On 
Wednesday 
evening, 

the 
United 
Asian 
American 

Organizations at the University 
of Michigan hosted a panel to 
promote the Asian, Pacific Islander 
American studies program on 
campus and call attention to a 
2017 lawsuit citing discrimination 
against program faculty.

Panelists 
included 
graduate 

and undergraduate students, as 
well as Emily Lawsin, a lecturer 

in American culture and women’s 
studies, and Scott Kurashige, a 
former professor in history and 
American culture.

In 2017, Lawsin and Kurashige 

brought a lawsuit against the 
University under claims of racial 
discrimination and harassment, 
citing the Michigan Elliott-Larsen 
Civil 
Rights 
Act. 
Currently, 

Kurashige explained, “the Dean 
of LSA is working with the chairs 
of the departments of women’s 
studies and American culture to 
fire Emily.”

Since 
the 
time 
of 
the 

controversy, 
students 
and 

community members have showed 
strong solidarity with Lawsin and 
actively tried to rebuild the A/PIA 
studies program. Their efforts 
include circulating a petition for 
the University to fully restore the 
A/PIA studies program, as well 
as releasing op-eds calling out 
the University’s actions against 
Lawsin, one of which was written 
by state Rep. Stephanie Chang.

As 
tensions 
surrounding 

employment and administrative 
responses mount, Lawsin and 
Kurashige 
have 
continued 
to 

serve as activists fighting for 
improvement of the A/PIA studies 
program, which was founded in 
1989 and offers courses and an 
academic minor. The program 
has gone from offering eight to 10 
classes per semester to only two in 
a previous winter semester.

Public 
Health 
sophomore 

Ciara Timban serves as the 
co-programming 
chair 
for 

UAAO and said she hopes the 
panel will bring attention to the 
opportunities available within the 
A/PIA studies program.

 
LSA sophomore Samuel Morse, 

an internship coordinator for 
Abdul El-Sayed’s gubernatorial 
campaign, believes the circulation 
of fake news on Facebook played a 
decisive role in the 2016 election.

“58 percent of American adults 

are on Facebook, and Facebook has 
become a primary news source for 
many of them,” Morse said. “So 
when people are, instead of picking 
up copies of The (Washington) Post 
and The (New York) Times, seeing 
that on their Facebook news feeds, 
that will affect their thoughts on 
the election.”

In light of the 2016 presidential 

election 
and 
subsequent 

findingsof 
Robert 
S. 
Mueller 

III, with the special counsel 
investigating 
Russia’s 
electoral 

interference, Facebook has now 
been thrust into the center of a 
national conversation about the 
content-monitoring responsibilities 
of social media platforms.

Even more recently, Facebook 

found 
itself 
embroiled 
in 

controversy 
when 
The 
New 

York Times reported Cambridge 
Analytica, a political firm hired 

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CAMPUS LIFE

Two 
dozen 
members 

of Students Allied for Freedom 
and Equalitydemonstrated at 
a lecture by Nadav Tamir, a 
prominent Israeli diplomat, 
Wednesday 
night 
in 
the 

Ford School of Public Policy. 
Tamir’s 
lecture 
marked 

the 
70th 
anniversary 
of 

the 
founding 
of 
Israel, 

but 
protesters 
called 
the 

event 
“ultra 
nationalistic” 

and insensitive in timing, 
pointing to the deaths of 17 
Palestinianprotesters 
who 

were killed in clashes with 
Israel Defense Forces, Israel’s 
military, two weeks ago in 
Gaza.

The demonstrators lined 

the back of the auditorium, 
holding posters condemning 
the IDF, of which Tamir was 
a decorated soldier. Several 
minutes 
into 
the 
lecture, 

three SAFE members staged 
a die-in.

One SAFE member, who 

asked to remain anonymous 
for 
safety 
concerns, 
said 

he 
wanted 
make 
sure 

“Palestinian 
voices 
are 

heard.”

“We wanted to show that 

the people who died in the 
protests and the people who 
have died over the past years 
have not been forgotten,” he 
said. “We felt like this was 
not an appropriate event at 
the 
time, 
especially 
with 

how 
ultra 
nationalistic 
it 

was being portrayed as. We 
wanted to show that there is 
opposition.”

The Frankel Center for 

Judaic Studies, Peres Center 
for 
Peace, 
WolvPAC 
and 

Michigan Hillel co-sponsored 
the lecture. The LSA Center 
for 
Middle 
Eastern 
and 

North 
African 
Studies, 

was previously listed as a 
co-sponsor, but retracted its 
support following complaints 
about the branding of the 
event.

In an email obtained by 

The Daily, CMENAS Director 

SAFE holds 
die-in at talk 
about Israel’s 
beginnings

Students call attention to inequity 
against faculty in A/PIA studies

CHUN SO/Daily

Emily Lawsin, Lecturer in American Culture (A/PIA Studies Program) and Women’s studies, speaks to concerns surrounding A/PIA Studies at the University during 
a panel highlighting the program Wednesday evening.

Israeli statesman, ex-IDF soldier presents 
on int’l relations despite demonstrations

LEAH GRAHAM
Daily Staff Reporter

After discrimination lawsuit from A/PIA faculty, UAAO holds panel to discuss resolutions

JORDYN BAKER
Daily Staff Reporter

Two months ago, University 

of 
Michigan 
research 

exposed 
significant 
female 

underrepresentation 
in 

economics. 
Top 
women 

economists convened at the 
Ford 
School 
Wednesday 

afternoon on the topic to 
confirm such discrimination 
and harassment at the highest 
levels of government. They also, 
however, lauded their peers’ 
work therein. The Education 
Policy Initiative of the Ford 
School of Public Policy’s panel 
titled “What female economists 
learned bringing research to 
White House policy making” 
featured a discussion with three 
panelists, all of whom were 
influential female economists 
with extensive experience in 
academia and public policy.

The 
discussion 
was 
led 

by 
Susan 
Dynarski, 
the 

co-director of the Education 
Policy 
Initiative 
and 
a 

professor 
of 
economics, 

education and public policy at 
the University of Michigan. 
The other two panelists were 
Betsey Stevenson, an associate 
professor of public policy, and 
Sandra Black, an economics 
professor at the University of 
Texas, Austin. Stevenson and 
Black both served on the White 
House Council of Economic 
Advisers from 2015 to 2017. All 
three are research associates 
at the National Bureau of 

Economic Research.

The panelists discussed a 

wide range of topics, focusing 
in particular on Stevenson 
and Black’s time at the White 
House. Stevenson and Black 
explained their roles during 
President 
Barack 
Obama’s 

administration and how their 
academic experience informed 
their work.

“One of the core functions 

we do is link the academic 

research to policy — to take 
that research and put it in a 
form that the president and 
policymakers can understand,” 
Black said.

Stevenson and Black also 

discussed the difficulties of 
driving effective policy at the 
federal level, noting economists 
generally hold more centrist 
views than other policymakers 
working in Washington, D.C. 
Their ideas faced opposition at 

some points from congressional 
Democrats, 
who 
wanted 

them to advocate for more 
interventionist 
economic 

policies. 
The 
dynamic 
in 

the field of economics was 
different 
with 
Obama, 
the 

pair 
said, 
praising 
Obama 

for his thoughtful leadership 
and attention to the academic 
research they used in their 
work.

Much 
of 
public 
attention 

on 
the 
University 
of 

Michigan’s 
Diversity, 
Equity 

and 
Inclusion 
strategic 

plan 
has 
focused 
on 

the classroom, administration or 
an incendiary stream of bias 
incidents, but students in East 
Quad are engaging with an even 
more every day component of the 
plan: food.

Towards the end of last 

semester, the Hall Council of East 
Quad Residence Hall canceled 
an international food event due 
to complications and concerns 
around cultural sensitivity within 
Michigan Dining. The event now 
serves as a linchpin in changing 
the building’s attitudes towards 
food service and inclusion. 

Abeng Multicultural Council 

Co-Chair Josiah Walker, an LSA 
freshman, said the Hall Council 
director and resident advisers felt 
it was necessary to halt the event.

“(Michigan) Dining took it 

upon themselves to plan the 
food they were going to serve, 
but what happened is they ended 
up mismatching the dishes,” 

East Quad 
dining halls 
to be more 
authentic

CAMPUS LIFE

Lack of sensitivity for 
cultural food results in 
new cuisine offerings

AMARA SHAIKH
Daily Staff Reporter

RUCHITA IYER/Daily

Associate Economics Professor Betsey Stevenson and Susan Dynarski, University of Texas Economics Professor, 
share their experiences in White House policy making in Weill Hall Wednesday afternoon.

Former top White House economists 
discuss female underrepresentation

Ranking women in economics confirm discrimination and harassment in government 

RILEY LANGEFELD

Daily Staff Reporter

See PANEL, Page 3

See A/PIA, Page 3
See SAFE, Page 3

See FACEBOOK, Page 2
See DINING, Page 3

Facebook 
trials draw 
community 
concerns

GOVERNMENT

Data breach from social 
network results in hearing, 
concerns about privacy

MAEVE O’BRIEN
Daily Staff Reporter

