As first reported by the Lansing State Journal, an investigative firm hired by MSU found that physiology professor Robert Wiseman sexually harassed at least six women over the course of seventeen years. Read the full report here.

As first reported by the Lansing State Journal, an investigative firm hired by MSU found that physiology professor Robert Wiseman sexually harassed at least six women over the course of seventeen years.

Kroll found that Wiseman made comments such as “Is the seat going to be wet when you get up?” to women wearing skirts or shorts.

Dr. Robert W. Wiseman. Photo via MSU.

He was also determined to have expressed skepticism about the source of bruises on a woman’s knees; the woman said she was bruised while playing volleyball when Wiseman interjected and said something like, “Oh, I’m sure that’s not the only reason why you were on your knees this weekend.” Kroll determined that comment was sexual in nature.

One claimant noted that Wiseman made her feel “powerless and uncomfortable every single day.”

Kroll told one witness that given what she described seeing and hearing, she had grounds to continue as a seventh claimant. The witness opted not to do so.

Wiseman was suspended without pay from February 22 through April 4 of this year.

Why We Publish Primary Sources

Plenty of excellent journalists have already provided summaries of the report, including The Lansing State Journal in its original article, The Detroit News, and The New York Post. But as far as I can tell, no outlet has provided the report in full.

At On the Banks, we think that it’s important for the public to have the same primary sources that journalists do. When we reference documents, we post them in full for two reasons: (1) they may be of interest to someone, and it costs us nothing to host them, and (2) readers sometimes catch interesting things that journalists miss, and we think that’s a good thing. Investigative reports aren’t props—they’re serious, complex documents that readers should be able to evaluate for themselves. Our hope is that posting them provides some measure of accountability; you know you can trust our analysis, because you can check our work if you want to.

With that said, you can find the full report concluding Wiseman violated MSU policy, as redacted by MSU’s Freedom of Information Act office, here.

On the Banks stays ad-free through the generous donations of readers like you. If you find On the Banks valuable, consider donating today.



Tyler Silvestri Tyler Silvestri is a third-year law student at MSU who received his bachelor’s degree in Political Theory & Constitutional Democracy from MSU’s James Madison College in 2017. He spent one year as the Assistant Director of ASMSU’s Student Rights Advocates and two years as a Resident Assistant. He is the Chairperson of the University Committee on Academic Governance. He can be reached at Tyler@onthebanksmsu.com. See author's posts