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Friday, November 13, 2015

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tip-off

Institutional racism 
must be acknowledged

By THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Editorial Board

The University community is no 

stranger to protests in recent years with 
several student groups calling for the 
administration to improve race relations 
and increase diversity on campus. 
Therefore, the events of this past week 
at the University of Missouri should be 
of no surprise to anyone paying attention 
to the realities that Black students face 
each and every day on college campuses 
across the nation. But therein lies the 
problem: Not enough people are paying 
attention. Too many deny the existence 
of institutional racism.

That must change now.
The School of Social Work People of 

Color Collective led a demonstration on 
the Diag Wednesday evening to stand 
in solidarity with the Black community 
at 
the 
University 
of 
Missouri. 

Hundreds of University community 
members gathered to share personal 
experiences and show their support. 
The demonstration comes after months 
of racial tension on Missouri’s campus, 
which culminated in the resignation 
of the Missouri system’s president, 
Timothy Wolfe, on Nov. 9.

A prominent student activist group at 

Mizzou, Concerned Student 1950 — which 
refers to the first year Black students 
were admitted to the university — led an 
aggressive push for Wolfe’s resignation 
after it became evident he was incapable 
of dealing with racism on campus. The 
group also called for a formal apology 
from Wolfe along with eight other 
demands of the administration. These 
efforts echo similar actions taken by the 
University of Michigan’s Black Student 
Union, which led a protest in January 
2014 that garnered national attention 
about issues of race on college campuses.

In the cases of both Missouri and 

Michigan, student groups criticized 
the 
inaction 
of 
their 
respective 

university administrators and called 
for reform to increase education about 
race in course curricula, enrollment 
of ethnic minorities and accessibility 
to safe spaces on campuses, such as 
multicultural 
centers. 
There’s 
no 

denying the differences in the cultural 
climates at the University of Missouri 
and on our campus. But the overarching 
commonalities 
in 
these 
demands 

illustrate the urgent need to address 
the institutional racism ever-present 
in our nation that takes shape in many 
forms: lack of minority representation 
and inclusivity on college campuses, 
discriminatory criminal justice policy 
and voter registration laws, police 
brutality and so much more.

This week, our University hosted the 

Diversity Summit to collect opinions 
on how to devise a campus-wide plan 
to improve inclusion and diversity on 
campus. These efforts — along with those 
aimed at increasing minority enrollment, 
expanding education about race in 
curricula and improving the Trotter 
Multicultural Center — demonstrate a 
legitimate attempt to stimulate a broad 
conversation about race on campus and 
create tangible change. But there’s a 
long, long way to go. For starters, the 
entire campus community must listen 
to, sympathize with and learn about the 
very real and urgent struggles that Black 
students — and all students of color — face 
in 2015. In other words, wake up and pay 
attention.

Detroit Police 

assistant chief to 
assume role in early 
2016, pending vote

By SHOHAM GEVA

Daily News Editor

There’s a new chief in town.
The city of Ann Arbor 

announced 
Thursday 
that 

James White, an assistant 
police chief with the Detroit 
Police Department, has been 
appointed the new Ann Arbor 
Police Chief. The selection 
pends approval by the Ann 
Arbor City Council, which will 
vote on the recommendation 
at their meeting Monday.

White will replace John 

Seto, current chief of the Ann 
Arbor Police Department, who 
announced his retirement in 
May. Seto was appointed chief 
of police in 2012, and served 
for 25 years with AAPD. He 

has since accepted a job with 
the University as the director 
of Housing Security. 

City Administrator Steve 

Powers, who is responsible for 
making the recommendation, 
wrote in a press release that 
White’s skill set prepared him 
well for the job.

“I’m 
confident 
that 

James’ broad management 
experience and abilities will 
be an asset to the Ann Arbor 
Police Department, which has 
a well-earned reputation for 
excellence,” he wrote. “James 
has a keen understanding of 
law enforcement challenges 
and opportunities and I’m 
confident he will serve the 
Ann Arbor community well.”

If 
approved 
as 
chief, 

White will have to face the 
ongoing 
controversy 
over 

the fatal shooting of Ann 
Arbor resident Aura Rosser a 
year ago by an AAPD officer. 
The shooting has prompted 
multiple protests in the city, 

ANN ARBOR
FROM THE DAILY
Wake up 
and pay 
attention

During event, 
employees give 

feedback on 
August report

By SAMANTHA WINTNER

Daily Staff Reporter

Many of the University’s 

recent 
efforts 
to 
improve 

diversity 
on 
campus 

have 
focused 
on 
the 

student 
experience, 
such 

as 
hostingdialogues 
on 

campus 
climate 
and 

packagingadmissions 
and 

financial aid decisions in an 
effort to enroll more low-
income students.

However, 
a 
dialogue 

hosted Thursday by the Staff 
Committee on Diversity, Equity 
and Inclusion focused entirely 
on staff and faculty.

The 
event, 
part 
of 
the 

University’s 
week-long 

diversity 
summit, 
largely 

centered 
around 
a 
report 

released in August by the 
staff committee, which was 
charged with gathering data 
and crafting recommendations 
on staff hiring, promotion and 
work climate.

Darlene Nichols, a committee 

member and the foundations 
and grants librarian at the 
University, 
said 
the 
report 

found that about 75 percent 
of the staff surveyed felt good 
about working at the University.

GREG GOSS/Daily

Ann Arbor resident Ady Powell performs during the during the Poems for Change event hosted by the 
Groundcover News U-M Student Group on Thursday.

POEMS FOR CHANGE

Hundreds attend 
event hosted by 

Students for Choice

By CAITLIN REEDY

Daily Staff Reporter

Amid an ongoing national 

debate over abortion rights and 
Planned 
Parenthood, 
about 

300 students gathered in the 

Michigan Union on Thursday 
night for the third annual 
Abortion Speak Out.

The event, which invited 

people to share their personal 
experiences with abortion, was 
hosted in collaboration with 
the 1 in 3 Campaign, a national 
group that aims to make 
abortion a less taboo topic.

“I thought it was very 

powerful and I’m so grateful 
that all of these people were 

so brave and able to share their 
stories,” said LSA junior Kelsey 
Almony, a member of Students 
for Choice. “And I hope that 
other spaces can be created like 
this for other people to share 
their stories.”

During the speak out, only 

individuals who had an abortion 
were permitted to share, and 
organizers placed restrictions 
on recording or social media 

Basement Arts 
stages Martin 
McDonnaugh’s 
acclaimed play

By GRACE HAMILTON

Daily Arts Writer

“The 
Pillowman” 
is 
a 

complex play about violence, 
politics and the power of art. 
Confidently confronting issues 
such as child 
abuse 
and 

fratricide, the 
work is a feat 
for both the 
playwright 
and 
his 

audiences. 
It is perhaps 
even more of 
a 
challenge 

for the actors 
who must plumb the depths 
for 
their 
representation, 

particularly when those actors 
work under the constraints of 
limited resources and limited 
time. 

“Come and expect to laugh. 

And then leave shaken to your 
core,” School of Music, Theatre 

& Dance senior and director 
Jacob Sam Rich said of “The 
Pillowman.”

Comedies can’t get any 

darker than this. 

Basement Arts, a student-

run 
theater 
organization 

that 
has 
provided 
free 

entertainment 
to 
the 

University for over 20 years, 
has never shied away from 
challenges such as these. 
In fact, the group actively 
seeks 
cutting-edge 
work 

that continues to push the 
boundaries of both its own 
previous 
productions 
and 

the rest of the University’s 
theater world. Most audiences 
can’t get enough of it; some of 
their notable productions like 
“A Very Potter Musical” and 
“Me and My Dick” have even 
reached national success.

This Saturday, Basement 

Arts is putting on its production 
of Irish playwright Martin 
McDonagh’s “The Pillowman” 
with a cast of four. After its 
debut in 2003, the play has 
been produced on Broadway 
and London’s West End and 
earned the 2004 Oliver Award 
for Best New Play.

The play is set in an 

Dark, challenging 
meta-comedy in 
‘The Pillowman’

ARTS PREVIEW

CAMPUS LIFE

See SPEAK OUT, Page 3A
See PILLOWMAN, Page 3A

See CHIEF, Page 3A
See DIVERSITY, Page 3A

DELANEY RYAN/Daily

Darlene Nichols, foundations and grants librarian at the University Library, facilitates a discussion on diversity in 
staff and faculty at the Michigan League on Thursday.

The 
Pillowman

Walgreen 

Drama Center 

Nov. 13 and 14, 

7 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Free

Council to 
approve new 
police chief 
on Monday

Staff, faculty discuss 
steps to bolster ‘U’ 
workplace diversity

Women share experiences at 
third annual Abortion Speak Out

INDEX
Vol. CXXV, No. 29
©2015 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com

NEWS......................... 2A

OPINION.....................4A

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 A

SUDOKU..................... 2A

CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A

T H E T I P- O F F. . . . . . . . . . . . .1 B

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