BLOOMFIELD HILLS (WWJ) - Thousands of former students at a private Metro Detroit preparatory school were notified by officials after sexual abuse allegations against a former faculty member came to recent light.
A letter, as reported by The Oakland Press, sent out via email and first-class mail to close to 13,000 alumni on Tuesday, Jeff Suzik, director of schools, Mark Reuss, chairman of the board of trustees, and Aimeclaire Roche, president, acknowledged that there has been "awareness of sexual misconduct in schools has grown over the last decade."
School officials said they deeply value student safety and support, therefore "choosing to communicate with our community about this difficult topic.”
Officials said they were made aware of a former student who told the school that he was a survivor of sexual misconduct at the hands of a former Cranbrook faculty member; the abuse is said to have occurred from 1946 to 1961.
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The faculty member accused of the abuse has since died, officials said.
“We commend the graduate for having the courage to share his experience with us all these years later, and we thank him for contacting us,” Suzik wrote.
The school said it has hired independent investigator, Linda Burwell, to look into the alleged incident.
Suzik asked students who may know information about any sexual misconduct, to include 1946-61, contact Burwell by phone, at 800-964-1766, or email, linda@nationalinvestigationcounsel.com.
"Although the reported incident occurred more than 60 years ago and does not involve any current faculty, administrators, staff or students, we take all disclosures of this kind very seriously," the school informed alumni.
The school has not disclosed the late faculty member's name due to the ongoing investigation and citing privacy concerns.
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Cranbrook Schools celebrated 100 years since its elementary school opened in 1922. A high school for all-boys opened in 1927 before they merged with the all-girls school, Kingswood, in 1985.
There are currently 1,650 students enrolled across its pre-kindergarten through 12 grade schools with nearly a third of students living on campus.
The three schools encompass the larger Cranbrook Educational Community, which welcomes both public and private school students.
Suzik said Cranbrook schools takes “many steps to safeguard against incidents of sexual misconduct. Among them, we have explicit and detailed policies prohibiting sexual misconduct. We train all faculty and staff on sexual harassment and we investigate issues of sexual misconduct with dedicated resources.”
