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Thursday, July 20, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
OPINION

NISA KHAN

EDITOR IN CHIEF

SARAH KHAN

EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR

DAYTON HARE

MANAGING EDITOR

420 Maynard St. 

Ann Arbor, MI 48109

 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Edited and managed by students at 

the University of Michigan since 1890.

Talley is special for her looks 

BRENNAN POPE | COLUMN

STEPHANIE 
MULLINGS

Unpopular opinion

I 

pride myself on “keeping it 
real” or “telling it like it is.” As 
expected, it can occasionally 

get 
me 
into 

trouble. 
Or 

sometimes, my 
realism 
and 

formulations 
may be altered 
in an attempt to morph my 
thoughts into what people want to 
hear … or maybe what they consider 
easier to handle. That being said, I 
am making the executive decision 
to keep it real regarding the topic I 
am about to discuss in an attempt 
to offer a fresh perspective and 
dialogue. Just a little food for 
thought. Hopefully I do not find 
myself in any trouble.

Last 
month, 
University 
of 

Michigan 
President 
Schlissel 

unveiled a new initiative titled the 
Go Blue Guarantee. Starting in 
January 2018, any current or future 
in-state student whose family earns 
$65,000 or less will be eligible for 
free tuition for four years. For the 
record, let me state, I think this 
is absolutely fantastic. There are 
some students who will benefit 
from this, giving them access to a 
stellar education which may have 
been a distant fantasy because of 
the ever-so-daunting tuition bill. 
However, if you noticed I used the 
word “some” to describe whom the 
Go Blue Guarantee will affect. This 
was entirely deliberate, because 
that’s just it. It will affect some but 
nowhere near close to a majority 
of students who need financial 
support at the University.

As 
an 
out-of-state 
student, 

recognizing none of this will affect 
me anyway, I was easily enamored 
by the words “free tuition” and the 
praise from the administration 
and alumni in the press and across 
social media. However, I realized 
that this initiative is kind of like 
fresh new wallpaper. Once you 
begin to peel back some of its 
allure, you find the same wall that 
you tried to cover up, which … in 
all honesty, isn’t that promising. 
Otherwise, you wouldn’t have tried 
to cover it up in the first place. 

As I started considering these 

thoughts, I became increasingly 
aware of the criticism I may 
receive regarding my opinion. It 
may come across as controversial 
or pessimistic to say the least. 
Hence my selection of the title 
for this piece. However, as I 
began conducting my research, I 
was surprised to find that I was 
not the only person who shared 

this viewpoint. A few days after 
the 
Go 
Blue 
Guarantee 
was 

introduced, I noticed a post from 
a Students4Justice activist on 
Facebook.

“Although half of the families 

in Michigan would qualify for this 
new financial aid initiative, how 
many of these students will actually 
have the chance to be accepted 
and to attend the University of 
Michigan?” it read. “This is not an 
initiative to bring more of these 
students to our campus. Let me 
know when UM’s initiatives will 
start to combat the disappearing 
Black 
population 
and 
other 

underrepresented communities of 
color.”

The reactions to her commentary 

were pretty split, as some illustrated 
their support through likes, while 
others debated in the comments. 
It was Jamie’s post that triggered 
my own investigation. My findings 
shine light on a different outlook of 
the Go Blue Guarantee, and more 
importantly answers the question, 
what is this initiative actually 
doing?

At the beginning of this year, 

The New York Times published a 
set of data which reflected statistics 
regarding 
the 
socioeconomic 

status of students attending the 
University. Come to find out, 
the median family income at the 
University is $154,000, and 66 
percent of the student body are 
identified as part of the top 20 
percent income status. This is the 
highest median family income of the 
other 27 public colleges nationwide 
classified as “highly selective” that 
were polled. According to the 2015 
U.S. Census, the median family 
income in the state of Michigan is 
$48,876 so it is indeed correct that 
half of the families in the state 
Michigan would qualify for the Go 
Blue Guarantee, yet, clearly these 
students don’t seem to attend the 
University. Why is that?

In the years since 2008, the 

proportion of low-income recent 
high school graduates who enroll in 
college has seen a significant drop. 
In 2008, 55.9 percent of low-income 
students enrolled in college; by 
2013, that the rate drastically 
decreased to 45.5 percent. 

— Stephanie Mullins can be 

reached at srmulli@umich.edu.

T

he 
way 
children 

interact 
with 
each 

other 
is 
beyond 

fascinating to observe. The 
jokes they find funny, the way 
they tell secrets or even how 
they fight, there is endless 
ammunition 
for 
a 
comical 

blend 
of 
sociology 
and 

entertainment.

I 
am 
fortunate 
enough 

to have a front row seat to 
this show due to my 8-year-
old twin brother and sister. 
Watching 
them 
converse 

with each other and hearing 
stories they share about their 
friends prove very insightful 
to understanding the world of 
an elementary school student. 
How their family, friends and 
society 
have 
shaped 
their 

principles, priorities, tastes 
and behavior.

Recently, 
I 
observed 

something that particularly 
struck 
me 
as 
enlightening 

to 
the 
principles 
society 

imparts on everyone, even 
those as young as 8. My 
sister, Talley, showed me a 
book her class made at the 
end of her last school year. 
It was a heartwarming book 
where each page was written 
by a different student who 
explained why they thought 
Talley 
was 
special. 
Each 

student had a similar book 
dedicated to them. I read 
some like, “Talley is special 
because she stands up for 
me,” that left me with a strong 
sense of pride for my sister.

All kept with this sweet 

theme until suddenly I was 
confronted with a page that 
left me conflicted. It read, 

“Talley is special because she 
is beautiful.”

Initially, 
I 
thought 
to 

myself, “How sweet of this 
boy!” However, this feeling 
quickly transitioned to me 
questioning 
the 
sentiment, 

“My sister is special because 
she is beautiful?” Out of all 
the qualities, what makes her 
special is her appearance?

I thought about what this 

imparts to Talley. Will she 
think she should only care 
about her appearance? If her 
peers don’t care about her 
intelligence, 
personality 
or 

interests, will she? Will she 
think that her beauty is what 
makes her special?

I 
thought 
of 
what 
this 

shows us about the young boy 
who wrote the comment. Is it 
already ingrained in his mind 
that the most important aspect 
of a woman is her appearance? 
Does he care about Talley’s 
other qualities?

I asked myself, can I be mad 

at this boy? And I resolved 
that I couldn’t; at the end of 
the day, he issued my sister 
a compliment. But I could 
take this instance to evaluate 

the social conditioning that 
fuels invisible sexism in our 
society.

I took this as a very poignant 

example 
of 
benevolent 

misogyny, or misogyny that 
takes the form of a compliment 
or as subjectively positive. 
While this kid had no intent 
to be prejudiced in any regard, 
or even for that matter no 
ability to understand sexism, 
his words have unexpected 
consequences. I’m sure he 
has learned this from the 
many 
adults 
whose 
first 

words to girls are about their 
outfits or their appearance. 
So, 
it’s 
impossible 
not 
to 

expect the little boy to also 
comment a girl’s beauty, and 
it’s impossible not to expect 
the girl not to care about her 
beauty.

However, 
this 
situation 

leaves 
me 
unresolved. 
To 

expect men to never comment 
on a young girl’s appearance 
seems both unattainable and 
undesirable. Everyone enjoys 
being complimented on their 
looks or clothes from time to 
time. However, young girls 
need to be taught that they 
are much more than what 
they look like. And that starts 
with telling girls that. I don’t 
see anyone telling my brother 
he’s 
special 
because 
he’s 

handsome.

— Brennan Pope can be 

reached at popeb@umich.edu.
Read more of this column at 
MichiganDaily.com

Will she think 
that her beauty 
is what makes 
her special?

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Summer Editorial Board. 
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.