Abdul El-Sayed, Democratic 
runner-up 
in 
the 
Michigan 
gubernatorial 
primary 
last 
month, announced Monday the 
launch of his new political action 
committee, Southpaw Michigan.
Southpaw 
Michigan 
PAC 
aims to continue the progressive 
movement ignited by El-Sayed’s 
campaign 
for 
governor 
and 
seeks to promote progressive 
candidates in local Michigan 
races. On its website, Southpaw 
pledges support to six main 
issues: 
ethical 
campaign 
financing, universal health care, 
environmental justice, full civil 
rights and liberties, criminal 

justice reform, and equity in 
education. Southpaw Executive 
Director Aarica Marsh, a 2016 
graduate 
of 
the 
University 
of Michigan, said Southpaw 
intends to spread the enthusiasm 
produced 
during 
El-Sayed’s 
gubernatorial run to down-ballot 
races across the state.
“I think Abdul just wanted to 
make sure we did something with 
the momentum and volunteer 
base we built on the campaign,” 
Marsh said. “We had thousands 
of people making calls, texting, 
knocking doors … We want to 
make sure we’re electing local 
progressives, just because politics 
really starts at the local level.” 

The 
United 
States 
detains more citizens in 
prison than in any other 
country in the world, as 
well as more people under 
correctional control than 
any 
given 
moment 
in 
American history.
At 
the 
University 
of 
Michigan, a team of five 
professors — Heather Ann 
Thompson, Matt Lassiter, 
Ruby Tapia, Ashley Lucas 
and Amanda Alexander — 
are working together to 
combat mass incarceration 
within academia.
Thompson, 
a 
Pulitzer 
Prize 
winner 
and 
professor of History and 
Afroamerican and African 
Studies, recently proposed 
the creation of an center 
devoted 
to 
researching 
the carceral state. Besides 
centralizing the academic 
study of prisons across 
units 
and 
schools, 
the 
professors 
also 
aim 
to 
make the research benefit 
individuals serving time, 
and potentially help them 
obtain 
an 
associate’s 
degree from the University.
“This center will be a 
focal point for the study 
of 
the 
carceral 
study,” 
Thompson said. “There are 
people interested in this 
subject in LSA, in the law 
school, in social work, and 

even in the medical school. 
Michigan has an usually 
rich environment in terms 
of the scholars that are 
working on this question.”
The 
University 
isn’t 
the 
first 
institution 
to 
attempt such a project — a 
number of elite colleges 
run successful initiatives 
disseminating educational 
opportunities 
to 
incarcerated 
individuals, 

including 
Bard 
College, 
University of California, 
Los Angeles, and Harvard 
University. 
Bard, 
for 
example, has granted over 
50,000 credits and almost 
450 degrees since its pilot 
programs in 2001.
Thompson 
said 
the 
degree-granting 
program 
would 
help 
bring 
the 
University to the level of 
those 
other 
institutions 

and beyond. She hopes 
to engage not only the 
campus 
community, 
but 
the 
greater 
Washtenaw 
County area and even the 
state of Michigan.
“Michigan is adjacent to 
a number of cities — Flint, 
Jackson 
and 
of 
course 
Detroit — that are hyper-
incarcerated,” 
Thompson 
said. “So, we feel as if there 

An 
increasing 
percentage 
of 
University 
of 
Michigan 
students are concerned about 
climate change, according to 
preliminary data from the 2017-
2018 
Sustainability 
Cultural 
Indicators Program survey. 
The SCIP survey has been sent 
out to thousands of students, staff 
and faculty annually since 2012, 
though no data was collected 
between 2015 to 2017.
The latest data suggests the 
percentage of students who are 
“extremely sure” climate change 
is occurring rose to about 75 
percent this past year, up almost 
10 percent from 2015. The 
percentage of students who think 
climate change is very important 
to them personally and those 
who think it is caused mostly by 
human activity also saw roughly 
10-point increases from the last 
SCIP survey.
The 
figures 
also 
show 
University students are more 
likely to believe in climate change 
than 
other 
students 
across 
the country. Yale University 
conducted 
a 
similar 
annual 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, September 27, 2018

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

El-Sayed to 
launch new 
PAC to spur 
Dem action

Report gives ‘U’ a failing grade 
in representation of Black students

Representation 
Equity
Gender
Equity
Completion
Equity

Black Student-to-
Black Faculty Ratio

Proportion of Black 
students at U-M: 4.4%

Proportion of Black 18-
24 year olds in MI: 17%

Gender makeup of 
Black students:

58.8% women
41.2% men

Black graduation
rate: 78.4%

Overall graduation
rate: 90.5%

Black students: 1213

Black faculty: 184

GOVERNMENT

Southpaw Michigan will support six 
central progressive campaign issues

JULIA FORD
Daily Staff Reporter

Study comparing public universities scores Michigan fifth lowest state in the country

In a report on racial equity 

at public universities released 
Tuesday 
by 
the 
University 
of Southern California, the 
University of Michigan received 
an F grade in representation of 
Black students on campus.

While 17 percent of 18 to 
24-year-olds in the state of 
Michigan 
are 
Black, 
Black 
students constitute only 4.4 
percent 
of 
the 
University’s 
undergraduate 
student 

population. 
The 
Black 
graduation rate — for which the 
University received a C grade — 
is also 12.1 percent lower than 
the overall completion rate.

ANDREW HIYAMA & 
RIYAH BASHA
Daily News Editor &
Managing News Editor

See CONCERNED, Page 3A

Climate 
has more
students 
concerned

RESEARCH

Early data shows higher 
rates of climate awareness 
among University students

MAYA GOLDMAN
Daily News Editor

CARCERAL STUDIES CENTER

Interdisciplinary research

Resources and education for
incarcerated people

Enhanced connection between
incarcerated people and University 
community

DESIGN BY JACK SILBERMAN

University faculty propose creation of 
center to educate incarcerated people

Professors spearhead new unit to centralize research on prisons, grant degrees

SAM SMALL
Daily Staff Reporter

b-side
This week’s b-side examines 
the artistry of hair and the 
multifaceted ways people 
can use it to express their 
identity and heritage.

» Page 1B

See INCARCERATED, Page 3A

See FAILING, Page 2A

When 
locals 
approach 
Ann Arbor YMCA, they may 
see a swarm of what looks 
like bats flying in the fall sky. 
However, these are chimney 
swifts, 
a 
protected 
bird 
species under the federal 
Migratory Bird Treaty Act 
that live in the old chimney 
at 415 W. Washington St.
The 
two-story 
brick 
industrial building, located 
in 
Ann 
Arbor’s 
historic 
district, was created for the 
Michigan Milling Company 
in 1907 before becoming the 
operations center for the 
city’s Parks and Recreation 
Department. 
The 
city 
vacated the property in 2007 
and currently uses it for 
limited storage.
Since 
City 
Council 
began publicly considering 
demolition 
of 
the 
deteriorating 
building, 
the 
Washtenaw 
Audubon 
Society has been raising 
awareness around the area 
about the habitual migratory 
spot for the birds, urging 
See BIRD, Page 3A

Concern 
grows for 
migratory 
bird nests

CITY

Washtenaw Audubon 
Society fights to protect 
home of chimney swifts

RACHEL CUNNINGHAM
Daily Staff Reporter

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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 144
©2018 The Michigan Daily

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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
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