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JULIAN WRAY &
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Managing Investigative Editors
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INDEX
Vol. CXXXI, No. 72
©2022 The Michigan Daily
N E W S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
STATEMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I N S E R T
M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
O P I N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1
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Daily Investigation finds decades of allegations of
unprofessional conduct by musicology professors
Faculty members accused of verbal abuse, creating hostile learning environment
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY ONE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Content warning: sexual
assault
The 44th annual Take
Back The Night Ann Arbor
rally and march took place
in both the Michigan Union
ballroom and the streets
of Ann Arbor Thursday
evening.
Take Back The Night is
a collaboration between
the
Ann
Arbor-based
organization
Standing
Tough
Against
Rape
Society and the student
organization
United
Students
Against
Rape
(USAR). The rally featured
multiple local officials as
well as survivors of sexual
assault who spoke about
their personal experiences.
The rally was led by
activist Nicole Denson and
USAR’s student volunteers.
It also featured student
organizations,
such
as
the
Wolverine
Support
Network, Roe v. Rape and
WORTH, as well as campus
and local organizations,
such as DPSS: Special
Victims
Unit,
Planned
Parenthood of Michigan
and the Safehouse Center.
U.S.
Rep.
Debbie
Dingell, D-Mich., shared
her own experiences with
gender-based violence and
recounted instances of gun
violence in her childhood
home. She also explained
a time when a former
coworker had persistently
stalked her.
“Too
many
women
experience
this,”
Dingell said. “If you say
something at work or you
say you’ve seen it, the Me
Too movement is taking
it back for women.We are
standing up for each other,
having each person’s back,
believing
people.
You
need to believe people
when they come to you.”
Dingell
also
said
she is proud about the
reinstatement
of
the
Violence Against Women
Act, which was signed
into law two weeks ago
by U.S. President Joe
Biden after four years of
rejection from the U.S.
Senate. She also noted
the significance of Justice
Ketanji Brown Jackson’s
confirmation
Thursday
afternoon as a step forward
for womens’ voices in the
government.
EMILY BLUMBERG
Daily Staff Reporter
Ann Arborites, campus groups march
against gender-based violence at 44th
Take Back the Night rally
Activists, survivors share stories, local leaders express support for
sexual assault prevention
HANNAH TORRES/Daily
Students march down the streets of Ann Arbor at the annual Take Back the Night rally to celebrate survivors and end sexual violence April 7.
U-M students
of Color talk
community
empowerment,
experiences at
predominantly
white institution
Speakers assail poor
representation at University,
highlight value of POC-oriented
organization
University
of
Michigan
students
of Color in student
organization leadership
positions met virtually
on Monday to discuss
their
experiences
finding and advocating
for
communities
of
Color
on
campus.
They also spoke to
their experiences as
people of Color at a
predominantly
white
institution (PWI). The
Center
for
Campus
Involvement’s Diversity
Equity and Inclusion
(DEI) team organized
the panel event.
LSA senior Adetola
Ojo,
Black
Student
Union co-programming
chair, spoke on the
culture
change
she
experienced coming to
the University from a
mixed race household.
“Coming
to
Michigan was a little bit
of (what) I like to call a
reverse culture shock,”
Ojo
said.
“I
didn’t
think so hard about the
fact that I was Black
growing up because it
wasn’t important to my
family … So coming to
Michigan was a little bit
different because it was
very much almost my
entire identity to a lot of
the people around me.”
In
2018,
the
University received an F
grade in representation
of Black students on
campus from a study
done by the University
of Southern California.
According to Data USA,
currently 52.2% of the
student population is
white and 4.26% of
students are Black or
African
American.
Additionally,
Asian
students make up 13.3%
of the population, 4.01%
of
students
identify
as two or more races,
0.152%
identify
as
American
Indian
or
Alaska
Native,
and
0.03% identify as Native
Hawaiian
or
Other
Pacific Islanders.
LSA senior Indeya
Lawrence,
vice
president of Mixed at
Michigan, said it was
difficult for her to find
a community at the
University when she
Read more at MichiganDaily.
com
VANESSA KIEFER
Managing Investigative
Editor
Read more at Michigan-
Daily.com
Diag display
raises awareness
of solitary
confinement
pitfalls for
Open MI Door
campaign
Advocacy efort allows
passersby to experience confines
of prison cell, aims to abolish
isolated incarceration
On
Tuesday,
the
University
of
Michigan
Project
Outreach collaborated
with
Citizens
For
Prison
Reform
to
host
“Solitary:
The
Family
Experience,”
an event aimed to
spread awareness and
support for the Open
MI Door campaign.
This
campaign
is
focused
on
ending
solitary
confinement
and helping advance
more safer, therapeutic
alternatives.
Project Outreach is a
psychology, service and
action-based program
for U-M students. The
Citizens
for
Prison
Reform is a family-
led
and
statewide
organization
focused
on
assisting
and
supporting
families
with
incarcerated
family
members
in
Michigan.
Lois Pullano, the
executive
director
of
Citizens
For
Prison
Reform
and
the
coordinator
for
the Open MI Door
campaign,
discussed
the purpose of the
campaign
and
the
greater
impact
of
solitary confinement in
the state of Michigan.
Standing on the Diag,
Pullano
explained
to
passers-by
the
harm that those in
solitary
confinement
experience as well its
impact on families and
staff members.
“(Solitary
confinement) not only
impacts
the
person
that is living in it — so
it’s very detrimental
to their mental health,
often
even
their
physical health — but
it also impacts all of
their family members,”
Pullano
said.
“It
impacts the staff and
the officers that are
working inside. When
people are placed in
this small of a space,
it’s where often there
is greater misuse of
power.”
LSA senior Mikayla
BergWood, a student
in
Psychology
211,
part
of
Project
MARLEE
SACKSNER
Daily Staff Reporter
Read more at Michigan-
Daily.com
n
January
2020,
the
University
of
Michigan
Rackham Graduate School
provided
musicology
administrators
with
a
department review based, in part, on
a survey of doctoral students. The
report revealed multiple concerns of
musicology faculty engaging in verbal
abuse, contributing to a “troublesome
climate and culture” and significantly
below average graduation rates for
over two decades. A copy of this
review has been obtained by The
Michigan Daily.
“Students indicated a sense of
belonging … (that) is the lowest of all
programs in the humanities and the
arts,” the report said. “Your students
painted an alarming image of (the)
program climate.”
The report noted that these scores
had dropped in the four years since
Rackham’s previous review in 2015 of
the musicology department.
Anonymous
comments
from
individual graduate students were
also included in the report.
“A dozen comments in the open-
ended responses described instances
of the following: (1) faculty publicly
calling into question the intellectual
and scholarly ability of students,
especially
female
students;
(2)
faculty openly discussing issues of
disability, health, and other protected
personal information of students;
and, (3) faculty openly insulting and
demeaning students,” the report said.
A Daily investigation into the
musicology department climate found
numerous previously undisclosed
allegations of unprofessional conduct
against musicology professor Louise
Stein and the department’s current
chair, James Borders.
These allegations span from the
1980s to the present and range from
grade manipulation to insensitive
comments
targeting
students’
socioeconomic backgrounds.
This investigation also found
the Music, Theatre & Dance School
and Rackham administrators were
repeatedly made aware of concerns
regarding Stein and Borders. It is
unclear if these administrators have
taken any actions to address these
concerns outside of the review.
The investigation conducted by The
Daily is based on interviews with 16
current and former students along with
emails, documents and the internal
Rackham review.
In an email to The Daily, Borders
commented on the allegations against
him.
“Should the University open an
investigation, I would cooperate fully,”
Borders wrote.
Stein also commented on the
allegations against her in an emailed
statement to The Daily.
“The allegations … are deeply
concerning to me because I remain
dedicated to supporting students and
promoting their success at all levels,”
Stein wrote. “If the University decided
to investigate, I would certainly
cooperate fully.”
In an email to The Daily, David
Gier, dean of the Music, Theatre &
Dance School, explained the actions
administrators have taken in response
to the 2020 musicology department
review.
“We take very seriously the
experience of U-M students at SMTD,
and prioritize climate and culture
at the school,” Gier wrote. “While
I cannot comment on personnel
matters related to faculty and staff, I
am sharing the steps SMTD has taken
to address areas of concern outlined by
the 2020 Rackham Program Review
of the Musicology Department.”
Gier wrote that the Music, Theatre
& Dance School’s response to climate
concerns
included
the
creation
of a handbook for the musicology
department and the implementation
of anti-racism and equity-focused
training for faculty.
Gier did not comment on the
allegations against Stein or Borders.
In interviews with The Daily,
seven current and former musicology
students of the 16 total interviews spoke
of allegations of unprofessional conduct
against Borders. These students allege
that his conduct is an open secret
among students and faculty.
A former student who enrolled in
the doctoral program in musicology
in the early 2010s spoke of Borders’s
unprofessional conduct at department
events. The student asked to remain
anonymous out of fear of professional
repercussions. In this article, they will
be referred to as Emma.
Design By Erin Ruark
I
‘These people
don’t care
about me at all’