“Don’t simply accept what your 

professors have to say, but question 
us. 
Approach 
our 
teachings 

like a curious scientist and look 
for the facts that underlie our 
interpretations and opinions; the 
data that leads to our conclusions,” 
he said.

Schlissel 
graduated 
from 

Princeton University in 1979 with 
a specialty in biochemical sciences. 
He earned his M.D. and Ph.D. at the 
Johns Hopkins University School 
of Medicine in 1986, subsequently 
completing his residency at Johns 
Hopkins Hospital.

During his academic career, 

Schlissel’s research has centered on 
development biology, specifically 
studying the genetic factors that can 
lead to leukemia and lymphoma.

Schlissel attended the special 

meeting of the Board of Regents 
with his wife Monica Schwebs, who 
also received accolades from the 
regents. She is an environmental 
and energy lawyer at a large 
national firm. The couple has four 
adult children.

In 
a 
press 
release, 
Brown 

University 
President 
Christina 

Paxson praised Schlissel’s work in 
his position as provost.

“Mark is an exceptional scholar, 

teacher 
and 
academic 
leader,” 

Paxson wrote. “He has been an 
esteemed and valued colleague to 
many here at Brown. His many 
contributions will be realized for 
decades to come.”

Paxson 
said 
Schlissel 
led 

several searches for administrative 
positions 
for 
Brown’s 
faculty, 

including the search for its vice 
president of research and its dean 
of medicine and biological sciences.

The 
University 
has 
several 

dean 
searches 
underway 
as 

Schlissel 
makes 
his 
transition 

into the presidency, including the 
appointment of the LSA dean and 
the vice president for research, 
currently held by Susan Gelman and 

Jack Hu, respectively, in interim 
positions.

At 
Brown, 
Schlissel 
helped 

lead a new strategic initiative 
titled “Building on Distinction: A 
New Plan for Brown.” The plan 
established goals for investment in 
academic programs, scholarships 
and campus expansion.

The four goals of the campaign 

include integrative scholarship, 
educational 
leadership, 

academic excellence and campus 
development. 
The 
plans 
are 

designed to be implemented over 
the course of the next 10 years.

While a dean at UC-Berkeley, 

Schlissel also spearheaded a cross-
campus cost containment and 
procurement initiative — efforts 
which have also been underway 
at the University for the past few 
years.

In an article by the Daily 

Herald, 
Schlissel 
detailed 

changes in Brown’s curriculum 
development. One of the projects 
Schlissel 
championed 
includes 

the implementation of a theme for 

the school’s International Studies 
program.

However, Brown’s faculty raised 

several concerns about the strategic 
plan. Paxson and Schlissel created 
forums to address their questions, 
including questions of heightening 
student enrollment to alleviate 
increasing tuition costs.

“We are a very tuition-dependent 

university,” Schlissel said. “The 
idea is to strike the right balance, 
to hit the sweet spot without giving 
up the kind of highly interactive 
mode of education that makes the 
undergraduate program so special 
to allow us to get to the scale where 
we can capture efficiencies.”

In a short speech after his 

appointment, Schlissel expressed 
excitement 
about 
joining 
the 

University community.

“I am amazingly honored to 

be chosen to lead a jewel of the 
American educational system,” he 
said. “The University of Michigan 
is held in such regard. Words almost 
escape me.”

November 16, 2016 - Nearly 

a thousand people gathered on 
the Diag and marched through 
University of Michigan buildings 
for a student walk-out protest 
against racism on campus following 
President-elect Donald Trump’s 
upset win Wednesday afternoon, 
briefly shutting down traffic. 

The 
walkout, 
which 
was 

organized 
by 
the 
student 

organization 
Students4Justice, 

was also attended by civil rights 
activist Rev. Jesse Jackson and 
was part of a national movement of 
walkouts across the country. 

“This walkout is a national 

movement that is happening in 
response to the election, as well 
as the increase in hate crimes and 
other forms of violence against 
marginalized (folks).” the event 
description says. “We are doing 
this to hold President Schlissel 
and our Regents at the University 
of Michigan accountable for their 
claims of valuing diversity and 
student safety and well-being.”

Prior 
to 
the 
event, 

Students4Justice also released a 
list of demands that they hoped to 
achieve from the protest.

The demands include calls 

for University action to protect 
underrepresented 
minority 

students 
by 
re-channeling 

resources, as well as a call for 
the University to become an 
immigrant 
sanctuary 
site, 
to 

double its commitment to rejecting 
racial harassment, to divest from 
unethical corporations and to 
remove all symbols and fliers 
associated 
with 
the 
alt-right 

movement and those encouraging 
white supremacy.

LSA junior Lakyrra Magee, one 

of the event organizers, highlighted 
the call to make the University a 
sanctuary campus — a designation 

that would empower the University 
to limit institutional cooperation 
with federal immigration officers 
seeking undocumented students— 
as among the most significant 
demands.

“Our main message was this: 

Because 
President 
Schlissel 

came out and said he cared about 
diversity 
and 
marginalized 

students, we are here to show so 
many students at the University, 
people who are living in Ann Arbor, 
support the University of Michigan 
becoming a sanctuary campus,” 
she said. “And if President Schlissel 
really cared about (protecting) 
marginalized students, this is one 
concrete way he can do it besides 
showing up.”

Protesters also cited a number 

of recent campus concerns during 
the walkout, including the two hate 
crimes in downtown Ann Arbor 
that have been reported to police 
since Trump’s presidential win 
last week. On Friday, a woman was 
threatened and forced to remove 
her hijab. On Saturday, a woman 
was pushed down a hill and verbally 
harassed. 
Additionally, 
many 

speakers discussed anti-Black, anti-
LGBTQ and anti-Muslim posters, 
many of them promoting themes 
of white supremacy, that have been 
found posted on campus several 
times in the past few months.

LSA junior Alyiah Al-Bonijim 

spoke to the crowd about her 
frustrations with Islamophobic 
comments triggered by her choice 
to wear a hijab.

“For what? Because you want 

to see my hair? Is that what is 
important to these fucking white 
people?” Al-Bonijim asked the 
cheering crowd, saying that forcing 
a woman to take off her clothing, 
including the hijab, was sexual 
assault.

Protesters also touched on 

the failure of a Central Student 
Government resolution Tuesday 
night to divest from corporations 
that have allegedly committed 

human rights violations against 
Palestinians. Many in the crowd 
yelled negative chants about CSG 
during the walkout. 

Following their initial assembly 

on the Diag at 3 p.m., with many 
students walking directly out of 
classes, the protesters marched 
throughout Central Campus, also 
entering buildings and encouraging 
others to join them. 

As the march moved through 

campus, student organizers, as 
well as Jackson, led the crowd in 
a number of chants condemning 
racism, sexism, islamophobia and 
xenophobia.

Chants included slogans such 

as: “No justice, no peace,” “Hey 
Hey, Ho Ho, these racist folks have 
got to go,” “No Alt-Right, no KKK, 
no fascist USA” and “Black Lives 
Matter.”

“Thanks for stepping up and 

fighting back,” Jackson told the 
crowd. “Do not let any election 
oppress your dreams … Red, 
yellow, black and white, you are all 
precious in God’s sight. We must 
learn to live together. This land is a 
land of multiculturalism.”

Chanting 
with 
the 
crowd, 

he 
expressed 
solidarity 
with 

individuals 
who 
have 
felt 

marginalized in the past months, 
including 
Black, 
Muslim 
and 

Mexican-American students.

“We are all sanctuary,” he said. 

“We love each other. We care for 
each other. You take one of us, you 
must take all of us. We are not going 
anywhere. This land is our land. 
We will outlast the meanness, we 
will outlast hate. We will outlast 
violence. Love will conquer hate.”

After walking through several 

buildings, a brief moment of silence 
was held at Burton Memorial 
Tower, during which students told 
stories about their own personal 
struggles. At the end of the walkout, 
organizers 
asked 
for 
white 

supporters to block State Street so 
protesters could safely gather at 
Angell Hall for a speakout.

January 24, 2014 - Mark 

Schlissel, 
Brown 
University’s 

provost, will succeed University 
President Mary Sue Coleman as 
the University of Michigan’s 14th 
president. His term will begin July 1.

The decision was unanimously 

approved 
by 
the 
University’s 

Board of Regents at a special 
meeting Friday morning in the 
Michigan Union’s Kuenzel Room. 
The announcement arrives after 
a presidential search committee 
spent much of the summer and 
fall gathering input from faculty 
and students and the assistance of 
Russell Reynolds Associates, an 
executive search advisory firm.

Schlissel will receive a base 

salary of $750,000 per year with an 
annual increase determined by the 
regents. His contract runs for five 
years. Coleman currently receives 
$603,000 per year in her role, but 
has denied an increase several years 
in a row.

Schlissel began his term as 

provost at Brown in 2011 after 

serving as the University of 

California-Berkeley’s 
dean 
of 

biological sciences from 2008 to 
2011. As provost, Schlissel serves 
as Brown’s chief academic officer 
and deputy to the president. In his 
current role, Schlissel manages 
the day-to-day operations of the 
institution and oversees Brown’s 
strategic planning.

In a press conference after the 

regents approved the appointment, 
Schlissel addressed the challenges 
he expects to face as the next 
president, 
including 
enhancing 

diversity on campus, increasing 
affordability 
and 
developing 

relationships with potential donors 
to the University.

Schlissel 
said 
his 
biggest 

challenge will be engaging with 
students, faculty and staff on 
campus, adding that he has a lot to 
learn since he has never worked at 
the University.

“In my experience, universities 

really don’t get led top-down,” he 
said. “The best ideas come from the 
people who do the teaching and the 
learning, so that’s why I need to do 
some listening first.”

While Schlissel will face many 

issues in his transition, one of the 
most prominent matters he will 
address is the demand for larger 
minority enrollment and inclusion 
at the University.

“You can’t achieve excellence 

as an academic institution without 
being diverse because we live in a 
world where people can look at the 
same set of facts and interpret them 
differently from each other,” he said.

In 
addition 
to 
diversity, 

Schlissel appealed to a wide scope 
of the constituencies, citing the 
University’s 
alumni 
and 
staff 

members as well as the Ann Arbor 
community, in addition to the 
expected listing of faculty, students 
and regents.

He also noted the University’s 

stature as a public institution — 
despite the challenges of declining 
state funding — as a key draw to the 
University.

“Another thing that made me 

say Michigan is a place I really have 
to look at is my feeling about the 
role education can play in solving 
society’s problems,” Schlissel said. 
“And it’s not that we don’t do this 
at great private university — we 
do — but there’s something about 
the openness and the accessibility 
of a public universities that’s 
really special and it drew at my 
heartstrings.”

Coleman 
lauded 
Schlissel’s 

experience and qualifications as the 
next president of the University.

“I’ve often said the job of being 

president at the University of 
Michigan is the best job in the 
country,” she said. “I couldn’t be 
more pleased to know that you, as 
the 14th president, will experience 
this firsthand.”

Before 
approving 
Schlissel’s 

appointment as president, each 
regent lauded his qualifications for 
the position.

“This is a great day for the 

University of Michigan. We go today 
from strength to strength; from one 
great leader, Mary Sue Coleman, 
to another, Mark Schlissel,” said 
University Regent Mark Bernstein 
(D–Ann Arbor).

Bernstein 
recalled 
Schlissel’s 

answer to one of the central 
questions that faced the search 
committee: What makes a great 
university president?

“You have to love and be amazed 

by students. You have to love and 

be amazed by faculty. You have to 
love and be amazed by research and 
discovery.”

In an interview after the press 

conference, 
University 
Provost 

Martha Pollack, who will perhaps 
work most closely with the new 
president, 
praised 
Schlissel’s 

academic record, as well as his 
interest in faculty and research 
and commitment to diversity and 
affordability.

“You heard the regents talk 

about him having great ethics, 
great values and a great heart — 
that’s just the combination you 
want,” Pollack said.

She added that she will have 

a one-on-one meeting with the 
president-elect Friday afternoon as 
she begins to share knowledge and 
understand how to best work with 
him.

Though 
this 
was 
her 
first 

introduction to the University’s 14th 
president, E. Royster Harper, vice 
president for student life, said she 
saw Schlissel as someone who could 
build on Coleman’s strengths.

“Regent Bernstein said it just 

right — we’re going from strength 
to strength,” Harper said. “I love the 
fact that he is so student-centered, 
because our students are used to 
that and deserve that.”

Schlissel will also direct the 

remainder 
of 
the 
University’s 

Victors for Michigan development 
campaign, which aims to raise $4 
billion in funds.

Jerry May, vice president for 

development, 
said 
he 
thinks 

Schlissel 
will 
easily 
form 

relationships with donors as he 
prepares to raise about half of the 
campaign goal. May also called 
attention to Schlissel’s apparent 
willingness to listen and ability to 
form a vision for the University.

“He is articulate, he is real, he 

is genuine, he has an incredible 
pedigree,” 
May 
said. 
“I 
was 

astounded that he could answer 
things as if he’s been on this campus 
for months. The alumni and donors 
are going to love him. The instinct 
that I’ve seen today is that this is a 
no-brainer. This guy is going to do 
great.”

When Schlissel arrived at Brown 

in 2011, he gave a convocation 
address which called on students to 
channel synergies across disciplines, 
a theme that he echoed in his first 
address as president-elect.

12 — Friday, September 15, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Bicentennial

Students hold walkout with Rev. Jesse Jackson 
demanding University action against racism

Brown University Provost Mark Schlissel selected as next University president

KEVIN ZHENG/Daily

University President Mark Schlissel

TIMOTHY COHN AND 

NISA KHAN

 Daily Staff Reporter

JEN CALFAS AND
SAM GRINGLAS

Managing News Editor and 

Daily News Editor

COURTESY OF HUEI PENG

“The Bicentennial celebration 
reminds me what all great 
universities share in common: 
relentless drive to innovate and 
reinvent — which is what we 
will continue to do at Mcity.” 
Huei Peng, Director of Mcity

FE ATURE D PEOPLE

“To me the U-M Bicentennial 
means recognizing the rich 
legacy that I am apart of. It 
means carrying with me the 
pride of knowing that I have 
genuinely contributed to the 
progress of this institution as 
countless others have done 
before me.”
LSA senior Mariah Smith, 
National Pan-Hellenic Council, 
Inc. 

EVAN AARON/Daily

2013 — #BBUM 

hashtag launched 

2015 — Mcity founded
2017 — Nearly 11,000 people 

participate in Ann Arbor Women’s 

March following the inauguration of 

Donald J. Trump

2017 — U-M celebrates Bicentennial

2015 — U-M announces creation of HAIL scholarship 

to attract low-income high-achieving students from 

underserved communities

2016 — University updates sexual misconduct policy to 

address student concerns

2014 — Jim Harbaugh named new U-M 

football coach