Three wrestlers at the University of Michigan said that University Doctor Robert Anderson, who died in 2008, molested them during medical examinations during the time he worked at the school (1968-2003). A wrestler named Tad Deluca claims that when he went to Dr. Anderson for injuries, he would just sexually abuse him. Deluca claims he wrote a nine-page letter about these allegations in 1975 and gave it to his wrestling coach. The wrestling coach then ignored him, kicked him off the team, and got his scholarship revoked. Deluca also claims that he wrote again to the University in 2018 after hearing about similar cases in other universities, but the letter got ignored again. After Deluca refused to be ignored once again at a conference today, The University of Michigan officials asked anyone else who was a victim of Doctor Anderson to contact them. Deluca was then joined by two other wrestlers and one wrestler claimed that during his freshman year, his teammates warned him about how inappropriate Doctor Anderson was. Their attorney’s goal is to get the truth of the story, give victims opportunities to speak, and hold the university accountable. They plan to meet with the university but they have not filed a lawsuit.
Questions:
1. Do you believe that the wrestlers are telling the truth about this? Why come forward years after?
2. If this is true, what could be done to bring the wrestlers and other victims justice?
3. Since Doctor Robert Anderson is no longer alive, how should this situation be handled?
The wrestlers are telling the truth because this doctor is dead, so they don’t have that much of a motive for revenge by speaking out about this. Additionally, males seem to be quieter and not talk about sexual abuse as much as females, so the fact that he keeps bringing it up to the university suggests that it really took a toll on him and it still bothers him. A similar incident happened with a doctor at Michigan State, who was “treating” gymnasts on the national team, some of which were olympians, where during their appointments he would sexually abuse them. I believe this is the incident the article refers to because the trial for this happened in 2017-2018. I think all the wrestlers want is for the university to admit their big mistake and let the truth be out there.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Marisa that these wrestlers are telling the truth, because men are more at risk when making claims about sexual abuse. Men often feel being that being sexually abused by another man males emasculates them and makes them seem weak. Plus, these aren't just a groundless claims. There is evidence that he tried to come forward in the past and was prevented from doing so. I think the wrestlers are coming forward because they want closure so they can move on, and they also hope to prevent something similar from happening in the future to other student athletes. I feel the University needs to investigate claims made about these types of incidents instead of trying to cover it up. Allegations like these need to be taken seriously and actions need to be taken (such as firing the doctor if credible evidence is presented).
ReplyDeleteAnswering question three, it's difficult to say what can really be done to help the situation. When it comes to sexual assault, even when the abuser is still alive, it can never truly be fixed. Things like that cannot be "un-done" or "compensated for." While it does help to jail the abuser in order to protect others, and perhaps bring some sense of justice to the abused, the fact that an individual experienced a sexual assault will never go away. As for this particular case, University of Michigan should be retroactively punished for the brushing off of letters that held accusations regarding sexual assault. Additionally, the victims should be compensated, and consulted by the administration for ways to ensure that nothing of the sort will ever occur again. Michigan should be required to dedicate a large chunk of their budget to sexual assault prevention.
ReplyDeleteI completely and totally believe that what the wrestlers are accusing Anderson of is nothing short of the truth. With sexual assault victims, it can take years for them to come out with their horrific experience. This is due to a variety of reasons, but usually in assault cases there is a lot of self-blaming and confusion surrounding the attack. For some victims, it takes time for them to realize that they were not in the wrong and what happened to them is a violation. Unfortunately, with Anderson no longer around, his victims will probably never see true justice. However, the university needs to be held accountable for harboring a sexual abuser and silencing claims of sexual abuse. The university should provide monetary compensation to Deluca and other victims, while also issuing an apology for perpetuating sexual assault. I think that those are the right steps in order to providing reperations and building a society that does not tolerate sexual abuse.
ReplyDeleteI believe the wrestlers are completely telling the truth about this, as there seems to be multiple allegations spread out between multiple people and multiple years of schooling. It can be incredibly hard to come forward about misconduct and abuse, especially if people's first instincts are to believe the accused rather than the accuser. In order to serve justice, the university should offer the victims a settlement as compensation for their ignorance and inaction, especially as one victim had their scholarship revoked because he had come forward with the truth. This is incredibly unfair, and so there should be substantial compensation for the victims from the university to offer some form of correction to this gross injustice. While Dr. Andersen is no longer alive, and there can be no real retribution or justice, the university needs to publicly apologize for their behavior and attempt to reconcile with the victims. While this situation happened all too often without justice, especially before social media and the internet, it is still pretty damaging to the university's reputation and overall image. In order to rectify the situation, the university should do everything in its power to offer retribution to the victims.
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