Three Black students’ room
doors in Michigan Community
Scholars Program, located in
West Quad Residence Hall, were
vandalized with racial slurs over
the weekend. The hate speech,
including “N-----,” was written
underneath their name tags
placed on their dorm room doors.
LSA
sophomore
Travon
Stearns, one of the students
whose door was vandalized, said
he did not see the nametag when
he first woke up — it was around
1 p.m., when he came back from
the dining hall. His nametag bore
the racial slur. His roommate’s
also had slurs, but were not
racially charged. Strens said he
notified his RA, where he noticed
her nametag had scribbles on it.
She contacted DPSS.
“When I got up this morning,
I was ready to focus and get
ready to do my studies and
my homework. I planned on
dedicating this whole day to
prepare for the week and get
homework done...like a regular
Sunday,” he said. “But when I saw
that, it kind of messed me up a
little bit. From there, I had to take
other steps to really try to get to
the bottom of this and report it.”
Stearns said he posted a
picture on Snapchat, which his
friends screenshotted and posted
on Twitter.
“Everybody was, of course,
especially
in
the
Black
community and even my friends
who are not part of the Black
community, was pretty outraged
and really concerned. But they
really were there for me and let
me know that if I needed any
help with support, they’re there
was me. They were really upset
with what had occurred. Very
outraged.”
Stearns met with DPSS Sunday
afternoon. He said they were
“very concerned” and pointed
him to resources he can use on
campus. He also said security
took the nametags as evidence
and to look for fingerprints.
Stearns said this is the first
time he had faced direct racism
before. However, despite this, he
Alumni of The Michigan Daily,
several of whom are Pulitzer Prize
winners, participated in panels
on sports journalism’s role in the
21st century, diversity for women
and minorities in the newsroom,
alternative career paths from a
journalism background and the
role of student publications Friday
afternoon in Rackham Auditorium.
About 200 students, faculty and
University of Michigan alumni
attended the panels throughout the
day.
Celebrating its 127th year of
operation, the Daily invited alumni
back to campus for a weekend of
reunion and reminiscing about
their
past
Daily
experiences.
Many former Daily staff members
pointed to the recent digitization
of University newspapers from
the past 125 years by the Bentley
Historical Library as a way to
connect with the history of the
Daily, the University and the world.
The event was co-sponsored by
the University’s Office of Student
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Monday, September 18, 2017
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 91
©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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . B -S EC T I O N
See PULITZER, Page 3A
Pulitzer
awardees
highlight
successes
CAMPUS LIFE
Panels with Daily alumni
talk challenges, changes
in newsroom dynamics
MATT HARMON
Daily Staff Reporter
BRIAN AUSTIN KOSASIH/DAILY
LSA sophomore Travon Stearns speaks to Michigan Community Scholars Program students after a racist slur was
written on his door in West Quad on Sunday.
MAX KUANG/DAILY
Comedian Lily Tomlin and actress Jane Fonda rally for restaurant worker’s rights at the Power Center on Friday.
Racist writing found on dorm door
name tags in West Quad sparks outrage
Students woke up or came back to dorms to find slurs, DPSS now investigating
NISA KHAN, SOPHIE
SHERRY &
MAYA GOLDMAN
Daily News Editors &
Daily Staff Reporter
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
See WRITING, Page 3A
On Sept. 17, 2017, three
Black University of Michigan
students were targeted with
racially derogatory language in
the form of defaced name tags
on their dorm doors. This is
not only a crime of vandalism,
but also a hate crime carried
out by those with access to our
campus and residence halls,
presumably
underclassmen
students. As we move into the
third week of classes, we have
already encountered deliberate
racism via social media and
now directly to students in
their campus homes, a space
where they should feel safe.
We,
the
Black
Student
Union,
stand
in
solidarity
with the three Black students
who were directly targeted
by this heinous offense. As
an organization, our mission
is to promote the social and
spiritual growth and safety of
those affected by crimes such as
this. We expect an appropriate
See STATEMENT, Page 3A
BSU offers
response
to racist
incident
MICHIGAN IN COLOR
The Black Student
Union offers statement of
support and solidarity
BLACK STUDENT UNION
Michigan in Color Contributor
On Friday, the University
of
Michigan
brought
its
Bicentennial festivities to the
place where it all began.
A founding ceremony took
place in Detroit’s Grand Circus
Park as a nod to the University’s
1817 founding in Detroit, as
well as an acknowledgment
of
upcoming
partnerships
and commitments to the city.
Several seminars also took
place earlier in the day, ranging
in topics from investments in
the city’s future to innovation in
education, arts and technology.
University alum and long-
time local journalist Carmen
Harlan emceed the ceremony
and spoke to the significance
of the University’s founding in
Detroit.
“What (University founders
Augustus Woodward, Gabriel
Richard and John Monteith)
created was not just what is
now the University of Michigan
but also public education in
Michigan,” Harlan said. “In
other words, all the outstanding
public universities and colleges,
high schools, middle schools,
and elementary schools that
we have today, started here, in
Detroit, with the University
of Michigan ... Today, as we
celebrate
this
anniversary,
we the people of Detroit and
Michigan, must recommit to
public education for the next
200 years.”
Harlan was not the only
one
speaking
of
renewed
commitments.
Frank
Ettawageshik, Michigan alum
Detroit event
remembers,
celebrates
Bicentennial
University highlights their founding in
the city, role of public education in MI
ALON SAMUEL
Daily Staff Reporter
Award-winning actresses doing statewide tour on economic disparities in food service jobs
Academy
Award-winning
actresses Jane Fonda and Lily
Tomlin
drew
an
audience
of
about
300
students,
staff
and
local
residents
Friday
afternoon
to
the
Power Center. The celebrity
activists,
accompanied
by
Saru Jayaraman — co-founder
of
Restaurant
Opportunities
Centers United, an organization
that aims to improve restaurant
industry standards nationwide
—
discussed
economic
inequality and the minimum
wage’s effects on women in the
restaurant industry.
Prior to the event, the Daily
sat
down
with
Fonda
and
Tomlin to discuss what the two
have been highlighting thus far
on their statewide tour.
“Ann Arbor made sense as a
stop for us for us — it’s a college
town, a progressive city and the
food industry employs many
college-aged women who we
hope to advocate for here,”
Tomlin said. “We need college
students to be a part of this
platform, this change. It’s very
important.”
Fonda
echoed
Tomlin’s
sentiments
regarding
Ann
Arbor being an appropriate
locale to discuss this issue.
“It’s important for Lily and I
to bring our message to a place
like Ann Arbor, where we can
hope, even at a minimum, to
help make contact with people,
See ECONOMICS, Page 3A
See DETROIT, Page 3A
Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin speak out
against inequality at Power Center
JENNIFER MEER &
ANAY KATYAL
Daily Staff Reporter &
Managing Arts Editor
Coming up empty
Though the No. 8
Michigan football team
beat Air Force, 29-13, the
performance was marred
by an 0-for-4 day in the
red zone.
» Page 1B