3-News

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Monday, December 12, 2016 — 3A

years later. He also discussed 
early tensions between Jewish 
Greek life and Hillel as well as 
the contrasting ideologies over 
how to combat anti-Semitism 
that existed at the time.

“On a snowy day like this, 

for a book that is relatively 
specialized and a bit obscure, 
for them to come out on a day 
like this, that’s a big deal,” 
Markovits said of the event. “I 
felt very good that people were 
here.”

Hillel Development Manager 

Shayna Millman highlighted 
the value of Markovits’ book for 
the organization.

“I 
think 
it’s 
just 
really 

important 
for 
us, 
as 
we 

celebrate our 90th anniversary, 
to really continue to remember 
where we came from and 
what we were founded upon 
in order to successfully move 
forward and to see what things 
we do differently and what 
aspirations and opportunities 
and challenges we face that are 

still the same,” Millman said.

LSA senior David Beer, who 

has taken multiple classes with 
Markovits, said he found the 
event to be informative and also 
beneficial for the University as a 
whole.

“I’m a Jewish student here so 

I find the history of Hillel pretty 
interesting, but I don’t really 
know anything about it so it’s 
good to learn,” Beer said. “For 
the history of the University 
of Michigan, I think it’s very 
important. Knowing where we 
come from is always important 
in my opinion.”

Some 
members 
of 
the 

audience were students who 
helped Markovits conduct his 
research and write the book. 
Law student Charles Sorge who 
was a research assistant for this 
project, said it raised important 
points for the University.

“I 
worked 
for 
Professor 

Markovits on this and another 
project and I think just his 
genuine 
interest 
in 
this 

University 
and 
his 
passion 

toward the subject really shows 
through in the writing,” Sorge 
said. “I think it’s important for 
the University to commemorate 

Hillel’s birthday and to bring 
topics up that perhaps not a lot 
of other students, for sure not 
Jewish students, are aware of.”

Markovits acknowledged the 

experience of writing about an 
organization at the institution 
where he is employed, but said it 
hadn’t impacted his work.

“It’s perfectly possible — 

in fact it’s required — to be 
dispassionate,” Markovits said. 
“If I had been a professor at 
Berkley, it would have been the 
same. If this had been the Ohio 
State Hillel, it would have been 
the same.”

He added that he’s currently 

working on another, similar 
book.

“The future book is almost 

a little bit inverted. Here the 
whole story is about Hillel. It’s 
about not only Jewish students, 
but it’s about particular Jewish 
students. I want to look at how 
the University behaves toward 
Jews,” Markovits added.

For now, he said he is pleased 

with the book he’s just released.

“If you had said to me, a year 

from now, you’ll have a book on 
Michigan Hillel, I’d have said 
you’re insane,” he said.

HILLEL
From Page 1A

state of Michigan, the state was 
not projected to turn red and 
hasn’t voted Republican in over 
a generation — the last time 
being in 1988.

In Michigan, Trump won by 

10,704 votes — the narrowest 
margin in the history of the 
state. The close margin of votes 
led to an ultimately thwarted 
recount effort by former Green 
Party presidential nominee Jill 
Stein just hours prior to the 
victory tour rally. In opening 
remarks, 
Ronna 
Romney 

McDaniel, the chairman of the 
Michigan Republican Party, 
called the recount a “temper 
tantrum” on the part of Stein.

“Winning one was nice,” 

McDaniel said. “But winning 
twice is huge.”

The recount may be officially 

over in Michigan, with Trump 
set to be the president, but 
the election was still fresh on 
his mind. The majority of his 
speech focused on recalling his 
17 months on the trail leading 
up to Nov. 8. He said the 
election allowed him to travel 
all over the United States.

“This gets you to stop at 

states that you won’t stop at 
and that’s what our founders 
had in mind and that’s what 
people had in mind,” Trump 
said.

Now on the victory tour, 

Trump stuck to issues pertinent 
to the state like maintaining 
jobs. He hinted to the crowd 
that Ford Motor Company has 
made a promise for him that 

involves staying in Michigan 
and not Mexico. Ford has for a 
long time depended on Mexico 
for open trade and with Trump 
vowing to create more jobs and 
trade in the United States, this 
could change.

“No state has been hurt 

worse by our trade deals,” 
Trump said. “And that’s how 
I knew I was going to win 
Michigan.”

In addition, Trump also 

brought Dow Chemical CEO 
Andrew Liveris to the stage 
and announced he will lead 
the national Manufacturing 
Council. 
Dow 
Chemical 
is 

based in Midland, Mich., and 
Liveris said he intends to 
expand operations in the state.

“I 
might 
have 
a 
funny 

accent,” said Liveris, who is 
from Australia. “But I believe 
in America and I believe in 
Michigan.”

Michigan, 
Trump 
said, 

is something he believes in 
as well. Trump has already 
welcomed 
three 
Michigan 

natives — and two University 
of Michigan alumni — into 
his Cabinet. Betsy DeVos, who 
resides in Grand Rapids and 
whose family donated greatly 
to the Trump campaign, was 
chosen to be the head of the 
Department 
of 
Education. 

DeVos too spoke Friday night, 
stressing 
her 
devotion 
to 

“(making) 
education 
great 

again in this country.”

In 
Michigan, 
Devos’s 

appointment has been met 
with wariness, and experts 
nationwide have attacked her 
education credentials. Trump 
said at the tour stop she was 
“considered by everybody to 

be one of the top education 
reformers in the country.” 

Despite the overwhelming 

support 
for 
the 
president-

elect and his Secretary of 
Education 
pick 
from 
the 

crowd, the wariness felt across 
the country was not absent. 
Over the course of DeVos’ brief 
remarks, five protestors were 
escorted out of the arena in 
three spurts. 

DeVos, however, carried on 

throughout the interruptions, 
emphasizing her commitment 
to 
bolstering 
the 
school 

systems by removing Common 
Core and increasing support to 
private and charter schools. 

Afterward 
the 
protests, 

Trump commented there was 
no place safer than a Trump 
rally. Those in his audience, 
and those who elected him, 
were among the population he 
said was left behind by the past 
administration. 

“For the first time for many, 

many years what we do know is 
that the pages will be authored 
by each and everyone of you,” 
Trump said. “The American 
people will be in charge. You 
will never again fall on deaf 
ears.”

This, he pledged to the 

crowd, 
will 
be 
fulfilled 

through campaign promises 
and the spirit of adventure and 
victory he had promised just a 
month before in the same city.

“My message tonight is for 

all Americans,” Trump said. 
“I am asking you to join this 
incredible 
movement. 
This 

movement that nobody has 
ever seen before.”

TRUMP
From Page 1A

specializes 
in 
de-certifying 

unions. In a written statement 
two weeks later, co-op general 
manager Lesley Perkins said 
Parmenter 
and 
Associates 

had approached the co-op to 
offer 
legal 
counsel 
through 

the 
election, 
unsolicited 
by 

management.

However, workers and other 

local labor advocates claimed 
Parmenter and Associates had 
a representation as a “union-
buster,” and Parmenter’s hiring 
sparked fears that management 
was 
actively 
seeking 
to 

undermine their unionization 
efforts.

Williams suggested the co-op 

management acted as though 
the pro-union employees were 
in the minority, and the hiring 
of Parmenter would intimidate 
dissenters to avert unionization.

“I think the first couple weeks 

they thought that we were the 
minority, and them bringing in 
the union buster was going to 
scare enough people to push it 
out,” Williams said.

Co-op board President Ann 

Sprunger declined to comment 
on unionization efforts, but 
said the board would be neutral 
throughout 
the 
unionization 

process. 
General 
Manager 

Lesley Perkins did not respond 
to a request for comment, and 
inquiries 
to 
management’s 

general email address were left 
unanswered.

At this point, Bianco took his 

fight public, placing a petition 
on 
Change.org 
protesting 

management’s hire and calling 
for support for the workers’ 
unionization efforts.

“(Management has) steered 

the Co-op onto a path that it 
cannot succeed on,” Bianco 
wrote in a petition protesting 
Parmenter 
and 
Associates’ 

hire. 
“Upper 
management 

hopes to make the Co-op more 
profitable by cutting labor and 
transforming this long-standing 
community institution into a 
mini-Whole Foods.”

In 
a 
Nov. 
26 
statement, 

the co-op workers offered a 
compromise. 
Acknowledging 

management had a right to seek 
outside counsel through the 
unionization 
process, 
Bianco 

suggested the co-op replace 
Parmenter 
and 
Associates 

with labor lawyer and City 
Councilmember 
Jack 
Eaton 

(D–Ward 4), who was viewed as 
more neutral. Management did 
not take them up on the offer.

“It’s always surprising that 

in a community like Ann Arbor, 
that prides itself as being so 
progressive, that elected boards 
would go to these ends to stymie 
their 
unionized 
workforce,” 

Eaton said, noting his offer of 
pro-bono counsel was declined. 
“They had other things in mind.” 

Acknowledging the pushback 

their hiring of Parmenter and 
Associates caused, the co-op 
board decided to terminate the 
law firm’s services on Nov. 28. 
It remains unclear if the firm 
performed any tangible work for 
co-op management in the time it 
was contracted.

That 
same 
day, 
Perkins 

tendered her resignation as 
general manager effective Dec. 
13, citing “being lied about and 
publicly vilified by staff” and 
an 
increasingly 
toxic 
work 

environment.

Williams 
said 
he 
regrets 

Perkins’ departure, saying the 
unionization effort was not 
intended as a personal affront 
to her but rather an attempt to 

drive greater dialogue between 
management and workers.

“It was really sort of crushing 

for me, because that isn’t what we 
wanted,” Williams said. “I know 
Leslie was under a lot of stress 
… but we didn’t want that, we 
just wanted to have a dialogue, 
and we wanted to work with 
you to do that. I think she took it 
very personally, and I wish that 
hadn’t happened … I know she 
felt stabbed in the back.”

Secord said it was regrettable 

that frictions emerged between 
the 
co-op’s 
management 

and 
employees, 
but 
added 

management 
has 
grown 

increasingly cooperative.

“We wanted to work with 

them … we weren’t interested 
in creating all this friction and 
animosity,” 
Secord 
said. 
“I 

definitely understand a lot of 
this frustration that’s happening 
… just the inevitable tension 
that arrives when you have two 
different groups of people with 
two different ideas.”

Last Friday, a secret-ballot 

vote was held among the co-op 
employees, with observers from 
the NLRB present. Twenty-
four workers voted in favor of 
unionizing, with nine voting 
against.

Sunday, Williams said he’s 

hopeful the newly-recognized 
union will not only better 
represent employees’ voices to 
co-op management, but also 
improve the store’s impact on the 
community. However, he also 
noted a sense of concern from 
the co-op board for the future of 
the establishment.

“I think they started to 

get the vibe this (past) week 
that the union was going to 
happen,” 
Williams 
said. 
“I 

think if anything, they’re very 
apprehensive or nervous about 
what’s going to happen now.”

CO-OP
From Page 1A

tries not to focus as much on 
the title as the results of his 
volunteerism.

“I obviously consider it very 

humbling,” he said. “It’s a cool 
opportunity to be honored and 
be recognized for my hard work. 
But I don’t get too caught up in 
the (award).”

Khan 
said 
his 
volunteer 

work began in 2013 during 
his sophomore year of high 
school, when he filled out his 
application for the National 
Honor Society, an organization 
that recognizes high-achieving 
high school students. One of the 
admissions requirements was 
to perform a certain number of 
hours of community service.

It was then, he said, that he 

realized he had to do something 
productive with his time after 

school. He added he quickly 
found his answer in a local 
diabetes clinic in his hometown 
of Jackson, Mich. that evolved 
into another opportunity at 
Allegiance 
Health 
Hospital. 

Khan was acquainted with the 
hospital; he had spent time there 
in 2011 during his freshman year 
of high school when his father 
was treated for a debilitating 
stroke that forced him to give 
up his family transportation 
business.

“I was trying to figure out 

what I’m good at and what I 
should dedicate my time to,” 
he said. “I made it a goal to 
volunteer 20 hours that summer. 
I ended up doing 100.”

Since arriving at University 

of Michigan this year, Khan 
said he has not had time to 
return to those places at home 
to volunteer. Instead, he said he 
is focused on finding issues that 
he is passionate about changing 

here in Ann Arbor.

“Since I’ve gotten to UM, I 

haven’t been able to go back 
to the hospital or the nursing 
home,” Khan said. “So I’ve been 
seeking other opportunities … 
One of my goals at Michigan is 
to get as much as I can out of my 
four years here and have as big 
of an impact as possible.”

One of the ways Khan has 

found to make an impact is 
through the Syrian Orphanage 
Sponsorship 
Association, 
a 

student group centered around 
raising 
funds 
to 
sponsor 

Syrian orphans who have fled 
the country because of the 
current Syrian conflict. Syria is 
currently in an ongoing civil war 
which grew out of an uprising 
against the regime of President 
Bashar al-Assad in March 2011.

“The whole refugee crisis 

to me, I thought it’s been 
mishandled very badly,” he said. 
“If I joined (SOSA), I could help 

children around the world and 
impact their lives, which seems 
like a really cool opportunity.”

Khan 
cited 
Germany 
as 

a 
leader 
in 
refugee 
policy 

compared to the United States. 
He said he prefers Germany’s 
inclusive approach to taking in 
refugees over what he called 
the meager policy presented by 
the United States, especially 
because of its much higher 
capacity for space compared 
to Germany’s. According to 
Bloomberg, Germany took in 
1.1 million refugees in 2015. 
According to The New York 
Times, 
the 
United 
States 

reached its goal of admitting 
10,000 refugees in August of 
this year.

Khan said he has ambitious 

plans to help the cause of 
Syrian refugees in the United 
States, including reaching out 
to 
national 
companies 
and 

speaking to high schools about 

the issue.

“I’m going to try to contact 

the biggest names in the country 
and find anyone I can to push 
this message,” he said. “If I’m 
doing something, I want to see 
what’s the ceiling I can reach.”

In addition to his involvement 

in SOSA, Khan is also on the 
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 
Student Advisory Board for the 
DEI plan, University President 
Mark Schissel’s initiative to 
increase diversity and create 
an 
inclusive 
environment 

on 
campus. 
According 
to 

the University Student Life 
website, the board aims to offer 
student perspectives on the 
implementation and assessment 
of the plan.

Khan said he was motivated 

to apply to the board due to his 
desire to jump start an initiative 
he had been planning since 
high school to put low-income 
high school students on equal 

footing with those of higher 
socioeconomic 
status 
when 

applying to college.

“I wasn’t able to bring that 

idea to high school because I 
didn’t have enough time,” he 
said. “But I’m trying to figure 
out how I can work it into 
Michigan. I saw the opportunity 
(of the SAB) and knew that it 
fit exactly what I’m trying to 
accomplish. 
I’m 
passionate 

about all of those issues.”

Referencing 
his 
own 

volunteer experiences to give 
advice to other students who 
wish to get involved in similar 
work, Khan said students should 
seize each opportunity to work 
on what they are passionate 
about.

“If you’re passionate about it 

and can do something about it, 
you should definitely take that 
opportunity,” he said. “A lot of 
people would love to have that 
chance.”

VOLUNTEER
From Page 1A

Council at the University, said 
even though he is not a Trump 
supporter, he is optimistic 
that the presidency will open 
up discussions regarding free 

speech across the nation.

“So, Republicans are really 

good at saying, ‘hey, we’re all 
in this together, let’s all move 
forward together, we’re all 
Americans,’ ” Nicholson said. 
“It seems like Democrats are 
really good at putting people 
into specific groups: ‘You’re 
Black, you’re white, you’re gay, 

you’re straight, you’re Muslim, 
you’re Christian, you’re this 
and that,’ and what happens 
is they fight each other. So, on 
the topic of free speech, and 
I learned this from a feminist 
from DC, it’s not just my 
opinion, it’s going to get better 
as far as opening up.”

SPEECH
From Page 2A