ANN ARBOR—On Wednesday, June 7th, 2023, the Michigan Daily published an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment and abuse perpetrated by Professor Robert Stephenson in the School of Nursing at the University of Michigan. Two graduate students who worked under Stephenson allege that he harassed and abused them over the course of several years. The Daily investigation details the abundance of evidence provided by the abuse survivors and the Equity, Civil Rights, and Title IX office (ECRT) dismissed, minimized, and misinterpreted this evidence to find that Stephenson had not violated University policy. Garima Singh, co-chair of GEO’s Feminist Caucus, states “this story reveals what grad workers already know: that the power hierarchies, culture, and organizational workings of the University of Michigan enable and normalize abuse. The two grad workers victimized by Professor Stephenson showed incredible bravery and integrity by attempting to hold him accountable. That the University has fought and retraumatized them is more evidence that real change is urgently needed.”
