Tuesday, February 7, 2017 — 3
News
michigandaily.com — The Michigan Daily

MATT VAILLIENCOURT/Daily

Students walk from table to table at the LSA Social Impact Fair in the Union on Monday.

M AKE A DIFFE RE NCE

results are used and anonymity 
of participants. He said faculty 
members are often reluctant 
to 
fill 
out 
demographic 

information and surveys in 
general because they feel they 
may be identified based on 
responses.

“What happens is, when you 

don’t know me, that’s a silent 
voice,” he said. “And why you 
don’t know about me is because 
I know if you ask about me, 
you’re going to know it’s me. So 
if you’re asking me to evaluate 
my dean, this is one cell size 
away from knowing who sent 
that evaluation in.” 

However, 
Linderman 
said 

when conducting departmental 
climate 
surveys, 
ADVANCE 

emphasizes high participation 
and anonymity when conveying 
results.

“ADVANCE is outside of 

the unit, so we’re hoping that 

makes people understand that 
we’re not part of the unit … 
we’re outside,” she said. “We 
do not give results that are 
identifiable … we work really 
hard to make sure individuals 
are not identifiable, we are very 
concerned about that, as you 
are.”

Robert Sellers, vice provost 

for 
Equity 
and 
Inclusion, 

also discussed his duties as 
chief diversity officer at the 
meeting, a position created last 
October in conjunction with 
University 
President 
Mark 

Schlissel’s Diversity, Equity 
& Inclusion plan, to oversee 
the 
implementation 
of 
the 

strategic plan. He said these 
efforts are vital for achieving 
the University’s mission.

“When 
I 
think 
about 

DEI, it’s fundamental to our 
proposition as a University; 
it’s absolutely consistent with 
our mission as an institution,” 
Sellers said.

Sellers 
responded 
to 

questions about the place of 

standardized testing in the 
evaluation of graduate school 
candidates and the interaction 
between 
Proposal 
2 
and 

recruitment techniques. 

Ortega wondered how the 

practices implemented with 
the DEI plan might be better 
communicated to faculty.

“I guess the bigger question is 

how faculty are being engaged 
in these conversations, so we 
can get some of these agendas 
out and pay attention to them,” 
he said.

Sellers said he has held 

various formal and informal 
meetings with diverse groups 
of faculty members to foster 
discussion 
about 
University 

policies on diversity, citing 
conversations related to the 
extent of Proposal 2.

“One of the effects of Prop 2 

is this false sense that we can’t 
do anything, and people being 
afraid of moving forward,” he 
said. “There’s a lot of things 
we can do, we just have to be 
careful and be lawful.”

SACUA
From Page 1

warned the cleaning of the 
rug may not ensure “tahara,” a 
state of purity and cleanliness 
required to touch the Quran, 
and advised that students not 
pray there.

The ISA and the Muslim 

Student Association recently 
released a statement via email, 
writing the damage done to 
the room affected students of 
all different faiths. 

“As practitioners of Islam 

and students at the University 
of 
Michigan, 
campus 

reflection rooms represent 
a key dimension of spiritual 
wellness and facilitate the 
practice of our faith wherever 
our day may take us,” it read. 
“Campus reflection rooms are 
also an inclusive space, shared 
among students of all religions 
and spiritualities; including 
Christian, Jewish, Buddhist 

non-religious, spiritual etc. 
Safeguarding our places of 
personal, spiritual and faith 
based prayer and reflection is 

integral to fostering a diverse 
and tolerant Michigan. Along 
with the support of University 
administration, we invite our 

peers and colleagues to stand 
and act in support of not 
only Muslim students, but all 
affected communities at this 
time.”

According to Brown, DPSS 

will not likely send out a crime 
alert, as there is no apparent 
threat to student safety. 

RUG
From Page 1

also been working with the 
Ann Arbor Police Department 
on the investigation as well 
as increasing the number of 
DPSS officers patrolling the 
area. 

There have been four 

armed robberies in the past 10 
days, all of which have been 
south of Central Campus. 
A $1,000 reward is being 
offered for information that 
leads to the arrest of those 
responsible for the crime.

DPSS
From Page 1

be confirmed, because of the 
projection that Vice President 
Mike 
Pence 
will 
cast 
the 

tie-breaker vote in a Senate 
otherwise facing a 50-50 split, 
with all 48 members of the 
Democratic caucus and two 
Republicans opposing DeVos.

DeVos’ confirmation has been 

at the center of controversies 
surrounding the qualifications 
of Trump’s Cabinet selections. 
DeVos 
sparked 
particular 

concern upon responding to 
questions regarding Title IX at 
her hearing in January. When 
asked if she would preserve the 
Title IX guidance, her response 
was deemed ambiguous.

“If confirmed, I look forward 

to 
understanding 
the 
past 

actions and current situation 
better, and to ensuring that 
the intent of the law is actually 
carried out in a way that 
recognizes both the victim … as 
well as those who are accused,” 
DeVos said.

Upon 
further 
prompting, 

DeVos 
said 
it 
would 
be 

“premature” 
to 
affirm 
her 

commitment to the preservation 
of the guidance at that time.

As 
for 
the 
University’s 

investigation, in an interview 
with the Daily at the end of 
January, University President 
Mark 
Schlissel 
said 
the 

University has been cooperating 
with the OCR, but has not been 
apprised of the results of the 
investigation.

He said the University is 

looking forward to receiving 
the results so it can continue 
to foster a safe environment for 
students and support survivors 
of sexual misconduct. 

“We’re very anxious to have 

the 
investigation 
resolved 

to get whatever advice or 
guidance the Office of Civil 

Rights wants to offer so that we 
can do as good a job as possible 
making our campus safe,” he 
said. “We’re committed to the 
concepts of Title IX — to have 
a workplace, a study place, an 
environment that is free of 
discrimination 
and 
adverse 

aspects so that everyone has 
an opportunity to learn … I’m 
always committed to advice 
from OCR or other places about 
how we can do it better. But we 
haven’t heard anything. We’re 
still waiting.”

Schlissel 
pointed 
to 
a 

University 
campus 
climate 

survey administered on sexual 
misconduct in January 2015 as 
proof of his commitment to the 
issue. He said the University is 
utilizing different methods to 
address and fix the problem.

“We’re 
approaching 
it 

through educational programs, 
we’re 
approaching 
it 
by 

focusing our efforts where the 
survey told us the highest 
incidents of misconduct were,” 
he said. “We’re approaching 
it by combating the linkage 
with alcohol overuse, which 
is involved in many episodes 
of sexual misconduct, and we 
put out in July a year ago a 
revised set of policies for how 
we investigate and adjudicate 
accusations of misconduct.”

The 
updated 
sexual 

misconduct 
policy 
Schlissel 

referenced went into effect 
last July. Changes included an 
expanded, more encompassing 
definition of sexual misconduct, 
as well as adjustments to the 
definition of consent and the 
sanctioning process. 

Though the University plans 

to keep its policy as is, with 
the impending changes in the 
Department 
of 
Education, 

the fate of the investigation is 
unknown.

In an email to the Daily, 

University spokeswoman Dana 
Elger said the University is not 
going to speculate, as things at 

the national level are still in 
flux, though she reaffirmed the 
investigation is still underway. 

Mark Rosenbaum, a former 

University law professor, has 
worked with the American Civil 
Liberties Union and is now the 
director of the Opportunity 
Under Law Project at Public 
Counsel, a nationwide pro bono 
civil rights office. Rosenbaum 
said that, though the authority 
of Title IX is firmly established, 
it is too soon to tell what 
will happen in regard to the 
investigations.

“Title IX is Title IX is Title 

IX; the law has been precisely 
what it is,” he emphasized. 
“Although 
the 
Obama 

administration was the most 
vigorous enforcer of Title IX of 
any administration, where that 
goes from here, I don’t think we 
know.”

He said DeVos did not seem 

to exhibit familiarity with Title 
IX or express any commitment 
to its enforcement. He hopes 
and 
expects 
the 
Trump 

administration’s 
commitment 

will be as “resolute” as that of 
the Obama administration.

Rosenbaum noted that by 

way of investigations and other 
related efforts, the Department 
of Education publicized these 
issues and produced awareness 
at the student and campus level.

He 
said 
he 
thinks 
this 

contribution will be a driving 
force 
in 
addressing 
sexual 

misconduct, regardless of what 
happens.

“Not having the United States 

Department of Education out 
there is clearly not a good thing, 
but I don’t think you can reverse 
the momentum that the Obama 
administration 
created 
with 

respect to enforcement of Title 
IX,” he said. “I think even if the 
Trump administration turns us 
back on Title IX, I don’t think 
it’s going to get buried under 
the sand.”

Engineering 
freshman 

Lincoln Merrill, publicity chair 
of the University’s chapter of 
College Republicans, claimed 
the 
Obama 
administration 

received flak for overstepping 
its bounds.

“The 
law 
prohibits 

discrimination by sex or gender 
in an educational environment, 
that’s pretty much what it 
says,” he said. “There’s an 
argument 
that 
the 
Obama 

administration’s interpretation 
of it regarding sexual assault is 
a bit of stretch when it comes 
to the law itself. That’s not to 
say opponents of it do not care 
about sexual assault.”

Merrill said though sexual 

assault is clearly a problem, he 
believes the law is referring 
more to what is happening in 
classrooms and on the athletic 
field, or discrimination in the 
sense of not allowing someone 
to take a class or play a sport. 
He said DeVos did not confirm 
a 
reversal 
of 
the 
Obama 

administration’s interpretation 
of the law, but said she would 
continue to look into it.

He 
said 
he 
felt 
sexual 

misconduct 
investigations 

conducted by the University 
should be expedited, saying 
that, 
some 
sexual 
assault 

claims are not entirely true, 
though this is very rare. He also 
said the legal system is a more 
appropriate, efficient means for 
for addressing sexual assault 
allegations.

“I think if you’re going to 

find out who is right and who 
is wrong, you should really go 
through the police department, 
the court and the legal process 
— not the University itself,” he 
said. “I don’t think that people 
who are working here for 
educational issues should have 
to spend all their time on these 
long investigations that law 
enforcement specializes in and 
is there to do.”

Holly 
Rider-Milkovich, 

former director of the Sexual 
Assault 
Prevention 
and 

Awareness Center, who oversaw 
the implementation of the new 
sexual misconduct policy, said 
in a March interview that a 
primary reason the University 
expanded its policy — and, 
along the same lines, sexual 
misconduct investigations — 
was to be compliant with the 
Clery Act and Title IX, both of 
which regulate sexual assault 
reporting and investigations at 
public universities.

Rackham 
student 
Nicole 

Bedera 
is 
one 
of 
several 

researchers 
working 
on 
a 

project that looks at how 
colleges 
have 
responded 

to guidance about how to 
interpret 
Title 
IX 
in 
the 

context of their campuses.

In an email to the Daily, 

Bedera 
wrote 
she 
expects 

the Trump administration to 
respond differently to Title 
IX issues than the Obama 
administration did.

“The Trump administration 

does 
not 
have 
the 
same 

commitment 
to 
addressing 

campus sexual assault that 
the 
Obama 
administration 

did,” 
she 
wrote. 
“Multiple 

key players in the Trump 
administration, 
including 

Betsy 
DeVos, 
have 
spoken 

against the interpretation of 
Title IX currently used by the 
Department of Education. Title 
IX will likely remain on the 
books as written, just as it did 
in the Obama administration, 
but I suspect it won’t be 
enforced the same way it has 
been in recent years in regards 
to sexual assault.”

She continued by stating 

she 
sees 
two 
potential 

scenarios. She thinks the new 
administration 
will 
create 

its own policies around Title 
IX or stop enforcing existing 
policies. 

“If 
the 
Department 
of 

Education 
stops 
enforcing 

existing policies, there might 
be 
enough 
momentum 
on 

college campuses to maintain 
the changes made in the past 
two years and some campuses 
may even have a strong enough 
commitment to the fight to 
continue 
to 
innovate 
and 

support survivors — especially 
if student activists continue to 
put pressure on their schools,” 
she wrote. “But the schools 
that are still failing survivors 
will have no reason to improve 
services.”

She added, alternatively, if 

the administration creates new 
policies, survivors will likely 
not receive the same gains.

“The 
administration 
has 

hinted that they don’t see the 
value in many policies aimed 
at preventing violence against 
women and offering survivors 
reswources 
for 
recovery, 

including the Violence Against 
Women’s 
Act 
and 
support 

for 
Planned 
Parenthood,” 

she wrote. “I can’t imagine 
the administration would be 
any more sympathetic to the 
struggle for safety on campus.”

TITLE IX
From Page 1

The 

administration 
has hinted that 
they don’t see the 

value in many 
policies aimed 
at preventing 

violence against 

women and 

offering survivors 

resources

limit 
local 
officials 
from 

cooperating 
with 
federal 

immigration 
officials. 
The 

amendment, which passed by a 
10-1 vote, was opposed only by 
Councilmember Jane Lumm (I–
Ward 2), who expressed fears of 
losing state or local funding.

According 
to 
City 

Administrator 
Howard 

Lazarus, 
however, 
the 

amendment doesn’t jeopardize 
any state or federal funds the 
city of Ann Arbor currently 
receives.

“Nothing 
that 
we 
do 

requires us to enforce federal 
immigration laws,” he said 
in regards to Warpehoski’s 
amendment. “That does not put 
us at any risk right now.”

Ann Arbor resident Roger 

Kuhlman opposed the order, 
saying the “hysteria” about the 
executive order doesn’t help 
America, but “incites public 
hate.”

“It really bothers me when 

I hear local liberal Democratic 
politicians say that we must 
stand with and support the 
illegal alien community and 
possibly establish a sanctuary 

city here for criminal illegal 
aliens,” he said. “I really don’t 
understand that. Do you want 
to bring people in like the 
illegal alien thug out in San 
Francisco who murdered Kate 
Steinle? Do you want to reward 
illegal aliens for knowingly and 
willingly breaking many U.S. 

laws?”

Kuhlman 
was 
referring 

to the accidental 2015 fatal 
shooting of Kathryn Steinle by 
Francisco Sanchez, who had 
been deported from the United 
States five times prior to the 
shooting.

Ann Arbor resident Julie 

Quiroz expressed to the council 

her wish that the city take 
action that is more than just 
symbolic.

“To keep us safe, we need 

to evolve our local policies 
to 
make 
our 
cities 
real 

sanctuaries for all residents, 
not cancel them because of the 
illegitimate president’s latest 
actions,” she said. “That means 
a commitment to separating 
police from federal immigration 
enforcement, and addressing 
the policing that funnels Black 
and other residents to jail and 
places criminal charges on 
immigrant residents.”

Councilmember 
Sumi 

Kailasapathy 
(D–Ward 
1), 

addressing Quiroz’s concerns, 
assured residents the resolution 
was the first step of many the 
city would be taking.

“I just want to make sure 

that all of you are aware of the 
fact that the resolution that 
we’re bringing forward today 
is just the first step toward 
additional steps that at least 
a couple of us are seriously 
thinking of doing,” she said. 
“At the national level, it has 
been really hard for all of us 
the last three weeks. But the 
kind of input that we have 
got from you, that makes me 
feel that we will survive as a 
community.”

CITY
From Page 1

To keep us safe, 
we need to evolve 
our local policies 
to make our cities 
real sanctuaries 
for all residents, 
not cancel them

We invite our 

peers and 

colleagues to 

stand and act in 
support of not 
only Muslim 
students, but 
all affected 

communities at 

this time

