The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Graduation Edition 2022 — 3
NEWS
24 hours with the Robert Anderson survivor
protesters outside Schlissel’s house
10
:00 a.m. By 7:00 p.m. on
Nov. 5, Jonathan Vaughn,
the Anderson survivor and former
Michigan football player who has
been leading the protest, will have
been camping out in front of President
Schlissel’s house for 28 days.
On a normal day during the
protest, Vaughn wakes up in his tent
around 6:30 or 7:00 a.m. and heads to
the Michigan Union, where he orders
a coffee and breakfast sandwich from
Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea. One of his
favorite parts of the day is enjoying a
morning cigar with his coffee.
At 10:00 a.m., Ann Arbor is a brisk
37 degrees, and Vaughn is getting out
a pack of hand warmers from his tent
to stuff in his pockets. Putting the
hand warmers in his pants pockets,
Vaughn said, targets a main artery
and keeps his toes warm during the
day. Spending anywhere between 14
to 18 hours of the day outside in the
elements, Vaughn said staying warm
is crucial to his endurance.
In terms of the camp, Vaughn said
he has gotten used to sleeping outside
but will have to prepare his tent better
for the winter ahead. Currently,
Vaughn said he relies on generators
and heaters to keep him warm, but
they do not last the entire night.
What makes his days go by faster
and what keeps his mind off the cold,
Vaughn said, is being able to talk to
his fellow campers and those passing
by who stop to check in and offer
their support.
2
:00 p. m. At 2:00 p.m., the camp
is humming along. Vaughn is
playing some music from a bluetooth
speaker, while Christian talks with
passersby near their large sign. A few
people sign the poster, but most who
walk by either have already signed,
or they ignore the protest and mutter
quietly.
“I walk past every morning, so I
do know that it’s about the sexual
assault, sexual allegation situation,”
Engineering
sophomore
Collin
McManus said. “I can see obviously
it’s peaceful, these guys always have
great energy. They’re making a
statement for sure.”
Christian shares that he is an
artist, producing paintings for many
notable celebrities and athletes,
including head football coach Jim
Harbaugh. Everyone is very excited
for the campout scheduled for later
in the evening. The mood overall
is very cheerful. Christian dances,
noting how he is grateful that he is
still able to despite his prostate cancer
diagnosis.
“I dance everywhere,” Christian
said after hearing a catchy song. “See,
‘cause the thing is, I was supposed to
be dead two and half years ago. So it’s
like, I dance every chance I get.”
9
:00 p. m. By 9:00 p.m., the group
of protesters grows to around
30. Huddling together in a circle,
each individual takes turns sharing
why they came out tonight. Some
are here in solidarity, and others
are also survivors of sexual assault
themselves. But everyone here has
the same purpose: to enact change.
“No more hiding,” Christian
said. “Those days are over. No more
hanging my head in shame. Those
days are over. No more denying what
happened to us. Those days are over.
Because why? Because I have a voice.
I have a voice. I have a voice.”
The group’s energy can be felt
from a block away, with chants of
“I have a voice” and “Hail to the
Victims” ringing across the street.
Very few people walk through the
group. In fact, most passersby cross
the street before reaching the tents.
Soon after, a projector screen is
created using a white blanket placed
over the signature board, directly
facing Schlissel’s house. A heartfelt
video shows Christian and his son
having a conversation about his
diagnosis in 2016. Christian’s son
then gifted his father a song titled
“Superman,” which plays at the end
of the video.
The atmosphere is heavy, with
many in the crowd tearing up,
including Christian himself. Vaughn
brings over a box of tissues for
Christian, one of the many moments
of sincere understanding and true
friendship between the two.
11
:00
p.
m.
A
couple
of
microphones, a laptop and a
speaker is all it takes to set up the
first “Hail to the Victims Karaoke
Night.” Both the Anderson survivors
and those walking by sing various
songs, inviting the rest of the crowd
to join in. Vaughn raps along to a
Run-D.M.C. song which he says
was “his freshman song” and one
he remembers singing in the school
cafeteria.
Business senior Job Mayhue is
part of the men’s track and field team
at the University, as well as a member
of Take Back the Night, a student-run
campaign against sexual violence.
Mayhue told The Daily he heard
about the Anderson survivors’ camp-
out through his work with Take
Back the Night, but Friday night was
his first time visiting. Mayhue has
several conversations with Vaughn
and Christian throughout the hour
and told The Daily that witnessing
the simultaneous vulnerability and
strength of the survivors is incredibly
inspiring.
“I think everyone should just take
the time to really think about this,”
Mayhue said. “It’s easy to see it and
just go on with your life. But if we wait
to care about problems until they are
happening to us, that’s a really bad
situation.”
9
:00 a. m. A coalition of student
organizations
—
Michigan
Students Against Sexual Assault,
Central Student Government and
Roe v. Rape — begins a teach-in at
9:00 a.m. by listing out their demands
for the University. The demands are
split into four categories: prevention
of sexual assault; adequate response
to
sexual
assault
allegations;
resources for survivors and victims;
and healing the community.
As the teach-in begins, tour groups
are spotted diverting through the
Law Quad, entering from State Street
and exiting from the archway next
to Tappan Avenue. Notably, parents
and prospective students are heard
asking about the protests as they
notice the tents.
Of the six or seven tour groups seen
walking by, the majority of guides do
not address the questions, sticking to
the usual tour script. One appears to
mention it in passing as two people,
an older woman and a girl looking to
be in her teens, break from the group
and begin reading the signs set up.
The demands are now posted
beneath the signature board outside
of the president’s house. The student
organizations
who
created
the
demands encourage anyone with
suggestions for the demands to reach
out to them.
A second tour guide is heard
directly addressing the protest and
the goals, but no one from the group
breaks away. At the back of this
group, an older man dismisses the
protest as “overreacting” to a boy
who is presumably his son.
With the streets abuzz with
parents and students in anticipation
for the football game, the survivors
had not yet emerged from their tents
at 10:00 a.m., bringing the day-in-the-
life coverage to a close.
The Michigan Daily News &
Photo Staff can be reached at news@
michigandaily.com
and
photo@
michigandaily.com.
2021 DAILY NEWS,
PHOTO & VIDEO STAFF
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