The Michigan Dily-- Friday, January 13, 1989 -Poge3
yr,
Profs.
plan other
w
lessons on MLK day
Students get alternatives
to class on Diversity Day
BY MARION DAVIS AND TARA
GRUZEN
Cancelling classes for Dr. Mar-
tin Luther King Jr.'s birthday is a
long-awaited victory for those who
have participated in marches, protests
and sit-ins in past years, but it's only
a first step toward educating students
and faculty members about his mes-
sage.
Students and faculty are free to
decide how they want to spend their
day off, which could include studying
or sleeping in, or could include pro-
grams and workshops on diversity.
But those holding teach-ins and
programs say people who stay in bed
will miss the day's point.
Architecture Prof. James Chaf-
fers said cancelling his - five-hour
class will not be a waste for his stu-
dents, since he's holding a studio
teach-in to discuss the basic princi-
ples they deal with in class: how to
design an environment that will meet
the needs of all types of people.
Chaffers said he is looking for-
ward to hearing what his students
think about achieving a quality life
and ways to break down racial barri-
ers.
"I'm going to be listening as
much as I'm going to be talking," he
said.
Anthropology Prof. Loring
Brace agreed that cancelling his
Monday class is useful. "It doesn't
interfere with the students' education
and they will benefit from it," he
said. "Just being in another class is
not going to help them, especially
concerning this issue (racism and di-
versity). "
Brace will participate on a panel
discussion titled "Racism, Sexism
and Ethnocentrism" Monday, Jan.
16, on the second floor of LSA.
A variety of special programs
will be offered, ranging from lectures
on anti-semitism to a presentation on
hypertension among minority
groups.
LSA junior Gail Freeman said
she had a positive experience at last
year's programs, and she plans to at-
tend more this year.
"I felt a sense of unification with
the other students on campus,"
Freeman said.
But some students feel that
King's birthday should be reserved as
a day to commemorate his achieve-
ments and not be changed into a day
about diversity. Melanie Posey, a
graduate student in political science,
said she will only go to programs
that commemorate King.
"The whole thing about chang-
ing the day into Diversity Day is just
for outward appearances," Posey said.
"I would avoid the (activities) that
talk about diversity."
The individual schools and col-
leges will spend hundreds of dollars
in room rentals, food costs, and
speaker costs to draw students to
their weekend and Monday programs.
The College of Architecture, for
example, will spend about $600 on a
free pizza lunch for architecture stu-
dents who attend the studio teach-ins
and will rent a room in Chrysler Au-
ditorium for a joint lecture program
with the School of Art.
Mary Anne Drew, secretary to
School of Art Dean Robert Beckley,
said that although the bill for the in-
dividual college activities will be
paid for by the college itself and not
the University, the programs are well
worth it.
"It's up to each one of us to play
our own part. Each one of us hd9sto
do something constructive," she said.
JOHN MUNSON/Doily
Kenneth Brooks, Coordinator of Construction and- Renovation for Maintenance
Services, leads the UM Gospel Choir at last night's candlelight vigil.
Vigil
Continued from Page 1
color as a minority. "Why should we
call anyone a minority?" he asked.
"We need every American to make
America what it should be."
This is why people can call King
a world leader, said Felton. King was
not just concerned with minority is-
sues; he was concerned with other
people, as well as equality for all,
Felton said.
"It's a perpetual struggle and it's
far from over," Felton said.
"However, to assure that the dream
does not die we must keep the dream
alive throughout the urban ghettos
and the upper class surroundings," he
said.
Felton concluded by telling the
crowd not to hold grudges against
institutions and people who have
contributed to the oppression of
Black people. "There is more power
in love than in hate, he said.
Felton, a graduate of Western
Michigan University, is presently
pursuing his Master's degree at a
Theological center in Toledo, Ohio.
* Some B-School
classes meet on
Diversity Day
BY DONNA IADIPAOLO
Nine evening business school
zlasses will meet Monday, despite a
University-wide decision to cancel all
;lasses for Martin Luther King's
t birthday. University President James
Duderstadt said he granted an excep-
tion because the classes serve mainly
commuter students.
"The evening MBA program is a
different class of program from the
normal students of this University,"
Duderstadt said. But he added that the
final decision was left to the School
Sf Business Administration.
"We used our very best judg-
ment," said Associate Business
School Dean Joseph White, who said
Business Dean Gilbert Whitaker
made the decision to hold the classes.
"We think what we're doing is best
for the students."
* Both White and Duderstadt said
the classes, held once a week, will
not be cancelled because many of the
students commute and hold full-time
jobs. Both said it would be difficult
for these students to meet at another
time.
Business Prof. Edward Snyder,
who teaches one of the Monday
evening courses, said he initially
scheduled an alternative meeting
time. He decided to convene his class
during its regular time after he
learned of Whitaker's decision.
But other faculty members have
cancelled their once-a-week classes,
such as School of Music Dean David
Crawford.
Crawford, also a music profes-
sor, said his course "is probably go-
ing to suffer more than any other
course in the (music) school. But I
wholeheartedly support the idea of
Diversity Day. Sometimes if you
believe in something you got to pay
the price."
Some student leaders also ex-.
pressed concern over the business
school's decision.
"Regardless of their rationale,
this day is a holiday they should
work their schedule around," said
LSA senior Chris Jones, president of
the Black Student Union. "The Uni-
versity has supposedly made a com-
mitment to having no classes on
Martin Luther King's Birthday.
Therefore, there should be no classes
at all."
But student leaders said they
would not take any action to protest
the decision.
"There's nothing we can really
do," said senior Kimberly Smith, a
United Coalition Against Racism
member. "It's the University's re-
sponsibility to cancel classes, not
ours."
White said he understood stu-
dents' concerns, but added that the
business school should not be judged
on this decision alone. For example,
he said the school's incoming MBA
class is made up of 24 percent mi-
norities, including 15 percent Blacks.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day/Diversity Day
Weekend Events
All events are free, unless noted, and open to the public.
Friday, January 13
Film: "Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker"
Discussion: "The Movement that Made King: Women in the Civil Rights
Movement"
6-8 p.m.
100 Hutchins Hall, Law School
Sponsor: Commemoration of a Dream Committee
Saturday, January 14
Potluck Dinner.
7 p.m.
Trotter House
Sponsor: Black Dental Student Association/School of Dentistry
Speech: "Tribute to Dr. King"
Speaker: Joseph E. Madison, Special Advisor on Civil Rights, Service'
Employees International Union; talk show host, WXYT radio, Detroit.
8 p.m.
Rackham Auditorium
Sponsor: Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, CDC
Sunday January 15
Religious service: Led by Bishop Will L. Herzfeld, the first African-
American Bishop of a Lutheran Church
Gospel Concert: Featuring the University Choir, soloist Rhund Williams,
and several other groups
11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Pendleton Room, Michigan Union
Sponsor: CDC-
MLK Symposium, Keynote Address
Speech: "Empowerment and Equity: A Challenge of the King Legacy"
Speaker: The Honorable Willie L. Brown, Jr., Speaker, California State
Assembly
4:30 p.m.
Hill Auditorium, with reception afterward in the Michigan League Ball-
room
Sponsor: Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium Committee
MLK Memorial Concert: "Scenes from the Life of a Martyr" by Undine
Moore
8 p.m.
Hill Auditorium
Sponsors: Schools of Engineering, Music, Law School, Rackham, and
Office of Minority Affairs
See the Daily on Monday morning for a complete list of events,
which begin at 8:30 a.m., or pick up a Program Guide at the Office
of Minority Affairs. If you want an event listed that does not appear
in that guide, please drop it off at the Daily before 3:00 p.m., Sunday,
January 15.
Reach 40,000 readers after class,
advertise in
Lihe i jchian 1ail.
M A G A Z I N E
BY KRISTIN HOFFMAN
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a
champion of civil rights for all U.S.
citizens. And on Monday's Diversity
Day, in King's honor, members of
campus gay male and lesbian groups
are promoting their own struggle for
rights.
"It makes sense to me that there
be on this day, MLK day, events
that focus on the Black experience,"
said Jim Toy, director of the Gay
Males Program office. "But I would
want there to be room for events
concerning discrimination against
other individuals and groups."
Mark Chekal, president of the
Lesbian and Gay Men Business
School Association, said Diversity
Day should focus on all minority
groups' rights.
"We all have the same fight,"
Chekal said. "I think we should fo-
cus on MLK, but his issue was
rights, not simply Black issues," he
said.
"All these (oppressed) groups are
interconnected," Chekal said. "The
Black minority includes women,
gays, people with disabilities; the
gay minority includes people of
color."
To address these issues, Chekal
set up a Diversity Day forum on
sexism, racism, and homophobia in
the workplace and at the University,
1:30 p.m. Monday at the business
school's Hale Auditorium.
East Quad will also address gay
male and lesbian issues through
skits presented by the Talk To Us
theatre group focusing on
homophobia, sexism, and racism, 3
p.m. Monday in Room 126.
Others also are concerned that the
Diversity Day programs are not
linking all human rights issues. Jim
Bott, a Resident Fellow in East
Quad, said, "To separate issues of
racism from issues of sexism, ho-
mophobia, and classism is ignoring
the ways in which all -of these are
connected, and doing a disservice to
everyone."
Lesbians, gay
men honor MLK
The inclusion of gay male' Ad
lesbian issues and concerns' Has
raised a bit of controversy of. its
own, however.
Marc Kaplan, the Residence Hall
Coordinator of Alice Lloyd, believes
that Monday's events should focus
on racial issues. "There's the philo-
sophical need to recognize that'it's
MLK Day," Kaplan said.
Kaplan asked that a film about
gay issues be rescheduled to Tuesday
night, upsetting some studenIl,
Chekal said.
The film "The Times of HarvQy
Milk," a movie concerning the life
of San Francisco gay city council
member Harvey Milk, -will be
screened in Alice's Restaurant at
5:15, which is on the same flooris
the cafeteria.
Kaplan said the entire week was
being viewed as a time to focus on
issues related to diversity, and he felt
that Alice Lloyd already had a great
deal of programming and teaching
concerning issues of ethnicity acd
diversity.x
Gay raps, an event in which a gay
man and a lesbian tell their "coming
out" stories, answer questions, and
have group interaction sessions de-
signed to bring out peoples feeling
on gay issues, will be held at the
Baits 2 Coman at 3 p.m. Monday,
and at Mary Markley Library at 7
p.m Monday.
4 ~
Workers
Continued from Page 1
faculty as
by a whit
stration "i
avoid the
Thon
Thiry disagreed, saying the admin- ganize af
istration is encouraging employees to dents in o
request "release" time. "The key ele- change n
mert," he said, "is that the University Stanle
and various organizations are recog- Business
nizing the importance of Martin Lu- said he w
ther King's work, and employees have but that t
the opportunity to participate." workers
Vice President and Chief Financial workergh
Officer Farris Womack invited all "too tigh
University workers to attend a con- away any
vocation at Crisler Arena on Monday GrosselB
;from 3:30 to4p.m.,at which President ing the is
James Duderstadt and Regent Nellie and that t
Varner (D-Southfield) will speak. no positi
Steve Thomas, building service workers b
steward at West Quad, said he would limited."
,not attend the convocation, and did not Smith
Iexpecta large turnout. Thomas said he were req
thought the University administration ulty wou
granted the day off to students and day off.
"a token reform headed off
e male" and that the admini-
probably would have liked to
issue altogether."
as also said he hoped to or-
protest by workers and stu-
)rder to bring about a policy
ext year.
dy Smith,a custodian in the
Administration Building,
will attend the convocation,
he day off was not given to
because the University was
t" and "didn't want to give
thing that it didn't have to."
egent Veronica Smith (R-
e) defended the decision, say-
sue was "a case of finances"
he University was simply in
on to grant the day off to
because "its resources are too
stressed that while workers
uesting a paid holiday, fac-
ild not receive pay for their
1
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