Opinion

SHOHAM GEVA
EDITOR IN CHIEF

CLAIRE BRYAN 

AND REGAN DETWILER 
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS

LAURA SCHINAGLE
MANAGING EDITOR

420 Maynard St. 

Ann Arbor, MI 48109

 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

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Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Editorial Board. 

All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A —Thursday, March 31, 2016

C

HARLIEEEE! That’s why 
you ain’t got no teeth; your 
teeth ran away cause you 

talk 
so 
dang 

on much.” The 
room 
erupts 

with 
laughter 

and 
snickers 

from 
a 
group 

of 20 men, one 
woman and one 
child. 
Charlie 

is 
a 
frequent 

visitor 
to 
the 

Capuchin 
Soup 
Kitchen 

in 
Detroit; 

the 
staff 
and 

other Capuchin guests know his 
charismatic personality well. The 
checkered floor was worn with 
scuff marks, and the air smelled 
of the stir-fry served for lunch 
that day. As the laughter gently 
subsided, more visitors trickled 
into the doorway, awaiting the 
meal provided for them.

11 a.m.: The volunteers of 

Capuchin 
Soup 
Kitchen 
are 

diverse in gender, race and age. 
I went to volunteer with Circle 
K on its annual day of service. 
I was the only native Detroiter 
and the only Black person of the 
group. Before we began serving 
food, we were escorted to a room 
where we met one of the founders 
of the soup kitchen. He showed 
us a video about the history of 
Capuchin and its purpose — the 
soup kitchen has been in Detroit 
since 1929, at the beginning 
of the Great Depression when 
national poverty cloaked the 
United States.

Detroit was not immune to the 

social ills of the Great Depression. 
The friars of Capuchin Province 
of St. Joseph used their ministry 
on Mt. Elliott Street to feed those 
who needed a meal. Since its 
creation, Capuchin has expanded 
its programs to include substance 
abuse 
counseling, 
employment 

opportunities 
for 
people 
who 

were formerly incarcerated and 
an organic farm to redevelop 
Detroit’s food system. I chose to 
work with Capuchin this service 
day because I was familiar with 
Earthworks and the On the Rise 
Bakery, which are also Capuchin 
programs, but I wanted to learn 
more about the soup kitchen.

11:30 a.m.: At least a dozen 

guests have come through the 
lunch line since lunch began, 
some with faint smiles, others 
not making eye contact and a few 
with large grins. I ask each of 
them how they are, which seems 
like both the politest question to 
ask, but also the most trivial. For 
the brief 20-second interaction, 
how could I gauge their sense 
of well-being? Why would they 
care to share that information 
with 
me? 
The 
impersonal 

engagement of serving lunch 
made the physical lunch line 
that divided us more defined. I 
had hoped our commonalities 
as Black Detroiters would dilute 

the physical barrier of the lunch 
line that divided the privileged 
and the marginalized, but the 
systemic implications of classism 
were impossible to ignore. 

The video that the volunteers 

and I watched before our shift 
described how the need for 
soup 
kitchen 
in 
Mt. 
Elliott 

community arose. I had to think 
about 
insufficient 
access 
to 

food, poverty and homelessness 
that has plagued the Mt. Elliott 
community for decades, and how 
Capuchin is meeting a need that 
public policy has neglected. That 
video complicated my presence 
at Capuchin. I was able to insert 
myself into this space for a mere 
three hours and then resume my 
life. And the guests of Capuchin? 
Well, who knows? The soup 
kitchen and the volunteers for 
that meal are a small fraction of 
their day. We were supposed to 
be there to help, and yet I felt so 
helpless, because I knew I didn’t 
solve anything.

Of all the service learning 

organizations on campus, how 
many provoke a discussion about 
the roots of the systemic issues 
community-service acts as a Band-
Aid for? Or a reflection about how 
identity impacts the service we 
engage in and communities we 
seek to serve? What message does 
it send when one of the University’s 
premier 
service 
organizations, 

the Detroit Partnership, does not 
have one member from the city 
of Detroit on its executive board 
and the majority of its service 
opportunities 
are 
in 
Detroit? 

Without 
having 
a 
personal 

connection with a community, 
how can a person work with 
community 
members 
in 
an 

authentic manner that actually 
benefits the community?

If a person does not know the 

landscape of a community — 
familiarity with the work that 
is being done or the specific 
institutional barriers that allow 
for community service to exist — 
and a person’s privileges working 
with a community go unchecked, 
how 
can 
someone 
avoid 

participating 
in 
imperialistic 

charity work? How can you build 
sustainable models of service that 
foster a maintainable partnership 
with student and community-
led organizations? None of these 
things 
can 
happen 
without 

consistent, intentional reflection 
before and after the community-
service activity takes place.

A 
space 
for 
reflection 
is 

critical, especially when so many 
community service organizations 
at the University concentrate the 
majority of their work in Detroit. 
Engaging in service work in Detroit 
can be a learning experience for 
University of Michigan students, 
if done correctly. But even the 
thought of service being a learning 
experience privileges education 
on the plight of people who have 
been systematically franchised. 
Who is community service really 

benefiting then?

A 
number 
of 
community-

service organizations and social-
service agencies exist in the city 
of Detroit. University students 
can support the organizations 
that 
Detroiters 
have 
initiated 

themselves, 
rather 
than 

overlapping services. More often 
than not, service organizations at 
the University receive conflated 
attention 
in 
their 
efforts 
to 

“restore” 
Detroit, 
without 

acknowledging or uplifting the 
organizations 
already 
present 

in the Detroit community who 
sustain the work that community 
organizations involve themselves 
in for brief periods of time.

As Mama Hanifa Adjuman from 

the Detroit Black Community 
Food Security Network stated 
during a recent panel on food 
and racial justice, “What we 
welcome (are) allies; we (don’t) 
need 
white 
missionaries.” 

Students need to address their 
biases, privileges, perceptions 
and motivations before working 
with communities.

Presently at the University, 

it is far too easy for community 
service 
to 
become 
charity 

work, perpetuating systems of 
inequality instead of addressing 
or 
even 
acknowledging 
the 

roots 
of 
the 
problems. 
The 

Ginsberg Center is an example 
of an underutilized University 
resource that could alleviate 
problematic 
participation 
in 

service. 
My 
favorite 
aspect 

of 
Ginsberg 
is 
its 
monthly 

reflection sessions on engaging 
in service, and how that service 
intersects with social justice, 
social change and identity.

I 
would 
be 
in 
favor 
of 

mandating members of campus 
service 
organizations 
attend 

at least one of these sessions. 
The Ginsberg Center is the 
only 
space 
on 
campus 
that 

challenges students to reflect 
on their personal engagement 
with service, a great example 
of 
this 
being 
the 
center’s 

Check 
Yourself 
Community 

Engagement Checklist provides a 
fantastic framework for student 
organizations 
to 
structure 

service reflections.

Both communities in need 

and those providing a service 
can 
gain 
from 
community 

service 
in 
tangible 
ways 
if 

earnest reflection and genuine 
interaction 
are 
fostered. 
As 

active 
citizens 
and 
aspiring 

public servants, it is imperative 
that 
students 
interact 
with 

communities 
intentionally 
to 

gain civic mindfulness. When I 
return to work with Capuchin, 
I hope the volunteers and I can 
interact with Charlie and the 
other visitors of the soup kitchen 
in a way in which we equally 
contribute to and benefit from a 
meaningful service experience.

— Alexis Farmer can be reached 

at akfarmer@umich.edu.

The 
Michigan 
House 

and Senate have drafted 
two separate packages of 
bills to deal with the long-
term prospects of Detroit 
schools. 
Both 
bills 
split 

the current district into 
two entities, DPS and the 
Detroit Community School 
District. But only the Senate 
bill 
reorganizes 
Detroit 

schools in a way that returns 
significant 
autonomy 
to 

the people of Detroit while 
still being cost effective. 
Voters should put pressure 
on their representatives to 
pass the Senate package 
because 
it 
has 
gained 

bipartisan 
support 
and 

provides 
DPS 
with 
a 

financially viable route to 
recovery 
that 
prioritizes 

needs of students. Under 
both packages, DPS would 
exist only as a fiscal agent 
dedicated 
to 
paying 
off 

debt. DCSD would be a new 
entity funded with federal, 
state and local money that 
assumes the same role that 
DPS has currently, only 
with a whole new structural 
organization. 

Under the Senate plan 

elections for a new school 
board 
would 
take 
place 

as soon as 2021. Until the 
election, 
though, 
there 

would be a seven-member 
school board of officials 
elected by Gov. Rick Snyder 
(R) and Mayor Mike Duggan 
(D). The current Financial 
Review Commission would 
oversee the debt of DPS, 
like the House bill proposes. 
In 
addition, 
a 
Detroit 

Education 
Commission 

would be created to appoint 
a chief education officer, 
both 
officials 
would 

coordinate 
community 

involvement in DCSD.

The 
Senate 
package 

not only offers the most 
benefit for the community 
of Detroit, including the 
schools, teachers, students 
and citizens, but also has 
bipartisan support as well 
as support from Snyder, 
Duggan and a number of 
organizations 
dedicated 

to 
education 
such 
as 

StudentsFirst MI, Coalition 
for the Future of Detroit 
Schoolchildren, 
Excellent 

Schools Detroit and AFT 
Michigan.

The House package, on 

the other hand, pushes 
too hard against educators 
and leaves the new school 
district in the hands of 
government-appointed 
personnel for too long to 
be considered beneficial to 
the Detroit school system. 
The bill would additionally 
end 
teachers’ 
rights 
to 

collective bargaining for 
anything other than pay 
and benefits. A financial 
review commission would 
oversee the paying off of 
debt from the old DPS and 
a new school board would 
be phased in, taking full 
control after eight years 
to 
oversee 
the 
actions 

of DCSD. In addition to 
curtailing teachers’ rights 
and 
keeping 
democracy 

from the citizens of Detroit, 
the House bill has not 
gained bipartisan support. 

The 
House 
bill 
also 

attempts to reform teacher 
and school evaluations in 
a manner that could be 
detrimental to the district. 
Teachers would be evaluated 
based on student test scores, 
giving 
each 
school 
an 

overall grade that would be 
available to parents. While 
the full details of such a 

rating plan have not been 
worked out as of yet, any 
method that significantly 
relies on student test scores 
as a means for evaluation 
does not do the students 
of Detroit justice. It is 
important that any plan 
measures 
a 
student’s 

success 
using 
a 
holistic 

perspective and not simply 
their test scores. Such a 
rating system would also 
not directly account for 
physical conditions, which 
were ignored in the previous 
mechanics 
of 
evaluating 

Detroit schools.

Though some people may 

believe 
that 
DPS 
should 

simply declare bankruptcy, 
doing so would place the 
burden of DPS’ debt on the 
state, which is already in a 
less than excellent financial 
state, and is therefore not a 
financially viable option. In 
addition to these challenges, 
the bankruptcy of DPS would 
likely not allow DCSD to 
enter into existence with a 
clean slate dedicated to the 
betterment of the education 
of Detroit students.

Among all the debate, it is 

also important to remember 
that swift action is necessary. 
It is likely that even with 
emergency funding DPS will 
run out of money by early 
the end of this school year, 
leaving 
47,000 
students 

without schools. The Senate 
plan is the right choice for 
now. But even if all plans run 
smoothly and DCSD comes 
to fruition in time to aid the 
students of Detroit, efforts 
will need to continue in order 
to ensure Detroit’s school 
system not only remains 
intact, 
but 
also 
delivers 

to students the education 
they’re entitled to.

The real beneficiaries of service 

ALEXIS 

FARMER

W

hat comes to mind 
when you hear “social 
innovation?” 
Is 
it 

entrepreneurship? Technology? 
Big ideas? When I hear “social 
innovation,” I think optiMize. 
I think unity, trust, family and 
community — the real things 
that 
will 
inspire 
people 
to 

change the world.

I had one of the hardest days of 

my life this year. Fortunately, it 
was a Sunday: the day we always 
have our optiMize Core Team 
meetings. I almost suggested 
cancelling the meeting, unsure if 
I would be able to avoid crying 
while 
reading 
through 
the 

weekly updates. The meeting 
went on anyway, and, of course, 
I cried while reading through 
the weekly updates. The meeting 
ended, but nobody left. They sat 
with me; they wanted to know 
more, learn more and do more. 
When I did go home, I received 
an influx of texts, e-mails, 
Google invites for coffee dates, 
offers to just sit with me quietly 
— all from my optiMize family.

You don’t find that in many 

places — that selflessness. It’s 
difficult to find a community 
of people who are determined 
to make a difference, no matter 
how simple or seemingly small 
that difference may be. The 
optiMize community shares one 
collective purpose: to make the 

world a better place. It doesn’t 
matter 
if 
you’re 
supporting 

someone in their time of need 
or 
doing 
groundbreaking 

entrepreneurship 
work. 

Everything optiMize stands for 
can be seen in the daily actions 
of our community members. The 
love, understanding, empathy 
and support that was shown to 
me on that day may have seemed 
amplified at that moment, but 
this was not a singular moment. 
This 
was 
optiMize. 
Those 

intangible, 
positive 
elements 

that resonate from the actions 
of everyone in the community 
are what will drive change in 
this world.

The 
central 
mission 
of 

optiMize is to create positive 
action by replacing the phrase, 
“Somebody should do something 
about that,” with “Why not me?”

The 
teams 
in 
our 
Social 

Innovation 
Challenge 
have 

fused their intangible, positive 
elements 
with 
optiMize’s 

mission to inspire the impact 
we want to see. We have a team 
combatting 
Islamophobia 
by 

creating 
thought-provoking 

artwork, 
while 
another 
is 

creating virtual reality games 
for children with disabilities 
and another is working with 
Kenyan farmers to create a 
sustainable fish feed. And that’s 
just the beginning. Members 

of the optiMize community are 
building their ideas from the 
ground up, and from the ground 
up they are aiding in making 
this 
world 
more 
just, 
more 

sustainable and just plain better.

For me, optiMize has served 

as an active reminder to seek out 
change wherever change may 
be necessary. It’s a contagious 
environment — you discover 
optiMize, you meet inspiring 
people who embrace the ability 
to question and transform, and 
then, without hesitation, you 
begin. That’s all it takes — just 
ask yourself, “Why not me?”

The 
optiMize 
Social 

Innovation 
Challenge 
Final 

Showcase is on April 13 from 
6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Lydia 
Mendelssohn 
Theatre 
at 
the 

Michigan League. This event 
will 
feature 
10 
teams 
from 

optiMize’s 2016 Challenge, a 
seven-month-long 
program 

that comprises workshops and 
mentorship 
opportunities, 

allowing hundreds of students to 
turn their ideas for social change 
into reality. optiMize awards 
more than $150,000 in funding 
and 
summer 
fellowships, 

which allows teams to continue 
working on their startups all 
summer long.

 

Claire Bryan, Regan Detwiler, Caitlin Heenan, 

Jeremy Kaplan, Ben Keller, Minsoo Kim, Payton Luokkala, 

Kit Maher, Madeline Nowicki, Anna Polumbo-Levy, 
Jason Rowland, Lauren Schandevel, Melissa Scholke, 

Kevin Sweitzer, Rebecca Tarnopol, Ashley Tjhung,

Stephanie Trierweiler, Hunter Zhao

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

E-mail Dan at Dancp@umich.EDu
DAN PARK

FROM THE DAILY

A new start for Detroit schools
O

ver the years of Detroit’s economic decline, the Detroit Public 
School system has suffered immensely. Since 2003-2004, 
enrollment in DPS has declined by 200,000 students. In addition, 

the district has accumulated $1.5 billion in debt that has hindered its 
ability to remain a safe and functional learning environment. Over the 
past couple of months, teachers in DPS have successfully gained increased 
media attention for their “sick-outs” in protest of the horrible conditions 
in many Detroit schools, which has prompted political officials to take 
notice as well. DPS was on schedule to run out of money by April of this 
year when the legislature passed emergency funding to keep the schools 
open through the end of the school year.

ERIN JOHNSON | OP-ED

Why not you?

— Erin Johnson is the
president of optiMize.

.

