Detroit News: How UM failed to heed warnings about doctor’s alleged sex abuse
“An accusation by a single victim this year inspired 800 others, mostly men, to come forward and unleash allegations of grotesque behavior. Among those accusations are new findings, details and complaints that several accusers say were largely ignored by university officials.
At least six people say they notified one or more university officials of his behavior, including storied names at UM — such as Schembechler and former Athletic Director Don Canham, along with several other coaches and two high-ranking UM administrators.”
October 22nd, 2020 at 1:06 AM ^
Sad that some of our great University leaders ignored complaints about this doctor.
October 22nd, 2020 at 6:11 AM ^
Apparently, they weren’t that “great” after all.
October 22nd, 2020 at 8:57 AM ^
As you say “apparently.”
However, with the volume of witnesses out there we should know soon enough if Bo and Canham knew.
If they did, and did nothing, those are some statues that I would love to topple.
October 22nd, 2020 at 1:27 PM ^
I think it's pretty clear Canham knew. There is a lot of evidence showing he acted on the allegations, without actually removing Anderson or pushing for charges to be filed.
Bo is still in question. I think only 1 victim is directly accusing him of knowing. Either the the other victims are trying to protect Bo's legacy, or that victim is lying to get a bigger settlement. We may never know for sure, which is disappointing because it means the university will probably not end up removing his legacy, but it will always be an unknown that puts a stain on it.
October 22nd, 2020 at 2:58 AM ^
Glad I never saw this sick bastard at Health Services in the 1970s. Extremely sorry for those who did. Very disappointed in the UM administration for their inaction.
October 22nd, 2020 at 6:10 AM ^
buried just like osu, msu, psu
why do we think we're better than them again?
pffft...
October 22nd, 2020 at 7:38 AM ^
The difference is the reaction to the discovery. For example, at PSU at least there was constant denial and refusal to admit JoePa did wrong when he buried the information.
We won't do that same thing. If folks like Schembechler knew, Michigan will do a purge of anything that honors him or them and you won't have riots like they did in slaphappy valley in response.
We (alumni and other fans) won't be fighting any corrective action by the university administration.
October 22nd, 2020 at 7:54 AM ^
I hope you're right, RGard. But we're still in the 1st quarter on this.
October 22nd, 2020 at 9:21 AM ^
Football defines the school at PSU and OSU. Michigan is much more than the football team. I could be wrong, but I really don't see Michigan not doing the right thing. It's a completely different culture.
October 22nd, 2020 at 9:30 AM ^
So Michigan didn't do the right thing from 1970ish through 2019 but now they will so they are superior right?
Your comment is meant to dig at other schools while taking the moral high ground, while more and more info keeps coming out that a lot of big names turned their backs on this just like they did at OSU, PSU, MSU. And yes, some of those names are directly tied to your football program.
4 schools in the conference have found information that is disturbing. Accepting that there was wrongdoing and not trying to play the "well we weren't quite as bad as the others and now we will rectify it" is not a good look. And yes I would call out any OSU, PSU, MSU fan on the same type of comments.
October 22nd, 2020 at 9:51 AM ^
I have to agree with you. This is an awful look. The victim numbers keep climbing. This is why, in my personal life, I told my UM friends to not sling mud at MSU and PSU. Since PSU more and more Universities have had things like this coming out. For example USC, OSU, and MSU. Why people think this would never have happened at UM is beyond me. There seems to be this stigma that UM can never do wrong. And if they do they do what is right to correct it. Which in some cases they have done just that. But right now, it pains me to say it, UM is looking just as bad...if not worse...than MSU. That is just my opinion based on the information that we have. It is a damn shame.
October 22nd, 2020 at 10:08 AM ^
I don't know that I'd say it's as bad as MSU due to the reach of Nassar outside of MSU. But I'm fully in the camp that every one of these schools (and probably more for that matter that we have yet to hear about) have people that need to pay the piper. Both dead and alive. If they are alive, they need to be criminally charged, and if they are dead then anything left at the school tied to them needs to be scrubbed. What we are waiting to find out is how many were involved, who actually was involved, and how deep their involvement went. It's probably going to take a couple of years for the OSU and UM information to shake out.
I will also say this, there isn't a single athlete at any of these schools that deserves to feel those consequences. The Universities need to suffer, not the current athletes.
October 22nd, 2020 at 10:01 AM ^
You read my comment and you still don't understand. Amazing.
All 4 administrations were criminally wrong for not taking action to protect the students and others abused by sexual predators. There's no escaping that.
The jury is still out on whether Michigan does the right thing, but I have a sneaking suspicion they will do the right thing and remove anything that commemorates those who knew and failed to act. We'll see.
The difference at Michigan is how the alumni and fans react to this. We won't see riots and news vehicles over turned in response to any corrective action done by the university. We won't see people blaming the victims either. There is a little bit of whingeing going on about Bo's involvement even here, but that will not be the majority response.
October 22nd, 2020 at 10:14 AM ^
Ok this clarifies things a little, but to be fair you came off as assuming UM is golden and added OSU in with PSU. I live in Columbus, I didn't hear about the riots here. OSU is still processing and coming to agreements with victims just like UM will be. Putting OSU and PSU together and citing things that happened only at PSU don't help defend your original statement.
October 22nd, 2020 at 10:20 AM ^
"We (alumni and other fans) won't be fighting any corrective action by the university administration."
October 22nd, 2020 at 10:27 AM ^
That I can agree with. I don't care what names are connected to any of the situations, if they are complicit, they can burn. Unfortunately in most of these situations, it's the schools that will pay for the actions of the deceased. And in most cases it will be people at these schools wading through the muck while they had nothing to do with the crimes that were committed.
October 22nd, 2020 at 10:49 AM ^
While many here are equating Michigan to the scandals at OSU, PSU, etc., AND similar abuse occurred, I believe you're right, that Michigan's response will be better.
Not because I'm claiming UM is morally superior, if that could even be assessed, but because of the point you make, that Michigan has a completely different culture. While football is important, the University has an international reputation, and is nationally respected for many of its programs and departments. Don't forget the influence of the community either: Ann Arbor is a great place to live, NOT because of football, but because it has a vibrant culture, with vast parts of its population indifferent to or irked by football, which means football fans don't dominate all discussions.
October 22nd, 2020 at 11:06 AM ^
Thanks. We won't know the university's final response until all the investigations are done, but I'm hopeful they'll do the right things.
I use 'they' as we (the alumni and fans) won't be making the decisions. What we can do is keep the pressure on the university to do right and we cannot make excuses for those who failed as was done elsewhere.
October 22nd, 2020 at 12:55 PM ^
You're right about keeping pressure on. I believe the administration will do the right things but—#humannature #peoplewithpower—it'll be good not to simply trust them keep active about it.
October 22nd, 2020 at 7:04 AM ^
This is so very heart-wrenching what these people went through, it's hard to even put into words how this makes me feel, sadness
October 22nd, 2020 at 7:16 AM ^
I have learned not to put blind trust into any group.
People with power hurt other people with less power all the time regardless of the overarching institution.
I hope that the penalties that UM experiences in this case are chilling enough that the cockroaches who are pre-disposed to this type of interpersonal violence leave.
October 22nd, 2020 at 9:33 AM ^
Given that this is a good deal in the past I wouldn't think there are any left with any knowledge or power. I do agree that anyone with such knowledge and power to properly handle this should be dealt with. That said, I see no reason to punish anyone that didn't have anything to do with it.
Laws and university rules in place should be enough to move such cockroaches anyway.
October 22nd, 2020 at 9:56 AM ^
Look at it this way, if this was happening at MSU how many people on here would be calling for their Athletic Department to be completely eliminated? Even if no one in power now had knowledge of what was happening 30 years ago. The University will be punished in a way that can at the very least give closure to the victims. I do not see the Athletic Department losing scholarships or having to imply post season bans. It is going to hit UM in the pocket book. That is how I think the University should be held accountable.
October 22nd, 2020 at 10:22 AM ^
This did happen at MSU and nobody was realistically saying eliminate the athletic department. At Msu what Larry Nassar did was horrible. Everyone weighing in on what should happen was calling for the firing and prosecution of everyone involved that covered it up. From Trainers, Assistants, Coaches, AD up to the University President and Board Members.
Everyone said the same thing about Penn St. Though some called for them to be kicked out of the Big Ten.
I never saw a reason why Penn States athletes should have been punished like that as they had nothing to do with any of it. They were there on football scholarship. I got getting rid of JoePa and prosecuting everyone involved. The rest was just trying to punish a University, deserved but it was the players, donors, sponsors and fans that paid the heavy price and they didn't have a thing to do with it. And fans being stupid going after penn st fans like they had anything to do with the monstrous actions.
At Michigan, I really hope the university makes it as right as they can and is transparent. Thus far those in charge have been that we know of. I am also a chain of command guy. (pure speculation) If Bo knew and took it to his boss, while it doesn't excuse Bo for not taking it further it does put the much heavier burden on his AD imo. I felt the same about JoePa but couldn't excuse JoePa allowing Sandusky in the building ever again....
October 22nd, 2020 at 10:29 AM ^
Assuming the reports are correct that Bo was informed, Bo was the AD after being informed and nothing was done.
October 22nd, 2020 at 12:30 PM ^
This very site wanted mark dantonio fired for what larry nassar did
October 22nd, 2020 at 1:16 PM ^
Funny. I don't remember that being said here.
Now if Mork Da'antorini knew about Nassar and didn't take action when he saw nothing was being done, then yes, I'd agree he should have been fired. I don't know of any reports Mork knew. Do you know of any?
Would you care to point us to comments here where we wanted Mork fired for something Nassar did?
October 22nd, 2020 at 7:39 AM ^
Do we take down our Bo statue like PSU did to JoePa?
October 22nd, 2020 at 7:40 AM ^
If he knew, we should. Full stop.
October 22nd, 2020 at 8:13 AM ^
After skimming the article before work this morning, it seems this piece is damning towards Canham and Easthope.
October 22nd, 2020 at 10:06 AM ^
We can't make any excuses for Bo if Bo knew.
October 22nd, 2020 at 8:36 AM ^
There was almost nothing in that article about Bo. The student who told Bo about Anderson reiterated what had been previously stated, that his impression was it was the first Bo had heard about it. He also said Bo told him to get right over to Canham and tell him about it. We do not know if Bo and Canham ever discussed it and, if so, what Canham said to Bo. We don’t know if Canham talked to anyone else about it or told anyone to look into it. We don’t know if Canham talked to Anderson, and if so what Anderson told him, if anything, to “explain” what he had done as medically appropriate. In other words, we do not know if Anderson duped Canham with a medical tap dance. And the fact is we will never know because all the relevant actors are dead. Given Bo’s character as seen in many contexts, I for one am not about to jump to conclusions that he decided in this instance to facilitate abuse by Anderson absent some evidence that he actually did.
October 22nd, 2020 at 9:30 AM ^
I understand your point, but this is JoePa's defense. Well, the defense his defenders use, anyway. 'He passed it up the line, so all is good from his viewpoint'... No - that doesn't cut it. Like JoePa, Bo had monopoly power over his program. As iconic as Canham is, he handled the business parts of the AD and left football to Bo. If Anderson was still allowed to see football players after the first (maybe second) incident, the whole 'JoePa defense' starts to fall apart.
Was Anderson banished from the football program at some point? I dunno...
October 22nd, 2020 at 9:39 AM ^
No, he was treating football players until he retired in 2003.
More history...
He was actually fired in 1979 as the director of the University Health Service for being a perv/sexual predator with students, but stayed on being a doctor for the sports teams according to this article:
October 22nd, 2020 at 9:35 AM ^
Sorry, if Bo knew and nothing was done about Anderson he's just as wrong as Paterno was. On top of that, Bo was the AD from 1988 through 1990 and certainly could have done something then.
October 22nd, 2020 at 8:39 PM ^
Bo was the AD after he retired from coaching. He held the ultimate power.
October 22nd, 2020 at 2:11 PM ^
uggh; cant take it. This is the coach I grew up with. I know the history; but it's pages in a book for me. This would be like ND crapping all over Parsegian. The university is so much more than football; I get it. But Michigan football to me is Bo; he's the gold standard.
cripes.
October 22nd, 2020 at 8:38 AM ^
Vaughn seems to hold Bo accountable for it too. This is getting uglier by the week. 800 victims is a stunning number. I hope for justice for the victims whatever that looks like. If it means removing statues and names from buildings, so be it.
October 22nd, 2020 at 9:53 AM ^
Of course this article is released days ahead of a high-profile football game ...
October 22nd, 2020 at 11:32 AM ^
The contents of this article and its lasting impact on 800+ people's lives are way more important than a football game
October 22nd, 2020 at 3:04 PM ^
I agree completely. The information in this article was probably available earlier than now and it was held until days before a big game for click/view/media conversation/drama reasons. Maybe that's a bad read of the situation, but regardless I made no comparison between the importance of the article/topic and a football game--I just highlighted the timing of the article's release.
October 22nd, 2020 at 10:12 AM ^
Another article & post about Dr. Anderson!
I mean, I’m waiting for somebody to have a GoFundMe campaign of Dr. Anderson “fan cut-outs” at the Big House - - to have the stands filled for the UM/staee game to “raise awareness”.
C'mon, tear down the legends of Bo Schembechler & Don Canham. I mean, you wanna watch the UM/staee game next week and have the announcers on a break to commercial – bringing up the Dr. Anderson story and bad-mouthing Bo Schembechler (who is dead by the way) to a national audience?
Isn't that going to make you happy as a Michigan fan?
The Freep/DetNews/MLive/Daily must be operated by the most sinister Michigan haters in the world.
I’m sick of these “journalism majors” writing shit about Michigan every day in the press to “make themselves feel better about not getting into Michigan.”
I mean, when was the last time an article said; “Jim Harbaugh has been awesome.” Or “President Schlissel is a great president.” Or “Michigan football is the best program and any great player should be honored to play there.”
Seriously, you just laughed. But, you should cry. If you love Michigan.
Us against the world! And Ourselves!
I love you guys and love Michigan.
I'm just sick of the negativity about our school & program over and over again.
I hoped this was the place for positive Michigan news.
Go Blue!
PS – Anybody find any negative articles in the Dispatch on Woody Hayes?
October 22nd, 2020 at 10:21 AM ^
"Give me the propaganda please and thank you" is how all this stuff happens in the first place.
October 22nd, 2020 at 10:23 AM ^
It is what it is. The university failed and people were sexually abused after that failure.
October 22nd, 2020 at 12:11 PM ^
If people (including Bo, if true) turn a blind eye to heinous shit that is a part of their legacy. It doesn't mean they are completely awful or erase everything good they did, but it does change how you view and celebrate them.
Also I know it's easy to hate on the media but it's journalists job to dig up stuff like this, even if we don't like what they find.
October 22nd, 2020 at 1:03 PM ^
What an embarrassing response, what kind of a callous prick doesn't give a shit about people being sexually abused by an employee of the university who was in a position of power over athletes. You're a useful idiot for propagandists and you need to recheck your priorities because they're trash.
October 22nd, 2020 at 10:13 AM ^
Such a confounding story, from the admin perspective. What was the motivation in covering this up? Sandusky was at least a well-regarded defensive coordinator for decades. Nassar had a world-class reputation in his field.
What exactly was Anderson bringing to the table that made U-M turn a blind eye for so long?
October 22nd, 2020 at 10:28 AM ^
The pattern here and at MSU, is quite disturbing.... for once a tort isn't dealt with the first time or so, then an institution actually begins to shield the bad behavior...
October 22nd, 2020 at 11:08 AM ^
I see no shielding so far at Michigan.
October 22nd, 2020 at 11:16 AM ^
I'm a little on the fence about this stuff, particularly when it comes to coaches. On the one hand, if people ignored it and did nothing, that's pretty bad. It's also really bad if an administrator like an AD did nothing, because those sort of things are directly in his scope of practice. On the other hand, when it's a coach, particularly a high profile sport like football, if the coach reported up the chain of command and his supervisor did nothing, I'm not gonna get up in arms over the coach being accountable for following up. With the volume of things a P5 football HC has to worry about, I don't picture many coaches making it their priority to follow up on stuff like this when are worried about recruiting, game plans, media obligations, 20-30 assistant coaches and personnel to manage, and all that goes into being a HC. I just don't feel like follow up on this is in the scope of practice of a coach. It's scary and sensitive stuff that they may just not feel comfortable dealing with. Tell your superior and move on. But, the ADs have to take care of this stuff and follow through 100%.