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Thursday, June 14, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
NEWS

Lawsuit challenges 
sexual assault policy

Student sues U-M 
for being biased 
against males 
accused of assault

By ALICE TRACEY

Summer Daily News Editor

A lawsuit filed in U.S. District 
Court by Deborah Gordon Law on 
June 4 on behalf of a male University 
of Michigan student, claims the 
University’s 
sexual 
misconduct 
policy does not provide due process 
to males accused of sexual assault 
and thereby discriminates against 
them on the basis of gender. The 
allegation follows a complaint 
brought forth by a female student 
who approached U-M’s Office of 
Institutional Equity on March 12 
saying she and the male student had 
engaged in non-consensual sexual 
activity several months earlier. 
In April, the University sent 
out a no-contact order against the 
male student. The female student 
then claimed the male student 

violated the directive by staying 
in the same dining hall as her, and 
the University reprimanded him 
via email. According to the lawsuit, 
however, the male’s Mcard records 
prove he was not in the dining hall 
at that time.
Due to the female student’s 
accusations 
of 
assault, 
the 
University put the male student’s 
official 
transcript 
on 
hold, 
preventing 
him 
from 
starting 
graduate 
school 
until 
further 
notice. This disciplinary action 
was not warranted, the lawsuit 
says, because the University failed 
to fairly investigate the situation. 
According to the lawsuit, the 
students did have sex in his dorm 
room in November 2017 but the 
interaction was consensual and no 
alcohol or drugs were involved. The 
male student also claims the two 
stayed in touch after having sex, 
even eating together in the dining 
hall. He says the female student 
suggested having sex again, but he 
declined.

“Magic Skoolie” 
bus becomes 
unconventional art

By ZAYNA SYED

Daily Staff Reporter

After spending three weeks 
at a farm immersion program in 
Ireland, Tori Essex, a 2018 alum of 
the University of Michigan School of 
Art & Design, said she felt the most 
“clear-headed” since she was 8 years 
old. She relished the introspective 
time 
and 
human 
connections 
volunteering on the farm allowed 
her and wished she could do 
something similar after graduating. 
Her wish came true.
However, 
while 
farming 
is 
contingent 
upon 
nurturing 
a 
certain slice of land, Tori will not be 
anchored to any one farm. Instead, 
she plans to tour independent, 
organic 
farms 
throughout 
the 
country via “The Magic Skoolie,” 
a school bus she converted into a 
living space as part of her senior 
capstone project.
“I was farming for three weeks 
and I was super isolated and had 
a lot of time to think,” Essex said. 
“I was loving just being outside 
and volunteering and getting to 
know people I never would’ve met 
otherwise. I was thinking about 
how I wish that I could do that after 
I graduated, and just kind of float 
around like that a little bit. But the 

biggest risk in travelling all the time 
and volunteering and being posted 
is the living situation or the hosting 
situation, the accommodations that 
you might or might not get. So just 
for my own sense of security and 
comfort, I was like, ‘It would be 
great if I could create something 
that I could be comfortable in that I 
would be able to take with me from 
spot to spot.’”
At first, Essex thought she might 
live in a tiny house, hauling it from 
farm to farm using a truck. But 
after calculating the expenses, she 
realized it was costly and might be 
difficult to maneuver. Driving a bus 
would be much more economical 
and easy to handle, if she could 
convert one into a home.
While the idea of converting a 
school bus into a living space may 
seem niche, Essex researched the 
idea via internet and Instagram 
and discovered others had done it 
before. According to Essex’s adviser 
for the project, Rebekah Modrak, 
an associate professor at the Art & 
Design School, it even has precedent 
in movements from the ’70s.
“It has a history with the 1970s 
earth culture movement,” Modrak 
said. “I think a lot of (Tori’s) practices 
have this history in the ‘back to the 
land’ movement of the ’70s, and even 
the idea of transforming vehicles 
comes from that period.”

Grad converts bus 
into living space

COURTESY OF JACK ZELLWEGER, THE ANN ARBOR NEWS

420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327
www.michigandaily.com

ASIF BECHER

Editor in Chief

734-418-4115 ext. 1251

asifb@michigandaily.com

TOMMY DYE

Business Manager

734-418-4115 ext. 1240

tomedye@michigandaily.com

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Emma Richter 
 Managing Editor 

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 Managing News Editor 

news@michigandaily.com 

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Read more at MichiganDaily.com

The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) 
is published Monday through Friday 
during the fall and winter terms 
by students at the University of 
Michigan. One copy is available free 
of charge to all readers. Additional 
copies may be picked up at the Daily’s 
office for $2 per issue. Subscriptions 
for September - April are $250, and 
year-long subscriptions are $275. 
University affiliates are subject 
to a reduced subscription rate. 
Subscriptions must be prepaid. 

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

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