Content warning: descriptions of physical and gender-based abuse. #FocalPoint: In August 2022, University of Michigan alum Sophie Zhang filed a complaint to the Equity, Civil Rights, & Title IX Office (ECRT). She alleged that her father, Youxue Zhang, a professor in the University’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, abused her on the basis of her identity as a transgender woman. In her complaint, Sophie described two instances in which Prof. Zhang engaged in abusive conduct toward her, with one occurrence on U-M property while Sophie was an undergraduate student. She argued that Prof. Zhang’s abuse constituted misconduct under U-M policy. Sophie’s complaint was dismissed two days later by Elizabeth Seney, ECRT’s director of sexual and gender-based misconduct and Title IX coordinator, according to emails obtained by The Michigan Daily. Seney stated that ECRT would not investigate the matter further. A year prior, Sophie spoke of the abuse she faced as a transgender...