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Wednesday, January 24, 2018 — 3A
NA SSE R SE NTE NCING
ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily
Larry Nasser is escorted to his seat during his sentencing hearing in the Ingham County Courthouse in Lansing Tuesday.
are slated to begin in February
and continue throughout the
winter semester. The DEI office
has organized these events in
collaboration with the Office
of the President, The National
Center
for
Institutional
Diversity, the Office of Student
Life, The Alumni Association,
Wallace House and the Office
of Academic Innovation. There
are
also
plans
to
broaden
the
organizations
involved
and
expand
the
schedule
throughout the semester.
Thus
far,
the
scheduled
events include several virtual
teach-outs hosted online by the
Office of Academic Innovation,
one teach-in, lectures from
New York Times columnist Bret
Stephens and NPR host Joshua
Johnson, as well as a panel
discussion
featuring
higher
education leaders.
Mike
Morland,
marketing
and communications manager
for the DEI office, explained
the goals behind these planned
events and what the University
ultimately hopes for the series
to achieve.
“The series is aiming to
recognize the differing views
on speech and inclusion, so to
explore the views that play out
in politics, in culture, higher
education and many other parts
of our lives,” Morland said.
“So by engaging in productive
conversations with individuals
that have varying views and
perspectives, we are hoping
our community will be able
to come away from this series
with a deeper understanding
of issues like these that are
very complicated and a better
understanding of one another.”
While the DEI office has
alluded to more programming
in
the
future,
the
initial
lineup of events has elicited
frustration
among
students
and faculty concerned with
the
administration’s
choice
to anchor discussion in free
speech and inclusion.
Michigan
Mellon
Fellow
Austin McCoy believes the free
speech and inclusion series does
not adequately rebuke Spencer’s
racial dogma. To McCoy, the
series suggests the University
is employing the canon of free
speech as a “Trojan horse” to
avoid
addressing
Spencer’s
white supremacist philosophies
candidly.
“It would be better if there
were
actual
conversations
about
the
resurgence
of
white supremacists or white
nationalist politics and what
that
means
for
political
culture, but also having a
frank
conversation
about
the intentions of people like
Richard Spencer,” McCoy said.
The
belief
that
the
administration
is
defaulting
on a backbone of free speech
and
inclusion
as
opposed
to
challenging
the
white
supremacist beliefs espoused by
Spencer, is a criticism echoed
across campus.
In
an
email
interview,
History lecturer Anne Berg
explained her own concerns
regarding the message ascribed
to the word “inclusion.” Berg
noted it is unclear whether
the use of the word inclusion
implies
the
inclusion
of
minorities or expands to mean
the inclusion of neo-Nazis.
According
to
Berg,
this
ambiguous use of the word
undermines the integrity of the
University’s DEI efforts.
“The choice to label the series
‘Free Speech and Inclusion’
is not only complicit with the
framing
imposed
by
right-
wing agitators, but also risks
to undermine the important
efforts to make our campus a
more equitable place where we
confront white supremacy head
on and don’t just throw around
empty,
sanitized
language
that allows us to celebrate an
increasingly
hollow-sounding
concept of ‘inclusion,’” she said.
The notion of uniting the
collective voice of a higher
education population to yield
change
is
an
idea
whose
birthplace is quite present on
the Diag at the University of
Michigan. Within the cradle
of
progressive
Ann
Arbor,
the
University’s
history
is
chronicled with displays of
students and faculty defending
the values of the institution.
This
touchstone
of
the
University
has
not
been
forgotten by those students and
faculty who are unsatisfied with
the University’s response in the
“Free Speech and Inclusion
Series.” The fact that the Free
Speech and Inclusion series is
the first formal announcement
of programming sponsored by
the administration to address
the
tensions
that
became
grounded last semester has
also left students and faculty
questioning
the
intentions
behind the series.
Berg
explained
how
the
framing of the University’s
response thus far to Spencer
lends
itself
to
a
critical
examination
of
possible
external influences.
“Having
the
series
on
‘Speech
and
Inclusion’
now strikes me as a rather
pathetic attempt to provide
retroactive
justification
for
letting lawyers and the pocket
books of existing or potential
donors dictate the university’s
response to the resurgence
of white supremacists in the
public
sphere
rather
than
listening to the voices of a
concerned campus community
and to historically informed
scholarly arguments against
downplaying the violent threat
inherent in white supremacist
platforms,” Berg said.
McCoy similarly called for
the University to be clearer
when designing programming
in response to the violent
rhetoric ingrained in Spencer’s
agenda.
“The University seems to
be
more
concerned
about
protecting
itself
from
any
sort of legal harm than it does
with actually issuing a very
sharp and critical stance that
acknowledges what they are
trying to do politically,” McCoy
said.
In a similar manner, in an
earlier interview with the Daily,
Art & Design freshman Betsy
Stubb reflected on the need for
more
transparency
between
students and administration
regarding Spencer’s impending
speech.
“I
knew
very
little
information
about
Richard
Spencer’s appearance because
administration
has
been
keeping students in the dark,”
she said. “I think the best
way we can combat the hate
and
violence
that
Spencer
spreads is for all of us to rally
together and show that racism
and bigotry are not acceptable
at U of M. We need to help
foster an environment where
students of all races, religions
and sexualities feel safe and
protected, because under the
current administration this is
not the case.”
However, the DEI office has
emphasized the series will not
be the only action taken by the
administration to tackle the
threats last semester posed to
the University’s values.
“This isn’t designed to be
the singular answer to it. It
is part of that larger complex
of the challenges we face as a
community,” Morland said.
Yet, those involved in the
#StopSpencer coalition believe
the University’s track record
when addressing the pending
Spencer visit warrants the need
for the movement to continue to
pressure the administration.
LSA
senior
Hoai
An
Pham is an organizer in the
#StopSpencer
coalition
and
described in an email interview
how the administration has
missed opportunities to frame
the Spencer visit in a manner
that
recognizes
the
fears
of
marginalized
groups
on
campus.
“We
would
like
the
University
to
acknowledge
the ways in which it has been
complicit in propagating white
supremacy and racism, starting
with their lack of qualifications
to host a series on free speech
when they are allowing a white
supremacist to come to campus
to endanger our community
and take away the free speech
and fundamental human rights
of marginalized people,” Pham
wrote.
it would award a $100 million
emergency
grant
to
the
state to fund infrastructure
repairs. When Detroit filed for
Chapter 9 bankruptcy in 2013,
philanthropic donations saved
the city-owned art collection
at the Detroit Institute of Arts
while a $195 million legislative
package from Lansing helped
minimize
pension
cuts
for
retirees. Kildee believes state
and federal government should
play a more proactive role
when it comes to maintaining
shrinking cities in the Rust Belt.
“Flint is the ultimate case
study,” Kildee said. “Here’s
a frightening thought: there
are dozens — if not more —
cities that are one mistake, one
miscalculation, one error away
from going to the same place
Flint was in with the water crisis.
They’re just barely hanging on.
We can’t let those places get
there.”
Kildee
and
Gallagher
emphasized
the
importance
of public policy in ensuring
a successful future for aging
industrial centers.
“The
narrative
that
you
hear that cities like Detroit and
Pittsburgh and Leipzig and
Turin are coming back, that is
to some extent true, but we are
in the very early stages of this,”
Gallagher said. “We need to
provide some better political
balance, so that cities are not left
out on their own.”
Gallagher pointed to limited
public services, an increasingly
poor population and holes in the
social safety net as symptoms of
Detroit and Flint’s difficulties
coping with the boom and bust
of the automotive industry. He
also acknowledged the value of
community development groups
like Midtown Detroit Inc. and
the Southwest Detroit Business
Association, with the stipulation
that these organizations need
more help from city hall.
Gallagher
also
discussed
Detroit’s downtown area. While
it is currently being lauded for its
recent growth, the downtown
area alone doesn’t paint a full
economic picture. He said in
reality, there are two different
Detroits.
“Downtown is doing great
and the neighborhoods are doing
terribly,” Gallagher said. “There
are still two-thirds of the city
who are still awaiting any kind
of good stuff.”
These portions of the city
require major help, and luckily,
he said through community
development
groups
and
philanthropy, some of this help is
being offered. From the Detroit
Institute of Arts to the Eastern
Market to the Cobo Center,
he said taking things from the
city government’s hands and
into the hands of non-profit
management.
“I think philanthropy has
played a huge role in Detroit …
Entrepreneurship is beginning
to play a role.”
But for all of the help being
offered, Gallagher said an eye
must be kept on gentrification.
While
modernization
and
aesthetics have been important
to the growth of the downtown
area,
he
said
policymakers
must be wary of kicking out the
citizens who have “stuck it out”
through economic hardship. He
said the best way to do this is
through inclusion of affordable
housing.
“In the large scope, we
really hope for new interest
in investment … But we need
to
work
against
that
new
investment pushing out the
people who were left behind and
who tend to be more poor.”
Another
effective
tool
in
combating blight is the land
bank. The Detroit Land Bank
Authority oversees about 95,000
properties and has demolished
nearly 13,000 blighted homes
since May 2014.
When
Kildee
served
as
Genesee County Treasurer, he
helped establish Michigan’s first
land bank, a public authority
for acquiring and repurposing
vacant and distressed properties.
He said the consequences of
such dilapidation hit the people
who live there hardest.
“It’s
not
just
about
the
aesthetic of the community
kids grow up in,” Kildee said.
“Their lives are forever changed
growing up in a poor place like
that, and that’s a result of policy
choices that we’ve made. This
idea that somehow it’s OK that
there’s 50 American cities that
have lost half of their population
in the last few decades and are
really struggling to just stay
above water, that that’s OK is a
morally bankrupt thought.”
The
School
of
Social
Work’s Learning Community
on
Poverty
and
Inequality
presented the talk, which also
constituted the first class session
of the minicourse Poverty and
Place: Case Studies of Detroit
and Flint. Social Work student
Lindsay Hall, who was in the
audience, noted that intersecting
factors like location, available
resources and demographics can
influence urban development,
but said funding is particularly
important.
“Ultimately it really goes back
to the money, where the money
is and who the money goes to,”
she said. “Public policy really
defines those terms. Policies
that pay attention to the nuances
of a city and level the playing
field for cities like Flint and
Detroit and put them on an even
starting block with the more
affluent suburbs can make a real
difference.”
Erica Davenport, who works
in a southwest Detroit school
and also attended the talk, said
though she’s only lived in Detroit
for a year, she has amounted
large frustrations towards the
way money is allocated. Still, she
said Kildee’s knowledge gave her
important perspective.
“I get pretty skeptical about
things,” Davenport said. “His
perspective from Flint gave
behind the scenes reality to how
we can make change in schools.”
Throughout the talk, Kildee
repeatedly
highlighted
the
imperative to maintain older
metropolitan communities.
“Cities matter,” Kildee said.
“Cities are more important.
Creativity,
innovation
and
ingenuity happen where people
live and work in proximity to
one another. One of the essential
functions of government is to
sustain those places in the ebb
and flow of economic changes
because we know those places
are going to be important to
us again. Right now we don’t
believe that. These are throw
away places.”
urges students to register to vote
and ultimately show up on Election
Day. Organizations that can reach a
larger student population, such as
CSG, will help to increase overall
turnout in student voters. While
working with the Big Ten Voting
Challenge,
which
incentivizes
students who register to vote, Turn
Up Turnout has a clear mission for
their organization.
“We need to encourage students
to recognize that civic engagement,
when it comes to voting, is an
important part of their participation
in society,” Worthington said.
“Students can use their voice, not
just on campus.”
Following the guest speaker, CSG
President Anushka Sarkar, an LSA
senior, announced the beginning of
a collaboration with other student
leaders to plan a unity rally in
February before Spring Break. This
event is planned to counter the
efforts being made to allow Richard
Spencer to speak on Michigan’s
campus, which has been a topic of
much debate since October.
CSG Vice President Nadine
Jawad, a Public Policy senior,
addressed the finalizing of the
campus affordability guide, in
which she emphasized the guide’s
importance to students and other
Big Ten universities’ hopes to
replicate the guide.
“I think this is a really useful
resource
because
it’s
on
our
campus,” Jawad said. “Schools
reached out and said (the guide) was
incredible.”
A resolution was proposed to help
fund the Career Center’s “Suit Up”
event, particularly transportation
from campus to JCPenney at
Briarwood
Mall.
JCPenney
partnered with the University to
offer up to a 70 percent discount
on professional wear for students.
With the event’s success in October,
plans to host another “Suit Up”
event in February are underway.
Public Health senior Lloyd Lyons
presented the resolution to the
assembly
and
highlighted
the
event’s benefits to students who
may be seeking job or internship
opportunities.
“As career fair time is coming
up, this is going to be a huge event
for students to get some clothing,”
Lyons said.
Public Health graduate student
Dana Greene also knelt in the Diag
last semester to protest anti-Black
racism, and a month later, several
Ann Arbor city councilmembers
knelt
during
the
pledge
of
allegience at a council meeting in
solidiarity with people of color.
“We are living in a moment in
which culture is high stakes and we
as humanists can help understand
these human ways,” Dillard said.
The panelists each introduced
how their field of study aligns with
the topic of kneeling during the
national anthem. The patriotism
ensued from sports allows sports,
especially football, to transcend
the world of sports into the world
of politics.
Kristin
Hass,
associate
professor in the Department of
American Culture, who specializes
in war, war memorials and soldiers,
discussed
the
importance
of
United States military power and
its relationship to patriotism.
“Nations
are
produced
by
culture,” Hass said. “Nations are
the primary social organization for
the 20th and 21st century and part
of the 19th century. Almost always
that culture is connected to soldiers
and to sacrifice and to grief.”
Hass discussed how symbols
of patriotism transform during
times of instability, specifically
instability of race. She referenced
the role of the military as a form of
patriotism. Since the Vietnam War,
military service has been strictly
volunteer-based.
This
change
has led the government to find
strategies to enhance patriotism in
America in other ways.
“The United States government
and the Department of Defense has
been working very hard trying to
find different strategy to change
ways the people of the United
States feel about war,” Hass said.
“Since 2012, the Department of
Defense has spent at least $10
million on paying teams to do
specific on-field demonstrations of
patriotism.”
In a discussion on the link
between athletics and patriotism,
Associate Professor of Musicology
Mark
Clague
analyzed
the
foundations of “The Star-Spangled
Banner.” Following its creation by
Francis Scott Key, the anthem was
first played at a baseball game in
1862.
“Professional sports had figured
out that attaching themselves to
patriotism was good for business,”
Clague said. “(NFL Commissioner)
promised (Truman) that they
would play “The Star-Spangled
Banner” at every game forward.”
Matthew
Countryman,
associate
professor
in
the
Department
of
History
and
Department of American Culture,
discussed how President Trump
vocalized the issue of kneeling
during the national anthem. He
referenced the athletic and political
intersection
seen
in
athletes
throughout history including Jesse
Owens and Muhammad Ali.
“Trump is, if nothing else,
a brilliant vocalizer of a set of
political concerns. I want to
suggest here that he saw it as a
political advantage to intervene
to give voice to one source of the
resentment,” Countryman said.
VOTE
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SPEECH
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URBAN
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