put their effort towards the cause
should be allowed to do so.”

The dancers make up 64 teams

with 15 to 20 students in each.
The teams compete against one
another in different activities,
such as a hula-hooping con-
test, a Miss America pageant
and a cheering contest. Teams
are partnered with one of the
35 families of a child with a dis-
ability, who they interact with at
the marathon as well as at events
throughout the year. Some fami-
lies were partnered with multiple
teams.

DMUM, which is the larg-

est student-run non-profit in
the state, fundraises these large
sums because participants are
each required to raise a certain
amount. Dancers raise $300 and
team leaders must collect $350,
for example. The marathon is
also the culmination of a year’s
worth of fundraising activities.
This year, teams attended a char-

ity ball, a family fashion show, a
talent show and 26 other fund-
raising and bonding events.

To participate in the mara-

thon, dancers must remain stand-
ing for the full 24 hours. Dancers
were provided with standing
homework tables, a snack station,
a photo booth and other games
and activities during the course
of the event. An “inspiration
tent” was also set up for partici-
pants needing a reminder of why
they chose to spend the weekend
on their feet.

LSA sophomore Claire Laing,

co-captain of the Delta Gamma
team, returned to DMUM for
her second year. Laing said the
event is a great way to finish off
the year.

“Throughout the year you

work so hard to raise money and
you get to interact with the fami-
lies and really see where every-
thing you’re doing is going,”
Laing said. “To be able to come
to the marathon and have this
big culmination and celebration
of all the hard work you’ve put in
and seeing all the kids, it’s awe-

some.”

Srivastava, the DMUM execu-

tive director, said the organiza-
tion plays a role in choosing what
area of the two hospitals funds go
to each year.

“We have this unique oppor-

tunity to take in requests from
lots of the different therapies and
programs at both the hospitals,
go through their requests and
see exactly what they’re asking
for and really evaluate how that
aligns with what our mission is,”
Srivastava said. “Then we get to
allocate the money towards those
programs.”

The event kicked off with

warm-up events on Saturday,
including an address from Uni-
versity President Mark Schlissel.
Schlissel commended DMUM
participants, and highlighted the
participation of fraternities and
sororities.

“The news media loves to

write about problems and disas-
ters and misbehavior,” Schlissel
said. “I want to make sure they
write about the contribution that
the Greeks are making to events

like this.”

Entertainment from groups

such as the Pompon Team, the
Ballroom
Dance
Team
and

Groove kept dancers on their toes
as the event drew to a close. The
event also featured a late night
rave complete with glow sticks
and flashing lights, where other
students could dance and sup-
port their friends.

Wendy
Muzzarelli
has
a

daughter in Beaumont’s therapy
programs, for which DMUM is
a benefactor. When asked how
DMUM has affected her family,
Muzzarelli teared up.

“There
are
no
words
to

describe how these college kids
impact our family,” she said.

3-News

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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Monday, March 16, 2015 — 3A

lective; and LSA sophomore Mek-
arem Eljamal, spokeswoman and
member of Students Allied for
Freedom and Equality.

Davis said the event’s purpose

was to make conversation about
race accessible to everyone.

“Just being open to new per-

spectives is really important,” she
said. “Sometimes you just have to
get over that initial barrier, then
you have wider groups’ friends
and end up having conversations
you never would imagine.”

Some students submitted ques-

tions anonymously through an ask.
fm page that Wilson organized and
read from, and audience members
also posed questions directly to the
panel. Attendees were encouraged
to share their opinions and per-
sonal experiences as well, either
anonymously or in person.

The questions covered a wide

variety of subjects, including the
panelists’ personal experiences
and their opinions on campus
policies.

One issue discussed at length

was the University’s Race and Eth-
nicity requirement, which students
have criticized recently for not pro-
viding enough insight into issues of
diversity on campus and nationally.

Alfarhan feared that the class-

es used to fulfill this requirement
do not spark relevant conversa-
tion about issues of diversity.

“A lot of Race and Ethnicity

classes at the University are very
basic and don’t require anyone’s
perceptions to be challenged,”
she said. “They’re made to be very
comfortable.”

Davis agreed that the Race

and Ethnicity classes could be
improved, but added that they
provide “a good place to start” as
opposed to no conversation at all.

Eljamal said, in her experience,

some of the inefficiency of the Race
and Ethnicity courses are a result
of students being unwilling to talk.

“Some students are only there

to get a check mark on their tran-
script,” Eljamal said. “There’s
only so much a professor can do.”

Another topic covered was the

University’s attitude toward diver-
sity, where the panelists expressed
particular
concern
with
the

administration’s Detroit recruit-
ment policies, among others.

Ajetunmobi said the Univer-

sity has fallen short with recruit-
ing students from predominantly
Black schools. She added that Cass
Technical
High
School
and

Renaissance High School, both in
Detroit, seem to get a great deal
of attention while others fall by
the wayside — resulting in a lower
diversity overall in applications
and, later, on campus.

“I had a lot of friends who

didn’t even apply to Michigan
because they didn’t think they
could get in,” Ajetunmobi said.
“And we need to change that.”

Alfarhan discussed her view

of the discrepancy in interna-
tional recruitment based on her
own experience as an interna-
tional student from Kuwait. She
said she noticed a lack of cultural
diversity during her international
orientation as a freshman, which
included a large majority of Chi-
nese students.

“When I counted, there were

four Africans and five Arabs,”
she said. “And there were at least
eighty Chinese.”

While Wilson was disappoint-

ed with the sparse attendance,
he said those who did attend the
event provided encouragement.

“There are some people I didn’t

expect to come and some people I
don’t recognize, which is great,”
Wilson said.

In this vein, some members

in the audience noted that those
at the event were likely already
somewhat knowledgeable about
issues of diversity, whereas those
who really “needed” to have deep
conversations about race and eth-
nicity were least likely to attend
on their own accord.

The panelists acknowledged

that getting those who are poten-
tially less outwardly passionate
about issues of diversity to attend
events like “Let’s Talk About:
Race” is an issue to be considered
in the future.

Alfarhan’s response: “Don’t

focus on who’s not showing up;
focus on who is showing up.”

RACE
From Page 1A

struck down the ban.

University law Prof. Julian

Mortenson
said
these
cases

are broken down into two cat-
egories. He said the first cate-
gory involves a same-sex couple
legally marrying in a state where
same-sex marriage is permitted,
but moving to a state where it is
not permitted, meaning that the
couple’s marriage is not legally
recognized in that state. The
second issue involves same-sex
couples who live in a state where
same-sex marriage is not permit-
ted and want to get married.

“The same underlying state

policy is preventing the legal
recognition of marriage in either
case, but the nature of the legal
claims involved to the two cat-
egories of case are a little and
potentially
very
different,”

Mortenson said.

Mortenson noted that this

case has significant implications,
including the possibility of legal-
izing same-sex marriage in all 50
states.

“The Supreme Court says and

always will bind every other
court in the country,” Mortenson
said. “So if the Supreme Court
says in this case, ‘It is constitu-
tional to allow same-sex couples
to get married,’ that ruling will

apply to every state that is direct-
ly involved in this case.”

Even though only four state

cases are directly involved in the
proceedings, if states not directly
involved don’t follow this prec-
edent, they could face sanctions.

“If states don’t quit enforcing

or repeal their bans on marriage
equality or their bans on same-
sex marriage, it’ll be about five
seconds before a court enters an
adjunction in those states that
aren’t involved in this case agree-
ing to some plaintiff’s challenge
to the same-sex marriage ban
that applies to their state,” he
said.

Mortenson said he was hesi-

tant to predict the outcome of
the case, but noted that the legal
world has hinted at an outcome
without the Supreme Court’s
decision. He said if an objec-
tive stance is taken based on the
cases, marriage equality should
be granted.

“If you look at the cases and if

you look at the logic of the cases
and if you apply them faithfully,
I think the best current legal pre-
diction is that the Supreme Court
should rule in favor of marriage
equality,” he said.

University law Prof. Samuel

Bagenstos said the Supreme
Court could take two possible
routes to rule in favor of same-
sex marriage. He said one route
is a broad approach.

“They
could say when

laws classify based on sexual
orientation those laws trigger
heightened constitutional scruti-
ny which would mean they would
have to be justified by particular-
ly strong state interest and have
to be closely connected to those
interests,” he said. “Obviously if
the court rules that way that will
lead to a lot of momentum for
anti-discrimination laws on the
basis of sexual orientation to get
passed.”

Bagenstos also cited a narrow-

er route to legalizing same-sex
marriage. He said the court could
opt for limited reasoning, saying
the states’ justifications for pre-
cluding same-sex couples from
marrying are irrational.

“If they did that, the legal

implications
wouldn’t
be
as

extensive, but on the other hand,
I’d take that the social implica-
tions would be very similar,”
he said. “Probably, the political
implications would be very simi-
lar.”

Bagenstos said it is difficult to

predict which route the court is
going to take or even how they
are going to rule.

“I, like most people, predict

that the court is going to say that
same-sex couples have an equal
right to marry as opposite-sex
couples,” Bagenstos said. “But
how they are going to get there, I
don’t think anybody knows.”

Bagenstos
noted
Supreme

Court Justice Anthony Kenne-

dy’s importance as a swing vote
in same-sex marriage cases. He
noted that in the time since Ken-
nedy joined the bench, the court
has made progress when it comes
to ruling on the side of gay rights,
citing the 1993 case Romer v.
Evans, 2003’s Lawrence v. Texas
and Windsor v. United States in
2013.

“In all of those cases, the court

has ruled for the party that is
supporting gay rights, but the
reasoning in all of those cases
has been very narrow,” he said.
“The court has not articulated a
very expansive understanding of
the reasoning behind its pro-gay
rights position.”

As the oral hearings near,

many
groups,
including
the

Obama administration, have filed
amicus briefs to the Supreme
Court in support of same-sex
marriage. State Rep. Jeff Irwin
(D–Ann Arbor) was one of the
elected officials to be included
in an amicus brief sent to the
Supreme Court by the Ohio and
Michigan Democratic Parties.

Irwin said he was proud to join

in an amicus brief that supports
equal rights.

“Michigan’s
ban
on
mar-

riage equality and Michigan’s
ban on gay and lesbian adoption
has been a wrong that many of
us have been trying to right for
many years here in Michigan.”

SCOTUS
From Page 1A

DMUM
From Page 1A

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