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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