mark schlissel

here is a slightly different picture of an empty stadium [Marc-Gregor Campredon]

dance break!

I've been throwing these in UVs but might as well break it out into its own thing as rumors fly willy-nilly about when the Big Ten might start, who is at fault for the Big Ten not starting, and whether or not Urban Meyer is into QAnon now. It's a little bit like a coaching search, except instead of try to scry what one group of decision-makers is doing there are upwards of a dozen different groups, a few of which are covered by people with potatoes for brains.

Then you have an independent wing of rumor-mongers with potatoes for brains.

So instead of attempting to sift through this for what might be true this post is largely going to serve as a debunking item.

[After THE JUMP: everything is baffling]

the face of countless sleepless nights [Robert Kalmbach/AP]

Content warning: this post discusses sexual assault/abuse. Names have been changed in my account to protect the innocent and the guilty.

Almost a year has passed since Trevor grabbed me.

Last summer, I let a friend—let's call them Andy—stay at my place for a couple weeks while they figured out an unstable housing situation. A couple days into Andy's stay, a mutual acquaintance, Trevor, called them asking for a place to stay. Without getting into unnecessary detail, the three of us had all been through a difficult experience together, and as a result we'd forged a level of friendship and trust that belied how short a time we'd known each other.

The first couple days passed without incident. We were happy to spend time with each other in an environment that felt normal, safe, and stress-free, particularly compared to our previous time together. We discussed our future plans, some of which intertwined, while we played Cards Against Humanity and the two of them drank Blue Moons. We even grabbed lunch with my parents.

On the third night, Trevor wanted to smoke weed. I have a medical card. We went upstairs to my office to give Andy, who stuck to cigarettes, space from the smell without bothering the neighbors.

-------------------

As you are probably well aware by now, Robert Anderson, the late doctor who spent 35 years at the University of Michigan, is accused of sexually assaulting his patients during exams throughout his time on campus. He'd been fired by one university department for his alleged misconduct with male students in 1979, only to find a safe haven for decades working mostly with the athletic department.

As more and more former athletes hire lawyers and come forward with their stories, it's becoming clear Anderson didn't operate in secrecy. Former wrestler Tad Deluca came forward as a whistleblower in 1975. Instead of being taken seriously, he was kicked off the team:

So Deluca blew the whistle — writing a letter to his coach at the time, Bill Johannesen, and then-athletic director Don Canham. The nine-page letter outlined the abuse.

"Something is wrong with Dr. Anderson," the letter reads. "Regardless what you go in there for, Dr. Anderson makes you drop your drawers."

The coach and athletic director then threw Deluca off the team, he said during a news conference Thursday in Southfield with his lawyer, Parker Stinar, and two other former wrestlers who are accusing Anderson of sexual assault. Both Anderson and Canham are deceased. Johannesen has denied Deluca's account to other media.

Anderson was also "widely known" in Michigan's gay community at the time for helping students avoid the Vietnam War in exchange for sexual favors, according to allegations in another Free Press story.

In a statement made after Deluca's press conference, the University said they and school president Mark Schlissel are "deeply sorry for the harm caused by Anderson."

[Hit THE JUMP]

[Upchurch/MGoBlog]

President Schlissel

Good morning everyone, and thank you for coming. Before today's very special announcement I want to acknowledge the University of Michigan Board of Regents. Their support, their dedicatio,n and their advice during this process was invaluable. Joining us today our region's Bernstein, Ilitch, Dietch, White, and Diggs, and I'm sure the others are busily at their day jobs and watching us on television.

I'm pleased to announce that I have selected Warde Manuel to serve as the next Donald R. Shepherd Director of Athletics at the University of Michigan. [/clapping.] My work here is now done. [/aughs.]

Warde will begin on March the 14th. Warde knows how to compete and succeed in the classroom and on the field. He is a three-time University of Michigan alumnus with a degree in general studies and a focus in psychology, a Masters in social work, and an MBA from our Ross School of Business. He was a University of Michigan student athlete in football and track and field and played under Bo Schembechler.

I want to thank interim A.D. Jim Hackett for his exemplary service to the athletic department and the University of Michigan. Jim, could you please stand up? [/clapping] For more than a year Jim served with a level of distinction and integrity befitting the University of Michigan's highest values. He accomplished a great deal in a very short time and leaves the department in wonderful shape. He brought us Coach Harbaugh, contract extensions for coaches John Beilein and Kim Barnes-Arico, a new apparel contract with Nike, and most importantly has upheld the high expectations we have for the academic, social, and community success of our student athletes on our 31 teams. Jim's willingness to assist with the A.D. search has helped me identify an outstanding successor.

In addition to him I also think the six other members of the search and advisory committee. I thank student government president Cooper Charlton for advice, and our search consultants Len Perna and Gene DeFillipo from Turnkey for their excellent work. We reached out and solicited broad community input and we set the bar high in our search for a permanent athletic director. We considered a large pool of outstanding candidates. Central criteria included a focus on the success and well-being of our student athletes in the classroom, in their sport, in the Ann Arbor community, and with respect to their health and safety; uncompromising integrity with an absolute commitment to play and win by the rules; competitiveness at the highest levels – at Michigan we strive for league and national championships, every team, every year; a passion for integrating athletics with the entirety of our campus community– we are at our best when our strengths as a university complement and enhance one another; respect and appreciation for the U of M's traditions, including the importance of athletics to our students, our alumni, and our fans. We were looking for an innovative but financially responsible steward for our self-supporting athletic department, and someone who can be a national voice for maintaining and enhancing the collegiate model of athletics.

Warde brings outstanding athletics experience to Michigan and embodies all of those characteristics and values. He has worked in our athletic department under former A.D. Bill Martin. Since then he has served as an A.D. at Buffalo and Connecticut, where his teams have won championships and dramatically improved classroom performance. Michigan athletics is celebrating its 150th anniversary this academic year and our University is gearing up to celebrate it's 200th birthday. Nowhere else are traditions of excellence in academics and athletics measured in centuries. The amazing accomplishments of our teams and student-athletes bring our community together in celebration of the values and success and we are known for worldwide: 56 team national championships, 307 individual national titles, 376 Big Ten championships, and 121 academic All-Americans. I have every confidence that our future will be even brighter, and Warde Manuel is the right individual to lead Michigan athletics into that future. Warde, on behalf of the Michigan family I welcome you, your wife Chrislan, and your family back to Ann Arbor. I look forward to working with you, and let me be the first to say to our next athletic director Go Blue.

[After THE JUMP: Manuel's remarks, in which I will butcher someone’s name and I apologize for that but I think he thanked the entire staff of the University and Google only gets you so far]