After students brought a lawsuit against the University of Michigan to help force changes to how the school deals with sexual misconduct, the parties have reached a settlement agreement.
The case, which was filed in federal court, states that the university will create a multidisciplinary committee designed to protect the community from sexual assault and abuse. The committee will include community members, members of faculty, and Title IX experts.
In 2020, allegations came out about the school’s former campus doctor, Robert Anderson. Hundreds of male students had come forward stating that the doctor, who worked at the school for 40 years, had sexually assaulted them. The university settled the lawsuit with the accusers for around $490 million. After that, the former school president was removed from his position after emails were released that detailed a sexual relationship with one of the university’s students. Additionally, the school settled another lawsuit due to 8 women who alleged to be emotionally or sexually abused by one of the school’s academic officials.
This separate legal action was put forward to help rebuild the trust between the students and the school, which was been lost over the past couple of years. The committee, which was core to the settlement, will be used as a key tool in fighting campus sexual violence.
