struggles equally but differently. 
We all have daily obstacles and 
challenges that we face whether 
it shows on our face or not, 
whether it’s apparent or hidden.”

Dean’s Fellow Sean Smith, a 

University alum, also took the 
stage to speak, highlighting 
the adjustments he had to 
make when he came to the 
University. He explained while 
the University presented the 
same kind of diversity as in New 
York City, groups seemed to be 
clustered racially with “invisible 
force fields,” between these 
different cultures.

“The first year I was here I 

didn’t really challenge that, and 
I went home that summer and 
I felt bad,” Smith said. “When 
I came back in the fall of 2015, 
I shopped around looking for a 
community, and I found pockets 
of 
like-minded 
people, 
but 

something was still missing.”

Smith 
presented 
“five 

practical points” to encourage 
breaking down barriers between 
groups, including being present 
and engaging with surroundings, 
challenging norms to enter new 
spaces, having the ability to 
discern feelings of discomfort 
and being intentional in making 
plans rather than suggestions. 
He also argued that the present 

is the most convenient time to 
make change, as “you don’t need 
a credential to treat someone 
decently.”

Other performances included 

those 
from 
dance 
groups 

Brazilian Zouk, Arabesque and 
Female Gayu, a presentation by 
Public Policy senior Ibrahim Ijaz 
on Arab calligraphy, as well as 
multiple vocal and spoken-word 
performances.

LSA sophomore Ceren Ege 

presented 
a 
spoken-word 

poem titled, “By Blood,” which 
illustrated experiences being 
raised in a Muslim community 
and spoke to her belief in the 
importance of challenging the 
assumption that people agree 
with every aspect of their 
cultural identity.

“As soon as my cherry red 

cheeks could speak my mother 
told me to repeat after her that 
I had been given the greatest 
gift of all and that that was 
family and that I would never 
love anyone more than my 
family,” Ege said. “I didn’t 
agree and I told her that 
expecting people to get along 
just because they’re in the 
same family is like expecting 
different types of fish to get 
along just because they’re in 
the same tank.”

LSA junior Mariam Reda, 

co-founder 
of 
Redefine, 

helped organize the event and 
highlighted 
her 
excitement 

promoting 
social 
acceptance 

through 
creative, 
student-led 

presentations and performances.

“The purpose of Redefine 

itself 
is 
to 
promote 
social 

acceptance through the creation 
and exhibition of original student 
talent,” Reda said. “(Looking 
around) I see so many different 
people of varying identities just 
coming to appreciate the same 
thing which I feel so happy 

about and I feel that we’re really 
making an impact and promoting 
the fact that dialogue doesn’t 
solely have to be through speech, 
it can be through creativity as 
well.”

destinations 
in 
Ann 
Arbor, 

including 
the 
University 

Hospital, Central Campus and 
the Blake Transit Center. The 
parking lot is being constructed 
by the Michigan Department 
of 
Transportation, 
which 
is 

working with AAATA to bring 
this project to fruition. AAATA 
CEO 
Matthew 
Carpenter 

accredited the idea for the 
service to MDOT.

“The Michigan Department 

of Transportation approached 
us with this idea,” Carpenter 
said. “They have been working 
to improve U.S. 23 for several 
years, most of that work on their 
end has been done with their flex 
lane system, which seems to be 
working quite well. It was really 
their initiative and I think they 
should get credit for that.”

AAATA is in the process of 

waiting for funds for a two-year 
pilot program of the service. 
They applied through the federal 
congestion and air mitigation 
grants, requesting $579,500 for 
each year. Carpenter said they 
have no intention of using local 
funds, and if the federal funding 
doesn’t 
follow 
through, 
the 

service will likely not be offered.

“Because the riders from this 

service are not going to be from 
Ann Arbor, or residents from 
Ann Arbor primarily, it’s very 
important to us that our local 
taxpayers understand that we’re 
not using any of our locally-
generated funds to pay for this 
service,” Carpenter said. “This 
service is going to be funded by 
an outside grant, or some other 
outside source of funding, 

or it’s probably not going to 
happen.”

Carpenter 
predicted 
the 

major benefits of the service 
would be improving access to 
Ann Arbor even through heavy 
traffic congestion, which U.S. 23 
is known for. It would also allow 
access for people unable to drive 
in that area. The two major risks 
in creating the service, he said, 
are it being either too popular or 
not popular enough. Those risks 
are the reason the service would 
start out as a temporary program.

“One risk is that it works and 

one is that it doesn’t,” Carpenter 
said. “If it’s not very popular 
and not many people use it, we’d 
probably just have to bring it to a 
close. Another possibility is that 
it’s far more popular than we’ll 
be able to afford. We call that the 
‘victim of our own success’ risk.”

Another challenge AAATA 

faces is, as Carpenter noted, few 
similar services exist to predict 
rider estimates.

“One of the challenges we have, 

and one of the reasons we want to 
do this as a pilot project, is there 
are very few similar services out 
there in Michigan, so it’s hard 
for us to draw comparisons with 
another service,” Carpenter said. 
“It’s a very new creature, and 
for that reason the ridership is 
unknown.”

Many of the customers of 

this service could be University 
employees, like Briscoe. The 
University’s most recent data 
showing the numbers of faculty 
and staff living in or around 
Whitmore 
Lake 
found 
644 

living in Whitmore Lake, 850 in 
Pinckney, 719 in South Lyon and 
668 in Brighton.

The 
service 
could 
be 

advantageous for the University 

as well. Stephen Dolen, the 
University director of Logistics, 
Transportation 
and 
Parking, 

said he has a close working 
relationship with AAATA in 
terms of discussing initiatives. 
He said he is in support of this 
proposed service because the 
University aims to reduce the 
demand for parking spaces in 
any way it can. Presently, they do 
this through vanpool programs 
or trying to park people remotely 
and bus them to campus. Because 
some of the employees from the 
targeted area drive their car 
to work each day, if the service 
succeeded, they would not need 
to use parking as often.

“We would help to promote it 

as best we can,” Dolen said. “We 
do everything we can to try and 
discourage 
single 
occupancy 

vehicle trips to campus. We’d 
rather use land for academic, 
research or health care missions 
of the University than we would 
to build parking.”

The buses used would not 

be typical urban transit buses; 
they would be highway coaches 

similar to those used for AAATA’s 
AirRide 
service 
between 

Ann Arbor and the Detroit 
Metropolitan Airport. Further, 
they would allow passengers 
Wi-Fi access. Carpenter said they 
included Wi-Fi in the proposal to 
attract those who may be wary of 
riding buses.

“Part of it is an experiment 

to see if that attracts people out 
of their cars,” Carpenter said. 
“This is a new service and some 
people are going to be a little 
unfamiliar. So Wi-Fi gives you 
the opportunity to make better 
use of your time while you are 
commuting. One of the benefits 
travel by bus has is you don’t have 
to pay attention to the road.”

However, driving to work still 

has its conveniences. Briscoe said 
one of the drawbacks of using the 
service would be not having a car 
available for emergencies.

“I guess in the event of an 

emergency, 
having 
no 
car 

accessible throughout the day 
(would be difficult),” Briscoe 
said. “For example, my daughter 
called me to come home sick 
yesterday and I had to leave at 
like 11 a.m., so I don’t know if 
there is a proposed fix for issues 
such as that.”

Nevertheless, 
Carpenter 
is 

optimistic about the widespread 
positive effect the service might 
have.

“Let’s say there’s a nurse that 

might use this service to get to 
the hospital,” he said. “Does it 
benefit her? Yes. Does it benefit 
the hospital? Yes. Does it benefit 
the 
patient 
whose 
surgery 

can be scheduled that much 
faster because they don’t have 
a labor shortage of nurses? Yes. 
It benefits a great number of 
people.”

food distribution event being held 
this week in conjunction with 
the Food Access Task Force and 
Maize & Blue Cupboard. The issue 
of food insecurity is one that has 
been addressed throughout this 
year’s assembly, and is actively 
being combated by CSG, according 
to Sarkar.

“The importance of this event 

is that it supports the research 
that needs to be done about food 
insecurity on campus,” Sarkar 
said. “We want to de-stigmatize 
the event that’s happening.”

Additionally, 
numerous 

representatives in the assembly 
commented on the pervasiveness 
of the upcoming CSG election, in 
which students can begin voting 
on Wednesday. During the past 
months, issues arose regarding 
the election code and appropriate 
endorsement standards for the 
respective 
parties 
running, 

and they are continuing to be 
discussed while polls are open 
to students. LSA junior Seth 

Schostak informed the assembly 
of his efforts to determine what 
the students want to see in terms 
of changes made by CSG. Schostak 
told fellow representatives of 
the importance of listening to 
student concerns instead of simply 
counting them as a signature on 
a petition, which was met with 
applause and snaps from the 
assembly.

“Ask for input if you guys are 

campaigning,” 
Schostak 
said. 

“Don’t just try to get information 
out of people. Try to do something 
for them if they’re taking the time 
to talk to you.”

The 
assembly 
was 
then 

introduced to a new resolution, 
which will overhaul the operating 
procedures of the assembly. Due 
to the fact that a new assembly 
will be installed in the coming 
weeks, much of the conversation 
surrounding 
this 
resolution 

rested on the idea that a new 
assembly would be taking over 
responsibility for its passing.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, March 21, 2018 — 3A

CAMERON HUNT /Daily

Lydia Davis reads several pieces of her short stories at UMMA for the Helen Zell Writers Program Tuesday.

SPE AK ABLE

BUS
From Page 1A

FAIR
From Page 1A

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

determined that adjusting the 
timeline to winter semester 
supports 
first-year 
student 

success 
by 
providing 
the 

opportunity to fully engage in 
curriculum and communities,” 
Harper said.

Dean of Students Laura Blake 

Jones and a team representing 
the Greek life community will 
monitor the transition.

“In partnership with our 

Greek Life community student 
leaders, we are committed to 
working together to develop 
an implementation plan that 
ensures 
this 
recruitment 

timeline 
adjustment 

strengthens 
our 
entire 

community,” Jones said.

IFC 
reinstated 
social 

activities this January, but also 
mandated the removal of hard 
alcohol from all events. Twenty-
seven chapters received specific 
action plans drafted by IFC 
executives and the Office of 
Greek Life. Since November, 
administrators from University 
President Mark Schlissel to E. 
Royster Harper, vice president 
for student life, to the Board of 
Regents repeatedly emphasized 
the 
council’s 
self-regulated 

efforts.

“I want to applaud you for 

all the work that you’re doing 
along with other students to 
provide a safer environment in 
our fraternities and sororities,” 
Regent Denise Ilitch, D, told IFC 
president Sam Finn, a Public 
Policy junior, at a February 
board meeting. “I can’t tell you 
how many of the headlines that 

we read across the country 
where students are harmed and 
unfortunately, it’s tragic. Some 
students have died over hazing 
and drinking. It’s a real issue on 
campus.”

According to the press release, 

this change is part of a larger 
five-year plan in coordination 
with the University’s Diversity, 
Equity and Inclusion efforts for 
first-year students. The Division 
of Student Life already hosts a 
wide range of workshops and 
community-building activities 
focused on improving academic 
and relationship success, but 
the new initiative will focus on 
increasing engagement in these 
programs.

Harper told the Record it’s 

the University’s responsibility 
to 
help 
incoming 
students 

transition into college.

Aside from delaying the Greek 

life rush process, the University 
plans on expanding Michigan 
Learning 
Communities 

throughout 
more 
schools 

and colleges and developing 
additional theme communities 
in residence halls. They will also 
increase the scope of the seven-
week goal-setting course titled 
Making the Most of Michigan, 
which is taught in the residence 
halls, and prioritize University 
Career Center programs that 
focus on first-year students. 
Additional programming is also 
planned, such as expanding 
the Intercultural Development 
Inventory 
program, 
geared 

toward helping students build 
intercultural competence, to 
the College of Engineering, 
Rackham 
Graduate 
School, 

School of Education and the 
School of Kinesiology.

RUSH
From Page 1A

across the country, and the 
Cold War prompted the federal 
government to invest money 
into the education system, 
African-American 
students 

continued to be disadvantaged 
by the underlying structure 
that shut down school districts 
and allocated funds for white 
students to attend schools in 
richer, segregated areas. 

Anderson also went on to 

credit the War on Drugs as 
another response of white 
rage 
to 
the 
advancement 

of 
African-American 

citizens. The previous shift 
in mass funding to public 
schools was reallocated to 
correction facilities with a 
disproportionately 
higher 

number 
of 
Black 
men 

incarcerated compared to white 
men — destabilizing Black 
families and communities in 
the process. This was done 
even though many of the 
crimes were clearly fabricated.

As a former International 

Studies major and admirer of 
Anderson, 
University 
alum 

Brianna Allen said she came 
to the talk to follow up with 
current events through the 
lens of race. She expressed her 
dismay with the severity of 
the false accusations against 

members 
of 
the 
African-

American community. 

“You just see how much 

people want to bring down 
the 
African-American 

community,” Allen said.

Anderson linked the spike in 

the incarceration rate of black 
men with voter suppression 
of 
the 
African-American 

community. She explained 
factors like gerrymandering, 
underequipped polling places 
and bans on former felons 
from voting all contribute 
to 
lower 
African-American 

voter turnout, and in doing so, 
impede the full participation 
of the Black community in 
democracy and society.

Anderson ended her talk 

on a more optimistic note of 
hope, citing former President 
Barack Obama’s historic 2008 
campaign inspiring an extra 15 
million people to turn out and 
vote. 

She 
explained 
that 
the 

trend of voter suppression is 
slowly disintegrating because 
those who were previously 
suppressed 
persevered 
and 

showed up at the polling 
places. According to Anderson, 
the right way to move forward 
from 
voter 
suppression 
is 

to embrace the new people 
showing up at the polls.

“(If they show up they) have 

a stake in the government, 
value participating politically, 
and don’t feel alienated,” she 
said. 

University alum Catherine 

Lebar 
expressed 
how 

Anderson’s 
hopefulness 

resonated with her the most. 

“She still has a positive 

vision for the future and this 
is what I think we should be 
spreading,” Lebar said.

Anderson 
also 
explained 

another way to counteract the 
long-term disenfranchisement 
of African Americans is by 
dissecting 
the 
prevailing 

narrative that white people 
built the U.S.

“The narrative most folks 

have is that it’s a white nation 
and whites only built America,” 
she said. “As a nation of merit, 
so much of who we are is based 
on we worked hard for this, we 
earned this, so having this type 
of conversation is difficult … 
(It) feels like you’re attacking 
someone’s foundational sense 
of self and identity.”

DIVERSITY
From Page 1A

WHITE RAGE
From Page 1A

“The narrative 
most folks have 

is that it’s a 

white nation and 
whites only built 

America.”

“If it’s not very 
popular and not 
many people use 
it, we’d probably 
just have to bring 

it to a close.”

“(Looking 

around) I see so 
many different 
people of varying 

identities just 

coming to 

appreciate the 
same thing...”

