Content warning: This article
contains
mentions
of
sexual
misconduct
Peter Chen, professor of Electrical
Engineering and Computer Science
at the University of Michigan, has
returned to teach at the University
after a Washtenaw County jury
found him not guilty of criminal
sexual conduct.
University
spokesperson
Kim
Broekhuizen wrote in an email
to The Michigan Daily that Chen
returned to teach Friday after
having been on paid administrative
leave since January 2021.
“Following an acquittal on Dec.
5, 2022 in Washtenaw County
Circuit Court, Professor Chen will
resume his duties as a professor in
the division of Computer Science
and
Engineering
on
Jan.
13,”
Broekhuizen wrote.
Chen faced trial in the Washtenaw
County 22nd Circuit Court for one
charge of criminal sexual conduct
in the first degree and was found not
guilty on Dec. 5, 2022.
In an email to College of
Engineering students obtained by
The Michigan Daily, Engineering
Dean Alec Gallimore said the U-M
administration is in support of
Chen’s return while recognizing
that students may feel apprehensive
about this change.
Content warning: descriptions of
physical and gender-based abuse.
In
August
2022,
University
of Michigan alum Sophie Zhang
filed a complaint to the Equity,
Civil Rights, & Title IX Office
(ECRT). She alleged that her father,
Youxue Zhang, a professor in the
University’s Department of Earth
and Environmental Sciences, abused
her on the basis of her identity as a
transgender woman.
In her complaint, Sophie described
two instances in which Prof. Zhang
engaged in abusive conduct toward
her, with one occurrence on U-M
property while Sophie was an
undergraduate student. She argued
that Prof. Zhang’s abuse constituted
misconduct under U-M policy.
Formal complaint filed with
ECRT in August 2022. Obtained by
The Daily.
Sophie’s complaint was dismissed
two days later by Elizabeth Seney,
ECRT’s director of sexual and
gender-based misconduct and Title
IX coordinator, according to emails
obtained by The Michigan Daily.
Seney stated that ECRT would not
investigate the matter further.
A year prior, Sophie spoke of the
abuse she faced as a transgender
woman in an interview with the MIT
Technology Review. Prof. Zhang
denied the allegations against him at
the time. His name was not revealed
in the article.
The article came out while Sophie
was the subject of international
media
attention
for
exposing
widespread usage of fake Facebook
accounts by multiple countries’
governments in 2020.
In an interview with The Daily,
Sophie alleged Prof. Zhang physically
abused her when she was a child on
the basis of her gender identity. She
alleged that, in 2010, when she was
an undergraduate student at the
University, Prof. Zhang disowned
her after she told him she intended to
transition.
In an email to The Daily, Prof.
Zhang admitted to engaging in
physical abuse against Sophie in one
instance in 2004 and disowning her
in 2010. He denied that his actions
were based on her gender identity.
“I admit that one time I did
lose my temper and hit (Sophie) in
2004, but not for (her) transgender
identity,” Prof. Zhang wrote. “To all
of my family, students, colleagues,
and friends: I apologize that I let you
down.”
Prof. Zhang said he was not
contacted
by
ECRT
or
U-M
administrators
about
Sophie’s
complaint.
Prof. Zhang has taught at the
University since September 1991, and
has held a tenured position since May
1997, according to records available
on the University’s Board of Regents
website.
Speaking
on
behalf
of
the
University,
spokesperson
Rick
Fitzgerald explained that grievances
between family members may not
qualify as misconduct under U-M
policy. He declined to comment on
the specific allegations against Prof.
Zhang.
“It is U-M policy to neither
confirm nor deny the existence of
an investigation into any form of
misconduct,” Fitzgerald wrote. “A
matter involving family members
may or may not fall within the scope
of the university’s policy. If a matter
arises solely in the context of family
interactions, the university does not
have much ability to address the
matter under U-M policy.”
‘I was panicked and terrified …
looking for an escape’
Sophie’s family moved to Ann
Arbor when she was a few months
old. In an interview with The Daily,
she described how she questioned
her gender identity from a young age.
“I was 5 or 6 at the time,” Sophie
said, “For me, it was basically
something I always knew in the back
of my head.”
As Sophie continued to discover
her gender identity, she feared what
might happen if her father found out.
“I knew from the start … that
(Prof. Zhang) would react violently
and angrily if he found out,” Sophie
said. “And he did find out when I was
13.”
One night, in the spring of 2004,
when Sophie was in eighth grade, her
father found out she was transgender.
She said she felt threatened, and
locked herself in the bathroom out
of fear.
While her father allegedly tried to
force his way in, Sophie considered
running away.
“It had rained not too long ago, and
I remember that because I remember
thinking that the ground was soft
outside,” Sophie said. “I pried out
the window screen, because I was
considering jumping out of it … I
would probably have broken my leg.
But I was panicked and terrified, and
looking for an escape.”
Sophie alleged her father yelled
threats and attempted to break
down the door. Fearing what would
happen if her father got to her, she
contemplated her options.
“I sat there staring out the window
for a few moments trying to … decide
whether or not it was actually a good
idea to jump out the window,” Sophie
said. “Eventually, I came to the
conclusion that it would be preferable
for me to stay in an abusive household
rather than end up homeless.”
Sophie opened the door. She
alleged her father dragged her into
the guest bedroom next door and
beat her, first with a belt and then
with his bare hands.
“He began beating me repeatedly,”
Sophie said. “(He was) yelling threats
and insults … He continued until he
was exhausted. I was covered with
bruises and blood.”
Sophie
later
described
this
incident as “an impromptu form of
conversion therapy” in her complaint
to ECRT.
Speaking on the condition of
anonymity, a family member who
was present in the house at the time
confirmed Sophie’s account of this
incident in an interview with The
Daily.
The Daily also contacted a
classmate of hers, who verified that
Sophie came to school with bruises
the next day. This source told The
Daily that Sophie described the
abuse to them at the time.
In the 2021 MIT Technology
Review article, Prof. Zhang denied
that the incident occurred.
“When
reached
by
email,
(Sophie’s)
father
denied
the
allegations,” the article said. “‘I
am sad that she alleges that I beat
her as a child after I discovered
her transgender identity, which
is completely false,’ (Prof. Zhang)
wrote.”
In an email to The Daily, Prof.
Zhang admitted to engaging in
physical abuse against Sophie in
2004. He denied targeting Sophie
for her gender identity but did not
elaborate on the circumstances of the
incident.
‘He could no longer be my
father’
After the 2004 incident, Sophie
said she hid her transgender identity,
fearing further abuse from her father.
She decided to transition a few
years later, but waited until she was
financially independent to inform
her parents of her decision. She
told The Daily she feared her father
would cut her off financially when
she came out.
In the fall of 2010, while an
undergraduate
student
at
the
University, Sophie told her father
in an email that she planned to
transition. Prof. Zhang told The Daily
he recalled receiving this email.
Sophie
recalled
arranging
a
meeting with her father in his office
on campus in the North University
Building.
During
this
meeting,
Prof. Zhang disowned Sophie and
allegedly made offensive comments
targeting her gender identity.
“(My
father)
gave
me
an
ultimatum: that if I continue down
this terrible, self-destructive route,
he could no longer be my father,”
Sophie said. “He’s not disowning me,
he explains. Rather, I’m disowning
myself, because I’m rejecting the
very name, the body, the identity and
life he made for me.”
Sophie alleged Prof. Zhang went
on to make insensitive comments
about transgender people. She said
he warned her that “everyone would
be forever suspicious and disgusted
(by her)” if she transitioned.
A family member of Sophie’s told
The Daily they heard about this
meeting from both Sophie and Prof.
Zhang soon after it occurred, and
confirmed Sophie’s account.
In his email to The Daily, Youxue
Zhang admitted to disowning his
daughter in 2010, but did not say
where this conversation occurred.
“I apologize to (Sophie) for the
2004 hitting and 2010 disowning
you (sic),” Prof. Zhang wrote. “I only
learned their transgender identity in
November of 2010 when they sent
an email to me. I was shocked at the
time. I did not handle it well and lost
them.”
Prof. Zhang did not comment
on the allegations that he made
insensitive
comments
about
transgender identities during this
meeting.
‘Professor Zhang chose to go
beyond … threats of violence and
commit it directly’
Sophie cut off contact with her
father after their 2010 meeting. She
initially decided not to report the
incident or the one in 2004 to the
University, citing a desire to move
on. When she spoke to the MIT
Technology Review in 2021, she
identified her father as her abuser
but did not reveal his name or his
position as a U-M professor.
After becoming a public figure
in 2020, Sophie said some of her
relatives and friends in Ann Arbor
reached out to her. She told The Daily
she learned her father may have
engaged in abusive conduct with
others, and decided to report her
own experiences to ECRT. The Daily
is currently investigating whether
there have been other allegations of
misconduct against Prof. Zhang.
“I was contacted by a lot of people,
including friends I had fallen out
of touch with,” Sophie said. “It was
related to me in passing that my
father has had other victims. I’m not
going to go into the details, because
that’s the story of others to tell.”
In an email to ECRT on Aug. 3,
2022, Sophie described Prof. Zhang’s
abuse. She wrote that she was a U-M
student when Prof. Zhang disowned
her in 2010, and specified that the
incident occurred in his office on
campus. The Daily has obtained
copies of this email correspondence.
Sophie’s email to ECRT on Aug. 3.
Obtained by The Daily.
“In late 2010 when I was a student
at the University of Michigan,
Professor Zhang formally disowned
me for being transgender,” Sophie
wrote. “This took place in his office
in the Geology Department … This
gender-based harassment created
a deeply hostile environment at
the University for myself as a U-M
student.”
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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, January 18, 2023
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWO YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Sophie Zhang alleges abuse against UMich Professor
Zhang claims her father abused her on the basis of her transgender identity
Design by Sara Fang
JULIAN WRAY
Managing Investigative Editor
FOCAL POINT
SAMANTHA RICH
Daily News Editor
UMich professor Peter
Chen returns to teach,
following not guilty
verdict
After two years of leave, Chen
was found not guilty of criminal
sexual conduct and is back in the
classroom
NEWS BRIEFS
Vice President Kamala Harris
visited
Rackham
Auditorium
Thursday
afternoon
for
a
conversation on the state of
climate policy, student activism
and environmental justice in Ann
Arbor and nationwide. Over 500
students, faculty and community
members gathered to hear from
Harris and other local, state and
federal elected officials.
LSA junior Lashaun Jackson,
co-president
of
the
Student
Sustainability Coalition, began
the event by speaking on the
opportunities for U-M students
to lead sustainability initiatives
both within the University and the
nation as a whole.
“Unlike those who will give
speeches in a minute, we, as
students, actually get to roll up
our sleeves and do the work right
here on campus,” Jackson said.
“Literally sticking our hands in
the ground of the Campus Farm,
growing food for each other and
distributing it at the Maize & Blue
Cupboard, using our collective
voice at Board of Regents meetings
just for our sustainable leadership,
connecting with our surrounding
communities
in
Ann
Arbor,
Ypsilanti, Detroit to help support
their own sustainable paths.”
In an interview with The
Michigan Daily after the event,
U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer
Granholm,
former
Michigan
governor, said she and Harris
made the trip to Ann Arbor due
to Michigan’s influence in the
automotive
industry
and
the
prevalence of climate activism
on the University of Michigan’s
campus.
“Michigan is the center of
the transportation universe —
people here have it as part of their
DNA,” Granholm said. “We want
to electrify the transportation
system. If you’re going to reduce
CO2, 30% of carbon pollution
comes from transportation.”
In an interview with The Daily
before the event, Music, Theatre &
Dance junior Donovan Rogers said
he has worked to combine art and
activism in his time on campus
and was excited to learn from
Harris and other speakers to help
inspire his work.
“I’m the founder and artistic
director of the DR’s Laboratory,
which is a Black arts organization
that’s
focused
on
creating
liberatory Black spaces,” Rogers
said. “I think that having the
opportunity to see Vice President
Kamala Harris is a part of that
pursuit, as she is the first woman
and first Black woman vice
president … I’m really just here
to be a sponge and to learn about
these issues and witness this
historical moment.”
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
SAMANTHA RICH &
GEORGE WEYKAMP
Daily News Editor & Daily Staff
Reporter
Vice President Kamala Harris visits Ann Arbor
to talk climate action
Harris and Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm engage with
student sustainability activists
GOVERNMENT
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
KATE HUA/Daily