FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 17, 2021
CONTACT:
Autria Lindsay (202) 322-4401
HAIL TO THE VICTIMS:
FEMALE VICTIMS DESCRIBE SEXUAL ASSAULT BY DR. ROBERT ANDERSON OVERLOOKED BY UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN OFFICIALS
ANN ARBOR - In the wake of the report detailing the decades of sexual abuse and rape at the hands of Dr. Robert Anderson, Spotlight Michigan is highlighting the hundreds of heinous accounts that University of Michigan officials turned a blind eye to. More than 850 victims have come forward with allegations of rape, sexual assault, and inappropriate behavior by a predator that continued to be promoted and protected by team leaders and university officials.
These are their stories.
Instances of Potential Awareness in the Athletic Department (PG 50-51)
"From our interviews and from reports made to DPSS, we identified eight instances, in addition to Mr. DeLuca’s July 1975 letter, when a student-athlete recalled voicing concerns about Dr. Anderson’s conduct with Athletic Department personnel:
A former student-athlete told DPSS that members of the women’s track team complained to an athletic director about Dr. Anderson’s approach to scoliosis examinations in the early 1990s. We interviewed the athletic director, who does not recall ever hearing about it. According to the information provided to DPSS, two coaches were present during a subsequent meeting where this issue was discussed. We separately interviewed both, and both said they have no recollection of such a meeting. One coach told us that, had he learned of the issue, he would have reported it to the athletic director."
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
