When LSA senior Sophia 
Georginis 
interviewed 
for 
a 
summer 
job 
at 
Comedy 
Central last year, then studying 
screen arts and cultures at the 
University of Michigan, she was 
asked was to define her major. 
Georginis explained she studied 
film, television and media and 
ended up getting the job, but 
realized her department’s name 
presented a significant obstacle 
to employment.
“Screen arts and cultures to 
a lot of employers didn’t really 
mean much because it was a 
bunch of words strung together 
that didn’t mean a lot to people 

in the industry,” Georginis said. 
“If they didn’t really know what 
we were studying, in a pool of 
thousands and thousands of 
kids, it was just difficult to be 
like, ‘Yes, this is film, television 
and media,’ if they look at your 
major and they don’t even know 
what it is.”
However, on Sept. 1, the 
department changed its name 
after 
14 
years. 
Georginis, 
along with all other formerly-
called screen arts and cultures 
students, 
became 
Film, 
Television, and Media majors. 
Georginis said she was pleased 
with the change.
“The 
new 
name 
change 
makes a lot of sense because 
it’s just so forward,” she said. “I 

More than 70 University of 
Michigan students and faculty 
members attended an interview 
Wednesday featuring former 
juvenile lifer Edward Sanders 
in a lecture titled “From Prison 
to Paralegal.” The Information 
Alliance 
for 
Community 
Development and the School of 
Information jointly hosted the 
event, which explored Sanders’ 
experience in prison and efforts 
to obtain an education, as well 
as his reintroduction into a 
technologically-focused society.
Sanders was 17 years old 
when he was convicted with 
accessory 
to 
murder 
and 
imprisoned in 1975. As the 
lecture, he expressed his regret 
for what happened that day and 
explained how it changed his 
life forever.
“I made a mistake when I was 

17 years old and I recognize that 
someone lost their life. I didn’t 
pull the trigger, but I was there,” 
he said. “There’s no snapping 
my finger and getting them to 
come back. I know what death 
means.”
After spending 42 years in 
prison, Sanders was released 
on July 6, 2017. Upon entry 
to 
prison, 
he 
described 
his education level was at 
approximately 
third 
grade, 
which was one of the reasons he 
was so motivated to spend time 
trying to earn an undergraduate 
degree.
“Most of my time in prison 
was spent in four places: in 
the yard running, the inmates’ 
library, the school or Islamic 
services,” he said.
He faced several challenges 
getting 
an 
education 
as 
a 
result of the prison institution 
structure. Because he received 
a life sentence, he was not 
prioritized for the provided 

educational opportunities. He 
could only attend on the basis 
that another inmate would 
decide not to pursue education.
“Every time that I made an 
effort to go to school, it was 
a challenge,” Sanders said. “I 
would have to wait to see if 
someone that intended to go 
didn’t go. And if they decided 
not to go, it was my fortune.”
While he was in prison, 
Sanders received his associate’s 
degree from Jackson College in 
paralegal studies, as well as a 
bachelor’s degree from Spring 
Arbor University in behavioral 
science.
Sanders then joined a group 
called the Lifer Law program, 
where he worked with other 
inmates, mostly veterans, to 
study legal texts and pay for 
attorneys to come lecture. The 
program also gave inmates 
resources to go to trial, even 
when 
discouraged 
by 
their 
attorneys.

Sanders said being able to use 
and benefit from this education 
was significant. Though he 
gained 40 years of paralegal 
experience, the likelihood of a 
career or even an entry-level 
job in the field of law is slim for 
former felons.
“There’s no looking for a 
career, and that reality hurt. So I 
began to do what other inmates 
did before me, which is assisting 
my fellow inmates,” he said.
Sanders highlighted prison 
institutional 
barriers 
to 
obtaining education, such as 
severe limitations on technology 
access. The prison in which 
he was incarcerated had ban 
on typewriters — they were 
considered a threat to security. 
Later, offline computers were 
provided to participate in legal 
research, but he explained the 
system was still inefficient.
“There is an institutional bias 

In 
this 
past 
week, 
the 
University 
of 
Michigan 
has 
announced 
several 
new 
initiatives centered in Detroit. Of 
these initiatives are a partnership 
with 
Harvard 
University 
to 
address the opioid crisis and 
the 
P-20 
Partnership 
with 
Marygrove College to improve 
educational 
institutions. 
The 
P-20 Partnership implements a 
teacher residency, which allows 
teachers to work in rotations 
similar those of physicians, and 
a “cradle-to-career” pathway for 
students beginning as early as 
kindergarten. In the past year, 
the University also finalized the 
purchase of the remainder of the 
Horace H. Rackham Education 
Memorial Building in Detroit, 
which has been used previously 
for multiple projects and classes.
James Holloway, vice provost 
of 
Global 
Engagement 
and 
Interdisciplinary 
Academic 
Affairs, said Detroit, as an 
important urban area, presents 
opportunities for faculty and 
staff. He also said there are 
several questions that arise when 
approaching a project in Detroit.
“How do opportunities in 
Detroit align with our mission to 
develop generalizable knowledge 
and to educate a new generation?” 
Holloway said. “How do we do 
that in partnership and in ways 
building capacity and realizing 
opportunities for the various 
communities of Detroit?”
American culture Associate 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, September 20, 2018

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

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

INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 139
©2018 The Michigan Daily

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

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

ARTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

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

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

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

What’s in a 
name? Near 
East Studies, 
SAC rebrand

Rep. Joe Kennedy rallies with state 
Democrats to turn out student vote

See SAC, Page 2A

ACADEMICS

Departments respond to student and 
employer confusion, outdated ideologies

ANDREW HIYAMA
Daily News Editor

College Democrats bring Stabenow, Dingell, and more in advance of midterms

Michigan 
Sen. 
Debbie 
Stabenow 
and 
Massachusetts 
Rep. Joe Kennedy III joined 
Michigan Reps. Debbie Dingell 
and Dan Kildee, congressional 

candidate Gretchen Driskell and 
University of Michigan Board of 
Regents candidate Paul Brown for 
an event Wednesday co-hosted 
by the University’s chapter of 
College Democrats. The special 
guests discussed important issues 
for young voters, voter turnout 
in the midterm elections and the 

direction of the Democratic party.
College Democrats Chair Kellie 
Lounds, a Public Policy senior, 
began organizing the event a 
few weeks ago when she heard 
Kennedy would be in Michigan 
doing events on the west side 
of 
the 
state. 
She 
contacted 
Stabenow’s team, and the event 

began to gain momentum.
“Obviously Congressman Joe 
Kennedy is a super exciting person 
to have — not someone we see 
around a lot,” Lounds said. “We’re 
always excited to see Debbie 
Stabenow and Debbie Dingell, but 
when you get someone from out 

MAEVE O’BRIEN
Daily Staff Reporter

See DETROIT, Page 3A

University 
announces 
initiatives 
in Detroit

ADMINISTRATION

Revived partnership series 
prompts city residents’ 
reflections on resources

SAYALI AMIN
Daily Staff Reporter

RUCHITA IYER/Daily
Paralegal Edward Sanders, who spent forty-two years in prison, discusses the importance of digital technology access and literacy skills for incarcerated indi-
viduals in North Quad Wednesday morning. 

Former juvenile lifer turned paralegal 
details carceral education experience

Sanders spent 42-year sentence giving legal assistance, calls for campus involvement

KATHERINA SOURINE
Daily Staff Reporter

michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

See DEMS, Page 3A

Polish 
President 
Andrzej 
Duda 
and 
U.S. 
President 
Donald 
Trump’s 
meeting 
wasn’t the only conference 
between the two countries this 
week. University of Michigan’s 
School 
of 
Music, 
Theatre 
and Dance hosted a panel 
discussing the joint production 
playwright 
Charles 
Mee’s 
“Day and Night” with Polish 
institutions 
AST 
National 
Academy 
of 
Theatre 
Arts, 
Kraków 
and 
Warsaw-based 
Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
The 
Wednesday 
evening 
panel 
included 
directors 
Malcolm 
Tulip, 
a 
Music, 
Theatre & Dance assistant 
professor, 
and 
Dominika 
Knapik, a Polish actress, dancer 
and choreographer, as well as 
the designers and members 
of the Polish and American 
cast. Germanic languages and 
literature 
Visiting 
Scholar 
Teresa Kovacs moderated the 
discussion, first giving the 
background of “Night and Day.” 
The play premiered in 2014 and 
is actually two separate plays 
that can be performed together 
or apart.
“Like all of Mee’s plays, 
‘Night 
and 
Day’ 
are 
not 
psychological, narrative-based 
dramas,” Kovacs said. “We 
can think of them as a collage 
because 
he 
uses 
different 
materials: paintings, he refers 
to 
performances 
and 
even 
Youtube clips.”
Tulip chose Night and Day 
See PANEL, Page 3A

See PARALEGAL, Page 3A

Panel talks 
creativity 
in response 
to unrest 

CAMPUS LIFE

“Night and Day” born 
from directors’ political 
struggle under far-right

ELIZABETH LAWRENCE
Daily Staff Reporter

CARTER FOX/Daily
Representative Joe Kennedy III speaks on current issues and voter turnout at the Michigan League Wednesday morning. 

