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.