Acclaimed 
criminal 
justice 

attorney 
Bryan 
Stevenson 

received 
the 
University 
of 

Michigan 
Wallenberg 
Medal 

Tuesday evening at a packed 
Rackham 
Auditorium 
filled 

with more than 1,000 attendees. 
Stevenson, the head of the Equal 
Justice Initiative and author 
of 
best-selling 
memoir 
“Just 

Mercy,” 
delivered 
a 
keynote 

address narrating his experiences 
in criminal justice reform and 
urging attendees to craft hopeful 
narratives.

According to John Godfrey, the 

assistant dean for international 
education 
at 
the 
Rackham 

Graduate School and member of 
the medal selection committee, 
the Wallenberg Medal is an 
annual award given to a person 
who demonstrates a commitment 
to human rights.

“We look for someone who 

has upheld the values of Raoul 
Wallenberg,” 
Godfrey 
said. 

“Someone who is outspoken in the 
defense of human rights, who has 
put himself or herself in the front 
lines for justice protecting those 
who are oppressed and who have 
really sought to make a difference 
in the world.”

Previous 
winners 
of 
the 

Wallenberg 
Medal 
include 

Russian journalist Masha Gessen, 
an outspoken Putin critic; U.S. 
Rep. John Lewis (D–Ga.), a civil 

Lambda 
Chi 
Alpha 

fraternity held a candlelight 
vigil Tuesday night in honor 
of their brother, Peter Hart, 
who took his own life in 
February before Spring Break. 
Hundreds gathered on the 
front lawn of the fraternity to 
share stories and remember 
Hart.

LSA 
sophomore 
Daniel 

Greene, president of Lambda 
Chi Alpha and Hart’s social 
big, 
spoke 
to 
the 
group 

gathered on the front lawn in 
memory of Hart.

“Peter Hart will always 

be loved, will always be 
missed,” Greene said. “But as 
his big, as his president, as 
his friend, most importantly 
as his brother, I ask that 
you continue his legacy in 
challenging yourself to be 
slightly more honest with 
the world; to be slightly more 
open-minded.”

LSA sophomore Michael 

Wysong, a member of the 
Sigma 
Kappa 
fraternity, 

attended the vigil to show 
support for other members of 
Greek life and for his friends 
who knew Hart personally.

“I think it’s affecting us 

really hard since a lot of … 
guys deal with depression, 
so we all just want to let 
everyone know that you can 
always 
talk 
to 
someone,” 

Wysong said. “It’s basically 

a way just for everyone to 
realize that there’s always 
someone next to you.”

LSA freshman Anna Fedder 

met Hart during orientation, 
and said she has been in 
shock since hearing of Hart’s 
passing.

“I saw him … two weeks ago, 

or something like that, just 
walking around, on my way 
back from class,” Fedder said. 

“It’s tough. I wish I had known 
more, I guess … but obviously 
you can’t go back and fix that.”

LSA junior Andrew Sharon, 

a brother at the fraternity, 
said 
since 
Hart’s 
passing, 

members 
of 
the 
Lambda 

Chi Alpha fraternity have 
been trying to process the 
tragedy, 
celebrating 
Hart’s 

membership in the fraternity 
and knowing him.

“Obviously 
everyone 
is 

really upset,” Sharon said. “But 
more importantly, we’re happy 
we had Peter around. He was 
always the most committed. 
I live at the house and he was 
always at the house more than 
I was. He literally just wanted 
to be in everything — he ran 
for positions, he was always at 
every party, every event, every 
brotherhood event.”

“Pa’Delante” is a saying often 

used in Latino communities, in 
English translation it’s commonly 
translated to mean “pick yourself 
up, dust yourself off, and keep 
moving forward.” This type of 
resilience was a prevailing theme 
among speakers at a panel hosted 
Tuesday 
evening 
discussing 

immigration, specifically for the 
Latino community and in relation 
to recent immigration policies set 
by President Donald Trump.

Nearly 50 students, faculty and 

community 
members 
gathered 

to hear from five panelists with 
experiences 
including 
working 

with and assisting immigrants, 
providing 
employment 
with 

seasonal and migrant workers and 
studying healthy equity within 
immigrant communities.

Panelist Rudy Flores, co-chair 

of the Migrant Resource Council 
of Southeast Michigan, explained 
that in the past 48 hours in his town 
of Adrian, there have been three 
different ICE raids. In which raids, 
three people were detained.

“These are situations that we 

anticipated but didn’t expect,” 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, March 8, 2017

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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 40
©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

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Civil rights 
attorney 
given medal 
for activism

Black community responds to DPS 
applicants’ fear of discrimination

See MEDAL, Page 3A

DESIGN BY: MICHELLE PHILLIPS

ACADEMICS 

Acclaimed criminal justice lawyer Bryan 
Stevenson received the Wallenberg Medal

RIYAH BASHA 
& TIM COHN

Daily News Editors

Renaissance High School student published an OpEd on racism before experiencing the ‘U’

Cydney 
Gardner-Brown, 
a 

recently accepted applicant to the 
University of Michigan, is having 
difficulty deciding whether she 
wants to be a Wolverine. The 
debate does not center around the 

price of admission or housing, nor 
is she concerned about leaving 
home for the first time. Gardner-
Brown is more concerned about her 
safety as a Black student.

In an op-ed published in the 

RHS Stentor — Renaissance High 
School’s student news publication 
— titled “Should I fear attending 
the 
University 
of 
Michigan?” 

Gardner-Brown investigates the 
emotional cost in adjusting from a 
predominantly Black high school to 
a predominantly white campus — a 
transition she describes as “going 
off to spaces without guarantee of 
our safety.” 

The Stentor is part of Dialogue, 

a 
quarterly 
publication 
that 

incorporates student contributions 

from several Detroit high schools. 
It is jointly supported by Crain 
Communications, a Detroit-based 
publishing conglomerate, and the 
Michigan State University School 
of Journalism.

In the article, Gardner-Brown 

cites recent events including the 
hacking of Computer Science Prof. 

JACKIE CHARNIGA

Daily Staff Reporter

See PANEL, Page 3A

Panel talks
reactions 
of Latino 
community

CAMPUS LIFE

The speakers discussed 
policy, uncertainties under
Trump administration

JORDYN BAKER
Daily Staff Reporter

HALEY MCLAUGHLIN/Daily

Brothers of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity gather for a candlelit vigil in honor of Peter Hart at the Lambda Chi Alpha 
chapter house on Tuesday.

Hundreds attend Lambda Chi Alpha 
fraternity’s vigil in memory of brother

The community gathered to celebrate life and accomplishments of Peter Hart

COLIN BERESFORD

Daily Staff Reporter

michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

See APPLICANT, Page 3A

A resolution to support an 

academic holiday on Election Day 
for 2020 and all even-numbered 
years after that passed during 
Tuesday night’s Central Student 
Government meeting with 30 
in favor, five opposed and none 
abstaining. 
The 
resolution 

faced 
pushback 
from 
some 

representatives, who said the 
resolution only featured the views 
of students in CSG and wasn’t 
reflective of the student body in 
general.

While 
introducing 
the 

resolution, Engineering freshman 
Mario Galindez, a member of the 
Engineering Student Government, 
talked about how voter turnout 
has historically been much lower 
in student-populated areas as 
compared to more residential, non-
student populations.

He also mentioned how long 

lines, especially in areas like the 
Michigan Union, were caused by 
the lack of student and faculty 
volunteers who could have aided 
the process. These individuals 
could have helped, however, if they 
had the day off.

See CSG, Page 3A

CSG body 
supports 
Elections 
as holiday 

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

The resolution hopes to 
increase student voter 
outcome in future years

RHEA CHEETI
Daily Staff Reporter

statement

THE MICHIGAN DAILY | MARCH 8, 2017

