3
NEWS

Thursday, May 16, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

U.S. 
District 
Judge 
Arthur Tarnow has ordered 
University 
of 
Michigan 
President Mark Schlissel to 
appear in court June 11 as a 
result of the Doe v. Univer-
sity of Michigan lawsuit. On 
Wednesday afternoon, Tar-
now turned down a motion 
from University lawyers 
which would have over-
turned the order requiring 
Schlissel’s appearance.
Tarnow 
originally 
ordered Schlissel to court 
by May 1 during a tele-
conference 
with 
Joshua 
Richards, a Pennsylvania-
based attorney represent-
ing the University, and 
the 
unnamed 
plaintiff’s 
attorney Deborah Gordon, 
a Bloomfield Hills civil 
rights attorney. During the 
teleconference, 
Gordon 
echoed 
Tarnow’s 
senti-
ments regarding Schlissel’s 
attendance in court, while 
Richards made repeated 
arguments 
against 
the 
order.
The order came out of 
a case involving a male 
undergraduate student who 
sued the University in June 
2018. The student, referred 
to as “John Doe,” was on 
track to graduate and had 
been accepted to the Uni-
versity’s graduate engineer-
ing program, in addition to 
programs at other colleges. 
The student felt his future 
was endangered when the 
University froze his tran-
script and degree follow-
ing a complaint of sexual 
assault against him.
Doe’s 
transcript 
was 
released in June, within a 
week of the lawsuit being 
filed.

The 
allegations 
trace 
back to November 2017, 
when a female student 
reached out to Doe, a Uni-
versity residential adviser, 
about getting together. Doe 
invited her to his room, at 
which point they watched a 
movie and had sexual rela-
tions. Four months later, in 
March 2018, the female stu-
dent accused Doe of sexual-
ly assaulting her during the 
interaction in a complaint 
filed with the University’s 
Office 
of 
Institutional 
Equity.
The female student said 
Doe 
had 
nonconsensual 
sex with her in his resi-
dence hall room. However, 
Doe said in the lawsuit the 
encounter was consensual 
and no drugs or alcohol 
were involved, the Detroit 
News reported. There were 
no witnesses to the encoun-
ter in question.
The lawsuit aligns with 
a 2017 ruling regarding the 
University of Cincinnati, in 
which a similar case found-
ed exclusively upon “he 
said/she said” grounds and 
in which defendant failed 
to “provide any form of 
confrontation of the accus-
er” made the proceeding 
“fundamentally unfair” to 
the case’s defendant.
Doe said in the lawsuit he 
was unaware of the allega-
tions during his interview 
with the OIE, rendering 
him unable to respond ade-
quately. Additionally, the 
lawsuit claimed the Univer-
sity refused the option for a 
hearing or cross-examina-
tion to Doe, even though 
this is provided to students 
facing other violations.

Judge orders 
Schlissel to
district court

On Wednesday night, the 
city of Ann Arbor held an open 
forum event for residents to 
meet the three final candi-
dates for a new chief of police: 
Michael Cox of Boston, Bryan 
Jarrell of Arizona and Ann 
Arbor’s Jason Forsberg. There 
were nearly 50 attendees from 
City Council members to 
police officers and civilians.
In the casual, cocktail 
hour-style event, attendees 
were able to openly converse 
with the candidates. Cox, Jar-
rell and Forsberg each spoke 
with The Daily about a range 
of issues including their past 
experience, their thoughts on 
cross-jurisdiction cooperation 
with the University of Michi-
gan police and their plans to 
move forward with the new 
Independent 
Community 
Police Oversight Commission.
For nearly 25 years, Ser-
geant Bill Clock has served 
with the Ann Arbor Police 
Department. Clock said he and 
his fellow officers would want 
a chief who is committed to 
the department, open to offi-
cers’ ideas, well-educated and 
experienced.
“I think the biggest thing 
for me is someone who will 

listen to our suggestions and 
what we want and then make 
the decision and that’s the 
decision,” Clock said. “They’re 
the boss, and they’re going to 
choose.”
The new chief of police will 
be replacing Robert Pfannes, 
interim chief of police, who 
is planning to retire May 24. 
Pfannes has spent 21 years 
with the Ann Arbor Police 
Department as Deputy Chief.
“We just need stable leader-
ship,” Clock said. “I think we’re 
open to whatever direction we 
go. We haven’t had a true chief 
for over a year, so it’s tough 
to kind of move forward and 
progress without that. What-
ever candidate is chosen, I’m 
sure will be best for the job. We 
just want stable leadership.”
Ann Arbor’s new ICPOC 
has been at the center of the 
search for a new chief. The 
commission was formed as 
civilian monitoring of the 
AAPD following the fatal 
shooting of Aura Rosser in 
2014 by an officer, and the posi-
tion’s public listing noted the 
commission as a unique chal-
lenge for the appointee.
Councilmember Ali Ram-
lawi, D-Ward 5, is one of the 
City Council’s two lesions on 
the 
oversight 
commission. 
Ramlawi told The Daily what 

the commission is looking for 
in a new chief, noting commit-
ment and open-mindedness.
“I think one that is open to 
new ideas; one that has faced 
some of the challenges we 
face here — somebody who 
has some longevity,” Ramlawi 
said. “I’d like to see someone 
who’s going to be here for a 
while, and someone who’s 
receptive, asking questions, 
interested, really trying to get 
to know the challenges in the 
community and know how to 
apply themselves. We’re look-
ing for a lot of things. No one 
is perfect. We’re looking for 
the type of person who fits the 
needs of our community.”
The oversight commission 
has held two official meetings, 
one of which was an emergen-
cy meeting Tuesday night with 
the city’s HR department. For-
mer HR director Robyn Wilk-
erson resigned May 1 after 
accusations of sending inap-
propriate text messages which 
were negative toward the 
Black Lives Matter movement 
and the oversight commission. 
The commission convened 
to investigate whether Wilk-
erson’s actions tainted the 
recruitment process for a new 
police chief.
Assistant City Administra-
tor John Fournier was also 

present at the meeting. Fourni-
er said it was an “illuminating” 
meeting and provided a lot of 
insight to the public regarding 
how the recruitment process 
was carried out.
“When you’re in a position 
of public importance and pub-
lic service, it’s really impor-
tant to be transparent, and it’s 
really important to be open to 
oversight and communication 
and things like that,” Fournier 
said. “We take that really seri-
ously in Ann Arbor.”
Ramlawi said he was sat-
isfied with how the meeting 
transpired.
“I feel more comfortable 
knowing that officials from 
our city have gone on record 
indicating 
(contamination 
of the recruitment process) 
wasn’t the case,” Ramlawi 
said. “It gives the community 
more confidence and comfort 
in the process.”
Clock said he has con-
fidence 
in 
the 
profes-
sionalism of the police 
department and does not 
believe they need an over-
sight commission, but he 
respects the city residents’ 
desire to establish one 
nonetheless.

Candidates discuss police oversight commission, communication 
strategy at meet and greet with community members Wednesday

‘U’ appeal denied by district judge, 
Schlissel to appear in court June 11 

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Ann Arbor police chief candidates (from left) Michael Cox, Bryan Jarrell and Jason Forsberg speak to Ann Arbor community members during 
the Meet the Candidates Recpetion at City Hall Wednesday evening.

Read more at michigandaily.com

AAPD narrows search for
new police chief to top three 

MELANIE TAYLOR
Summer News Editor

ALEX HARRING
Summer Managing News Editor

Read more at michigandaily.com

