Since Oct. 8, survivors of late 
University of Michigan athletic 
doctor Robert Anderson have been 
camping outside of University 
President Mark Schlissel’s house 
in protest against the University’s 
handling of the nearly 1,000 indi-
viduals who have come forward 
with sexual assault allegations 
against Anderson. Over the past few 
months, survivors have appeared in 
front of the Board of Regents, rallied 
students and community members 
at numerous protests on the Diag 
and testified at hearings in support 
of legislation protecting survivors. 
Protestors say the University has 
failed to adequately address their 
presence outside of Schlissel’s house 
for the month they have been camp-
ing through rain and increasingly 
frigid temperatures. Schlissel has 
apologized to survivors indirectly 
at Regents’ meetings and in the 
press, but the survivors are asking 
Schlissel and the Board of Regents 
to hold a formal conversation with 
them about the University’s role in 
perpetuating Anderson’s abuse as 
well as the larger culture of sexual 
assault at the University.
In a statement to The Daily, Uni-
versity spokesperson Rick Fitzger-
ald wrote that the University is 
currently in the process of confiden-

tial mediation and that they have 
been hearing from Anderson survi-
vors since allegations surfaced. 
“We will continue to meet in 
mediation with the attorneys the 
Anderson survivors have hired to 
represent them and we will con-
tinue to heed the judge’s direction 
not to discuss the process outside of 
the mediation sessions,” Fitzgerald 
said. 
To document the day-to-day 
of protestors, the encouragement 
they receive from the University 
community and the challenges they 
face in making their voices heard, 
reporters, photographers and vid-
eographers from The Daily sat out-
side of Schlissel’s house from 10:00 
a.m. on Friday, Nov. 5 to 10:00 a.m. 
on Saturday, Nov. 6. Here is what 
we observed, hour by hour. 

Friday, 10:00 a.m.
By 7:00 p.m. on Nov. 5, Jona-
than 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. 

The University of Michigan 
Graduate 
Employees’ 
Organization announced in a 
tweet March 27 that they will 
begin striking. The strike will 
officially start Wednesday, March 
29 at 10:24 a.m., which will be 
initiated by a walk out at that 
time. This announcement comes 
after GEO members authorized 
leadership to call for a strike in 
their meeting a week earlier, with 
95% of members voting in favor 
of a work stoppage. The last GEO 
strike took place three years ago 
in fall 2020.
The strike comes after five 
months of negotiations with the 
University without a compromise 
reached on a new three-year 
contract agreement. In a press 
release, GEO claimed that striking 
is the natural next step in their 
ongoing 
activism, 
including 
protesting 
Ono’s 
inauguration 
and filing unfair labor practice 
charges against the University 
in March. In the press release, 
GEO said they hope it will help 
encourage the University to meet 
their demands.
Throughout their negotiations, 
GEO has asked that graduate 
employee salaries increase to 
$38,537 per year, claiming that 

what they are currently being 
paid is not a liveable wage in Ann 
Arbor. They have also asked for 
improvements in their current 
health care plan and for the 
University to make alterations to 
campus security.
In response to GEO members 
authorizing a strike, University 
President Santa Ono and University 
Provost Laurie McCauley sent 
out a joint email statement to the 
campus community March 24. In 
the statement, Ono and McCauley 
alleged that a strike would not 
only be a breach of GEO’s current 
contract with the University, but 
would violate Michigan state law. 
Ono and McCauley expressed the 
University’s intent to take legal 
action against GEO if necessary.
“The 
University 
will 
take 
appropriate lawful actions to 
enable the continued delivery of 
our educational mission in the 
event of a work disruption,” the 
email said. “Those actions will 
include asking a court to find 
a breach of contract and order 
strikers back to work, stopping 
the deduction of union dues, filing 
unfair labor practice charges, 
and not paying striking GSIs and 
GSSAs for time they do not work.”
University Spokesperson Rick 
Fitzgerald wrote in an email 
to The Michigan Daily that the 
University hopes to come to an 
agreement with GEO as soon as 

possible, but that they believe the 
decision to strike is both illegal 
and unethical.
“Beyond 
any 
legal 
considerations is an ethical one: if 
collective bargaining is to retain 
its value, all parties must honor the 
terms of the contract they signed,” 
Fitzgerald wrote. “We urge GEO 
to 
reconsider 
breaching 
the 
agreement we reached through 
good faith collective bargaining.”
In a separate email sent out 
to the campus community on 
March 25, McCauley stated that 
the University will take measures 
to keep campus operations as 
normal as possible and ensure 
that undergraduate students will 
receive academic support for the 
duration of the strike. To do this, 
McCauley said the University 
intends to continue good faith 
bargaining with GEO and working 
to ensure that students receive 
accurate final grades for their 
Winter 2023 classes.
“Our 
school, 
college, 
and 
department leaders are planning 
for 
substitute 
instructors, 
alternative assignments, and other 
means for delivering instruction 
in 
the 
absence 
of 
graduate 
student instructors,” McCauley 
wrote. “Providing a high-quality 
educational experience for every 
student remains our top priority.”

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

ALUM BECCA MAHON/Daily

GEO strikes for the second time in 
three years

Graduation Edition 2023 — 3

 Read more at MichiganDaily.com

News

 Robert Anderson survivors 
protest outside Schlissel’s house

RILEY HODDER
Daily News Editor

Daily News, Photo and Video Staff

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The strike comes in response to frustrations with 
contract negotiations with the University
Protestors are against the University’s handling of nearly 
1,000 sexual assault allegations against Anderson

ARTS

over the

YEARS

Bis etum il ius eliquam usaerum eium 
velicti comnit dunt, tota que consequo is 
essunture dolor molesti beriore, il ea ne 
plab ipsae excero te volorep tation re 
videndunt omnihil ipienda veliqui nobites 
et laboriame lantiossunt hil ius arumqui 
dentibus, qui aliat pa qui simolessit, nes 
escilit harum que volorit eicia con plis 
everum fugitatur si quiae esto blaturem labo. 
Itatas mos venis arumnihilla ntentotatem 
aut etum hil il mod quam es est as endaesc 
ipiendis escium lation cupta doluptam ab 

2013

MARCH 14 - On March 13, 2020, the first 
case of COVID-19 in U-M on or off-campus 
housing is reported in the Vic Village 
apartment complex.

JUNE 23 - After the murder of George Floyd 
on May 25, 2020, protests erupt across 
Michigan demanding an end to police 
brutality.

JANUARY 31 - Ann Arbor sees decade-high 
temperatures. The average temperature 
is 6.8 degrees higher than the historical 
monthly average due to a combination of 
weather patterns and climate change.

MARCH 7 - Santa Ono is inaugurated as the 
University’s 15th and first Asian-American 
president. Ono’s inaugural procession route is 
interrupted by GEO protestors as he reaches 
the Diag.

2021

OCTOBER 21 - After receiving a record number 
of applicants, enrollment at the University of 
Michigan reaches an unprecedented high of 
50,000 students for the fall 2021 semester..

APRIL 3 - To celebrate its 50th consecutive 
year, Hash Bash alters its agenda to fit 
with current public health guidelines while 
continuing to advocate for progressive 
marajuana policy.

NEWS
over the
YEARS

2022
2023
2020

SEPTEMBER 7 - In the first week of classes 
for the fall 2022 semester, COVID-19 case 
numbers are triple what they were this 
time last year. Despite this, masks remain 
optional and classes continue.

DECEMBER 5 - As students attempt to vote 
in the 2022 midterm elections, they face 
long lines and technical difficulties. 

 Read more at MichiganDaily.com

