UM faces skepticism over plan to address sexual misconduct by staff, students

May 15—David Potter is convinced there's a culture problem at the University of Michigan when a prominent doctor and the second-highest-ranking university official had long, respected careers but escaped discipline despite numerous reports of sexual misconduct.

Potter came to the conclusion after UM received two damning investigative reports in less than a year showing that university employees failed to stop repeated sexual advances by former Provost Martin Philbert and the late Dr. Robert Anderson.

"The university seems incapable of dealing with the power dynamics of these situations," said Potter, a professor of Greek and Roman history. "When the people who don't have power complain about people who do have power, they are silenced.

"We need to enable people to get out of these silos where they are trapped and can't get their voices heard."

UM is five months into an effort to change its culture and create what Board of Regents Chairwoman Denise Ilitch described last year as "meaningful policy reform and cultural change" in regard to sexual misconduct at the university.

UM hired New York City-based consulting firm Guidepost Solutions in December 2020 for $400,000 to work with the university to make recommendations about how an environment intolerant of sexual misconduct can be created and how trust can be regained.

Many agree that changing UM's culture is critical after Anderson, Philbert and other faculty members have been accused of longstanding inappropriate sexual behavior. While experts say it is possible to change an organization's culture, some faculty are skeptical it will happen at UM.

The WilmerHale law firm this week issued a 240-page report that showed more than two dozen employees were alerted to the pervasive sexual misconduct by Anderson on "countless occasions." Anderson, who was accused in February of last year by Robert Julian Stone, served UM for nearly four decades as head of University Health Service and as team physician for the UM Athletic Department before retiring in 2003. He died in 2008. The university is in mediation with 850 men who say Anderson assaulted them.

A July 2020 report, also by WilmerHale, showed that sexual misconduct was prevalent throughout Philbert's 25-year career, beginning after he joined the faculty in 1995 as a toxicology professor before ascending to the dean of the School of Public Health and provost. Allegations surfaced against Philbert in January 2020. President Mark Schlissel removed Philbert from his post and launched an outside investigation before firing him in March of that year. The university reached a $9.25 million settlement with eight women who said they were victimized by Philbert.

Where the effort to change the university's culture stands in the days following the Anderson report isn't clear.

Montieth Illingworth, CEO and global managing partner of Guidepost Solutions, referred questions to UM.

UM spokesperson Rick Fitzgerald declined to discuss what has been done so far and pointed to a March University Record article that did not include details on the process.

"There is nothing further to share at this time," Fitzgerald said. "It is still very early in the planning process."

Jordan Acker, incoming chair of the Board of Regents, said the board has heard a lot of concerns about the university's culture around sexual misconduct and it is not where it should be, especially after several UM employees have hurt students, faculty and staff.

"It is pretty clear we have long way to go," said Acker. "For us as a board and working with the administration, ultimately (the effort to change the culture) is a key part of making the university a better place."

Acker said he has a lot of faith in Guidepost Solutions. He understands skepticism about the work is pervasive but said another firm would have been picked if the university was just going to go through the motions.

"This is something I care deeply about getting right," Acker added. "I care very deeply that our campus culture is respectful, listens and understands when we get complaints, especially anonymous ones and deals well with retaliation. These are things we need to improve on."

But Rebekah Modrak, a UM art and design professor, said no one has been held accountable for the failures that allowed Anderson and Philbert's behavior to continue for so long.

That's one reason why she doesn't have much faith in the university's effort to change the culture.

"It just seems to be a branding exercise," she said. "It doesn't seem to have any teeth. I think many of us are skeptical about the action."

A lot of changes are needed at UM regarding how sexual misconduct incidents are reported and how seriously reports are taken, Modrak continued. There are multiple mechanisms in place at the university for addressing issues, from approaching the university ombudsman to filing a grievance to reporting a complaint to the UM Office for Institutional Equity, which oversees issues of equal opportunity including gender and sexual misconduct.

"None of those mechanisms are working," said Modrak. "So the culture isn't going to change until they take reports seriously."

Former Attorney General Mike Cox, a UM alumnus who is suing the university on behalf of more than 100 Anderson accusers, is skeptical meaningful change will happen. He expects more training will be implemented and supports it. But if similar failures had happened in a corporation, Cox said people would have been fired by now.

"The biggest problem is that the people at the highest levels of the university didn't stand up and act like leaders," Cox said. "If they really want to change the culture and university setting, they need to put some leaders in charge."

Rachael Denhollander, a prominent voice advocating for an end to sexual misconduct, applauded UM's effort. She said UM is embarking on what the women who were abused by Larry Nassar had hoped would have happened at Michigan State University but didn't.

Many of the women and young girls who were molested lobbied to bring in an outside firm to evaluate what went wrong in MSU's culture that allowed Nassar to abuse for decades. But the effort failed at the last minute because some board members wanted to move on and felt the effort was not needed. Guidepost Solutions was one of the firms some of the women wanted MSU to hire. The college reached a $500 million settlement with many of the women.

"I'm really grateful to see UM beginning to take these steps, looking for accountability from a qualified group and asking the questions about what is going on not just on a policy level but on a cultural level," said Denhollander, whose public accusation that Nassar sexually assaulted her prompted hundreds of other victims to come forward.

"Pursuing transparency is a really critical part of the process," she said.

Other staff accused

Other UM faculty have also been under fire: UM Regents fired music Professor David Daniels in March 2020. He became the first UM faculty member to be stripped of tenure in 60 years following allegations he sexually harassed students and solicited sex.

Stephen Shipps, a UM School of Music, Theatre & Dance faculty member, retired in February 2019 amid allegations of sexual misconduct that spanned four decades. More than a year later, the U.S. Attorney's office in Detroit charged Shipps with transporting a minor across state lines to engage in sexual conduct.

Former students recently accused former UM lecturer Bruce Conforth of sexual misconduct and admonished the university fornot protecting them from him.

The Philbert report from WilmerHale said UM should create a policy addressing consensual relationships between faculty and staff and require all employees to take annual training on reporting sexual misconduct including how to report sexual misconduct and who is responsible for doing so.

UM was urged in the Anderson report to improve its training and resources related to reporting sexual misconduct and increase the accountability of individual departments by looking into how they respond to sexual misconduct issues as well as improve the procedures for investigating "concerning information about physicians."

It is possible to rebuild trust in an institution such as UM, said Colby Bruno, senior legal counsel at the Victim Rights Law Center. Bruno has represented victims of non-intimate partner sexual violence for nearly 20 years and is an expert in Title IX issues. But it won't happen right away, she said, and likely could take several years.

"It just has to come from the highest person on that campus to the lowest," Bruno said. "And unless and until that happens, it won't change."

There are numerous changes that have to take place, from changing policies to training staff, student groups, fraternities and sororities, athletic teams, coaches and more, Bruno said.

The university must be willing to fire staff members who are sexually inappropriate and also be willing to expel students who rape.

"If there are employees who are responsible for listening to complaints and covering them up or overseeing complaints and doing nothing, there needs to be some action taken against those people ... or the culture will not change," Bruno said.

It's important for insular places like universities to change the culture around sexual misconduct to build blueprints for other institutions, she said.

"If we can change a culture on campus," Bruno said, "then we can maybe start changing the broader culture."

Acker said he expects the work that is underway will be judged by students and faculty in a few years about whether the culture has changed.

"That is how I will hold us, and myself, accountable," Acker said. "Are we seeing real change or is it window dressing? For me, the only thing that is acceptable is real change."

kkozlowski@detroitnews.com

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