percent Asian population.

Helmkamp 
said 
he 
also 

believes that with schools such 
as the University of Michigan, 
UW and even the University of 
California, Berkeley — which 
have large student populations 
and 
differences 
in 
diversity 

across the student body — there 
are efforts to bring a lot of 
communities together; he noted 
though he expects attempts to 
build community, there are also 
case-by-case scenarios that need 
to be considered given differences 
among people.

“In 
(the 
University 
of 

Michigan’s) 
case 
(there 
are) 

probably some conversations along 
the lines of, ‘We’re all Wolverines,’ 
and trying to build that sort of 
community with thousands of 
students, some of whom are 
extroverts, some of whom are 
introverts, some of whom are 
rural, some of whom are urban, 
racial 
differences, 
orientation 

differences, international students 
— it’s quite a little experiment,” he 
said. “Each challenge is different.”

Proactive and reactive measures
According 
to 
Helmkamp, 

UW takes a variety of proactive 
measures against bias incidents, 
with the intent of fostering a better 
campus community.

The most significant effort, he 

explained, is the Our Wisconsin 

program, which has just completed 
its second year. It consists of 
several workshops that feature 
structured dialogue and activities, 
according to its website.

“The focus is on incoming new 

students residing in university 
residence halls, which here at 
Madison is about 95 percent of the 
incoming freshman class,” he said. 
“It is essentially an ‘understand 
yourself 
and 
the 
broader 

community, the roles of identity’ 
(program). It’s a community-
building program, we build it 
around the various housing floor 
communities.”

Earlier this month, the school 

hosted its 19th annual diversity 
forum, which consists of notable 
speakers and breakout sessions, 
through which attendees can learn 
about inclusion, microaggressions 
and a variety of other topics.

“(The forum) is a campus-wide 

coming together, reviewing a lot of 
the efforts of the previous year,” he 
said.

On the reactive end, Helmkamp 

explained there are several other 
efforts used for bias incidents. 
Among 
them, 
he 
explained, 

are the student conduct code 
and administrative reports and 
criminal reports.

He explained the university has 

a bias reporting system similar to 
the University of Michigan’s, but 
has been handling bias reporting 
in a more formal way since fall 
2011.

“Over the last year, we’ve kind 

of upped our game with this 

where we now have an up-to-
date, accessible log of the all the 
incidents that are reported to us,” 
he said. “Last February we hired 
a full-time staff member to act as 
our bias response and advocacy 
coordinator, and she responds 
to the reports that come in. We 
respond individually to all reports. 
We offer support to individuals.”

He explained UW addresses 

and tries to reach resolutions 
in situations where it is able to 
identify all of the parties and 
people, and these people are 
willing to come together to work 
things out.

Instances that involve potential 

criminal activity, he explained, 
are referred to the UW-Madison 
Police Department. If it is a 
potential violation of the student 
conduct code, it is referred to the 
Office of Student Conduct and 
Community Standards.

“Interestingly enough, and I 

don’t know how this would slot in 
with other institutions, this past 
spring semester, we received just 
over 90 bias reports for, I believe 
it was, 72 separate incidents,” he 
said. “Of those incidents, only 
two of them were referred on for 
either (the) conduct (process) 
or law enforcement action. The 
great bulk of what we see is really 
incidents between two people, 
whether it’s microaggressions or 
any number of things, but they 
tend to be more interpersonal as 
opposed to conduct or criminal.”

Helmkamp also explained UW 

does not identify any incident as a 

“hate crime.”

“In our world of student affairs 

here at Madison we kind of look 
at it and say, we don’t do crime,” 
he said. “If the police think it’s a 
hate crime, we will let them label 
it. Even in our processes, we don’t 
have categories for people to say, 
‘This was a hate crime.’ In fact, 
we really talk a whole lot more 
about bias incidents than we do 
about hate. We keep open the idea 
that some of the incidents could 
certainly elevate to where it really 
is hate-motivated, but we really 
focus a whole lot more on those 
things that so frequently happen 
between two people that have 
more of a bias flavor to it.”

The University of Michigan 

does declare “hate crimes” on 
campus. It describes them, using 
the U.S. Department of Justice’s 
definition, as crimes or threats 
motivated by an offender’s bias 
against a certain social identity.

In such incidents, Helmkamp 

explained, the bias advocacy and 
response coordinator might get 
involved, sit with the individuals 
and work through receptions, 
issues and concerns. He explained 
the 
great 
majority 
of 
the 

university’s bias response efforts 
are about improving the campus 
community from an education 
perspective, much more than a 
punitive perspective.

Comparatively, according to 

2017 enrollment data from Indiana 
University, 4.4 percent of the 
student body is African American, 

U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich, 

has been accused of secretly 
making a $27,000 settlement for 
a sexual harassment claim by an 
employee in 2015, according to 
a BuzzFeed News report. In the 
article, BuzzFeed reported they 
have received affidavits from four 
former congressional employees 
who claim they had seen Conyers 
making sexual advances toward 
female employees.

The report states that while 

three of these affidavits have been 
notarized, all four come from 
documents within a complaint 
reporting Conyers had “made 
sexual advances to female staff 
that included requests for sex acts, 
contacting and transporting other 
women with whom they believed 
Conyers 
was 
having 
affairs, 

caressing their hands sexually, 
and rubbing their legs and backs 
in public.”

The documents also include 

details of the 2015 dismissal 
complaint settlement, a process 
which the alleged victim described 
to BuzzFeed News as one that 
provided her no other choice but to 
keep her accusations a secret and 
accept the settlement offer.

“I was basically blackballed. 

There was nowhere I could go,” 
she told BuzzFeed News.

Other 
representatives 
have 

spoken 
out 
against 
Conyers, 

calling 
the 
reports 
deeply 

troubling, including Speaker of 
the House Paul Ryan and U.S. Rep. 
Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y. 

These allegations follow a 

series of other accusations against 
prominent figures in politics and 
other realms including Sen. Al 
Franken, Harvey Weinstein and 
former CBS news anchor Charlie 

Rose.

Later, Conyers confirmed he 

reached a financial settlement 
with the staffer who brought a case 
against him for sexual harassment 
but emphasized he did not admit 
to guilt in the case.

“I expressly and vehemently 

denied 
the 
allegations 
made 

against me, and continue to do so,” 
Conyers said in a statement. “My 
office resolved the allegations — 
with an express denial of liability 
— to save all involved from the 
rigors of protracted litigation. That 
should not be lost in the narrative.”

Engineering 
sophomore 

Lincoln 
Merrill, 
press 

correspondent for the University 
of Michigan’s chapter of College 
Republicans, stated that while he 
finds the allegations alarming, 
immediate repercussions for the 
accused perpetrators may not be 
entirely visible.

“The number of allegations 
that have come out in the past 
month is ridiculous. It’s an 
interesting note that on both 
sides of the aisle there’s been 
so many allegations recently,” 
Merrill said. “I don’t think 
it’s going to change anything 
visibly but I think it will change 
people’s 
attitudes 
towards 

government.”

In a statement to The Daily, 

Public Policy junior Lauren 
Schandevel, communications 
director for the University of 
Michigan’s chapter of College 
Democrats, 
highlighted 

the importance of looking 
at such issues in a non-
partisan manner, and said the 
organization will be continuing 
to monitor the outcomes of this 
case.

“The reports are troubling 

and we will be watching 
intently over the next few 
weeks 
to 
see 
how 
this 

unfolds,” she wrote. “Charges 
of 
sexual 
misconduct 
are 

extremely serious and should 
be condemned regardless of 
the 
perpetrator’s 
political 

leanings.”

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CAMPUS EVENTS & NOTES

Egyptians UMich
@ESAumich

Happy Lebanese 
Independence Day @
Lebanese_UMich we are all 
celebrating with you today!

Deacon Dameron
@Deak_TM
I just saw a guy wearing an 
MSU shirt while I was wearing 
a Michigan XC shirt and I swear 
we connected on an existential 
level 

Ashley Preston
@aprezt0n

Leaving the city of Ann Arbor 
is a cathartic experience.

Jason C Grant
@jcharlesgrant 

As we head into Thanksgiving 
break, I wonder if @DrMarkSchlissel 
and other @UMich officials 
will show thanks to graduate 
students by publicly opposing 
the #gradstudenttax, which will 
bankrupt most of us and force us to 
leave the university ...

North Campus 
Sustainability Hour V

WHAT: Enjoy lunch with Tau Beta 
Pi engineering fraternity while 
listening to a talk on sustainability.

WHO: Tau Beta Pi

WHEN: 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

WHERE: Lurie Robert H. 
Engineering Center - Johnson 
Rooms

SLE Board Meeting

WHAT: Gain leadership through 
planning social, service and 
sustainability events with the 
Sustainable Living Experience 
board. 

WHO: Sustainable Living 
Experience

WHEN: 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.

WHERE: Matthei Botanical 
Gardens

Food Distribution with 
Community Action 
Network

WHAT: Volunteer to help 
distribute food from the truck, 
shop with families or clean the 
community center afterward 
at a large-scale food pantry in 
Ann Arbor. Sign up with Health 
Promotion at U-M to attend.

WHO: Maize Pages Student 
Organizations

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

WHERE: Bryant Community 
Center 

Michigan Knitting Club 
Weekly Meeting 

 

WHAT: Come hang out and knit 
or crochet with the Michigan 
Knitting Club at their weekly 
meeting! 

WHO: Maize Pages Student 
Organizations

WHEN: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

WHERE: Michigan Union - 
Welker Room

RESPONSE
From Page 1A

Conyers accused of blacklisting, 
sexually harassing employees

Buzzfeed News reports Rep. Conyers paid $27,000 settlement in secret

JORDYN BAKER
Daily Staff Reporter

See RESPONSE, Page 3A

