something like this, we’re really
able to engage with the student
body.”
Public Health student Amaal
Haimout, president of MGSA, said
she was inspired to collaborate
with El-Halwagi after one of her
friends told her that 200 refugee
families were relocating to Grand
Rapids.
“Now, it’s definitely a personal
issue because it’s a car ride away,”
Haimout said.
Haimout said many University
students are unaware of the
crisis, and the vigil aimed to draw
attention to the cause.
“I don’t want to generalize,
but there are a lot of privileged
students here,” she said. “I
thought it’d be a great way to
empower those who are relocating
to Michigan to go out of their way
to help those who need help.”
LSA senior Dana Basha and
Muslim
chaplain
Mohammed
Tayssir spoke at the event. Both
are of Syrian descent and both
have family members who fled
the turmoil in Syria.
Basha urged students to see the
situation not as a set of statistics,
but as difficult circustances facing
human beings.
“I
refuse
to
make
this
something that’s characterized
by numbers,” Basha said. “These
are human beings that have been
facing atrocities and torture the
human mind cannot fathom.”
Medical
School
student
Mariam Salman echoed Basha’s
desire to humanize those affected
by the situation in Syria.
“It is really easy to just forget
that they are people with their
own families and their own
backgrounds and memories and
loved ones,” she said. “They have
lives and dreams that have been
shattered.”
An association of more than
60
research
universities
in
the United States and Canada,
the
nonprofit
AAU
focuses
on policy studies and federal-
government relations in areas
such as research policy and
research funding. For example,
the AAU released the results
last week from a national survey
designed to study sexual assault
on college campuses.
The University was one of the
AAU’s founding members when
the association formed in 1900.
“No one better understands
the challenges and opportunities
facing higher education than
Mary Sue Coleman,” University
President Mark Schlissel wrote
in a statement released Tuesday
afternoon. “I deeply appreciate
her willingness to take on this
crucial role for our nation, and
I look forward to continuing to
work with her.”
Coleman
served
as
the
University’s
13th
president
until her retirement in 2014.
She’s no stranger to the national
stage when it comes to higher
education policy. During her
tenure at the University, she
served as AAU chair from 2011
to 2012 and was appointed
to
co-chair
the
Obama
administration’s
National
Advisory Council on Innovation
and
Entrepreneurship.
A
biochemist
by
training,
Coleman was also selected last
fall to serve on the board of the
Mayo Clinic.
According to Barry Toiv,
the AAU vice president for
public affairs, the position will
be based in Washington D.C.
Toiv said the AAU president
frequently interacts with the
presidents and chancellors of
AAU member institutions and
organizes
their
twice-yearly
meetings in Washington D.C.
“The
day-to-day
job
is
mainly about coordinating and
participating in the work of
the AAU staff, which focuses
on advocating with Congress,
the
Administration,
and
the
public on such issues as support
for federally funded research,
federal research policy, support
for federal student aid programs,
and higher education policy,”
Toiv wrote in an e-mail interview.
Toiv
said
the
AAU
is
not
releasing
details
about
Coleman’s compensation for the
new position at this time.
Rep. Debbie Dingell (D—
Dearborn)
applauded
the
appointment in a statement
released Tuesday.
“The Association of American
Universities can have no better
leader than Mary Sue Coleman,”
she wrote. “She understands
the importance of promoting
equal access to education and
how
research
universities
are engines that propel our
economy by supporting top
talent and innovative ideas. She
will be an effective advocate
for students and will work
tirelessly to expand the reach
and capabilities of our research
universities, which are vital to
America’s success.”
COLEMAN
From Page 1A
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, September 30, 2015 — 3A
Department
of Theatre and
Drama marks
centennial
The University was the first
U.S. university to offer theater
production classes for credit in
1915. The Department of Theatre
and Drama is now celebrating its
100th anniversary, as well as 125
years of offering acting classes
for credit.
In celebration of the centennial,
StarKid, a successful group of
writers,
directors,
designers,
actors
and
directors,
formed
at the University in 2009, will
perform a reunion concert during
Homecoming on October 8.
The festivities will continue
with
alumni-hosted
career
sessions featuring Tony-winning
Broadway director Jack O’Brien.
Student
performances
of
University
alum
and
famed
playwright Arthur Miller’s “All
My Sons” will run Oct. 8 to Oct.
18 at the Arthur Miller Theatre
at the School of Music Theatre &
Dance’s Walgreen Drama Center.
— Lara Moehlman
University. An example of this
recent inclusion was engaging
students in discussion regarding
the best place to relocate the
Trotter Multicultural Center.
The context: Entering into
his first year as president of the
University, Schlissel was quick
to prioritize addressing the issue
of diversity and inclusion on
campus. Doing so was a pillar of
his inaugural address on Sept. 7 of
last year.
“The University of Michigan
must be a diverse and democratic
community: open and accessible,”
Schlissel said. “As members of
this community we will always
seek out, encourage and value all
voices.”
***
One year before Schlissel’s
arrival, the Black Student Union
launched its #BBUM movement
on Twitter. The “Being Black
at the University of Michigan”
hashtag, which Black students
used to share their experiences on
campus, went viral and sparked
similar social media reactions on
other college campuses.
Two months later, on Martin
Luther King Jr. Day in 2014,
the BSU held protests on the
steps of Hill Auditorium, where
they listed seven demands they
wanted the University address in
seven days.
The
BSU
asked
for
an
increased
budget,
affordable
housing
on
central
campus,
for the Trotter Multicultural
Center to be moved to Central
Campus, a Race and Ethnicity
class requirement, emergency
scholarships, exposure of Bentley
Historical Library documents
on race at the University and 10
Black enrollment.
In a January interview on
the anniversary of the #BBUM
protests,
then-Engineering
senior Robert Greenfield — who
was BSU’s treasurer at the time —
said the movement’s momentum
had slowed significantly.
“University
administration
is made of the highest and best
servants of our University, and
the BSU is very appreciative of
how they have collaborated with
us,” he said. “However, as of
now, it is the overall sentiment
of the BSU that progress is not
being made, and as an executive
board, we’re questioning the
administration’s
willingness
due to how fast things are
progressing.”
***
Arguably,
the
#BBUM
campaign played a pivotal role in
amplifying the discussion about
campus
diversity,
providing
momentum
for
change
that
continued to roll forward as
Schlissel took office.
In September 2014 — just
weeks
into
Schlissel’s
first
semester at the University —
with #BBUM and subsequent
conversations in recent memory,
the
administration
issued
a
“Diversity,
Equality
and
Inclusion Report” report with
13 recommendations for how to
increase diversity on campus and
improve campus climate.
The
recommendations,
generated by a committee through
the Office of the Provost, included
the creation of a committee to
research the level of inclusion
among faculty members, a plan to
partner with schools to increase
minority enrollment, a public
campaign by the provost in
support of diversity and a call for
the creation of the “strategic plan
for diversity.”
In a September 2015 interview
with the Daily, Schlissel said the
fully developed plan will likely be
released by the end of this school
year. The final result will come
from the collective feedback
of individual evaluations from
each of the University’s schools
and colleges as well as from each
administrative office.
Last
February,
Schlissel
announced several enterprises in
the works focusing on diversity
and inclusion on campus — many
of which were recommended
by University Provost Martha
Pollack’s
committee
in
September.
These
included
partnering with predominantly
underrepresented
school
districts,
creating
a
task
force dedicated to hiring and
promoting minority staff as well
as a diversity summit to take
place in the fall.
“The plan has to work towards
the goal of making the University
community look like the public it
serves,” Schlissel said in February.
“It sounds simplistic: There aren’t
numerical quotas — that’s not
either legal or desirable — there’s
a shared ambition and we’re trying
to release the creativity of all of our
different units.”
February’s
announcement
marked
the
plan’s
formal
introduction. Seven months later,
its formal deadline was set; less
than seven months from now will
mark the beginning of strategy
implementation that will likely
influence climate, culture and
general practices for years to
come.
“It’s not the kind of thing I’m
convinced where we have a three-
year plan and then we’re done,”
Schlissel said in September. “I
am convinced that my successors
are going to be working on this
because of how far society has
to go to be truly inclusive and
diverse society; the kind that
matches our ideals.”
***
The first leg of Schlissel’s plan
launched Sept. 2 when Schlissel
announced the High Achieving
Involved Leader Scholarship.
The scholarship program is
currently being piloted for two
years by the University with
aims to attract academically
strong students from low-income
families — applying to students
from urban, rural or suburban
neighborhoods.
The
program
offers four years of free tuition
to the University, and is valued at
$60,000.
“As a public university, we
want to make sure that we
remain accessible and affordable
to talented students in the state,”
Schlissel said. “No matter where
they are in the state, no matter
what community they grow up
in, what high school they went to,
what their parents do, what their
circumstances are.”
The University has yet to
release the demographics of
the 6,269 students in the 2015
freshman
class.
However,
enrollment
data
from
2015
shows 3.84 percent of the newly
admitted student body was Black.
This brings the total percentage
of Black students enrolled at
the University to 4.63 percent
— slightly lower than in the
previous five years.
In his September interview
with the Daily, Schlissel said the
University would “start to see
modest incremental changes in
the direction of diversity now,”
based on changes made to the
admissions and financial aid
procedures in the last year.
Prior to Schlissel’s arrival,
the administration had put in
place the Center for Educational
Outreach, which came out of
a
2007
Diversity
Blueprints
Committee. The CEO offers more
than a dozen programs aimed to
both increase the University’s
presence
in
underserved
communities and offer academic
aid to those students.
The
center
aided
4,558
students in 2014 from third
grade through high school in 124
schools in the state of Michigan.
Schlissel’s proposed plans to
increase
partnerships
with
underrepresented schools is a
start to solving the low minority
enrollment numbers, as there
currently is no concrete data
on how well similar programs
already in place — such as the
CEO program — affect minority
enrollment.
***
So far, of the seven demands
the BSU laid out for the University
to address, four have been
addressed. The administration
has nearly doubled the BSU’s
funding — from $37,000 in
2014 to $60,000 this year. BSU
members have been encouraged
by some of the administration’s
efforts in areas such as providing
emergency funds to students, as
well as the revising the Race and
Ethnicity requirements so that
Intergroup Relations courses will
count toward it.
However,
BSU
members
say there is more to be done
— especially in areas such as
increasing minority enrollment
and moving the Trotter Center
closer to campus.
In
response
to
#BBUM,
Pollack promised in January 2014
to improve the building. At the
time, Pollack and Harper listed
the Trotter Center’s relocation
among their top three priorities
to be addressed immediately.
The other two were improving
campus climate and increasing
minority enrollment.
The University has agreed
to ultimately move the Trotter
Center closer to campus. The
Office of Student Life hosted a
number of student focus groups at
the current location in September
to discuss four potential options.
E.
Royster
Harper,
vice
president for student life, said
in a September interview with
the Daily that wherever the
new location may be, it will be
finished by 2017.
***
LSA senior Arnold Reed, the
2014-2015 BSU speaker, said
though the BSU has not worked
very closely with Schlissel, the
organization has been pleased
with the administration’s efforts
thus far and is looking forward
to increased collaboration in the
future.
“The
gap
between
administration and students is
narrowing over time, which I’m
appreciative of,” Reed said. “I
hope to continue working with
them in years to come.”
Robert Sellers, vice provost for
equity, inclusion and academic
affairs, said, overall, students
are
happy
with
the
steps
Schlissel has taken over the past
year. Sellers served as chair of
Pollack’s committee on diversity
and inclusion.
“The number of students
that I talk to have been excited
about where we are and where
we’re going,” Sellers said. “The
fact that he has been very public
and upfront with regards to this
being an important part of his
presidency. Also the fact that
he has laid forth a diversity
strategic planning process that
will engage the entire University
towards thinking about and
developing and recommitting
to a strategy that will not only
create a more diverse campus,
but one that’s equitable for all
students, faculty and staff and
allow us to utilize the various
kinds of experiences that a
diverse campus brings.”
A priority for Sellers and
Schlissel
is
to
improve
the
Diversity Matters website as
a place for students to share
experiences and foster discussion
online. They hope the new version
of the website will help connect
students with pre-existing online
resources while also creating new
platforms for interaction.
Moving forward: Reed said he
was happy Schlissel has a plan,
but said he cannot be sure of how
much of an impact it will make at
this point.
“A plan is a great place to start,
but a plan is definitely just a plan
until action is put behind it,”
Reed said. “I’m going to be very
interested to see how that action
is put behind it and how students
are going to be playing a role in
that narrative. I think that it’s a
good thing for him to be talking
about it and rallying behind it, but
I just want to see what becomes
of it in the years to come. We’re
definitely holding administration
to that plan.”
Something everyone seems
to agree upon is that diversity
issues cannot be solved within
one year’s time. Sellers is pleased
with how much Schlissel has
accomplished
over
the
past
year as well as his approach
to
addressing
diversity.
He
said while Schlissel can lead
the efforts to improve campus
diversity, it’s up to members of
the University community to put
an effort into creating change.
“It’s important for folks to
understand that he has made
a great deal of progress in the
eight months, in terms of his
commitment, both publicly and
privately, more so than one could
even begin to imagine,” Sellers
said. “He has a serious view of
this, so he doesn’t see this as a box
to check off his checklist in terms
of issues to address, but he sees it
as a long-term commitment.”
Sellers continued highlighting
the importance of Schlissel’s
long-term outlook.
“That long-term commitment
means that it’s not going to be
solved in a semester. The issues
that face this University, or
frankly face higher education
in our society, cannot be fixed
in a semester,” Sellers said. “I
would, quite frankly, be afraid if
that was his approach. That just
tells me that he’s serious about
it because he sees this as a long-
term effort that the University as
a whole must engage in to have
real transformation, and to have
real, sustained achievement.”
Reed also noted the ongoing
process of promoting diversity as
well as his confidence in Schlissel
to take on the job.
“There’s
things
that
we
can always improve. This is
something that you can’t just
work on once — it’s a continual
process,” Reed said. “I’m excited
to see what comes of it. He’s still
pretty new at this point and he’s
growing into his role. I’m just
really excited to see where he
can take these issues. He’s a very
strategic thinker and he’s very
methodical in his movements,
and I think that we’ll be able to
see a lot of cool things being done
this upcoming year.”
SCHLISSEL
From Page 1A
flipping through the course
catalog. Archeology wasn’t ever
something that I had thought
of as something I could study at
the University. I mean, I knew
archeology was a field, but it
never occurred to me to major in
classical archeology.”
Nakassis, who went on to
major in classical archeology
when he was a student, also
took classes in ancient Greek.
Doing so catered to both honing
his
academic
interests
and
reconnecting with his family
roots — his father grew up in
Greece, where, he said, learning
the ancient language was part of
the high school curriculum.
“They were just the best
classes. They were so well taught
and so interesting and I was
pretty much hooked after that,”
Nakassis said. “From there, I had
a very, very clear idea of what I
wanted to do … It was just sort
of luck of the draw, having really
great and inspiring professors.”
One
of
his
influential
professors during his time at
the University, Nakassis said,
was Susan Alcock, who was a
MacArthur recipient in 2000.
“It feels weird to think of
myself or to be in the same
category with someone like
her,” he said. “That’s the other
weird thing about winning the
MacArthur. So much attention is
on you and part of me just wants
to be like, ‘I’ve only been able to
get here because I’ve had, like,
the best professors.’ I really feel
like, at Michigan, I was exposed
to some of the best professors in
the field.”
The University is currently
the only college in the state with
a classics department. Michigan
State University’s final classics
major graduated in May 2014.
“I think it is an unfortunate
reality of the financial crunch
that
a
lot
of
universities
are
feeling,”
Nakassis
said.
“Michigan’s a shining light, for
sure, in classics … it would be
better for the people at Michigan
if it weren’t the only one.”
GENIUS
From Page 1A
and we asked them about binge
drinking, which for youth is five
or more drinks in one occasion,”
she said. “Just based on the
responses to those questions, we
determine what’s risky drinking.”
The results of the trial were
overwhelmingly positive, as both
outlets of intervention proved
effective in reducing alcohol
consumption
and
drinking-
related consequences.
Particularly
promising
was the effectiveness of the
computer program, which was
significantly able to reduce the
frequency
of
alcohol-related
injuries. According to the study,
a brief computer intervention
correlated with a decrease in the
instances of driving under the
influence in the 12-month follow-
up period.
“The idea that technology
can be used to deliver health
interventions,
not
just
for
alcohol as it can be used for other
behaviors as well, is an exciting
way to address health behaviors
in a low-cost way,” Walton said.
Medical
School
student
Stephan
Diljak,
co-president
of
the
University’s
chapter
of
the
American
Medical
Student Association, said the
potential of increasing the role
of technology in mitigating
behavior is a “cool idea.”
“It seems to me that it sounds
very similar to methods that
have been proven to work to
get people to quit smoking,”
he said. “This sort of thing has
more of an effect than family or
friends on getting people to quit.
I definitely believe that it could
be a valuable way to get people
to change their behavior for the
better of their health.”
The results of the trial are
promising, but there is still a long
road ahead before any policy can
be implemented, including the
need for repetition of the trial.
“I
don’t
think
it
will
immediately change practice,”
Walton said. “I think changing
practice in clinical care takes time.
One of the limitations of the study
is that it was conducted in a single
emergency department setting
and before you would implement
this as part of clinical care we
would like to see it replicated.”
Walton and her team are also
currently applying for funding
to attempt to replicate their
findings in eight emergency
departments across the country.
Medical School student Shai
Madjar said broadening the
study’s scope could potentially
change the delivery of health
interventions in the long run.
“From a medical point of view,
I think that it’s really hard to
change people’s behavior — even
risky behavior,” he said. “In the
hospital, you often have so little
time talk to people, so if you can
show that a brief intervention
like the ones discussed in the
trial can have an impact that
stays true over time that would
be really important.”
This ability for a computer
intervention to have such a
significant effect on behavior
could have long-term effects
on how patients and doctors
interact.
Walton
added
that
the medical community will
undoubtedly continue to look into
ways to curb underage drinking
— an issue the University has also
grappled with in recent years.
“I think there’s a real interest
in medical studies, including
the emergency department, in
reducing injury and alcohol is a key
risk factor in injury and therefore
I think that a lot of hospital
personnel are very committed to
this issue,” Walton said.
EMERGENCY
From Page 1A
VIGIL
From Page 1A
125 YEARS NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD.