a unique set of challenges
and
opportunities
to
the
surrounding community.
Lazarus
and
Fetherston
noted public universities are
tax-exempt and can therefore
eat into the tax base of the local
city whenever they expand.
“As the University grows,
there’s this balance between
taxable properties and non-
taxable,” Lazarus said, adding
he has been able to maintain a
beneficial relationship between
the University of Texas and the
city of Austin while the city’s
director for public works and
interim city manager.
Couch
—
the
county
administrator
of
Bulloch
County,
where
Georgia
Southern University is located
— also noted large universities
can
act
with
significant
autonomy
from
their
local
municipal
government,
referencing
his
experience
maintaining
his
county’s
relationship with its university.
“You
have
to
develop
intimate
relationships
with
university personnel,” Couch
said.
He also noted that Georgia
Southern
has
experienced
tensions with its surrounding
community over issues such as
land development.
However,
despite
the
challenges they cited, all the
candidates
agreed
a
large
university is a major asset
to its local community, and
meaningful
relationships
between all levels of local
government
and
university
administration need to be built
for mutual benefit.
Lazarus said cities and their
local universities need to work
toward their common interests
rather than take an adversarial
stance, which he said he’s done
in his roles in Austin.
“Ann Arbor prospers because
it (has a) great university, and
you can’t lose sight of that,”
Lazarus
said.
“University
administration wants to have
that fuzzy edge between the
University and the town to be
seamless. They want the kids
to be safe and they want the
parents to know their kids are
safe. They also want a town
that
supports
their
desire
to recruit and retain a top-
notch faculty … great cities
and great universities have
a relationship where a city
provides opportunities to the
students and the university
provides research and input for
the town.”
Fetherston
discussed
his
experience
as
an
assistant
city administrator in Boulder,
Colo.,
saying
he
made
an
effort to work with not only
the top administration of the
University of Colorado, but also
the lower level staff and the
student body.
“For some time we were
shooting to interface at the
chancellor level, and based on
the dynamics at that time it
was the wrong place to try to
influence,”
Fetherston
said.
“So we worked more with the
vice-chancellor, more with the
housing department.”
Sigman
—
the
county
administrator
of
Hamilton
County,
Ohio
and
former
budget director of Cincinnati
and Washington D.C. — added
that
as
city
administrator
he
would
want
to
build
relationships with not just the
University administration, but
also the other largest local
stakeholders.
“If
you
don’t
have
a
relationship when an issue
comes up, it’s hard to work with
the issue,” Sigman said. “Job
one for the city administrator
is to get to know the public
stakeholders … you’ve got to
develop a rapport with not just
the University president, but
the bank president, the editor
of the newspaper, the union
officials.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, April 15, 2016 — 3
Guthrie
wasn’t
alone
in
her sentiments: More than 70
people also participated in the
survey, most of whom proposed
returning Merritt to his position,
often writing “#BringGregBack.”
A
staff
member
working
at
Munger,
who
requested
anonymity due to fear of losing
their job, said in an interview that
Munger community members
are frustrated because no one has
been able to reach Merritt and
University Housing is instead
speaking on his behalf.
“Greg has been the most
transparent person I’ve ever met,”
the staff member said. “So for him
to literally leave without even a
goodbye just seems to elicit the
fact that this isn’t his decision
and this has to do with something
larger than what we know about.”
University
spokesman
Rick
Fitzgerald declined to respond to
questions about Merritt and said
the University does not discuss
individual personnel matters.
LSA freshman Jovany Flores,
a staff member at Munger, said
Merritt has been a mentor to him
by helping Flores build his resume
and find internships.
“Any time I have questions
or doubts or really I’m confused
about what to do I always go to
him,” Flores said.
Munger
resident
Chiedozie
Okafor, a graduate student in
both the Ross School of Business
and the School of Education,
said Munger residents are now
uncertain
what
their
living
experience
will
entail
with
Merritt’s suspension.
“Do I want to stay in the
fellowship, do I want to live in
Munger, do I want to be a part of
this team now? Because I don’t
have any sense of where it could
go,” Okafor said.
Okafor added that though the
Munger living experience has
been developed as it has happened
during
its
inaugural
year,
residents have felt comfortable
with not knowing the exact
direction because of Merritt.
“With Greg, even though you
weren’t sure about the exact
direction we were going or we
were shifting to, I think a lot of
the faith resided that Greg was
leading it,” he said. “There was
faith in Greg, so we have faith that
the intentions were always going
to be good no matter where we
went.”
MUNGER
From Page 1
CITY
From Page 1
enrollment,
but
noted
that
the student body does not
reflect the country in terms of
diversity.
Latinos make up 17.4 percent
of
Michigan’s
population,
according to the U.S. Census
Bureau.
La
Fountain-Stokes
also
attributed some of the changes
in Latino enrollment to factors
like
faculty
and
student
involvement, and outreach to
communities within the state,
other states and Puerto Rico.
“Latinos
are
still
very
dramatically underrepresented
but I think many of the efforts
to
recruit
underrepresented
students are being successful,”
he said.
Multiple
students
and
faculty echoed La Fountain-
Stokes’
sentiments,
saying
despite an increase of students
in past years, many aspects
of inclusivity and equity still
have
significant
room
for
improvement
Business senior Stephanie
Betancourt, an undergraduate
student representative for the
Latina/o Studies board, said she
is one of three Latina women
she knows of in the Ross School
of Business and does not believe
there are enough Latinos or
people of color in general in
the school. Betancourt also
noted that many faculty or
staff members do not share
the
same
perspectives
as
Latino students in the Business
School,
saying
diversity
is
important in business schools
because business professionals
often work with people from
around the country, of various
backgrounds.
“If it is just one homogenous
group
talking
to
another
homogenous
group,
then
there is never going to be real
progress,” she said.
Members of the Latino Law
Students Association — a law
student organization that puts
emphasis on promoting more
opportunities for Latinos and
Latinas in the field and at the
University — echoed similar
sentiments on more diversity in
professional schools.
First-year law student Mayté
Salazar, LLSA’s Political Action
Chair, said she believes the
racial demographics of the
Law
School
should
reflect
those of the United States. The
Law School currently has 35
Hispanic
students
enrolled,
making up just 4 percent of the
student body.
“We can always do more to
increase Latino representation
at the law schools across the
country, including Michigan
Law, to mirror contemporary
American
demographics,”
Salazar said. “We have to think
about diversity initiatives at
the Law School in light of the
number of Latinos graduating
high school and college, and
the kind of resources Latino
students have at their disposal
as
they
are
matriculating
through
high
school
and
college.”
First-year
law
student
Melody Latino, who is also
a LLSA member, said LLSA
hopes to address these issues by
actively engaging with Latino
students. Over the past few
years, this has included inviting
undergraduate students to a
panel featuring a successful
Latina attorney, or hosting the
male pageant Mr. Wolverine,
which supports giving financial
aid to LLSA members who work
in unpaid summer internships.
Latino
said
she
believes
the
University
has
taken
steps
to
improve
racial
diversity, but added it is still
important to continue making
improvements.
“There
is
always
room
to improve, and we need to
increase diversity, especially
racial diversity at the Law
School,”
Latino
said.
“The
need for racial diversity is not
something unique to Michigan.
It happens at law schools all
over the country.”
Sarah
Zearfoss,
senior
assistant dean for admissions
at the Law School, wrote in an
e-mail interview she believes
having diverse representation
in the Law School can lead to a
better learning environment for
all students, and enhance their
skill sets as lawyers.
“Having
well-informed
participants in those exchanges
enhances
the
development
of our law and therefore, I
would argue, of our culture
and our country,” Zearfoss
wrote. “Having a variety of
perspectives involved in the
classroom discussions will help
our students learn how to be
more effective and persuasive
of people whose point of view
differs from theirs, which is the
essence of successful litigation.”
Legal barriers to increasing
numbers
However,
despite
the
recognition of the importance
of increasing diversity by both
students and administrators,
the University is restricted in
its efforts to increase Latino
representation
by
Proposal
2, which banned the use of
affirmative action in college
admission
in
the
state
of
Michigan in April 2014. That
ban
includes
a
prohibition
on looking specifically at an
applicant’s race or ethnicity in
the admissions process.
Zearfoss said the admissions
office has not changed its views
on diversity since the ban, but
has rather begun employing
different practices. In light
of the affirmative action ban,
the
Law
School
increased
their emphasis on soliciting
applications, and on increasing
the number of accepted offers of
admission to maintain a racially
diverse class without factoring
race into an application.
“It is certainly true that Prop.
2 has removed our ability to take
race into account as a factor in
making an admissions decision,
but that doesn’t mean our desire
to have a racially diverse class
has changed,” Zearfoss said.
Both Salazar and Latino
said they thought affirmative
action was one ideal way to
increase diversity, saying the
ban stymied efforts to do so on
campus.
“We want to believe we
don’t
need
these
policies
because we are a ‘race-blind’
society,” Salazar said. “But this
‘colorblind’ fiction is one that
erases the melanin in our skin,
the struggles we have endured
and the stories that remain
untold.”
Despite
benefits
from
affirmative
action
policy,
however,
Latino
said
she
thought it is possible to promote
diversity in other ways than
just racial consideration in
applications.
She noted that one way to do
that is focusing on the pipeline
from college to law school,
which she said LLSA seeks
to expand by connecting law
students with undergraduate
and high school students.
Salazar
added
the
issue
of diversity supersedes the
admissions
process,
and
emphasized
that
minority
students also need continuous
support when they get to
campus.
“We
must
then
realize
how the lack of resources in
our communities put Latino
students
at
an
academic
disadvantage,”
Salazar
said.
“The issue is not only how many
people are getting through the
door and sitting at the table,
but also how many people are
getting to the door.”
Student activism for Latino
representation
Echoing Salazar’s sentiments
about
experience
when
on
campus,
Betancourt
also
said she thinks activism in
undergraduate
students
has
been decreasing for Latina/o
students in recent years.
In
particular,
she
said
older students seem to be
most
involved,
suggesting
that potentially the younger
generation either has not sought
out more questions or the
inspiration for activism hasn’t
been passed down to them.
LSA junior Ramiro Alvarez,
who participated in various
activist groups on campus, said
he thought the peak of Latino
activism
at
the
University
was reached a long time ago,
whereas Latino activism today
has dwindled. That activism,
he added, had noticeable ties to
Latino identity on campus.
“There seems to be this huge
history in the Bentley Library
archives of us doing really
radical and important work
with multiple organizations,”
Alvarez said. “That’s really put
me in an ambivalent place about
what it means to be Latino on
this campus.”
Overall, Alvarez said he’s
found campus to be a hostile
place
for
people
of
color
in
recent
years,
citing
an
incident in which a faculty
member asked him if he was
documented. He added that
while he sees value in hosting
events, he’s also hoping to see
activism in more radical forms
as it had been done in the past.
“For example, BBUM and
UM Divest, there were very
little Latinos who showed up
for that,” he said.
While
Alvarez
and
Betancourt
both
said
they
believe the University succeeds
in getting people of color into
the school, they also said they
think the University can do
more with retention.
“It’s been real. With any
Latino senior you ask, we can
name countless friends who are
no longer here and entered with
us freshmen year,” Alvarez said.
“And that’s a root issue and it’s
harder for the University to
tackle its demons, like financial
accessibility
or
adequate
mental health support that are
deterring these students,”
Betancourt
also
cited
hiring more Latino and Latina
faculty members as a way the
University could aid students
during their time in school.
Nonetheless, for the students
that are there, both students
and faculty said they believe
they have a noticeable presence
on campus.
In the Law School, Salazar
wrote that despite the small
population, she believes the
Law School’s Latinos have a
strong impact on the rest of
campus.
“Michigan Law has a vibrant
and active Latino community.
As one of my friends put it,
‘Somos chiquitos pero picosos,’
” Salazar wrote. “ ‘We are small,
but spicy,’ meaning we don’t
make up a large portion of the
student body, but our existing
community still makes a huge
impact at the Law School and
beyond.”
LATINO
From Page 1
discussion of race and gender and
politics, but also this combination
of mental health and self-care,”
LaGrand said. “I hope that people
who are of color will feel celebrated
and
acknowledged
and
the
University and different partners
are doing something to provide this
space for them.”
Throughout the show, Nigatu
and Clayton encouraged audience
interaction through video links to
highlight both light and serious
topics. The biggest portion of the
evening centered on a discussion
with Tunde Olaniran, a Flint, Mich.
native and musical artist. Clayton
asked Olaniran about growing up
in Flint and the current watercrisis.
“You can’t ignore these people
because they don’t fit an ideal,”
Olaniran said. “We need to put
pressure on our legislators to
really — I’m going to get technical
— but we need to push for more
appropriations or aid in Flint …
People are often just gambling with
their health.”
Clayton said the extent of the
crisis happening in Flint was
unimaginable,
asking
Olaniran
about the sparse availability of
water many community members
in Flint have experienced.
“You just know that if the
majority of the people affected were
white, the response would be so
different, so much faster, so much
more immediate,” Clayton said.
Nyshourn Price, School of Social
Work Student Services admissions
coordinator, said she thought it was
beneficial to host the speakers to
foster more discussion on topics of
social justice.
“I
think
it’s
vital
to
the
community and what’s going on
in the world,” Price said. “Having
conversations, being able to cross-
connect with issues and have a
voice particularly for, I call it Black
and brown, but people of color,
because there’s a lot going on.”
Storee Harris, a master’s student
in the School of Public Health, said
she came to the event because she
follows Clayton on Twitter and
was curious to see what the two
speakers had to say. Harris said
their points of view are crucial to
having an open discussion about
race and inclusion, especially on a
university campus.
“I think Michigan is trying to
become more diverse, but I think
seeing this type of inclusiveness —
everyone in here may be of color,
but here for different reasons — this
gives Michigan a way to become
more inclusive,” Harris said.
BUZZFEED
From Page 1
“Some people think that if
it happened 72 hours after the
assault, you can’t report it. Of
course you can,” she said.
According to Tim Johnson,
chair
of
the
Department
of
Obstetrics and Gynecology at the
University Health System and a
women’s studies professor at the
University, long-term problems for
sexual assault survivors include
ongoing physical and psychosocial
concerns that may last a lifetime.
Thus, Start by Believing aims
to transform society’s negative
attitude by affirming a victim’s
story, accelerating rehabilitation
and expediting the justice process.
Niess-May said simply listening
is a key step in ameliorating the
situation.
“Sometimes what (sexual assault
survivors) say and how they say it is
almost incredulous,” she said. “But
in the end, you need to listen and
not ask a lot of questions.”
Niess-May
also
explained
that sexual assault survivors are
unlikely
to
remember
details
about the situation, like victims
of car accidents. Asking too many
questions to a person who just
experienced trauma, she said, is
counterproductive.
“The survivor has been through
trauma, and just like if you were in
a car accident, it might be harder to
remember, ‘When did the wheels
squeal?’ or ‘When did the glass
break?’ or ‘When did the safety
(air)bag deploy?’ ” she said. “You
don’t remember in what order that
all happened and why it happened
or what precipitated it all. And
that’s the same thing for a survivor
of sexual assault.”
According
to
Niess-May,
the partnership between Start
by Believing and the various
Washtenaw County organizations
began after a SafeHouse volunteer
learned about the initiative at
a
conference
and
contacted
the
organization’s
partners,
including DPSS, about it. They
responded
enthusiastically
and spread the idea all over the
county to the point that on April
6, the Washtenaw County Board
of
Commissionersproclaimed
Washtenaw County the nation’s
first “Start by Believing Survivors
of Sexual Assault” county.
“The University of Michigan
police really ran with it,” she
said. “The officers there said,
‘This is what we really need to be
implementing in our community.’ ”
Sexual
Assault
Awareness
Month at the University began
with SAPAC on the Diag on April
1, where SAPAC Peer Education
program volunteers educated the
community on consent and self-
care.
On April 6, the National Start
by Believing Day, the participants
of the 38th annualTake Back the
Night rally marched around the
campus demanding an end to
sexual violence.
Pillsbury, also one of the guest
speakers at Take Back the Night,
stressed the importance of officers
having a basic understanding of
trauma and engaging thoughtfully
with survivors.
“When
we’re
interviewing
a survivor of sexual assault, we
understand that it takes a ton of
courage to come forward,” she said.
“We try to build a rapport with
them and set their minds at ease.”
She explained the role that
building a rapport with the victim
plays in the process of holding
assailants accountable.
“We try and make doing an
interview with them as least
intrusive or difficult as we can,”
she said. “We usually find that
building a rapport with people and
acknowledging what they’ve been
through goes a long way in just
helping us get the information that
we need from them … We want you
to be OK, that’s the first and most
important thing.”
Susan
Kheder,
executive
director of Patient and Community
Engagement at St. Joseph Mercy
Ann
Arbor
and
Livingston
hospitals, echoed the sentiment.
She stressed the importance of law
enforcement, hospitals and local
advocates working together to help
survivors.
“For those that have been raped,
obtaining
immediate
care
to
address any health issues, as well
as to collect forensic evidence, is
so important,” Kheder said. “At
the same time, the sooner the
individual can be connected with
the local resources and advocates
to assist with counseling, health
management, legal advocacy and
short- and long-term safety issues
the sooner the recovery process
can begin.”
There are two hospitals that
are partners of Start by Believing,
the University Health System and
St. Joseph Mercy Health System.
According to Johnson, health care
professionals play a crucial role in
helping sexual assault survivors
recuperate,
especially
Sexual
Assault Nurse Examiners who
carry out medical forensic care of
the patient.
LSA senior Laura Meyer, SAPAC
volunteer
co-coordinator,
said
because of efforts like Start by
Believing, she has seen positive
change in campus attitude.
“There is a generally greater
awareness of SAPAC and its
services on campus when we
are out in the community, and
the volunteer coordinators have
received
even
more
outreach
from community members and
organizations who are eager to
partner with SAPAC,” she said.
Meyer also urged students to
attend workshops and know their
rights in order to spread sexual
assault awareness even further.
“Our
Peer
Education
and
Bystander
Intervention
and
Community Engagementprograms
do incredible work reaching out
into the community to educate
and engage students,” she said.
“Additionally, I would encourage
everyone to educate themselves
on their rights as students by
reading the revised policy and
by researching at Know Your
IX, an education and advocacy
organization focused on Title IX.”
Meyer said each of us can make
a difference in preventing sexual
assault cases and helping survivors.
“Students
should
be
ready
to engage their communities in
conversations about sexual assault
and sexual violence by believing
and
supporting
survivors,
centering the voices of survivors,
and respecting the agency and
choices of survivors,” she said.
CAMPAIGN
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