa police said Former Vice President of Student Life Myron Pope, 50, is free on $1,000 bond after his arrest Thursday on the misdemeanor charge, news outlets reported.

“I have difficult news to share today. Vice President of Student Life Myron Pope has resigned from the university following his recent arrest,” university President Stuart R. Bell said in a statement emailed Friday.

Pope was among 15 men arrested during a prostitution sting Thursday and Friday, news outlets reported.

Pope told The Associated Press on Monday that he is working on a statement that he probably will release Tuesday.

Capt. Phil Simpson, commander of the West Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force, said in a press release on Saturday that the men had arranged through an app to pay for sex and were arrested after showing up at the agreed location and talking with an undercover officer.

Pope was on the Alabama football team that won the Sugar Bowl after the 1992 season. He earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees at Alabama.

Bell said he will appoint an interim vice president of student life.

Pope was Alabama’s director of recruitment programs/alternative certification and a clinical assistant professor in the higher education administrative program from 1997 to 2000, and became a vice president in May 2020.

A native of Sweet Water, Pope was a walk-on tight end and linebacker under former Alabama coach Gene Stallings. His undergraduate degree was in history and his graduate degrees were in higher education administration.

As head of the school’s Division of Student Life, he worked to provide support for students through programs including health and recreation, career counseling, the student center, student media and residential communities.

Before returning to the university he was chief of strategic engagement for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. He also served 14 years in vice presidential positions at the University of Central Oklahoma.