CLAIRE ABDO/Daily

LSA Senior Zachary Ackerman after being sworn into the Ann Arbor city council on November 17, 2015.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Thursday, January 7, 2016 — 3A

within the University.”

While 
McCoy 
added 

that 
he 
supported 
the 

administration’s decision, he 
emphasized that the driving 
force behind the change was 
student activism.

“For the University to follow 

through on that demand is 
a 
welcomed 
development, 

but I also think that this is 
an example of how student 
activism works,” McCoy said. 
“If it weren’t for the years of 
student activists, I don’t think 
this would’ve happened.”

Echoing 
McCoy’s 

sentiment, 
Elizabeth 

James, 
a 
Department 
of 

Afroamerican 
and 
African 

Studies 
program 
associate 

and adviser to the Black 
Student 
Union, 
expressed 

feelings of relief and joy in 
response to the approval. She 
also highlighted the symbolic 
nature 
of 
the 
relocation, 

seeing it as representative of 
the University community’s 
commitment to diversity.

“By relocating the new 

Trotter to the heart of Central 
Campus, we are saying that 
we want everyone to feel this 
is an inclusive campus and 
that this is a University that 
will provide a welcoming 
environment for all of our 
students, regardless of race, 
creed or color,” James wrote 
in an e-mail to the Daily.

However, 
while 
many 

community 
members 

commend the development, 
others 
have 
hesitated 
in 

supporting the relocation.

Rackham 
student 
Pete 

Haviland-Eduah, 
vice 

president of Students of Color 
of Rackham, said though he is 
in favor of the relocation, he 
has reservations about how 
the project will be executed. 

“We’ll also see how the 

new space works functionally. 
I would hate to see it be a 
space that’s not necessarily 
as functional for what it was 
meant to serve,” Haviland-
Eduah said. “With any type 
of move, there’s always room 
for negative impact to happen, 
and I hope that’s minimized if 
it exists at all.”

In recent months, other 

students have voiced concerns 
over the relocation of Trotter 
as well. During a September 
forum at Trotter, Rackham 
student 
Asya 
Harrison, 

secretary of Students of Color 
of Rackham, told E. Royster 
Harper, 
the 
University’s 

vice president for student 
life, 
that 
moving 
the 

center to Central Campus 
would threaten its quiet 

atmosphere and separation 
from the stresses of classes 
and schoolwork.

At the meeting, LSA senior 

Bree 
Sullivan 
expressed 

unease regarding the move 
as 
well, 
highlighting 
the 

history and importance of the 
current building. She noted 
that the facility has served as 
a home for underrepresented 
minorities, and she worried 
that the space may not feel as 
safe on Central Campus.

“This is a lot of history, this 

building,” she said. “I want it 
and I want future generations 
to have it.”

Former 
BSU 
Treasurer 

Robert Greenfield said he 
hopes the new center will have 
designated spaces for Black 
students on campus as well as 
students of other identities.

“I really hope they don’t 

minimize the identities of 
other cultures,” Greenfield 
said.

He added that he hopes 

the new multicultural center 
will be named after someone 
who is representative of the 
ongoing 
campus 
struggle 

to 
improve 
diversity 
and 

inclusion.

“Already 
on 
campus, 

we have a lot of buildings 
that are named after a lot 
of 
people 
who, 
although 

their accomplishments with 
regards 
to 
the 
University 

were great, were very racist 
people,” he said. “I don’t want 
it to be named after a past 
president of the University 
from the late 1800s. I want it 
to be named after someone 
that’s representative of this 
newfound 
struggle 
that 

minority students have on 
campus.”

Regardless of the mixed 

feelings 
surrounding 
the 

move, for some, the relocation 
of 
Trotter 
signifies 
the 

beginning of a new chapter 
at the University that will 
affect 
future 
Wolverines. 

Kinesiology 
senior 
Cap 

Kendall, BSU speaker, said 
she was pleased with the 
relocation of Trotter despite 
the fact that she will not be 
able to take advantage of the 
new center herself.

“Though I won’t be here to 

experience it, I am comforted 
with the notion that countless 
numbers of my peers and 
I 
have 
done 
something 

that I hope will change the 
experience of generations to 
come,” Kendall said.

TROTTER
From Page 1A

from 
the 
U.S. 
Attorney’s 

Office that it, in joint with 
the Environmental Protection 
Agency, will investigate the 
crisis.

The crisis began after the 

city of Flint switched from 
Detroit city water to using the 
Flint River as their primary 
water 
source. 
Following 

the switch in April 2014, 
residents began to notice a 
change in the water’s quality 
as well as adverse health 
affects like hair loss and 
rotted teeth. Testing later 
revealed an unsafe amount 
of lead and trihalomethanes 
— a carcinogenic chlorine 
byproduct — in the water.

The Flint Water Advisory 

Task Force was assigned to 
investigate the mishaps in 
Flint’s handling of their water 
in 
October 
2015. 
Wyant’s 

resignation, as well as other 
state efforts, are in response 
to the task force’s findings.

“The health and welfare of 

Flint residents is a top priority 
and we’re committed to a 
coordinated approach with 
resources from state agencies 
to address all aspects of this 
situation,” Snyder said in a 
press release on January 5. 
“Working in full partnership 
with the Flint Water Advisory 
Task Force, all levels of 
government and water quality 
experts, we will find both 
short-term 
and 
long-term 

solutions to ensure the health 
and safety of Flint residents.”

In a statement, Attorney 

General Bill Schuette said 
despite knowing Wyant to 
be a hard working public 
servant, he believed Wynat’s 

resignation was necessary to 
rebuilding the public’s trust 
in the state.

“In my 20-plus years of 

knowing him, Dan has been 
a 
hardworking, 
dedicated 

public servant,” Schuette said. 
“I am committed to working 
with all parties, including the 
legislature and Governor, to 
ensure the public’s health and 
the well being of Michigan 
residents.”

Though the city admitted 

to 
violating 
the 
federal 

Safe 
Water 
Drinking 
Act 

for the unsafe amount of 
trihalomethanes in January 
2015, 
Flint’s 
emergency 

manager chose to keep their 
current 
water 
filtration 

system for nine more months.

In October, the city struck 

a deal to begin purchasing 
water from Detroit again, 
amid investigation into Flint’s 
water quality concerns.

“When I became aware 

that the city of Flint’s water 
showed elevated lead levels... 
I appointed an independent 
task force to identify possible 
missteps 
and 
areas 
for 

improvement,” Snyder noted 
in a statement released in 
December.

The 
state 
government’s 

response to the crisis has 
drawn significant criticism, 
especially 
from 
interest 

groups 
in 
the 
state, 
as 

well 
as 
engagement 
from 

colleges in the area. Lonnie 
Scott, 
executive 
director 

of 
Progress 
Michigan, 
a 

political organization whose 
mission is to hold government 
officials 
accountable, 
said 

in a statement he believes 
Michigan officials have not 
taken responsibility for the 
crisis 
surrounding 
Flint’s 

water supply. 

“Dan Wyant gets to walk 

away from this crisis, but the 
people of Flint do not,” Scott 
saidW. “We need complete 
transparency so that justice 
for the families of Flint can be 
realized and the proper people 
can be held accountable. All 
documentation related to this 
crisis needs to be released to 
the public immediately.”

The crisis has also prompted 

University 
engagement. 

Faculty 
at 
UM-Flint 
will 

offer a special course on the 
water crisis and other local 
issues. Starting this semester, 
the class will feature panel 
discussions with leaders and 
experts in the field.

Suzanne 
Selig, 
director 

of the Department of Public 
Health and Health Sciences 
at 
UM-Flint, 
hopes 
this 

class will benefit the entire 
community, she said in a 
statement.

“We 
want 
to 
promote 

a 
further 
understanding 

of this crisis and discuss 
lessons learned as we move 
forward together to promote 
better health for all in our 
community,” 
Selig 
said. 

“The 
students 
will 
have 

an 
opportunity 
to 
‘see’ 

community engagement and 
how we can all benefit from 
an open dialogue.”

In a January release, Snyder 

said he hopes the actions 
being taken now will help 
to protect the health of Flint 
residents both in the short 
and long term.

“I want the Flint community 

to know how very sorry I 
am that this has happened,” 
Snyder said. “And I want all 
Michigan citizens to know 
that we will learn from this 
experience, because Flint is 
not the only city that has an 

to compete with accredited 
dancers.

“It was amazing to see the 

professionals 
showcased 
at 

Nationals and compete in the 
same field as some of the best in 
the country,” she said. “Ballroom 
has given me so many great 
memories I know I’ll take with 
me later on in life.”

Their 
performance 
was 

followed by a samba jive done to 
“Jailhouse Rock,” a combination 
piece, and finished with a cha-
cha from two alumni.

Wednesday’s 
event 
was 

the first free lesson of four 
more to come. The lessons 
are designed to demonstrate 
what membership in the team 
looks like, according to LSA 
sophomore Saharsh Hajela, the 
team’s public relations chair.

“We really think for people 

to get the ballroom experience 
individuals need to actually 
experience the dancing itself,” 
he said. “This is just a taste on 
how a lesson would work.”

He added that the team has 

a positive environment that 
doesn’t require any previous 
experience, 
which 
other 

members of the team also 
emphasized.

“Just be brave and go for it; 

you never know until you try,” 
Hajela said. “Most of our team 
has little to no experience. I 
would say that around 95 percent 
of the team, including those we 
showcased today, started with 
no prior experience. We have 
all different kinds of people 
on the team from all different 
backgrounds majors and career 
paths — no one fits a mold for 
Ballroom.”

BALLROOM
From Page 1A

FLINT
From Page 1A

with voters in order to gain their 
trust.

“I had to run a different 

campaign,” Ackerman said. “It 
was very grassroots. We knocked 
on 4,000 doors, and 2,000 of those 
were done by myself. I just had to 
introduce myself to the voters and 
prove to them this was something 
I have been passionate about for a 
long time and I will continue to be 
passionate about it.”

Ford School Prof. Rusty Hills 

, whose class — Elections and 
Campaigns — Ackerman took, 
said he advocates for students like 
Ackerman, who make political 
change. If there is one lesson Hills 
hopes students acquire from his 
classes, it’s that everyone can 
make a difference.

“One 
person 
can 
make 
a 

difference and that person can be 
a young person,” he said. “There’s 
no reason why a student at the 
University of Michigan can’t make 
a difference.”

Ackerman’s love for politics 

began as a high schooler in Ann 
Arbor. He said he was a nerdy 
15-year-old boy, and he channeled 
his nerdiness into government and 
politics. In high school, he first 
began attending the Ann Arbor 
City Council meetings and he said 
“it kind of stuck.” 

His education at Michigan, he 

said, allowed him to grow in his 
love and understanding of politics. 
An 
introductory 
course 
on 

comparative politics with Political 
Science Prof. Andrei Markovits 
was particularly influential for 
Ackerman. 
The 
comparative 

nature of the class allowed him to 
realize the value of government 
systems outside of Michigan.

“And while this isn’t directly 

applicable 
to 
municipal 

government and my work on 
student council, it did give me 
a frame that there are practices 
that exist in other communities 
and that we can’t always look 
internally,” Ackerman said.

Additionally, interning with a 

congressional race in Michigan for 
credit instead of taking a class also 
helped fuel Ackerman’s political 
education. 
The 
action 
based 

learning, he said, was as important 
to him as his formal education.

“If 
you 
want 
to 
make 

a 
difference 
in 
your 
local 

community, your state or nation, 
you really have to dive right into 
it,” he said. “I think the greatest 
educational experience I’ve had 
has been working on campaigns 
or for elected officials. This class 
gave me a good excuse to do this.”

Along 
with 
Ackerman, 

University alum Travis Gonyou, 
who graduated in 2012, said his 
University education allowed him 
to get a greater understanding of 
politics that he used for his current 

job as a community outreach and 
communications manager at the 
Regional Transit Authority of 
Southeast Michigan. Gonyou said 
Political Science Prof. Arthur 
Lupia’s political persuasion class 
was 
especially 
formative 
for 

Gonyou, and inspired him to think 
about politics in a different way.

“It really changed the way I 

thought about the field of politics 
and what I could actually do in 
the realm of politics,” he said. 
“The research he presented was 
really inspiring. He changed the 
trajectory that I went on and I 
have to say it was influential as a 
mentor and advisor to me.”

Gonyou said his experience 

during 
the 
undergraduate 

research opportunity program 
also allowed him to think beyond 
what he believed to be the basis of 
politics.

“It was then that I started to 

realize that it wasn’t just about the 
difference in theory and what you 
see in political practice or learning 
about 
the 
actual 
structures,” 

Gonyou said. “But rather how our 
words and hand gestures portray 
a certain meaning within political 
debate.”

Gonyou said his Michigan 

education not only gave him 
career opportunities, but also 
helped him reach an extensive 
alumni network — especially since 
connections can have an influence 
on politics.

“It is incredible having an 

alumni network that is one of 
the largest in the world and of 
politically-minded and incredibly 
intelligent people who all are 
looking out for you,” he said. “I 
think that is a huge influence on 
the political world.”

Law Prof. Michael Barr also 

noted that the education at 
the University aids students in 
internships and post-grad life.

“One of my students from last 

year, Kate Fitzgerald, is currently 
an intern for the Clinton campaign 
in New York working on policy 
issues,” Burr said. “I think her 
strong analytic timing at Michigan 
has helped her be an effective 
writer and analysist and is helping 
her help the campaign.”

Hills said he has also seen 

numerous examples of his students 
succeeding in the political world, 
including former state Rep. Paul 
Scott, who chaired the House 
Education Committee during his 
term.

Overall, Ackerman said many 

details from his classes still 
resonate with him in his day-to-
day career.

“There are some sound bites 

I still remember from Professor 
Hills,” Ackerman said, “Like be 
bold, which means knowing what 
you want and be willing to fight for 
it when it’s the right time. Also you 
can do as many things as you want, 
but you can only do one thing well. 
Which is an important perspective 
for a political leader.

ALUMS
From Page 1A

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