The University of Michigan 

Hillel, the Black Student Union 
and 
NOiR 
fashion 
runway 

hosted an open Shabbat dinner 
Friday 
evening, 
followed 

by 
a 
conversation 
about 

intersectionality 
and 
activism 

facilitated by Yavilah McCoy, an 
African-American Jewish activist 
and educator. This event was a 
follow up to Thursday evening’s 
event, where McCoy spoke on 
similar topics.

Hillel’s weekly Shabbat dinners 

are normally attended by several 
hundred students, most of whom 
are Jewish, each Friday. During 
this event, about 20 non-Jewish 

students in leadership positions 
in BSU and NOiR joined them, 
sitting at round tables with Jewish 
student leaders in the center of the 
dining room.

The 
conversation 
McCoy 

facilitated focused on developing 
relationship-building skills and 
how these depended on an honest 
communication 
of 
personal 

truths.

Making the connection to the 

current political climate, McCoy 
expressed the importance of 
communicating personal truths 
— like the ones found in religious 
tradition — as key to outreach in 
difficult times.

“Tonight when we go into 

the secondary room together, 
we’re going to talk about what is 

Students and faculty alike 

ditched their winter coats and 
flocked outside Saturday to study, 
work or simply enjoy the sunshine 
and warm temperatures. But 
for environmental activists, this 
sudden increase in temperature 
was no blessing — it served as a 
reminder of global warming and 
the effects of climate change seen 
each day.

That 
afternoon, 
hundreds 

gathered to rally for a cleaner 
planet and to promote a healthier 
future for generations to come. 
Bearing 
signs 
with 
slogans 

such as “listen to the 97% of 
climate 
scientists,” 
“respect 

your mother” and “there is no 
Planet B,” protesters marched 
from downtown Ann Arbor to 
the Diag, where they heard from 
an array of speakers passionate 
about 
promoting 
protection 

of the environment and public 
health.

Engineering 
sophomore 

Lyndsey Covert, member of 
Epsilon Eta, the professional 
environmental 
fraternity 
on 

campus that co-sponsored the 
event, explained the importance 
of 
mobilization 
and 
the 

encouragement of community 
members to get involved in issues 
that matter to them.

“I 
think 
that 
the 
most 

important part of activism like 
this is just getting the word 
out to people who don’t really 
understand,” she said. “It’s just 

mobilizing to get people who 
aren’t really engaged in the 
movement curious about it, and 
maybe the more people that we 
have informed, the more people 
we have who are trying to do 
what’s right for the planet and the 
people who live on it.”

The rally came one day after the 

United States Senate confirmed 
the appointment of Scott Pruitt 
to the Environmental Protection 
Agency. Environmental activists 

expressed their concerns about 
the actions Pruitt has taken that 
they feel will potentially harm 
the well-being of the planet.

State Rep. Debbie Dingell 

(D–Dearborn) was the opening 
speaker at the event, where she 
highlighted 
these 
arguments 

opposing Pruitt’s policy.

“We now have a director of the 

EPA that says that global warming 
isn’t real,” she said. “His entire 
career has been dedicated to 

undermining the agency he was 
appointed to lead and opposing 
the laws he was asked to enforce. 
It’s scary — he’s the poster boy 
of rolling back environmental 
safeguards to benefit polluters 
and 
irresponsible 
business 

practices.”

Dingell 
further 
discussed 

issues 
that 
are 
even 
more 

concerning 
to 
environmental 

activists of Michigan specifically, 

An 
audience 
of 
about 
50 

Rackham students and community 
members gathered Friday evening 
at the Walgreen Drama Center for 
a panel discussion on the effects 
of 
President 
Donald 
Trump’s 

executive order banning travel and 
immigration from seven different 
Muslim-majority countries to the 
United States.

The panel, sponsored by the 

Engineering Office of Graduate 
Education and tailored toward 
graduate students, aimed to clarify 
questions surrounding the legality 
and status of the executive order.

It began with remarks from 

University President Mark Schlissel, 
who reiterated the words of his 
initial statement regarding the ban. 
He was among the first of university 
presidents to publicly denounce 
it, confirming the University of 
Michigan would not release the 
immigration status of any of its 
students.

“The leadership of the University 

appreciates that we’re a nation of 
immigrants,” Schlissel said. “We 
wouldn’t be who we are without 
successive generations of talented, 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Monday, February 20, 2017

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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 33
©2017 The Michigan Daily

N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

SPORTS..........B-SECTION

Hillel talks 
race, role of 
the Jewish 
community

Ping Chong theater performance 
explores Muslim experience in U.S.

See HILLEL, Page 3A

EMMA RICHTER/Daily

LSA professor Rudolph “Butch” Ware discusses issues surrounding the Muslim identity in Hatcher on Friday as part of a panel with performers in “Beyond Sacred: 
Voices of Muslim Identity.” Ware provides context before the Ping Chong performance, considering issues of the Muslim experience. 

CAMPUS LIFE

Yavilah McCoy facilitates discussion on 
social justice, intersectionality at workshop

ALON SAMUEL
Daily Staff Reporter

Award-winning artist talks Muslim identity, politics during Trump Administration

In light of recent events like 

President 
Donald 
Trump’s 

attempted ban on seven Muslim-
majority countries, over 
1,000 

University of Michigan students, 
faculty and locals from Ann Arbor 

and Detroit attended a University 
Musical Society event performed by 
Ping Chong + Company on Saturday 
night. The event, named “Beyond 
Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity,” 
worked to explore stereotypes of 
Muslim identity.

Ping Chong + Company is a 

unique theatre ensemble based 
in New York, which works to 

address civic and social justice 
issues through the performing 
arts. Founded in 1975, Ping Chong 
has 
collaborated 
with 
various 

universities and organizations to 
push the boundaries of identity, 
equity and community, through oral 
history performances and large-
scale cinematic productions. Chong 
was awarded the 2014 National 

Medal of Arts by then-President 
Barack Obama.

“I’m really just creating a space 

for people to speak,” Chong said. 
“Because the media is not creating a 
space for them to speak, the media is 
just perpetuating stereotypes.”

Saturday’s production is a part of 

a series, “Undesirable Elements,” a 

YOSHIKO IWAI
Daily Staff Reporter

See BAN, Page 3A

Effects of 
travel ban 
outlined at
Rackham

GOVERNMENT

University law experts 
address implications of 
ruling for grad students

MAYA GOLDMAN

Daily Staff Reporter

CAROLYN GEARIG/Daily

Ann Arbor resident Jeannine Palms cheers during the Ann Arbor Climate March on Saturday. 

Ann Arbor residents march to raise 
awareness of global climate change

Hundreds demonstrate in march to Diag on unseasonably warm Saturday 

JORDYN BAKER
Daily Staff Reporter

michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

See CLIMATE, Page 3A

See CHONG, Page 3A

In light of recent events like 

President 
Donald 
Trump’s 

attempted ban on seven Muslim-
majority countries, over 1,000 
University of Michigan students, 
faculty and locals from Ann Arbor 
and Detroit attended a University 
Musical Society event performed by 
Ping Chong + Company on Saturday 
night. The event, named “Beyond 
Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity,” 
worked to explore stereotypes of 
Muslim identity.

Ping Chong + Company is a 

unique theatre ensemble based 
in New York, which works to 
address civic and social justice 
issues through the performing 
arts. Founded in 1975, Ping Chong 
has 
collaborated 
with 
various 

universities and organizations to 
push the boundaries of identity, 
equity and community, through oral 
history performances and large-
scale cinematic productions. Chong 
was awarded the 2014 National 
Medal of Arts by then-President 
Barack Obama.

“I’m really just creating a space 

for people to speak,” Chong said. 
“Because the media is not creating a 

See PROTEST, Page 3A

Protesters 
clash over 
‘U’ use of 
fetal tissue

ADMINISTRATION

Local pro-life groups allege 
researchers utilize aborted 
body parts for research

KEVIN BIGLIN
Daily Staff Reporter

Out of miracles

The Michigan men’s 

basketball team pushed the 
contest into overtime with 

a late, game-tying 3-pointer 
but ultimately fell, 83-78, to 

Minnesota on the road.

» Page 1B