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8lA - Monday, April 14, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom
Order of Angell announces new members,
names Carol Hutchins honorary member
WELDING FOR SPEED
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ORDER From Page 1A
credited for establishing the group
with a select group of seniors dur-
ing his tenure as University Presi-
dent in 1902.
The Order of Angell's constitu-
tion says the group's purpose is to
unite leaders from various student
groups and discuss ways to further
the University's interests and val-
ues.
In addition to upholding the
long-held traditions of the group,
each class of members also adopts
specific objectives that they hope
to accomplish every year.
A press release announcing the
Order of Angell's "Pride of.2009"
class said objectives for this year's
group include connecting "diverse
proven leaders," facilitating "cam-
pus synergy" and creating a "forum
of purpose."
"On a campus where we often
stay in our own orbitals, Order of
Angell is a really diverse organiza-
tion on campus," said LSA junior
Madeline Stano, a spokeswoman
for the group, in an e-mail inter-
view. "Rarely, do student-athletes
and organization leaders from all
parts of campus meet regularly to
learn about each other and discuss
campus issues. Once these leaders
develop strong relationships, they
ADMISSIONS
From Page 1A
Talented 20 plan, passed in 2000,
Florida high school students who
graduate in the top 20 percent of
their class are guaranteed admis-
sion to any of the 11 public uni-
versities within the Florida State
University System.
Jones said he was concerned
that Michigan's top schools have
become too elitist by admitting out-
of-state and international students
over in-state students."
"I think an awful lot of people
out there are trying to protect their
kingdoms, saying, 'It won't work
here,' "Jones said.
Jones said that if universities
accept any form of state funding,
including appropriations, their first
priority should be educating Michi-
are able to collaborate, support
and brainstorm effective ways to
serve campus."
A list of the group's former
members reads more like a hall of
fame of University alumni.
Though the group didn't begin
releasing the names of its mem-
bers to the public until 2006, past
Order of Angell members include
President Gerald Ford, Michigan
football coach Bo Schembechler
and University presidents Angell,
Henry Hutchins, Alexander Ruth-
ven, Harlan Hatcher and Robben
Fleming. More recent members
include football players Mike Hart
and Jake Long, Michigan Student
Assembly presidents Nicole Stall-
ings and Zach Yost and College
Democrats President Sam Harper.
Although the group has a his-
tory of selecting some of the Uni-
versity's most outstanding campus
leaders, it is also plagued by a con-
troversial past.
Facing allegations of rac-
ism stemming from its previous
name, Michigamua, the group
announced in 2006 it would stop
using the name. The name Mich-
igamua, originally chosen in 1902,
was meant to sound like a mythi-
cal Native American tribe.
In 2000, a group called the
Students of Color Coalition found
gan residents. If universities aren't
willing to abide by directives from
the state government, he said, they
should become private.
"Tax-funded universities should
first be open to in-state students,"
Jones said.
Rep. Pam Byrnes (D- Chelsea),
whose district includes North
Campus, said she couldn't com-
ment on Jones's proposal because
she hasn't seen a draft. She said the
idea behind the plan is admirable
but that it seemed ill-suited for
Michigan because the state's public
colleges are not governed by one or
two administrative systems as in
the states where the percent plans
have implemented.
She said the plan could "jeop-
ardize some of the distinctions"
between the schools that have very
different missions and admissions
standards.
Native American artifacts during
a takeover of the group's office in
the tower of the Michigan Union.
They said that showed the
group had violated an agreement
made with the University and
Native American students in 1989,
in which Michigamua promised to
stop using Native American arti-
facts and rituals as part of its pro-
ceedings.
After the findings were publi-
cized, Michigamua's vacated its
space in the Michigan Union and
the group severed all official ties
with the University.
The group said at the time that
the artifacts were in storage and
weren't being used at the time
of the tower takeover. In 2000,
the group also began considering
women for membership into the
society for the first time.
Though the Michigamua office
in the tower of the Union remains
vacant, the group returned as
an officially recognized student
group in April 2007 under its new
name, the Order of Angell.
Despite these changes, some
students still declined an invita-
tion to join the ranks of some of the
University's most famous alumni.
LSA junior Aria Everts, a
member of Students Organizing
for Labor and Economic Equal-
Byrnes, who chairs the appro-
priations subcommittee for higher
education, said her main priority
is increasing funding to the state's
universities. She questioned how
many students would benefit from
the plan, because many who gradu-
ate in the top 10 percent of their
class will already be admitted to
the state's universities.
"We need to be focusing on not
just the top 10 percent, but the bot-
tom 50 percent as well," she said.
Michael Boulus, executive direc-
tor of The Presidents Council,
State Universities of Michigan - a
Lansing-based interest group that
lobbies on behalf of Michigan's 15
public universities - said he oppos-
es the proposal. He said it infringes
on the schools' independence from
the state and may force them to
admit students who aren't prepared
to meet the schools' academic stan-
ity, didn't join the Order of Angell
after she was tapped.
Everts said her decision was
based on a personal stance against
the elitism represented by the
group.
"Even with the name change,
nothing has changed. You can
have new names and new faces,
but you're still only including 25
people that are acting as though
they represent campus," Everts
said. "Without a true democratic
process, it's inevitable that mem-
bers's personal agendas are going
to be put ahead of the real needs of
campus."
In response to accusations
that the Order of Angell is a
secret society, Stano said the
group has always maintained
an open dialogue with students
and other campus groups who
have questions about the Order
of Angell.
She said this year's class plans
to continue campus outreach
activities.
"Most everything we do on cam-
pus is in support of or in collabora-
tionwith the broader community,"
Stano said.
- Because of his membership in
the group, Editor in Chief Andrew
Grossman did not edit this story.
dards.
"It's an affront to constitutional
autonomy," he said. "There is no
guarantee that the top 10 percent of
every school is prepared to succeed
at each and every one of our state
schools."
Cynthia Wilbanks, the Universi-
ty's vice president for government
relations, said she couldn't com-
ment on the plan because a draft of
the proposal hasn't been introduced
yet, but said the University has had
concerns in the past with similar
proposals.
In an argument presented to the
Supreme Court during the 2003
Gratz v. Bollinger case regarding the
University's undergraduate admis-
sions policy, then-University Presi-
dent Lee Bollinger argued that a
10-percent plan couldn't replace the
con deration ,f race n applca-
tion process. He said that plans
Engineering Junior Eric Eckstein welds a rear sub frame for the Fomula SAt (Soci-
ety of Automotive Engineering) race car. The frame will beused for a new car
design to compete in a May 14 race at Michigan International Speedway.
like the one used in Texas "require
certain demographic features not
present in all states or in all public
university systems."
Jones said he began considering
a percent plan after reading a study
that found that students admitted
under the Texas 10-percent law
perform as well as their peers.
However, a series of academic
research papers on the effect of
Texas's 10-percentlaw published by
the Texas Higher Education Oppor-
tunity Project arrived at mixed
conclusions on the law's effects on
admissions and higher education.
According to a paper written by
Maria Tienda, THEOP's lead inves-
tigator, and Dawn Koffman, a sta-
tistical programmer at Princeton
University's Office of Population
Research, eligible students were
still only half as likejyas more afflu-
ent students to apply to the Univer-
sity of Texas at Austin and Texas
A&M University - the state's two
flagship institutions.
Tienda and Koffman found that
flagship universities were still I
dominated by affluent students four
years after the law's enactment.
Another THEOP paper written
by Tienda, TelAviv University Soci-
ology Prof. Sigal Alon and Sunny
Niu, a research associate at Prince-
ton's Office of Population Research,
found that the amount of black
and Hispanic students eligible for
admission to the two flagship uni-
versities increased but neither of
thetwo schools saw increasedblack
and Hispanic enrollment.
Jones said if the plan is met with
strong resistance, he is willing to
compromise with other lawmakers
and propose that the system begins
with a smaller percentage of stu-
dents guaranteed admission.
Then you're a
VIP.
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