November 20, 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,” said
LSA senior Eric Gavin. “It can go
from someone being the only Black
person in their class to someone
with no problems at all.”
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
Norris, the creator of the Race
Card Project — a nationwide
initiative that gathers perspectives
on race and aims to foster dialogue
on
the
subject
—
partnered
with the University during last
winter’s theme semester on race,
and will give the 2013 Winter
Commencement address.
In a form similar to BSU’s
campaign, Norris used Twitter
to broaden the reach of the Race
Card Project because she said even
though the social media platform
only allots users only 140 characters,
it’s a powerful way to stimulate
uncomfortable conversations.
“I used to say the most productive
conversations are the private ones,
but Twitter made me rethink that,”
Norris said.
Norris noted that the University
did not “take cover” once the
dialogue took off, but rather
embraced
the
campaign
and
encouraged
students
to
take
part in the conversation, which
is not always the norm for large
institutions.
“This is an honest conversation,”
she said. “They wanted to see an
honest conversation and that’s
what this is, as uncomfortable as
this may be for people to read about
this.”
She said diversity has been an
issue on every college campus she
has visited, and after reading the
tweets from Tuesday’s discussion
at Michigan, it is likely the topic
isn’t going to subside once the
Twitter debate dies down.
“It
really
was
not
just
people talking about their own
experiences, but it turned into an
actual dialogue,” she said. “People
were talking to each other and
perhaps even learning from each
other,
and
more
importantly
listening to each other.”
Norris added that she will
likely address the issue in her
commencement
address
next
month.
By asking students to share their
experiences as Black students on
campus, BSU is hoping to not only
bring light to challenges, but also to
call other student leaders to action.
“We want to get the awareness
out so we can begin to move
forward and actually do tangible
things,” Gavin said.
10 — Friday, September 15, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Bicentennial
#BBUM goes viral on Twitter
ALICIA ADAMCZYK AND
SAM GRINGLAS
Daily News Editor and
Daily Staff Reporter
November 5, 2008 - It was
through
tears,
screams
and
complete elation that Kinesiology
sophomore
Carolyn
McCloud
processed the realization that the
nation elected a Black president.
Speechless, she dropped to her
knees in the midst of hundreds of
students gathered on the Diag just
after 11 p.m. last night, and prayed
to God, grateful that Barack Obama
was elected the next president of
the United States.
While
she
knelt,
students
erupted in deafening chants of
“Yes we did!” and “Obama!” which
soared in volume over chaotic
cheers, screams and tears.
Shortly
after
Obama
gave
his
acceptance
speech
near
midnight, a band of percussionists,
a saxophonist and a tag-a-long
didgeridoo player headed to the
Diag playing a jazz version of the
National Anthem. The hundreds
already gathered at the center of
campus circled the band.
Students continued to pour
into the Diag from all directions, a
few waving large American Flags.
A handful of University police
monitored the crowd, including
one car parked on a path between
the Diag and West Hall. The crowd
remained peaceful, yet rowdy as
police watched.
A group of students formed a
drumline on the steps of the Harlan
Hatcher Graduate Library, while
hundreds of students alternated
chants of “Go-bama!” and “Yes we
can!” to the beat.
After receiving text messages,
a group of students encouraged
those gathered to go to the streets.
Students were asking each other
for a destination but no one seemed
to know — or care where the crowd
was heading. Some headed to
Michigan Stadium, others to the
intersection of State Street and
Liberty Street.
One group marched to the steps
of the Michigan Union, clogging
State Street and chanting, “It’s
great to see an Obama victory.” A
portion of the crowd walked along
toward the home of University
President Mary Sue Coleman and
called for her to make a speech.
She never emerged and the group
soon moved eastward on South
University Avenue.
The crowds and celebrations,
though numerous and disparate,
only grew through the evening as
national results came in.
As of 4 a.m., Obama had won 338
electoral votes, well above the 270
needed to secure the presidency.
Republican nominee John McCain
clinched 163 votes.
In the crucial fight for swing
states,
Obama
nearly
swept
Republican
nominee
McCain,
though not by substantial margins
in individual states. Obama took
Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio and
Virginia. As of 4 a.m., North
Carolina, Missouri and Indiana
were too close to call.
Students cheered well into the
early morning hours, celebrating
the
Democratic
candidate’s
decisive victory.
“I feel this is the greatest
moment of our lives,” said LSA
sophomore Rose Balzer. “There’s
no doubt about that.”
While
students
rejoiced
in
the streets, singing “The Star-
Spangled Banner” and choruses of
“The Victors,” results trickled in
from Ann Arbor precincts, showing
a 14-percent increase from the
number of people who cast ballots
at student dominated polling places
of 2004.
Eighty-three percent of voters
at 14 student-heavy Ann Arbor
precincts supported Obama.
Obama, whose victory in the
Electoral College entered landslide
territory, began the race two years
ago as the underdog. He had to
defeat the favored Sen. Hillary
Clinton of New York to win the
Democratic Party’s nomination.
In doing so, he defied historical
precedent to become the first Black
man to earn a major party’s nod.
The Democratic nominee once
again defied political paradigm
in his campaign strategy. He
energized an entire generation of
young Americans with his message
of hope and change.
During his acceptance speech
last night, given before a crowd
of more than 240,000, Obama
implored Americans to support him
as he carries out his progressive
platform.
“I will ask you to join in the work
of remaking this nation, the only
way it’s been done in America for
221 years — block by block, brick by
brick, calloused hand by calloused
hand,” he said.
Obama’s
platform,
which
centers on tax breaks for middle-
income
families,
health
care
policy reforms, withdrawal from
Iraq and developing alternative
energy technology, has resonated
overwhelmingly with young voters.
About two-thirds of voters
under the age of 30 supported
Obama, representing 17 percent of
the national electorate.
This group of young, primarily
first-time voters, who formed their
political opinions under a president
with some of the worst approval
ratings in the history of approval
ratings, voted for the young first-
term
senator
whose
eloquent
rhetoric promised them a change
from
the
only
administration
they’d known since middle school.
Many of these people not only
voted for him, but they dedicated
themselves to getting him elected.
Membership in the University’s
chapter of College Democrats
quadrupled in size when the school
year began. At the group’s first
mass meeting, they turned away
more than 100 people because they
couldn’t fit the 300 people wanted
to help elect Obama in one room.
Collectively,
the
group
committed tens of thousands of
man-hours to canvassing and
phone-banking for the candidate.
More than 30 College Democrats
members considered the mission a
full-time job.
In his acceptance speech, Obama
thanked them for their efforts.
“It grew strength from the young
people who rejected the myth of
their generation’s apathy who left
their homes and their families for
jobs that offered little pay and less
sleep,” he said of those who worked
for his campaign.
College-aged supporters across
the nation contributed to the largest
volunteer base of any political
campaign. The Obama campaign
also used technology like social
networking to build a registration,
outreach and turnout machine the
likes of which no democracy has
ever seen. These grassroots efforts
mobilized entire blocs of first-time
voters.
The
18-
to
24-year-old
demographic has never played such
an influential role in the election
of a president. Historically, young
voters haven’t shown up to the
polls.
Voter turnout among those
aged 18-24 has trailed that of
voters aged 25 years and older by
about 20 percent for the past 30
Celebration: Campus erupts after historic Obama win
JULIE ROWE
Daily Staff Reporter
years, according to the Center for
Information and Research on Civic
Learning and Engagement.
But to combat this group’s
infamous
apathy,
Obama’s
campaign, armed with record-
shattering
fundraising
totals,
poured money into courting the
youth vote. His campaign produced
and
distributed
youth-specific
literature, which listed his pledges
to make college more affordable and
accessible. He used text messaging
and viral videos to get his message
out to a group of people whose lives
revolve around blogging, instant
messaging and social networking.
On a campus scattered with
Obama campaign literature and
plastered
with
the
president-
elect’s likeness, students celebrated
throughout the streets of Ann Arbor
in droves. Their chants and yells
could be heard for hours after the
major news networks called the race
for Obama.
Before
flooding
the
streets,
students gathered at campus bars
and residence hall lounges to watch
results trickle in.
Hours before television and
Internet news outlets declared
Obama
the
winner,
College
Democrats members were already
celebrating an expected victory.
As CNN projected Ohio would go
to Obama just after 9 p.m., the group
of 50 people cheered raucously.
“Ohio kind of seals the deal,” said
Danny Abosch, a School of Music,
Theatre and Dance sophomore and
a member of the group’s executive
board. “Looking at the 2000 and
2004 elections, Ohio has really been
the key state. It’s really amazing.”
Just before 11 p.m., the election-
watching crowds at Good Time
Charley’s braced themselves for the
closing of polls in California.
EMMA RICHTER/Daily
“To me, the Bicentennial is a
celebration of the incredible
growth, success, and change
that U of M has seen as it turns
200 years young.”
LSA senior Matthew Ladis,
MUSIC Matters president
FE ATURE D PEOPLE
“I’ve been a die-hard Wolverine
since day one and reached age
two in Northwood housing. U
of M has been a huge influence
in my childhood and now
young adulthood. U of M has
made history with its impact
on individuals and the world,
from the Peace Corps to a
moon landing to Google. Our
students and alumni are the
leaders and best, and I can’t
wait to see what history U of M
has yet to create. Go Blue!”
Maya Pifer, co-director for
Society of Women Engineers
EMMA RICHTER/Daily
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
Black Student Union campaign shows
what it’s like to be Black on campus
1988 — Thomas
Francis Jr. founds UROP
1995 — Larry Page, Google
co-founder, earns his degree in
computer science
2002 — First female University president
selected: Mary Sue Coleman
2001 — 9/11 attacks
2003 — Grutter vs. Bollinger/Gratz vs. Bollinger, two
cases that challenge affirmative action at the University.
Leads to a decrease in minority enrollment years
following.
1994 — Dalai Lama accepts
Wallenberg medal in Ann
Arbor
1989 — U-M solar car team is formed