marks an important opportuni-
ty to begin to seriously address 
the immediate threat of climate 
change,” Deutch stated in a 
press release. “The status quo is 
unsustainable; the time to act is 
right now.”
According to Garton, the 
University’s CCL chapter has 
been working all semester to 
have the bill introduced, facili-
tating informational workshops 
for students to call on represen-
tatives and senators to endorse 
the environmental policy. The 
workshops also aimed to build 
CCL’s presence on campus as 
a platform to educate the com-
munity on the bill and its impli-
cations.
“We’ve written Op-Eds and 
Letters to the Editor to have an 
online presence and bring out 
the issues of climate change 
with all of their intersections 
with health, with jobs and the 
economy,” Garton said. “Cur-
rently we’re working on a bipar-
tisan event with the College 
Democrats and College Repub-
licans for early next semester, 
where we will discuss this bill 
introduced into Congress, and 
then have a time for people 
from different organizations 
and backgrounds to discuss the 
bill together, and see what they 
both like about it, any concerns 
that they have.”
Garton 
highlighted 
the 
universality of the issue, say-
ing CCL’s intentions are to 
implement policy specifically 
through the means of creating 

the political will in communi-
ties.
“Our goal is to create the 
political will for bipartisan 
solutions to climate change,” 
Garton said. “We believe that 
members of Congress don’t cre-
ate political will –– we believe 
that they respond to political 
will. And so we foresee that as 
our job to generate action and 
political will within communi-
ties.”
Public Policy junior Cathrine 
Kelly, communications director 
for the University’s chapter of 
College Democrats, shared the 
organization’s view on the bill, 
saying it was “a good starting 
point.”
“The Energy Innovation and 
Carbon Dividends Act would 
be a great step forward for our 
country. While this bill doesn’t 
cover every aspect of fixing cli-
mate change, it is a good start-
ing point,” she wrote in an email 
interview. “It is amazing to see 
any bill, let alone a bill that is 
meant to clean up our environ-
ment, that is cosponsored by 
both Republicans and Demo-
crats. As College Democrats, 
we know that the state of our 
environment is one of the most 
pressing issues of our genera-
tion. Now is the time to step up 
and make the changes needed 
to secure a clean environment 
not only for our generation, but 
for the generations to come.”
Last May, the University’s 
chapter of College Republicans 
rescinded its endorsement of 
the bill, citing data from the 
Heritage Foundation that esti-
mated the implementation of 
the tax would result in the 
loss of 400,000 jobs in the U.S 

and increase electricity costs 
for U.S households by 13 to 20 
percent. College Republicans 
President Dylan Berger, an LSA 
sophomore, commented on the 
organization’s continued stance 
on the issue.
“We continue to oppose any 
renewed efforts to implement 
this tax on the American peo-
ple,” Berger wrote in an email 
interview. “While we believe 
in climate change and want 
to address the issue head on, a 
massive tax on the American 
people is not the way to do it. 
We cannot in good faith advo-
cate for a measure that would 
harm so many of our nation’s 
hard working families. Going 
forward, we want to be part of a 
solution that will both preserve 
our environment for genera-
tions to come and continue eco-
nomic prosperity.”
Trott signed onto the bill 
on 
Nov. 
29, 
showing 
the diversity of opinion 
within the Republican 
Party on the policy’s effective-
ness.
LSA junior Hallie Fox, out-
reach chair of the University’s 
CCL chapter, was one of five 
members of the group who 
attended a trip to Washing-
ton, D.C. to get CCL-sponsored 
training on advocacy experi-
ence speaking to several repre-
sentatives on Capitol Hill. Fox 
highlighted the importance of 
the skills she gained and the 
vital role students have on cam-
pus.
“Students are the backbone 
of the University, and what I’ve 
heard from a lot of University 
professionals is that when stu-
dents want something to get 

done, it gets done,” she said.
Fox emphasized the impor-
tance of undertaking an active 
role immediately, not only in 
response 
to 
global 
current 
events, like the United Nations’ 
Intergovernmental 
Panel 
on 
Climate Change’s report, which 
predicted a high probability of 
food shortages, wildfires and 
coral reef depletion by 2040, 
but also at events on campus, 
such as the recent $80 million 
expansion of the University’s 
Central Power Plant and Uni-
versity President Mark Schlis-
sel’s announcement to set the 
University 
on 
a 
trajectory 
toward carbon neutrality.
“One of the things that we 
are doing right now is that 
many of environmental groups 
on campus are going to the 
regents meeting on Thursday, 
to kind of protest but also advo-
cate for a more comprehensive 
climate plan, especially for the 
power plant,” she said. “Mainly, 
the climate plan is a little bit too 
vague for a lot of what people 
who are involved in conversa-
tion on campus taste for.”
She stressed the unique role 
and opportunity that students 
have in political issues.
“It’s really important to get 
involved on a campus level 
because I think the city of Ann 
Arbor actually really looks to 
the University to do a lot of pro-
gressive action on things like 
climate change,” Fox said. “Not 
being afraid to stand up for 
yourself and stand up for your 
future –– I think that’s real-
ly important especially since 
we’re on a university campus 
and we’re encouraged to show 
our beliefs.”

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Thursday, December 6, 2018 — 3A

I love being a geneticist and I 
can’t wait to see where being 
a Rhodes Scholar takes me as 
well.”
The Rhodes Scholarship is 
a prestigious award offered 
to students who demonstrate 
academic excellence, mastery in 
various extracurricular areas, 
moral character and leadership 
ability. The scholarship only 
became 
available 
to 
Saudi 
students in 2018 and was 
funded by Muhammad Alagil, 
chairman of Jarir Group. His 
donation added Saudi Arabia as 
one of many worldwide Rhodes 
constituencies. As a Rhodes 
Scholar, Abdulghani will have 
the 
opportunity 
to 
receive 
her Ph.D. at the University of 
Oxford in England.
Along with a passion for 
science, Abdulghani had other 
hobbies 
including 
karate 
and recording episodes for 
her award-winning podcast, 
“Majd’s Diary: Two Years in 
the Life of a Saudi Girl by Radio 
Diaries” of NPR. Though the 
large audience was daunting 
at times, Abdulghani found her 
podcast especially rewarding 
because she was able to connect 
with people around the globe.
“I think (the podcast) was 
valuable,” 
Abdulghani 
said. 
“This vulnerability that ended 
up making it in the podcast, 
this is what all people share 
across the world, this is what 
really makes us human and this 
is what can really connect with. 
That’s what made a lot people 
from 
various 
places 
across 
the world, and from starkly 
different 
backgrounds 
from 
mine reach out and tell me that 
they could relate to me.”
As it so happened, Vivian 
Cheung, 
research 
professor 
at the Life Sciences Institute, 
heard 
Abdulghani’s 
podcast 
about her experiences growing 
up in Saudi Arabia and her 
dreams of pursuing science 
in the future. Cheung was so 
moved by her determination 
that 
she 
called 
the 
NPR 
station and was eventually 
put in touch with Abdulghani. 
The 
two 
women 
remained 
in touch over the years, and 
upon Abdulghani’s completion 
of 
her 
master’s 
at 
Iowa 
State University, she began 
working in Cheung’s lab at the 
University of Michigan.
Cheung praised Abdulghani’s 
investigative work ethic and 
scientific thinking that allowed 
her to explore the realm of 
what is possible in regard to 
research.

“She’s absolutely terrific,” 
Cheung said. “She’s fearless 
and she’s very careful but also 
really allows herself to kind 
of see where science takes her 
rather than being tied down by 
what is known. I think she will 
make an amazing scientist — 
she really follows the data and 
goes where it takes us.”
Henry Dyson, director of the 
Office of National Scholarships 
and Fellowships, also noted 
Abdulghani’s 
eloquence 
and 
motivation. 
Dyson 
had 
the 
opportunity 
to 
work 
with 
Abdulghani as she prepared 
for her final interview with the 
Rhodes committee.
“I was really excited to meet 
her,” Dyson said. “She (had) at 
that point already been offered 
a finalist review, so we set up a 
practice interview for her and 
I knew within the first five 
minutes — I mean this is easy to 
say in retrospect — but I knew 
in the first five minutes that 
she had a very good chance of 
winning.”
Abdulghani confessed she 
was initially uncertain about 
what type of assistance ONSF 
would 
offer 
her 
because 
she was not a student at the 
University, but instead a staff 
member. However her meeting 
with Dyson resolved many of 
her concerns, and she praised 
him for helping her prepare for 
her final interview.
“I was like, ‘Well I’m not 
really a student, I’m a staff 
member, why would he pay any 
attention to me?’’’ Abdulghani 
said. “But as soon as I walked in 
his office, he was energetic. He 
was always excited for me and 
he went out of his way, despite 
the short amount of time that 
was between my meeting with 
him and my interview at the 
Rhodes — I think it was about 
two or three weeks max— 
he went out of his way to do 
everything he could for me.”
After finishing her Ph.D. at 
Oxford, Abdulghani hopes to 
return to Saudi Arabia, become 
a 
professor 
and 
eventually 
establish a research hub for 
women in the Gulf region.
“I really want to get research 
going 
in 
Saudi 
Arabia,” 
Abdulghani said. “There is 
a lot of research happening, 
but I don’t think it’s quite 
enough 
yet. 
There 
is 
not 
enough involvement of women 
in research; the percentage 
of Saudi women faculty in 
scientific fields is extremely 
low. I think it’s around 30 
percent and we really need 
to fix that. I hope to go back 
to Saudi Arabia and initiate a 
research hub eventually that 
provides world class education 

in research to people across 
Saudi Arabia and across the 
region.”
Dyson 
expressed 
his 
excitement for Abdulghani’s 
goals in the future and praised 
her ability to intertwine her 
identities 
and passions 
with 
what 
she hopes to 
accomplish.
“One of the things that’s 
so interesting about Majd is 
how (speaks) in her blog about 
her lived experience, that she 
does have these other pursuits, 
such as karate and horseback 
riding,” Dyson said. “But also... 
she interprets those things 
through her Islamic values, 
practices and heritages and 
how she’s able to talk about 
how those things contribute to 
her vision for what she wants 
to do with women’s education 
in Saudi Arabia in the future.”
Though 
Abdulghani 
is 
hopeful 
for 
her 
post-Ph.D. 
plans, she also acknowledged 
some of the challenges that 
come 
with 
being 
a 
Saudi 
Muslim 
woman 
pursuing 
science. 
However, 
she 
is 
optimistic that her journey and 
the obstacles she has faced will 
inspire others to realize their 
own dreams are achievable as 
well.
“This might be self-imposed, 
but I definitely feel like I’m 
still navigating how to be a 
hijabi and a biologist at the 
same time,” Abdulghani said. 
“I hope that this is really just in 
my head, and that people don’t 
actually attach these thoughts 
to my identity, but right now 
I think it’s challenging. But, I 
hope that what I’m doing will 
encourage more women, and 
Muslims, and hijabis to be in 
the sciences.”
With ambitious plans for the 
future, Abdulghani reflected 
back once again on how her 
mother’s 
experience 
and 
encouragement inspire her to 
remain optimistic about what 
she is capable of doing as a 
Rhodes Scholar. 
“If I could give the Rhodes 
Scholarship to anyone else, 
I would give it to my mom,” 
Abdulghani 
said. 
“She 
has 
overcome so many obstacles 
and when I see that, I ask her, 
‘How am I supposed to do 
that, too, when you’re facing 
all of these problems and 
being a Saudi woman scientist, 
how can I come back and do 
anything?’ She always brings 
out the positive energy and 
she always encourages me to 
come back and telling me that 
because these problems exist, 
this is why I need to get the 
Rhodes Scholarship.” 

RHODES
From Page 1A

president’s decision.
“The press announcement 
by interim President Engler 
announcing the closure of 
the Healing Assistance Fund 
came as a surprise and we 
do not support his decision,” 
the statement read. “This 
decision is counter to the 
research and advice provided 
to us by the Relationship 
Violence 
and 
Sexual 
Misconduct Expert Advisory 
Working Group.”
According 
to 
Rachel 
Campbell, the chair of MSU’s 
Relationship 
Violence 
and 
Sexual Misconduct Expert 
Advisory Workgroup, when 
asked by members of Engler’s 
administration what should 
be done about the fund, 
the group advised the fund 
should be reopened as soon 
as 
possible. 
The 
group’s 
document, 
“Summary 
of 
Research on Trauma and 
Treatment for Sexual Assault 
Survivors,” was published in 
The State News. 
“If sexual assault survivors 
have entered into treatment 
based on the understanding 
that there were dedicated 
funds available to cover the 
cost of therapy, and then 
learn that they are no longer 
eligible for those funds, they 
are likely to feel that such 
changes are a gross violation 
of trust,” the summary read. 
“This betrayal will likely 
cause 
significant 
distress 

that will compound trauma 
symptoms they are already 
experiencing.”
Engler’s decision to cut the 
fund has incited criticism 
from Rachael Denhollander, 
who was the first survivor to 
publicly share her story about 
Nassar’s abuse.
In a series of tweets, 
Denhollander 
laid 
out 
a 
timeline of the fund, and said 
“Engler/MSU are lying about 
the 
purposes, 
terms 
and 
circumstances of creation, 
for this fund,” also writing 
MSU determined in October 
no survivors had committed 
fraud related to the fund.
“MSU creates fund to help 
survivors 
in 
December,” 
Denhollander wrote. “At this 
time, they are trying to get our 
suit dismissed and refusing 
to answer calls. Fund was not 
‘until settlement’. MSU was 
refusing to even talk and had 
no plans to settle.”
The statement released by 
the four MSU board members 
said they plan on discussing 
the issue with the full board 
at the next meeting Friday. 
Their hope is to force the 
reinstatement of the Healing 
Fund.
“At every possible turn, @
MSUPresEngler 
confirms 
the abusive culture at MSU, 
the utter lack of meaningful 
change, and his abhorrent 
views on SA victims. MSU 
spokesperson Emily Guerrant 
and the BoT needs to stop 
agreeing to spew his lies. This 
is shameful,” Denhollander 
wrote.

ENGLER
From Page 1A

CARBON
From Page 1A

WE LCOME WE DNESDAYS

MIKE ZLONKEVICZ/Daily
Students enjoy free bagels and coffee at the last Welcome Wednesday of the semester at the Alumni Center 
Wednesday morning and will resume next semester starting January 23rd. 

interviews with MLive other 
tweets he’s made in the past 
were in poor taste. An article 
from July noted Hayner made 
his account private, though 
Hayner’s account has since 
been deleted.
In one tweet regarding a 
past Michigan Daily article 
about the April 2017 sale of 
the Library Lot, Hayner called 
Councilmember Julie Grand, 
D-Ward 3, a “hive queen” 
and added the hashtag #RBF, 
which some Twitter users 
suspect stands for “resting 
bitch face.”
“Best 
coverage 
of 
#a2council often found in alt 
news sources,” the tweet read. 
“Don’t miss this w/accurate 
quote 
from 
condescending 
Hive Queen Grand #RBF.”
Dzombak said these tweets 
may negatively impact the 
dynamics of the council now 
that Hayner is a member.
“In some of these tweets, 
he 
was 
very 
critical 
of 
councilmembers … I think it’s 
an uphill battle,” Dzombak 
said. “It seems like he’s burned 
a lot of bridges before he even 
got on council.”
Grand declined to comment 
on Hayner’s tweets.
A 
Digital 
Millennium 

Copyright Act request was 
filed on Aug. 1 that briefly 
shut 
the 
database 
down. 
DMCA requests address the 
takedown of online material 
due to copyright infringement. 
Dzombak does not know if 
Hayner submitted the request 
himself.
Dzombak 
said 
Hayner 
accused him of hacking his 
Twitter account when it was 
private.
“These were public tweets 
when 
I 
archived 
them,” 
Dzombak said. “Claiming that 
I did any sort of illegal hacking 
is blatantly false.”
Dzombak said Hayner made 
many tweets that did not align 
with emocratic values.
“In the last four years 
or so, he’s made a bunch of 
comments 
on 
Twitter 
on 
things like SJWs (social justice 
warriors), snowflakes, Milo 
Yiannopoulos, that are not 
consistent with a progressive 
democratic agenda,” Dzombak 
said. 
“It 
seemed 
really 
dishonest that he was running 
as a Democrat here.”
One of Hayner’s tweets 
mentioning 
“snowflakes” 
detailed colleges handing out 
pins with gender pronouns on 
them.
“College hands out ‘pronoun 
pins’ 
#Triggered 
by 
this, 
does exclusion help people 
#coexist? 
#snowFLAKES,” 

Hayner tweeted.
A tweet also mention Ryan 
Hughes, Hayner’s opponent 
during the 2018 City Council 
election, regarding Hughes’ 
yearly income and Hughes’ 
support for an income tax.
“Ryan Hughes is making 
$90K/year at U of M, and 
telling me I need to pay an 
income tax to support people 
who need affordable housing,” 
Hayner 
allegedly 
wrote. 
“Charity starts at home.”
Hughes 
said 
affordable 
housing should not be up to 
charity.
“I don’t think charity is 
the issue here,” Hughes said. 
“I 
don’t 
think 
affordable 
housing should be a matter of 
individual choosing whether 
or not to pay to a charitable 
foundation.”
Hughes said Hayner may 
not have intended to offend 
residents, but his comments 
still hurt people.
“Impact isn’t the same thing 
as intent,” Hughes said. “Even 
if you mean well, you might 
hurt people.”
Regardless, 
Hughes 
is 
optimistic 
about 
Hayner’s 
future work on City Council.
“I think he’s toned down 
criticism of these people,” 
Hughes said. “I’m looking 
forward to seeing how he’s 
going to actually be.”

HAYNER
From Page 1A

