Making Headlines

October 29, 2021 – Spotlight Michigan released the following statement ahead of the Michigan State University versus University of Michigan football game tomorrow:

“On the eve of the Michigan State University versus University of Michigan football game, we are reminded of that both universities enabled some of the worst sexual predators in American history.

In East Lansing, at Michigan State University, Larry Nassar abused hundreds of victims for nearly two decades under the guise of his medical career. By the time he was held accountable, over 500 gymnasts and other athletes had already suffered abuse inflicted upon them by Nassar.

Similarly, in Ann Arbor, at the University of Michigan, Dr. Robert Anderson abused nearly 1,000 patients over the course of three decades. Today, the university continues to refuse responsibility for the abuse and hide behind false promises of change.

Right when we thought there couldn’t be more victims than those of Larry Nassar’s, survivors of Dr. Robert Anderson started speaking out. Now, Dr. Robert Anderson is known as the worst sexual predator in U.S. history.

If our universities truly value our student athletes on the field, its time they end the culture of sexual assault off the field.”

September 23, 2021 – Survivors of the late Dr. Robert Anderson gathered outside the University of Michigan’s Board of Regents meeting on Sept. 23 to speak out about the abuse they suffered for decades and to call on leadership to stop the neglect and cover up tactics. This was the first in-person Board of Regents meeting in over a year.

“We are proud to support the survivors who bravely spoke out against the UM’s continuous blind eye concerning the crimes of Dr. Robert Anderson,” said Emily Bir, spokesperson, Spotlight Michigan. “Through actions like today, we will fight to make sure voices are finally heard in Michigan – and across the country. University of Michigan leaders and members of the media can’t ignore the facts any longer,” continued Bir.

ANN ARBOR – Former University of Michigan athletes, and sexual abuse victims, are taking aim at several Board of Regents members who have been hypocritical in their refusal to call for an investigation into the systemic breakdown of protocols that allowed for decades of sexual assault and rape by Dr. Robert Anderson, and the subsequent cover-up.

Spotlight Michigan has previously released four videos in its “Highlighting the Hypocrisy” campaign, and featured former Michigan Tight End Chuck Christian (’77-’80) and former running backs Jarrod Bunch (’86-’90), Jon Vaughn (’88-’90).

Today, Spotlight Michigan is launching the fifth video in that campaign.

ANN ARBOR, MI – This week, Spotlight Michigan launched a mobile billboard campaign on the campus of the University of Michigan to highlight the University’s longstanding culture of sexual abuse and cover ups.

The mobile billboard trucks will be driving around the University from August 25th through August 29th. They are part of Spotlight’s continuing effort to educate incoming freshman about how Michigan officials protected a monster like Dr. Robert Anderson and his enablers for nearly forty years, all while knowing that Anderson sexually abused over 900 victims.

As new students become part of the University of Michigan community, Spotlight is committed to raising awareness of the unacceptable behavior on the University of Michigan campus in sincere hopes that what happened to Anderson’s victims never happens again.

ANN ARBOR – Former University of Michigan athletes, and sexual abuse victims, are taking aim at several Board of Regents members who have been hypocritical in their refusal to call for an investigation into the systemic breakdown of protocols that allowed for decades of sexual assault and rape by Dr. Robert Anderson, and the subsequent cover-up.

Over the past two weeks, Spotlight Michigan released the first three videos in its “Highlighting the Hypocrisy” campaign, and featured former Michigan running backs Jarrod Bunch (’86-’90), Jon Vaughn (’88-’90), and Tight End Chuck Christian (’77-’80) to highlight the hypocrisy of current members of the Board of Regents when discussing sexual abuse of athletes while campaigning for their seats of the Board.

This week, Jarrod Bunch highlights the hypocrisy of Regent Michael Behm, using his statements from 2014 about changing the campus culture to prevent sexual abuse:

ANN ARBOR – Former University of Michigan athletes, and sexual abuse victims, are taking aim at several Board of Regents members who have been hypocritical in their refusal to call for an investigation into the systemic breakdown of protocols that allowed for decades of sexual assault and rape by Dr. Robert Anderson, and the subsequent cover-up.

Over the past 10 days, Spotlight Michigan released the first two videos in its “Highlighting the Hypocrisy” campaign, and featured former Michigan running backs Jarrod Bunch (’86-’90) and Jon Vaughn (’88-’90), using Regent Jordan Acker’s own tweets to show how hypocritical his silence has been in recent months regarding Dr. Anderson and UM.

ANN ARBOR – Former University of Michigan athletes, and sexual abuse victims, are taking aim at several Board of Regents members who have been hypocritical in their refusal to call for an investigation into the systemic breakdown of protocols that allowed for decades of sexual assault and rape by Dr. Robert Anderson, and the subsequent cover-up.

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.

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:

ANN ARBOR –  Today, The Detroit News reported on the demotion of long-time University of Michigan police detective Mark West, the lead detective investigating sexual abuse and rape claims against Dr. Robert Anderson. West, a 27 year veteran with the department began investigating Anderson in 2018 and his work has been integral in not only exposing the heinous crimes committed by Anderson against nearly 900 students, but also the concerted coverup of these crimes by University officials. The demotion from detective down to road patrol officer also comes with a pay cut for the 51-year-old when he begins the new position in September.

In response, Spotlight Michigan Spokesperson Autria Lindsay issued the following statement:

ANN ARBOR – A second wave of polling conducted on Michigan residents is not positive news for the University of Michigan. Specifically, the University’s favorability rating has dropped from just two weeks ago as residents are becoming more aware of the sexual abuse case against Dr. Robert Anderson.

While approximately 80% of Michiganders are still “angry” (or “very angry”) about the handling of the Anderson investigation, the number of respondents with an unfavorable opinion of the University has jumped. Highlights from the recent survey of Michigan residents include:

Jarrod Bunch sits down at a restaurant in Playa del Rey, Calif. On his way here, his brother, Milton, called.

What, Milton asked, did Jarrod think of this Michigan scandal?

Summer, 1986. Bunch is a tailback in Michigan’s top-rated recruiting class—or so he thinks. Coach Bo Schembechler tells him instead, “You’re a fullback.” Bunch doesn’t like it. Tailbacks are stars, scoring touchdowns; fullbacks are secretaries, arranging logistics for tailbacks. He thinks about transferring, but a teammate convinces him to stay.

The Wolverines’ backfield coach tells Bunch that if he moves to fullback, he could start the next year. Bunch tries it, reluctantly, but Schembechler isn’t impressed. He calls the redshirt freshman “soft.” Bunch says now, “It wasn’t that I was soft. I didn’t want to do it.”

ANN ARBOR – New poll numbers of current Michigan residents are showing how enraged citizens are about the ongoing sexual abuse scandal regarding Dr. Robert Anderson at the University of Michigan. Specifically, nearly 80% of Michiganders are “angry” (or “very angry”) about the handling of the Anderson investigation.

ANN ARBOR – Listeners in Lansing and Detroit, MI are now hearing a new radio ad just released by Spotlight Michigan. The ad, running now until July 6, highlights how University of Michigan officials had multiple opportunities to fire Dr. Robert Anderson following numerous complaints by Wolverine athletes and students of rape, sexual assault, and sexual abuse. Instead, they promoted and protected a serial rapist.

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.

ANN ARBOR –  Today Spotlight Michigan applauds the courageous victims who came forward, some for the first time publicly, to share their heartbreaking experiences of rape and sexual assault at the hands of University of Michigan team physician Dr. Robert Anderson. Former UM football player Jon Vaughn,  former UM wrestler Tad DeLuca, and former UM student Richard Goldman all bravely shared the heinous acts committed on them by Dr. Anderson and the subsequent refusal by team leaders to address the criminal acts. The men are calling on the University of Michigan Board of Regents to fully cooperate with an investigation into Dr. Robert Anderson’s behavior by the Michigan Attorney General.

A trio of University of Michigan alumni and their attorneys asked the state’s attorney general to open an investigation into how officials at the school dealt with past complaints about Robert Anderson, the late doctor who is accused of molesting hundreds of patients during his time on campus.

A group of more than two dozen former athletes, former students and supporters gathered across the street from the university’s football stadium Wednesday morning in an effort to spur some action in the sprawling sexual abuse case and say that several past high-ranking officials in the school’s athletic department should have done more to stop Anderson’s assaults.

ANN ARBOR –  On Thursday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel was asked about opening an investigation into the heinous sexual abuse hundreds of University of Michigan athletes endured for 37 years while University officials knowingly turned a blind eye. When questioned on whether her office would pursue an investigation into the 850 claims of rape and sexual assault by Wolverine team physician Dr. Robert Anderson, Nessel essentially said the ball is in the University of Michigan’s court.  Citing her “lessons learned” during the Michigan State investigation of Dr. Larry Nassar, Nessel said in part:

ANN ARBOR –  Today Spotlight Michigan released the following statement in response to the press conference with Matt Schembechler, Gilvanni Johnson, and Daniel Kwiatkowski. Schembechler (son of late coach Bo Schembechler), Johnson (UM Wide Receiver from 1982-1986), and Kwiatkowski (UM Offensive Tackle from 1977-1979) detailed the rape, sexual assault, and sexual abuse suffered at the hands of University of Michigan team physician Dr. Robert Anderson, and asserted that Head Coach Bo Schembechler was aware of the criminal acts.

The University of Michigan, its storied football program, and legendary former football coach, Glenn “Bo” Schembechler, are all back under the spotlight this week after two former players came forward in an exclusive interview with Fox News to detail sexual abuse at the hands of longtime Michigan athletic department physician, Dr. Robert E. Anderson.

Multiple former football players have come forward to speak publicly about sexual abuse they say they suffered at the hands of University of Michigan Dr. Robert E. Anderson. (Robert Kalmbach/Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan via AP)

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.

FOX 2 – A former University of Michigan football player posted a tell-all video detailing the sexual abuse from former school sports Dr. Robert Anderson.

Chuck Christian, who played for the Wolverines from 1977 to 1981, spoke about the years of abuse he says he endured.

“The University of Michigan aided and abetted one of the most deranged sexual predators of our time,” Christian said. “Five of my Michigan teammates and friends have died in the last year and a half. And they all had an incredible fear of doctors. I wonder if they still would be alive now if it had not been for Anderson.”

ANN ARBOR – In a searing and emotional 34-minute video, former University of Michigan standout football player Chuck Christian details his four years of sexual abuse and rape at the hands of team physician Dr. Robert Anderson. Christian was with the team from 1977-1981 and helped the Wolverines win three Big 10 Championships and go on to become Rose Bowl Champs.

ANN ARBOR – Today Spotlight Michigan announced the launch of a digital ad campaign, on multiple online platforms, calling on Michiganders to demand justice for the approximately 850 Wolverine athletes and students that were raped, sexually assaulted, and molested by longtime UM team physician, Dr. Robert Anderson. The ad directs viewers to an online petition to sign, calling on the University of Michigan Board of Regents to acknowledge the role UM officials played in the prolonged coverup and promotion of this predator and to hold UM officials accountable to prevent this type of abuse from ever happening again. The new ad was released on the heels of two new billboards that Spotlight Michigan recently put up in Ann Arbor. 

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN – Today SPOTLIGHT MICHIGAN announced it is launching a new campaign for Michiganders to directly call on University of Michigan Regents demanding they bring justice to the hundreds of U-M athletes and students who endured decades of sexual abuse at the hands of top university physician Dr. Robert E. Anderson. To further bring attention to the gross negligence by University officials that allowed more than 850 students and athletes to be raped, abused, and preyed upon by Dr. Anderson, Spotlight Michigan is placing two billboards (seen above) in Ann Arbor at Liberty & First Street and Maple St. & Dexter Rd.

Billboards calling for justice for the more than 800 men allegedly molested by a former University of Michigan doctor have gone up in Ann Arbor.

An advocacy group called Spotlight Michigan is behind the two billboards, located at Liberty and First Street and at Maple Street and Dexter Road.

The billboards come about a week after the release of a report commissioned by the university that said more than two dozen of its employees were alerted to complaints of sexually inappropriate behavior by Robert Anderson. The report, issued by the WilmerHale law firm, also said UM officials failed to heed the complaints, which could have stopped Anderson.

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN – Today SPOTLIGHT MICHIGAN announced it is launching a new campaign for Michiganders to directly call on University of Michigan Regents demanding they bring justice to the hundreds of U-M athletes and students who endured decades of sexual abuse at the hands of top university physician Dr. Robert E. Anderson. To further bring attention to the gross negligence by University officials that allowed more than 850 students and athletes to be raped, abused, and preyed upon by Dr. Anderson, Spotlight Michigan is placing two billboards (seen above) in Ann Arbor at Liberty & First Street and Maple St. & Dexter Rd.

Spotlight Michigan continues to provide a voice to the community of victims, families, friends, and University of Michigan alumni that demand accountability from the University for its failure to protect its students. 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 coverup never happen again.

Spotlight Michigan,  an advocacy and education group, is supporting and seeking justice for what they estimate is more than 850 victims of sexual assault under the University of Michigan’s former Health Service Director, Dr. Robert. E Anderson.

The group’s formation comes on the heels of a report released by the WilmerHale firm, which found that school’s failure to act on “countless occasions” allowed Anderson to harass, abuse and assault patients during his 37-year career.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – A report about the stunning lack of action at the University of Michigan while a rogue doctor was sexually assaulting hundreds of young men has cast an unflattering light at one of the school’s giants, the late football coach Bo Schembechler, whose bronze statue stands on campus.

Schembechler, who led the team from 1969-89, was vividly told by at least four people that Robert Anderson had molested them during routine physicals or other exams, according to the report commissioned by the university. Yet, the report says, he took no direct steps and even told one man to “toughen up.”

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A report about the stunning lack of action at the University of Michigan while a rogue doctor was sexually assaulting hundreds of young men has cast an unflattering light at one of the school’s giants, the late football coach Bo Schembechler, whose bronze statue stands on campus.

Schembechler, who led the team from 1969 to 1989, was vividly told by at least four people that Robert Anderson had molested them during routine physicals or other exams, according to the report commissioned by the university. Yet, the report says, he took no direct steps and even told one man to “toughen up.”

ANN ARBOR – Today Spotlight Michigan announces the formation of an education and advocacy group to support and seek justice for the hundreds of victims subjected to decades of sexual abuse at the hands of top university physician Dr. Robert. E Anderson. The group will seek to hold University of Michigan officials accountable to prevent this type of abuse from ever happening again. The University of Michigan now sits atop the Big 10 when it comes to the sheer number of students and athletes subjected to sexual abuse and rape by a university official, a number believed to be upwards of 850 students and athletes victimized by a school official.

University of Michigan administrators knew about Robert Anderson’s sexual assaults on athletes and students since the start of his tenure at the school in the 1970s, but did not act, causing decades of pain, a new report found.

“A senior University administrator was told about Dr. Anderson’s misconduct several times between 1978 or 1979 and 1981 but did not take appropriate action,” the law firm WilmerHale wrote in a lengthy investigative report commissioned by the university and released Tuesday. “Concerning information was also shared with other University personnel. Although the information these individuals received varied in directness and specificity, Dr. Anderson’s misconduct may have been detected earlier and brought to an end if they had considered, understood, investigated, or elevated what they heard.”

ANN ARBOR, MI – Multiple University of Michigan employees knew of alleged sexual abuse by late University of Michigan doctor Robert Anderson early on and could have brought his abuse to an end, according to a report released Tuesday afternoon.

The 240-page report issued May 10 by WilmerHale, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm, details more than 30 years of alleged abuse by Anderson and states university officials knew about it, including one senior UM administrator who was told about the misconduct several times in the late 1970s but did not take appropriate action.

More than two dozen University of Michigan employees were alerted to reports of sexually inappropriate behavior by former university Dr. Robert Anderson, reports that could have stopped the doctor who is accused of molesting more than 800 men, according to ahighly anticipated report released Tuesday.

The 240-page report, commissioned and paid for by UM, concluded Anderson sexually abused patients, 90% of whom were men, on “countless occasions.”

Anderson is the former head of University Health Service, and later, team physician for the college’s Athletic Department. He worked for UM from 1966 to 2003. He died in 2008.

The Detroit News first reported Wednesday that UM was investigating claims of sexual abuse by the late Robert E. Anderson, a former director of the University Health Service who also spent years as a top physician for football teams by former coaches Bo Schembechler and Lloyd Carr.

The university, The News reported, was alerted to the allegations against Anderson in July 2018.

Since then, at least seven people have come forward claiming Anderson sexually abused them throughout the years.

Dr. Robert E. Anderson treated students at the University of Michigan for 24 years after being forced out of student health services for “fooling around with male students” in exam rooms, according to a police investigation.

The administrator who ousted Anderson as director of the University Health Service in 1979 was stunned to learn from police that Anderson continued as a doctor in athletics and other capacities, according to a police interviews with Thomas Easthope, then UM associate director of students. Anderson went on to be the top physician for the University of Michigan football team until his retirement in 2003.

The University of Michigan’s legendary football coach Bo Schembechler once famously told the Wolverines that “no man is more important than the team.”

The speech has become part of UM’s lore, played during football games and is embraced by some as a philosophy that transcends sports.

But former UM football player Jon Vaughn believes there was one man who was more important than UM’s teams

ANN ARBOR, MI — Late University of Michigan doctor Robert Anderson is accused of sexually abusing hundreds of UM students and student-athletes during medical examinations, and now some pilots are saying they were also abused by Anderson, according to The Associated Press.

Anderson was designated by the Federal Aviation Administration as a medical examiner in the southeast Michigan region for 40 years, visited frequently by pilots, air traffic controllers and others who were required to have regular health exams to keep their licenses.

ANN ARBOR, MI – The late athletic doctor accused of sexually abusing hundreds of former University of Michigan students continued practicing medicine at the university more than a year after allegedly resigning his position as director of University Health Services, according to a police report from UM’s Division of Public Safety and Security.

That contradicts what one former UM official told investigators during a 2018 investigation into Anderson, and exposed many more students to his alleged abuse in cases that have since been brought to light in numerous lawsuits. Anderson did retire in 2003 and died in 2008.

Since February, when the Detroit News broke the story of the first man to speak out about how Dr. Anderson abused him, hundreds have come forward. Their stories span more than three decades, beginning in the 1960s. Some women, too, are among his accusers, including a member of the first women’s varsity tennis team. Anderson’s reputation was so well known, he had a nickname: “Dr. Drop-Your-Drawers.” Coaches and other university officials knew, some said, and not only did they not intervene—they joked about it.

It’s not just students, either. Community members are among the John and Jane Does in legal filings. There are pilots who were directed to Anderson’s door by the Federal Aviation Administration for mandated check-ups. Others saw him for life insurance physicals. And still others sought out Anderson in the Vietnam era because he was known for delivering evaluations that kept men out of a bloody war.

A former gymnast at the University of Michigan said he tried to talk to his coach about being assaulted by a campus doctor during a routine physical in 1969 but was brushed off with a sneering smile that signaled “we’re changing the subject.”

Ward Black, a member of the 1970 national championship team, spoke exclusively to The Associated Press about being molested by Robert Anderson. He’s the latest to reveal that university coaches decades ago apparently were aware of allegations about the doctor but didn’t take the complaints higher.