commercial
developments.
However, in February, Dahlmann
sued the city for his failed
development plans in hopes to
gain an additional four years of
ownership to complete his plans.
At the previous meeting last
week, the Council was split with
seven in favor and three opposed.
Councilmembers
Jack
Eaton,
D-Ward 4, Sumi Kailasapathy,
D-Ward 1, and Anne Bannister,
D-Ward 1, all opposed the lot
purchase. The council also met
twice during closed sessions to
discuss the litigation.
Ann Arbor resident Greg Pratt
supported the resolution in hopes
that the city will develop the land
with affordable housing for Ann
Arbor residents.
“We have the opportunity right
now to do what’s right to create a
space downtown for people who
have been pushed out,” Pratt said.
“I think that we should purchase
the land and put affordable
housing there, workforce housing.
People need the housing now and
the time is now to do it.”
Ann Arbor resident Paquetta
Pratt further highlighted the need
for wider inclusion through these
affordable
housing
measures
and believes the city can correct
its previous mistakes in earlier
purchase deals.
“Unless you can afford the
almost $1,000 or more for a one-
bedroom apartment, then you are
going to be excluded from this
community,” Pratt said. “Even
though yes, maybe the city did do
the wrong thing waiting all this
time, you can rectify it by doing
it now. We need the housing now
and we really need it.”
However, Ann Arbor resident
Elizabeth Nelson opposed the
resolution. Based on the previous
purchase history of the land in
2003, she believes the City has
not made any strides to develop
realistic development goals.
“I want to know from this
group how buying the ‘Y Lot’ now
will be different from the last time
the city bought it in 2003 because
in 2003 the city had very specific
goals in buying it related to
affordable housing and I haven’t
heard anyone yet pin down a goal
for city ownership in buying this
property,” Nelson said. “Rattling
off every possibility is not a goal
… Declaring its potential value
is not a goal — the lot had value
when the city first bought it in
2003, too.”
On
the
other
hand,
Ann
Arbor resident Jessica Letaw
supported the resolution because
she believes it will revitalize
downtown Ann Arbor and create
a more diverse economic and
residential community.
“Diversity of youths is the key to
unlocking downtown’s potential
as a focus of economic and social
activity,” Letaw said. “A core
goal is to encourage a diversity of
downtown housing opportunities
and
the
expansion
of
the
downtown resident population to
strengthen the downtown’s role
as urban neighborhood and public
investments
and
development
compliment to private sector
resident investments.”
Ann Arbor resident Andrew
Stumpff was also in favor of
the resolution due to potential
economic benefits and increase
in Ann Arbor property value over
the past four years.
“We know that four years ago
that this property was worth
on the market a million more
than the price the city has the
opportunity to buy it,” Stumpff
said. “During the last four years
the value of Ann Arbor real estate
has not declined. This property
is not worth less than the $5.2
million in 2014. Data shows a 35
percent increase in those four
years … The best estimate we
now have of this lot is now $10
million.”
She further explained that he
knew looking for students “would
be a problem,” according to the
LSA senior. She said he told her
that he knew she was in a sorority
and that he had to “watch out for
you guys.”
The LSA senior, at this point,
saw someone leave her building
and she immediately ran in, saying
goodbye. In her apartment, she
checked the time. 1:20 a.m.
She received several texts from
him (Khan had his students text
him to schedule office hours).
“I
just
want
to
stop
communicating,” she said. “But in
my head I also had the light again,
like he could (hurt my grade). He
(implied to me) a million times
tonight, ‘I have entire authority
over your whole grade.’”
Later, he texted her that he just
graded her exam and that she did
very well. The text read, “Kind of
makes me think you motherfuckers
listen to my rants.”
The LSA senior said she wanted
to call her mom, but didn’t want
her mother to get angry at her for
not walking away.
In the morning, she said she
woke up to another text from him,
this time reminding her to register
for classes and that he could grab
dinner with them again.
She said she missed discussion
that day and met with Hussain,
the class professor. Her email
referenced another recently filed
student complaint against Khan.
In emails obtained by The Daily,
she wrote, “This has been weighing
on me for about 1.5 weeks now,
and I know some sort of action
is already underway, but I would
really like to meet with you to talk
about my experience with Naz.”
She said during her discussion
with Hussain, he was visibly upset
with her story even before she
discussed how Khan’s behavior
veered
towards
inappropriate
behavior. She said she was pleased
how supportive he was in the
process.
She said she also met with
Title IX coordinators, including
Pamela Heatlie, associate vice
provost for Academic and Faculty
Affairs, and Alexandra Matish,
associate director of Academic
Human Resources. The LSA senior
said during her meeting with the
officers—in which she recounted
her experiences rather than filing a
formal report— they appeared to be
more concerned with how Khan’s
actions violated GSI academic
policy rather than the harassment.
She said they asked more questions
about his academic behavior.
“They seemed to be more upset
about the schoolwork,” she said.
She also explained she did not
get to tell her whole story — though
she did send them a full written
draft of her experience. She
clarified OIE staff did not appear
intentionally uninterested in her
story, but were more concerned
about the details and the timeline
of that night.
“They are not counselors. It
didn’t shock me,” she said, further
saying that they were welcoming
in their the conversation. At that
point, the LSA senior said she had
told her story so many times, she
wasn’t as anxious.
She didn’t follow up with the
coordinators she spoke with, she
said, but she did not get an update
either. However, the LSA senior
said she didn’t expect Khan to still
be around following her complaint.
“I passed him on the street this
year and had a mini-panic attack,
like, in the 30 seconds that we
passed each other … But he didn’t
say anything to me,” she said. “I
don’t even know if he recognized
who it was, but I called my friend
and she was like ‘Yes, he’s still
around and I see him at the gym
all the time,’ so I don’t go to the
IM Building (Intramural Sports
Building) because I am really not
trying to run into him in any other
circumstances.”
As it turns out, a very similar
story
was
happening
to
her
classmate.
***
Earlier
this
semester,
the
University released its 2017 report
on prohibited student conduct,
finding a 40 percent increase in
reported misconduct from the
previous year. The Office for
Institutional
Equity
received
281 reports and conducted 28
investigations.
The OIE concluded after 28
investigations that eight policy
violations occurred over the past
year. The cases comprised five
sexual assaults, two incidents of
stalking and a violation of interim
measures. The report stated the
OIE carried out disciplinary action
for these violations, including
educational measures, restriction,
suspension and expulsion.
University
spokesman
Rick
Fitzgerald said though there is no
way to determine a definitive cause
for the increase in reports but
that an increase isn’t inherently
negative
—
an
increase
can
signify heightened support for
survivors and more awareness
of the University’s system for
investigating assault.
“Reports go up each year,
but that is possibly a good sign,”
Fitzgerald said in an interview
with The Daily from January.
In a Februrary interview with
The Daily, Heatlie commented on
the proportion of appeals cases.
“I
don’t
know
what
normal would be under these
circumstances,”
Heatlie
said.
“Unlike, for example, a court
system where only the party
doesn’t appeal. In our system,
either system can appeal.”
She said reasons why many
people may not report incidents
they experience vary on a case-by-
case basis.
It’s been a year since Heatlie
was hired as a Title IX coordinator.
She previously worked as the
associate director in the OIE and
before that, she was a general
assistant
counsel
at
Oakland
University.
Heatlie
was
previously
embroiled in a 2000 scandal at
the University of Vermont, where
hockey players were partaking
in severe hazing. The Vermont
Attorney General criticized the
administration’s handling of the
investigation. Heatlie was part of
the investigative team.
When
asked
who
was
responsible for UVM’s missteps,
General William Sorrell said, “I’m
not sure where the buck stops.
Attorney (Pamela) Heatlie was
in charge of the investigation …
Attorney Heatlie could have asked
to do more.”
***
She didn’t think much of texting
Khan for office hours. He had put it
on the board during discussion for
everyone to reach out.
When they met up, the second
student in Hussain’s lecture — also
an LSA senior — was interested
in the conversation and saw
opportunity for academic guidance
and reference. The conversation
drifted to her family, in a little
more than friendly manner. Then
a blonde woman walked into the
coffee shop.
“He had said something like,
‘You know what? Like I’m not
attracted to blondes,’” she said.
“And I was like, ‘Why?’ Like it had
nothing to do with the context
because I remember being like
super, super, like, shocked by that.
And he was like, ‘Yeah, I mean I
think they all look the same.’”
Khan said he liked brunettes
better. This LSA senior is a
brunette.
She said it was hard for her to
rebuke him: he was a source of
information for many students and
offered help on exams. Khan even
told her he would help her with
her internship applications. Again,
office hours turned into personal
conversation.
“He said that he and Hussain,
the professor, go way back,” she
said. “I felt like I couldn’t approach
the professor at one point because
if they’re so close, it’d be this
weird thing for me to be like, ‘Hey,
your good friend … is doing these
things and it’s making me feel
uncomfortable.’”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Tuesday, April 17, 2018 — 3
Studies Program at its peak was
that it was really intersectional,”
Villarosa
explained.
“When
I talked to current students
today about the A/PIA Studies
Program … so many key folks
are either being pushed out
or
feeling
unwelcome.
The
program kind of seems like a
shadow of what it was before,
which is really too bad because
it is a really critical piece of your
identity.”
Villarosa remembers similar
complaints of toxic environment
and racial discrimination being
discussed in the department
when she was a student 10 years
ago.
***
Lawsin went up for a standard
employment review last year. All
lecturers undergo what they call
“major reviews” every few years,
but after 18 years of teaching at
the University, Lawsin faced
a “presumption of renewal” —
her reviewers were supposedly
coming into this process with
the assumption her contract
would be renewed.
“I
received
(the
report)
in
November,
right
after
Thanksgiving, and you read
the report and it’s actually
going pretty good — really good
teaching observations, effective
teacher, a really good evaluation
score,” Lawsin said.
But as she read on, Lawsin
realized
both
departments
had decided not to renew
her contract. Though she did
not wish to disclose to The
Daily specific reasons cited
by the departments for her
non-renewal, Lawsin felt the
reasons, combined with the
breach in procedure by denying
her a presumption of renewal,
gave her a strong enough case
to submit a rebuttal letter to the
LSA Executive Committee.
As a member of the Lecturers’
Employee Organization, Lawsin
is supported throughout the
review
process
by
Kirsten
Herold, vice president of LEO
and Lawsin’s appointed union
representative. Herold was just
as shocked by the outcome of the
review as Lawsin.
“The University has the right
to academic judgement when
it comes to lecturers,” Herold
said. “They have the right to
decide who is or isn’t good. But
they don’t have the right to be
arbitrary ... In a general way,
we’ll argue that the judgement
that was exercised was arbitrary.
They found things they didn’t
like about her because they
didn’t like her.”
Both
departments
agreed
to review Lawsin’s case once
more. In February, they again
recommended her termination.
In March, Lawsin found out the
decision would be upheld by the
LSA Executive Committee. She
will continue teaching at the
University for two “terminal”
years, at which point she’ll
undergo
another
review.
If
her contract is not renewed
again, she will have to leave the
University.
University spokesman Rick
Fitzgerald, speaking on behalf of
LSA administration, declined to
comment.
Lawsin
said
she
sees
the
failed
review
as
a
consequence for speaking out
about the mistreatment and
discrimination she’s felt at the
University over the last 18 years.
She said she doesn’t know how
likely it is she’ll be able to stay
on with the University when her
next review comes in two years.
“I’ve never really met anyone
who’s in this position,” Lawsin
said. “It’s very unique. I have a
lawsuit against the University.
It’s clear that this is an act of
retaliation.”
Lawsin filed the lawsuit in
question
jointly
with
her
husband Scott Kurashige, a
former
University
professor
and Asian American Studies
scholar. Kurashige served as the
director of the A/PIA Studies
Program beginning in 2010,
until he was abruptly removed
from
the
position
without
warning before his term had
finished. In 2016, Lawsin and
Kurashige filed a legal complaint
against the University under
the
Michigan
Elliott-Larsen
Civil Rights Act, making claims
of racial discrimination and
harassment.
The Elliott-Larsen Act, passed
in 1976, prohibits discrimination
based on “religion, race, color,
national origin, age, sex, height,
weight,
familial
status,
or
marital status,” in employment
and education, among other
areas.
Kurashige and Lawsin are
represented by civil rights lawyer
Alice Jennings. In an interview
with The Daily, Jennings said
this case is unique because the
University has prided itself on
prioritizing diversity and equity,
especially in recent years.
“Despite what some people
automatically think about U-M
as a wonderful place, there are
people who know … It’s not like
that all the time,” Jennings said.
“Or even sometimes, depending
on who you are.”
Though Fitzgerald declined
comment for this article, he told
The Daily in March 2017 the
University would not acquiesce
to the charges.
“We will vigorously defend
the
University
against
this
lawsuit,” Fitzgerald wrote in an
email to The Daily. “In fact, the
University already has filed a
motion to dismiss much of the
complaint.”
The 2016 lawsuit cites a
whole slew of situations Lawsin
and Kurashige went through
at the University, including
pay disputes, conflicts with
administrators,
mishandling
of their requests from the
Office of Institutional Equity
and others. The majority of the
issues described in the lawsuit
stem from what they feel is an
inhospitable environment at the
University for faculty of color
who speak out about injustice.
“I
think
the
pattern
of
discrimination and filing things
on faculty of color or students of
color who speak up is a growing
problem that stretches back
years and years,” Lawsin said.
“But the University would like
to cover that up.”
***
Lawsin, a spoken-word artist
and scholar with a master’s
degree from the University of
California, Los Angeles, began
teaching as a lecturer at the
University in 2000. She was
referred to as a “spousal hire” by
the University — a term alleging
she owed her employment to her
marital status and her husband’s
accomplishments, rather than
her own.
Lawsin isn’t the first faculty
member to feel undertones of
discrimination in the American
Culture
Department.
Sarita
See, a good friend of Lawsin’s,
joined the faculty as a tenure-
track assistant professor in 2002
with a joint appointment in the
American Culture Department
and English Department. At
first, she said, the job was like a
dream come true.
“I felt like my scholarship
was really being challenged
in
exciting
ways,
because
there were so many assistant
professors of color pursuing
scholarship,” See said. “All of
that changed in about five years,
when you started to see these
colleagues of mine, who became
very close friends, start to go
up for tenure and start to get
denied, and lecturers would get
fired.”
See soon went up for tenure
herself. After obtaining tenure
in
American
Culture
and
being denied it in English, she
appealed the decision, which
meant her case would go to
the LSA administration for
higher review. LSA overruled
the decision of the English
department, and eventually See
received the distinction in both
of her departments.
GSI
From Page 1
A/PIA
From Page 1
portal and ship the required texts
either to their home or to the two
Barnes & Noble bookstore locations
on campus — the current store in
Pierpont Commons and the new
store in the Michigan Union after
the renovations are completed in
winter term 2020.
Students
can
receive
free
shipping if books are shipped to
the brick-and-mortar Barnes &
Noble locations on campus, and if
students complete returns through
the physical stores, students will
not be charged for shipping the
books back from the store.
Susan Pile, senior director of
University Unions and Auxiliary
Services,
commented
on
the
process of establishing the new
program with Barnes & Noble,
noting many factors such as student
and faculty input and affordability
concerns went into developing the
program.
“We were hearing from CSG
and other students whose concerns
about textbook affordability,” Pile
said. “We were also nearing the end
of our contract with Barnes & Noble
with the closure of the Michigan
Union and I think we started to
hear from some faculty that the
current system for them to select
options and make their course
material selections and for students
to get the books in their hands was
also hearing some challenges so
I think sort of three things came
together at once.”
LSA sophomore Zainab Imami
said she has had issues with
expensive
textbook
purchases
at
on-campus
bookstores
and
experienced difficulty finding the
correct edition of a textbook online.
“Usually
using
the
regular
campus bookstores, the textbooks
are really expensive especially
compared to renting them or
getting them off Amazon,” Imami
said. “But then with renting
them, you have to send them back
eventually also and then when you
can’t find a book or the new edition,
that’s also frustrating.”
However, the new shipping
program means textbooks will not
be housed in the Barnes & Noble
locations, but rather everything will
be ordered and paid for through the
portal and shipped to the desired
location.
Associate
University
Registrar Kortney Briske played
a hand in the decision to partner
with Barnes & Noble, considering
the technological implications of a
fully online system.
Briske said the ability for
professors to weigh their textbook
options and merge their Wolverine
Access pages with the Barnes &
Noble website will be beneficial for
both students and faculty.
“This system actually gives
the faculty member options and
it will display prices and different
versions of the books,” Briske said.
“If the faculty (member) has a
specific textbook in mind and it’s
very expensive, they can see that
price and they might (think) ‘Gosh,
that’s a lot of money’ and the system
will display other similar textbooks
that might be cheaper that would
then give the faculty member to
choose something different.”
Given
the
second
Union
storefront won’t be open until the
Union renovations are complete,
Pile said her office is looking into
establishing a temporary Central
Campus location for next fall to
house the shipment facility. She also
addressed the potential lines with
students ordering their textbooks
the first week or two on campus,
claiming
the
online
payment
system should shorten delays.
“I feel confident in (Barnes
and Noble’s) ability to meet those
needs and do that in an expeditious
manner and I think the student
experience when they actually
come in on-site to pick up, it’s
really a matter of seconds for
that transaction,” Pile said. “It’s
really verifying who you are and
then retrieving the box of books
that you’ve ordered … It should
go actually pretty quickly for
students.”
According
to
the
program
description, condition options will
be provided so students can choose
whether they want to buy as new,
used, rental, or digital download
packages. An additional up-front
“buy-back” price allows students
to plan on how much they will
receive if they want to sell their
books back to Barnes & Noble
after the semester, in an effort to
help students structure finances
and seek out the best deal on a
consistently large expense.
Imami said this function of the
partnership makes the system
much more appealing for students
who
are
looking
to
improve
textbook affordability.
“If I have the option to look and
compare (prices) and then it gets
shipped to Barnes & Noble and I can
go pick it up, that would be great. It
makes a lot of things easier,” Imami
said.
Pile said this system matches
up with current student buying
practices
—
looking
online
and hunting for the best deal.
While a concern about what this
partnership will mean for current
competitor stores like Ulrich’s,
which
still
houses
textbooks
in-store, is present, Pile explained
students still have the option to
shop where they please.
B&N
From Page 1
Read more online at
michigandaily.com
Read more online at
michigandaily.com
COUNCIL
From Page 1
Read more online at
michigandaily.com
Read more online at
michigandaily.com