University of Michigan president fired for ‘inappropriate relationship’ with employee
University of Michigan president Dr. Mark Schlissel used his company email address to carry on a “sexual affair” with a subordinate, according to the board of directors.
Schlissel, a Brooklyn native who was hired in 2014, was fired Saturday after an investigation into the “inappropriate relationship” that began as early as September 2019, when he sent the employee a New Yorker article titled “Sexual Fantasies of Everyday New Yorkers,” according to the 118-page file of emails released Saturday.
“Just for fun. Best, mark,” Schlissel wrote.
“What if we miss our connection and get stuck in Paris,” he emailed that same month while they were coordinating his flight to Amsterdam.
“hi just wanted to say it was nice to spend time together you always give me new and important things to think about, or ways to go about thinking about,” he wrote on July 13. “Not giving up on my end; just giving space to be fair and kind.”
In Janaury 2021, the employee wrote “Oh yes!” to which Schlissel replied “Love it when you say that.”
“You can give me a private briefing,” he wrote on Dec. 3 in response to an email about the Big Ten Championship “President’s Suite briefing Info.”
Other emails show him setting up dates, planning trips and sharing his Hulu account so she could watch “Only Murders in the Building.”
Schlissel’s relationship was “inconsistent with the dignity and reputation of the University,” the board of directors said in a statement.
The board also specifically tied his “egregious” behavior to former provost Martin Philbert, who sexually harassed eight women according to a $9 million settlement by the University of Michigan. accused of sexual misconduct, and Schlissel’s “declared commitment to work to ‘free’ the university community of sexual harassment or other improper conduct.”
Schlissel is married to his college sweetheart, Monica Shwebs, according to MLive.
Mary Sue Coleman, who previously served as the UM president from 2002 to 2014, is returning on an interim basis until a new president is hired, the board of directors said.
