12A - The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 28, 2001 FRIDAY Focus 4 YFly/.ar s 4 L' C., Ce S, c{ rv BAMN member Luke Massie leads an anti-war rally on the Diag last week. Massie is one of the most prominent members of BAMN at the University, although he Is not a student here. DAVID KATZ/Daily It's hard to avoid noticing this group on campus, but few people have delved into the organization's history and political ties to find out: 4 exactly IS By Anna Clark Daily Staff Reporter You've seen them making fiery speeches on the Diag. They pass petitions through your histo- ry lecture. They knock on your door at night and you can't go outside without facing their brightly colored posters plastered on the kiosks, urging you to join "the new civil rights movement." Members of the Coalition to Defend Affirma- tive Action and Integration and Fight for Equali- ty By Any Means Necessary - better known simply as BAMN - have raised themselves to the forefront of today's biggest issues, with their anti-war platform currently earning them the most attention. And BAMN's presence isn't lim- ited to Ann Arbor - it has successfully built itself into not only one of the most visible and vocal advocacy groups on the University's cam- pus, but across the nation as well. BAMN's high profile has attracted proportion- ally high speculation, often portraying the group as a front for the Detroit-based Revolutionary Workers League or describing it as a cult. BAMN says it is simply dedicated to preserv- ing affirmative action policies, both here at the University and nationwide. Luke Massie, a founder and national organizer of BAMN, said anyone who criticizes society as strongly as BAMN will inevitably be criticized itself. "From our standpoint, affirmative action is designed to offset the structural inequalities in society," Massie said. Although he is one of the most active members of the University's BAMN chapter, Massie has never been a student here. "persona fy ihitenge any .f our dtactos any tm to a uc deat." - Luke Massie BAMN member Hist oy BAMN originated in Berkeley, Calif., in 1995 as the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action By Any Means Necessary in response to Propo- sition 209, a statewide initiative banning affirma- tive action in employment and higher education. Massie said BAMN was "partially initiated by the RWL." "The Revolutionary Worker's League is a Trotskyist organization of which I'm a member," Massie said. "We are proud to be part of a whole lot of struggles and to have played a role in the founding of BAMN." The RWL describes itself on its website as a "U.S. sympathizing section of the International Trotskyist Committee." The RWL website is linked to BAMN's website. But Rackham student Jessica Curtin, a BAMN founder and RWL member, said the political ideologies of BAMN members have never been hidden. "Yeah, some of us are socialist," Curtin said at this week's meeting of the Michigan Student Assembly, on which she is a representative elect- ed on the Defend Affirmative Action Party tick- et. "Anybody who actually knows us or talks to us knows it's not a big secret." Massie said BAMN was formed separate from the RWL to attract a broader membership. "Many people who support aflirmative action are not ready to sign on to entirely change our social order," Massie said. BAMN spread to Ann Arbor in mid-1997, just before the University was hit with lawsuits chal- lenging the race-sensitive admissions policies of the Law School and the College of Literature, Science and the Arts. Since then, the group has advocated a militant approach to preserving affirmative action. Massie defined "militant" as fighting actively, including rallies, protests, panels, speeches, fly- ers and petitions. "BAMN recognized from the start the necessi- ty of building a mass movement to move society forward rather than backward," Massie said. Some University students have publicly labeled BAMN a front for the RWL, saying RWL members use BAMN to introduce members to their socialist agenda and to draw media attention to their cause. That a group of core RWL mem- bers, including Massie, initiated several other dis- sident groups fuels the suspicion that BAMN is simply one of many groups designed to ultimate- present themselves as members of the RWL," Washington said. Washington represents many of the groups ini- tiated by the core RWL members, including BAMN, the National Women's Rights Organiz- ing Committee and Justice for Malice Green. "I generally support their activities and their aims and objectives; I represent them and am proud to do so," Washington was quoted as say- ing in a 1998 Crain's Detroit Business article. Working with Washington is Luke Massie's older sister, Miranda, the lead counsel for the intervening defense. Politics Luke Massie said BAMN members who are socialists do not keep a hidden agenda. He added that speculation about it equates to slander that minimizes BAMN's purpose. "I personally challenge any of our detractors any time to a public debate," Massie said "If they're not willing to do that, come up and ask me directly. How do I be less secret?" LSA junior David Lempert, a former BAMN member and current member of the newly formed group Students Supporting Affirmative Action, said BAMN's purpose gets lost in the group's controlled atmosphere. "Affirmative action is very important to me," Lempert said at this week's MSA meeting. "But I didn't want to be called repeatedly at 3 a.m. I didn't want to be told to go to Detroit and sit in a hot room for 12 hours." He was referring to BAMN's efforts to create a significant student presence at the University lawsuit hearings. But Massie said the time members put into the cause is done so freely. "A lot of people who've stepped forward are very dedicated and are will- ing to spend a good deal of time," he said. RC freshmen Emily Bate, who attended her first BAMN meeting two weeks ago, said the group asked for dedication but nothing extreme. "They really emphasized committing any time you can to getting signatures on petitions and being a presence at MSA meetings so they know there are people who support what BAMN's doing," Bate said. Bate said she left the meeting impressed with the group's knowledge and enthusiasm. "I had an amazing experience. Here are people doing something right now that will affect the future of civil rights." LSA junior Erin Makey, another new BAMN member, said she felt the group's meetings are fair and unbiased. "It's run democratically," she said. "Everybody gets a vote" Support Structurally, BAMN is composed of national organizers and volunteers, Massie said. He'added that, contrary to rumors, nobody gets paid. Massie said he volunteers 60 hours a week for BAMN but is able to live off an inheritance and occasional work as an investigator for Scheff & Washington. BAMN's funding comes through member and community donations, Massie said. Although Massie could not estimate how much BAMN makes through donations, he noted an increase in the past year and a half because of the lawsuits against the University. Beyond financial support, BAMN regularly boasts a long list of endorsements. While many organizations listed as supporters include the RWL, NWROC and other groups-BAMN lead- ers are associated with, it also includes promi- nent campus and national groups, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. But one notable endorser named by BAMN --I FILE PHOTO 2001, during a rally in memory of Martin s use of race in admissions. "She laughed and said 'Oh you're not going to win,"' Kiblawi said. "'We had you there just so we could get votes for Agnes."' Aleobua was also running for MSA on the DAAP ticket. "They were just using me, a Muslim and an Arab, so I could get the Muslim and Arab stu- dents to vote for Agnes," Kiblawi said. BAMN member Agnes Aleobua speaks on the steps of the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library on Jan. 16, Luther King, Jr. Aleobua testified on the benefits of diversity in the lawsuits challenging the University' denied it ever offered support. The National Edu- cation Association was listed as a supporter for a BAMN-sponsored event last year, and Massie confirmed the group as an official endorser.. But Karen Schulz, spokeswoman for the Michigan Education Association, said the teacher's union has never supported the group on any level."The MEA has not voted in any way to officially endorse or support this specialty group," Schulz said. "The NEA also has not endorsed this group." Opponents As far as campus support goes, BAMN is con- troversial. The Black Student Union, one of the most prominent cultural organizations on campus, vehemently opposes them, said BSU spokes- woman Panther McAllister, an LSA senior. "I wouldn't say they're Public Enemy Number One, but they're pretty high up there," McAllister said. "The main reason is because they try to sti- fle our voices as black students on campus." McAllister said she believes BAMN has tried to sabotage BSU. Two years ago, she said, BAMN members Erika Dowdell and Agnes Ale- obua attended meetings as "spies to take over our agenda." As a result, Dowdell and Aleobua were eject- ed from BSU. But McAllister publicly invited them back to BSU at this week's MSA meeting. "It hurt me that black women were kicked out like that," McAllister said. But that does not mitigate her frustration with BAMN. "Freshmen are told to stay away from our organization," McAllister said of BAMN. "We've had to kick members of the RWL out of our meetings. They've called us every negative thing you could call us." Massie said BAMN is not opposed to BSU or any other group. Still, he criticized BSU for it's lack of effort concerning affirmative action. He specifically noted BSU's disruption of a BAMN rally on the Diag on Martin Luther King Jr. Day last year - the day before the Law School case opened in the U.S. District Court in Detroit. During the rally, BSU separated from the crowd, carrying signs that said affirmative action was their issue, not BAMN's. "They've done nothing before and nothing since to defend affirmative action," Massie said. "On that critical day, they decided to hurt affir- mative action." Many students share BAMN's support for affir- mative action but object both to its methods and the fact that many BAMN leaders are not Univer- sity students. Some responded this week by form- ing Students Supporting Affirmative Action. "The vast majority of people that we've talked to have been overjoyed that there's finally a stu- dent pro-affirmative action group," said LSA junior Michael Simon, an SSAA founder. "Many feel very strongly on the issue but were turned off by BAMN's extremism." LSA senior Steve Lund said it is not BAMN's ideology he opposes so much as how the group expresses its opinions. He recalled a psychology class last semester during which BAMN spoke for 90 minutes of the two-hour lecture. "I have a big problem with them taking up class time," Lund said. "Of course they have a right to be heard, but not when students are trying to learn." DA~ A I m ANT'cr,..,,-,r,,is cnkn r~fi-Aerf tei A we Influence Just as affirmative action is an issue at many colleges, BAMN is also a presence on other campuses. In May, the University of California Board of Regents reversed the college's ban on affirmative action admissions, thus extinguishing the spark that ignited BAMN in the first place. Massie said this was a direct result of BAMN's influence. "It was an absolutely historic step under pres- sure of a growing mass movement," Massie said. But Kevin Nguyen, executive director of the American Civil Rights Institute, which is chaired by UC Regent Ward Connerly, said BAMN was not behind the switch. "They were certainly a presence, but they can- not claim credit for anything," Nguyen said. "They're just a persistent, annoying presence to regents on both sides of the preferences issue." I Connerly "doesn't care one iota what BAMN thinks because they don't represent the majority of the students," he said. "The regents recognize BAMN as an illegitimate student group, unlike the University of California Student Association." Kenny Burch, a graduate student at UC-San Diego and member of UCSA, said the group coordinated with others to fight for affirmative action in California. BAMN repeatedly disrupted their efforts, Burch said. Burch noted a meeting last March between UCSA members and UC recyr'ntc_ wxhich BAM4N interrunted by shouting