RACE ON CAMPUS
BBUM
goes viral
on Twitter
;NIA LOZANC
. Elizabeth lames, program manager for Department of Afroamerican and African Studies, speaks with students at a forum on race
Michigan, Black Student Union and Students of Color of Rackham, at the Michigan League Tuesday.
Forum confronts race relations
Following #BBUM,
students address
how campus climate
can be improved
By RACHEL PREMACK
Daily StaffReporter
Following the viral #BBUM
Twitter campaign initiated by
the Black Student Union to bring
awareness to issues faced by
people of color on campus, BSU
and multiple other University
gioups held a forum Tuesday
night to focus on tangible solu-
tions.
More than 150 people
attended the event, which
ended with two proposals:
Rackham student Garrett Fel-
ber's plan for an affirmative
action teach-in next year and
Rackham student Maite Rodri-
guez-Caballero's request that
the next University president
focus on establishing a better-
funded, more conveniently-
located Trotter Multicultural
Center. The current location
is east of the intersection of
South University and Washt-
enaw Avenues.
The Black Student Union,
Rackham Graduate School's
SCORE, the Department of
Afroamerican and African
Studies and We Are Michi-
gan were all sponsors of the
event.
LSA senior Tyrell Collier,
BSU's president, said three more
initiatives following the nation-
ally-trending Twitter campaign
will be announced as early as
the end of this semester.
Before planning specific
actions to further the commu-
nity's goals, attendees spoke
about their own campus expe-
riences. This followed Tues-
day's Freeze Out protest and
the #BBUM trending cam-
paign.
Students discussed their frus-
tration with the lack of change
that has occurred on campus
despite administration empha-
sis on diversity. Some discussed
how they were tired of the treat-
ment they receive at the Univer-
sity, others regarding how the
Black community needs to be
more unified.
LSA junior Rolly Abiola,
the Trotter student manager,
said she was exhausted by the
University's lack of action
to ameliorate its attitude
towards minorities, despite
promoting itself as liberal
and diverse.
"I am sick and tired of the
way this university continues to
silence us," Abiola said. "I keep
getting up and I keep talking
because I am afraid of what will
happen if I stop."
LSA senior Ozi Uduma cried
when she admitted that she
often didn't wish to be at the
University, but her voice gath-
ered strength as she discussed
the warm relationships she
holds with her fellow female
students of color.
"I hope that we learn to
love each other better, love
each other fiercely, love
each other strongly," Uduma
said. "This movement can-
not work unless we love each
other."
Leon Howard, a residence
hall director and president of
the Association of Black Profes-
sionals, Administrators, Faculty
and Staff - said minority staff
and students have parallel expe-
riences.
"Instead of being the only
Black person in the room, you
might be the only Black person
on a committee," Howard said.
See FORUM, Page 5A
Black Student Union
campaign shows
what it's like to be
Black on campus
By ALICIA ADAMCZYK and
SAM GRINGLAS
Daily NewsEditor
andDaily StaffReporter
University students took
to Twitter in droves Tuesday
afternoon to share their expe-
riences as Black students in
Ann Arbor and bring attention
to issues of race and diversity
on campus using the hashtag
#BBUM.
The campaign, initiated by
the University's Black Student
Union, has built up over the
past few days before trending
nationally on Twitter Tuesday.
The hashtag gained momentum
after the student organization
distributed an e-mail to commu-
nity members and other campus
groups encouraging them to par-
ticipate in the online conversa-
tion.
LSA senior Tyrell Collier,
BSU's president, said the #BBUM
campaign was planned to raise
awareness of the experiences of
Black students and for the BSU
to collect subjective data it can
couple with University statistics
to address pressing issues Black
students face.
Collier said BSU encouraged
students to tweet both nega-
tive and positive experiences,
though the tweets have been pre-
dominantly negative, which he
expected.
He said the issue is especially
pressing on campus because
while the University frequent-
ly discusses ways to increase
diversity, many communities
have yet to witness tangible
results.
"I would like to see the lives
of Black students valued more,"
Collier said.
By 10 p.m., over 10,000 tweets
included the hashtag from Ann
Arbor and beyond.
"I don't think this is a problem
specific to the University, I think
it's an experience that Black stu-
dents at predominantly White
universities across the nation are
facing," he said of the far-reach-
ing responses.
Black enrollment at the Uni-
versity has fallen precipitously
over the past decade largely
due to Proposal 2, an amend-
ment to the state constitution
that bans affirmative action
policies that was passed by
Michigan voters in 2006. The
proposal, formally named the
Michigan Civil Rights Initia-
tive, bars the University from
considering race in its admis-
sions process.
Immediately after the passage
of the proposal, University Presi-
dent Mary Sue Coleman gave a
dramatic address on the Diag
promising to maintain the Uni-
versity's commitment to diver-
See TWITTER, Page 5A
CAMPUS LIFE
Profs engage in
spirited debate
on Jewish foods
Campus Hillel
r asks faculty what's
better: Latkes or
Hamantashen?
By ALLANA AKHTAR
Daily Staff Reporter
Tuesday, members of the Uni-
versity community came togeth-
er at the University of Michigan
Hillel to contest one of the most
controversial questions in the
history of Judaism: Which food
is better, the latke or hamantash?
Latkes and hamantashen are
both essential foods in Jewish
culture. Latkes are fried potato
pancakes traditionally eaten on
Chanukah, the Jewish festival
of lights, served with sour cream
or applesauce. Hamantashen
are triangular pastries eaten on
Purim, a holiday commemorat-
ing the Jewish people's survival
in the ancient Persian kingdom.
The pastry is often stuffed with
sweet fillings such as nuts, dates,
cherries, chocolate or cheese.
The University of Chi-
cago hosted the first Latke-
Hamantash debate in 1946. Not
able to find a definite conclusion
to the mighty question, the uni-
versity decided to rehash the
issue annually. Since then, other
universities such as Johns Hop-
kins University, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Amherst
College and Harvard University
also put their best professors to
the test finding the superior dish.
Tuesday evening, the Univer-
sity finally joined these schools
to debate the superiority of the
two time-honored Jewish cui-
sines.
LSA junior Paul Feingold, who
brought the debate to campus,
began the night by welcoming
both Jews and "righteous gen-
tiles" and introducing moderator
Tilly Shames, executive director
of Hillel.
Feingold said he hoped the
event would bring students
together for a humorous evening
and help them see professors in
a more relaxed and fun environ-
ment.
"One of the big goals here we
have at Hillel is to get new people
through the door all the time and
engage new students into the
See DEBATE, Page 5A
By Any Means Necessary organized a Rally at the diag Tuesday
Detroit students rally on
campus against Prop.2
RESEARCH
Med. School
engages in
partnership
with Indian
in stitute
Expanded relationship
provides opportunities
to medical students in
India and Ann Arbor
By RACHEL PREMACK
Daily StaffReporter
The trip to India by a University
delegation led by University Presi-
dent Mary Sue Coleman hopes to
spur renewed academic engagement
with the world's largest democracy's
rising economy.
Following Coleman's previous
trips to Brazil, China, Ghana and
South Africa, the delegation's four-
day exploration of Mumbai and
New Delhi, the nation's capital, had
expansive and renewing effects on
the University's partnership with
four of India's most prominent insti-
tutions. She also connected with
alumni while making her first trip
to the nation.
One of the institutions the del-
egation is connecting with is the All
India Institute of Medical Sciences.
See PARTNERSHIP, Page 5A
BAMN buses in
high-schoolers to
protest in Diag
By ALICIA ADAMCZYK
and CHARLOTTE JENKINS
Daily NewsEditor
and DailyStaffReporter
Over 100 people, includ-
ing students from local high
schools in Ann Arbor and
Detroit, attended a march and
rally Tuesday afternoon held
by organizations including
By Any Means Necessary, the
Coalition to Defend Affirma-
tive Action, Integration and
Immigrant Rights, and Fight
for Equality.
Organizers said the
march had multiple purpos-
es, including the "overturn
of Prop 2, the restoration
of affirmative action, an
increase in the enroll-
ment of black, Latino/a and
Native American students
and in-state tuition and
financial aid for immigrant
students who were brought
to the United States as chil-
dren," according to a press
release.
Protesters chanted, "Black,
Latino, Asian and White, by
any means necessary we will
fight," and held posters with
slogans and flags from the
represented high schools and
the University.
University alum Kate Sten-
vig, a national organizer for
BAMN, said regardless of the
laws in place regarding affir-
mative action, the Univer-
sity should be doing more to
increase minority enrollment.
University Police officers
arrived at the Diag follow-
ing a report of a large crowd.
See RALLY, Page 5A
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