The 
National 
Science 
Foundation, 
an 
independent 
federal agency which provides 
research 
grants 
for 
science 
and engineering, is conducting 
a review of the University 
of 
Michigan’s 
Department 
of 
Computer 
Science 
and 
Engineering compliance with 
Title 
IX 
regulations. 
The 
CSE department has seen 
allegations of sexual misconduct 
against several of its faculty 
members since 2020. NSF began 
conducting interviews with CSE 
faculty and administrators from 
the Equity, Civil Rights and Title 
IX office Tuesday.
CSE professor Peter Chen was 
charged with criminal sexual 
conduct in the first degree in 
2021 and stood trial in late 2022. 
Chen was found not guilty by 
a Washtenaw County jury and 
has since returned to teaching 
as a professor of electrical 
engineering 
and 
computer 
science. Former CSE professor 
Walter 
Lasecki 
resigned 
from his position in August 
2021 after an investigation by 
The Michigan Daily exposed 
multiple allegations of sexual 
harassment against him. In 2020, 
CSE professor Jason Mars was 
accused of sexually inappropriate 
behavior by employees of Clinc, 
an AI start-up founded by Mars 
and Lingjia Tang, his wife and 

fellow CSE professor. 
NSF awards grants in various 
departments, supporting over 
1,000 projects at the University. 
NSF provided over $112 million 
of the University’s $1.71 billion in 
research spending in 2022.
Gloria Hage, an attorney in the 
Office of General Counsel, sent 
an email notifying CSE faculty 
of the NSF’s review on March 1. 
The Daily has obtained a copy of 
this email. 
“(NSF) 
will 
evaluate 
and 
assess 
the 
University’s 
nondiscrimination policies and 
procedures related to Title IX, 
grievance and discrimination 
complaint processes and the 
role of the Title IX Coordinator 
in implementing and enforcing 
Title IX requirements,” Hage 
wrote. 
“The 
review 
will 
also 
evaluate 
whether 
the 
University’s procedures provide 
for the prompt and equitable 
resolution of Title IX complaints, 
and whether there is compliance 
with 
the 
notification 
and 
dissemination requirements of 
Title IX.”
Hage provided a spreadsheet 
in the email for faculty members 
to sign up for interviews with 
NSF. The Daily obtained a copy 
of 
this 
spreadsheet, 
which 
indicated 
multiple 
ECRT 
administrators 
were 
to 
be 
interviewed, 
including 
ECRT 
Executive 
Director 
Tamiko 
Strickman.

The 
University 
of 
Michigan 
has 
not 
been 
granted 
a 
restraining 
order against the Graduate 
Employees’ 
Organization 
by the Washtenaw Circuit 
Court. 
Following 
an 
evidentiary hearing Monday 
afternoon, 
Judge 
Carol 
Kuhnke decided there is no 

evidence of irreparable harm 
to the University. Members 
of University administration 
were in court seeking an 
injunction that would have 
claimed that GEO’s current 
strike 
is 
illegal 
because 
it constitutes a breach of 
contract.
GEO’s 
strike 
began 
at 
10:24 a.m. on March 29, after 
months of activism during 
their contract negotiations 
with 
the 
University’s 
Academic Human Resources 
department. 
Ninety-five 
percent of GEO’s members 

originally voted to authorize 
the strike, which is now 
entering its second week.
In an interview with The 
Michigan 
Daily 
following 
the decision, GEO President 
Jared Eno said he believes 
the court made the right 
call.
“The 
University 
was 
banking on resolving this 
entirely through the courts 
and 
not 
having 
to 
deal 
with us seriously at the 
bargaining table,” Eno said. 
“I think the judge made the 
right call that that’s not 

appropriate.”
In an email to The Daily, 
University spokesperson Kim 
Broekhuizen wrote that the 
University is disappointed 
in the judgment, but remains 
ready to negotiate with GEO.
“While 
we 
are 
disappointed in the decision, 
we 
appreciate 
Judge 
Kuhnke’s acknowledgement 
that our students are still 
being harmed,” Broekhuizen 
wrote. “We also understand 
the 
high 
legal 
standard 
of 
‘irreparable 
harm’ 
we 
faced.”

Content warning: mentions of 
sexual violence.
About 100 sexual violence 
survivors and allies gathered 
in the Michigan Union’s Rogel 
Ballroom at the University of 
Michigan for the 45th annual 
Take 
Back 
the 
Night 
rally 
Wednesday evening. The event 
was organized by University 
Students 
Against 
Rape 
in 
collaboration with the Standing 
Tough Against Rape Society. 
After hearing from speakers 
and performers, attendees took 
to the streets of Ann Arbor, 
marching with signs, drums 
and tambourines while shouting 
chants such as, “We have the 
power, we have the right, the 
streets are ours, take back the 
night!” 
In an interview with The 
Michigan 
Daily 
before 
the 
event, 
Courtney 
Banks, 
a 
student 
organizer 
for 
Take 
Back the Night, said the focus 
of this year’s rally was allyship 
for sexual violence survivors, 
with an emphasis on how men 
can support survivors of sexual 
assault.
“(This event is) a little bit 
more about allyship, specifically 
male allyship,” Banks said. “I 
know there’s a lot of student 
orgs on campus that protest 
policy and do different things … 
but our sort of big thing (at Take 
Back the Night) is raising the 
voices of survivors, empowering 
them by doing events like this.”
Banks said she thinks the 
annual rally gives survivors a 
chance to have their voices and 
stories heard by the Ann Arbor 
and U-M communities.

“There are many scenarios, 
where, 
as 
survivors, 
your 
voices are taken away from 
you,” Banks said. “So an event 
like this, where we can sort of 
get out there, shout, yell, make 
ourselves known to the world so 
that you can’t forget about us, is 
so important.”
The 
event 
featured 
presentations from a variety of 
student and Ann Arbor-based 
organizations. The rally opened 
with a performance by Groove, a 
U-M student percussion group. 
13 other campus and Ann Arbor-
based organizations — including 
safeMD, 
Sexual 
Assault 
Prevention 
and 
Awareness 
Center 
and 
SafeHouse 
— 
hosted tables in the Union so 
that attendees could speak to 
representatives from each of 
organization. 
Following 
the 
energetic kick-off by Groove, 
Pam Swider, STARS executive 
director and founder, introduced 
the goals of this year’s Take 
Back the Night.
“One of our biggest hopes at 
Take Back the Night Ann Arbor, 
and even with our volunteer 
family, is that we have created 
a safe space — a space with no 
judgment, a space where we’re 
supported 
and 
listened 
to,” 
Swider said. 
Nicole 
Denson, 
Detroit 
resident and an activist against 
sexual 
violence, 
introduced 
herself to the crowd and said 
she was excited about being able 
to attend and speak at the event.
“Take Back the Night is a 
worldwide movement dedicated 
to raising awareness about the 
prevalence of sexual violence 
and providing a forum to give 
survivors as we gather together 
tonight to demand recognition 
of 
the 
problem 
of 
sexual 

violence,” Denson said. “We 
take a stand against the cycle of 
sexual violence, and empower 
those that are in dark spaces to 
speak out.”
Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher 
Taylor also spoke about his 
dedication to addressing and 
ending 
sexual 
violence 
in 

the city of Ann Arbor. Taylor 
noted 
that 
April 
is 
Sexual 
Assault Awareness Month in 
the state of Michigan. Though 
there is no federal month for 
sexual 
assault 
awareness, 
many individual state and city 

governments across the country 
have declared April to be the 
month for advocacy in the area 
— with Taylor announcing that 
Ann Arbor would support that 
movement.
“ 
It’s time to draw attention to 
the prevalence of sexual violence 
and to educate individuals and 

communities and institutions 
about how to protect (others) 
and help those in need,” Taylor 
said. “I proclaim the month of 
April 2023 as Sexual Assault 
Awareness 
Month 
in 
Ann 
Arbor and join advocates and 

communities across the country 
to prevent sexual violence and 
uplift survivors of this crime.”
USAR volunteers informed 
the 
audience 
about 
sexual 
assault risk factors and the 
definition of consent, which 
they said should be informed, 
sober and enthusiastic. Nursing 

freshman 
Amanda 
Sutherby 
was one of the volunteers at the 
event and she made a specific 
note about high levels of sexual 
violence 
perpetrated 
against 
Native American women in the 
United States.

“According 
to 
the 
Department of Justice, 84.3% 
(of Native American women) 
will experience some form of 
violence — with 56.1% of Native 
American women experiencing 
sexual 
violence 
and 
55.5% 
experiencing domestic violence — 
in their lifetime,” Sutherby said.

The rally evolved into a 
march as volunteers handed 
out signs and megaphones, and 
attendees headed to the streets 
of Ann Arbor to make their 
voices heard throughout the 
night.

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INDEX
Vol. CXXXII, No. 109
©2023 The Michigan Daily

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A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

O P I N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
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michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, April 12, 2023

ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWO YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Court rules that UMich will not get 
injunction against GEO
Following an evidentiary hearing, the strike will continue

 Students and community members marched through the city streets last week

The National Science 
Foundation is conducting a 
review of the CSE Department’s 
compliance with Title IX 

MADISON HAMMOND
Daily News Reporter

 JULIAN WRAY
 Investigative Managing Editor 

 45th annual Take Back the Night rally focuses on allyship

CSE Department 
under investigation for 
Title IX compliance

RILEY HODDER, 
MILES ANDERSON &
MATTHEW SHANBOM
Daily News Editor & Daily Staff 
Reporters

GEO members and allies participate in a walkout and strike on the Diag Wednesday morning. 
EMILY ALBERTS/Daily

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

GRACE LAHTI/Daily

Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor proclaims April to be recognized as Sexual Assault Awareness month in Ann Arbor at the Take Back the Night rally in the Michigan Union 
Wednesday night. 

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