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Friday, September 22, 2017 — 3
devastating crime that could have
and should have been prevented.”
Sanctuary cities are cities that,
in general, refuse to cooperate
with federal workers seeking
to enforce federal immigration
law, but federal guidelines or
definitions remain ambiguous.
Nearly 500 jurisdictions as of
March claim to be sanctuary
cities, a number steadily climbing
since President Trump’s election
in 2016.
Some feel sanctuary cities
are a danger, and claim San
Francisco’s
sanctuary
status
made it possible for Kate Steinle’s
murder to happen. According
to the Harvard-Harris Poll, 80
percent of Americans do not
support sanctuary cities. The
poll, however, framed questions
around violent crime instead of
the non-violent law violations
sanctuary cities often protect.
In the same press release as
Schuitmaker,
Colbeck
stated
he feels sanctuary cities should
not be rewarded for defying the
federal government.
“It
makes
no
sense
to
financially reward government
bodies that try to impede state
and city employees from working
with
federal
immigration
authorities,” Colbeck said. “It
should go without saying that
public
safety
demands
our
police be allowed to report to
immigration
authorities
and
detain people who are here
illegally.”
Supporters of sanctuary cities
feel the cities offer necessary
protection to immigrants and
should be left untouched. They
also feel that not questioning
immigrants on their citizenship
status
builds
a
positive
relationship between police and
the community, and encourages
community members to report
crimes and assist in investigations
In
addition,
according
to
fact-checking site Politifact, the
offences sanctuary cities deal
with most are non-violent, with
offences often as minor as a
broken taillight. Often, policemen
merely refrain from asking about
immigration status, like when
an immigrant happens to be a
witness of a crime.
Public Policy junior Lauren
Schandevel,
communications
director of the University of
Michigan’s chapter of College
Democrats, said she feels the
legislation is largely reactionary.
“The event that sparked the
incident is very tragic, but the
way the president and current
administration
has
used
it
to incite fear and bigotry is
unacceptable,” she said.
Engineering
sophomore
Lincoln Merrill, publicity chair of
the University’s chapter of College
Republicans, shared his opinion
on why he believes this legislation
is an important bipartisan step
towards immigration reform.
“I
remember
when
this
story came out,” he said. “It’s
horrifying and sad, and I think
this legislation is a huge step
forward. We know immigration
is a controversial topic, but
when the illegal immigrants are
criminals, you have to take action
regardless of what your beliefs
are.”
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organize our growing practices
and food systems will be really
important
in
fighting
climate
change,” he said. “I think putting
a big focus on (food) is a really
easy way to draw people into
environmental
issues
because
everybody eats, lots of people
love food, so it’s something a lot
of people can get really excited
about.”
Off to the side of the Diag,
students representing the Matthaei
Botanical Gardens and Nichols
Arboretum helped students pot
their own succulents. LSA senior
Mason Opp recounted how he
was able to relieve daily stress by
working in the gardens and said he
hopes other students can also learn
the joys of horticulture.
“I think it gives people a chance
to take a break from classes and do
something interacting more with
their environment,” Opp said. “I
started working at the botanical
gardens in February and I found it
was an awesome break from stress
and nasty weather by working
inside a greenhouse.”
The School for Environment
and Sustainability offered a virtual
reality tour of Ann Arbor through
Oculus Rift glasses.
Landscape Architecture Prof.
Mark Lindquist explained how
technology can give students and
residents a new perspective of the
city’s nature and environment.
“Hopefully what (people) get out
of this is a better sense of what the
landscape’s going to look like, but
also with some of the functionality
that we built in a better sense of
how the landscape might perform,”
Lindquist said.
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she found Turn Uh to be when
she found the app.
“I came across it in Handshake
when I was looking for internships
last summer,” she said. “I am a
marketing intern, so I came up
with the marketing strategy,
which we will be implementing
throughout the year.”
Dager said what sets this app
apart from others in its category
is that it includes events from
local businesses, the University
itself and Greek life.
“I don’t think there’s another
app where you can go and
find Greek, local, and sports,
businesses and club events,” he
said.
The Greek Life tab on the app,
however, is currently undergoing
design changes, Dager noted.
“(Szamosszegi)
has
four
programmers
in
India,
and
they’re
reprogramming
it,”
Dager elaborated. “We input the
chapters and once the chapters
get on board they can post their
events.”
Once
this
renovation
is
completed, Dager said he hopes
Turn Uh will be a great tool
for
Greek
recruitment
and
philanthropy events.
Sartori and Dager have been
working to get the word out about
Turn Uh. They tabled at Festifall
this year, rolled out a Snapchat
filter and handed out free T-shirts
and laptop stickers.
“Freshman are where we want
to start off,” Dager explained. “As
a freshman you have no idea what
you want to do or where to find
things.”
Sartori said Turn Uh will
positively impact campus culture.
“I think it’s really important
because U of M is a really big
school and it’s hard to know
what’s going on at campus all the
time,” he said.
LSA junior Megan Greenwood
expressed interest in Turn Uh as
it can be used as a place to hold all
future event notices.
“I just get all these emails with
events, so it would be nice to have
it all in one place,” she said. “The
only problem would be if they
don’t have every single event …
you have to have all of them.”
Turn Uh is free to download on
the app store for iOS devices.
APP
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racist graffiti in a residence hall
and that message was amplified
by university leaders,” he wrote.
“Outreach to affected communities
took place through LSA, the Dean
of Students Office, the Office of
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,
and
many
others.
The
U-M
faculty
leadership
has
issued
strong statements regarding these
incidents.”
Schlissel also pointed to specific
actions taken by the University in
response to the racist vandalism.
Student
leaders
discuss
activism and support in their
communities
Rackham student Rosalyn Kent,
president of Students of Color of
Rackham — an organization aiming
to create spaces where students of
color can feel safe and improve their
experience as graduate students
— wrote in an email interview
she expects there to be more hate
crimes on campus this year.
“This year, we really expected
that we’ve only hit the tip of the
iceberg with issues of hate and
racism that are here on campus,”
she said. “That’s because it appears
that
white
supremacists
and
nationalists were kind of testing
out their campaign on our campus
last year and we’re expecting that
we will be targeted a lot more this
year.”
Kent added that within the
organization, there is a particular
emphasis on students’ mental
health and plans to facilitate
conversations between different
campus communities. She said
awareness among students from
multicultural
and
different
religious backgrounds is important
and understanding the experiences
of other students fosters power on
campus.
“I don’t want to narrow the
student body into two types, but
from what I’ve experienced on
campus there are students who
are frustrated with the attacks
and there are students who are
completely oblivious,” she said.
“For the students who actually
want to have a conversation about
their frustration, they know that
a SCOR event is a safe place where
they can have that conversation and
not be attacked.”
Rackham student Richard Nunn,
who also attended the University as
an undergrad, is one of the advisers
for Latinx Alliance for Community
Action, Support and Advocacy. Also
known as La Casa, the alliance is
the umbrella organization for the
Latinx community on campus
and, according to the organization
page, aims to “be an inclusive
and welcoming environment for
all those who value the Latinx
community, culture, and identity.”
Nunn said he believes it is not so
much that incidents such as racist
vandalism are becoming more
frequent, but that they are receiving
more attention.
“I think if you look at the history
of campus alone, series of racist
instances have happened,” he said.
“I think (since) Trump’s election
— and maybe people would argue
— maybe people feel more entitled
or more able to express messages of
hate, but I don’t think it’s happening
more.”
LSA sophomore Mayah Wheeler
echoed Nunn and said she believes
these
incidents
have
become
commonplace because people are
more comfortable spouting their
hateful beliefs.
“I think it’s expected because
people have gotten comfortable in
expressing derogatory and racist
statements towards people that
are different than them,” she said.
“It’s a scare tactic, because they
don’t want you to be here and they
continue to do things that make
Black students feel unsafe.”
Public Policy junior Yvonne
Navarrete is the lead director of
La Casa and Assisting Latin@
to Maximize Achievement, an
orientation
and
community-
building program to welcome
Latino students to the University
prior to the start of their freshman
year.
Navarrete also agreed with Nunn
that the racist attacks are nothing
new; she said what is shocking is the
confidence with which they have
been presented. Like Kent, she said
as a student leader of a minority
group she is often thinking about
what she can do to help make her
community stronger.
“While there is always concern
for how your community will be
targeted, I think the main concern
is always how you will support
each other and what infrastructure
you’re creating to make that easier,”
she said.
Navarrete
said
introducing
students — many of whom are
first-generation and coming from
a low socioeconomic status — to
Latino-focused
resources
and
organizations on campus is central
to ALMA. She said she feels the
organization is able to educate and
empower students, to teach them
their voices are vital to campus.
Others, like LSA sophomore
J’laina Harvey, are still processing
the events from the past week.
“Honestly, I’ve been taking
it day by day, and I wouldn’t be
really surprised if something else
happened, so I’m kind of looking
out for it but it’s hard to say that it
didn’t affect me because it does. But
I’m trying to not let it distract me
from where I want to go, which is
be successful in school,” she said.
“So, I’m trying not to let it deter me
off my plan, however, emotionally
it is something to be concerned
about.”
Administrative action
In an email to the Daily, Dillard
noted racist events on campus are
not a new phenomenon; structures
of racism have always been a part of
U.S. society and at play on campus.
“We need to be careful to
separate out these ‘pre-existing’
and structural forms of racism
and discrimination from what
seems potentially new, or at least
distinctive,
about
the
present
moment,” she wrote. “This can be
difficult. Some of what seems new,
especially to younger people, is
actually quite old.”
Chief Diversity Officer Robert
Sellers, vice provost for Equity
and Inclusion, echoed Dillard’s
sentiments
regarding
the
prevalence of racism throughout
history. During his time as a
graduate student at the University,
he participated in campus protests
in response to issues similar to
those raised today.
Sellers said though the fact
students have to experience painful
incidents angers him, he, too, is not
surprised by the incidents.
“It bothers me to the core that
there are people who feel it’s okay to
spew hatred to students in general,
members of communities of color
and African-American students
in particular,” Sellers said. “At the
same point in time, I must also say
I’m not surprised, and I am not
surprised for reasons that are also
in some ways generational, so I’m
a little bit older, and as such, grew
up with the idea of understanding
that discrimination existed, and
in some cases and some spaces,
expect discrimination until proven
otherwise.”
Dillard added the incidents
with racist flyers in Mason Hall
last fall, however, were surprising
for several reasons: first, they
appealed to “scientific racism” — an
old, discredited belief that asserts
certain
races
are
biologically
inferior to others; second, the
flyers
were
very
blatant,
as
opposed to “subtle ‘dog whistle’”
racism-without-race; third, they
were clearly aligned with white
supremacy.
“I think undergraduates — who
are part of the Obama generation
— had an especially steep learning
curve to understand what the ‘Alt-
Right’ represents and what the
realities of racist trolling really look
like,” Dillard wrote. “And let me
just add that the fact that a handful
of these people can essentially troll
an ENTIRE campus is just beyond
frustrating.”
Going into the school year, Dillard
wrote, the LSA administration had
given a lot of thought to how it will
respond to incidents on campus in
which students’ social identities are
targeted.
She
also
wrote
the
administration wants to create
dialogue with a range of students
and utilize faculty and staff as a
resource in this communication.
She explained another goal is
to act in solidarity with student
organizations, highlighting their
support in response to theracist
vandalism over the weekend.
Within the last few days, the
University’s Office of Public Affairs
and
Internal
Communications
released a document highlighting
all of the specific actions taken
by the administration over the
weekend in order to both comfort
and act as an ally to students: Dean
of Students Laura Blake Jones met
with Black students who reached
out to her directly, LSA Dean
Andrew Martin invited all MCSP
students to his office hours in West
Quad and the Division of Public
Safety and Security has increased
security patrols in the area of West
Quad and continues to search for
the perpetrators.
Sellers emphasized that in his
over two decades at the University,
the
administration
is
more
committed to promoting inclusion
on campus than ever before.
“What
I
can
say,
having
been here for 20-plus years, the
administration — I would also
include the Board of Regents in
this — is more committed to issues
of diversity, equality and inclusion
than any other time that I’ve seen,”
he said.
Despite increased administrative
response,
Sellers
said
it
is
impossible to completely stop these
racist incidents from occurring,
especially in a society where a small
group of hateful people can disrupt
so many.
“I want it to be very clear: In any
society, it only takes a small number
of people who want to disrupt
that society to potentially disrupt
that society,” he said. “There is
no way that there is anything we
can do that can prevent any one
of 80-plus thousand people in our
community, not to mention all the
other folks outside of the University
of Michigan community, to at one
point or another attack members of
our community.”
However, Sellers explained the
University can strive to create an
environment where such incidents
are not tolerated.
He equated the racist incidents
to terrorism, stating the importance
of not giving the perpetrators
too much attention while also
providing the victims the comfort
they deserve.
“So, we have to find a way that
both acknowledges the pain, but
does not allow them to win,” Sellers
said. “In that context, I would say,
we’re doing everything we can to
try to make sure that this doesn’t
happen, but the reality is that I
cannot promise that tomorrow
some idiot doesn’t do this again.”
In a January-February 2017
article in Solidarity US entitled
“When the Alt-Right Hits Campus,”
Dillard
noted
the
importance
of action at “all levels of the
University.”
Reflecting on this assertion now,
Dillard wrote the University has
made strides but there is still more
to be done.
“I think we’re moving in the
right direction but (we’re) not there
yet,” she wrote. “Real action and
meaningful involvement has to take
place on every level and has to be
about achieving critical mass.”
Students call on administration
to do more
Nunn explained La Casa tends
to see 130 to 150 Latino students
at
their
meetings;
this
high
attendance rate and “needs” of
students highlight ways in which
the University is not properly
supporting students of color or
marginalized communities.
“The University does not have
a comprehensive program that
addresses the needs of these
communities,
so
communities
need to organize to address their
own needs, and that needs to be
supplemented by the University,
because it’s a service that in reality
should be provided,” he said.
Nunn said he believes when
addressing
racial
and
ethnic
diversity on campus, it is essential
the University understands there
are multiple communities of color,
and it must meet the distinct needs
of each.
Furthermore, Nunn said he
believes the University needs to be
move outside of a reactionary model
and be more proactive. He noted
the importance of the dialogue,
which took place in West Quad
this weekend after the incident of
racist vandalism; however, he said
dialogue without action afterward
is limited.
When
addressing
racist
incidents on campus, Navarrete
said the administration needs to
understand what was highlighted
by the incident and how it is going
to respond, not just immediately
after the event but continuously.
“It dying down emphasizes
that the administration is almost
exclusively worried about how it
makes the University look and then
they react while the topic is hot, and
if there is no follow-through, then
it just emphasizes the University’s
true intentions and motivations, in
my opinion,” Navarrete said.
Kent said there are allies who
immediately show solidarity after
racist incidents occur on campus,
but such support does not persist.
“In the heat of the moment, there
is support there,” she said. “But as
time moves on — and I mean time
as in three to five days — I feel like
the campus gets amnesia. … The
students who have been attacked
are left without support, and I
feel like that support should carry
through.”
On a larger scale, Kent said
she believes the University is in a
good place regarding thenational
conversation
surrounding
hate
crimes.
“Our administration recognizes
that racism and hate exist, and
that is something that I think I
would commend the University
for, because other campuses hide
it,” she said. “The University does
do a good job of bringing it into the
spotlight, saying, ‘Hey, this is an
issue, we know about it.’ ”
However, Kent said she would
criticize the University for not
being transparent in its actions to
address such situations.
“The DEI plan that has been
institutionalized on our campus
— that’s a great start,” she said.
“However, it takes many years to
see the scope of this plan.”
Aside from supportive student
groups and the University’s efforts
to diversity the campus through its
DEI strategic plan, Kent brought up
the idea of safe spaces, something
that might also be difficult on a
campus of this magnitude.
“It’s hard to say whether or not
we can create — collectively, over
the whole campus — a safe space,
because we are a public institution,”
she said. “I think it needs to be at the
very foundation — intolerance of
acts of hate — at the very core of the
University, and maybe that could
propagate
throughout
campus,
to push out these people who are
white supremacists, push out their
supporters.”
Nunn said he is proud the
University
champions
diversity
and that it tries to take a national
lead on issues of diversity, but he
acknowledged parts of the plan that
is lacking.
Though Nunn echoed Kent,
saying it is good the University
acknowledges these issues, he
still urges the administration to
act more aggressively — to use its
resources in handling lawsuits and
racist crimes and to provide more
resources to students.
“Let’s deal with the outside
issues, but internally, talk to
students, engage students, ‘What
do you need?’ and let’s find ways to
address those needs,” he said.
For example, Nunn said he
is frustrated from hearing the
administration claim thatProposal
2 — the Michigan statute that
prohibits affirmative action by
public institutions — stops it from
taking certain actions related to
race.
“I would rather the University
proudly say: ‘We are going to
proudly be a home for Latinx
students as a national institution.
We’re going to find the best,
brightest, most talented Latinx
students from across the country —
from across the world — and bring
them to our campus, and and this is
the way we’re doing that,’ ” he said.
already have, it’s going to be a
corporate oligarchy. It’s going to
be the rich who are going to call
the shots in Lansing even more
than it is today.”
Democrats
attempted
to
amend the bill to increase
transparency
in
campaign
finance
contributions
and
prohibit
corporations
for
receiving
tax
breaks
on
contributions, but failed.
“This is, in my opinion, a direct
attack on the very foundation of
our democracy,” Rabhi said. “It
is in my opinion, one of the worst
pieces of legislation that Lansing
has passed this year.”
Regarding future elections,
Rabhi believes the law will be
very impactful on the amount
of untraced money going to
candidates and how constituents
will vote once they realize the
impact of the law.
“I think it will have a huge
impact,” Rabhi said. “You’ll see
massive amounts of untraced
dollars flowing through the
political process. You’ll see this
coordination that is unheard of
and goes beyond what Citizens
United
ever
even
intended
between candidates and the
super PACs. This law allows for
super PACs and candidates to
share staff and certain resources.
That’s crazy to me that we’re
allowing these super PACs that
can get unlimited contributions
to coordinate with candidate
committees.”
Rabhi added he hopes voters
will be influenced to vote against
the legislators who backed this
piece of legislation.
“It’s unacceptable and I think
it will impact the election, but
I hope it will also impact the
elections — I hope the people
of
Michigan
will
see
how
blatantly in the pockets of the
corporate interests some of these
representatives are, and vote
them out of office,” Rabhi said.
State
Rep.
Aaron
Miller,
R-Sturgis, told the Detroit Free
Press that the law is necessary
in campaign finance at the state
level.
“This bill is quite the opposite
of a dark money concept,” Miller
said. “This bill is a light bill
concept and it has stiff penalties
for violations.”
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