michigandaily.com
Thursday, May 3, 2018
INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 115 | © 2018 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com
NEWS ....................................
OPINION ...............................
ARTS ......................................
MiC.........................................
SPORTS................................
MICHIGAN IN COLOR
MiC Contributor
“Therse are all the things I
would like to tell my moth-
er someday.”
>> SEE PAGE 9
NEWS
Winged Mural
University commisioned
street art bolsters U-M
social media presence.
>> SEE PAGE 2
OPINION
Slacktivism in 2018
Slacktivism: the watered
down support for an issue
that requires minimal effort.
>> SEE PAGE 5
ARTS
Film: ‘Avengers:
Infinity War’
The latest tentpole is
more spectacle than
substance
>> SEE PAGE 7
SPORTS
Shea Patterson
The Ole Miss transfer’s
waiver for immediate
eligibility was accepted by
the NCAA.
>> SEE PAGE 12
inside
2
4
6
9
10
COMMENCEMENT
See COMMENCEMENT, Page 3
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.
Speaker
shares hope
at spring
convocation
Charles Woodson
speaks on unity and
hope for graduates
By ALEXAST. JOHN & RIYAH BASHA
Editor in Chief & Managing News Editor
“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 MISCONDUCT, Page 3
DESIGN BY JACK SILBERMAN
ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM