thoroughly
investigate
sexual
misconduct.
***
David
Daniels
joined
the
Music, Theatre & Dance School
faculty in 2015. One of the
University’s most famous alumni,
he enjoyed a quick rise to fame
after graduating with a master’s
degree from the vocal program
in 1992, making his Metropolitan
Opera Debut only five years after
graduation. Daniels was well
known in the opera sphere as the
“world’s leading countertenor.”
He’s so famous that Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg officiated his
wedding to Walters.
Daniels’s reputation has largely
benefitted the University — it’s
attracted
several
prospective
students. Student 1, a student
in the voice department who
requested to remain anonymous
due to privacy concerns, recalled
when she auditioned for the
program and the excitement
surrounding Daniels joining the
faculty.
“There
were
a
lot
of
countertenors
there
(saying),
‘Omg I just can’t wait to see if I
can study with Daniels! I hope
he’s in my audition room!’”
Student 1 said.
Student 2, another student
in the voice department who
requested
anonymity,
was
Daniels’ student. He said part
of why chose the University was
because he felt he meshed well
with Daniels, and he knew he was
a huge deal in the opera world.
SMTD Faculty Member 1,
who also requested anonymity,
expressed the strong sense of
pride among the Music, Theatre
& Dance School community that
such a famous alum came back to
teach at the school.
“We had such high hopes for
him,” Faculty Member 1 said.
“Everybody was so proud that he
was on the faculty.”
Student 2 said part of why he
was drawn to study with Daniels
is because of his friendly, bubbly
personality. Student 1 agreed and
said her interactions with Daniels
were nothing but positive.
“Daniels was very openly
friendly,”
Student
1
said.
“Cracking jokes, always had a
huge smile on his face … (if asked)
who was the most positive energy
source in the program, I would
probably say him as a professor.”
And yet, these faculty members
and students agreed Daniels’s
humor was often overtly sexual.
Lipian’s lawyer Deborah Gordon
writes in the lawsuit that she
spoke with a faculty member who
noted Daniels’s overtly sexual
humor. Faculty Member 1 echoed
this sentiment.
“It’s one of those ‘in retrospect’
things,” Faculty Member 1 said.
“He would make jokes that I
wouldn’t have been comfortable
making.”
Student 2 described how in his
lessons, Daniels’s humor became
increasingly sexual over the
years.
“In
lessons,
he
would
pretty often talk about sexual
things, which made me very
uncomfortable,” Student 2 said.
“I never expressed to him my
sexuality at all but sometimes he
would make assumptions about
my sexuality and make comments
as if I would laugh about certain
things that might be popular
in gay culture, in gay sexual
cultures.”
This same student noted on
several occasions, Daniels made
sexual
comments
regarding
other students.
“I
remember
times
specifically, it was after one of
my performances, (Daniels said)
‘Who was that boy who played X
role? How old is he?’” Student
1
said.
“(He
was)
making
comments about how attractive
the person is. I don’t know, it just
made me sort of uncomfortable
that he was talking like that in
front of me.”
Looking back, these students
and faculty said it isn’t hard to
imagine, then, that this kind of
behavior was a hint at something
more insidious.
***
Student 3, who requested
anonymity due to privacy and
safety concerns, said he was
messaged on Grindr—a dating
app geared towards gay and
bisexual
men—by
someone
with the username #GoBlue
on March 26, 2018. #GoBlue
offered him money to come
over to his house and engage in
sexual activity. After some initial
conversation, #GoBlue let him
know he was a faculty member at
the University about to get tenure
in May, and said because of this,
they would have to be discreet.
The student told #GoBlue he
thought he was messing around
with him, and so #GoBlue
revealed he was David Daniels.
To confirm this, the student asked
him to send a picture of himself
touching his nose in real time.
The student provided The
Daily with some of the text of this
Grindr conversation, as well as
the picture of Daniels touching
his nose.
Daniels: Looking to make
a
hot
dad/son
fantasy
to
happen!$$$$$$
Does
that
interest you?
Student: Face? depends if I’m
into you lol
Daniels: You come to my west
side hotel , sit back to some porn,
let daddy suck you off! You leave
each time with $200 bucks. Very
discreet here. U ofM affiliated so
need to private (sic) and discreet
about this.
The
student
was
very
distressed by this incident and
confided in a friend. It was this
friend who, on March 29, filed a
report on behalf of the student,
keeping the student anonymous.
The student was unsure where
the report went after that. He
was not contacted by anyone
until July, when DPSS detective
Maureen Burke spoke with him
over the phone.
In
the
Pittsfield
police
record, Burke and another DPSS
detective,
Margie
Pillsbury,
wrote that after they learned
about
Schultz’s
allegations
against Daniels in July, they
learned of this student’s March
allegation—though there was no
explanation for the delay. Burke
and Pillsbury contacted OIE
Senior
Investigator
Elizabeth
Seney and learned the student’s
campus
security
authority
had been forwarded to OIE to
investigate the incident.
2A — Friday. November 2, 2018
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