2 The Michigan Daily - Orientation Edition 2007
I i I
LEFT O F JEREMY CHO RIGHT BY PETER sCHOTTENFELS/Daily
LEFT: School at Business sophomore Aroiad Sohoni somberly
watches Proyasal 2 rosalto trichlina at a College Democrats party
last aight. RIGHT: A sigoorging yassershy to ante no on the pro-
posal, is left discarded on the Diag late last night.
Coleman chided for defying Prop 2
U president
subverts voters'
Will, critics say
By ANDREW GROSSMAN
Daily StaffReporter
Nov. 29, 2006 - After Demo-
crat Dick Tuck lost his bid for the
California state Senate in 1964,
he had a few choice words for his
district's voters.
"The people have spoken - the
bastards," he said.
According to one of many
..........................................
BAMN RALLY SLAMS
PROP 2 PASSAGE
Eleven-year-oldsfaced offwith University
students over the merits of affirmative action
as hundreds gathered to protest the passage
of Proposal 2 on the Diag yesterday.
The militant pro-affrmativeactiongraup By
Any Means Necessary sponsored a match ant
rally that brought hundreds of supporters to
campus on Martin Luther King kr. Day. Promo.
tional material distributed by BAMN before th
event said the marchers would demand "no
drop in minority enrollment in higher educa-
tion in Michigan."
- LISA HAIDOSTIAN JAN. 16, 20
conservative commentators
nationwide, that's exactly how
University President Mary Sue
Coleman is reacting to the pas-
sage of Proposal 2, which banned
the use of affirmative action by
public institutions in Michigan.
The day after the Nov. 7 elec-
tion, Coleman addressed a crowd
of thousands gathered on the
Diag. She reiterated the Universi-
ty's commitment to diversity. She
said the 1996 passage of a similar
law - Proposition 209 - in Cali-
fornia was a disaster that stripped
colleges of their diversity.
"It has been a horribly failed
experiment that has dramati-
...........................................
cally weakened the diversity of
that state's most selective univer-
sities," she said. "it is an experi-
ment that we cannot, and will
not, allow to take seed here at
Michigan."
Coleman also said the Univer-
sity would explore a legal chal-
lenge to the amendment.
Apart from promising to fight
the execution of Proposal 2 in the
courts, Coleman's speech on the
Diag centered on getting around
the affirmative action ban.
"We will find ways to over-
come the handcuffs that Proposal
2 attempts to place on our reach
for greater diversity," she said.
Robert Berdahl, who was
chancellor of the University of
California at Berkeley in the
wake of the affirmative action
ban there, said Berkeley admis-
sions officers did all they could
without breaking the law.
"I think that we walked very
close to the line," he said. "We
did not cross the line in violation
of the law. We pushed very, very
hard against the line."
Their efforts were mostly
futile. Admission of black and
Latino students plummeted.
In an interview after the speech,
Coleman said she didn't know
what methods the University
would use to keep that from hap-
pening here. She did suggest that
the University might ask alumni to
reach out to minoritystudents and
encourage themto apply. Minority
applications declined in California
after Proposition 209 passed.
Coleman has also drawn criti-
cism for an e-mail she sent to stu-
dents, staff and faculty last week
asking for ideas to help keep the
University diverse. That message
struck a less defiant tone.
The e-mail urged to "leave no
stone unturned as we explore
ways to encourage diversity with-
in the boundaries of the law."
,P rop .2
passes
Affirmative action ban gets
58 percent of vote statewide
By WALTER NOWINSKI
Daily Staff Reporter
Nov. 8, 2006 - Michigan voters dealt a firm
blow to the University's affirmative action
programs yesterday, voting decisively in favor
of Proposal 2, which bans the consideration
of race, gender or national origin in college
admissions, hiring and contracting.
University President Mary Sue Coleman,
a vocal opponent of the proposal, reaffirmed
the University's commitment to diversity late
last night in a statement released before the
election was called.
"We defended affirmative action all the
way to the Supreme Court because diver-
sity is essential to our mission as educators,"
Coleman said. "Regardless of what happens
with Proposal 2, the University of Michigan
will remain fully and completely committed
to diversity."
LSA junior Ryan Fantuzzi, co-chair of the
Washtenaw County Michigan Civil Rights
Initiative, the group that campaigned for
the amendment, said he was overjoyed at the
proposal's passage.
"It is like Christmas," Fantuzzi said. "The
government can't discriminate against peo-
ple anymore - and that is a beautiful thing."
Not all students were quite so jubilant.
LSA junior Rachel Tanner, who cam-
paigned against Proposal 2 with Students
Supporting Affirmative Action, resigned her-
self to defeat last night.
"We did a great job on campus," Tanner
said. "But ultimately the lies and deceptions
prevailed."
While Michigan voters approved Proposal
2 by a 16-percent margin, University students
voted decisively against the amendment. In
predominantly student precincts around
campus, Proposal 2 failed 75 to 21 percent.
Unless a judge delays the implementation
of the amendment, the University will be
forced to change its admissions policies half-
way through this year's admissions cycle.
Marvin Krislov, the University's general
counsel, confirmed last week that the Uni-
versity may request a stay to delay the imple-
mentation of the amendment.
0
BAMN marchers clash with members of Young Americans for Freedom.