Thursday, May 3, 2018
ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
inside
COMMENCEMENT
Speaker shares hope at spring convocation
NEWS
Winged Mural University commisioned street art bolsters U-M social media presence. >> SEE PAGE 2
Charles Woodson speaks on unity and hope for graduates
OPINION
Slacktivism in 2018 Slacktivism: the watered down support for an issue
By ALEXAST. JOHN & RIYAH BASHA
that requires minimal effort.
Editor in Chief & Managing News Editor
>> SEE PAGE 5
ARTS
DESIGN BY JACK SILBERMAN
Film: ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ The latest tentpole is more spectacle than substance
>> SEE PAGE 7
MICHIGAN IN COLOR
MiC Contributor “Therse are all the things I would like to tell my mother someday.” >> SEE PAGE 9
SPORTS
Shea Patterson The Ole Miss transfer’s waiver for immediate eligibility was accepted by the NCAA. >> SEE PAGE 12
INDEX Vol. CXXVII, No. 115 | © 2018 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS .................................... 2 OPINION ............................... 4 ARTS ...................................... 6 MiC......................................... 9 SPORTS................................ 10
michigandaily.com
MSU professor accused of sexual harassment William Jacoby under investigation by U-M and MSU By RACHEL CUNNINGHAM Summer Daily News Editor
Valerie Sulfaro, currently a professor of political science at James Madison University, was considering switching out of her international relations subfield when she was 23 years old and in her second year of graduate school at the University of South Carolina in 1989. This was when she met William Jacoby, then a faculty member at USC, who convinced her to study public opinion and voting behavior, his subfield. Jacoby is now a political science professor at Michigan State University and a director of the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research Summer Program at the University of Michigan. Both MSU and the University are investigating him for
sexual misconduct. According to University spokesperson Rick Fitzgerald, Jacoby will not be teaching this summer with ICPSR, though Jacoby can still be found on MCommunity. According to Sulfaro, she served as a teaching assistant for a course Jacoby taught in the fall semester of 1990. In the winter of 1990, he came to her office and closed the door. “I remember very clearly what he said,” Sulfaro said. “He said he was laying his cards on the table, and then proposed an intimate relationship with me. I was stunned. I did not say yes. I did not say no. I said maybe, because I could not figure out what to say.” Sulfaro also said Jacoby told her she was sending clear signals of her interest in him. According to Sulfaro, his misinterpretation of her feelings crushed her confidence. She then said Jacoby kissed her with his arm around her and ground his pelvis into her. “It was not an innocent kiss,” Sulfaro said. “He had not waited for me to say yes or to think about what
I wanted. And at that moment I felt like I had cheated on my boyfriend without ever intending to.” This was not the only time Sulfaro had such an encounter with Jacoby. In an email to The Daily, Sulfaro wrote Jacoby sexually harassed her while she was presenting a paper at the Midwest Political Science Association in 1996 and kissed her again without consent. At the MPSA conference, Jacoby allegedly offered Sulfaro a computer disc with nude photos of himself on it. The University’s sexual harassment policy labels unwanted sexual statements, personal attention and physical and sexual advances as sexual harassment. The policy also states the University will be unsympathetic to any consensual relationships when there is a clear power differential between the parties. Sulfaro said she considered the relationship consensual because Jacoby did not rape her and she did not run away, even though the relationship was not her choice. See MISCONDUCT, Page 3
“When you look around, I don’t want you to see Black, White, Asian. I don’t want you to wonder if a person is Democrat or Republican, gay or straight. When you look around I just want you to simply see human beings. Nothing more, nothing less.” This is the sentiment University of Michigan alum Charles Woodson left class of 2018 graduates with Saturday morning at spring commencement. Other speakers emphasized themes of service, community and Michigan fandom. University Provost Martin Philbert, professor of toxicology in the School of Public Health, was the first to make remarks at Saturday’s ceremony. Speaking on the class of 2018, Philbert said, “They have challenged us, their teachers, to examine our own ideas. In the face of new evidence and different perspectives, we thank them for reminding us learning is a lifelong endeavor.” LSA now-graduate Jad Elharake then spoke about his experiences and challenges as an Arab-Muslim student and a first generation college student, leading him to this moment to “come for everything they said we couldn’t have.” “We faced challenges, made sacrifices but experienced joy along the way,” Elharake said. “It is critical we remember those who empowered us.” Elharake introduced LSA Dean Andrew Martin, who spoke on the significance of academic freedom.
See COMMENCEMENT, Page 3