The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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Thursday, November 8, 2018 — 3A
VETE R ANS WE E K
RUCHITA IYER/Daily
Ahmed Hamadi, Marines Corp NROTC Senior Advisor, shares his experiences as an Arab American corpsman at the Veterans Week Annual
Veterans of Color Symposium at Hatcher Wednesday afternoon.
Though these individuals did
not appear on the registration
list, they were able to fill out
provisional ballots. In order to
submit the provisional ballot,
voters must complete an affidavit
stating that he or she registered
to vote on or before the close of
registration for the election and
respond to questions regarding
his or her identity and residence.
“A lot of them will vote
provisionally,
which
means
instead of being counted it goes
to the city clerk and the city clerk
determines essentially what to do
with it but there’s some technical
things that makes me think they
won’t be counted,” Yohdes said.
“Some people were pretty upset
about it and we didn’t figure out
until about halfway through the
day that we were getting the same
kind of provisional votes.”
Ann
Arbor
City
Clerk
Jacqueline Beaudry said “the vast
majority” of registration issues
she heard about were students
who thought they had registered
online. Many of them, Beaudry
said,
declined
to
complete
provisional ballots.
“So, a lot of those students then,
we were told, were unwilling
to sign the affidavit because
they were acknowledging they
didn’t
actually
complete
the
registration process,” she said.
“The
one
requirement
of
a
provisional ballot is that you’re
swearing that you registered to
vote and something happened,
whether that’s a clerical error,
lost paperwork, but that you did
register and we don’t have the
record.”
Beaudry also guessed one
reason students may have had
trouble voting was that they were
registered in a precinct different
than the one they went to vote at.
In the middle of September,
however, LSA sophomore Claire
Ramsey registered to vote when
an advocacy organization visited
her political science class. She
filled out the form, returned
it to the group and received a
registration card in the first week
of October. When she arrived
at the polls on Tuesday, the
poll workers informed her that
her registration card said she
registered on Oct. 10, one day past
the registration deadline.
“When I went today they
said that’s the date it said I was
registered at, but I know for a fact
that I registered at least three or
four weeks before that,” Ramsey
said.
Ramsey is still unclear why she
was not on the registration list,
and she said she wished she was
informed of the provisional ballot
option.
“I didn’t even know there were
resources
available,”
Ramsey
said. “I thought the problem must
have been on my end, so I just
said, ‘Well that sucks’ and just
left. I asked twice though to make
sure there was nothing I could
have done, they said both times
I just had to wait until the next
cycle.”
LSA sophomore Lanie Lott
registered at a booth on campus
in September, but when she
arrived at the polls on Tuesday,
she was told by poll workers that
she was not registered to vote.
“I was so mad,” Lott said. “I
really wanted to vote. I was super
pumped about it. I filled out a
ballot still, and I was upset about
it. I called the clerk’s office and
was like, explained my situation
to them and they were like, ‘We
don’t see your registration form, I
don’t know what to tell you.’”
LSA
freshman
Madeleine
Gannon registered to vote at a
Michigan secretary of state stand
outside the Michigan League in
October. Prior to Election Day,
Gannon wanted to check online
to verify her registration.
“When I tried to access the
sample ballot, I was unable
to verify my information as a
registered voter,” Gannon said.
“I spent nearly an hour trying
to verify my registration and
journeyed into the depths of
the secretary of state’s website
on voter registration and the
elections. Following my difficulty
trying to access my status in the
system, I immediately called
the local clerk’s office, only to
be told bluntly that I had never
been registered. I then went and
double and triple-checked the
voter registration qualifications
and steps listed online for eligible
voters to try and see if I had
missed a step.”
Though still confused, Gannon
has thought of a few possible
explanations as to why she was
not registered to vote.
“The only conclusions I can
drawn is either that (a) my form
was lost or incorrectly filed by
the volunteers at the registration
stand, (b) that I had been provided
with
inaccurate
information
when I registered, resulting in
a missing identification form,
or that I completed the form
incorrectly under the guidance
of the volunteers, or (c) I turned
18 on the 29th, and I was led to
believe that so long as I turned 18
before the election, I was eligible
to register,” Gannon said.
Though
Gannon
said
she
takes some responsibility for not
checking her registration status
earlier,
she
thinks
someone
should have notified her if there
was a problem.
“I think what I find most
frustrating
is
the
lack
of
communication,” Gannon said.
“If my registration was filed
incorrectly, or the forms were
completed incorrectly, or I was
ineligible, I never received any
notice. I was left to assume that
my registration would have been
completed.”
REGISTRATION
From Page 1A
lecturer. Molengraff explained
one of the challenges of being
first-generation is describing
experiences to those who do not
share the same identity.
“While
not
all
students
translate from one language to
another to their family or their
parents, I think that distinct
significance of being first-gen
is translating your experience
to your family or to individuals
who
might
not
necessarily
understand what exactly is
happening,” Molengraff said.
Parada
emphasized
the
importance
of
sharing
experiences
through
storytelling.
Parada came to the University
as an undocumented, first-
generation
student.
He
discussed
his
experience
growing up homeless after his
parents split and were sent back
to Mexico, not being able to
return for 10 years. Parada was
allowed to stay in the United
States because his stepfather
could care for him.
“To me, these things were not
hurtful because I was a kid,”
Parada said. “I was a young
student who was just looking
at the positive things in life …
It didn’t hit me until a couple of
years where my ex-stepfather
and mother separated. This
was a moment where I was
homeless. But I knew always for
some reason I had a great time
at school and education was
something that (tended) to lift
me up.”
Parada was denied on his
first attempt to apply to the
University. He then attended
Eastern Michigan University
before
transferring
to
the
University
of
Michigan
his
sophomore year.
“I still have that denial letter
with me and it says, ‘We’re
sorry, but we don’t want you
here’” Parada said. “I took that
to heart and said, ‘Okay, you’ll
see.’ At the time, it was very
hurtful.”
Parada
also
recounted
a
time when a professor emailed
him after submitting an essay
asking to speak with him about
his writing. The professor told
him his ideas were great, but
that he needed to improve his
academic composition. Parada
said this was the first time
he felt someone attempted to
understand his identity.
“This was the first time
where I said someone was able
to make time to listen,” Parada
said.
Parada
realized
the
experiences he faced as a first-
generation student were unique
to him and emphasized a need
to
not
homogenize
student
experiences and identities.
“Some
students
may
not
have grown up with planned
vacations or famous authors
or book titles on top of their
heads
or
were
given
NPR
radio stations when they were
younger,” Parada said. “My
question to you is when was
the last time you assumed an
experience of a student and how
can you begin noticing these
assumptions before engaging in
those conversations?”
The symposium then broke
into a working session on
identifying as first-generation,
intersecting
identities
and
diverse perspectives in higher
education.
Fred Lewis Terry, professor
of electrical engineering and
computer
science,
discussed
concerns
of
overwhelming
students with information as
they arrive to campus.
“What
we
worry
at
orientation is we could tell you,
‘Here’s the pathway to the pot of
gold at the end of the rainbow,’
and they get so numbed out that
it’s overwhelming,” Terry said.
Ayeza
Siddiqi,
assistant
director of the Office of New
Student Programs, emphasized
providing more activities and
resources
catering
to
first-
generation students.
“With
our
freshman
mentoring program, we’ve been
trying to … keep the program
more towards diverse and low-
income students and providing
more activities and resources
we know would be beneficial
to them,” Siddiqi said. “We’re
talking a lot more about these
identities.”
SYMPOSIUM
From Page 1A
noted
how
the
rhetoric
surrounding SFFA v. Harvard
has
changed
since
2014.
Ochi said the lawsuit, which
was
filed
by
conservative
legal
strategist
Edward
Blum, may have intended to
eliminate affirmative action
policies rather than combat
discrimination directly.
“There were many claims
in this lawsuit that were very
targeted at affirmative action
and only one of them, actually,
is
focused
on
intentional
discrimination,” Ochi said. “A
number of those claims were
dismissed through Harvard’s
motion to dismiss a year and
a half ago, but nevertheless
that was the intention of this
lawsuit.”
Ochi
also
stressed
that
while the lawsuit may appear
to support Asian-American
students, its claims would
have little to no impact on
enrollment
and
admission
rates. In fact, Ochi said the
chances of an Asian-American
student getting into a selective
university would increase by
less than one percent if all
African-American and Latinx
students were removed from
the pool.
“Even if Harvard, or any
other selective school, got
rid of the consideration of
race, the chances of an Asian-
American student getting into
that school would really not
change,” Ochi said. “I think
that we do need to separate
discrimination against Asian
Americans from affirmative
action.
Affirmative
action
is not the cause of any
discrimination
Asian
Americans may face.”
Panelists
also
discussed
holistic admissions policies,
which are known to give
applicants the fairest chance
at admission but are often
difficult
to
implement
at
large,
state-funded
universities. Steven Gay, the
assistant dean of admissions
at the U-M Medical School,
said he prefers to focus on
an applicant’s experiences,
struggles and strengths rather
than nondescript factors like
MCAT score or GPA.
“Holistic review is, in a
significant way, how you’ve
achieved
and
succeeded
within context,” Gay said.
“What did you have to go
through, what did you have to
work through, where did you
have to go, how did you have
to do it to get to that point?
Holistic review is a means to
get to the core values of what
your institution stands for and
how it wants to be a presence
in our communities.”
In
response
to
Gay’s
argument,
Astronomy
professor Sally Oey said this
type of holistic review does not
always take implicit bias into
account, potentially leading to
further discrimination.
“This
case
is
about
discrimination,
in
fact,
also, and it’s not just about
affirmative action,” Oey said.
“Those two things are very
separate,
as
we’ve
heard
about just now. But if there is
discrimination, it’s something
we need to be concerned about
and implicit bias is something
to be concerned about as well.”
Law
professor
Margo
Schlanger
noted
how
a
holistic admissions process
can be advantageous for both
the applicant and the school.
Even
so,
Schlanger
said
willfully ignoring the race of
an applicant in admissions
does nothing to solve the issue
of racial underrepresentation.
“It just seems that public
universities should educate
the public,” Schlanger said.
“It seems to me that to fulfill
our mission, we need to have
people here of many different
types, in part because we
educate each other better that
way and that’s good, but in
part because it is just and it is
right and it is our role in the
state … If we have a coherent
claim in justice about racial
diversity and racial justice,
then
we
should
aim
our
policies at racial diversity and
racial justice.”
Anthony
Fowlkes,
a
Public Policy and Education
graduate student, agreed with
Schlanger’s point that “race-
neutral” admissions processes
do not address the lack of
diversity on college campuses.
“Color-blind is not a thing —
it’s still a non-neutral policy,”
Fowlkes said. “We also have to
make sure that discrimination
is not happening on the other
end. Because nothing is race-
neutral, there is a chance for
discrimination on the other
side of that.”
ADMISSIONS
From Page 1A
to be the first Regent to have
graduated in the 21st century,”
Acker said. “We have a lot
of work to do to make the
University
affordable
and
accessible so students don’t
have to go deep into debt.
Finally,
I
wanted
to
say
congrats to Paul on his victory
and a thank you to Regents
Newman and Richner for
their years of service to the
University that we all love.”
Brown’s priorities include
setting new standards for
ethics and transparency in
the board, creating a plan to
rebate surplus tuition money
to students and significantly
expanding
the
University’s
affordability
initiatives.
Brown’s
campaign
has
emphasized his experience as
a union member and a board
member of the Huron Valley
Area Labor Federation, as he
is the only candidate with
experience as a union member.
This is his second campaign
for a spot on the board — he
ran in 2010 and came in third
in
the
statewide
election.
Brown holds an undergraduate
degree and an M.B.A. from
the University as well as a
law degree from Wayne State
University. He lives in Ann
Arbor with his wife and two
children.
“The most important thing I
want to express is that Andrea
Fischer Newman and Andrew
Richner have been incredible
public
servants
for
the
University, totally dedicated to
the University and its students
and its success and Andrea
deserves to be on the Mount
Rushmore of U of M Regents
history,” Brown said. “I am
excited to join the Board and
continue the great legacy. The
University of Michigan is the
best research university in the
world but I want to bring it back
to being the leader and best
and that’s particular in cost of
both education and health care
as well as diversity.”
In a press release sent out
Tuesday morning, Newman
conceded the election and said
she has high hopes for the new
Board.
“I am eternally grateful to
the people of this great state
for granting me the honor of
serving on the University of
Michigan Board of Regents
for 24 years,” Newman wrote.
“Together we fought to keep
tuition low and standards high.
We grew the endowment. We
grew the campus.
REGENTS
From Page 1A
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
This was the first
time where I said
someone was able
to make time to
listen.
But if there is
discrimination,
it’s something
we need to be
concerned about