A statue honoring former University of Michigan football coach Bo Schembechler was vandalized at the school's Ann Arbor campus overnight.
The statute was covered in red paint. Nearby, someone had written "Bo knew #hailtothevictims" in black paint.
By 11 a.m., red paint had been cleaned off the statue, which stands in front of Schembechler Hall, a training center named for the coach.
"Bo knew," while faded, was still visible at the statue's base.
An email from an anonymous "boknew" email address claimed responsibility. In the email, the person responsible said that Schembechler "is long seen as an iconic Michigan coach, but he knew that Robert Anderson, the team's doctor in the 1970s and 1980s, was sexually assaulting countless players each year."
Anderson, who died in 2008, has been accused of sexual misconduct from hundreds of former UM athletes. A report released earlier this year found that university employees did not heed "credible reports" of abuse.
"We understand and appreciate the passionate advocacy on behalf of those who were abused by the late Robert Anderson," Rick Fitzgerald, spokesman for the university, wrote in an email. "But the vandalism to the University of Michigan statue of Bo Schembechler will be investigated fully in order to hold those responsible accountable for their actions."
Fitzgerald said the investigation is being run by UM's Division of Public Safety & Security.
"We continue to work toward fair compensation for the Anderson survivors through the confidential, court-supervised mediation process and we are working every day to make our campus safer for every member of our community," he added.
Schembechler was named in the report as one of the more powerful people who allegedly knew about Anderson's behavior. One said Schembechler told him to toughen up, while another said the coach told him physicals weren't required to play football. Another athlete said he told Schembechler about the behavior, and the coach told him he would look into it but did not apparently follow up.
Matthew Schembechler, the coach's son, said he was also assaulted by Anderson. When he told his father, the younger Schembechler said, the coach refused to hear about it.
Claire Beckett, a second-year law student at UM, said she was beginning to question why Schembechler's statue remained on campus at the university.
She said she was young when Penn State University removed its statue of Joe Paterno, but she remembers people felt at the time that it was the right move.
"But a few years later, people said it was the wrong choice," Beckett said. "It can be weird how quickly, even when faced with proof that a hero acted like this, people forget or change their minds."
Jon Vaughn is an Anderson accuser who has camped out in front of UM President Mark Schlissel's on-campus residence for more than six weeks hoping the president will speak with him. Schlissel has apologized publicly on behalf of the school to those who have accused Anderson. He hasn't, however, spoken with Vaughn and Beckett said she has been thinking a lot about Schlissel's silence.
She lives across the street from the president's house on campus, so she has seen first-hand Vaughn's protest.
"I can understand from a legal perspective the need for mediation and why silence is probably what's being recommended during that, but it seems at some point to be missing the humanity," Beckett said. "If anything, as a law student, it's making me think about what ways we can reform the law so that treating people with the humanity they deserve isn't a legal faux pas."
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Staff Writer Angelique Chengelis contributed.
