The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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Tuesday, January 24, 2017 — 3

AARON BAKER/Daily

The Movement Dance group practices in Angell Hall on Monday. 

punitive teaching roles … 
moving office space, and so on 
… But in each of those cases, a 
value judgment would have to 
be made regarding whether or 
not a demotion had occurred. 
We 
chose 
to 
keep 
the 

resolution short and simple, 
rather than to anticipate all 
the hypothetical abuses that 
could be imposed. I urge you 
to adopt this resolution as 
offered.”

Lehman then offered to 

answer questions the Senate 
Assembly may have. John 
Ellis, a history professor at 
UM-Flint, asked whether or 
not the resolution would apply 
to the Flint and Dearborn 
campuses as well. Lehman 
and SACUA President Bill 
Schultz determined it would.

A vote was then held on the 

resolution, and it passed with 
no votes against and only one 
abstention.

Following the vote, Provost 

Martha 
Pollack 
took 
the 

floor and began her farewell 
address to the assembly by 
sharing her opinions on the 
AAAC 
resolution. 
Pollack 

felt, contrary to the assembly, 
a pay cut did not necessarily 
mean a demotion and the 

resolution would be harmful 
to tenured professors.

“In my view, performance 

is tied to salary,” Pollack said. 
“When there is persistent 
underperformance, 
that 

would be followed up by a 
negative salary increment … I 
think it’s risky at this moment 
to equate underperformance 
with 
demotion 
and 
the 

withdrawal of tenure. We’re 
at a moment in society where 
tenure is being attacked.”

Pollack, who will begin 

her 
position 
as 
president 

of 
Cornell 
University 
in 

April, then transitioned into 
her parting remarks to the 
assembly. She thanked the 
faculty for all their hard work 
as she spoke about her pride 
for the University over her 16 
years on staff.

“This 
is 
a 
really 

extraordinary 
institution,” 

Pollack 
said. 
“I’ve 
been 

reflecting on why, and of 
course, it’s the people — 
universities are nothing more 
than people — but it’s also the 
culture that the people at the 
University of Michigan create 
… It’s corny, but we use this 
phrase ‘Leaders and Best,’ 
and people take it seriously. 
When you’re working with 
someone 
else 
in 
another 

field, you know they’re going 
to be the best, and I think 
that’s something we need to 

celebrate and remember.”

Pollack also cautioned the 

group about what she felt were 
the two biggest challenges 
facing the University, and 
higher education in general, 
moving forward. She first 
stressed the importance of 
making sure the University 
stays affordable to students, 
in the face of decreasing 
state 
funding 
and 
rising 

institutional 
costs, 
which 

she referred to as “the cost 
disease.”

“The question I always get 

asked by the public, which is 
the wrong question, is ‘Why 
does tuition increase every 
year?’ ” Pollack said. “The 
right question is, ‘Why is 
tuition going up faster than 
inflation every year?’ Really, 
the two big (reasons for this) 
are declining state support 
and the cost disease. We 
know the causes, but we still 
have to find the solutions … 
My plea to all of you is that 
you take this seriously and 
work on this with us.”

The second challenge the 

University faces, and the one 
Pollack said concerns her the 
most, is how to stay relevant 
in a time when people are 
questioning the value of the 
very concept of college.

“It’s really critical that 

we 
figure 
out 
ways 
to 

address this, and I think 

that 
means 
demonstrating 

our relevance,” Pollack said. 
“We need to take the time to 
tell the story — more than we 
ever have — why (we’re) so 
important.”

After 
Pollack’s 
speech, 

Interim Provost Paul Courant 
spoke to the assembly and 
relayed his excitement to 
be stepping into the provost 
role once again. Courant was 
the University provost from 
2002 to 2005 and will act as 
interim provost when Pollack 
steps down at the end of this 
month. During his address, 
Courant 
echoed 
Pollack’s 

remarks 
about 
staying 

relevant in a changing world.

“We 
have 
to 
persuade 

better the world around us 
that what we do is really 
of extraordinary value to 
society,” Courant said. “We 
should stick with excellence 
and collaboration; it’s what 
we’re good at, and what 
constitutes the essence of the 
secret sauce that makes this a 
great institution.”

The 
Senate 
Assembly 

concluded the meeting by 
thanking both Pollack and 
Courant for their commitment 
to the University and faculty 
governance. SACUA President 
Bill Schultz presented Pollack 
with a parting gift from the 
assembly: a picture frame and 
a scarf in “Cornellian red.”

ASSEMBLY
From Page 1 

name on social media, arguing 
the change would remove the 
legacy of William Trotter, a 
known Black and civil rights 
activist. However, the gift was 
revoked three months after 
the Regents approved it, as 
Bernstein recognized student 
concerns 
for 
the 
building’s 

namesake.

Terry McDonald, the director 

of 
the 
Bentley 
Historical 

Library 
and 
chair 
of 
the 

advisory committee, developed 
a set of principles to guide 
the evaluation of whether or 
not a name change should be 
implemented.

According to McDonald in a 

University Record release, the 
complexity of such an evaluation 
causes the principles to be less 
defined than a checklist.

“We do not believe that 

historical questions about the 

names of buildings or spaces 
can be answered by means of 
a checklist,” McDonald wrote 
in the committee’s report to 
Schlissel, 
according 
to 
the 

release. 
“Indeed, 
given 
the 

nature of our institution and its 
history, such questions bring 
into play principles that already 
exist — sometimes in tension — 
with the university.”

The 
principles 
are 
based 

on 
pedagogy, 
commitment, 

contemporary 
and 
historical 

context, 
consistency 
and 

revision, among other criteria.

LSA sophomore Ayah Issa felt 

that having a more definitive 
process for renaming could 
facilitate 
more 
thoughtful 

considerations 
for 
name 

changes.

“A white man almost had 

his name on a multicultural 
building,” said Issa. “It is a big 
step out of the gray area for the 
University to implement this 

BUILDING
From Page 1

Garg, 
a 
representative 
of 

Students4Justice, a coalition 
combatting racism on campus, 
said speculation on Whitley’s 
motives 
was 
unnecessary 

because of the gravity of the 
situation.

“It 
doesn’t 
matter 
the 

context, it was abhorrent,” 
Garg said. “Also, how are 
we showing that we value 
Black 
students 
and 
other 

marginalized 
students 
if 

we are allowing them to be 
subjected to this?”

DuBose 
explained 
on 

Twitter that, as she was 
trying to teach Whitley and 
others about white privilege, 
they harassed her on the 
basis of her financial award 
— DuBose secured a Fairfax 
Scholarship, or four years 
of paid tuition — to the 
University with an ACT score 
of 27.

Prospective 
student 

Kaushik Kothakonda implied 
DuBose 
was 
unqualified 

for her scholarship and she 
received an unfair advantage 
because of her race.

“Lmao 
how 
tf 
is 
Ken 

gonna be roasting everyone 
on 
‘privilege’ 
when 
she’s 

the one who got a full ride 
to Ann arbor with a 27 act,” 
Kothakonda 
wrote 
in 
the 

chat. “Is she seriously gonna 
tell me she would have gotten 
the full ride if she was white 

or asian. Affirmative action is 
privilege get your head out of 
the clouds.”

Universities and colleges 

in Michigan, however, have 
been 
barred 
from 
using 

affirmative action for the last 
10 years. The Supreme Court 
further upheld the 2006 state 
ban on affirmative action in 
a 2014 case, banning racial 
quotas or the consideration of 
applicants’ race in admissions. 

DuBose 
retorted 
on 

Twitter her credentials were 
on par with the scholarship 
requirements and amounted 
to more than her race.

“… they think the only 

reason I got my full ride there 
was because I’m black — not 
because I earned it,” DuBose 
wrote on Twitter. “I have 200+ 
hours of community service, 
I’m in 12+ extracirriculars 
(sic). Leadership position in 
each. And my essays were 
fire.”

In 
her 
Twitter 
post 

about the incident, DuBose 
specifically mentioned the 
inauguration 
of 
President 

Donald 
Trump, 
whose 

comments 
on 
groups 

including 
Blacks, 
Latinos 

and immigrants have stirred 
great controversy. Trump has 
previously 
called 
Mexican 

immigrants 
“rapists” 

and 
criminals, 
and 
has 

incorrectly 
characterized 

most Black people as living 
in impoverished inner city 
areas.

DuBose wrote on Twitter 

the 
chat 
members 
tried 

to silence her by invoking 
Trump’s 
victory 
in 
the 

elections, and also claimed 
they 
felt 
attacked 
for 

supporting the new president.

In 
the 
corresponding 

section 
of 
the 
chat, 

prospective students Matthew 
Lewis and Tyler Lubin argued 
Trump is not a racist and 
Lewis characterized DuBose 
and others as sore losers, 
according 
to 
screenshots 

posted by S4J on Facebook.

“Y’all can kick and scream 

all you want,” Lewis wrote. 
“We’re all living in Don’s 
America now.”

The 
incident 
sparked 

outrage among student groups 
on campus. Students4Justice 
began 
a 
social 
media 

awareness 
campaign 
on 

Sunday exposing Whitley and 
his sympathizers.

LSA 
sophomore 
Gabby 

McFarland, 
gender 
lead 

for S4J, wrote in an email 
interview with the Daily her 
group is currently spreading 
word about the incident and 
has contacted the Office of 
Admissions.

“We will soon be releasing 

our literature by tomorrow 
which will contain a thorough 
list of demands and further 
actions will be decided from 
there on,” McFarland wrote.

After all that has happened, 

however, DuBose continues 
to be optimistic about the 
possibility of a future at the 
University.

“I’m 
overwhelmingly 

grateful for this experience 
and I’m thankful for these 
groups that are helping me 
get justice,” she wrote. “I 
don’t really have access to 
campus right now and I don’t 
have much of a platform, but I 
really appreciate that they’re 
helping me make sure that 
UMICH 
isn’t 
represented 

poorly. 
They’re 
amazing 

people that I’ve met so far and 
I’m excited to be with them 
every step of the way, not 
only in this situation but in 
all racial discrimination in my 
future years at Michigan.”

Whitley may not be the only 

student claiming to be admitted 
coming under fire, though. A 
Twitter user named Ashley 
Wellington, 
who 
included 

“University of Michigan ‘21” 
in her profile, posted tweets 
referring to former president 
Barack Obama as a n----er 
and lynchings. Twitter users 
rallied 
against 
Wellington, 

tagging 
University 
Twitter 

accounts in an effort to revoke 
her 
admission. 
Wellington 

has since deleted her account, 
though Broekhuizen said the 
University’s social media team 
is monitoring the situation, but 
could not confirm the Twitter 
account was run by an admitted 
student.

“We can’t find these names 

in our system at all,” she said. 
“At this point, there is no 
evidence for us to determine 
they might be affiliated with the 
University.” 

GROUPME
From Page 1

THE FORUM

through highs and lows.

According to King, von Ranke 

is credited with compiling the 
first comprehensive history of 
the world. Today, he said, the 
most common mistake humans 
often make is equating human 
progress 
with 
technological 

progress.

King applied von Ranke’s 

theory 
to 
the 
recent 
2016 

election, agreeing that humanity 
is 
not 
a 
straight 
path 
to 

advancement, and the election 
of Donald Trump as president 
shows a dip in the progression.

Reactions to the election of 

Trump have been mixed on 
campus. Student organizations 
such as BAMN — the Coalition 
to Defend Affirmative Action, 
Integration 
and 
Immigrant 

Rights and Fight for Equality 
By Any Means Necessary — 
recently led a march protesting 
Trump.

“Humanity is not this steady 

inclining 
progression 
where 

people are just getting better and 
better and better and better,” 
King said. “Humanity is instead 
of series of peaks and valleys.”

King said much of the surprise 

people felt after incidents such 
as 
the 
trans-Atlantic 
slave 

trade, the Holocaust and the 
Rwandan genocide came from 
this falsehood that humanity is 
constantly progressing.

“For months, maybe years, 

we have walked around deeply 
confused 
at 
what 
we 
are 

experiencing because what we 
are experiencing doesn’t feel 
like the way we thought 2016 and 
2017 would feel,” King said, in 
regards to the negative reaction 
to Trump’s win as president.

The event also touched on 

the 
history 
of 
institutional 

discrimination 
against 
Black 

people in the United States. 
The high incarceration rates in 
the United States — especially 
among African Americans — 
King added, is largely due to the 
Nixon administration’s goal of 
criminalizing Blackness without 
explicitly announcing it.

“I hear people all the time say 

our justice system is broken,” 
King said. “What they tell us is 
that this system is not broken, 
but it was built to function this 
way.”

King reiterated that the peaks 

and valleys in history have 
caused things such as the end of 
slavery, the creation of the Ku 
Klux Klan and the election of a 
Black president.

Social 
Work 
student 

Dominique Hollis, who attended 
the event, said groups of people 

need to come together in order 
to 
overcome 
the 
dip 
King 

described.

“We need to expand this 

conversation 
to 
recognize 

that while yes, people of color 
are greatly disenfranchised … 
dissociating from members of 
the white community who are 
reaching out of desperation at 
times when they vote for people 
like Trump does not get us out 
of the dip,” Hollis said. “It only 
gets us deeper because we are 
not involving those parties in 
the conversation.”

If people don’t act like society 

is in a dip, according to King 
society will never emerge from 
it.

“Innovation 
disturbed 
the 

primary power structure and in 
response to the innovation, we 
are now living in the dip,” King 
said.

Rackham 
student 
Paula 

Luu said she had different 
expectations for King’s speech 
following the Women’s March 
and felt disappointed by the lack 
of answers.

“I came here wanting to 

better understand the how: how 
movements have been moved 
forwards in the past, and how 
we can build off, what I feel, is 
a lot of national energy,” Luu 
said. “I don’t feel like I got that 
today.”

ACTIVIST
From Page 1

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

