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Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - 3B,
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - 38
Some of the events that defined your four years.
Peace Corps celebrated at Union
Obama Election 2008
University students celebrated
throughout campus after Barack
Obama was elected the 44th president
oftheUnitedStates.Withthecampaign
underway, the University's chapter of
the College Democrats quadrupled in
size during the fall semester in 2008
and was forced to turn down interested
students because it didn't have the nec-
essary capacity for the 300 who turned
out for the first mass meeting.
Smoking Ban
University administrators an-
nounced a smoking ban for all three
campuses. Reasons for the ban includ-
ed the hope of reducing health risks
from smoking. There was the addi-
tional benefit of reducing health care
costs for University faculty. The ban
triggered changes to the Statement of
the Student Rights and Responsibilities
handbook. Despite opposition, admin-
istrators stayed positive in light ofother
campuses that already implemented
similar bans with successful outcomes.
Students compare
action 50 years ago
with modern efforts
By STEPHANIE BERLIANT
Daily StaffReporter
Oct. 13, 2010 - Members of
the University community gath-
ered on the steps of the Michi-
gan Union at 2 a.m. on Thursday,
marking 50 years to the moment
and place that then-presidential
candidate John F. Kennedy deliv-
ered his speech that would even-
tually inspire the formation of the
Peace Corps.
There was evena slight drizzle
as the event got underway, just as
there was that night 50 years ago.
Despite the rain, about 1,500
students, faculty and other Ann
Arbor residents gathered for the
2 a.m. celebration Wednesday
night, officials said. The event
featured a variety of speakers
involved in the Peace Corps and
other community service orga-
nizations talking about what's
changed over the past 50 years
in regard to global service and
what's stayed consistent - mainly
the University's strong culture of
community service.
The origins of the Peace
Corps have become engraved in
the University's history, proud-
ly recounted by tour guides to
prospective students and their
parents in their first days on
campus. The story of Kennedy's
impromptu, middle-of-the-night
pit stop at the Union to address
students and his words encour-
aging students to serve develop-
ing nations abroad still resonate
within the University commu-
nity today, as they did with stu-
dents in 1960.
Less than a year after Kennedy
first proposed the idea, the first
group of Peace Corps volunteers
was sent to Ghana and Tanzania
in August 1961.
John Greisberger, director of
the University's International
Center who was involved in
II
s
planning the 2 a.m. event and
spoke at the start of the occa-
sion, said in an interview on
Monday that the story of Kenne-
dy's spur-of-the-moment speech
continues to captivate students
and encourage them to serve
abroad.
"Kennedy asked students 50
years ago to use education for a
higher purpose," Greisberger said
on Monday. "I believe that pur-
pose is serving others in develop-
ing nations to help bring a better
way of life. If we have more peo-
ple with the basics in life, that's
the foundation for peace in this
world."
Al Guskin, who heard Ken-
nedy speak on the Union steps as
a University graduate student 50
years ago, returned Wednesday
night to talk about how he went
from just another student in the
crowd to being a key member of
a team that put the Peace Corps
into action.
Guskin explained in his speech
why University students reacted
so strongly to Kennedy's proposi-
tion. He credited students inother
parts of the country participating
in Civil Rights Movement sit-ins
for bringing social justice to the
forefront of Americans' minds.
"I'm proud of what happened,
but it would not have happened
without four courageous students
in North Carolina," Guskin said,
referring to members of the 1960
Greensboro sit-in in North Caro-
lina.
Arriving in Ann Arbor straight
from a trip to Ghana last night,
Aaron Williams, director of the
Peace Corps, encouraged stu-
dents to serve, calling the Univer-
sity "Peace Corps territory."
"This bold experiment, the
Peace Corps, still calls out to you,"
Williams said. "Now this is your
time."
LSA senior Steven Weinberg,
co-founder of the national stu-
dent organization Will Work for
Food, spoke about the similari-
ties between students' attitudes
toward community service today
and 50 years ago.
Will Work for Food was estab
lished at the University in 2007
and has since spread to 30 col-
leges and high schools across the
country, Weinberg said in his
speech. Participants of Will Work
for Food collect monetary pledges
for charities around the world in
exchange for completing local
volunteer work.
During his speech, Weinberg
also highlighted the parallel of
the formation of Will Work for
Food after Bill Clinton spoke,
at the University's 2007 Spring
Commencement ceremony and
the formation of the Peace Corps
after Kennedy's inspirational
speech.
"Similar to the speech Kenne-
dy gave on these steps, President
Clinton's speech had an underly-
ing call to action for those in the
crowd to live as global citizens,"
Weinberg said.
Weinberg collaborated with
friends and faculty members to
form Will Work for Food and took
a year off from school to solidify
the organization. He said he is not
alone in his commitment to com-
munity service.
Pat Wand, a former Peace
Corps volunteer in Colombia dur-
ing the 1960s and a University -
alum, who was in attendance at
the 2 a.m. event, said the celebra-
tion made her think back to her
own experience volunteering
abroad.
She said she remembers not
only the excitement of the orga-
nization's establishment, but also
the criticism that it faced during
its beginnings.
"It reminds me of how tenu-
ous the whole program was and
for many years people were very
critical of it and how dangerous
it was for them to send young
people abroad because they'
would make the United States
look bad and we showed them
up and made it look better than
anyone has ever made it look,"
Wand said.
Students rejoice on the Diag after Obamas win in the
2008 presidential election.
Hanlon named provost
Phil Hanlon gave up his position as
Donald J. Lewis Professor of Mathemat-
ics when he was appointed the Univer-
sity's provost. Working his way through
University positions since 1986, Hanlon
climbed from an associate professor of
mathematics to a full professor before
shifting to administrative positions.
Former University provost Prof. James
Duderstadt said he thinks the key to
being a successful provost is in the rela-
tionship with the University president.
Porch Upholstery Ban
After much opposition from students
and multiple voting postponements, Ann
Arbor City Council unanimously passed
the ordinance banning upholstered fur-
niture from porches in October of 2010.
Those caught with upholstered furni-
ture on their porches could be fined up
to $1000. City Council explained the rea-
soning for the ban and the fine amounts
was about campus safety. Ann Arbor Fire
Marshall Kathleen Chamberlain said
violators would be issued warningbefore
an official fine was given to them.
- Daily Staff Reporter Michele
Narov contributed to this report.
FILE PHOTO/DAILY
Philip Hanlon was appointed University provost after
serving as Donald J. Lewis Professor of Mathematics.
Children's Hospital Opening
After $754 million were spent
and countless hours of planning and
construction were completed, 170
patients were moved to the new C.S.
Mott Children's Hospital building.
Three-hundred volunteers joined
thousands of staff members to help
transfer patients to the new building.
Before the transition to the new
building was completed, the new
building held its first birth on Dec. 4, Zv
2010.
Snyder Election 2010
Republican and University Alum
Rick Snyder replaced Democratic pre-
decessor Jennifer Granholm as the
next Michigan governor. Snyder said
the three steps he hoped to take to
begin repairing Michigan in his accep-
tance speech included increasing posi-
tive mentalitiessetting a plan for the The n
future and putting the plan into action. to the
Snyder's roots in Ann Abor include
launching Ann Arbor SPARK - a local
business incubator - and Handylab -
a medical technology developer.
ew C.S. Mott Children's Hospital building opens
public.
Stem Cell Research
The University decided to take part
in a new stem cell research project in
collaboration with the U.S. National
Institutes of Health. The purpose of
the project isto research disease treat-
ments. The University has recently dealt
with potential obstacles for the pro-
gram from the House Appropriations
Subcommittee on Higher Education
- including potential budget cuts from
the state.
GSR A Debate
A bill preventing graduate student
research assistants from unionizing
passed in early March. The bill has
started a debate between state Repub-
licans and Democrats over whether or
not GSRAs at the University can vote to
form a union. The bill - which amends
the Public Employment Relations Act336
of 1947 to identify GSRAs as students,
instead of public employees - forced
Democrats to criticize Republicans for
their justification of immediate effect,
despite the former tactics of both Demo-
crats and Republicans.
FILE PHOTO/Daily
University Administrators discuss graduate student
research assistant unionization policies.
DRIVE CHANGE. APPLY NOW. CECOLUMBIA EU/SUMMER