Michigan Wolverines settle sex abuse lawsuit brought by students

The University of Michigan has reached an agreement to settle a lawsuit brought by students who sought to force changes in how the school protects the campus from sexual misconduct.

As part of the deal, which was filed in federal court on Thursday, the Ann Arbor school will create and pay for a multidisciplinary standing committee designed to protect the university community from sexual abuse.

The Coordinated Community Response Team will have about 30 members, including Title IX and campus sexual misconduct experts, community members and select members of the administration and faculty.

«But I think most importantly, it has representation from students and survivors,» said Nancy Cantalupo, an assistant professor of law at Wayne State University. «They will all have a seat at the table alongside the other experts that are on the CCRT.

»And that will give them a direct line into the administration — and the upper levels of the administration — in terms of communicating their concerns and their needs," Cantalupo said in a videoconferencing call with reporters announcing the settlement.

The school has been rocked by allegations from hundreds of men who said they were sexually assaulted by the late Robert Anderson, a campus doctor who spent nearly 40 years at Michigan. He died in 2008. In January, the school announced a $490 million settlement with Anderson's accusers — a separate legal action from the class-action suit brought by Josephine Graham, a University of Michigan senior. Both agreements were reached under the supervision of a court-appointed mediator, the school said.

In addition, Mark Schlissel was removed earlier this year as university president after emails detailing an alleged inappropriate sexual relationship