7 — Friday, April 17, 2020
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Hold Manuel accountable for mishandling allegations
Former Michigan wrestler
Tad
Deluca
wanted a
listening
ear.
He
wanted
to
tell
someone
what had
happened
to
him,
and he wanted accountability.
His coach at the time
didn’t listen. His athletic
director
didn’t,
either.
Deluca was forced to watch
as
then-wrestling
coach
Bill Johannesen read his
nine-page
letter
detailing
his assault by team doctor
Robert Anderson in front of
his teammates. Deluca was
kicked off the team. Athletic
director
Don
Canham
revoked his scholarship.
At a press conference in
Feburary, Deluca declared
to reporters: “I will not be
ignored again.”
It wasn’t just Canham and
Johannesen that ignored him.
According
to
a
report
by the Detroit Free Press
released Thursday, Deluca
sent athletic director Warde
Manuel a letter in 2018,
detailing Anderson’s abuse.
University policy stipulated
that
Manuel
report
the
allegations
to
Michigan’s
Office
of
Institutional
Equity, which handles Title
IX allegations. But Manuel
instead forwarded the letter
to the University’s lawyers,
alerting them to potential
upcoming litigation. It was
a move that protected the
University above all else.
“I expect nothing. I want
nothing,”
Deluca’s
letter
concluded, according to the
Free Press. “I just feel the
need to report this.”
Anderson died in 2008.
The hundreds of athletes he
abused will never get to see
him held accountable — but
that doesn’t mean there was
nothing more the school could
do. They could have found
other survivors. They could
have figured out if anyone
who knew about Anderson’s
allegations still worked in the
athletic
department.
They
could have done the only
thing Deluca claimed to want
and listened.
It wouldn’t have taken
Manuel much to do the right
thing. Anderson retired in
2003, when many of the
Wolverines’ current athletes
were in diapers. Few — if
any — people involved in the
allegations still work in the
athletic department. Many of
them aren’t even alive.
Manuel just had to listen.
But like the others before him,
he didn’t.
Deluca’s allegations against
Canham
and
Johannesen
feel
distant.
Canham
is
dead.
Johannesen
hasn’t
been associated with the
University in years. It’s easy
to look at those allegations
and think, ‘That was 35 years
ago. Things are different now.’
But Manuel is different.
The others were vestiges
of old times. Manuel is the
one calling the shots for the
foreseeable future.
Manuel has done good
things as athletic director.
His hire of Juwan Howard
has been a hit. He’s also made
several successful hires in
non-revenue sports, such as
Hannah Nielsen in women’s
lacrosse and Sean Bormet in
wrestling.
But none of that should
matter if Manuel can’t do
right by Michigan’s athletes
— including former ones.
Nothing in college sports is
possible without them, and
it’s supposed to be the job of
the person in charge to create
an environment where they’re
in the best possible position
to succeed. That means a
culture
of
accountability,
where it’s clear that abuse
and misconduct will not be
tolerated.
When it comes to cases
of sexual assault, actions
speak louder than words. The
message Manuel sent is that he
was committed to protecting
the University’s image before
the well-being of his student-
athletes. That encourages a
culture of silence — one that
ensures that things like this
will keep happening.
Michigan’s Student Sexual
Misconduct Policy is clear on
what needed to be done.
“Responsible
employees
(including
Manuel)
must
immediately
report
any
information
they
learn
about suspected Prohibited
Conduct to OIE or the Title
IX Coordinator,” reads the
first sentence of the policy.
“Failure by a responsible
employee to timely report
a
suspected
Prohibited
Conduct may subject them to
appropriate discipline, up to
and including removal from
their position.”
The policy sends a strong
message: This is a fireable
offense. And if it doesn’t
cost Manuel his job, he
should at least face strong
punishment, such as a hefty
fine or suspension. This, after
all, goes deeper than one
incident. If Manuel escapes
unscathed, it sends a message
to future athletes, coaches
and athletic directors alike
about who the University
will protect — and it isn’t the
athletes.
All Manuel had to do
was listen and follow the
correct procedure. All he
had to do was make it clear
that if anyone committed
misconduct again, they would
be held accountable.
But he didn’t. Instead, he
protected his school’s image,
and in the process enabled
the kind of culture that allows
abusers to go unchecked.
Michigan’s first priority
in dealing with a scandal of
this magnitude should be to
establish a strong culture of
accountability, one dedicated
to making sure this never
happens again. And now, that
culture needs to start at the
top.
Gerson can be reached at
amgerson@umich.edu or on
Twitter @aria_gerson.
ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Editor
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Athletic director Warde Manuel did not follow Title IX guidelines.
Taking a hit from Zach Charbonnet: ‘I almost got paralyzed’
Zach
Charbonnet
has
no qualms about playing
with physicality. In his first
game at Michigan last fall,
Charbonnet earned plaudits
for his pass protection. At
6-foot-1 and 220 pounds,
Charbonnet has the strength
to go through defenders as a
runner. Sometimes literally.
That’s where the story of
Nathan Smidt comes in.
Smidt,
it
should
be
noted, is completely fine
now. These days, his coach,
Darren Carr, jokes with him
about it. There are no hard
feelings — in fact, just the
opposite. Smidt interacted
with Charbonnet for all of
a millisecond on a football
field during the 2018 season,
bodies colliding, bouncing
off each other, Charbonnet
hurtling forward against
undersized competition.
“I tried to hit him,”
Smidt said, “and almost got
paralyzed.”
The
series
of
events
leading
to
that
hit
started
the
week
prior.
A
Bakersfield
Christian
safety got suspended for
the first half of their game
against
Oaks
Christian,
Charbonnet’s team. Smidt, a
wide receiver, would have to
step in.
It was early in the season,
but already clear that Oaks
Christian was one of the
top programs in California,
thanks in no small part to
Charbonnet.
“You
saw
this
kid,
running back, this guy was
like an Eddie George type
guy,” Carr said. “You know
what I mean? Just a huge,
massive kid. Like there’s no
way this kid is a senior in
high school, but we get out
there, we see them pregame,
like this guy’s a full-grown
man.”
There
wasn’t
much
optimism going into the
game
on
Bakersfield
Christian’s end, in large
part
because
it
simply
couldn’t
bring
down
Charbonnet.
It
tried
to
preach fundamentals — get
to the football and tackle
cleanly. Wrap Charbonnet’s
legs up and
roll.
But
Carr
calls
Charbonnet,
“probably
the
most
impressive
kid I’ve ever
seen,” in 15
years as a high
school coach.
There was only so much he
could ask of his team.
Oaks Christian won the
game 83-0. Things went off
the rails fast.
Smidt
hadn’t
played
defense
before.
On
the
game’s first
drive, Oaks
Christian
lined
Charbonnet
up
inside
on
a
trips
formation
and
threw
him a swing pass. He made
two corners miss, then saw
Smidt between him and 50
yards of grass. He slowed
down. Smidt dropped his
head. Charbonnet lowered
his shoulder and made hard
contact.
“I just remember right
when I hit him, just like
black,” Smidt said. “I just
remember
being
on
the
ground.”
He couldn’t speak or move
his arms, but he could feel
them. The game stopped for
about 30 minutes. There was
a trainer telling him they
had to get an ambulance,
but
Smidt
managed
to
convince his mom not to go,
eventually getting helped off
the field. He couldn’t shake
a feeling in his arms. Oaks
Christian had a specialist,
who told Smidt’s mother he
needed to go to the hospital.
He thought it was a bit of an
overreaction and, he said,
“I kinda wanted to keep
playing.” Still, he spent the
night in the hospital as the
doctors ran scans.
The next day, the injury
was initially diagnosed as
a stinger and Smidt figured
he’d be able to play in a
couple weeks. Then the
doctors took another look
at the scans. It turned out
Smidt had fractured his
T2, T3 and T4 vertebrae.
He needed to spend four
months in a brace.
“I was so surprised. I kept
losing feeling in — getting
like,
shots
of
numbness
down my legs and my arms
and stuff,” Smidt said. “I
thought that was all just
part of the stinger.”
Smidt’s
recovery
took
some time, but he got back on
the field for his senior year,
and Bakersfield Christian
won a state championship in
its division. Charbonnet is
entering a sophomore year
at Michigan in which he’ll
compete for the lion’s share
of carries. Now, this is all
just a memorable fragment
of the past.
“We
tell
him,
man,
we’re like, ‘Hey, when the
Pittsburgh
Steelers
draft
(Charbonnet)
in
three
years, you got a story to tell
everybody,’ ” Carr said.
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
Sophomore running back Zach Charbonnet broke three of Nathan Smidt’s vertebrae when he ran into him in a high school game in 2018.
ETHAN SEARS
Managing Sports Editor
I just remember
right when I hit
him, just like
black.
ARIA
GERSON