Annual Take Back the Night at UM-Dearborn brings Jon Vaughn's story to campus
By Reena Hamad
At the University of Michigan-Dearborn’s Take Back the Night on Oct. 22, former UM and NFL football player Jon Vaughn spoke in Kochoff Hall at the James C. Renick University Center as part of the annual event addressing sexual assault and domestic violence. Vaughn’s remarks connected his experiences as a survivor with the support he had received from others and his decision to become an advocate.
“A lot of people want to talk about the encampment, but I need to tell you how I got out there,” he said.
Vaughn traced his decision to speak out publicly to an email he received from a former teammate in March 2020 concerning allegations against Robert Anderson, the former UM physician who had sexually assaulted him. Vaughn said he wanted his four daughters to learn about his experiences from him before they encountered the story through news coverage.
Vaughn’s account raised questions about the university’s response to these issues. A university-commissioned investigation released in 2021 found that Anderson had sexually abused patients over decades and identified failures by university personnel to respond to early concerns.
Vaughn’s story extended beyond his experiences at Michigan. He discussed abuse he experienced in childhood and the isolation he felt throughout his life as a survivor. He also credited his mother, who was a teacher, with shaping his commitment to others. Vaughn recalled conversations with her in which she would tell him about Civil Rights marches she attended. Those memories, he said, came back to him in his consideration of how to respond to the university’s handling of the Anderson case.
In October 2021, Vaughn began camping outside then-UM President Mark Schlissel’s house to press university leadership to respond to survivors. He described the thorough preparation behind that decision, including researching earlier protests and university and city laws to identify where he could place his tent.
“Nothing beats emotion backed by knowledge,” he said.
Once he began the protest, Vaughn said the people who visited became essential to his ability to remain there. Some shared their own experiences of abuse and others signed their names on a board in solidarity with the cause.
To Vaughn, the signatures became an important reminder of the people whose experiences had brought them together and the support that was out there. He described looking at the board when he felt ready to leave and even returning to a photograph of it while working on a book about his experiences.
Vaughn also described his advocacy as a source of purpose for him after years of difficulty with his mental health. Speaking with other survivors and continuing to demand change had become central to how he could understand his life beyond the abuse, telling the audience, “if I don’t do things like this, if I’m not in the fight, I’m in the dark.”
As his moving talk came to a close, Vaughn presented a gift to the UM-Dearborn campus: a board for people to sign in support and solidarity. Audience members immediately began making their way to add their signatures.
Throughout the night Vaughn reiterated that his story is a difficult one to both tell and hear as it brings a dark part of the University of Michigan to light. He noted that his account, among many others, raise concerns about safety and the institutional failures that allowed, and could continue to allow, these abuses.
And yet, Vaughn ended the night by offering a beacon of hope. He reiterated that the people who had listened, shared their own stories or simply sat beside him had helped him continue demanding accountability. That support showcased the way members of a university community can help confront the harm within their own institution.
“Tonight confirms that I’m living a life larger than anything that I’ve ever dreamed,” he said as he brought the discussion to a close.
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