If multiple women are afraid of your physical presence, you should seriously examine how you are treating them. By the way, interjecting a cough into your post suggests disrespect for the MeToo movement, so I guess your derision may be part of the problem, too.

A college is unlikely to fire you over a single misplaced hug, but if repeated, well substantiated complaints from multiple people are made, they have little choice but to fire you, and rightfully so.

You never know when you may be engaging with an Asperger's Syndrome person. We (I am one), are particularly averse to physical expressions of affection. It would seem prudent not to engage physically until a relationship has been established.

Keep your hands to yourself unless you're invited. That's the best policy.

I have always been respectful of other's personal space and so have not detected the slightest change in how people respond to me, post-#Metoo. Maybe it helps that I present as a harmless older person now, but I kind of doubt it. I could just as well be a moldy, horny old man so far as any random female knows. And I look younger than I am.

So this implied narrative that women are seeking out ways to deliberately take up offense and entrap men in some sort of Kafkaesque gaslighting of their noble intentions, tends to ring very hollow to me.

Without more information, it's impossible to even guess at this situation.

I mean, general rule No. 1 is keep ya hands to yourself unless explicitly invited to do otherwise, but idk if that was the case, or really what the case is here.