Sitting in front of a group
of about 20 students, activists
and
community
members
Thursday evening in Mason
Hall, Kate Stenvig, organizer
of By Any Means Necessary,
led a public “tribunal” to
encourage conversation and
organize action against rape
and sexual assault. BAMN and
Stop Trump Ann Arbor jointly
hosted
the
event,
which
addressed
current
issues
impacting
the
University
of
Michigan
community,
such as the sexual assault
allegations
against
Music,
Theatre & Dance professor
David Daniels and the recent
closure of Pangea Piercing
due to allegations of abuse,
sexism and white supremacy
by owner J.C. Potts.
Stenvig
opened
the
discussion
by
mentioning
Supreme
Court
Justice
Brett
Kavanaugh’s
recent
appointment
despite
being
accused
of
sexual
assault
by Christine Blasey Ford,
a
professor
at
Palo
Alto
University,
in
September.
She noted how speaking out
against sexual assault and
rape is painful for survivors,
but can lead to a sustained
movement against what she
said is a current “epidemic”
of assault and human rights
abuses.
“Our fight for our own
dignity
and
freedom
and
equality is completely tied up
with a collective fight that can
actually lead the movement
toward defending democracy,
opening borders and really
building the new civil rights
and human rights movement
that
can
defeat
Trump,”
Stenvig said.
Along with Aarefah Mosavi,
keynote speaker and anti-rape
activist, Stenvig denounced a
culture of victim-blaming that
often surrounds those who
choose to speak out against
their abusers. In May, Mosavi
filed a case against Mount St.
Antonio College in Walnut,
Calif., alleging former student
and friend Chester Brown
raped her while on campus.
Now, Mosavi is touring college
campuses around the country
to
speak
candidly
about
her assault and experience
reporting the event to her
college’s administration.
“The
sexist
illogic
and
victim blaming, trivializing
our
experiences
and
slandering
women
as
liars
or
promiscuous
temptresses
who
are
asking for it still remains
pervasive in our courts,”
Mosavi said. “In my own
case,
defense
attorneys
demanded to know why
I trusted Brown, as if the
act of trusting one who
you believe to be a friend
is a crime.”
Mosavi
further
discussed her experience
encountering sexism when
reporting her rape to the
college’s
administration
and, eventually, to the state
courts. She said Brown
was often given privileges
of privacy and respect
while her information was
made public, putting her
in danger.
“At every turn, I was
denied the same rights and
privileges the man who
raped me was afforded,”
Mosavi said. “But just as
civil society has demanded
the ousting of inept judges
who
sympathize
with
rapists or who blamed rape
survivors, so too must we
continue to say ‘no’ to victim
blaming.”
Ann Arbor resident Alice
Held, who was introduced by
Jessica Prozinski, president
of Stop Trump Ann Arbor,
spoke about her experiences
with Potts’ abusive, racist
and sexist behavior. Pangea
Piercing
closed
Thursday
following months of protests
and
temporary
closures.
Held said she has recently
felt
empowered
to
speak
out against her abuser after
having suppressed it out of
pain and fear.
“About a year and a half
ago, I went and I got my
nipples pierced from J.C. and
I had no idea that he actually
already had a reputation for
bringing up racist topics and
being misogynistic and just a
real ass during his piercings,”
Held said. “So I went and I
did that, and he commented
on my body when he was
taking the measurements for
the jewelry and said that my
breasts and my curves were
‘blessed.’ And that made me
really
uncomfortable,
but
I’m really used to people in
power
making
comments
like that when it’s really not
appropriate, and I’m used to
minimizing it and brushing
it off so that’s exactly what I
did.”
This past Saturday, Held
was getting ready to protest
outside of Pangea when she
remembered details about her
abuse that she had previously
repressed.
Held
said
her
memory has given her power
to take action against Potts’
behavior.
“Eventually
I
had
this
breakthrough
where
I
realized that I hold the truth
in this situation and in some
“
”The darn problem with these cases, even this one in Music,
Theatre and Dance that has become a bit notorious, the initial
complaints were anonymous complaints, and it’s extremely difficult to
follow-up on anonymous complaints but we do … When you don’t hear
of an investigation it doesn’t mean the University is ignoring it.”
University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel on sexual misconduct investigations at the University
2 — Friday, December 7, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
TUESDAY:
By Design
THURSDAY:
Twitter Talk
FRIDAY:
Words of Wisdom
WEDNESDAY:
This Week in History
MONDAY:
Looking at the Numbers
WORDS OF WISDOM
QUOTE OF THE WE E K
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327
www.michigandaily.com
ARTS SECTION
arts@michigandaily.com
SPORTS SECTION
sports@michigandaily.com
ADVERTISING
dailydisplay@gmail.com
NEWS TIPS
news@michigandaily.com
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
EDITORIAL PAGE
opinion@michigandaily.com
NATHAN GUPTA
Business Manager
734-418-4115 ext. 1241
nathankg@michigandaily.com
ALEXA ST. JOHN
Editor in Chief
734-418-4115 ext. 1251
alexastj@michigandaily.com
PHOTOGRAPHY SECTION
photo@michigandaily.com
NEWSROOM
734-418-4115 opt. 3
CORRECTIONS
corrections@michigandaily.com
The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the
fall and winter terms by students at the University OF Michigan. One copy is available
free of charge to all readers. Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office for
$2. Subscriptions for September-April are $250 and year long subscriptions are $275.
University affiliates are subject to a reduced subscription rate. On-campus subscriptions
for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid.
DAYTON HARE
Managing Editor haredayt@michigandaily.com
RIYAH BASHA and SOPHIE SHERRY
Managing News Editor news@michigandaily.com
Senior News Editors: Andrew Hiyama, Carly Ryan, Kaela Theut, Matt Harmon,
Maya Goldman
Assistant News Editors: Jordyn Baker, Remy Farkas, Julia Ford, Elizabeth
Lawrence, Rachel Cunningham, Molly Norris, Maeve O’Brien, Sayali Amin,
Danielle Pasekoff, Katherina Sourine
ANU ROY-CHAUDHURY and ASHLEY ZHANG
Editorial Page Editors
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Senior Opinion Editors: Tara Jayaram, Joel Danilewitz, Jeremy Kaplan, Ben
Charlson, Magdalena Mihaylova
MIKE PERSAK and LANEY BYLER
Managing Sports Editors sportseditors@michigandaily.com
DANIELLE YACOBSON and MADELEINE GAUDIN
Managing Arts Editors
arts@michigandaily.com
Senior Arts Editors: Becky Portman, Sam Rosenberg, Arya Naidu, Dominic
Polsinelli
Arts Beat Editors: Jack Brandon, Fallon Gates, Shima Sadaghiyani, Tess Garcia,
Sofia Lynch
ALEXIS RANKIN and KATELYN MULCAHY
Managing Photo Editors photo@michigandaily.com
ROSEANNE CHAO and CASEY TIN
Managing Design Editors
design@michigandaily.com
Senior Design Editor: Jack Silberman
BRIAN KUANG
Statement Editor statement@michigandaily.com
Deputy Editors: Colin Beresford, Jennifer Meer
FINN STORER and ELISE LAARMAN
Managing Copy Editors copydesk@michigandaily.com
Senior Copy Editors: Emily Stillman, Allie Bopp, Miriam Francisco
ROBERT LESSER and JORDAN WOLFF
Managing Online Editors
lesserrc@michigandaily.com
Senior Web Developers: Patricia Huang, Abna Panda, Hassaan Ali Wattoo,
Rebecca Tung
NOAH TAPPEN
Managing Video Editor video@michigandaily.com
Senior Video Editors: Abe Lofy, Robby Weinbaum, Jillian Drzinski, Danielle Kim
JASON ROWLAND and ASHLEY TJHUNG
Michigan in Color Editors michiganincolor@michigandaily.com
Senior Michigan in Color Editors: Lorna Brown, Zainab Bhindarwala,
Christian Paneda, Nisa Khan, Na’kia Channey
Assistant Michigan in Color Editors: Angelo McKoy, Kareem Shunnar, Maya
Mokh, Efe Osagie, Samuel So
KAYLA WATERMAN and CARRINGTON TUBMAN
Managing Social Media Editors
Editorial Staff
Business Staff
CAMERON COANE
Sales Manager
JEFFREY ZHANG
Local Accounts Manager
ALEC SPELLER
Marketing Consulting Manager
DEANA ZHU
Special Projects Manager
MARIO DRESAJ
Brand Manager
ROHIT IYER
Business Development Manager
Senior Photo Editors: Amelia Cacchione, Emma Richter, Evan Aaron
Assistant Photo Editors: Alice Liu, Darby Stipe, Max Kuang, Ryan McLoughlin,
Alec Cohen
Senior Sports Editors: Mark Calcagno, Robert Hefter, Max Marcovitch, Anna
Marcus, Paige Voeffray
Assistant Sports Editors: Aria Gerson, Ben Katz, Matthew Kennedy, Tien Le,
Ethan Sears, Jacob Shames, Avi Sholkoff
ADRIANNA KUSMIERCZYK
Creative Director
AVERY FRIEDMAN
Managing Podcast Editor
ALEC COHEN/DAILY
Sudoku Syndication
http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/
1 of 1
9/16/08 2:17 PM
SUDOKU
HARD
7
8
9
4
6
3
6
3
1
2
1
4
7
8
2
6
1
5
9
6
8
2
3
4
© sudokusolver.com. For personal use only.
Generate and solve Sudoku, Super Sudoku and Godoku puzzles at sudokusyndication.com!
GAIN THIS GRAIN
puzzle by sudokusyndication.com
BAMN and Stop Trump hold event to
discuss racism, sexual misconduct
The tribunal covered SMTD misconduct reports and white supremacy at piercing shop
LIAT WEINSTEIN
Daily Staff Reporter
This Friday, The Daily is spotlighting one of our Managing Design
Editors, Roseanne Chao. Here are her words of wisdom:
I used to avoid speaking up because I didn’t want to get
weird stares or a questionable reputation. But now I realized
that having a questionable reputation gives you way more
opportunities in life than having no reputation at all.
See BAMN, Page 3