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Thursday, February 23, 2017 — 3

of information. If government-
financed state universities adopt 
speech codes preventing free 
speech, organizations like the 
American Civil Liberties Union 
argue such regulations violate the 
First Amendment and constitute 
government censorship.

University 
spokesman 
Rick 

Fitzgerald 
said 
though 
the 

University cannot remove fliers or 
chalkings on the basis of content, 
it did remove the fliers from places 
where postings are not allowed. He 
further explained how, as a place 
of higher education, the University 
seeks to combat hateful speech 
through education.

“The general philosophy is 

that the First Amendment right 
is interpreted broadly, by us and 
by the courts, to mean all kinds 
of speech, including writings or 
posters or chalkings,” he said. “We 
believe that the best approach to 
combat speech that is hateful, or 
that we think is inappropriate or 
that we disagree with, is the use of 
more speech and education. The 
educational component is a really 
important part of our mission and 
our responsibility, to help educate 
the young people and others 
who are part of our University 
community, and that’s a role we 
take very seriously.”

Fitzgerald 
noted 
if 
speech 

contains threats or promises of 
harm, the University and law 
enforcement can get involved. He 
also pointed to the University’s bias 
response team as a unique feature 
that not all schools have to combat 
bias incidents.

“If I threaten to do something, 

physical harm to you, that’s a 
threat and is dealt with differently 
than speech,” Fitzgerald said. 
“Having a bias response team is not 
something that all campuses have, 
our own Division of Public Safety 
and Security and our own police 
force that is sensitive to and trains 
specifically for college campuses is 
not something that every campus 
has.”

In response to the racist poster 

incidents, student organization 
Students4Justice drafted a petition 
to Schlissel in September with a 
list of demands. These demands 
included requests for Schlissel to 
declare solidarity with students of 
color, schedule more office hours 
and time for students to voice their 
concerns to the president directly, 
and to display a Black Lives Matter 
flag — as means of addressing the 
humanity of Black students.

The petition was re-drafted 

in February after racist and 
anti-Semitic emails were sent 
out to University engineering 
and computer science students, 
and a prayer rug in the Shapiro 
reflection 
room 
was 
defiled. 

Though the University released 
official 
statementscondemning 

the 
incidents, 
Wall 
believes 

administrators need to take more 
aggressive action in punishing the 
perpetrators.

“When those racist and anti-

Semitic emails went out, and 
students, outraged and scared, 
marched to President Schlissel’s 
front door, he asked what he should 
do, what the University should do, 
what we wanted him to do, about 
the situation,” Wall said. “But the 
fact of the matter is that his concern 
was a long time coming, because 
this was not a new situation. Each 
time the University has done 
nothing to protect its students from 
violence, racism and bigotry. They 
do two things: They are letting us 

know we don’t matter, and they 
are making it clear to racists and 
fascists and bigots that they won’t 
face any repercussions for harming 
students.”

Walls explained that one of the 

ways students can protect their 
rights, and the rights of vulnerable 
people on campus, is to protest 
— even if the University opposes 
their methods. She affirmed how 
powerful students can be when 
they come together.

“Student strikes and protests 

are incredibly powerful,” she said. 
“I often think that we lose sight 
of the sheer amount of power we 
as the student body have when 
influencing what goes on here on 
campus, and also in the rest of 
the nation. Right now, we need 
to continue fighting for our most 
vulnerable 
peoples, 
especially 

undocumented 
students. 
We 

must also set the example for 
the University and the rest of the 
nation, and we cannot wait to only 
do so if the University gives us the 
OK to protest.”

Other 
social 
groups 
have 

attempted to harness the power 
of student activism. In an October 
meeting in the Michigan Union, 
Students4Justice leader Vikrant 
Garg, a Public Health student, 
said the administration needs to 
acknowledge the large amount 
of emotional and physical labor 
student activists put into their 
work. He also explained how, 
through 
student 
activism, 

Students4Justice attained a space 
in the Union to organize and reflect 
after meeting with Schlissel.

“We 
looked 
at 
the 

administration to be people who 
are receptive to student activism 
and student influences, and open 
to change,” Garg said. “There is a 
lot of unpaid emotional, physical 
and academic labor from students 
of color and other marginalized 
students on this campus — so 
this space that was created, was 
created in response to student 
activism on this campus and that 
has yet to be acknowledged by the 
administration.”

To show their disappointment 

in the administration’s response 
to recent bias incidents, members 
of Students4Justice have called 
for more protests as well — the 
most recent being the Campus 
Day Silent Protest on Feb. 17. 
This event was coupled with 
the release of a document titled, 
“Letter to President Schlissel 
#SchlisselWYA,” which voiced 
the group’s dissatisfaction with 
Schlissel for not answering its 
demands or voicing solidarity with 
its cause.

The group expressed frustration 

that Schlissel responded to a 
petition 
from 
supporters 
of 

President Donald Trump last fall 
who stated they did not feel safe on 
campus, but has not yet responded 
to their demands for a more 
inclusive campus.

“When our demands were 

first presented to you over dinner, 
the demands were glossed over 
and forgotten,” the letter reads. 
“Interestingly enough, according to 
your post-election interview with 
NPR in Fall of 2016, you reached 
out to the students who supported 
President Donald Trump after 
a 
simple 
Google 
document, 

#NotMyCampus, was sent out. It 
is very frustrating as an activist to 
not be acknowledged despite the 
time we dedicate to change on this 
campus for marginalized groups, 
whereas it takes a single Google 
document for primarily white 
students with oppressive opinions 
to grasp your attention.”

The 
letter 
also 
criticized 

Schlissel’s lack of understanding 
regarding his role of power in the 
University, and accused him of 
relying completely on his Diversity, 
Equality, and Inclusion plan — 
released last October — to avoid 
discussions of race.

“You need to understand your 

own identities and the power you 
have in creating a culture that is 
not oppressive for marginalized 
students,” 
the 
letter 
reads. 

“Instead, you lean on the Diversity, 
Equity, and Inclusion Plan to prove 
your commitment to diversity.”

The DEI plan was put into 

place with the goal of achieving 
a diverse and inclusive campus 
over the next five years, through 
initiatives including the increase 
of staff diversity, retention of 
under-privileged students and the 
assurance of equal compensation 
for all races, genders and identities. 
The overall plan comprises 49 unit 
plans created by all school, colleges 
and departments at the University. 
Two student panels consisting of 
25 undergraduate and graduate 
students 
each 
convene 
every 

month to discuss new strategies 
and ideas with DEI leaders.

Fitzgerald noted the plan was 

conceived as a sort of “ground-up 
initiative,” and students are still 
encouraged to voice their ideas and 
opinions to improve its quality.

“The plan was intended from 

the very beginning to be one that is 
updated and evolved; it was never 
thought:‘Here’s the five year plan, 
follow that and we will see you 
in five years,’ ” he said. “Updates 
and adjustments along the way 
are expected, and student input is 
critically important to that effort.”

In an interview earlier this 

month, Chief Diversity Officer Rob 
Sellers, vice provost for equity and 
inclusion, explained that though 
the plan can’t prevent individual 
hateful incidents on campus, it will, 
over a period of time, create a more 
inclusive environment.

“We have a whole lot of 

incidents that are sparks, and these 
sparks are being thrown on a floor 
that is full of gasoline, and so these 
fires are raging,” he said. “(We) 
cannot prevent the sparks. What 
the DEI is trying to do is create an 
environment where those sparks 
do not lead to explosions and fires. 
The fact of the matter is it’s going to 
take a while before we see all of the 
changes.”

Wall believes though the plan 

appears cohesive and proactive 
on the surface, it does not address 
how the University responds to 
bias incidents — one of the core 
concerns of groups such as BAMN 
and Students4Justice.

“I think one of the main problems 

with the DEI plan is that it mainly 
outlines more ways in which the 
University will ‘look into’ racist 
and biased/bigoted events,” Wall 
said. “Many of the points highlight 
looking at numbers, doing surveys 
or opening more lines for people to 
report bigoted events. These things 
seem proactive on the surface, but 
the fact is the problem has never 
been the need for more accurate 
numbers, or the University not 
knowing about the issues that 
have been plaguing the campus; 
the problem has always been how 
the University responds to these 
incidents.”

Wall explained the importance 

of ensuring students of color, 
LGBTQ students and immigrant 
students feel safe and a part of a 
diverse, inclusionary campus.

“We cannot be indecisive or 

weak in our actions now, and 
it is absolutely the onus of the 
University to prove that these are 
values that it upholds,” she said.

ACTION
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pleased to encourage an open 
environment. The discussions 
emphasized 
finding 
ways 

to challenge the racism and 
xenophobia present on campus, 
and how the RC could support 
marginalized students.

Wells reflected on the current 

presidential 
administration, 

saying 
its 
goals 
stand 
in 

stark contrast to those of the 
University of Michigan.

“I think, like the nation as 

a whole, the campus is very 
divided,” Wells said. “I think in 
some ways this current president 
is 
antithetical 
to 
everything 

that many of us conceive us as 
important in a university — open, 
promoting certain kinds of social 
and economic reform — and many 
of us feel that this current admin is 
really opposite of what many of us 

believe is important.”

He also commented on the 

rising tensions that are present as 
a result of the election.

“There is this sort of tension 

that exists on campus,” Wells 
said. “There are people who, if 
they’re Trump supporters, they 
feel marginalized by the sort of 
progressive ethos on campus, 
but on the other hand, we have 
students of color or of different 
sexual preference. We don’t want 
to equate the fact that you voted 
for Trump or you feel unwelcome 
on campus with the legacy of 
racism and sexism on campus.”

Katie Slajus, a freshman in 

the 
Residential 
College, 
also 

expressed her opinion on problems 
the community faces.

“Racism 
and 
general 

discrimination (are issues),” Slajus 
said. “I don’t really think the 
diversity, equity and inclusion is 
actually working.” 

The forum began with casual 

invitation for audience members 
to write down on posters their 
thoughts 
about 
topics 
like 

racism on campus, self-care and 
supporting marginalized students 
in the RC. After the posters, 
everyone was invited to select an 
issue to discuss further in small 
groups. After the small group 
meetings, everyone reconvened 
for a larger discussion.

Camilla 
Lizundia, 
also 
a 

freshman 
Residential 
College 

student, hoped the forum would 
foster more relationships in the 
future.

“I hope to gain more insight 

to how we, as a community, can 
better improve the relationships 
between other people in the RC, 
and how that can correlate to 
the rest of the campus as well,” 
Lizundia said.

FORUM
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chapter of College Republicans, 
wrote in an email interview he 
was upset by the lack of action 
taken by the University. 

According 
to 
Zalamea, 

Amanda 
Delekta, 
political 

director for College Republicans, 
reached 
out 
to 
University 

President 
Mark 
Schlissel 

when the first accusation was 
proven false and was told the 
action taken by the AAPD was 
sufficient.

“These 
false 
accusations 

were once used as a rallying 
cry against conservatives and 
against 
President 
Trump,” 

Zalamea wrote. “The University 
has a duty to its students to keep 
them safe. And given all the 
fear these accusations caused, I 
believe the University must do 
its best in notifying all students 
about the true deceptive nature 
of these allegations.”

Zalamea 
believes 
people 

involved with falsely reporting 
the 
crimes 
should 
receive 

consequences.

“There should be real legal 

consequences for anyone who 
files 
a 
false 
police 
report, 

especially since these serious 
allegations incited so much fear 
in the community,” Zalamea 
wrote.

On social media, critiques of 

the false reports spiraled into 
personal attacks on the alleged 
victims. 

Many marginalized students 

subsequently fear future hate 
crimes will be immediately 
discredited, and hold heightened 
concerns 
about 
polarization 

on campus. LSA sophomore 
Alyiah Al-Bonijim, one of the 
organizers of Halfway Hijabi: 
Hijabi Monologues, was upset 
by the false reports as well. She 
believes, however, the type of 
mentality expressed by critics 
will perpetuate the idea that 

all reported hate crimes are 
fabricated.

“Putting too much attention 

on these two false reports, out 
of the many reported following 
and preceding the election, 
works to push forward this idea 
that hate crimes as a whole are 
fake,” Al-Bonijim wrote in an 
email interview. “Truthfully, 
reluctance has come from fear 
of not being believed later on in 
the future if something like this 
does occur.”

Fatima 
Haidar, 
another 

Hijabi Monologues organizer, 
expressed concern regarding 
the release of the updates from 
the AAPD.

“Sometimes 
the 
kind 
of 

decisions that the police make 
in terms of saying that this is 
false information is going to 
lead to a confirmation bias on 
either side,” she said. “So it may 
lead to people who had already 
perceived these minorities as 
weak or sensitive to continue 
with that idea and say yeah they 
are liars too. It’s not helping the 
situation.”

Haidar 
and 
Al-Bonijim 

acknowledged the significant 
community response to the 
initial reports as well as the 
response from the Division of 
Public Safety and Security, but 
had some concerns regarding 
their impact. The determination 
that the reports were fabricated 
upset Al-Bonijim, particularly 
because 
of 
the 
powerful 

response she and the Muslim 
community received from the 
campus community.

“I was upset that so many 

amazing 
people 
worked 
so 

hard to provide support for the 
Muslim community and could 
only imagine how they feel about 
using their valuable time to 
support us,” Al-Bonijim wrote.

However, she went on to say 

that despite the large response, 
the ties formed could always be 
strengthened.

“Yes, 
support 
has 
been 

large, but it can be larger,” 
Al-Bonijm wrote. “It can also 
be more intersectional and less 
temporary. 
Support 
always 

comes in masses when a huge 
incident occurs, but I want to 
push for this to last past the 
boundaries of a trend.”

Haidar suggested that DPSS 

pursue a more preventative 
approach 
to 
hate 
crimes, 

particularly in the face of these 
false reports.

“It’s really the lack of action or 

emphasis on certain things that 
might lead to a progression of 
problems that could be avoided,” 
Haidar said. “I think they should 
be doing everything they can 
to prevent hate crimes not just 
respond to them.”

University Counseling and 

Psychological 
Services 
has 

responded to tension on campus 
by recognizing the increased 
need for a safe place where 
students can receive support. 
CAPS has added a page to its 
website, “Navigating a Complex 
World: Current Events That 
Impact Students,” to outline 
its commitment to providing 
culturally competent services.

Sheryl Kelly, coordinator of 

CAPS’s 
Inclusive 
Excellence 

Initiatives, described some of the 
resources CAPS offers students 
who have concerns about the 
campus climate, including walk-
in times, appointments and 
after-hours services. Students 
are also able to request to speak 
to someone from a particular 
social demographic if that makes 
them feel more comfortable. 
Kelly also noted there has been 
an increase in students who 
come in to talk about concerns 
regarding the campus climate.

“A lot of students are being 

impacted by current events, so 
when they come in, I ask how 
they are doing in the current 
campus climate,” Kelly said. 
“We have many students that 
come in who specifically identify 
that as a problem.”

HATE CRIMES
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automatically going to reduce or 
impact the quality of care.”

Meade provided examples of 

problems and possible solutions, 
such as the issues of low literacy 
with the implementation of video 
health instructions, executive 
dysfunction with concrete and 
practical support and disabled 
children with appointments and 
clinics. These are, Meade said, 
only a few of the changes we 
can make to reduce health-care 
disparities for the disabled.

The 
Patient 
Protection 

and 
Affordable 
Care 
Act, 

most 
commonly 
known 
as 

the Affordable Care Act or 
Obamacare, 
was 
passed 
by 

Congress in 2010. The act tried 
to reduce health disparities for 
the disabled by gathering more 
data on the issue and increasing 
health-care-provider 
training. 

However, the current House 
and Senate have already voted to 
approve new budget resolutions 
that will make it easier for the 
Trump administration to repeal 
the ACA in the future.

Meade said she is shocked 

many health-care providers still 
do not work toward improving 
general 
comfort 
for 
their 

disabled patients.

“One 
of 
the 
things 
that 

continues to shock me is (the 

lack of) access to a wheelchair-
accessible 
scale,” 
she 
said. 

“These are some of the basic 
factors that we need to think 
… how we make this as easy as 
possible.”

In addition to scales, Meade 

said 
people 
must 
actively 

improve current environments 
to assist disabled individuals in 
any way they can.

“We can consciously create 

environments,” she said. “Just as 
we create environments that are 
inviting based on age or gender, 
we can do the same (here). We 
can think about not only the 
accessibility of doors, the height 
of the table, the way we interact. 
We can think about the signage, 
the themes of use. We can think 
about the pictures that are up 
there.”

In her research, Meade said 

she doesn’t want to merely 
conduct research, write a paper 
and be done with the topic. She 
aims to use her data to improve 
knowledge 
and 
measurable 

action to lessen health-care 
disparities for the disabled.

“Thinking about creating or 

adapting clinical services based 
on research evidence, making 
sure if you’re collecting data, it’s 
for a reason and how is this going 
to change our practice,” she said.

Meade 
concluded 
by 

emphasizing knowing how to 
care for and support disabled 
individuals 
is 
something 

everyone should undertake.

“Most people are touched 

some 
way 
by 
disabilities,” 

she said. “They have siblings, 
they have parents … so being 
aware of what’s involved, being 
knowledgeable about the factors 
… and just addressing them and 
being respectful. Not assuming 
that we know everything makes 
a difference.”

Public Health student Suzie 

Genyk, president of IHSO, said 
the group invited Meade to IHSO 
to speak because of her inclusion 
of many medical disciplines in 
her research.

“The group of members we 

have with IHSO, it’s students 
from all the different health 
schools,” she said. “We try to 
have different events to bring 
in different perspectives that 
they wouldn’t necessarily get in 
the classroom, and also to have 
conversations 
with 
students 

outside of their normal cohort.”

Pharmacy 
student 
Chris 

German said Meade’s statements 
shed a light on health-care 
controversies and ways we can 
improve life for people with 
disabilities.

“She … pointed out things 

that the health-care system 
could do better in order to make 
sure we recognize people with 
disabilities as individuals and 
to make sure that they get the 
kind of care people without 
disabilities even get,” he said.

RESEARCH
From Page 1

Read more at 
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“The idea with the healthy 

relationships dialogues is that 
the majority of sexual assaults 
that happen on campus happen 
to 
individuals 
from 
non-

dominant groups, and their 
stories usually don’t really get 
shared or spoken about,” he 
said.

Following this resolution, 

a resolution to help fund the 
SAPAC Survivor Care Fund 
also 
passed. 
This 
fund 
is 

designed to help students who 
are victims of sexual assault 
by providing them with hotel 
rooms, new door locks in the 
case that the victim still lives 
with the perpetrator, and other 
necessities such as food and 
clothing.

LSA SG has sponsored the 

Survivor Care Fund in the past. 

Wednesday night, the body 
approved the continuation of 
allocating funds and a donation 
of $1,000.

Rep. Allison Berry, an LSA 

sophomore, 
explained 
the 

importance of the resolutions 
toward 
SAPAC, 
specifically 

when 
providing 
necessities 

for those students who have 
experienced sexual assault or 
other forms of harassment.

“I think that the meeting 

today really added a human 
component that we kind of 
missed 
when 
we’re 
sitting 

in this room just voting on 
a number,” she said. “Every 
penny has been spent from 
this fund every semester since 
they’ve had it, so there’s always 
a need, and if it’s there it will 
be spent.”

Representatives 
also 

discussed a resolution to turn 
the current Transfer Student 
Initiatives Task Force into 

a full committee to improve 
resources, and allow for a 
smoother 
integration 
for 

transfer 
students 
into 
the 

University of Michigan.

LSA senior Reid Klootwyk 

said the task force currently 
works 
on 
a 
per-semester 

basis and because it is not a 
continuous project, is unable 
to 
fully 
provide 
resources 

necessary for transfer students.

“The 
transfer 
student 

resolution 
would 
create 
a 

fully formed committee in 
LSA Student Government that 
will continue to last and make 
change for transfer students,” 
he said. “We’ve found that the 
projects that we’re working 
on, the momentum that we 
currently 
have, 
needs 
to 

continue on beyond a semester.”

This specific resolution falls 

under the category of new 
business, and was tabled to be 
voted on next week. 

LSA SG
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