ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Thursday, January 23, 2020
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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As provost, Philbert oversaw OIE cases
Second- highest ranking administrator supported mandatory faculty training CLAIRE HAO
Daily News Editor FILE PHOTO/Daily
‘U’ official placed on leave after allegations of sexual misconduct University Provost Martin Philbert was placed on administrative leave for allegations of sexual misconduct.
Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Martin A. Philbert sidelined effective Jan. 21 pending review of multiple accusations BARBARA COLLINS Daily News Editor
Martin A. Philbert, University of Michigan provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, has been placed on leave effective Jan. 21 due to multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, according to an email from President Mark Schlissel sent to
students Wednesday afternoon. According to the email, the University received the allegations last Thursday and Friday and began an internal investigation Friday. After a threeday investigation involving an outside law firm and the Division of Public Safety and Security, Schlissel wrote he placed Philbert on administrative leave Tuesday.
“We take allegations of sexual misconduct very seriously, and our policy is clear: Sexual misconduct will not be tolerated in the University of Michigan community,” Schlissel wrote. As provost, Philbert serves as the chief academic officer and budgetary officer for the University’s Ann Arbor campus. His purview includes promoting
the University’s academic, teaching and research endeavors. Because the Office for Institutional Equity reports to the provost, Schlissel wrote OIE’s reporting line for matters regarding Philbert’s investigation will be handled by Richard S. Holcomb, associate vice president for human resources. See LEAVE, Page 3
University of Michigan Provost Martin A. Philbert, executive vice president of academic affairs, was placed on administrative leave on Jan. 21 following several allegations of sexual misconduct. According to an email sent to the campus community by University President Mark Schlissel, these allegations were first reported to University administration on Jan. 16, prompting a three-day investigation by an outside law firm and the Division of Public Safety and Security before Philbert was placed on leave on Jan. 20. In a message to The Daily, University spokesperson Kim Broekhuizen confirmed Philbert will continue to be paid while on leave “following our normal process that is afforded all employees.”
BUSINESS
Panelists Harvard professor discusses racial talk green criminalization of Black Americans business, Khalil Muhammad spoke as part of the 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. symposium investing SOFIA URBAN
Experts encourage corporations to begin incorporating more sustainable practices EMMA RUBERG Daily Staff Reporter
The Erb Institute, a collaboration between the Ross School of Business and the School for Environment and Sustainability, hosted an event on Wednesday night to discuss how businesses can promote sustainability in their work. The event featured David Blood, co-founder and senior partner of Generation Investment Management, and a panel of four other speakers. They spoke to a crowd of about 500 students, faculty and community members in the Robertson Auditorium in the Ross School of Business. Blood described his previous experience in the industry and how he became involved in sustainability. “I spent 18 years at Goldman Sachs and made the decision to retire in 2003,” Blood said. “I told my partners that I was going to set up a sustainable investment firm and they basically laughed and said, ‘This confirms what we knew about you all along: you’re crazy.’” See ROSS PAGE 3
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Daily Staff Reporter
Khalil Gibran Muhammad, professor of history, race and public policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, gave a lecture on race and crime on Wednesday afternoon to about 150 attendees in Weiser Hall. Muhammad, who is the author of “The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime and Making of Modern Urban America,” spoke as a part of the 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. symposium.
Muhammad contextualized the marginalization of Black identity by opening with an MLK Jr. quote about the disproportionate persecution of Black people by the police. Muhammad noted while the term “mass incarceration” has become more popular, the phrase “racial criminalization” tends to be excluded from the narrative of criminal reform. “Racial criminalization is defined as stigmatizing a racial group of people as a criminal regardless of guilt or innocence,” Muhammad said.
“That is the idea of a criminal class without using the law or public policy to arrest or use the agencies of criminal justice to control those people.” Muhammad said the institutionalized prejudice in the criminal justice system has its roots in the careful wording of the 13th amendment of the U.S. Constitution. “The 13th amendment has a slavery loophole,” Muhammad said. “And that is that it abolished slavery except as a punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.”
Muhammad said the criminal justice system turned a blind eye toward violent crimes, such as lynching Black people in the late 19th century. He explained this violence is increasingly seen as state-sanctioned domestic terrorism. “The state was complicit in the abridgment of these individual due process laws,” Muhammad said. “Under no circumstances are citizens granted the right to execute other citizens.” See HARVARD, Page 3
He is one of several University officials in the last few years to face scrutiny for sexual misconduct, following allegations against School of Music, Theatre & Dance professors Samuel Shipps and David Daniels last school year. As provost, Philbert is the second-highest ranking University administrator and earns about $570,000 a year. In this position, he serves as both the chief academic officer and the chief budgetary officer. Philbert primarily works with Schlissel to set academic goals for the University and allocate funds towards them. All school deans report to Philbert, as he oversees the University’s 19 schools and colleges as well as several interdisciplinary centers across the University. Prior to his appointment as provost in 2017, Philbert served as dean for the School of Public Health. See PHILBERT, Page 3
GOVERNMENT
Dingell in support of new PFAS litigation Attorney general says companies knowingly allowed chemicals in drinking water supply JULIA FANZERES Daily Staff Reporter
Almost six years after a switch in water supply by city officials led to the Flint Water Crisis, Michigan has been facing another man-made water crisis affecting approximately 1.9 million Michiganders. On Jan. 14, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed a lawsuit against 17 water companies for damages to the state of Michigan, alleging these companies knowingly allowed PFAS into drinking water. Similar to the lead that fueled the Flint Water Crisis, the toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — collectively known as PFAS — have lasting health consequences and are linked to numerous health diseases, including cancer. PFAS chemicals are humanmade chemicals that are resistant to grease, oil, water and heat and have therefore been used in a wide range of consumer products. PFAS have also been dubbed “forever chemicals” as they do not break down or biodegrade over time but instead accumulate in the environment.
JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily Khalil Gibran Muhammad delivers the Donia Human Rights Center Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture in Weiser Hall Wednesday afternoon.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 55 ©2019 The Michigan Daily
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 CLASSIFIEDS................6
See PFAS PAGE 3
SUDOKU.....................6 SPORTS...................7 ARTS...............5