with The Daily, discussed actions 
the University has taken to address 
the incident. LSA sophomore 
Corrina Lee suggested a workshop 
for government representatives 
to better understand race and 
racism, especially with regards to 
racism on campus. 

“It’s being treated as an OSCR 

(Office 
of 
Student 
Conflict 

Resolution) 
violation 
of 
the 

Student 
Code 
of 
Conduct,” 

Schlissel said. “I think the way it 
will resolve is with some type of 
restorative justice but that really 
depends upon the people who 
brought forward the complaint 
and then the willingness of 
the students themselves who 
committed (this) really pretty 
terrible 
and 
offensive 
Snap, 

whether they’re in a place where 
they can learn from this and be 
remediated.”

With regard to racist incidents 

happening on campus in the past 
year, Schlissel wants to focus on 
having established structures for 
investigation and punishment.

“My job is to make sure that 

we have structures established 
and the right set of rules to make 
sure when bad events do happen, 
we can investigate them, attempt 
to figure out who’s responsible 
and then, once we’ve done that, 
find the appropriate punishment, 
be it restorative justice or on the 
other extreme, sanctions against 

the people who are responsible,” 
Schlissel said.

The LSA Student Government 

has also recently discussed taking 
action within LSA SG and on 
campus to tackle bias incidents in 
general, including the blackface 
incident.

And yet, student employees 

at Victors café have been left 
feeling their voices are not being 
heard after having been left 
out of the loop with regard to 
the investigation and Fokken’s 
employment status. Employees 
say Victors management has 
done little to address the incident 
and has not updated student 
employees about whether or not 
Fokken is still an employee. An 
anonymous 
Victors 
employee 

said they believed Fokken was 
still 
employed, 
though 
the 

circumstances are unclear.

“We don’t know the status 

of her employment,” the source 
said. “However, all of us here 
believe it sounds like she’s still 
hired. The dining workers said 
they can’t give an update on 
her employment, but one of my 
coworkers went down and told 
them we don’t feel comfortable 
with her working here.”

The source also said Fokken 

sent an apology email to all 
Victors staff through a work 
portal, but said it came across as 
insincere.

“She 
issued 
an 
apology,” 

the source said. “However, it 
didn’t quite look sincere and it 
made quite a few of us mad. It 
seemed like someone told her to 

apologize and basically wrote it 
for her.”

Victors 
manager 
Gerry 

Heiden declined to comment on 
Fokken and the incident.

“It 
honestly 
feels 
like 

they’re brushing it off still,” 
the anonymous source said. 
“The process is slow in general, 
but it feels like there’s no 
consequences. 
We 
feel 
like 

there were no consequences 
and she got away fairly easily, 
however, we don’t know the final 
outcome.”

Although 
he 
could 
not 

comment on specific details of 
the case without permission from 
Fokken, University spokesman 
Rick Fitzgerald said in an email 
interview BRT has been working 
to address the incident and 
extend assistance to students 
affected by the Snapchat.

“In 
this 
instance, 
the 

Bias Response Team offered 
support services to individuals 
impacted by the Snapchat post 
and to the specific individuals 
who reported the post as a 
bias 
incident,” 
Fitzgerald 

wrote. 
“Housing 
Diversity 

and 
Inclusion 
staff 
reached 

out to impacted residents at 
Mosher Jordan Residence Hall. 
In addition Michigan Dining 
professional staff have been in 
communication with impacted 
student employees in Michigan 
Dinning (sic).”

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, March 30, 2018 — 3

BIAS
From Page 1

CARTER FOX /Daily

Brandon Marshall, wide receiver for the New York Giants, discusses his experience with Borderline Personality Disorder at the Mental Health 
Roundtable in Rackham Thursday evening.

ME NTAL HE ALTH ROUNDTABLE

for a building dedicated to the 
sciences.

Alexander Winchell, a regent 

and geology professor in the late 
1800s, was found to have published 
racist academic papers, maintaining 
white people are physiologically 
pre-dispositioned to be the superior 
race. 
In 
the 
document 
from 

University President Mark Schlissel 
supporting Winchell’s name to 
be removed from West Quad, 
the Committee found his novel 
“Preadamites: Or a Demonstration 
of the Existence of Men Before 
Adam” to be incredibly dangerous 
and 
utilized 
today 
by 
white 

supremacist groups.

“(Preadamites) 
was 

unambiguously racist and ‘out of 
step with the University’s own 
aspirations in those times as 
well,’” Schlissel’s response read. 
“According 
to 
the 
committee, 

portions of this book continue 
to be used today to support 
White 
supremacist 
views, 

thereby amplifying the negative 
contemporary effect of the Winchell 
naming, especially on ‘the actual 
building of communities’ that we 
should aspire to in our residential 
housing.”

Last 
Monday, 
Schlissel 

announced he agreed with the 
committee’s findings and asked the 
board to remove the names from the 
building and hall.

During his opening statements, 

Schlissel urged the board to vote 
yes on his proposals to rename the 
buildings. However, he echoed 
his sentiments from his interview 
with The Daily last Monday, saying 
further building name changes 
should not be expected anytime 

soon after these two.

“Under our review principles, 

those who wish to change formally 
designated names of spaces or 
buildings carry a heavy burden to 
justify the removal of a name and 
that this should be a rare event,” 
Schlissel said. “I believe that the 
burden has been met in these two 
instances.”

Schlissel then invited Terrence 

McDonald, 
the 
chair 
of 
the 

President’s Advisory Committee 
on University History, to present 
the 
committee’s 
findings 
and 

express 
his 
support 
for 
the 

renaming. McDonald, a history 
professor and the director of the 
Bentley Historical Library, said 
the committee operates on the 
understanding that the decision to 
name a building is a conscious one 
and removing said name does not 
eliminate the history from existing.

“We believe, first and foremost, 

that we are all wedded to the 
University’s past with all that is 
uplifting and troubling within it and 
we must understand and remember 
it but we believe equally, second, that 
historical memory and historical 
commemoration are not the same 
thing,” McDonald said. “Changing 
the name of a space does not change 
or erase our history. It revises a 
previous decision to commemorate 
something in that history.”

Prior to the vote, Public Policy 

junior 
Kevin 
Sweitzer, 
who 

submitted the proposal to rename 
Winchell House, spoke during 
public comments on agenda-related 
topics. He said this process of 
submitting the request was worth 
it to see another, more respectable 
individual be honored with the 
space in the future.

“At my time at the University, 

I have grown a lot as a person and 
when I learned that we still honor 
Alexander Winchell, who is an 

objectively wrong person in science 
and philosophy, I was astounded 
and it caused me to bring forward 
the petition,” Sweitzer said. “This 
University has taught me a lot and I 
firmly believe the right decision will 
be made today to vote to rename 
the space in West Quad and honor 
someone who is worthy of our 
support moving forward.”

LSA senior Joshua Hasler, one 

of the members of the group who 
proposed the C.C. Little building 
name change, also spoke and said 
Little’s work with eugenics supports 
causes such as the “alt-right” and 
the white supremacist Richard 
Spencer, whose ideology calls for 
a “white ethno-state.” Hasler said 
this cannot be an ideology the 
University supports.

“Little was no tepid supporter of 

American eugenics,” Hasler said. 
“He believed it was an essential 
part of human progress. It is 
especially important to rename the 
C.C. Little Science building now 
given the renewed prominence of 
xenophobic and eugenic policies 
and ideas in American political 
discourse … The University of 
Michigan must demonstrate that 
it does not celebrate the ideals of 
White supremacy and eugenics 
by commemorating the legacy of 
this movement and its campus 
geography.”

Regent 
Andrea 
Fischer 

Newman, R, echoed Schlissel’s 
and McDonald’s comments from 
earlier, reiterating the difficulty 
that should come with changing a 
building’s name but acknowledging 
the University should always work 
to right their wrongs.

“Changing 
historical 
names 

should be difficult,” Newman said. 
“Doing the right thing, though, 
shouldn’t be difficult.”

Newman 
also 
addressed 
a 

concern about University culture 

before 
voting, 
mentioning 
the 

University 
population’s 
current 

usage of C.C. Little’s name to 
identify the Central Campus Transit 
Center. She said she believed it was 
important to “change the student 
vernacular” in regard to the bus 
stop as a part of the vote.

After hearing the opinion of 

public 
comment 
speakers 
and 

Newman’s comments, the Board 
of Regents voted unanimously 
to remove the names from the 
C.C. Little Science Building and 
Winchell House.

Not even an hour after the 

vote, the sign outside the former 
C.C. Little Science Building read, 
“1100 North University Building,” 
a temporary name outlined in 
Schlissel’s proposal. There is no 
word on when or how new names 
for the building and hall will be 
selected but the conversations and 
suggestions are sure to follow in the 
coming weeks.

LEO Bargaining Efforts
Before the regents meeting 

began, 
LEO 
organizers 
and 

supporters filled the Union to 
show their support for the contract 
bargaining efforts of University 
lecturers.

LEO started conversations with 

the administration for increased 
salaries and benefits in October of 
last year. Currently, the salary for a 
full-time lecturer at the University 
is $34,500 in Ann Arbor, $28,300 
in Dearborn and $27,300 in Flint. 
The administration had initially 
responded to LEO’s demands with 
a $1,000 increase to the starting 
salary in 2019, a $750 increase 
in 2020, a $500 increase in 2021 
and a 1.5 percent annual raise for 
Ann Arbor alone. LEO lecturers, 
however, were unsatisfied with 
the numbers, and referred to the 
proposal as “insulting.”

Prior to the meeting, Philip 

A. Christman, a lecturer in the 
University’s English Department, 
explained 
the 
administration’s 

reluctance to meet the group’s 
requests was frustrating because 
they could meet LEO’s needs 
without causing much financial 
burden on the University.

“I think the word insulting is 

most appropriate,” Christman said. 
“It’s not like we haven’t given them 
a ton of information. We hired a 
guy to audit the University’s books 
to show not only that we’re getting 
a very, very small percentage of the 
revenue that we generate for the 
University but that the University 
could easily meet our demands 
without really breaking a sweat.”

Christman also addressed some 

students’ concern about an increase 
in lecturer salaries impacting the 
amount of tuition. However, LEO’s 
auditing efforts of University funds 
shows students would not have to 
pay more if their demands were 
met.

“Students will ask me, with good 

reason, ‘Can the University meet 
your demands without raising 
tuition on us?’” Christman said. “I 
personally don’t want a raise if it 
means another tuition hike, there’s 
been enough, but that’s not what is 
at stake, and we’ve shown that to 
the University.”

As LEO lecturers come near their 

contract expiration date on April 
20, they have authorized a potential 
vote for a strike if the administration 
does not adequately respond to their 
demands. Alex Elkins, LEO lecturer 
and organizer, remarked that of the 
54 percent of LEO membership who 
responded to an online survey about 
the decision to strike if needs were 
not met, 78 percent of individuals 
voted yes.

“Our membership are clearly 

engaged 
in 
the 
process 
and 

discontent with the current paces 

and progress of negotiations and 
are hoping to move forward with 
walkouts should negotiations not 
make any progress,” Elkins said.

However, while a strike is a 

possibility, Christman admitted 
he, along with other lecturers, did 
not want the situation to result in 
walkouts.

“(The 
administration’s) 
last 

counteroffer on salary was just 
insulting,” Christman said. “I think 
the most important development is 
that, and it’s a development none of 
us are too happy about, but we have 
been authorized by our membership 
to call a strike if the University 
doesn’t move significantly. We don’t 
want to do that but the way is pretty 
clear for us to do that if we have to.”

During the public comments 

portion of the meeting, LEO 
lecturers and supporters had an 
opportunity to express their wishes 
for increased wages to the board. 
After Víctor Rodríguez-Pereira, a 
lecturer in the Romance Languages 
and 
Literatures 
Department, 

outlined his three jobs as a full-
time lecturer, barista and tutor, he 
expressed his frustration with his 
current salary from the University.

“When someone greets me with 

an enthusiastic ‘Go Blue’ I can 
relate, I do go blue,” Rodríguez-
Pereira said. “I go blue when I 
look at my paystubs, and I go blue 
when I think about my first two 
years here when I had to eat all of 
my meals on the floor because I 
couldn’t even afford a couch. I go 
blue when I think of last summer, 
when I lived under the impending 
fear of eviction because I couldn’t 
keep up with my rent, and before 
anyone forgets, again, I work three 
jobs.”

couple felt frustrated by the limited 
treatment options available for their 
daughter, further inspiring them to 
aid the fight against cancer.

Their gift will focus on cultivating 

elite scientists and elevating the 
University’s science and medical 
platform in six areas: cancer research 
and technology, collaboration in the 
cancer field, cutting-edge scientists, 
scientific freedom, new researchers 
and scholarship support.

“I call Michigan ‘Collaboration 

U’ because so many different units 
work together to solve problems,” 
Rogel said in a statement in the 
release. “We have the advantage of 
97 graduate departments rated in 
the top 10 in the country. Putting 
all this brain power and excitement 
together is going to help us find a 
cure for cancer. It will make people’s 
lives better, and that’s the most 
important thing.”

Members of the Comprehensive 

Cancer Center span 53 departments 
and nine colleges of the University. 

The center was ranked 12th in 
the nation by US News and World 
Report and is consistently in the 
top 10 in research funding from the 
National Cancer Institute, according 
to the press release.

“The University of Michigan 

takes 
great 
pride 
in 
our 

commitment 
to 
research 
and 

education 
focused 
on 
solving 

humanity’s greatest challenges,” 
University 
President 
Mark 

Schlissel said in the press release. 
“I deeply appreciate Richard and 
Susan Rogel’s unwavering devotion 
to this commitment. There has 
never been greater potential for 
fundamental discovery to lead 
to 
dramatic 
improvements 
in 

the treatment of cancer. Their 
wonderful gift will further elevate 
the life-changing impact of our 
cancer center while advancing the 
amazing work of our faculty and 
students and inspiring new hope 
for millions of patients around the 
globe.”

DONATION
From Page 1

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

of white students. Though the 
proportion of students from 
underrepresented backgrounds 
has reportedly lagged in these 
programs, there has been a 
noted 15 percent increase in 
students 
of 
color 
studying 

abroad, with the University 
ranking sixth in the largest 
population of students who 
study abroad.

Many 
of 
the 
panelists 

expressed 
how 
much 
they 

cherished 
their 
experiences 

abroad, while still speaking 
frankly about the challenges 
they faced. 

LSA 
sophomore 
Amira 

Mandwee said studying abroad 
was an opportunity for her to 
discover the world and learn 
about new cultures. Growing 
up, her family didn’t possess 
the means for travel, so she 
jumped at the opportunity to 
travel through the University 
and 
satisfy 
her 
childhood 

yearning to explore. 

“I’ve wanted to study abroad 

since I was young since family 
vacations weren’t a thing,” 
Mandwee said. “I grew up first-
generation and being around 
many other first-generations, 
so I wanted to amplify those 
experiences.”

Marcus Hall, a graduate 

student in the Ford School of 
Public Policy and the School 

of 
Information, 
echoed 

Mandwee’s sentiments, saying 
while 
he 
didn’t 
have 
the 

financial resources to travel, 
he 
was 
constantly 
around 

different cultures, which only 
drove his desire to go abroad.

“Coming 
from 
a 
lower-

income background and first-
generation, I never thought 
that going abroad was feasible, 
but because I was always 
surrounded by people who 
came from many international 
backgrounds, I always found 
myself in international spaces,” 
Hall said.

Though 
many 
of 
the 

panelists conveyed their initial 
excitement of studying abroad, 
and 
how 
their 
experience 

overall was incredibly positive 
and 
life-changing, 
Business 

senior Akshay Chhajed revealed 
how specific racist instances 
made him feel uncomfortable 
while he was volunteering with 
refugees in Greece.

“People 
would 
stare 

dumbfounded, that I could 
speak Greek (as someone of 
South Asian descent),” Chhajed 
said.

LSA 
sophomore 
Brandon 

Bond 
also 
shared 
similar 

experiences 
of 
receiving 

odd looks abroad but said 
the culture he visited was 
welcoming and interested in 
his culture as well.

“In Barcelona, being Black 

was more noticeable,” Bond 
said. “I got weird stares. But in 
Mexico, people were intrigued 

by students of color, and were 
interested in who we were.”

According to LSA sophomore 

Nyla Hart, the panelists’ stories 
resonated with her and served 
to both ease anxiety about her 
upcoming study abroad trip 
and brought her attention to 
issues she may encounter.

“As a person of color going 

to study abroad, this was very 
relevant and I wanted to hear 
their experiences and know 
what to prepare for,” Hart said. 
“Peru has people of color, but 
it’s a very conservative country. 
I am worried about having 
to articulate that I am Black 
and American, but it will be a 
teaching moment.”

LSA 
sophomore 
Jamaica 

Jordan said the panel eased 
some of her worries about 
racism abroad.

“I was worried after hearing 

their experiences with racism, 
but after they talked about 
their experiences some more, 
I was back to feeling fine,” 
Jordan said. 

The talk ended with words 

of encouragement for audience 
members to find their own 
study 
abroad 
programs 

and 
experiences. 
Students 

like 
Social 
Work 
student 

Lauren emphasized that even 
though it may be difficult 
in the beginning, it will be 
worthwhile at the end.

REGENTS
From Page 1

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

ABROAD
From Page 1

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

