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On Monday afternoon, the University of Michigan removed the campsite outside of the President’s House on South University Avenue, where for the last 150 days, former U-M football player Jonathan Vaughn lived in protest against the University’s sexual misconduct policies.
Vaughn, who is one of the over one thousand sexual abuse survivors of the late athletic doctor Robert Anderson, told The Michigan Daily on Tuesday that he was not made aware that the University had planned to remove the campsite. Vaughn said the campsite is on Ann Arbor city property, and his attorney together with the Assistant City Attorney of Ann Arbor had come to an agreement that they were planning on moving the camp by the end of day on March 13. According to Vaughn, University attorneys were also aware of the plan.
“My birthday is on the 12th and I was planning on having an awesome goodbye celebration with students and faculty just to tell them how much we appreciate it and (then) we were gonna start moving to the next phase of helping make this campus safe,” Vaughn said. “So for (the University) to do that, after they knew what our plan was, it just goes to show who they are right now as an organization and leadership.”
University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald declined to comment on whether or not the University was aware of Vaughn’s plan to leave.
The move comes after the University and over 1,000 survivors of Anderson reached a $490 million settlement on Jan. 19. The settlement was widely reported to contain a clause requiring Vaughn end his protest outside of the President’s House. However, in an interview with The Michigan Daily last month, Interim University President Mary Sue Coleman said she wasn’t aware of that stipulation.
“(Vaughn leaving) was never an official part of the Anderson settlement, as far as I’m told,” Coleman said. “I wasn’t part of the Anderson settlement, that was a confidential mediation, but I don’t think that was a real condition.”
Fitzgerald confirmed to The Daily that the University removed all items at the South University location. Fitzgerald declined to comment on whether Vaughn was notified about the removal, citing the confidential mediation and federal court orders.
“The trailer, tent and other items along South University Avenue have been removed by the university,” Fitzgerald wrote. “All personal property has been placed in storage and may be reclaimed.”
Vaughn also said that he has plans to reclaim his belongings but is unsure of when they will be returning to the site.
“I know for a fact that I am definitely coming out with a bunch (of people) to celebrate my birthday this year,” Vaughn said. “I’m gonna need someone that’s going to help me tow it and they might not be available until early Saturday morning or Friday. So I won’t know that today but I’m definitely going to reclaim all of my belongings.”
Vaughn also previously told The Daily he was unaware of the clause.
On Monday night, Vaughn tweeted a photo of the empty campsite with the caption “What have you done?”
Vaughn said he is talking with lawyers about possible human rights violations regarding the removal.
“All I’ve done in my entire time is fight for safety on campus,” Vaughn said. “I’ve told the truth, so I can’t understand why I’m being treated less than a human being and vilified by an institution that I helped build. A day of reckoning is coming, because you can only treat people so bad (for) so long.”
Vaughn said, as of Tuesday afternoon, he has had no contact with the University regarding the removal of the campsite.
Daily News Editor George Weykamp and Daily Staff Reporter Anna Fifelski can be reached at gweykamp@umich.edu and afifelsk@umich.edu