2019-01-17 by The Michigan Daily

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Ann Arbor, Michigan

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Engler resigns “What else can a person do?” from MSU under threat of termination Eleven page resignation comes after commets about Nassar survivors ATTICUS RAASCH Daily Staff Reporter

DESIGN BY CHRISTINE JEGARL

Former ICPSR employee alleges wrongful termination after reporting harassment RACHEL CUNNINGHAM Daily News Editor

Gwen Tessier, University alum and former Student Administrative Assistant Intermediate for the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, alleges her employment was terminated as a result of reporting sexual harassment at the University

of Michigan. Tessier worked for the University from 1998-2004 and in ICPSR specifically from 20092015. ICPSR is an international research consortium providing training on data access, analysis and curation for social science research. She filed a complaint with the University’s Office of Institutional Equity on July 2, 2015

regarding the continued sexual harassment by her supervisor, Research Area Specialist Inter Dieter Burrell. Fitzgerald confirmed Burrell is still employed at the University. Burrell did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Tessier’s employment was terminated May 15, 2015. University spokesperson Rick

Fitzgerald said Tessier’s position was terminated due to financial concerns. “Gwen Tessier’s position at ICPSR was one of six positions eliminated in 2015 as part of a reduction-in-force, cost-cutting effort at ICPSR,” Fitzgerald wrote in a statement to The Daily.

Interim President of Michigan State University John Engler resigned Wednesday night in an 11-page letter to the Board of Trustees just hours after the board set a special meeting for Thursday with the intent to fire him. In the letter, Engler said it was an honor to serve the University. “In compliance with your request that I resign & in order to ensure an orderly transition to my interim successor, I hereby resign the office of President of Michigan State University effective 9 am, Wednesday, January 23.” The letter read, “It has been an honor to serve my beloved university.” Engler took over for former President Lou Anna Simon on January 30, 2018 in the wake of

controversy surrounding Simon’s handling of allegations regarding Larry Nassar. Recently, Engler has been under criticism after he made comments to The Detroit News on Friday stating that Nassar victims are enjoying the spotlight. “You’ve got people, they are hanging on and this has been … there are a lot of people who are touched by this, survivors who haven’t been in the spotlight,” Engler said. “In some ways they have been able to deal with this better than the ones who’ve been in the spotlight who are still enjoying that moment at times, you know, the awards and recognition. And it’s ending. It’s almost done.” A tweet from Brian Mosallam, a member of the MSU Board of Trustees, said the resignation of Engler is an end to a “reign of terror.”

See ICPSR, Page 3A

Barger Leadership Institute Fellows CSG posts Panel talks affordable undergo global feminism case study cognitive STUDENT GOVERNMENT

housing survey for students

Survey grades various property managers in A2 SAM SMALL

Daily Staff Reporter

Central Student Government released a housing survey Tuesday evening in an effort to help alleviate the struggle of finding affordable off-campus housing. Over 2,000 students responded to the initial survey sent out and about 700 responding students fit the criterion of those living offcampus within the 2017-2018 academic year. The idea for the survey was first conceived last year during the winter 2018 CSG campaign, when CSG party MVision created a portal where students could submit campaign ideas. Public Policy senior Lauren Schandevel, co-founder of the Michigan Affordability and Advocacy Coalition, responded with the idea for a landlord report card. “I actually got the idea from the last CSG assembly,” Schandevel said. “I met with them after their affordability guide came out and See CSG, Page 3

CAMPUS LIFE

Panel discusses the role of feminism in teaching leadership skills worldwide MELANIE TAYLOR Daily Staff Reporter

Ramaswami Mahalingam, director of the University’s Barger Leadership Institute, spoke to students Wednesday night about the role of global feminists in leadership. Mahalingam explained different theories of leadership to the group, switching between his lecture and conversation with the group. Mahalingam presented to advanced fellows in a BLI pilot cohort called the Mindful Leader Program. In order to become involved with the BLI, all members enroll in a one-credit leadership lab. Upon completion, they are afforded the opportunity to

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become BLI Leadership Fellows. Following an initial fellowship, students are given the option to either coordinate a capstone project or take on more advanced fellowships. Compared to the nearly 200 students pursuing a capstone project, this mindful leadership cohort of only six students is much more specialized and intimate. Business junior Kevin Liu is one of the mindful leadership fellows and was in a different advanced BLI fellowship last year. He said the mindful leadership program is different from any of his prior experience. “It’s about journaling and reflection and generally being mindful of our action,” Liu said. “This is a very small

cohort because it’s a pilot program. This is a lot more time commitment.” Mahalingam is an assignment contributor at the Global Feminisms Project, a digital archive of personal narratives chronicling the experiences of feminists in seven different countries across the world. According to Abigail Stewart, co-director of the Global Feminism Project and professor of psychology and women’s studies at the University, said the project’s two main goals are to aid teaching and research. “The teaching uses and the research uses both have been very broad,” Stewart said. “So there’s no disciplinary limit to the different kinds of uses they can be put to.”

Following Mahalingam’s presentation, the group delved into a discussion of the content from the archives. Mahalingam felt it was important for students to look beyond the pre-formatted images of leadership that are taught in a classroom. He encouraged the cohort to challenge the ideas they previously held about what a good leader looks like. Abigail Stewart, director of the Global Feminism project and professor of psychology and women’s studies, said that the ideas presented change the way society thinks about leadership.