UM Careers for Sex Offenders

UM Careers for Sex Offenders is a series of “career brochures” sent through email that satirically promotes the University of Michigan campus as a safe space for sexual predators.

The work responds to the U-M’s failure to protect victims from sexual predators on campus through a series of devastating alleged and confirmed offenses, including Dr. Robert Anderson‘s molestation of more than 950 people (mainly student athletes and chiefly male African American students), former Provost Martin Philbert‘s sexual harassment of graduate students and staff, Lecturer Bruce Conforth‘s manipulation and sexual abuse of female students, David Daniels’ solicitations of student sex, and Walter Lasecki‘s alleged sexual harassment of at least five students, among other offenders.

A common theme in these case is the university’s failure to sanction or fire the offender and their strategy of shuffling the predator into retirement or resignation without prosecution or sanctions. The Office of Institutional Equity (OIE)—now the Equity, Civil Rights and Title IX (ECRT)—has failed to properly investigate, to compare records across cases, and to find violations, and the Board of Regents has failed to hold administrators accountable. As a member of the Academic Affairs Advisory Committee (AAAC) that advises the provost, I had a front-row seat to Provost Philbert’s overseeing the sexual misconduct umbrella policy during which he defended OIE’s deplorable record and refused to consider alternative models, a defensiveness that continues with the current administration.

To be added to the email list, contact “CareersForSexOffenders@umich.edu”.

University of Michigan Sexual Misconduct Harassment Assault Philbert Conforth Anderson
University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel Hired an Alleged Sexual Predator as Provost in 2017 and will now Chair the 2022 Provost Search Committee.
University of Michigan Directors of OIE and ECRT

UM former Regent warns Schlissel about Philbert, 2017.
President Schlissel learns of 2005 litigation in summer of 2017 (p. 71).
Partial exhibits from the 2005 Kimorowski lawsuit.
Schlissel statement to the press denying knowledge, 2020.
• Nina Molina and Sammy Sussman, “Daily investigation finds divergence in U-M, outside organization’s handling of allegations against CSE professor,” The Michigan Daily, May 19, 2021
• George Weykamp and Nadir Al-Saidi, “Title IX lawsuit against UMich ECRT director alleging ‘deliberate indifference’ allowed to proceed,” The Michigan Daily, January 6, 2022
• Doe vs. University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Strickman
• University of Michigan, 2020 Annual Report Regarding Student Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct, July 2019-June 2020
• University of Michigan, 2019 Annual Report Regarding Student Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct, July 2018-June 2019
• Nisa Khan, “The Runaround: What it’s like to file a bias report at the University,” The Michigan Daily, April 17, 2018
• The Conforth survivors have spoken to OIE’s tactics for cherry-picking witnesses: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQv7W6YhBHE
• The WilmerHale Report (Martin Philbert); Anthony Walesby’s role in failing to investigate Martin Philbert (Note: the WilmerHale report was commissioned by then-President Mark Schlissel in 2020 and, while it contains helpful information, it seems to carefully absolve all administrators from accountability.)
• Ken Denlinger, “Vermont Officials Criticized,” Washington Post, February 4, 2020
• Anemona Hartocollis, “University of Michigan Fires Its President Over Inappropriate Relationship,” The New York Times, January 16, 2022