Several former students at the University of Michigan who say they were sexually abused by Dr. Robert Anderson want the university’s board of regents to allow the state attorney general’s office to “conduct a true investigation” into Anderson’s misconduct and the resulting “inaction” of school officials.
At a news conference across the street from Michigan Stadium on Wednesday morning, Richard Goldman, Tad Deluca and Jon Vaughn all implored U-M’s Board of Regents, which meets Thursday, to take action.
SHAWN WINDSOR:Whatever you think about Dr. Anderson survivors, don’t ask ‘why now?’
Last week, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said a AG potential probe into the university’s handling of reports stemming from Anderson’s misconduct could only occur after the Board of Regents asked for a review.
The university, currently being sued in hundreds of cases, hired the WilmerHale law firm to conduct an investigation. WilmerHale’s report was released in May, with the conclusion that Anderson’s abuse was reported numerous times but that the university “did not take appropriate action.”
Hundreds of former athletes and students have alleged that they were sexually assaulted by Anderson, who worked at the university from the late 60s until 2003 and was once the football team’s head medical doctor.
Goldman — who attended the university between 1981-83 and was a student broadcaster — said he told former football coach Bo Schembechler of Anderson’s abuse, and Schembechler told Goldman to meet with former athletic director Don Canham.
MITCH ALBOM:Allegations against Bo Schembechler are devastating; so are the victims’ stories
Goldman said he told Canham about Anderson’s misconduct in 1981, 1982 and 1983, and Canham did nothing. Goldman also detailed his interaction with Canham in 1983 during which Goldman says Canham told him to “Go (expletive) myself,” upon being told by Goldman of Anderson’s misconduct for a third time.
“We had those three years that I was up here as a broadcaster to do something,” Goldman said, “and (Canham) did nothing.”
Deluca (a former wrestler who attended the school in the 1970s) and Vaughn each asked for an independent investigation from the state.
[ Schembechler family: ‘Bo was not aware’ of Robert Anderson’s sexual assaults ]
“The university doesn’t want transparency about Anderson and his accomplices, whether they’re living or dead,” Deluca said. “The WilmerHale report fails to provide us with the full truth and transparency we deserve. I call on the U of M Board of Regents to cooperate and to allow Attorney General’s office to conduct a true investigation where all questions are not only asked but also answered.”
Vaughn laid out a three-part call to action to the university and the Board of Regents. The former star running back wants the university, Big Ten and NCAA to contribute $50 million each “to provide the seed capital for an independent nonprofit specifically created to eradicate the enabling and institutional complicity which results in the culture of abuse and rape against both students and athletes at the University of Michigan and the other Big Ten universities.”
He also called upon the university to release “every single document related to every person either involved or affected by sexual abuse at the University of Michigan” to the public.
“For example, open up my personal records and show me the chain of custody of where my sperm samples I was forced to give under the hocus-pocus guise of medical treatment and research,” Vaughn said.
And Vaughn, like Deluca, also called upon the Board of Regents to “authorize the University of Michigan to fully and completely cooperate with an independent investigation by Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office now.”
Contact Orion Sang at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @orion_sang. Read more on the Michigan Wolverines and sign up for our Wolverines newsletter. The Free Press has started a new digital subscription model. Here’s how you can gain access to our most exclusive Michigan Wolverines content.
