bv
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Tuesday, October 23. 2018
Ann Arbor, Michigan
michigandaily.com
Broken Record
Student survivor navigates painful reporting process through Office of Institutional Equity MAYA GOLDMAN & NISA KHAN
Daily News Editor & Senior Michigan in Color Editor
A
University of Michigan student reported being sexually assaulted by her Graduate Student Instructor this summer in June. She filed the report, met with a U-M Title IX investigator and submitted evidence to back up her claim months ago. But the University’s investigation of the student’s case has been ongoing for almost four months now — and she’s running out of patience. The School of Music, Theatre & Dance senior — who will be referred to as Taylor in this article — said her relationship with her GSI began in the middle of her junior year. The GSI is a doctoral student studying conducting under Prof. Michael Haithcock. He teaches band classes and is a GSI for the Michigan Marching Band. For a while, the relationship was consensual. But the student said her GSI became increasingly aggressive during their time together. At the end of their relationship, she said, he sexually assaulted her. That GSI did not respond
to an email request for an interview. After reporting the incident to the Office of Institutional Equity this summer, Taylor says she feels like her mental health and professional future is not being considered by the University. Much has been said about biases in the University’s sexual misconduct reporting process against accused students. An investigation of this student’s case by The Michigan Daily reaffirms the tired runaround students and faculty still face when to comes to reporting concerns to their safety and well-being. *** Taylor’s story begins this February when she added her GSI on Facebook. He was her GSI for concert band and immediately started messaging her. Taylor didn’t think anything of the conversation at first, as close relationships between faculty and students in SMTD are common between long hours practicing, traveling together and a smaller, tightknit academic community. The GSI first made physical contact with Taylor on an
SMTD band trip, touching Taylor’s legs and kissing her multiple times — without her consent. Afterward, she messaged him expressing she felt his conduct was inappropriate. The Daily reviewed screenshots of these texts provided by Taylor. They then didn’t talk until after spring break. Though he was still her conductor, Taylor said he seemed to purposely avoid her. But then he approached her again, informing her that he registered a relationship
with her. Faculty members and teaching staff to are required to register relationships with students, but The Daily was not able to confirm the GSI filed such a record due to privacy laws. So they began dating. Despite some of his unsettling practices, Taylor was f lattered. The GSI was, after all, extremely well-liked among students and faculty. “I was like, oh my god, like he’s paying attention to me and he’s like, everyone loves
him,” she said. “So I was like, wow, I must be really special.” He did not acknowledge her in public, she said, and the two did not go on dates. Texts detail few people knew about their contact. The GSI: Nope!! I had many problems like that. I worked in 4 different places so far and in the beginning something like that always happened. But now I know and I can avoid it. Let’s be careful At school we just say “hi” for a while. Taylor: Yes I know we should be careful. I don’t have to talk to you at school at all not even hi. Taylor mentioned she heard from other students the GSI had been accused of harassment at previous schools. The Daily filed a federal information request to the University of Minnesota-Duluth, the institution he worked at immediately prior to coming to Michigan, but there were no Title IX complaints with his name on it. Taylor said after those text messages, he started becoming aggressive. He
began to accuse Taylor of cheating on him, which she denies. In the texts shared with The Daily, he repeatedly accused her of going to bars and having sex with other men, and that it was a wellknown fact in the music community. Throughout the texts, Taylor protested his accusations, which he glossed over every time. He replied: “Learn a lesson...you can regret about things you’ve done but the past is always part of what you are today.” “Sometimes I still question, like, did (the harassment and assault) really happen?” she said. “Because I, for most of the relationship, did anything he wanted. I did whatever, just to make him like me because I thought he was like an important person in the music world — and making connections and networking is so important.’” She went to pick him up from the airport on June 4. When they went back to her place, Taylor said, he sexually assaulted her. She was bleeding heavily afterward, and continued to bleed for days after the encounter. She texted a friend in a panic. She went to an OB-GYN, who later confirmed to The Daily Taylor visited his office and reported the assault. See TITLE IX, Page 3
“I can’t wait to get out of here,” Taylor said. “I don’t wear anything Michigan anymore. I don’t want to go to tailgates or go to football games. I don’t want to support this school. Like, I’m not afraid to say out loud that I hate U-M. I don’t care if U-M is this prestigious university … It feels unfortunate that I came here.”
David North, Chairman of the Socialist Mobile tech Reports of Equality Party, talks future of socialism could help misconduct RESEARCH
ADMINISTRATION
increase by 161 percent OIE handled 232 sexual harrasment cases by faculty, staff in FY18 DANIELLE PASEKOFF
North spoke to a crowd of 50 students, residents on ideology, progressive politics AIDAN WOUTAS For the Daily
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality hosted David North, national chairman of the Socialist Equality Party, Tuesday evening for a lecture on the global history
of socialism, discussing what he perceived to be the corruption of the ideology’s true intent on the left and the need for a worldwide socialist revolution. An audience of approximately 50 University of Michigan students and members of the Ann Arbor community gathered in Angell Hall to listen to North and Niles
Niemuth, the Socialist Equality Party’s candidate for Congress in Michigan’s 12th District. North is currently on a speaking tour celebrating the 80th anniversary of the founding of the socialist organization “Fourth International” by Soviet revolutionary Leon Trotsky. In his lecture, North urged
a better historical awareness among students to contextualize contemporary events taking place in the world and allow for a better understanding of socialism, which he argued has been corrupted by the modern left. “A fundamental problem … See SOCIALISM, Page 3
depression in elderly Social media could lessen impact of depression on elderly in pain, ‘U’ finds CHRISTOPHER SULLIVAN
Daily Staff Reporter
For the Daily
The University of Michigan’s Office for Institutional Equity released a report on Monday regarding University responses to reports of sexual harassment pertaining to staff, faculty and third parties during the past year. The report was the first to include details of sexual misconduct among faculty; annual reports on sexual misconduct among students have been released since 2014. In future years, there will be a single report released by OIE yearly, including all sexual misconduct cases for students, faculty, staff and third parties. “We share this information in order to be transparent, to acknowledge that these behaviors occur within our community, and to show how the
A recent study conducted by University of Michigan Rackham student Shannon Ang has revealed that social media use among older adults can limit the effects of pain on depression. Ang, the study’s lead author and a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology and Institute for Social Research, was curious of the longterm consequences of online participation through social networking platforms. He was interested specifically in the elderly population because of the lack of studies related to the age group. “I was interested in whether social media would be able to supplement the effects of people who are in pain or are physically limited,” Ang said.
See REPORT, Page 2
GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
ROSEANNE CHAO/Daily
MATT VAILLIENCOURT/Daily
David North, national chairman of the Socialist Equality Party, discusses the history of class struggle and socialism in the U.S. during a lecture organized by the International Youth and Students for Social Equality at Angell Hall Monday evening.
Check out the Daily’s News podcast, The Daily Weekly
For more stories and coverage, visit
michigandaily.com
INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 15 ©2018 The Michigan Daily
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS......................6
See DEPRESSION, Page 3
SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6 SPORTS....................7