University of Michigan Provost
Martin A. Philbert, executive vice
president of academic affairs,
was placed on administrative
leave on Jan. 21 following several
allegations of sexual misconduct.
According to an email sent to the
campus community by University
President Mark Schlissel, these
allegations were first reported
to University administration on
Jan. 16, prompting a three-day
investigation by an outside law
firm and the Division of Public
Safety
and
Security
before
Philbert was placed on leave on
Jan. 20.
In a message to The Daily,
University
spokesperson
Kim
Broekhuizen confirmed Philbert
will continue to be paid while
on leave “following our normal
process
that
is
afforded
all
employees.”
He is one of several University
officials in the last few years
to
face
scrutiny
for
sexual
misconduct, following allegations
against School of Music, Theatre
& Dance professors Samuel Shipps
and David Daniels last school year.
As provost, Philbert is the
second-highest ranking University
administrator and earns about
$570,000 a year. In this position, he
serves as both the chief academic
officer and the chief budgetary
officer. Philbert primarily works
with Schlissel to set academic
goals for the University and
allocate funds towards them.
All school deans report to
Philbert, as he oversees the
University’s 19 schools and colleges
as well as several interdisciplinary
centers across the University. Prior
to his appointment as provost in
2017, Philbert served as dean for
the School of Public Health.
Martin A. Philbert, University
of Michigan provost and executive
vice
president
for
academic
affairs, has been placed on leave
effective Jan. 21 due to multiple
allegations of sexual misconduct,
according to an email from
President Mark Schlissel sent to
students Wednesday afternoon.
According
to
the
email,
the
University
received
the
allegations last Thursday and
Friday and began an internal
investigation Friday. After a three-
day investigation involving an
outside law firm and the Division
of Public Safety and Security,
Schlissel wrote he placed Philbert
on administrative leave Tuesday.
“We take allegations of sexual
misconduct
very
seriously,
and our policy is clear: Sexual
misconduct will not be tolerated
in the University of Michigan
community,” Schlissel wrote.
As provost, Philbert serves
as the chief academic officer
and budgetary officer for the
University’s Ann Arbor campus.
His purview includes promoting
the
University’s
academic,
teaching and research endeavors.
Because
the
Office
for
Institutional
Equity
reports
to the provost, Schlissel wrote
OIE’s reporting line for matters
regarding Philbert’s investigation
will be handled by Richard S.
Holcomb, associate vice president
for human resources.
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, January 23, 2020
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Khalil Gibran Muhammad,
professor
of
history,
race
and public policy at Harvard
University’s Kennedy School
of
Government,
gave
a
lecture on race and crime on
Wednesday afternoon to about
150 attendees in Weiser Hall.
Muhammad, who is the
author of “The Condemnation
of Blackness: Race, Crime
and Making of Modern Urban
America,” spoke as a part of
the 2020 Martin Luther King
Jr. symposium.
Muhammad contextualized
the marginalization of Black
identity
by
opening
with
an MLK Jr. quote about the
disproportionate persecution
of Black people by the police.
Muhammad
noted
while
the term “mass incarceration”
has become more popular,
the
phrase
“racial
criminalization” tends to be
excluded from the narrative of
criminal reform.
“Racial
criminalization
is defined as stigmatizing a
racial group of people as a
criminal regardless of guilt or
innocence,” Muhammad said.
“That is the idea of a criminal
class without using the law or
public policy to arrest or use
the agencies of criminal justice
to control those people.”
Muhammad
said
the
institutionalized prejudice in
the criminal justice system has
its roots in the careful wording
of the 13th amendment of the
U.S. Constitution.
“The 13th amendment has a
slavery loophole,” Muhammad
said. “And that is that it
abolished slavery except as
a punishment for a crime
whereof the party shall have
been duly convicted.”
Muhammad
said
the
criminal justice system turned
a blind eye toward violent
crimes,
such
as
lynching
Black people in the late 19th
century. He explained this
violence is increasingly seen
as state-sanctioned domestic
terrorism.
“The state was complicit
in the abridgment of these
individual due process laws,”
Muhammad said. “Under no
circumstances
are
citizens
granted the right to execute
other citizens.”
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INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 55
©2019 The Michigan Daily
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
CL A SSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
Panelists
talk green
business,
investing
BUSINESS
EMMA RUBERG
Daily Staff Reporter
Harvard professor discusses racial
criminalization of Black Americans
Khalil Muhammad spoke as part of the 2020 Martin Luther King Jr. symposium
GOVERNMENT
Follow The Daily
on Instagram,
@michigandaily
The
Erb
Institute,
a
collaboration between the
Ross School of Business and
the School for Environment
and Sustainability, hosted an
event on Wednesday night to
discuss how businesses can
promote
sustainability
in
their work.
The event featured David
Blood,
co-founder
and
senior partner of Generation
Investment
Management,
and a panel of four other
speakers. They spoke to a
crowd of about 500 students,
faculty
and
community
members in the Robertson
Auditorium
in
the
Ross
School of Business.
Blood
described
his
previous experience in the
industry and how he became
involved in sustainability.
“I spent 18 years at Goldman
Sachs and made the decision
to retire in 2003,” Blood said.
“I told my partners that I was
going to set up a sustainable
investment firm and they
basically laughed and said,
‘This confirms what we knew
about you all along: you’re
crazy.’”
SOFIA URBAN
Daily Staff Reporter
JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily
Khalil Gibran Muhammad delivers the Donia Human Rights Center Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture in Weiser Hall Wednesday afternoon.
Attorney general says
companies knowingly
allowed chemicals in
drinking water supply
JULIA FANZERES
Daily Staff Reporter
See HARVARD, Page 3
BARBARA COLLINS
Daily News Editor
See LEAVE, Page 3
FILE PHOTO/Daily
University Provost Martin Philbert was placed on administrative leave for allegations of sexual misconduct.
‘U’ official placed on leave after
allegations of sexual misconduct
Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Martin A. Philbert
sidelined effective Jan. 21 pending review of multiple accusations
Second- highest ranking administrator
supported mandatory faculty training
As provost,
Philbert
oversaw
OIE cases
See PHILBERT, Page 3
Dingell in
support of
new PFAS
litigation
Almost six years after a
switch in water supply by city
officials led to the Flint Water
Crisis,
Michigan
has
been
facing another man-made water
crisis affecting approximately
1.9 million Michiganders. On
Jan. 14, Michigan Attorney
General
Dana
Nessel
filed
a lawsuit against 17 water
companies for damages to the
state of Michigan, alleging
these
companies
knowingly
allowed PFAS into drinking
water.
Similar to the lead that fueled
the Flint Water Crisis, the
toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl
substances
—
collectively
known as PFAS — have lasting
health consequences and are
linked
to
numerous
health
diseases, including cancer.
PFAS chemicals are human-
made
chemicals
that
are
resistant to grease, oil, water
and heat and have therefore
been used in a wide range of
consumer products. PFAS have
also
been
dubbed
“forever
chemicals” as they do not break
down or biodegrade over time
but instead accumulate in the
environment.
See PFAS PAGE 3
CLAIRE HAO
Daily News Editor
Experts encourage
corporations to begin
incorporating more
sustainable practices
See ROSS PAGE 3