bv
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, tight-
knit 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 flattered. 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 well-
known 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.
Tuesday, October 23. 2018
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 …
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 15
©2018 The Michigan Daily
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
RESEARCH
ROSEANNE CHAO/Daily
David North, Chairman of the Socialist
Equality Party, talks future of socialism
North spoke to a crowd of 50 students, residents on ideology, progressive politics
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
long-
term
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.
Reports of
misconduct
increase by
161 percent
Mobile tech
could help
depression
in elderly
ADMINISTRATION
OIE handled 232 sexual
harrasment cases by
faculty, staff in FY18
Social media could lessen
impact of depression on
elderly in pain, ‘U’ finds
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.
Student survivor navigates painful reporting process through Office of Institutional Equity
See REPORT, Page 2
See DEPRESSION, Page 3
See TITLE IX, Page 3
See SOCIALISM, Page 3
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
DANIELLE PASEKOFF
Daily Staff Reporter
CHRISTOPHER SULLIVAN
For the Daily
AIDAN WOUTAS
For the Daily
Broken Record
MAYA GOLDMAN &
NISA KHAN
Daily News Editor &
Senior Michigan in Color Editor
“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.”