The 
Washtenaw 
County 

Board 
of 
Commissioners 

unanimously voted to adopt 
the Washtenaw County Equity 
Policy at its board meeting 
Wednesday night, establishing 
a Racial Equity Office to address 
issues of inequity in the county 
and calling for all aspects of 
the 
county 
government 
to 

implement strategies that will 
result in “equitable outcomes 
for all residents.”

Washtenaw 

County ranked 81 out of 83 
Michigan counties in economic 
inequality, according to this 
year’s County Health ratings. 
Median 
income 
for 
Black 

households 
is 
nearly 
half 

the median income of white 
households 
according 
to 
a 

2015 
reportby 
Opportunity 

Washtenaw. The same report 
shows that if there had been no 
racial gaps in income in 2014, 
the local GDP would have been 
$1.79 billion higher.

Felicia Brabec, D-District 

4, chair of ways and means, 

thanked the county residents 
“who 
are 
holding 
us 

accountable to do better … in 
our community.”

“I know it’s only a first step, 

but it’s been a really long, 
long time coming,” Brabec 

said. “We get to focus on the 
implementation now.”

Conan 
Smith, 
D-District 

9, emphasized the need to 
properly implement the policy.

“Someone said from the 

audience earlier this evening 

that we should not be so 
much debating the passage of 
this but debating how it gets 
implemented 
best,” 
Smith 

said, calling racial inequity 
an “emerging problem that 

While 
construction 
work 

seems to appear everywhere 
on the University of Michigan’s 
Central Campus this fall, a 
shiny new addition on North 
University 
provides 
relief 

from the constant demolition 
and renovation: the Biological 
Sciences Building.

The building’s interior is 

open, with natural light pouring 
in through the large windows 
facing onto the transportation 
center. It contains state-of-the-
art classrooms, laboratories and 
faculty offices. The different 
departments 
are 
in 
close 

proximity with each other and 
in some cases share labs in order 
to encourage collaboration and 
interdisciplinary research. 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Monday, September 6, 2018

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

BSB in full 
use as new 
school year 
starts off

CAMPUS LIFE

Some say the transition 
to the new building will 
take some adjustments

LIZZY LAWRENCE

Daily Staff Reporter

County board of commissioners passes 
bill to establish Racial Equity office

After county ranks 81st in economic inequality, policy mandates equity training

LEAH GRAHAM
Daily Staff Reporter

See EQUITY, Page 3

While you were away this 

summer, you may have missed 
some big stories from Ann Arbor. 
The Daily will be publishing 
recaps of the summer’s breaking 
news.

On 
Tuesday, 
Aug. 
7, 

Michigan 
voters 
from 
the 

Democratic 
and 
Republican 

parties 
nominated 
their 

respective 
party 
candidates 

during the 2018 gubernatorial 
primaries. Gretchen Whitmer, 
former state Senate Democratic 
leader, and Michigan Attorney 
General Bill Schuette emerged 
victorious and will face off on 
Nov. 6 for the governor’s seat.

Whitmer and Schuette will 

compete in November, running 

In Review:
Whitmer, 
Schuette 
look to Nov.

GOVERNMENT

General election divided on 
ultra partisan lines after 
high primary voter turnout 

SONIA LEE

Daily Staff Reporter

RUCHITA IYER/Daily

Washtenaw Count Commissioner Felicia Brabec speaks at a public hearing for racial equity ordinance at the Washt-
enaw County Administration Building Wednesday night. 

GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

Check out the 
Daily’s News 
podcast, The 
Daily Weekly 

INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 129
©2018 The Michigan Daily

N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

ADMINISTRATION

University 
of 
Michigan 

Regent Ron Weiser, R, and his 
wife Eileen Weiser donated $10 
million Wednesday to establish 
the Weiser Diplomacy Center 
at the Ford School of Public 
Policy. Weiser, chair of the 
state Republican party, began 
working on the idea of the 
center with Public Policy Dean 
Michael Barr last spring with 
the goal of generating interest 
in diplomacy among students 
and 
providing 
them 
with 

career services in the field.

“Diplomacy is so important 

in the way that we deal with 
the rest of the world that I 
felt giving (students) a chance 
to be exposed to diplomats 
and secretaries of state and 
others who are part of that 
process would give (students) 
a path they want to follow 
and also give them a lot more 
knowledge if they chose to 
follow 
that 
career 
path,” 

Weiser said. 

Aside 
from 
providing 

workshops, conferences and 
internship opportunities, the 
center is expected to bring 
ambassadors 
and 
foreign 

policy experts to the Public 
Policy School. Weiser, founder 
and CEO of national real 
estate investment company 
McKinley Associates, Inc. and 
former U.S. ambassador to 
Slovakia, said he has personal 
connections with diplomats 
whom he would like to help 
bring to the University.

“A former Secretary of State 

would be nice to bring, and 
certainly there’s a number of 
ambassadors that I know – 
former ambassador of NATO, 
a number of people within the 
National Security Council – so 
people of that caliber that I 
want to help bring,” he said.

The 
contribution, 
along 

with previous donations to 
found the Weiser Center for 
Emerging 
Democracies 
in 

the International Institute in 
2014 and the Weiser Center 
for Europe and Eurasia in 

$10M from 
Weisers to 
open unit for 
diplomacy 

‘U’ sexual misconduct report shows 
claim increase, fewer investigations

CASEY TIN/Daily

Regent’s family founds new center at 
Ford School to focus on int’l relations

MAEVE O’BRIEN
Daily Staff Reporter

OIE received 277 cases of student misconduct, up from 218 reports last year 

In 
the 
first 
year 
of 
the 

#MeToo movement and along 
with an increase in survivors 
stepping forward to publicly 
speak out against instances of 
sexual assault, the University 
of Michigan has seen a similar 
increase in reports of sexual 
misconduct compared to last 
year. The recent publication of the 
Office for Institutional Equity’s 
yearly 
Sexual 
Misconduct 

Report presents a rise of reported 
sexual 
misconduct 
instances 

coupled with a decrease in 
University investigations.

The publication aggregated all 

reports received by OIE between 
July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018 and 
the office’s responses within the 
University’s Student Sexual and 
Gender-Based Misconduct Policy. 
Compared to last year’s report, 
OIE saw a 27 percent increase of 
reported cases, rising from 218 to 
277. 

Within the same time period, 

the number of investigations 
launched 
from 
reports 
to 

OIE 
decreased 
from 
28 
to 

20. 
The 
number 
of 
reports 

have 
steadily 
risen 
since 

University 
president 
Mark 

Schlissel commissioned campus 
climate 
surveys 
on 
sexual 

misconduct in 2015. The findings 
reported 11 percent of students 
experienced sexual assault during 
their time on campus. 

University 
Title 
IX 

Coordinator 
Pamela 
Heatlie 

said the increase in reported 

cases may be indicative of the 
effectiveness of the University’s 
recent reporting channel updates. 
As for the investigation data, 
Heatlie said it’s difficult to draw 
any conclusions.

“Reports being up, I think, 

is a positive indicator that our 
education 
efforts 
about 
our 

process of reporting and people’s 
willingness to report to us is 
effective. It’s going up year over 
year which is good,” Heatlie 
said. “In terms of the number of 

MATT HARMON

Daily News Editor

See NOVEMBER, Page 3

See FORD, Page 3
See OIE, Page 3

See BSB, Page 3

