The Michigan Daily sat down
for an interview with E. Royster
Harper, vice president for student
life, to discuss several current
issues on campus, including a
likely visit from Richard Spencer
and the addition of a Middle
Eastern/North African category
to
University
of
Michigan
demographic data collection.
The Daily: The administration
has been very clear that safety is
the first priority in negotiations
with Richard Spencer. Can you
talk about what the University
outlines as safety, and how
it’s taking mental health into
account?
Harper: I think the University
is
thinking
primarily
about
physical safety of everybody
involved, and that the rest of us
are thinking about, ‘OK, how
do we ensure psychological and
emotional safety?’ And actually,
we talked with the team down
at Florida — our director of
Counseling and Psychological
Services — about what they
provide, when they provided it,
how do you — if the decision is
made for him to come, how do
you get people psychologically
and
emotionally
ready
so
that it doesn’t have really a
detrimental
effect
on
their
mental and emotional health?
I think the challenge for the
University is, it’s much clearer
to think through the issues
related to physical safety than it
is emotional and psychological
safety, because that’s different
for some students.
TMD: Can you tell me about
what came out of that conversation
with the University of Florida?
Harper: For example, one of
the things that they said in Florida
is it’s really important to have
people available before, during
and after for some students. That
it’s important to have communal
spaces where folks can gather.
But there are some folks who say:
’I don’t want to be in a communal
ANDREW HIYAMA &
RIYAH BASHA
Daily Staff Reporter &
Daily News Editor
Last
week
President
Donald Trump announced the
United States will recognize
Jerusalem as the capital of
Israel, breaking international
norms,
in
an
attempt
to
achieve peace between Israel
and Palestine, In protest of
the decision, Students Allied
for Freedom and Equality and
Revolutionary Youth Alliance,
A2/Ypsi organized a speak-out
Monday night at the Michigan
Union.
The Trump administration,
despite widespread criticism
around
the
world,
will
recognize Jerusalem as the
capital of Israel by moving the
U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv,
Israel, to Jerusalem.
Students
addressed
the
group of about 25, condemning
the move by Trump and voicing
support for Palestinians. Many
of
Pro-Palestinian
student
chose to not to speak on the
record out of fear of being
placed on a blacklist for their
views.
“We will be gathering by
the couches of the Union
for a speak-out protest of
Trump’s decision to recognize
Jerusalem as Israel’s capital,”
the Facebook event description
read. “This recognition seeks
to erase the Palestinian people
and their historical ties to
Jerusalem. It also dissolves
current, past, and future peace
processes, and attempts to
further legitimize the brutal
occupation of Palestine.”
LSA
Student
Arwa,
a
board member of SAFE, who
requested to not include her
last name, said the speak-out
was organized in conjunction
with speak-outs across the
country
to
better
inform
people about the importance
of Jerusalem for many ethnic
groups.
“Jerusalem
is
a
very
important city for all people of
all faiths — Islam, Christianity
and Judaism,” Arwa said. “So
many people, all that they’re
hearing is the perspective
from the media and a lot of
times people get desensitized
to how personal this city is
to so many people and that
was kind of what the speak
out was about: to understand
the importance and the long
history that Jerusalem has
played for Palestine and for
Palestinians of all religions.”
One
recently
graduated
Jewish student who wished to
remain anonymous said that as
At its last meeting of the year,
the
University
of
Michigan
Senate
Assembly
invited
President Mark Schlissel to
provide remarks on University
progress and challenges from
the past semester. Schlissel
discussed sexual harassment
on campus, the effect of the
tax reform bill on graduate
students and Richard Spencer’s
impending visit.
“It’s been obviously a really
challenging
semester
on
campus,” Schlissel said. “The
challenges largely being around
social issues, issues of inclusion
and community occurring in a
very difficult national political
moment in the United States.”
Schlissel began by listing
the series of accomplishments,
scholarships
and
awards
earned by alumni, students and
faculty over the past year. He
underscored the University’s
$1.48
billion
in
research
conducted in 2017, resulting in
it ranking as the second-best
university in the nation for
volume of research expenditure
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 47
©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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
See SCHLISSEL, Page 2
Schlissel &
faculty talk
semester’s
challenges
ACADEMICS
Senate Assembly meeting
focuses on Spencer and
sexual harassment policy
MAEVE O’BRIEN
For the Daily
MATT VAILLIENCOURT/Daily
Students speak in opposition to President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital at an event
hosted by Students Allied for Freedom and EquMality at the Union on Monday.
SAFE and RYA host speak-out against
Trump’s Jerusalem embassy decision
After announcement last week, Palestinians, allies worry history will be erased
COLIN BERESFORD
Daily Staff Reporter
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
See SAFE, Page 3
Two of the three people
suspected to be involved in the
December 4th armed robbery
in West Quad were arrested
on Sunday. The third suspect
remains at large.
According to a press release
from the Division of Public
Safety and Security, Brian White,
18, of Novi, Mich. and Deandre
Jetter, 19, of West Bloomfield,
Mich., were both arraigned on
four felony counts: two accounts
of armed robbery, first-degree
home invasion and larceny in a
building. The standard sentence
for armed robbery is a life term,
while home invasion is a 20-year
felony and larceny is a 4-year
felony.
DPSS spokeswoman said last
week the armed robbery attacked
three University students, and
the incident was “not a random
act of violence.” White, Jetter,
and the third suspect allegedly
demanded property from the
students
and
brandished
a
handgun.
2 suspects
arrested in
West Quad
robbery
CRIME
MAYA GOLDMAN
Daily Staff Reporter
Harper says
admin wary
of being too
transparent
A semester in review: How CSG
performed on campaign promises
See HARPER, Page 3
DESIGN BY ROSEANNE CHAO
ADMINISTRATION
The Daily sits down with the VP of
Student Life on ME/NA, Latinos, Spencer
After historic win on eMerge ticket, Sarkar & Jawad navigate contentious campus climate
After
spending
the
winter
semester of 2017 campaigning
for Central Student Government
leadership on the three pillars
of
voice,
opportunity
and
momentum, the eMerge party led
by President Anushka Sarkar, an
LSA senior, and Vice President
Nadine Jawad, a Public Policy
senior, has taken several steps
this semester in fulfilling their
promises of last spring, including
passing a number of resolutions
and initiatives.
Voice
CSG
has
participated
in
actions this past semester and has
continued initiatives that work
aiming to give students greater
opportunity
to
convey
their
concerns on campus.
Following
several
bias
incidents and discussion on how
to best respond to student needs,
CSG has spent the past several
months working on amending the
Statement of Student Rights and
Responsibilities, which, according
to an interview with Sarkar
and Jawad, would include bias-
motivated misconduct as both
a violation and an aggravating
factor in the disciplining process,
and on Friday the first stage in the
process was passed. The executive
board also released a statement in
October condemning the naming
the namesake building of C.C.
Little, who was a eugenicist.
“There’s other ways to look
back at history, but I think when
we name a building it becomes
to normalized into our everyday
systems on campus that we totally
forget to check in and see what it
was that that president did or what
the history entails,” Jawad said
during an October meeting.
On Nov. 7, CSG held its weekly
meeting on the Diag as another
way to elevate student voice,
particularly
by
making
the
organization more accessible to
students — most attended the
meeting to primarily talk about
#UMDivest.
In addition, CSG looks to
continue
supporting
students
on the Ann Arbor City Council
JORDYN BAKER
Daily Staff Reporter
See CSG, Page 3
Two arraigned on felony
charges in connection with
Dec. 4 crime, third at large
Read more at MichiganDaily.com