FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JULY 15, 2021 CONTACT: Autria Lindsay (202) 322-4401
SPOTLIGHT MICHIGAN STATEMENT REGARDING UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN'S NEW SEXUAL ASSAULT POLICIES ANN ARBOR - Today, University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel is expected to outline new institutional changes aimed at stopping abuse within the university. During today's Board of Regents meeting, it's being reported that Schlissel will announce, among other things, changes to the way the Office of Institutional Equity conducts investigations as well as enhancing background checks when hiring university employees. In advance of today's Board of Regents meeting, Spotlight Michigan Spokesperson Autria Lindsay issued the following statement: "While this is an admirable attempt to rectify the decades of rape and sexual abuse that students have endured on the University of Michigan campus, Spotlight Michigan urges the Board of Regents to make serious institutional and cultural changes today that will protect current and future students to ensure these atrocities can never happen again. The widespread coverup of rape, sexual assault, and abuse that has taken place at the University of Michigan for decades has forever tarnished the reputation of the University. Spotlight Michigan calls on the Board of Regents to demand that those complicit in the coverup of these crimes take responsibility for their role, apologize to those nearly 900 victims, and put in place firm protocols that will prohibit this type of abuse from ever happening again. These changes should only be the beginning."
### Spotlight Michigan is committed to exposing these crimes and providing a voice to the community of victims, families, friends, and University of Michigan alumni that demand accountability from the University for its failure to put students before predators. It is also imperative that protocols and procedures be updated and improved to ensure such systemic failures that allowed for both the abuse and the cover-up never happen again. To learn more about Spotlight Michigan visit our website at www.spotlightmichigan.com |