An allegation of rape crumbled 

the facade surrounding University 
of Michigan professor David Daniels 
this summer, dubbed by many as one 
of the best countertenors in the world. 
The assault, however, is not Daniels’ 
only instance of predatory sexual 
behavior. 
Through 
police 
reports 

filed with Pittsfield Township, The 
Michigan Daily found the Office of 
Institutional Equity knew about an 
instance of Daniels’s questionable 
behavior as early as March 2018 — and 
the University still awarded him with 
tenure in May. 

Daniels 
is 
one 
of 
the 
most 

recognizable figures in international 
opera, and made waves when he 
joined the faculty at the School of 
Music, Theater & Dance in 2015. 
In August, the music world buzzed 
about an allegation of rape made by 
baritone singer Samuel Schultz, who 
said Daniels and his husband, Scott 
Walters, raped him at a Houston opera 
festival in 2010.

Daniels made tenure on May 17 

with approval from Melody Racine, 
former SMTD interim dean. Nowhere 
in Daniels’s tenure review are the 
March reports of sexual misconduct 
mentioned.

Furthermore, the Department of 

Public Safety and Security knew about 
Schultz’s allegation July 18, and on July 
19, they learned from Music, Theatre & 
Dance senior Samuel Kidd that he had 
been solicited on Grindr by Daniels. 
Daniels faced no public admonition or 
repercussions until late August when 
he was put on leave.

This information was confirmed 

through 
interviews 
with 
sources 

and a document acquired by The 
Daily earlier this year through the 
Freedom of Information Act. The 
document is a Pittsfield Township 
Police Department record concerning 

a Grindr solicitation allegation Kidd 
made against Daniels. This record was 
transferred to Pittsfield from DPSS 
and contains information on all prior 
DPSS investigations into Daniels.

The Daily also requested information 

on investigations on Daniels from both 
DPSS and OIE, but both FOIA requests 
were denied because of University 
policy that prevent the offices from 
disclosing records that may interfere 
with ongoing investigations.

Allegations 
against 
Daniels 

are continuing to pile up. Just 
last Wednesday, Music, Theatre & 
Dance 
graduate 
student 
Andrew 

Lipian filed a lawsuit claiming he 
was assaulted by Daniels in March 
2017. Lipian accused the University 
of knowing about Daniels’s abuse of 
students and failing to do anything 
about it. The suit alleges that in August, 
a faculty member became aware of 
Lipian being sexually assaulted by 
Daniels and reported it to OIE. As 
of yet, Lipian says he has not been 
contacted by the office.

When The Daily reached out 

to University Public Affairs for a 
statement after Schultz’s story broke 
in August, Associate Director Kim 
Broekhuizen affirmed the University’s 
commitment to investigating every 
report seriously and carefully, and its 
belief in maintaining an environment 
free of sexual misconduct.

“At the University of Michigan, 

every report we receive, in whatever 
form, is taken seriously and is carefully 
reviewed for appropriate action,” 
Broekhuizen wrote in a statement. 
“We believe that no one should 
ever be subjected to discriminatory 
harassment or sexual misconduct. We 
are deeply committed to the creation 
and support of a safe and productive 
learning environment for all our 
students, faculty and staff.”

After obtaining the Pittsfield record 

and talking with sources, The Daily 
has found that, at least in Daniels’s 
case, the University has neglected to 

According to a survey of 

435 
University 
of 
Michigan 

undergraduate 
students 

conducted by The Daily, 92 
percent of survey respondents 
registered to vote in Michigan 
plan to vote in the gubernatorial 
election on Tuesday. Among 
students who intend to vote, 69 
percent plan to vote for Gretchen 
Whitmer, 14 percent plan to vote 
for Bill Schuette, 15 percent are 
unsure and 1 percent plan to vote 
for another candidate.

According to Tufts University’s 

National Study of Learning, 
Voting, 
and 
Engagement 

2017 Campus Report, only 14.3 
percent of eligible University 
of Michigan students voted in 
the 2014 midterm election, as 
compared with 18.1 percent of 
students from all institutions 
nationwide. 
Political 
Science 

professor 
Nicholas 
Valentino 

studies political campaigns and 
is currently teaching a class 
about mass media and political 
behavior. Given generally low 

student voter turnout rates, 
Valentino doubts a 92 percent 
student 
voter 
participation 

rate is feasible. However, given 
the 
increased 
mobility 
and 

emotional energy preceding this 
midterm election, he said he 
would not be surprised if student 
voting participation increased 
significantly.

“This is a very emotionally 

intense 
election 
compared 

to 
most 
off-year 
elections,” 

Valentino said. “It’s much more 
salient and it’s much more 
emotionally energized, and in 
particular the energy is coming 
from this emotion of anger and 
outrage.”

Though 
many 
students 

express interest in voting, the 
barriers they face can explain 
a drop-off in their turnout 
rates. Campus organizers, like 
Public Policy junior Katie Kelly, 
communications director of the 
University’s chapter of College 
Democrats, have been mobilizing 
the past several months to tackle 
these obstacles.

Three professors and political 

science professionals discussed 
what they felt was required in 
order to be informed ahead of 
midterm elections on Tuesday 
at 
a 
roundtable 
discussion 

Thursday at the University of 
Michigan Institute for Social 
Research. 

A 
host 
of 
programming 

and 
institutional 
initiatives 

this 
semester 
have 
focused 

on increasing awareness and 
turnout 
in 
the 
upcoming 

elections. Only 14 percent of 
students voted in the 2016 
election. This summer, however, 
Washtenaw County as a whole 
experienced the highest surge in 
voter turnout across the state 
for the primary, jumping by 6.7 
percent. 

Four 
individuals 
robbed 

a Boober bicycle taxi driver 
early Thursday morning on the 
University of Michigan campus, 
according to a crime alert sent 
out to students. 

The Division of Public Safety 

and Security reported the armed 
robbery took place on the Diag 
near West Hall, close to the 
intersection of South University 
Avenue 
and 
East 
University 

GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 22
©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

C L A S S I F I E D S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 B

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, November 2, 2018

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Daily survey 
predicts high 
voting rates 
for students

University neglected misconduct 
claims against famous professor

GOVERNMENT

69 percent of respondents plan to vote 
for Whitmer, 14 percent for Schuette

JULIA FORD

Daily Staff Reporter

Daniels received tenure months after OIE learned of questionable behavior

ELIZABETH LAWRENCE

Daily Staff Reporter

Suspects 
pull gun, 
rob Boober 
taxi driver

CRIME

Four individuals take 
money, blanket from 
driver on Diag in a.m.

RIYAH BASHA 

& REMY FARKAS
Managing News Editor 
& Daily Staff Reporter

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily

Stuart Soroka speaks at a round table discussion about the 2018 election at the Institute for Social Research in an 

Political experts strive to make voters 
better informed at election roundtable

Trends demonstrate polarization, increasing negative mobilization of voters

PARNIA MAZHAR

For the Daily

michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

See DANIELS, Page 2A

In the 2018 midterm election 

on Tuesday, Ann Arbor’s 4th 
Ward 
will 
decide 
between 

candidates Elizabeth Nelson and 
Joseph Hood for City Council. 
Neither Nelson nor Hood has 
served on the council before.

Nelson works as a substitute 

teacher in Washtenaw County. 
She 
said 
she 
is 
concerned 

about factional divisions on the 
council after three incumbent 
councilmembers who regularly 
voted in a majority alongside 
Mayor 
Chris 
Taylor 
were 

Nelson and 
Hood face 
off in Ward 
4 election

ANN ARBOR

Democrat Nelson rejects 
claims of factionalism 
on new City Council

RACHEL CUNNINGHAM

Daily Staff Reporter

Meant to be a FB
Ben Mason is consistent 

in his beliefs: He wants to 

play football, he wants to hit 

people and he wants to do 

that for a long time.

 » Page 4B

SHERRY CHEN/Daily

Read more online at 

michigandaily.com

Read more online at 

michigandaily.com

Read more online at 

michigandaily.com

Read more online at 

michigandaily.com

