offices that handle these cases
and support all students to speak
directly about the policies and
procedures of our University.”
Elizabeth
Seney,
assistant
director
of
the
Office
of
Institutional
Equity
then
described the role of OIE as a
neutral party addressing concerns
of
discrimination
violating
University policies. She walked
the
audience
through
OIE’s
general process of reaching out
to the complainant to hear what
next steps the complainant wants,
whether that be an investigation or
a disciplining of the respondent.
Seney said the reports OIE
receives are often from a third
party sharing information about
an incident with a complainant and
respondent. If the parties involved
in the incident are anonymous, she
said, OIE is restricted in what they
can accomplish.
“We are limited in our ability to
follow up based on the anonymity
of that,” Seney said. “So I want to
be totally transparent and I don’t
want to sugarcoat this and say
it’s fine to report anonymously
because we can address it in the
same way. We are limited. We don’t
know who to reach out to get more
information, we don’t know what
the person wants to see happening
with the information.”
Margie Pillsbury, a detective
in the Division of Public Safety
and Security, talked about the
department’s reporting process,
noting DPSS’s close ties to OIE in
cases of sexual misconduct within
the University.
“If a survivor decides to make
a report to us, we work closely
with OIE trying to reduce the
implication of contacts and make
it easier for survivors,” Pillsbury
said.
Kaaren Williamsen, director
of Sexual Assault Prevention and
Awareness Center, and Emily
Hyssong, the Counseling and
Psychological
Services
worker
for the School of Music, Theatre
& Dance, spoke about how their
organizations are confidential for
survivors. SAPAC and CAPS focus
mainly on support and giving
people immediate help, they said.
Associate Dean of Students
Sarah Daniels said the Dean of
Students Office becomes involved
in these matters because their
goal is to ease the impact of
anything that interrupts the lives
of students, including matters
of sexual misconduct. Daniels
spoke of the supportive and
protective measures the office
offers to students involved in OIE
investigations.
The majority of the event was
devoted to audience questions.
One audience member asked the
panelists what they are doing to
help students focus on educational
opportunities
or
simply
get
through their days in spite of a
sexual misconduct investigation.
Seney responded, emphasizing
her wish to make conditions for
students better, but noting the
limitations of the University.
“I don’t know that we can ever
— just in full being realistic and
transparency — I don’t know that
any part of the University or the
University as a whole can fully
eliminate any negative impact for
any sexual misconduct,” Seney
said. “What we are trying our
absolute hardest to do is to number
one prevent it, and number two
do the best we can on that second
part.”
Seney also said this kind of work
becomes more difficult in small
environments such as the Music,
Theatre & Dance School. Upon
some pushback from the audience,
Daniels explained the difficulty
in accommodating students in a
school where class options are
limited.
“Measures
can
get
more
complicated when we have a
smaller environment and a smaller
community and fewer options,”
Daniels said. “What I mean by that
is when we’re looking at a school
like LSA that has 15,000 students
and a whole lot of majors and a
whole lot of options, we’ve got
choices.”
Multiple
audience
members
asked about what the panelists’
offices could do to discipline
faculty
members
making
comments on cases or siding
publicly with a respondent over
a claimant. Williamsen said in
these
cases,
students
feeling
uncomfortable about a faculty
member’s comments could come to
SAPAC to discuss their concerns.
“We do work with people
confidentially with things like that
all the time to figure that out and to
figure out what do I do with this,”
Williamsen said. “This doesn’t
feel right, I don’t want to go to that
class anymore, I don’t want to go
to that space anymore, and I don’t
have a word with this, but this is
getting in the way of participating
in my life.”
Toward the end of the question-
and-answer
session,
Seney
highlighted her willingness to
hear out concerns, questions and
suggestions from students and
faculty regarding the effectiveness
of OIE’s system.
“I know that I can’t fix
everything and for me, I recognize
that, but I really encourage people
to share their feedback and any
concerns and ask any questions,”
Seney said. “And I can assure you
that I will always do my best to
address those concerns.”
Mark Clague, associate dean
for Academic and Student Affairs
at the School of Music, Theatre
& Dance, echoed this sentiment,
describing the school’s next steps
in addressing student concerns.
Clague announced the formation
of a faculty and staff ally group,
plans for a symposium centered
on sexual misconduct in the
performing arts and workshops
with SAPAC relating to these
issues.
“We want to talk to you about
these issues,” Clague said. “We
are
mandatory
reporters
so
when things are brought to us
they go directly to OIE through
the reporting forms. But we can
help finesse this to the best of our
abilities. We’re not perfect either
… but we’re really trying hard to
make a difference”
LSA freshman Andrew Gerace
said he attended the event because
of the prevalence of these issues
within the University, something
he became more aware of after
reading The Daily’s articles on
sexual misconduct issues within
the School of Music, Theatre &
Dance. He said he felt the panel
was a step in the right direction,
but there are still questions to be
answered.
“I have more questions walking
out than I did walking in,” Gerace
said. “Me personally, I felt like
many of the questions had to be
re-asked because some of the
answers seemed to be sliding off …
Often people trying to slack away
or avoid questions … Effectively,
the question was more obvious
than the answer we were given and
so I feel concerned that there’s still
more hidden in the shadows that
I really need to learn more about
whether it’s in this panel format or
other situations, we really need to
keep this dialogue going.”
Gerace said he looks forward to
going to more events on this topic.
He aims to hold the panelists and
their offices to their words in order
to better establish trust, he said.
“In
the
hope
that
more
happen, I really am planning on
working to hold the people that
spoke here today accountable to
their words because I think that
they’re now, from a position of
trust, telling us what their roles
and responsibilities are, and I
think that in the situations that
occur where what they’ve told us
is not the way it’s happening, it’s
breaking our trust even further,”
Gerace said. “I hope we all can
work together to reform what’s
been broken and move forward.”
making
the
board‘s
composition 7 Democrats to 1
Republican.
“I think there’s something
new that may be happening
here,” Political Science prof.
Vince Hutchings said to the
audience Tuesday. Overall, the
panel found that 2018, though
not a presidential election, still
revealed telling information on
voter sentiment and behavior.
Hutchings
was
joined
by
Walter Mebane, a professor in the
Department of Political Science,
and Kenneth Goldstein, professor
of Politics at the University of
San Francisco. Each of them
presented on their own niche
of election analysis, to provide
a commentary on effects of
the elections on the future of
American politics, specifically for
the Democratic Party in 2020.
Goldstein
presented
an
analysis of voter demographics
based on categories such as
gender,
race
or
education,
responding to the refrain of the
“blue wave” Democrats predicted
would win out in races.
“The big question on everyone’s
mind is, ‘Was this a wave?’”
Goldstein said. “It feels wave-ish
to me.”
Among independent voters,
Goldstein noted, Democrats did
better than Republicans for the
first time since 2008. This kind of
energy, he believes, is something
that Democrats will attempt to
duplicate in 2020 by campaigning
heavily in states like Wisconsin,
which
Democratic
candidate
Hillary Clinton largely ignored
in 2016.
Mebane presented next on
“election forensics,” or the use of
“statistical methods to determine
whether the results of an election
accurately reflect the intentions
of the electors.” He analyzes
Twitter users’ posts regarding
the election.
“I
liked
hearing
about
Twitter,” LSA junior Sydney
Moore said of the event. “There
were a lot of young people there
and that’s the medium a lot of us
use so I thought that was very
interesting.”
LSA junior Alexis Miettinen
appreciated the fact that despite a
generational difference, scholars
can acknowledge the salient
influence social media has on U.S.
voters.
“I think it’s interesting to see
academic people who aren’t really
into that realize how important it
is in elections and in daily life,”
Miettinen said.
Due to social media users’
inclination
to
surround
themselves with others who
are like-minded, Mebane said,
“people aren’t even seeing the
same world.” He calls this tunnel
vision a “communication silo.”
“I don’t expect that that source
of this polarization is going to
go away any time soon,” Mebane
said.
As
the
final
presenter,
Hutchings brought attention to
the fact that though Democratic
support undoubtedly increased
in this year’s election, the extra
push came from younger and
more educated voters, rather
than women or racial minorities
as many would have thought or
predicted. In Ann Arbor, campus
precincts cast 4,977 votes last
week, up from 1,541 votes in the
2014 midterms.
It is surprises like these, the
panelists agreed, that show just
how important it is to have a
conversation following elections
about what happened and how
it should be addressed moving
forward.
“Elections
are
about
narratives,”
Goldstein
said.
“And the narratives and trends
influence
how
our
elected
officials govern in the future.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, November 14, 2018 — 3A
MIDTERMS
From Page 1A
“Our goal at Ross and in
the world when talking about
diversity is to really normalize
the
conversation,”
Petryk
said.
“All
those
identities
who make up who we are
and really being able to apply
them
into
the
conversation
because sometimes, especially
at Ross, it can be scary to
even acknowledge or identify
ourselves.”
Panelists discussed equity
and inclusion in the workplace
and
the
current
business
sustainability
landscape
for
communities
of
color,
LGBTQ employees and other
marginalized
groups.
The
panelists
all
noted
their
personal identities and the role
they play in their work.
For
Brown-West,
she
discussed how her surroundings
as a child were homogeneous.
She said it wasn’t until later in
her career that she found her
voice in her professional life.
She also said while the employee
pool
remains
predominantly
white,
she
has
noticed
a
progression toward inclusivity
and less gender inequality as
well as an added emphasis on
sustainability in the business
world.
Brown-West also said there
were certain people — whom
she called her “angels” — who
helped her feel included while
she was starting out in her
career. Now, in her current
position, she tries to help others
feel the same way.
“Growing up feeling like the
odd one out in many places that
I was navigating, it’s helped
me make sure that people feel
as if they have this space to
actually speak,” Brown-West
said. “If we’re going to be able
to actually solve some of these
environmental
challenges
…
we’re going to need a whole
range of different experiences,
of different backgrounds, of
different points of view to come
up with solutions because the
solutions that we’ve had to date
are not going to help us resolve
these problems.”
Patten shared a formative
experience
from
a
former
job during which a higher-
level
employee
told
her
that
her
natural
hair
was
“inappropriate” for the work
environment. She said it was in
this situation she first realized
the impact of her identity in her
work life.
She
said
this
experience
has stuck with her and was
part of her inspiration for
forming DāO . An acronym for
“Defy All Odds,” Patten said
two of DāO ’s core values are
creating products for everyone
and reflecting the diversity
seen in Detroit, where DāO is
headquartered.
One thing Patten said was
she felt like she could never
feel like herself in corporate
environments. She said people
who
looked
like
her
were
normally
considered
the
people receiving philanthropic
help
rather
than
making
the decisions on the other
end. In the same vein, she
touched on current notions
to include “fake” diversity in
marketing to attract customers
rather than including diverse
employees in the company and
actually speaking to minority
consumers.
“One
of
our
hashtags
or our phrases we use in
DāO is ‘Own your identity,’
really encouraging not only
us
as
founders,
but
even
our
customers
to
question
everything,”
Patten
said.
“It’s really important to have
different voices and we really
wanted it to reflect Detroit.”
Rackham student Katherine
Cunningham said she attended
because
these
overarching
issues
of
environmentalism
predominantly affect minorities
and there is a need for greater
understanding of identities and
diversity to be able to create
positive change.
“When it comes to big issues
like climate change, the impacts
are
disproportionately
on
minorities and marginalized
communities and it’s really
important for people who are
aspiring to work in this field to
be aware of the different lenses
that they need to approach this
topic and other sustainability
topics,” Cunningham said. “The
idea of needing to know who
you are and come back to your
own roots so that you can do
your work better, that resonated
with me a lot.”
Patten said consumers like
when brands are eco-friendly
because it adds a feeling of
empowerment. Hwang agreed,
saying her experience at the
footwear company TOMS, and
now Thousand, taught her there
does not have to be a trade-
off
between
environmental
sustainability
and
revenue
and product success. Hwang,
Patten
and
Brown-West
all
agreed there are economic and
other benefits such as social
equality and added awareness
in incorporating sustainability
into business and production.
Hwang started her company
to save lives after a friend died
from a biking accident. She said
at one point she was approached
about sharing her background
and rise to business leadership,
but she said she didn’t feel
relatable because her identity
differed from the norm. Since
then, she said she has come to
understand her diversity is a
benefit rather than a hindrance.
“I don’t look like everyone
else who I have viewed as a
founder,” Hwang said. “Being
a good-looking white guy —
not that. Diversity matters in
the sense that you can come to
better business decisions.”
At the conclusion of the
discussion, all three panelists
encouraged
attendees
to
own
their
identities
and
be
comfortable
in
their
skin. They also said while
minorities may feel like they are
a low-power position right off
the bat, they should realize the
value in differences and what
they bring to the table.
“My biggest advice is —
especially when you are in
this
room
that
feels
very
intimidating — remember why
you deserve to be there,” Brown-
West said. “Remember what
value you bring. Remember
that
your
experiences
can
add to that conversation and
your way of thinking can add
to that conversation, and that
will help build this cocoon of
confidence around you.”
SUSTAINABILITY
From Page 1A
in order to justify displacing
indigenous people and excluding
non-white aliens.” Another goal
of the teach-in was to change the
way people view immigration as a
whole, shifting the framing from
a legal issue to a moral issue and
stressing a historical approach to
how we view immigration.
This
event
was
proposed
in light of a lecture scheduled
for Nov. 15 hosted by the
University’s chapter of College
Republicans
with
Mark
Krikorian, the director of the
Center for Immigration Studies,
titled “The Real Immigration
Debate: Whom to Let In and
Why.” Some at the University,
like postdoctoral fellow William
Lopez,
have
taken
issue
with
the
event.
Krikorian’s
organization,
which
was
founded in 1985 by University
alum John Tanton, has been
designated a hate group by
the
Southern
Poverty
Law
Center, and the Latino/a Studies
Department wanted to approach
the conversation surrounding
immigration from a different lens.
A
panel
composed
of
undergraduate
and
graduate
University students discussed
recent changes in immigration
policies and public reception
to these policies, the most
pressing issues in immigration,
and
some
immediate
and
long-term solutions to these
problems. The panelists’ areas of
expertise ranged from refugee
policy to border control to the
politicization of undocumented
immigrants.
Panelist
Nicolas
Espinosa,
a Ph.D. candidate, said while
anti-immigration
narratives
supported by CIS are becoming
“more
aggressive
and
more
blatant since pre-2016,” they
aren’t necessarily new.
“We’ve seen this historically,”
Espinosa said. “There’s always
been a pretty significant anti-
immigrant
movement,
this
effort from folks like CIS to
paint immigrants as folks who
are dangerous, or taking jobs,
or exploiting the system. The
narratives are just kind of being
re-canned … That’s not to say that
they didn’t exist before, they’re
just becoming more intense and
more out in the open.”
Panelist junior Ayah Kutmah,
an LSA junior, said the current
political narrative is that we are
letting in too many refugees,
when “in reality, (the United
States is) not letting in people who
should be considered refugees,
pointing to the years-long process
most refugees must go through to
come to the United States.
“The
backlog
in
refugee
cases, the fact that it takes two
years for a refugee case to
be decided to be admitted to
the United States … is against
refugees,” Kutmah, who worked
at Human Rights Watch over the
summer, said. “The fact that from
the moment they set foot in the
United States, they incur the debt
of the plane tickets, that’s huge.”
Peña said one of the biggest
problems related to immigration
in the U.S. was Border Patrol’s
inhumane
treatment
of
immigrants who cross the border
at Mexico.
“(Immigrants)
are
fleeing
violence,
gangs
threatening
their lives and domestic violence
issues over there and so a lot of
the women are fleeing from that
… and so they’re suffering from
a lot of trauma and PTSD (post-
traumatic stress disorder), like
they break down in tears and
forget what they’re talking about
and stuff like that,” Peña said.
“But because of border patrol, like
the way they treat them, they add
to the PTSD that they are already
suffering from.”
NATIVISM
From Page 1A
SMTD
From Page 1A
identify where we’re having
shortcomings in terms of the
communities
and
parts
of
campus we represent,” Greene
said.
Later
in
the
meeting,
representatives in attendance
were
invited
to
discuss
resolutions
proposed
by
members of student government.
One CSG member, Rackham
student
Nicholas
Fadanelli,
proposed
amending
the
Statement of Students’ Rights
of the Office of Student Conflict
Resolution in order to clarify
students’ rights in dealing with
OSCR.
“The Statement of Students’
Rights is what OSCR uses when
it comes to dealing with students
who break University policies,”
Fadanelli said. “To amend the
statement
of
student
rights
would allow OSCR to better deal
with these issues.”
Following
Fadanelli’s
comments,
his
resolution
was voted on by members in
attendance and advanced to the
CSG rules committee for final
approval.
While
several
resolutions
were advanced to the committee
for approval, only one proposal,
A.R. 8-320, titled “A Resolution
to
Require
SOFC
Fund
Recipients to Use Compostable
Dining Materials,” was fully
enacted.
CSG representative Michael
Nwansi,
an
Engineering
senior, was the author of the
adopted resolution, which will
take effect at the start of the
winter
semester.
According
to Nwansi, the success of the
plan is contingent upon the
cooperation of two University
organizations:
the
Student
Sustainability Initiative and the
Student Organization Funding
Committee.
“SOFC gives away a lot of
funds to student orgs to help
them fund their events,” Nwansi
said. “SSI is a service on campus
that gives free compostable
materials
to
students.
My
resolution mandates that orgs
applying for money from SOFC
have to use those compostable
materials at their events.”
According to Nwansi, the
proposal hopefully will have
a measurable impact on the
environmental
consciousness
and
sustainability
of
the
University as a whole without
being a burden on student
groups.
“I sat down with the SOFC
chairs to think through how
this
would
work,”
Nwansi
said. “We decided that in their
record keeping there will be a
tab where they would record
if organizations applied for
compostable materials or not.”
Because
the
resolution
will not be implemented until
January,
Nwansi
explained
there is still time for SOFC to
determine how it will carry out
the policy.
“This requirement won’t take
effect until the beginning of next
semester,” Nwansi said. “They’ll
have some more leeway and time
to change things if they find a
smarter or more efficient way to
deal with the logistics.”
CSG
From Page 2A
Remember that
your experiences
can add to the
conversation and
that your way of
thinking can add
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com