Thursday, June 11, 2020
INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 123
© 2020 The Michigan Daily
NEWS ....................................
OPINION ...............................
ARTS/NEWS..........................
MiC.........................................
SPORTS................................
MICHIGAN IN COLOR
Kellon Yaani Kellon
Staff writer Maya Kadouh
redirects our attention
to the pressing crises
occurring in Lebanon.
>> SEE PAGE 9
NEWS
Telemedicine
The COVID-19 pandemic
has allowed telemedicine to
flourish. Is this the future of
healthcare? >> SEE PAGE 3
OPINION
Continuing the fight
for racial justice
How students continue Rep.
John Lewis’ fight for social
justice. >> SEE PAGE 4
ARTS
The Chicks’
‘Gaslighter’
The band’s new album
details Natalie Maines’s
messy divorce and future
hopes. >> SEE PAGE 6
SPORTS
Flexibility
Amidst the ever-changing
circumstances surrounding
the return of sports, coaches
emphasize flexibility.
>> SEE PAGE 11
inside
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4
6
8
10
A lawsuit filed in the District
Court
of
Nebraska
Monday
alleges
Tamiko
Strickman,
director
the
University
of
Michigan’s Office of Institutional
Equity,
mishandled
student
reports of sexual assault and
violated
sex
discrimination
and civil rights laws at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Nine current or former UNL
students are named plaintiffs in
the lawsuit. Strickland served
as
an
investigator,
deputy
Title IX coordinator, Title IX
coordinator and director of the
Office of Institutional Equity and
Compliance at UNL from 2015 to
2019.
The lawsuit states Strickman
was terminated from UNL in
December
2019.
University
of
Michigan
spokesman
Rick
Fitzgerald
and
UNL
spokesperson
Leslie
Reed
both told The Daily in emails
Strickman was not terminated
from UNL. Reed said Strickman is
highly qualified and UNL would
have “liked very much to keep
her.” The University of Michigan
announced Strickman’s hiring in
December 2019 and became OIE
Director
effective in January 2020.
Fitzgerald said the University
is aware of the lawsuit, but
declined to comment as the
complaint was not filed against
the University.
Miranda Melson, a former
UNL student, was raped by a
male student in July 2016 after
explicitly telling him she did
not want a “one-night stand,”
the lawsuit says. When the male
student allegedly undressed and
began touching Melson sexually,
she was frozen and unable to
verbalize her objection. The male
student continued to contact
Melson
against
her
wishes
until she reported the rape and
stalking to the UNL IEC in
September 2016, the lawsuit says.
Strickman
was
allegedly
assigned to Melson’s case. Melson
asked Strickman to record their
interviews, the lawsuit says,
but Strickman refused and only
recorded the male student’s
interviews. IEC interviewed the
male student’s witness, but not
Melson’s witness, according to
the lawsuit.
During
one
meeting,
Strickman allegedly told Melson,
“This would be different if I were
your parent, but I’m not your
parent.”
In a November 2016 letter to
Melson, Strickman wrote that
no findings were made about
Melson’s
stalking
or
assault
claims, the lawsuit says.
“During the parties’ sexual
interaction, you did not inform
Respondent through words or
actions [that] you did not consent
to the sexual activity,” Strickman
allegedly
wrote.
“Therefore,
no sanction is deemed to be
appropriate or necessary.”
The
lawsuit
alleges
a
requirement for an affirmative
rejection contradicts the UNL
Student
Code
of
Conduct’s
definition of consent.
“‘Consent’ means agreement,
approval or permission as to some
act or purpose, given voluntarily
by a competent person,” the Code
of Conduct reads. “A person need
not resist verbally or physically
where it would be useless or
futile to do so.”
The lawsuit also alleges a
requirement for an affirmative
rejection
contradicts
the
definition of consent on IEC’s
website.
“Consent is an affirmative
decision to engage in mutually
acceptable sexual activity by
clear actions and words,” the
website reads. “Silence does
not equal consent. Moreover,
Face masks
required by
‘U’ on campus
Coverings mandatory in
outside settings in addition
to inside public buildings
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Read more at michigandaily.com
CALDER LEWIS
Summer News Editor
CALDER LEWIS
Summer News Editor
Read more at michigandaily.com
michigandaily.com
OIE Director accused of wrongfully
handling cases at Nebraska-Lincoln
Design by Hibah Chughtai
Effective immediately, the University
of Michigan will require all students,
staff, faculty and visitors to wear a
face covering while anywhere on
campus grounds, University President
Mark Schlissel wrote in an email to
the campus community Wednesday
afternoon.
“This includes when inside buildings,
outdoors and on U-M transportation on
all of our campuses,” Schlissel wrote. “It
is difficult on a busy university campus
to maintain distance from groups
even while outdoors, so requiring face
coverings outdoors will help slow the
spread of the virus.”
Schlissel’s
announcement
is
his first communication with the
broader University community since
announcing a “public health-informed
in-residence” fall semester on June 22.
The
new
policy
will
apply
to
community
members
inside
buildings, outdoors and on University
transportation.
While
homemade
masks,
scarves,
bandanas
and
handkerchiefs
are
acceptable,
the
policy recommends face coverings that
seal as tightly as possible to the face.
However,
there
are
a
dozen
exceptions to the face covering rule,
including when one is in a private
office or dorm room, eating or drinking
while
maintaining
social
distance
and engaging in recreation while
maintaining social distance. Medical
exemptions are also noted in the policy.
According to the policy, transmission
of COVID-19 is greatly reduced and
lives are saved when all people wear
face coverings in public.
“Because many cases of COVID-
19 are mild or asymptomatic and
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ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
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