(Bloomberg) — The University of Michigan abruptly fired its president, Mark Schlissel, after the Board of Regents discovered he had been in a “inappropriate relationship” with a school employee.
Schlissel, 64, was told of his termination in a letter from the board dated Jan. 15, in which he was described as communicating extensively with the subordinate through his university email account using “inappropriate tone and inappropriate language.”
While allegations of affairs and sexual misconduct are commonplace in academia, they seldom ensnare university presidents. Michigan, located in Ann Arbor, is one of the most highly regarded public universities in the U.S. The Big Ten institution said that Schlissel’s actions were “inconsistent with promoting the dignity and reputation of the university.”
Mary Sue Coleman, 78, who was president from 2002 to 2014 preceding Schlissel, will lead the university on an interim basis until a new president is named, “possibly as early as this summer,” the school said in a statement Sunday.
Schlissel, a physician, came to Michigan in 2014 from Brown University, where he was provost. He was supposed to leave in June 2023, a year before his contract ended. The process to find a new president will now be accelerated.
In its letter, the board of regents said it learned of an “alleged sexual affair” between Schlissel and a subordinate through an anonymous complaint in December.
Emails Released
The board released his termination letter describing examples of his interactions. It also posted on its website 118 pages filled with dozens of Schlissel’s email and text communications with the employee, who wasn’t identified, in what it called “the interest of full public disclosure.”
The emails describe trips where the two planned to meet, including donor events. They discuss a potential visit to India’s Taj Mahal, as well as more mundane communications such as pizza orders. In one email, Schlissel writes, “I can lure you to visit with the promise of a knish?”
In another email, he expressed disappointment that he potentially wasn’t sitting with the subordinate at a Michigan basketball game he was scheduled to attend as president, stating, “the only reason I agreed to go was to go with you. There is a conspiracy against me.”
Schlissel wasn’t the first high-ranking university leader at Michigan accused of improper conduct.
The school in November 2020 said it reached a settlement agreement for $9.25 million to resolve complaints from eight women who reported they were subjected to emotional and sexual abuse by former provost Martin Philbert.
(Updates with emails starting in eighth paragraph.)
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