The University of Michigan is investigating possible sexual misconduct by a deceased former doctor who treated the school’s football players.
Robert Anderson was the director of University Health Service at the school from 1968 until his retirement in 2003. He worked with the school’s team under former coaches Bo Schembechler and Lloyd Carr. Anderson died in 2008, according to a report by the Detroit Free Press.
In a news release, the university explained it was alerted to the issue when a former student athlete wrote to athletic director Warde Manuel to detail abuse during medical exams by Anderson in the early 1970s.
“That information was promptly shared with the U-M Office for Institutional Equity and U-M Police for investigation,” the school said in a news release. “As is common practice in criminal investigations, U-M Police asked OIE to pause its review to allow a criminal investigation to proceed.”
Upon interviewing dozens of other former players, investigators identified several people who described sexual misconduct by Anderson, including unnecessary medical exams. Many of those reported exams took place in the 1970s, but at least one reported incident was allegedly as late as the 1990s, the school said.
“The allegations that were reported are disturbing and very serious,” said U-M President Mark Schlissel in the release. “We promptly began a police investigation and cooperated fully with the prosecutor's office.”
The efforts to investigate Anderson come one day after the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office decided that no criminal charges would be put in place. That decision was based on a review of the U-M Police investigation.
The university has requested that anyone with information about the potential sexual misconduct to call the U-M Compliance Hotline at 866-990-0111.
“I want to urge any former student athlete with information they are willing to share confidentially to come forward," Manuel told the newspaper. “The health and safety of our student athletes is our highest priority."
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