allow students and faculty hear 
each candidate’s position on 
various issues and participate in 
an open Q&A discussion.

The meeting began with 

each of the five candidates 
outlining 
their 
platforms. 

Incumbent 
Regents 
Andrea 

Fischer 
Newman 
(R) 
and 

Andrew Richner (R) spoke 
with 
challengers 
Jordan 

Acker (D), Paul Brown (D) and 
Kevin Graves (Green Party) to 

outline each of their respective 
platforms. There are two open 
seats on the board.

The candidates responded 

to 
questions 
regarding 
the 

nature of academic freedom 
at the University. Newman 
said academic freedom is a 
cornerstone of the University 
and 
should 
be 
treated 

accordingly.

“It’s easy to say that the 

entire 
current 
board 
and 

new 
board 
members 
are 

all 
strong 
supporters 
of 

academic 
freedom. 
I 
think 

it’s the linchpin of any great 

institution and it’s certainly 
made this institution great,” 
Newman said. “I think that 
academic freedom is the basis 
of our institution and without 
it, getting any sort of structure 
of scriptures on something 
would be inappropriate unless 
it was something harmful being 
taught.”

Another 
question 

referenced 
the 
problem 
of 

high and increasing tuition at 
the University. Acker said the 
problem 
is 
worsening 
and 

must be acted upon. Last June, 
the regents voted to increase 

in-state tuition by 2.9 
percent and out-of-state 
tuition by 3.9 percent. 

“We can never be losing 

middle class kids in the 
state of Michigan to out-
of-state schools,” Acker 
said. “That is the bread and 
butter of this institution. I 
think the facts speak for 
themselves. We haven’t 
gotten any closer.”

When asked about how 

the board will handle 
fostering a diverse student 
body, Brown said the Board 
of Regents must act to 
increase student diversity 
instead of assuming it will 
increase on its own. The 
diversity rates for the 
2018 
freshman 
class 

have increased marginally 
since 2017.

“We have to achieve 

(greater 
diversity) 
and 

the numbers continue to 
go down,” Brown said. 
“Whether 
that 
means 

hiring people who are 
from a community to 
live in the community, 
to recruit and prepare 

students 
to 
apply 
to 
the 

University, whether it means 
putting resources in place for 
when those students arrive to 
give them a safe place where 
they can succeed. We have 
to put our money where our 
mouth is. There’s no easy 
solution to a hard problem, but 
there are solutions.”

When 
discussing 
the 

relationship between the three 
University campuses — Ann 
Arbor, Dearborn and Flint — 
Richner said the campuses 
have to do a better job working 
collectively.

“One thing we have to be 

careful about is sharing state 
appropriations because the state 
considers the three campuses 
as independent units,” Richner 
said. “We’re running the risk 
if we start sharing resources 
that that’s going to impact our 
state appropriations negatively 
for this campus in particular, 
but there are opportunities to 
work collectively. We need to 
do more cooperatively.”

The discussion soon shifted 

into the recent reprimanding of 
Cheney-Lippold for denying a 
letter of recommendation for a 
student wishing to study abroad 
in Israel. The University froze 
Cheney-Lippold’s 
sabbatical 

eligibility and credits for two 
years as well as removed his 
eligibility for a salary increase 
for the 2018-2019 school year in 
response to his actions. Board 
members spoke of their opinion 
on the actions of the University 
and were met with further 
questions and concerns from 
the audience.

COLLEGE GAME DAY

Early 
Tuesday 
morning, 

the Ann Arbor City Council 
discussed one of its least 
contentious 
issues: 
the 

domestication of ducks.

City Councilmember Chuck 

Warpehoski, 
D-Ward 
5, 

sponsored an ordinance which 
considers ducks with respect 
to the city of Ann Arbor’s 
current 
policy 
regarding 

animals. 
The 
ordinance, 

awaiting its final approval on 
Nov. 8, would accept ducks as 
animals that can be kept in 
coops and properties in the 
city, in addition to the existing 
policy that allows chickens. 

The current proposal allows 
citizens to apply for a permit 
for ownership of either up to 
two or up to six birds, referring 
solely to chickens for the time 
being.

Foggy air and laser lights 

went 
practically 
unnoticed 

at the Office of Lesbian, Gay, 
Bisexual, 
and 
Transgender 

Affairs ‘Conceptions of Drag” 
show held last night at the 
Michigan League.

What 
captured 
a 
crowd 

of 175 were the ‘stars’ who 
strutted their stuff through the 
glamorous ambiance.

“Betner”, otherwise known 

as Art and Design junior Ben 
Fife, who was dressed in a long 
black dress, dog collar and red 
lipstick, got the crowd roaring.

Fife seduced the audience as 

he lip-synced the sexy 40s-style 
song, “It’s Silk.” Working his 
way through the crowd, Fife 
flirted with several women and 
even invited one up on the stage 
for a dance.

Fife said he had been looking 

forward to the event all year.

“I think it’s really important 

to have a setting where the 

gender 
can 
be 
playdough. 

There’s a lot of pressure at the 

University to assimilate one 
way or the other. It’s important 

to mock the gender assimilation 
concept at large,” he said.

Haruna Madodo, a Music 

junior 
student, 
organized 

the event. “We’re basically 
breaking 
stereotypes 
about 

what gender is. That’s why we 
called it ‘Conceptions of Drag’. 
We usually expect drag queens 
to be men dressed as women. 
That’s society’s ‘norm’.”

The 
gender 
specificities 

of the clothing were more 
up 
for 
scrutinization 
than 

the 
participants’ 
sexualities 

Madodo said. 

Art and design Jenny Boyer 

drew many laughs with her 
lip-synch rendition of “Father 
Hard-On.”

Dressed as a Catholic priest, 

Boyer slowly approached the 
stage with her head bowed 

down as eerie church bells 
and organ music played in the 
background. 

Boyer raised her right hand 

to the sky as two church-goers 
approached and tried to seduce 
her. Finally giving in, Boyer let 
the two girls rip off her sacred 
attire as funky club music 
replaced the organs. 

“I think that I did this 

because there is a lot of 
emphasis on gender roles” said 
Boyer. “I think that gender is 
pointless. We should all fuse 
together as one gender. When 
we look at each other, we 
shouldn’t think of males and 
females, but of humanity,” she 
said. 

Participants in the event 

were 
more 
concerned 
that 

the 
show 
deflect 
society’s 

perception of gender roles than 
make a statement about sexual 
orientation.

Rackham 
second-year 

student Gary Brouhard dressed 
in women’s clothing, but not in 
the glamorous-queen image he 
said society has fabricated. He 
was dressed a school girl, clad 
in knee highs and a plaid skirt. 
Brouhard is not a member of 
LGBT, but feels that clothing is 
unfairly associated with gender 
roles.

“I think that it shows that 

gender roles are things we put 
on, like clothings.”

Brouhard hopes that the 

show encourages other students 
at the University, regardless of 
sexual preference, or just these 
who want to be different, to just 
“come out.” 

2A — Wednesday, October 17, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News

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THIS WEEK IN HISTORY: LGBT PAGEANT EXPLORES GENDER NORMS

“We’re basically breaking stereotypes 

about what gender. Thats why we 
called it ‘Conceptions of Drag.’ We 

usually expect drag queens to be men 

dressed as women.

Thats society’s norm.”

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