'Not a shock': 7 UM sex scandals emerged during Schlissel's tenure

Jan. 17—The University of Michigan has faced a wave of sexual assault scandals during ousted President Mark Schlissel's tenure that past victims say reflects the attitude of neglect by leadership.

The university's Board of Regents fired Schlissel Saturday after laying out a series of inappropriate emails exchanged with a subordinate employee, where he wrote he was "lonely," sent a New Yorker story about sexual fantasies and attempted to lure her with knish.

At least seven UM professors and officials, either current or former, have been accused of sexual harassment or abuse during Schlissel's tenure that began in mid-2014.

Many class-action lawsuits are underway against the university. Notably, 1,000 men have come forward claiming sexual abuse under the guise of treatment by Anderson.

"This (Schlissel's dismissal) further highlights the need for institution-wide change around these issues that involves input from all stakeholders," said Annika Martin, co-lead class counsel representing Anderson victims and current students in a class action lawsuit against UM. Martin declined to give further comment, saying a judge has issued an order preventing attorneys involved from discussing issues that could affect pending litigation.

The following are the seven UM cases:

Stephen Shipps

Stephen Shipps, a UM School of Music, Theatre & Dance faculty member, retired in February 2019 amid allegations of sexual misconduct that spanned four decades.

In November, Shipps pleaded guilty to transporting a 16-year-old girl across state lines for sex nearly 20 years ago. As part of the plea deal, federal prosecutors dismissed a similar charge involving the same girl. Shipps of Ann Arbor was facing up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but the agreement lowered the maximum possible sentence to 71 months or just under six years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 17.

Shipps had been employed by UM since September 1989. He went on leave in Dec. 7, 2018. Three days later, UM's student newspaper, the Michigan Daily, reported allegations of unwanted touching, inappropriate statements and sexual relationships with teenage students involving Shipps.

One of the accusers, Maureen O'Boyle, told The Detroit News she lost her virginity to Shipps when she was a 17-year-old high school student in the late 1970s. At the time, he was concertmaster of the Omaha Symphony and she had moved from her home in Omaha and was studying with him and playing in the symphony.

O'Boyle wrote in a lengthy document outlining what occurred with Shipps that she became inebriated after her violin teacher poured her vodka and she smoked marijuana. O'Boyle said Shipps had sex with her on a couch where she always unpacked her violin for lessons.

"I remember knowing what was happening, seeing and feeling my body from afar, with the feeling that my life was already horribly off course and there was now no repairing it," she wrote.

David Daniels

UM Regents fired music Professor David Daniels in March 2020. He became the first UM faculty member to be stripped of tenure in 60 years following allegations he sexually harassed students and solicited sex.

Daniels, a renowned opera singer, harassed nearly two dozen students and sent them nude photos. A Texas grand jury indicted Daniels and his husband, William Scott Walters, after a criminal complaint stated the couple drugged and assaulted a man while he was living in Houston as a 23-year-old graduate student at Rice University.

While Daniels took a leave of absence amid the claims, a UM graduate student later filed a federal lawsuit stating the performer groped him, sent sexual photos and videos of himself, and requested some in return.

At the time, Schlissel had recommended the firing of Daniels: "I have determined that Professor Daniels' conduct is inconsistent with the character of tenure at the University of Michigan and therefore constitutes cause for dismissal."

Douglas Trevor

Douglas Trevor, a tenured English teacher, was accused by three female students and university staff of sexual harassment and intimidation between 2016 and 2019, according to The Michigan Daily.

Trevor remains a professor at the university. The campus Office of Institutional Equity did not find Trevor's conduct to be "deemed severe, persistent, or pervasive to create a sexually hostile environment" but noted his behavior was troubling.

In response, sanctions were imposed in an April 30, 2020, letter from Anne Curzan, dean of UM's College of Literature, Science and the Arts. The former director of the Helen Zell Writers' Program and the Hopwood Awards Program is not allowed to conduct office hours with his door closed or meet with students in off-campus spaces for the next two years. He was also not eligible for a merit increase in his salary.

Ex-Provost Martin Philbert

Former Provost Martin Philbert's behavior emerged publicly in January 2020 when Schlissel received an anonymous letter from someone on behalf of a group of women who shared their stories of alleged abuse by Philbert.

The letter prompted Schlissel to put Philbert on administrative leave less than a week later and hire the WilmerHale law firm to investigate. Schlissel removed him as provost in March 2020, and he retired and surrendered his right to academic tenure in June 2020.

The law firm's July 2020 report showed that sexual misconduct was prevalent throughout Philbert's 25-year career, beginning after he joined the faculty in 1995 as a toxicology professor before ascending to the dean of the School of Public Health and provost.

According to the report, Philbert engaged in a wide range of sexual misconduct at the university that included sexual harassment for at least 15 years. Philbert talked about wanting to see below women's tan lines, insisted on hugs from some women and engaged in sexual relationships with several women on staff, sometimes at the same time and in campus offices, the report said.

Much of Philbert's behavior was never made known to UM officials, and the university did not attempt to cover up any allegations, according to the report.

But the heart of the report's findings said UM "should have done more to investigate an early, credible allegation that Philbert had engaged in sexual misconduct in 2005." Had UM done more then, it likely would have turned up more evidence that might have affected Philbert's ascension to leadership positions.

The university reached a $9.25 million settlement with eight women who said they were victimized by Philbert.

The amount of misconduct at the university is not surprising said, Silke-Maria Weineck, a UM professor in German studies and comparative literature since 1998.

"What was certainly the most egregious case was Martin Philbert, because there was a paper trail. He had been at this for a very long time, and he was nonetheless promoted to dean and then to provost, even though Schlissel and the board knew of his misconduct and that remains shocking to me," Weineck said.

Dr. Robert Anderson

Allegations against former doctor Robert Anderson emerged in February 2020 when Robert Julian Stone approached The Detroit News with his story.

The university said it was first alerted to allegations against Anderson in July 2018, when a former student athlete wrote to Athletic Director Warde Manuel to detail abuse during medical exams by Anderson in the early 1970s. More than 1,000 students have since come forward with allegations against Anderson.

The WilmerHale law firm issued a 240-page report in May that showed more than two dozen employees were alerted to the pervasive sexual misconduct by Anderson on "countless occasions" even dating back to 1975.

Anderson served UM for nearly four decades as head of the University Health Service and as team physician for the UM Athletic Department before retiring in 2003. He died in 2008. The university is in mediation with 850 men who say Anderson assaulted them.

After receiving his medical degree from the university in 1953, he joined Hurley Hospital developing sports program medicine before returning to Ann Arbor as the director of student health services from 1968-80.

Bruce Conforth

Seven women have made allegations against Bruce Conforth, an American studies professor who was once named Professor of the Year. Conforth taught at UM until retiring in 2017, although accusations about his behavior were first noted in 2008.

The women shared their stories with The New York Times in April about how Conforth allegedly sought to control them, have sex with them and make them feel sorry for him.

Victims said Conforth claimed he was a member of the so-called "Order of the Illuminati," a secret society whose mysteries were popularized in Dan Brown's novel "Angels & Demons." The women said they believed he was responsible for emails they received, purportedly from Illuminati leadership, that recommended they engage in relationships with Conforth, whom the emails called the "Chosen One," the Times reported.

Women said Conforth would meet students privately in his office on campus regularly for "spiritual lessons" that required sex beforehand, according to the report. Each woman alleged that Conforth pursued her for several years and threatened suicide to leverage control.

Walter Lasecki

Hired in 2015, Walter Lasecki is an assistant computer science professor in the College of Engineering who also held a position in the School of Information until March 2020.

Two investigations, covered by The Michigan Daily, found four allegations of sexual misconduct against Lasecki beginning in November 2019. One by the campus Office of Institutional Equity and another by the Association for Computing Machinery, a prominent computer science research association, reached different conclusions.

The OIE investigation, which concluded in July 2020, found Lasecki's behavior in all four cases did not violate UM's sexual harassment policy. The association, however, concluded in February 2021 that Lasecki had violated its policy against harassment, and he was banned from ACM events for at least five years, according to the Michigan Daily.

Four graduate students alleged that Lasecki made inappropriate statements, and some alleged they were touched inappropriately, according to the Michigan Daily and WDIV. While Lasecki denies wrongdoing, he resigned Aug. 30.

srahal@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @SarahRahal_

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