Tenured English professor 

Douglas 
Trevor, 
former 

director of the Helen Zell 
Writers’ Program and the 
Hopwood Awards Program, 
is not allowed to conduct 
office hours with his door 
closed or meet with students 
in off-campus spaces for 
the next two years. These 
sanctions were instituted in 
an April 30, 2020 letter from 
LSA Dean Anne Curzan. 

According 
to 
the 

confidential letter, addressed 
to 
Trevor 
and 
obtained 

by 
The 
Michigan 
Daily, 

Trevor is also barred from 
holding formal leadership 
positions at the University 
of Michigan for the next two 
years, though Curzan wrote 
that his professional conduct 
would be re-evaluated at the 
end of this period. Trevor 
will also not be eligible for 
a merit increase in his base 
salary in the next faculty 
salary program.

As Trevor continues to 

teach at the University — 
with 
two 
undergraduate 

classes scheduled for Winter 
2021 — a Daily investigation 
into Trevor has unearthed 
two previously undisclosed 
allegations of harassment, 
retaliation and intimidation 
against Trevor. The Daily 
has also learned of one 
previously 
undisclosed 

allegation that when a Helen 
Zell student came to him 
with concerns about another 
faculty member’s behavior, 
Trevor warned the student 
against 
threatening 
the 

educational environment.

These allegations, made 

by three female students 
and staff at the University 
between 
2016 
and 
2019, 

date back to January 2017 
and extend to April 2019. 
These accounts have been 
corroborated 
by 
friends, 

fellow 
students 
and 

colleagues of the women who 
were present at the time. 
The Daily has also reviewed 

correspondence 
between 

Trevor and the women who 
shared their accounts as well 
as between administrators.

Trevor was the director 

of the Helen Zell Writers’ 
Program — the University’s 
prestigious creative writing 
graduate program — from 
2016 until December 2018, 
when 
he 
stepped 
down, 

citing family-related reasons 
in an email to program 
participants. In Fall 2018, he 
also directed the Hopwood 
Program, 
which 
hosts 

creative 
writing 
awards 

for University students and 
partners 
frequently 
with 

Helen Zell, stepping down 
from that directorship at the 
end of the year as well. 

In response to an email 

from 
The 
Daily, 
Curzan 

declined 
to 
comment 
on 

this 
letter. 
University 

spokesperson 
Rick 

Fitzgerald 
noted 
in 
an 

interview with The Daily 
that the University does 
not comment on personnel 
matters 
to 
respect 
the 

privacy 
of 
employees. 

Fitzgerald added that this 
letter from Curzan “speaks 
for itself.”

Curzan’s April 2020 letter 

followed an OIE investigation 
into Trevor, which concluded 
in February 2020. The OIE 
investigation 
did 
not 
find 

Trevor’s 
conduct 
to 
be 

“sufficiently severe, persistent 
or 
pervasive 
to 
create 
a 

sexually hostile environment,” 
but Curzan wrote that Trevor 
had “created an intimidating, 
hostile, and offensive climate” 
in the Helen Zell Writers’ 
Program.

In an email to The Daily, 

Trevor denied that he had ever 
engaged in sexual misconduct. 
In 
addressing 
other 

allegations, 
he 
referenced 

the 
findings 
of 
the 
OIE 

investigation, writing that OIE 
found the allegations to not be 
“valid.”

“After this investigation, the 

OIE correctly determined that 
I did not violate any University 
policies 
related 
to 
sexual 

harassment,” Trevor wrote. 

“I am saddened by the amount 
of misinformation that has 
circulated about me in recent 
times. I want students to 
know that sexual misconduct 
should not be tolerated and 
that I fully support university 
policies that regulate behavior 
by faculty and staff.”

The 
OIE 
investigation 

into 
Trevor 
was 
initiated 

in April 2018 by then-LSA 
junior Emma Richter. The 
Daily spoke to Richter, whose 
allegations make up one of the 
three reported in this article, 
about her claims of sexual 
misconduct 
against 
Trevor 

while she worked for the 
Hopwood Program.

(Richter formerly worked 

for The Daily as a staff 
photographer from September 
2016 
to 
December 
2018. 

The Daily spoke with two 
individuals 
familiar 
with 

Richter’s 
situation 
and 

reviewed email and iMessage 
correspondence from Trevor, 
corroborating the consistency 
of her allegations.)

Apart 
from 
the 
three 

allegations reported in this 
article, 
two 
anonymous 

allegations 
of 
sexual 

misconduct 
against 
Trevor 

were also posted in June 
2020 on the Twitter account 
Assaulters 
at 
UMich, 
an 

anonymous 
account 
that 

posted a series of tweets 
calling out multiple alleged 
assaulters on campus. One of 
the two posts also claimed 
that the writer’s allegations 
against 
Trevor 
had 
been 

“severely mishandled.”

Amid 
the 
numerous 

allegations that were posted on 
the account against members 
of the University community, 
Trevor was the only University 
professor to appear on the 
account. Like many allegations 
on the account, those against 
Trevor 
are 
unverified 
by 

The 
Daily. 
The 
Assaulters 

at UMich account did not 
respond to multiple requests 
for comment.

The 
allegations 
against 

Trevor follow a larger pattern 
of alleged abuse from tenured 
faculty 
and 
deterrents 
to 

reporting at the University 
and in higher education more 
broadly. In 2020, three women 
came forward alleging decades’ 
worth of sexual harassment 
from 
Martin 
Philbert, 
the 

University’s former provost 
who held the office from 2017 
through January 2020, when 
he was placed on leave. 

Also 
in 
2020, 
other 

allegations 
of 
sexual 

misconduct 
were 
brought 

against the late University 
doctor Robert E. Anderson and 
Jason Mars, assistant professor 
of computer science. The latter 
has recently faced controversy 
for his continued teaching 
appointment at the University. 
The 
Daily 
also 
uncovered 

previously 
undisclosed 

allegations 
against 
former 

School of Music, Theatre & 
Dance 
professors 
Stephen 

Shipps and David Daniels in 
2018. 

In a follow-up email to The 

Daily regarding the allegations 
against Trevor, Fitzgerald said 
the English Department is 
working to resolve inequities.

“We also can tell you that 

the leadership team in the 
English Department and LSA 
are addressing these matters,” 
Fitzgerald wrote. “Knowing 
there is always more to do to 
improve equity and inclusivity, 
the department is engaged in a 
number of ongoing initiatives 
to ensure that all voices are 
heard and all members of the 
community feel included.”

“It got worse over time”

Richter was an LSA junior in 

April 2018 when she received 
an email from Trevor, who she 
had met the previous month 
through her work-study job 
for the Hopwood Program. In 
the email, Trevor wrote that 
he had reported Richter to OIE 
for having an inappropriate 
romantic 
relationship 
with 

another faculty member — an 
allegation both the faculty 
member and Richter deny. The 
Daily was provided a copy of 
this email.

Richter said Trevor’s email 

caught her off guard. Earlier 

that same day, she had gone 
to OIE to consider reporting 
two professors she alleged 
were sexually harassing her. 
One was the faculty member 
Trevor alleged she was in a 
relationship with. 

The other was Trevor. 
“It was funny — in a dark 

way — to me,” Richter said. 
“That Doug would do that just 
seems ridiculous.”

Richter alleged that before 

and 
after 
receiving 
this 

email, from March 2018 to 
October 2018, Trevor sexually 
harassed her while she worked 
in the Hopwood Room, which 
houses offices for Hopwood 
Program 
leadership 
and 

often functions as a venue for 
Helen Zell-affiliated events. 
According to Richter, Trevor 
made inappropriate advances 
toward 
her 
outside 
the 

workplace as well, inviting her 
to get drinks after University-
affiliated events and taking 
her out for coffee in a manner 
that made her uncomfortable.

Richter 
said 
she 
first 

met Trevor a month before 
receiving his email, when he 
was the Helen Zell director 
but had not yet become the 
Hopwood director. She said 
they met at a Helen Zell 
welcome event, where she had 
been asked to take photos. 

The event had an open bar, 

and Richter said Trevor had 
clearly drank before he struck 
up a conversation with her and 
invited her to join him and 
another faculty member for 
drinks after the event. One of 
the individuals contacted by 
The Daily confirmed they had 
witnessed the invitation.

Richter 
remembered 

declining the invitation and 
stating that she was underaged. 
But Trevor allegedly insisted 
she accompany them, arguing 
she shouldn’t walk home from 
the event alone. According to 
Richter, after repeated urging 
from Trevor, Richter accepted 
the invitation.

Richter, 
Trevor 
and 
the 

other professor went to the 
Raven’s Club, where Richter 
said that she witnessed Trevor 
gossip 
about 
Helen 
Zell 

students’ sex lives.

“It was … like making fun 

in a mean way,” Richter said. 
“The other piece of it that 
was uncomfortable was … in 
contrast … (Trevor) saying and, 
directed towards me, being 
like, ‘You’re so mature, Emma, 
you know. You completely get 
it.’”

That 
evening 
was 
only 

the 
beginning 
of 
several 

encounters 
with 
Trevor 

that Richter said made her 
uncomfortable. The site of 
these subsequent encounters 
was 
frequently 
Richter’s 

workplace, 
especially 
with 

Trevor set to take over as 
Hopwood 
Director 
in 
Fall 

2018.

Richter also alleged that 

Trevor would regularly hug her 
and touch her inappropriately 
on the shoulders, hand and 
small of her back outside of 
that encounter.

“It got worse over time,” 

Richter said. “You know, the 
small of your back becomes 
your butt.”

In one specific encounter, 

Richter alleges that Trevor 
saw her in the Hopwood 
Room, where he walked up to 
her and began rubbing her arm 
while pointing out she hadn’t 
responded to an invitation to 
coffee with him. Richter said 
this interaction made her feel 
like agreeing to coffee was 
“something I have to do.” The 
Daily 
reviewed 
iMessages 

between Trevor and Richter 
after their coffee meeting.

“Yes, that was fun,” Trevor 

texted Richter after they went 
to coffee. “Let’s do it again 
sometime soon. Good luck 
with all your responsibilities!! 
Remember to make time to 
feed the soul.”

Richter decided to formally 

report Trevor and went to 
OIE on April 23, 2018. Richter 
shared 
that 
this 
process 

presented 
frustrations 
of 

its own, particularly after 
Richter learned that her case 
had been transferred from one 
investigator to another in May 
2018. 

Daily investigation finds allegations of harassment, 
retaliation and intimidation against English professor

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, January 20, 2021 — 3

JULIANNA MORANO 

Focal Point Reporter

A spokesperson for Snyder 

has previously said the state 
took proactive steps to work 
with communities on the issues 
caused by the crisis.

Bacteria in the damaged 

water 
resulted 
in 
at 
least 

90 cases of a severe form 
of pneumonia and at least 
12 
deaths. 
Former 
health 

director Nick Lyon, one of 
the 
individuals 
charged, 

previously said he knew of 
the reported cases months 
before 
the 
outbreak 
was 

publicly addressed by Snyder 

in January 2016. 

Lyon was previously accused 

of involuntary manslaughter 
charges for failing to inform 
the public about the outbreak 
in a timely manner. In June 
2019, 
prosecutors 
working 

under Nessel dismissed the 
case, as well as charges against 
seven other individuals.

The 
disaster 
in 
Flint 

gained national recognition, 
with 
many 
criticizing 
the 

city and state for extensive 
governmental mismanagement, 
environmental 
degradation 

and racial bias. 

The 
Michigan 
Court 
of 

Appeals is hearing a large 
group of ongoing cases between 

multiple plaintiffs and the state 
of Michigan and the city of 
Flint, among other defendants. 
It is likely many of those cases 
will be resolved in a settlement 
between 
residents 
and 
the 

city and state, though some 
have protested the possible 
agreement saying it did not 
include all necessary measures.

This article has been updated 

to include the specific charges 
announced 
against 
former 

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder. 

Daily Staff Reporter Kate 

Weiland can be reached at 
kmwblue@umich.edu. 

SNYDER
From Page 1

Five people have died from injuries 

or conditions inflicted at the Capitol 
Wednesday, including a Capitol police 
officer. 

Meshawn 
Maddock, 
Weiser’s 

co-chair running mate, organized 
buses to take Michiganders to 
Washington D.C. Wednesday. In a 
Thursday tweet, Maddock wrote 
that she condemns the violence 
and breaching of the Capitol “in the 
strongest possible terms.”

“The rally was supposed to be a 

peaceful event and people who broke 
the law should be held accountable,” 
Maddock wrote. “I am horrified at the 
death of the young woman and pray for 
the healing of our nation.”

Maddock 
is 
director 
of 
the 

Michigan 
Conservative 
Coalition, 

which in a Wednesday morning email 
to members prayed that God “convict” 
members of Congress, judges and other 
elected officials who have “refused to 
get involved” in overturning Biden’s 
election victory. 

“The real war we are fighting is 

for the spiritual soul and God-given 
destiny of our nation,” the email reads.

Weiser told Bridge on Thursday that 

Maddock was watching the chaos in 
D.C. from a hotel room window.

“I don’t believe she was part of it,” 

Weiser said. “I don’t believe she incited 
it.”

LSA junior Ryan Fisher, chairman 

of the University’s College Republicans, 
condemned the petition in a text 
message to The Daily. 

“This is an insignificant attack 

on a great regent, one that is unlikely 
to succeed,” Fisher wrote. “The 

accusations levied by recall proponents 
are empty and impetuous.”

Public Policy senior Ben Gerstein, 

former Central Student Government 
president, expressed his support for the 
petition in a tweet Friday afternoon, 
demanding University administrators 
and President Mark Schlissel notice 
the call for Weiser’s resignation or 
recall.

“Beyond his role in elevating 

President Trump’s fascist movement, 
Regent Weiser has shielded himself 
from scrutiny through both his 
personal donations to the University 
and his position on the Board of 
Regents,” Gerstein tweeted. “As the 
former and incoming Chairman of 
the Michigan GOP, and his past role as 
the RNC’s fundraising coordinator for 
President Trump, he is complicit in the 
events that culminated in Wednesday’s 
attempted white supremacist coup.”

WEISER
From Page 1

FOCAL POINT

Design by Madison Grosvenor

Design by Samuel Turner
See FOCAL POINT, Page 4

Douglas Trevor continues to teach, but is barred from meeting students off-campus, holding leadership positions for two years

 ALEC COHEN/Daily