President-elect Donald
Trump has selected incoming
University of Michigan Regent
Ron Weiser as a finance vice-
chair for his inauguration this
January, meaning Weiser will
be serving in that capacity
when he starts in his role as
regent.
Weiser, a University of
Michigan alum and previous
chairman of the Michigan
Republican Party, was elected
to the board along incumbent
Regent Denise Illitch (D),
edging out incumbent Regent
Laurence Deitch (D) and
moving the board to a 5-3
Democratic majority instead of
its current 6-2 balance. He ran
on his promise to freeze tuition
rates and balance the growing
budget.
Protests and vigils over
Trump’s election, as well as
several hate crimes reported in
the aftermath of his election,
have been frequent on campus
over the past few weeks, with
many students expressing fear
and concern about what impact
the next president could have.
Prior to serving on the
inauguration committee,
Weiser was also part of a
national fundraising effort for
the Trump Victory Committee
during the campaign season,
which Deitch frequently noted
in his campaign. In an event
last week, Weiser said he
agrees with Trump’s economic
policies but does not agree
with all of his rhetoric in
response to questions about his
support for Trump.
“We all make choices, and
I’m an economic conservative
and I think that some of
the things that I believe
in are fundamental, and I
don’t believe that they’re
being promoted in order
to take advantage of the
disadvantaged,” Weiser said.
“I spent most of my life trying
to help the disadvantaged, not
take advantage of them.”
He could not be reached for
comment Wednesday on the
appointment.
—CAITLIN REEDY
BRIEF: INCOMING UNIVERSITY REGENT RON
WEISER TO PLAY ROLE IN TRUMP INAUGURATION
JESSE JACK SON SYMPOSIUM
2-News
COMPROMISE.
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2A — Thursday, November 17, 2016
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in Belgium, so I was around that
type of environment for a while,”
she said. “I was a little homesick
for a while, but I got used to it
because I’m quite used to being
independent.”
According to the University
of Michigan admissions website,
international students make up
14.4 percent of the University
undergraduate population and
originate
from
118
different
countries. Despite obstacles such
as securing jobs in the United
States, this number continues to
grow.
Across the nation, the number
of international students studying
in American universities is at
an all-time high. According to
the annual Open Doors report
released Monday by the Institute
of International Education, since
2015 the number of international
students in the United States has
grown by 7.1 percent to reach 1
million total.
Many students from global
backgrounds,
like
Gomes-Ng,
attended international schools
either in the United States or
elsewhere for their primary and
secondary education. University
alum Alice Song, who graduated
in 2015, said her parents’ decision
to send her to boarding schools
in Thailand and Canada was
influenced by their concerns with
the Korean school system.
“It’s a lot of studying and
conformity (in Korea),” Song
said. “Everyone takes the same
classes and there are not many
extracurricular
activities
or
resources available.”
Many international students
said the highly rated programs
offered by the University are also
a strong draw for enrollment,
particularly in specific fields of
study like engineering or pre-
medicine.
Engineering
junior
Tay Tantivirun said he also
likes the emphasis that both his
international schools and the
University
place
on
learning
outside the classroom.
“The difference between my
international school and public
schools in Thailand is that they
really emphasize sports and doing
activities,” he said. “That’s what
I like about coming to Michigan.
You’re not just here to study.”
A shift in identity
For
many
students,
their
time studying in the U.S. is
characterized by the personal
as well, experiencing shifts and
changes in their identities.
Song,
who
identifies
as
bisexual,
said
escaping
the
constraints of traditional Korean
society and studying abroad has
allowed her to explore who she is
and become more open-minded.
“Here, there’s a lot more
freedom as to what you can
identify with or what is OK,”
she said. “I feel like when I go
to Korea it’s like I have to be in a
certain way because that’s just
how it is considered. People care
a lot.”
She said she has not told her
family
about
her
orientation
because she believes her mother’s
conservative
upbringing
in
Korea has contributed to a lack
of understanding of the LGBTQ
community.
“She’s trying really hard to
understand,” she said. “It’s me
that’s changing, not her. That’s
why it’s so difficult to talk about
certain
things
because
it’s
hard to understand from her
perspective.”
Song said she felt a disconnect
with
her
identity
during
sophomore
year
overall
—
living outside of Korea for so
long made her lose connection
to her ethnicity. She also said
she
was
influenced
by
the
fear of being associated with
negative stereotypes reflecting
international students.
“I didn’t very strongly identify
as a Korean,” she said. “There was
nothing good that could come out
as identifying as Korean because
there were a lot of stereotypes
about
Asians
in
general
or
studying abroad that I didn’t want
to be associated with.”
Tantivirun
echoed
these
sentiments, saying the prolonged
time he has spent outside his
home country has left him feeling
alienated in both Thailand and
the United States.
“I’m
really
different
from
people back home in Thailand
because I’ve been abroad for so
long,” he said. “Sometimes I feel
like an outside when I’m home.
And sometimes when I’m in the
United States, I don’t feel exactly
at home.”
Despite this, Tantivirun said
he is glad to be attending school in
the United States. He said leaving
the country he has lived in for
most of his life to learn in a new
environment has allowed him to
see opportunities that he did not
have at home.
“You’re so used to the world
that you live in,” he said. “But once
you move out, you start realizing
the flaws and what’s wrong with
certain things.”
Life on campus
Coming from an international
school,
Tantivirun
said
he
was prepared to handle the
difference in the environment
of American colleges. He credits
this ease from culture shock to
the
extracurricular
activities
offered at the University, citing
student organization BLUElab
in particular as an outlet he
could use to discover what
he was passionate about. The
organization, comprised of 12
multidisciplinary project teams,
promotes collaboration with local
and international stakeholders on
a variety of issues.
“It
really
changed
my
perspective,” Tantivirun said. “I
really want to do engineering for
humanitarian purposes. In the
long run, I want to come back
home and help out my country.”
For Song, her time in English-
speaking international schools
in Thailand and Canada was also
beneficial in transitioning into
post-secondary education in the
United States.
STUDENTS
From Page 1A
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
EMMA RICHTER/Daily
University of Michigan alum Bryon Maxey discusses his student activism during his time at the University at
Rackham Ampitheater Wednesday.
of the microphones stationed
around the space. The audience
was urged not to clap, but to sit
in silence as a show of respect
and to reflect on the survivors’
words. Because the content
shared in the event could have
been
potentially
triggering
for other survivors, SAPAC
advocates
were
stationed
outside the doors to talk if
anyone needed to exit the
space and survivors could go
to a “debrief” after the event.
After the event, Dunbeck
said
she
thought
it
ran
smoothly, noting that there
was
never
a
long
pause
between
the
survivors’
sharing of stories.
“I think it went really well,”
Dunbeck said. “It’s a space
for survivors to share their
stories and we almost had no
lulls in the conversation at all.
Everyone went up right after
another and got to tell their
story.”
As
the
SAPAC
Speak
Out is an annual event, the
co-coordinators
said
they
drew on how the event has
been run in the past to ensure
the continuity of the message
of the speak out.
“I think in general, from
our
notes
from
previous
co-coordinators, I think it’s
maintained
the
same
idea
throughout, the structure of
the event is pretty much the
same,” Subramanian said.
Dunbeck and Subramanian
ended the event by inviting
audience members to place a
flower on a painting of a tree at
the front of the room, to show
their solidarity with survivors
of sexual assault. They also
encouraged members to write
down their stories and place
them in a designated box at
the back of the room if they did
not feel comfortable speaking
in front of a large audience.
Dunbeck
said
she
has
volunteered
with
SAPAC
for four semesters and was
inspired by her mother, who
works as a police officer
dealing with sexual crimes.
She
said
she
wanted
to
make a positive impact like
her mother, and to support
survivors.
“We want all the survivors
to know that we believe them,
we support them and if they
need any help to come and
see SAPAC or to call our crisis
line,” Dunbeck said.
LSA sophomore Nicholas
Maternowski
attended
the
event as a SAPAC volunteer.
Volunteers wore “I Believe
You” buttons and directed
survivors to an advocate if one
was needed. He said he was
pleased with how the event
went, especially in terms of
how
sensitive
the
subject
matter was.
“I think it went really well,”
Maternowski said. “I mean it’s
obviously a difficult topic for
people to talk about, so it’s just
very powerful to see people
talk about their experiences
in such a open space. It’s very
eye-opening.”
“It’s a space for
survivors to share
their stories and
we almost had no
lulls.”
“We want all the
survivors to know
that we believe
them, we support
them.”
SAPAC
From Page 1A
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com