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Vol. CXXXI, No. 72
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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’

