NEWS
over the
YEARS

2013
2014

APRIL 22: The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the state of Michigan’s
ban on affirmative action, specifically the consideration of race in public

universities’ admissions. In the majority opinion, Justice Anthony

Kennedy held that under the Constitution, the voter-enacted ban in

Michigan could not be overturned at the national level.

SEPTEMBER 5: Mark Schlissel bacame the 14th president of

the University, succeeding Mary Sue Coleman. Schlissel, who was

previously the provost at Brown University, discussed his vision for an

inclusive and accessible campus in his inaugral address. He encouraged
the exchange of diverse viewpoints and experiences to attain “true
excellence.” Schlissel’s term began July 1.

Black Student Union
issues seven demands
aimed at increasing
campus diversity

By SAM GRINGLAS and ALICIA

ADAMCZYK

Daily Staff Reporter and Daily

News Editor 2013

University
students
took

to Twitter in droves Tuesday
afternoon to share their experiences
as Black students in Ann Arbor and
bring attention to issues of race
and diversity on campus using the
hashtag #BBUM.

“Being Black at the University

of Michigan has many shades and
many levels to what someone might
want to speak on it. It can go from
someone being the only Black
person in their class to someone
with no problems at all.”

-LSA senior Eric Gavin
The campaign, initiated by the

University’s Black Student Union,
has built up over the past few
days before trending nationally
on Twitter Tuesday. The hashtag
gained
momentum
after
the

student organization distributed an
e-mail to community members and
other campus groups encouraging
them to participate in the online
conversation.

LSA
senior
Tyrell
Collier,

BSU’s president, said the #BBUM
campaign was planned to raise
awareness of the experiences of
Black students and for the BSU to
collect subjective data it can couple
with University statistics to address
pressing issues Black students face.

Collier said BSU encouraged

students to tweet both negative and
positive experiences, though the
tweets have been predominantly
negative, which he expected.

He said the issue is especially

pressing on campus because while
the University frequently discusses
ways to increase diversity, many
communities have yet to witness
tangible results.

“I would like to see the lives of

Black students valued more,” Collier
said.

By 10 p.m., over 10,000 tweets

included the hashtag from Ann
Arbor and beyond.

“I don’t think this is a problem

specific to the University, I think it’s
an experience that Black students at
predominantly White universities

across the nation are facing,” he said
of the far-reaching responses.

Black
enrollment
at
the

University has fallen precipitously
over the past decade largely due
to Proposal 2, an amendment to
the state constitution that bans
affirmative action policies that
was passed by Michigan voters
in 2006. The proposal, formally
named the Michigan Civil Rights
Initiative, bars the University from
considering race in its admissions
process.

Immediately after the passage of

the proposal, University President
Mary Sue Coleman gave a dramatic
address on the Diag promising
to
maintain
the
University’s

commitment to diversity. However,
the institution has been unable
to stanch the decline in minority
enrollment
through
alternative

outreach policies in the wake of the
affirmative action ban.

In Fall 2006, Black students made

up around seven percent of the
undergraduate population. In Fall
2013, the University reported that
Black undergraduate enrollment
had fallen to 4.65 percent. Hispanic
enrollment as a percentage of the
overall undergraduate body also
declined over the same period.

At a search forum for the next

University president in September,
the Presidential Search Advisory
Committee — which includes the
University’s Board of Regents —
heard from a number of students
about diversity issues. Several
student speakers at the event said
many minorities feel they lack a
voice on campus and occasionally
experience bias incidents with both
students and instructors.

Collier
said
the
University

has not yet contacted BSU about
Tuesday’s campaign. University
spokesman Rick Fitzgerald stressed
that the University’s next step will
be to listen to the students and their
experiences on campus.

“I think at this point the listening

is the most important part and how
we might respond is the next step
and we haven’t gotten there yet,”
Fitzgerald said.

He said the University is aware of

students’ concerns and recognizes
that there is always room for
improvement in any organization.

However, the University’s social

media team responded to the
campaign via Twitter Tuesday
afternoon: “Thanks for engaging in
this conversation. We’re listening,
and will be sure all of your voices

are heard. #BBUM”

E.
Royster
Harper,
the

University’s
vice
president
for

student life, created a Twitter
account late Tuesday to address the
issue.

“Got on Twitter to hear and

support your voices. Proud of our
students.
More
later,”
Harper

wrote.

LSA senior Eric Gavin, BSU’s

public relations chair, said several
recent campus events spurred the
organization to plan a campaign,
including a recent controversy
involving
Theta
Xi
fraternity

members who branded a party with
racialized images and words.

BSU also timed its Twitter

campaign to correspond with a
forum this evening hosted by the
Department of Afroamerican and
African Studies, the Black Student
Union, We are Michigan and
Students of Color of Rackham.

BSU hopes to not only engage

members of its organization but also
Black campus leaders from an array
of groups, Gavin said. However,
leaders didn’t believe the student
organization would receive national
attention for its efforts.

“I definitely could not have

foreseen the national attention
we have garnered in such a short
amount of time,” Gavin said. “We
felt it necessary to push for an
initiative that would bring more
awareness to these issues and to the
larger Black community.”

Though
traditional
methods

such as campus demonstrations
play a role in raising awareness,
Gavin said BSU decided social
media could serve as an additional
method for sparking dialogue.

“It kept it open ended and that’s

why it so successful,” Gavin said.
“The hashtag leaves for open ended
interpretation so people can say
what they feel instead of imposing
somebody’s thoughts on them.”

So far, students have voiced an

array of perspectives.

“Being Black at the University

of Michigan has many shades and
many levels to what someone might
want to speak on it,” Gavin said.
“It can go from someone being the
only Black person in their class to
someone with no problems at all.
It’s a spectrum, but we want people
to be aware of everyone’s different
ideas on the issue of being Black at
the University of Michigan.”

Renowned journalist Michele

By LARA MOEHLMAN

Summer Managing News Editor 2015

As news that the Supreme

Court ruled in favor of same-sex
marriage swept across the U.S.
Friday morning, supporters rallied
in both downtown Ann Arbor and
Washington D.C. in celebration of
this historic decision.

The Jim Toy Community Center,

an advocacy group for gay, lesbian,
bisexual, transgender and queer
residents of Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti
and the greater Washtenaw County
area, hosted a “Day of Decision
Rally” so supporters could gather
in response to the Court’s decision.

After quieting the crowd, April

DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, one
couple represented in the string
of cases considered by the Court,
offered remarks under rainbow
colored streamers during the press
conference portion of the event.
DeBoer thanked her lawyers for
their determination and hard
work.

In January 2012, Michigan

residents April DeBoer and Jayne
Rowse filed a lawsuit in the
U.S. District Court, challenging
Michigan’s ban on adoption by
same-sex couples.

DeBoer and Rowse separately

adopted
one
son
and
two

daughters, respectively, but were
unable to jointly adopt their
children because Michigan law did
not recognize same-sex marriages,
and only granted joint parent
adoption rights to married couples.

“It’s been a long, long, hard

road,” Deboer said. “It’s been four
and a half years in the making… We
would not be here if it weren’t for
many people, and first and foremost
our attorneys: Dana Nessel and
Ken Mogill, Bob Sedler and Carole
Stanyar. So I want to thank you
guys as well. My last comment is to
my beautiful children: We did this
for you,” DeBoer said.

Carole Stanyar, one of the

attorneys for DeBoer and Rowse,
also spoke at the press conference,
praising her team and clients for
their hard work and resilience.
She
expressed
pride
in
the

accomplishments of her case.

“This
was
a
definitive

statement under equal protection,
fundamental right, liberty, due
process,” Stanyar said. “It was for
now, and it’s for future generations.
The bans are unconstitutional.
States cannot treat people this
way. They cannot treat people
unequally. Same-sex couples, their
families, their children, have to be
treated with dignity and respect,”

Stanyar said.

In an interview with the press,

Attorney General Bill Schuette
said
throughout
litigations,

his main argument challenged
who would decide if same-sex
marriage should be recognized
in different states.

“We argued this case is a

question of who decides: the
voters across the United States
of America, or the Justices of the
Supreme Court,” he said. “It was
about voters and who decides, that
was what the case was about.”

Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher

Taylor
also
offered
remarks

during
the
celebration.
In

an interview with the Daily,
Taylor was enthusiastic about
this progressive milestone in
Michigan’s history.

“I could not be more excited for

the people of Ann Arbor and for
all Americans. This is a day when
the Supreme Court has redeemed
the American promise of equality
before the law. It has ratified
that gay, lesbian, transgender
and bisexual people are fully
and finally embraced into the
American family. It’s just — it’s
wonderful,” Taylor said.

Beth
Sherman,
assistant

professor of social work at the
University and her wife, Karen
Hawver, owner of Precision
Accounting
in
Ann
Arbor,

attended the celebration and
press conference at Braun Court
with their two children.

Sherman and Hawver were

one of the 300 couples married
in Michigan in March 2014 after
a U.S. federal judge struck down
s the state’s ban on same-sex
marriage. Both were excited that
the Supreme Court’s decision
would further legitimize their
marriage.

“We’ve been together for 21

years and we have two kids, and
now it just means eventually
we’ll be able to both be their legal
parents. We were able to marry
the one day in Michigan, but now
it just means our marriage will
be recognized, so it’s good for us
and for our children.”

University
alum
Alanna

Maguire, a project manager of the
National Marriage Challenge,
a
non-profit
committed
to

legalizing same-sex marriage in
the U.S., said she was proud of
her team. She also said she was
proud of her fiancé Dana Nessel,
also a University alum and an
attorney for the April DeBoer
and Jayne Rowse case. She said
she was also excited that she
and Nessel could now obtain a

marriage license themselves.

“I can get married in my

home state. Dana Nessel and I
are both from Michigan. We’re
both University of Michigan
graduates. We love our state. We
just wanted to make it better,
and I’m so, so proud of Dana
particularly today. She carried
this case from start to finish,”
said Maguire.

Brad
O’Connor,
president

of the Jim Toy Community
Center, expressed enthusiasm
for his own marriage, which
was officiated in Illinois, to be
officially recognized in his home
state of Michigan.

“It means that...my family,

that was only recognized in two-
thirds of the country, is now
recognized nationwide. I can go
to Texas or I can go to Louisiana
and Maine and California and
have my marriage valid there,”
said O’Connor.

However, although O’Connor

reserved today for celebration, he
added that the Supreme Court’s
decision resolves only one aspect
of the LGBTQ community’s
current struggle for equality in
the U.S.

“This is just something that

we check off the list. There’s
so much more left to do with
regards to bullying in high
schools, transgender rights —
that’s huge— making sure that
we’re protected at work, because
we could be fired, still, for being
gay. The fight’s not over. It’s just
the battle’s won. It’s a big battle,
but this battle’s won, and now
it’s time to move on and keep
fighting,” O’Connor said.

Aside from granting same-sex

couples the right to marriage, the
Supreme Court’s decision could
have further legal stipulations
on health and work benefits.

University spokesperson Rick

Fitzgerald said the University
will review the Court’s ruling
and adjust benefits for same-sex
couples in both a legal and timely
fashion.

“We
realize
that
some

members of our community
will be anxious to change their
benefit enrollment status and we
will study the ruling carefully
to ensure that we offer new
eligibility in a manner that is
legal and timely,” Fitzgerald
said.

In an interview with the Daily,

University law professor Julian
Mortenson said the Court’s
decision could have an impact
on health benefits the University
offers.

“For
every
category
as

to
which
marriage
triggers

rights and responsibilities, like
benefits,
access,
permissions

to health care facilities, etc.,
same-sex marriage couples will
have exactly the same rights as
opposite-sex couples,” he said.

The Supreme Court’s ruling

was thorough enough to address
any other potential issues, he
added, saying it was clear in its
decision.

“There
were
more

complicated scenarios that could
possibly have emerged from this
opinion before it was released,
but as it turns out, the Supreme
Court has written a decision that
is very straightforward and is
very emphatic,” he said.

Sen.
Gary
Peters
(Mich.)

lauded April DeBoer and Jayne
Rowse in a statement for their
courage in taking their case to
the Supreme Court.

“With
this
decision,

thousands of Michigan same-sex
couples will finally be afforded
the same opportunity to marry
as other Americans, including
April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse
of Michigan, who courageously
took their case all the way to the
United States Supreme Court,”
Peters said.

See BBUM, Page 3

Community reacts to legalization
of same-sex marriage

#BBUM twitter campaign
garners national attention
to the University

SEPTEMBER 2: The University of Michigan adopted a new sexual
misconduct policy that emphasized investigation over testimonials
of complaints. Its implementation followed a 2011 mandate from

the Department of Education, which clarified Title IX such that

University investigations into sexual misconduct became obligatory.

The Office of Student Conflict Resolution, the Office of Institutional

Equity and the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center
worked together to amend the policy.

NOVEMBER 19: In a Twitter campaign that prompted over

10,000 tweets, the Black Student Union gained national distinction.

Central to the conversation were issues of race and diversity on campus.
Students incorporated the hashtag #BBUM, which stands for “Being
Black at the University of Michigan” to bring awareness to the lives and
experiences of Black students.

2 — Saturday, April 29, 2017
News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com