The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, November 10, 2017 — 3A
Public
Policy
junior
Lauren
Schandevel,
communications
director for the University’s
chapter of College Democrats,
wrote in an email the group
was struck when they learned
Clinton had lost.
“I think everyone in the
organization was really shaken
by the news,” Schandevel wrote.
“It took us a while to process
what had happened and issue a
response because we were just so
blindsided.”
On Nov. 9, the University
campus was noticeably somber
and confused. That night, both
a vigil and anti-Trump rally
took place in the Diag, featuring
speakers including University
President Mark Schlissel.
“Ninety
percent
of
you
rejected the kind of hate and the
fractiousness and the longing for
some kind of idealized version of
a non-existent yesterday that was
expressed during the campaign,”
Schlissel said that night. “So I
urge you, continue your advocacy
and your voices are already being
heard. They are loud and clear —
this is the way America changes.
It’s the way it always changes.
It’s the way it will change for the
better.”
That
comment
sparked
a
petition on campus written by
LSA junior Amanda Delekta,
who in the letter condemned the
University administration for not
respecting all ideologies. This
eventually led to the Mackinac
Center for Public Policy filing a
FOIA against President Schlissel
to release his emails regarding
Trump and the election.
After the election, the College
Republicans
celebrated
the
victory, having endorsed Trump
the September prior. They also
outlined their plan to defeat
identity politics on campus,
which they believe have grave
effects on free speech.
“Overall, a lot of people are just
tired of the political correctness
and we’re just trying to give
them an outlet,” Merrill said. “I
think it’s going well … it is an off
year because there’s not really
any elections, but next year will
be an even bigger year for trying
to fight back.”
On the other hand, the College
Democrats discussed shifting
their emphasis from promoting
Clinton to progressive issue
advocacy.
“Once the dust settled from
the election, we were able to
harness a lot of anti-Trump
energy and use it to either
champion policies that reflected
our values or block those that did
not; unfortunately, it was mostly
the latter in this administration,”
Schandevel said. “People are
more engaged now than ever in
current events, and we’ve used
that to our advantage in terms of
building capacity and mobilizing
students who wouldn’t have been
involved in politics otherwise.”
In April, the Senate confirmed
Trump’s
nomination
to
the
Supreme Court to Neil Gorsuch,
filling the spot that was left
vacant for over 400 days.
“I think that everything else
aside, that was his huge thing,
that he got to appoint Gorsuch
to the Supreme Court,” Merrill
said.
Later,
Trump
moved
to
implement one of his campaign
promises by pulling out of the
Paris climate accord, in June. He
stated it was too costly for the
American people and didn’t put
America first.
“Our exit from the Paris
climate
agreement
coupled
with
Syria’s
more
recent
entrance into it is concerning,”
Schandevel said. “It reflects the
selfish, isolationist values of the
administration and signals to the
rest of the world that we’re going
to be difficult to work with for at
least the next few years.”
Immigration
Trump made several promises
to the American people during
his campaign including having
Mexico finance a U.S.-Mexico
border
wall,
deporting
all
undocumented
immigrants,
limiting
legal
immigration
and blocking all Muslims from
entering the country.
In ten months since he was
elected president, Trump has
been able to deliver on some of
his campaign promises regarding
immigration. In late January,
Trump signed an executive order
that would limit immigration
from
seven
majority-Muslim
Middle Eastern and Northern
African countries for 90 days,
a form of his promised Muslim
travel ban.
A few days later, over 5,000
people gathered at the Detroit
Metropolitan Airport in protest
of the travel ban, including
elected
officials
and
local
officials. Rep. Debbie Dingell,
D-Mich., spoke to the crowd, told
the crowd both their activism
and legal action were necessary
to overturning the executive
action.
“We are trying to introduce
legislation that will overturn
the executive order,” she said
to cheers from the crowd.
“This is not about Republican
or Democrat, we are here as
Americans. There is no one
who doesn’t care about national
security … but we are standing
for
fundamental
rights
in
the Constitution: freedom of
religion, freedom of speech.”
Later that day Ann Donnelly,
University alumni and New
York federal judge, issued an
emergency
order
claiming
the deportation of travelers at
airports was unconstitutional.
A week later, a federal judge in
Washington state put the entire
travel ban on hold.
Critics of the first order noted
it lacked information regarding
how specific federal agencies
were to implement the order. In
March, Trump crafted a new
order that gave agencies more
than a week to prepare for the
changes.
In the second travel ban,
Trump dropped Iraq from the
list and any language suggesting
any
preferential
treatment
of religious minorities in the
countries listed in the order.
Before the order could take effect,
federal judges in Maryland and
Hawaii blocked core components
of the travel ban.
In June, the Supreme Court
permitted a partial ban to take
effect, allowing only refugees
and settlers who have a “bona
fide” relationship to people or
entities in the U.S. to enter the
country.
It wasn’t until September
when Trump acted on DACA,
something he mentioned many
times throughout his campaign
and after, but never outlined
exact plans to address the policy.
William Lopez, postdoctoral
fellow in the School of Social
Work, has studied the impact
of immigration raids on Latino
communities and said an end
to DACA will have profound
impacts
on
those
currently
protected under it.
“We won’t see an end to
DACA for those who have it for
another at most two years, for
many folks less,” Lopez said.
“So it puts us in this position
where we need to plan how
we’re going to react to folks who
have been comparatively secure
from deportation for the last
two years who will suddenly
find themselves in this position
where they can be deported, they
don’t have driver’s licenses, they
won’t have the ability to work in
the same way they do (now).”
In March, The Daily sat down
with a handful of undocumented
students protected under DACA,
who
voiced
concerns
about
Trump and the uncertainty
of the future of DACA. The
students requested their names
not be used, but one Rackham
student fears how the end of
DACA would limit their ability
to participate in society going
forward.
YEAR
From Page 1A
Epsilon and Alpha Epsilon Phi
members confirming the decision
of the council.
In the meeting, IFC members
urged the committee to vote in
favor of the suspension because
if the suspension was mandated
by the University or the North-
American Interfraternity Council,
IFC would have no say in when
the suspension is removed. With
this decision, the council itself can
determine when the suspension
will be lifted. However, IFC
executives made it clear this
suspension is not being taken
lightly.
Date parties and social activities
that have already been paid for will
still be allowed to take place — but,
according to the executive board,
these events will have to submit
bank statements and official plans
for sober monitors at the events.
Chris
DeEulis,
assistant
director of Greek life and IFC
adviser, clarified the definition
of a social event as to imagine
an impartial source was looking
at an event and it looked like a
fraternity-sponsored social event,
and therefore would be in violation
of the suspension.
In a statement sent to the Daily
after the time of publication, IFC
Executive Vice President, Alec
Mayhan, stressed that the decision
made by the council tonight
was a measure taken to address
these serious allegations before
resuming social events.
“As an Interfraternity Council
community, we believe in holding
our members to a high standard
at the University of Michigan,”
Mayhan wrote. “It has come to
our attention that some members
of the Interfraternity Council
community have not been living
up to these standards... We believe
that social events are a privilege,
and we, as a community, have not
earned this privilege at this time.
We will immediately begin the
process of assessing our policies
and practices and developing a
formal plan going forward.”
The suspension also mandates
a halt on initiation activities for
current pledges. According to the
executives, NIC will be coming
to fraternities and initiating the
pledges in the coming weeks.
According to a report from the
University Office for Institutional
Equity, 80 sexual assault cases
were reported between July 2015
and June 2016.
Earlier
this
week,
Florida
State University fraternities and
sororities suspended all activities
after a fraternity pledge was killed
and another fraternity member
was arrested on drug charges.
University spokesperson Kim
Broekhuizen wrote to the Daily
that they are waiting to hear from
IFC.
“We are trying to reach the IFC
leadership to confirm,” she wrote.
“As you know, IFC leaders are
students and this is part of their
self-governance function.”
IFC
From Page 1A
ethnostate,
which,
according
to him, would be accomplished
through
“non-violent,
ethnic
redistribution of populations.”
On
Oct.
27,
without
an
invitation from any member
of the University of Michigan
community, Cameron Padgett,
a
Georgia
State
University
student
organizing
Spencer’s
tour, requested to rent a room at
the University of Michigan for
Spencer to hold an event. News
of the request was immediately
met with fierce opposition and
demands that the University deny
Spencer’s request.
In a recent interview with The
Daily, University President Mark
Schlissel said the University could
not deny a speaker based on the
content of their speech, but that it
was seriously reviewing potential
safety and security concerns of
the event.
Spencer has also made speeches
and made requests to speak at
several other colleges. Following
the white supremacist “Unite the
Right” rally in Charlottesville,
Va., — in which one woman was
killed by a participant in the rally
— the University of Florida denied
Spencer’s request, but allowed
him to come after Spencer
threatened to bring suit, leading
to the University of Florida
spending $600,000 on security
for the event. When Michigan
State University denied a request
from Spencer at about the same
time, Padgett sued. The judge
presiding over the case recently
ordered the parties to enter
mediation.
Facing intense pressure from
members of the campus and
larger University community, the
University’s administration is still
in deliberation about whether or
not it can legally deny Spencer’s
request, and whether it is willing
to go to court should it choose to
do so.
“There has been no decision
regarding this request,” said
University
spokesman
Rick
Fitzgerald. “Beyond that, there
just isn’t anything else we can
share.”
LSA senior Leah Schneck,
outreach
director
for
the
University’s chapter of College
Democrats, attended a recent
meeting with Schlissel, all 11
University vice presidents and
approximately 20 other student
leaders to discuss major areas of
concern on campus, including
Spencer’s
request
to
speak.
Schneck said no is “still on the
table” for the University, she said,
and she hopes the administration
realizes the message it could send
by doing so.
“I think that the University has
been so inadequately responsive
to students in particular, even
if we’re just thinking about the
last year and a half of incidents
on campus, and the particularly-
marginalized
feel
like
the
University is targeting them, and
I think that saying no would be
hugely powerful,” she said. “I
don’t want him anywhere near
campus, and I know students
don’t want him on campus either.”
Schneck
acknowledges,
however, the University is facing a
tough decision, and needs to send
a message regardless of how they
respond to Spencer’s request.
“In
the
event
that
the
University decides that they do
need to say yes, I’m hoping — and
this is something we talked about
— that, at the same time they let
people know they’re saying yes,
they say, ‘Here’s our plan for how
we’re going to support the campus
community when he does come,’
“ she said. “But that they have a
plan of, ‘We’re going to support X
amount of alternative events that
are going to be on a spectrum of
teach-ins and healing spaces,’ that
they maybe are giving students
the option to miss class, or that
faculty should be understanding
of students that have to miss
class, that they’re giving faculty
resources about how to talk about
it in class.”
However, students are not
unanimous in thinking Spencer
should be rejected. Engineering
sophomore Lincoln Merrill, press
correspondent for the University’s
chapter of College Republicans,
said though he strongly disagrees
with Spencer’s views, he thinks
Spencer has a First Amendment
right to speak at the University.
Protests to similar events, like
the recent speech of controversial
social scientist Charles Murray,
Merrill said, have reflected poorly
on the University.
“I want to say that the CRs
definitely do not support his views
in any way. We are completely
opposed to the things that he
stands for, and we just flat-out
don’t support this guy. That being
said, he has a First Amendment
right to speak,” Merrill said. “So,
we believe that he should be able
to speak at the University, but we
would also, after that, encourage
people to go and challenge his
speech in productive ways. The
things we’ve been seeing is when
people have been speaking on
campus recently, people go crazy
and they don’t challenge their
speech in a productive way.”
It
is
not
clear,
however,
whether a denial of Spencer’s
request would necessarily be a
violation of his First Amendment
rights. In a panel discussion of
several University of Michigan
law professors on the issue of
Spencer’s request, Prof. Don
Herzog, who specializes in the
First Amendment, noted that
fighting words — defined by
the Supreme Court as words
which, “by their very utterance,
inflict injury or tend to incite an
immediate breach of the peace”
— were not protected under the
First Amendment, but said the
possibility of violence brought
by Spencer’s speeches didn’t
necessarily meet that criterion.
SPENCER
From Page 1A
are very dependent on where
they are put in place and who
is interpreting them and who is
performing them,” Shatkin said.
“So the zero tolerance policy is
obviously something that in theory
sounds like a good idea, but when
you put it in different communities,
it’s implemented in very different
ways that will end up having
injustices that are not meant to
arise — or maybe meant to arise
depending on who is creating them
in the first place.”
Public Policy graduate student
Juan Jaimes also attended, and
was drawn by the presence of
Antonio Flores, president and
CEO of the Hispanic Association
of
Colleges
and
Universities.
Flores holds a doctorate in Higher
Education Administration from
the University of Michigan and
has garnered nearly $3 billion
in federal funding for Hispanic-
serving institutions.
Jaimes
currently
studies
policies regarding how institutions
deal with minority groups such as
Latinos and immigrant students.
He eventually aspires to work
in addressing disparities in the
Latino community in order to help
improve outcomes.
“I think a lot of the things that
(the panelists) talked about are
things that I am familiar with
but it is just helpful for it to be
re-emphasized by professionals
doing work or faculty doing
research on this topic,” Jaimes
said. “I learned that even them as
professionals don’t have all of the
answers so it is going to require
more students to get into that field
to expand the research and focus
on different areas.”
SYMPOSIUM
From Page 1A
and organizer, explained the
significance of continuing to
honor Aura’s life every year.
Beckley also drew attention
to the severity with which the
AAPD treated Rosser.
“This marks the third year.
Aura was killed three years ago
by Ann Arbor Police Officer Ried,
and this marks the third year
that she was not only tased — but
also shot,” Beckley said. “The
question was once: You tased
her; why did you have to shoot
her in the heart and kill her? And
they’ve never answered that.”
Paquetta Palmer, a friend
of Rosser’s and an Ann Arbor
community
member,
also
discussed the injustice against
Rosser and said she felt Rosser’s
family deserved redress from the
city.
“I feel it was an unjustified
killing and I think it’s better for
the city to admit that than to
keep acting like what happened
was OK. I think that harm was
done and that her family should
be compensated and I just feel
really sad that someone that
young was taken away from us.”
Beckley was also frustrated
by the lack of action taken by the
Ann Arbor City Council, Police
Department and mayor. She
specifically called for the firing
of Officer Ried.
“They could let Officer Ried
go, but he still works with the
police department. I know the
police has a strong union, but to
me, if they’re in the business of
killing people then they ought
to be let go and that hasn’t
happened,” Beckley said.
Ann Arbor Alliance for Black
Lives member Maryam Aziz
furthered Beckley’s sentiments
about the ignorance of the City
Council on matters regarding
anti-Blackness.
“We remember today, not
so long ago, as Aura lay resting
among the beauty of the art she
imagined. Chris Taylor — your
mayor — reiterated at a rally after
Charlottesville that her murder
was justified. These Ann Arbor
and Michigan Democrats don’t
care about anti-Blackness. When
did they take knees before their
lives were threatened?”
Austin McCoy, a postdoctoral
fellow at the University of
Michigan, called attention to
the vigil on Twitter and echoed
Aziz’s comments about Mayor
Christopher Taylor’s response.
Aziz ended by emphasizing
the importance of pressuring the
local government until justice is
served for Rosser.
“There is power in love, to love
Aura is to honor her memory; it
is to make haste and take action
because an ultimate form of love
for Aura is to make sure there is
no peace. No justice, no peace; we
have to continue to resist.”
VIGIL
From Page 1A
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