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Tuesday, November 15, 2016 — 3
accomplishments as provost.
“Our loss is most certainly
Cornell’s gain,” he wrote.
In a University statement,
Schlissel also said he will
appoint an interim provost
before the end of Fall semester,
and organize a nationwide
search
for
a
permanent
replacement by January.
University
spokesperson
Rick Fitzgerald said while
the announcement came as a
surprise to many University
officials,
he
believes
her
appointment
was
a
good
decision for Cornell.
“She’s been a strong leader
for academics and for the
budget.” Fitzgerald said. “The
provost at the University of
Michigan
has
a
somewhat
unique role where the chief
academic officer is also the
chief budget officer. She
balances
her
commitment
to academics with being a
good steward of the budget
well, while keeping a college
education
affordable
and
blazing pathways with new
academic initiatives. That’s
quite a sweetspot.”
Cornell’s
board
of
trustees
unanimously
approved Pollack’s selection
Monday
afternoon
on
a
recommendation
from
the
school’s
presidential
search
committee, formed in April
following the death of former
Cornell president Elizabeth
Garrett.
Before
Pollack’s
appointment as provost at the
University, she served as the
associate chair for computer
science and engineering in
the University’s department
of electrical engineering and
computer
science,
as
well
as the dean of the School of
Information.
In an interview with the
Cornell Daily Sun, Pollack who
will be Cornell’s second female
president in its 184 years
of existence, noted that the
importance of her new job will
transcend gender lines.
“The job of the president is
to serve everyone. Not to be
the female president, but the
president.” Pollack said.
During her tenure at the
University, Pollack has been
an advocate for technological
innovation and the use of
data in the classroom. In
a
press
release
from
the
University
in
September
2015, Pollack emphasized the
importance of a $100 million
University
investment
in
data science, calling it the
future of academia. Among
other impacts, the investment
created the Michigan Institute
for Data Science.
“Data science has become a
fourth approach to scientific
discovery,
in
addition
to
experimentation,
modeling
and
computation,”
Pollack
said. “To spur innovation while
providing focus, the DSI will
launch challenge initiatives in
four critical interdisciplinary
areas that build on our existing
strengths
in
transportation
research,
health
sciences,
learning analytics and social
science research.”
Also
during
her
tenure,
Pollack helped to spearhead
the University’s Third Century
Initiative, a plan to invest $50
million dollars over five years
in an effort to improve student
learning. The initiative, which
awards
grant
funding
to
University faculty, has helped
to foster University-developed
programs, such as School of
Information professor Barry
Fishman’s grading platform,
Gradecraft.
Fitzgerald
noted
these
initiatives will remain intact
following her departure.
“At this point, the things that
Provost Pollack has introduced
have
become
significant
University
commitments.”
Fitzgerald said. “They are
moving forward, and I don’t
see there being an interruption
with an interim leader, or a
leadership change.”
Pollack’s departure follows
a
pattern
similar
to
her
predecessor,
Phil
Hanlon,
who also left his post at the
University
to
assume
the
presidency
of
Dartmouth
College.
POLLACK
From Page 1
threatening behavior, as well as
the present political climate in
the United States, he encouraged
students to resist.
“I don’t have the answers and
it’s killing me,” Milan said. “I don’t
know what to say. All I can tell you
to do is to resist. Resistance looks
a lot of different ways. Sometimes
resistance looks like organizing
your
people
and
fighting
…
Sometimes resistance is taking a
step back and saying I don’t have to
fight, I don’t have to do this.”
Spectrum Center Director Will
Sherry said Trans Awareness
week has existed for at least the
nine years he has worked at center
noting it was well established at
the time he joined. Though he
has noticed changes throughout
the existence of Trans Awareness
Week, Sherry said overall he
appreciates the consistency of
support the week offers to students
who often feel marginalized.
“It’s an opportunity for people
who share non-binary and trans
identities, to come together and
be in a community that can often
feel small and come together in
spaces where you don’t feel so
small,” he said. “That’s something
I really appreciate personally and
professionally about the week.”
LSA
senior
Felix
Boratyn,
co-chair
of
the
student
organization TransForm, which
conducts activist and support
work for transgender students on
campus and helped organize the
week, said Milan’s perspective on
resistance resonated with him. He
added that the election has made
this week even more meaningful.
“This
week
has
definitely
become more important to me,”
Boratyn said. “A lot of people are
mourning right now the results
of the election and knowing what
those results are going to mean for
a lot of people. Part of trans week is
celebration but part of trans week
is mourning trans women who
have died and violence towards
trans people, a combination of
everything.”
LSA
senior
Ini
Ubong,
co-chair of TransForm, said they
appreciated Milan’s discussion of
how he defines his masculinity,
and think it is a message of hope
for other transgender students.
“It’s uplifting to hear he did it,
he got here, to a point where he
can come and be a speaker at our
school so there’s still kind of hope,
I guess,” they said. “It brings a
message of hope and a feeling that
I’m not alone in the way that I feel.”
Ubong said Trans Awareness
Week aims to both support
transgender students and educate
non-transgender
students,
especially in light of the high
number of murders of transgender
women in 2016. To date, 20
transgender indviduals have been
murdered in the United States
according to the Human Rights
Campaign.
“My hope is that it brings the
trans community together and
also it provides education for other
people,” Ubong said. “My hope for
Trans Awareness Week is that we
focus on the transgender people
that are most marginalized, I think
that’s transgender Black women.”
AWARENESS
From Page 1
alt-right
posters
which
have
been
posted
around
campus
intermittently since earlier this fall,
targeting Muslim, Black, LGBTQ
and
female
students.
Posters
promoting white supremacy and
calling for students to report
undocumented immigrants were
found on campus early Monday
morning, alongside phrases such as
“Make America Great Again.”
“We’re
here
for
(Muslims)
as a fellow minority, another
marginalized group of people,”
Wallace
said.
“I
hope
that
President Schlissel does address
the hateful flyers that have been
posted up. I think that more needs
to be done to investigate who
is posting these flyers, because
people have been posting these
going back to September … and it
seems like nothing is being done to
stop them.”
Over the past week, many in
the University community have
responded to the election by
hosting and attending vigils and
protests. A unity march with
hundreds of Ann Arbor families
also occurred Sunday afternoon,
aiming to promote peace and
support for all communities.
LSA sophomore Rami Ebrahim,
social justice and activism chair
for MSA who helped organize the
prayer gathering, said he hopes
to see further action from the
administration aside from crime
reports and emails, such as specific
safety initiatives.
“There’s a tense climate on
campus, especially for Muslim
students, and especially for more
identifiable Muslim students —
especially the women,” Ebrahim
said. “We wanted to show that …
some of the things happening on
campus are not representative
of the student body or are
representative of all of the country
in general.”
LSA junior Yara Gayar, another
attendee at the event, took a slightly
different position, saying she was
happy with the diverse turnout
of students and members of the
community at Monday’s event,
and with administrative response
following the election.
“I like that professors are
addressing the students’ safety and
respect of differences,” Gayar said.
Much like Ali, LSA junior Hina
Jaffer stressed the significance of
the event in building new alliances.
“The
silver
lining
to
this
whole thing is that, all of these
marginalized communities have
come together and built all these
alliances that otherwise weren’t
really strong, weren’t really there,”
Jaffer said.
PRAYER
From Page 1
if she did not comply. In a second
incident over the weekend, a student
left his apartment to go to class and
came home to a swastika drawn on
his apartment door.
The Rock was also discovered
painted with “Fuck America” and
“Kill them All” over drawings of the
Republican and Democratic Party
logos last week.
Ethnic intimidation, which is a
felony offense and often refered to as
a hate crime, is defined by Michigan
law as “specific intent to intimidate
or harass another person because
of that person’s race, color, religion,
gender or national origin, and does
any of the following: causes physical
contact with another person; or
damages, destroys or defaces any
real or personal property of another
person.”
Multiple administrators across
campus,
as
well
as
students,
condemned the first incident on
Friday
through
messages
and
events over the weekend and urged
students to support one another.
Students gathered Saturday to
protest the incident and express
solidarity with students who have
experienced anything similar.
On Sunday, President Mark
Schlissel wrote an email to the
student body condemning hate
crimes and hate speech. He also
outlined resources for students who
have experienced incidents such as
these.
University spokesperson Rick
Fitzgerald said the investigation
is ongoing, and refered back to the
email Schlissel sent out Sunday.
“Emotions are high all across
the political spectrum. We hope all
members of our community can
agree that we must not stand silent
while facing expressions of bigotry,
discrimination or hate that have
become part of our national political
discourse,” the email read. “Only
by speaking out against personal
attacks, hate and threats can we
move on to have the discussions that
will be necessary for our campus and
our nation to reach its full potential.”
CRIME
From Page 1
excitement),” Burns said. “This
year I think we are seeing a
little bit more of the renewed
excitement.”
Fricker added that a tweet
from Michigan football coach
Jim
Harbaugh
about
the
Blood Battle had helped the
advertising for donations.
BDU has also tried many
different advertising methods,
such
as
chalking,
banners,
quarter cards and tabling. E.
Royster Harper, vice president
for student life, also raised
awareness
about
the
event
in an email to the University
community. In addition, BDU
is also rewarding the donors
to encourage the community
to donate blood. This year, all
donors will get a Red Cross
T-shirt and restaurant coupons
like a buy-one-get-one free
Chipotle coupon, as well as
entering to win raffle prizes.
BLOOD
From Page 2
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS
KEVIN ZHENG/Daily
Law School student Shannon Niznik discusses LGBTQ rights at the Michigan Union Monday.
“The job of
the president
is to serve
everyone.”
“They are moving
forward, and I don’t
see there being an
interruption.”
surprise at Trump’s victory.
“At the time, nearly everyone
thought
Secretary
Clinton
would win the election,” he said
during the discussion. “Just
about every political pundit on
the left and right agreed. Many
members of our community had
a difficult time getting back to
the classroom and back to work
after the loss. Many members of
our community continue to feel
unsafe on our own campus.”
Martin
also
emphasized
that the dialogue was designed
to welcome all people who
have
expressed
feelings
of
marginalization in recent days,
not just those who supported
Democratic
presidential
nominee Hillary Clinton.
On Monday, a petition started
by LSA sophomore Amanda
Delekta circulated and garnered
over 300 signatures. The petition
condemned the administration
and
students’
responses
to
President-elect Donald Trump’s
election.
“A lot of you as Trump
supporters feel that you have
been ignored at best, or swarmed
at worst,” Martin said. “Some of
you have been verbally assaulted
or attacked, and I know that
some of you feel the institution
has not lived up to the ideals of
open debate, and felt that you do
not have a home on this campus
either.”
After
Martin’s
remarks,
members
of
Counseling
and
Psychological
Services
highlighted
their
office’s
increased
accessibility
in
response to the contentious
election results.
Speaking to the crowd, CAPS
Director Todd Sevig promoted a
variety of approaches to achieving
calm and comfort. In the leadup
to the election season, CAPS
organized an exhibit reminding
students to care for themselves
amid the stress of classes and the
election.
“It’s important to note that
the election has taken a toll
psychologically,”
Sevig
said.
“We are not here to say that if
you are feeling strong emotions,
then you need therapy. We are
here to say that things that could
be therapeutic and healing is
important. There is no one way of
coping or making sense of this is
going to work for all of us.”
Following
the
remarks
by
Martin and CAPS personnel, the
room was divided into smaller
groups for discussion. At each
table, an LSA faculty member
moderated the discourse, asking
questions and maintaining a calm
tone. Participants were reminded
to criticize ideas, not people.
After nearly 10 minutes of
discussion,
the
large
room
reconvened to shared publicly
what had been discussed in smaller
groups. A microphone was passed
around the room for the next hour,
during which personal reactions
and general commentary were
shared in response to the election
results last week.
AFTERMATH
From Page 1
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