In rare move, U-M fires tenured professor

• U-M fired Scott Piper, a tenured professor, the third in the past five years
• Officials declined to say why he was dismissed but a media report says an investigation showed that Piper violated UM’s sexual harassment policy
• One regent said it’s important to hold people accountable for “inappropriate behavior”

University of Michigan regents made a rare move Thursday when they unanimously voted in a special meeting to fire Scott Piper, a tenured professor in U-M’s School of Music, Theater and Dance. 

Piper is only the third U-M professor to be stripped of his tenure in more than 60 years. Firing a professor with tenure involves a lengthy process.

“Professor Piper’s conduct substantially impairs the fulfillment of his responsibilities as a tenured faculty member at the University of Michigan and therefore constitutes cause for dismissal …” interim U-M President Domenico Grasso wrote in a memo to the Board of Regents.

University officials declined to say why he was fired. But U-M’s student newspaper, Michigan Daily, reported in February that Piper violated the university’s sexual harassment policy following a complaint by an alumna to the U-M Equity, Civil Rights, and Title IX Office.

Neither Piper nor his lawyer, David Nacht, could immediately be reached.

“It’s a very lengthy and intensive process to get to this point, and we take it so seriously that it requires a formal vote of the Board of Regents to remove someone,” Regent Sarah Hubbard told Bridge Michigan after the meeting. “It is something we don’t take lightly.”

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Regent Denise Ilitch added that, “it’s important to continue to reinforce appropriate behavior.”

“When you are in a situation of a power dynamic with a student and an adviser, it is really important to be sensitive to that and not cross any lines,” Ilitich said. “This is an issue that is really important to hold people accountable for any kind of breach or any kind of inappropriate behavior.”

“Michigan has had many incidences of crossing the line of inappropriate behavior,” Ilitich continued. “So it’s important to hold people accountable to our policies and rules.”

U-M has grappled with a host of sexual misconduct scandals that include the late U-M doctor Robert Anderson, which lead to a $490 million settlement in 2022 with more than 1,000 people, mostly men, who were victimized over 40 years of Anderson’s employment at U-M.

The U-M School of Music, Theatre and Dance has been a department where other professors have been accused of misconduct, including Stephen Shipps, a former violin professor. Shipps retired from U-M in February 2019 amid allegations of misconduct over four decades. He pleaded guilty in 2021 to transporting a 16-year-old girl across state lines for sex and was sentenced in 2022 to five years in federal prison.

In 2020, U-M fired for the first time in 60 years a tenured professor, David Daniels, an acclaimed opera singer. University officials said an investigation showed he had harassed nearly two dozen students and solicited some for sex. Daniels filed a lawsuit against U-M in January, alleging his rights were violated. 

In 2024, U-M revoked the tenure of former nursing professor Rob Stephenson following an investigation showing he sexually harassed two men.

U-M declined to say how long it employed Piper or what he earned.

"The University of Michigan Board of Regents speaks through its formal actions and we have no further comment beyond what is contained in the Regents' Communication," Colleen Mastony, Assistant Vice President of Public Affairs, said via email.