The co-founder and former CEO 
of Clinc, an Ann Arbor artificial 
intelligence 
startup 
with 
ties 
to the University of Michigan’s 
College of Engineering, is facing 
claims of sexual harassment. Jason 
Mars’s behavior was investigated 
after Clinc received two official 
complaints from employees in 
December. He stepped down as 

CEO Feb. 10 in response to the 
investigation.
An article published in The 
Verge Thursday morning detailed 
reports of sexually inappropriate 
behavior from Mars, who is 
currently 
a 
tenured 
associate 
professor of electrical engineering 
and computer science at the 
University and the co-director of 
the University’s Clarity-Lab, an AI 
research group. The Verge based 
its reporting on accounts from 13 
current and former employees, 

including some who studied under 
Mars at the University, in addition 
to leaked phone calls, emails and 
documents.
Mars founded Clinc in 2015 
with his wife Lingjia Tang and 
University 
alumni 
Michael 
Laurenzano 
and 
Johann 
Hauswald. The company, which 
creates intelligent chatbots, has 
worked with clients including 
Ford, Sprint and USAA and has 
raised approximately $60 million 
in investments. 

Clinc has a close relationship 
with 
the 
University. 
Mars 
currently 
teaches 
EECS 
498, 
section 3, a conversational artificial 
intelligence class that uses Clinc’s 
platform. Tang is also a computer 
science professor at the University. 
The 
claims 
against 
Mars 
published by The Verge describe 
verbal and physical harassment 
of Clinc employees and business 
partners, as well as misuse of 
company funds. 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, February 18, 2020

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Witness 
Lab 
is 
an 
architectural 
courtroom 
installation 
and 
a 
performance 
series 
by 
Courtney 
McClellan, 
Roman J. Witt Artist in 
Residence at the School of 
Art & Design. On Feb. 17, 
about 100 people attended 
the Artist Talk featuring 
McClellan, hosted by the 

University 
of 
Michigan 
Museum 
of 
Art, 
which 
explored 
the 
role 
of 
witnesses in society and 
how 
humans 
understand 
truth in our legal system. 
From February to May, 
Witness 
Lab 
will 
host 
a series of public trial 
simulations, theater and 
trial advocacy workshops 
that invite the audience to 
reflect on the role of truth 
in society. Art & Design 

students 
will 
document 
the performances through 
drawing, photography, text 
and video. The accumulated 
products will result in the 
publication of a book.
While 
discussing 
her 
inspirations, 
McClellan 
talked about her upbringing 
in a community of lawyers 
and 
teachers 
and 
her 
experience 
studying 
journalism at the University 
of North Carolina at Chapel 

Hill. She acknowledged that 
though she did not pursue 
a 
career 
in 
journalism, 
journalistic methodologies 
have stayed with her and 
became an integral aspect 
of her artistic production. 
When she was teaching at 
the University of Georgia, 
McClellan said she followed 
and observed the mock trial 
team for three years.

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

INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 72
©2020 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

‘Mobilize’ 
declares 
candidacy 
for CSG

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

 ALEX HARRING 
Daily News Editor

Artist explores role of witness in society, 
understanding truth in legal system

Courtney McClellan explains philosophy behind new art installation at UMMA

ACADEMICS

Follow The Daily 
on Instagram, 
@michigandaily

Mobilize, a Central Student 
Government party “dedicated to 
running a campaign that prioritizes 
and empowers the voices of all 
students,” announced its intention 
on Monday night to have a slate 
of students seek CSG seats in the 
March election. Mobilize is the first 
party to publicly share its formation.
In an interview with The Daily, 
Public 
Policy 
junior 
Amanda 
Kaplan, 
Mobilize’s 
presidential 
candidate, said she and her vice 
presidential candidate, LSA junior 
Sav Nandigama, will operate as a 
team if elected. Kaplan said their 
campaign is about listening to 
student voices and this theme starts 
at the top of the ticket.
“It’s not one person at the top 
of a ticket saying I want to run for 
president, now let me find a team 
of people behind me,” Kaplan 
said. “Sav and I literally sat in a 
room together, decided together 
that we wanted to run and then 
said, ‘Okay, let’s flip a coin and see 
who’s going to be president and 
vice president,’ because, to us, it’s 
truly a partnership, and it’s really 
emblematic of the way that we’re 
running our campaign, where it’s 
not just about one person or an 
executive ticket.

LOLA YANG
For The Daily

RYAN LITTLE/Daily
Roman Witt artist in residence Courtney McClellan explores how performance afffects a courtroom at the UMMA Monay evening.

Catherine Badgley, 
Residential College 
members speak on 
diversity, inclusion

SUNSKRITI PARANJAPE
Daily Staff Reporter

See ALLEGATIONS, Page 2

DANYEL THARAKAN/Daily
Former Clinc CEO Jason Mars, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at U-M, has been accused of sexual harassment and verbal abuse. 

Senate Assembly discusses civic 
engagement on University campus

See SENATE, Page 3

See RC, Page 3

Party looks to engage 
campus organizations 
leading up to schoolwide 
election in late March 

See MOBILIZE, Page 3

ALICE TRACEY 
Daily Staff Reporter

‘U’ professor faces allegations of 
sexual harassment, abusive behavior

Jason Mars, CEO of artifical intelligence startup Clinc, steps down from 
executive position in response to multiple misconduct accusations

The University of Michigan’s 
Residential College hosted a talk 
in East Quadrangle Residence 
Hall on Monday with Catherine 
Badgley, director of the RC and 
head of the Science, Technology 
and Society program. The RC is 
a multidisciplinary liberal arts 
program within the College of 
LSA and is one of LSA’s Michigan 
Learning Communities. 
The 
event 
facilitated 
conversations 
about 
building 
community, increasing diversity 
and exploring the identity of the 
RC. About 10 members of the RC 
community attended the event, 
including students, faculty and 
staff. 
The 
discussion 
began 
with attendees sharing their 
interpretations 
of 
what 
the 
identity of the RC truly is. Badgley 
commented on the curiosity and 
open-mindedness of RC students. 
“I find RC students extremely 
curious,” Badgley said. “Despite 
the fact that I think we have a 
reputation of being kind of on 
a certain part of the political 
spectrum, I also find RC students 
fairly open-minded in terms of 
being willing to consider a wide 
range of ideas.” 

RC hosts 
chat with 
program 
director 

SACUA chair 
talks Philbert 
investigation, 
student voting 

The University of Michigan 
Senate Advisory Committee 
on University Affairs met at 
Palmer 
Commons 
Monday 
afternoon to discuss how to 
increase 
civic 
engagement 
on campus in advance of the 
upcoming primary elections.
SACUA Chair Joy Beatty 
first 
began 
the 
meeting 
by 
addressing 
the 
sexual 
misconduct 
allegations 
against Martin A. Philbert, 
provost and executive vice 
president 
for 
academic 
affairs. She said she emailed 
University 
President 
Mark 
Schlissel before this meeting 
regarding the matter, then 
read from his response to her 
email.
“While the allegations are 
serious, 
the 
investigation 
being 
conducted 
by 
an 
independent 
outside 
law 
firm is not yet complete and 
everyone 
should 
reserve 
final judgments until that 
point,” 
Beatty 
read 
from 
Schlissel’s 
email. 
“We 
all 
need to encourage people to 
come forward if they have 
any information on prohibited 

conduct. The fact that people 
came 
forward 
to 
report 
misconduct is a positive sign.”
Beatty 
also 
explained 
changes 
proposed 
by 
the 
Senate Assembly, including 
the 
realignment 
of 
the 
committees. Instead of having 
nine 
standing 
committees 
as there are now, the Senate 
Assembly proposed to move to 
six standing committees and 
one ad hoc committee, which 
gathers only as needed.
“The downside of having 
an ad hoc committee is that if 
you got something that needs 
to be done quickly and you got 
to pull together a committee, 
I think it will be difficult,” 
Beatty said. “It seems like 
a type of committee where 
it would really help to have 
people who have the expertise 
(on 
the 
bylaws), 
whether 
they’re from law, from policy 
or some unit like that.”
Gina 
Cervetti, 
associate 
professor 
of 
the 
School 
of Education and chair of 
Student Relations Advisory 
Committee, 
discussed 
the 
committee’s 
role 
in 
civic 
engagement on campus.

See WITNESS, Page 3

SAINI KETHIREDDY
Daily Staff Reporter

