1/15/2022- 8:12 p.m.
The University of Michigan Board of Regents has unanimously fired school President Mark Schlissel for cause following an investigation into a relationship with a subordinate, the board announced Saturday evening.
In a letter to Schlissel posted on the school website, the board spelled out its concerns and said his conduct was “particularly egregious considering your knowledge of and involvement in addressing incidents of harassment by University of Michigan personnel, and your declared commitment to work to ‘free’ the University community of sexual harassment or other improper conduct.”
For example, the letter said, citing a recent scandal involving the university’s highest academic officer: “With regard to the actions of Martin Philbert, on August 3, 2020, you sent an email to the entire University of Michigan community, writing that: ‘The highest priority for our regents and leadership team is to make our community safe for all.’
According to emails posted by the university on its website, Schlissel wrote to the female employee regularly, including in October 2019 when he emailed about receiving a box of knishes. The woman said in reply that she liked the pastries.
Schlissel replied again: Can I “lure you to visit with the promise of a knish?”Schlissel sent “dozens” of inappropriate emails and texts, the regents said, including a link to a New Yorker magazine story entitled “Sexual fantasies of everyday New Yorkers.”
2023Schlissel’s contract has what is commonly known as a morals clause in it.
It says, “Your conduct and comportment shall at all times be consistent with promoting the dignity, reputation, and academic excellence of the University.”
