coming weeks before the end of 

session, possibly as early as Thurs-
day morning.

Ann 
Arbor 
City 
Council 

approved the closure of Fourth 
Avenue from Catherine to Kings-
ley on the day the court’s decision 
is released, per a request from the 
Jim Toy Community Center, an 
Ann Arbor based gay rights advo-
cacy group. The street will remain 
closed from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. during 
which supporters are expected to 
rally along with plaintiffs DeBoer 
and Rowse.

Hopeful that the Supreme 

Court will decide in favor of 
same-sex marriage, Councilmem-
ber Julie Grand (D-Ward 3) said 
a decision against couples repre-
sented in the cases could result 
in the loss of valued Ann Arbor 
residents. In an interview with 
the Daily, Grand expressed her 
support of closing roads in antici-
pation of the Ann Arbor and larger 
Michigan response to the deci-
sion’s release.

“It puts our state, and by exten-

sion Ann Arbor, at a disadvantage 
if we don’t have marriage equal-
ity,” Grand said. “I believe we have 
been losing really valuable resi-
dents who are making important 

contributions to our community...
because of this issue. For moral 
and ethical reasons, of course, 
I want to see us have marriage 
equality. I believe it’s the right 
thing to do.”

In addition to reactions that 

may occur on the closed streets 
downtown, 
attorneys 
repre-

senting DeBoer and Rowse will 
appear in Braun Court to answer 
questions 
and 
offer 
remarks 

on the court’s decision at noon. 
DeBoer and Rowse will also offer 
remarks outside Braun Court, 
where supporters are expected to 

our incoming students,” Rider-

Milkovich said.

Survey results show that 51 

percent of female undergraduates 
and 39.2 percent of male under-
graduates have attended or par-
ticipated in Relationship Remix, 
a University program created 
for first-year students that seeks 
to educate students on relation-
ships, sex and decision-making.

Data from the survey revealed 

that 42 percent of respondents 
were “very likely” to report inci-
dents of sexual assault to the 
University’s Sexual Assault Pre-
vention and Awareness Center.

Another 
initiative 
Rider-

Milkovich said is new to the 
University is the expansion of 
educational and prevention pro-
grams for graduate and profes-
sional students.

Schlissel said the level of the 

survey’s detail should help the 
University determine what meth-
ods of prevention and support 
are working, and gaining a more 
clear understanding of to which 
avenues students feel most com-
fortable reporting cases of sexual 
assault.

Though some students found 

the survey to be emotionally trig-
gering, Schlissel said the detailed 
nature of these questions meant 
the survey was very explicit but 
thorough.

The survey asked students to 

identify themselves in differ-
ent demographics, an aspect of 
this survey that Schlissel said is 
unique to the University. Accord-
ing to the survey, females are 7.7 

times more likely to experience 
non-consensual oral, vaginal or 
anal sex than males. Sorority and 
fraternity members are 2.5 times 
more likely to experience non-
consensual oral, vaginal or anal 
sex than average students.

Axinn said verbal pressure was 

another particularly important 
new finding discovered through 
the survey.

Eight percent of female under-

graduates answered yes when 
asked if verbal pressuring was 
involved in their experiences of 
non consensual oral, vaginal, or 
anal sex — a finding Schlissel and 
Axinn cited as significant and 
new. The issue of verbal coer-
cion, in addition to criticism of 
the timeliness of the University’s 
handling of sexual misconduct 
cases, was key in one student’s 
experience with sexual assault, 
as detailed in an investigation 
conducted by The Michigan Daily 
in April.

Finally, the survey found that 

among undergraduate students 
who did experience some form 
of sexual misconduct, 41.2 per-
cent of sexual misconduct cases 
occurred off-campus.

“This was a baseline survey,” 

Schlissel said. “We intend to dis-
cuss the findings more broadly in 
the fall with our student, faculty 
and staff.”be a time of significant 
change in higher education,” she 
said. “After much consideration 
and consultation with my closest 
advisers, friends, and family, I have 
decided that I want to turn the 
focus of my professional service to 
the broader problems and opportu-
nities facing universities.”

3

Thursday, June 25, 2015

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com NEWS

Study finds discrepancy in graduation rates

Research highlights 
gap among students 

of different 
backgrounds 

By ALAINA WYGANT

Daily Staff Reporter

A recent study conducted by 

University Prof. Susan Dynar-
ski, a public policy, education 
and economics professor, high-
lights a discrepancy in college 
graduation rates among stu-
dents who come from different 
socioeconomic backgrounds.

According 
to 
Dynarski’s 

article discussing her research, 
which was featured the New 
York Times, the study found 
that across the country, 14 per-
cent of the poorest students 
sampled in 2002 had gone to col-
lege and graduated, whereas 60 
percent of the richest had gone 
to college and graduated.

Both 
students’ 
socioeco-

nomic and educational back-
grounds — for instance, if a 
student’s parents had gone to 
college — placed them in cat-
egories labeled as ‘advantaged’ 
and ‘disadvantaged.’ The study 
found that the graduation gap 
between the advantaged and the 

disadvantaged is larger than the 
enrollment gap. The advantaged 
are more likely not only to go to 
college and but to graduate as 
well.

“Put bluntly, class trumps 

ability when it comes to college 
graduation,” Dynarski wrote.

She argued differences in test 

scores and academic abilities 
between socioeconomic classes 
do not explain everything about 
the difference in who graduates. 
Ability by itself is not the only 
factor that effects graduation 
rates — it plays a smaller role in 
the graduation rate difference 
between rich and poor, accord-
ing to the article.

“Here’s 
another 
startling 

comparison: A poor teenager 
with top scores and a rich teen-
ager with mediocre scores are 
equally likely to graduate with 
a bachelor’s degree. In both 
groups, 41 percent receive a 
degree by their late 20s,” she 
wrote.

Dynarski drew much evi-

dence for her analysis from the 
Educational Longitude Study. 
Conducted in 2002, the study 
followed a sample of high school 
sophomores across the U.S. as 
they progressed through high 
school and college.

The national graduation aver-

age in 2012 was 59 percent, 

according to the National Cen-
ter for Educational Statistics. At 
the University, it was 90 percent 
in 2012.

According to the University’s 

admissions website, the Univer-
sity is a less expensive option for 
in-state students. For in-state 
students, the University meets 
100 
percent 
financial 
need, 

which is measured by subtract-
ing a student’s expected family 
contribution from the Univer-
sity’s cost of attendance. It is 
cheaper to attend the Univer-
sity as an in-state student and 
receive 
substantial 
financial 

aid than to attend a college that 

See DISCREPANCY, Page 8

SURVEY
From Page 1

SCOTUS
From Page 1

ZACH MOORE/Daily

Imagine Dragons perform at the Palace of Auburn Hills on Tuesday.

PAL ACE OF SMOKE + MIRROR S

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

