leaders, including the incoming
majority in the City Council, have
rallied against this development
and pushed for the passage of
Prop A. Councilmembers Jack
Eaton, D-Ward 4, and Anne
Bannister,
D-Ward
1,
both
advocated for Prop A.
Bannister,
who
had
filed
a separate lawsuit against the
city regarding the sale of the
Library
Lot,
said
the
Core
Spaces development is a luxury
development when the city needs
more affordable housing.
“It’s sort of common sense
that
building
more
luxury
housing
is
not
getting
us
anywhere near growing our
affordability,”
Bannister
said.
“We, unfortunately, take down a
lot of out single-housing homes
and then put up more luxurious
multi-home units, and then those
apartments are displaced.”
Bannister
expressed
willingness to withdraw her
lawsuit because Prop A covers a
lot of its points.
“(My lawyer’s) direction for
the settlement suggestion was
that Proposal A has overcome the
lawsuit on whether the contract
was valid,” Bannister said. “It’s
fairly simple that the Proposal A
has overcome and remedied the
lawsuit.”
Bannister also said she would
be willing to move past any
previous disagreements on Prop
A.
“Whether
you
disagreed
before the vote, now is the time
when people have to forget about
the way who voted which way
back then, and stress about how
people go forward,” Bannister
said.
Eaton, who previously ran an
unsuccessful primary campaign
to challenge Taylor earlier this
year,
highlighted
the
other
developments moving forward in
the city.
“We do have other things in
the works,” Eaton said. “We’re
looking at how to develop the Y
Lot. We should be able to leverage
the property we have to develop
affordable housing… The fact that
we didn’t build that one building
is not going to have an impact on
affordability in general.”
Regarding
Core
Spaces’s
ability to take legal action against
the city for nulling the previous
sale agreement, Eaton expressed
little concern.
“Section 16 says the city
can walk away from the deal if
legislation is passed against it,”
Eaton said. “Proposal A is that
legislation. If there isn’t a valid
contract, they don’t have grounds
for suit. Even if they were to
file suit, they have minimum
damages.”
Alternatively, Councilmember
Chip Smith, D-Ward 5, expressed
his continued opposition to Prop
A. For Smith, his opposition for
Prop A was based in the benefits
that the city would reap from the
Core Spaces development.
“We would be getting $5
million for affordable housing,
we have no money for that right
now,” Smith said. “We would be
getting a 1,200 square foot plaza.”
Smith also focused on the
financial side of Prop A, bringing
up the potential tax revenue that
the city was losing by passing the
proposition and the park’s over
$10 million price tag.
“I think we lose out as a
community and as a downtown
in $2 million per year in tax
revenue,” Smith said. “We still
have a structural deficit of 1 to
3 percent every year… I’d be
stunned if there was funding for
the park in the next year’s budget.
If the Prop A people are honest,
and if they look at the price per
square foot for the park, the price
is extraordinary.”
Office for Institutional Equity
investigator, a case manager
from the Office for Student
Conflict Resolution will be
present when meeting with
either one of the students
involved
in
the
dispute.
The case manager will also
serve as the main contact
for both parties, while the
OIE investigator will still be
the individual tasked with
operating
the
investigation
itself. The changes will be put
into place beginning Jan. 9.
In order to comply with the
Sixth Circuit’s decision, the
new policy also includes an
option for students to question
both each other and additional
supplementary
witnesses
in in-person hearings. The
hearing officer will also be
permitted to question relevant
parties.
LSA freshman Kirsten Lam
said she felt the changers could
make the reporting process
more difficult and intimidating
for survivors.
“I think that’s a terrible idea.
That could cause trauma, like
PTSD is a very real thing for
sexual assault victims, so just
even seeing the person, hearing
that voice, can just trigger the
bad memory of the whole even
happening and cause more
emotional distress,” Lam said.
“With conversations, people
can use that to convince the
accuser to back down and drop
the charges, because after
that happens, a lot of people
are already in an emotionally
distressed state.”
Students will additionally
no longer be able to appeal
decisions on the basis of
insufficient evidence.
In
an
interview
with
The Michigan Daily at the
beginning
of
December,
President Mark Schlissel said
he felt the OIE had a difficult
job, but did it well. He did,
however, also say he was
worried about how the new
Sixth Circuit driven changes
to
the
misconduct
policy
would impact students going
forward.
“I think the OIE has a very
difficult job to do across a
very challenging landscape … I
think they do a very good job
in aggregate,” Schlissel said.
“The biggest thing I’m worried
about is we know misconduct is
underreported, and what we’re
concerned about is changes we
make in light of the court
ruling may impose even more
challenge around reporting
… We need to do everything
we can in the context of this
legal limitation to support
students that come forward
with claims of misconduct to
hopefully make sure they still
feel comfortable.”
In conjunction with changes
to
the
sexual
misconduct
policy, the University has also
updated its policy on faculty
and student relationships.
advocating for a multicultural
lounge. Can you come with us
to a meeting with V.P. Harper?”
And I say, sure I’ll come to the
meeting. Or, students came to
me and said, “We’re receiving
hate mail because of this
American Sniper controversy.
We’re having a meeting with
President
Schlissel
—
will
you come?” Sure, I’ll come
with you. “We’re advocating
for a ME/NA box — a Middle
Eastern/North
African
identity checkbox, and will
you come with us to meet
with Rob Sellers or Provost
Philbert?” So a lot of the
work I’ve done on campus
has been through students
asking
me
to
accompany
them to meetings that they
are having. I see myself as an
advocate for Arab, Muslim
students,
ME/NA-identified
students, who are often not
part of diversity, equity and
inclusion conversations. So my
motivation has been to help
create an environment at the
University for marginalized
students
to
thrive
and
therefore, reach their potential
in life.
TMD: How have you seen
the University climate change
throughout your career here,
and
with
current
political
and social climate, what are
your feelings for the future?
Do you feel the University is
inching toward where it needs
to be to make this an equitable
space for students who are
marginalized, and what do
you see as further spaces for
improvement?
I have witnessed that the
University is committed to
diversity in many ways, and
they have been for a long time.
When I was an undergrad
here, I remember the Race and
Ethnicity
requirement
was
new and it was one of their
efforts toward creating a more
equitable campus and teaching
about race. But there’s also … a
lot of reasons why things can’t
happen or simple things can’t
happen quickly or can’t happen
at all.
But what I’ve learned in my
time here is that administrators
are not aware of issues that
students, staff or faculty face
unless we tell them about it
and work on it together. So the
Islamophobia Working Group
was formed, and it’s been
very active in trying to create
spaces for ME/NA-identified
students and Muslim students
on campus, and we’re a group
of over 100 faculty, staff and
students who strategize on
how to do this together.
So, we’ve been working on
three areas. One of the areas
is increasing the number of
reflection spaces on campus
to facilitate prayer for Muslim
students who pray five times a
day so they don’t have to walk
all the way across campus to
do that, and as a result of the
Islamophobia Working Group’s
efforts, there are many more
reflection spaces on campus. It
was actually a fairly easy thing
to do.
We’ve also been advocating
for a Middle Eastern/North
African-identity checkbox and
we’ve had many meetings with
the administration and it is
well underway of happening.
The third thing we’ve been
working on over the last two
and a half years is changing the
Arabic language textbook or
modifying it or supplementing
it
in
some
way,
because
students pointed out that it is
orientalist and militaristic and
Arabic language is not taught
in the same way as other
languages. … Students have
been working on this, raising
awareness about it, and their
task force in Near-Eastern
Studies to figure out how to
resolve the issue.
The larger point is that we
need to get more involved and
inform the administration and
work with them to make the
kinds of changes that we want
to happen on campus.
TMD: Can you talk about
your new and exciting position
coming up and what you’re
most looking forward to?
My new position is in the
Department
of
American
Studies
and
Ethnicity
at
the University of Southern
California,
and
that
department
is
considered
to very comparable to the
Department
of
American
Culture at U of M, so I feel
very fortunate to be going to
a similar kind of structure in
the department. I’m hoping
to collaborate with colleagues
there to create a minor for
Arab and Muslim American
studies. They don’t have one,
but there is a critical mass
of faculty there that make it
possible, so I am excited about
that. I have to say that a lot
of what I’m looking forward
to is unknown right now. I’ve
been here 18 years — 4 years as
an undergrad, 14 as a faculty
member, and so this next
step really represents a new
chapter, being challenged in
new ways, a new adventure.
So I’m looking forward to see
where the future takes me. But,
since I write about television
and film, I’m curious about
how or whether the proximity
to Hollywood might shape my
work in new ways.
TMD:
What
is
a
final
sentiment
you’d
like
to
leave
with
the
University
of
Michigan,
and
more
specifically, the communities
in which you’ve played such a
prominent role?
My final sentiment is one of
gratitude to all the people that
I’ve had the opportunity to
collaborate with on making U
of M a more inclusive campus
and
also
gratitude
to
my
colleagues for supporting the
vision in creating this Arab
and Muslim American studies
program that’s so unique and
necessary given the social and
political context that we’re
living in today.
Since 2004, there have only
been three instances in which
a vote could occur due to the
requirement that a minimum of
100 faculty members be present.
University President Mark
Schlissel discussed initiatives
he hopes to implement next
semester and in the future.
Schlissel said he is working to
promote access, affordability
and equity for all students and
applicants.
He
claimed
the
new Go Blue Guaranteeprogram,
which provides in-state students
with an annual family income of
$65,000 or less with free tuition
and fees, has increased in-state
applications by 24 percent.
However, there has only been a
6 percent increase in those who
actually attend.
Schlissel also discussed the
Wolverine Pathways program,
which aims to help students in
grades 7 through 12 prepare
for college. He said while these
younger students still need to
do the work to be accepted to
the University, this is an effort
to prepare them as much as
possible when that time comes.
“A lot of these students come
from schools where it is kind
of harder to show how talented
you are,” Schlissel said. “So
we have to work on better
ways to identify talented kids
coming out of less advantaged
communities.”
Schlissel discussed academic
innovation and posed questions
regarding the meaning of having
a degree from the University
and whether the University
should focus on teaching skills
that lead to employability.
He also pushed for University
professors and students from
all schools to work together to
get the University on a “path
towards carbon neutrality.”
During the second half of
the assembly meeting, Schlissel
discussed sexual misconduct at
the University for both student-
student
relationships
and
faculty-student
relationships.
Schlissel
claimed
his
administration has always been
aware of sexual misconduct on
campus, but now he is placing
more emphasis on preventing it.
“My executives and I —
the deans, the provost — we
really increased our attention
and tried to figure out ways
to be increasingly proactive,”
Schlissel said. “This is an area
we have always tried to stay on
top of, but we’re really doubling
down because of the level of
importance and the level of
scrutiny that the University and
society has placed itself under.”
Schlissel said campus climate
surveys have revealed a lot of
gender-based
mistreatment
at the University. He said all
staff and students should feel
comfortable
and
valued
on
campus, and noted this could
lower the number of sexual
misconduct allegations.
To
combat
these
sexual
misconduct
issues,
Schlissel
said the University is making
an effort to change its sexual
misconduct policies. One aspect
of this effort is recruiting a
former employee of the Obama
adminstration with Title IX
experience to lead a critique
of the current Department of
Education policy changes to
Title IX.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Tuesday, December 11, 2018 — 3
“It’s sort of
common sense
that building more
luxury housing
is not getting us
anywhere near
growing our
affordability”
Read more online at
michigandaily.com
19 hate crimes were reported
by UMPD in 2017, while 11
were reported in 2016 and
two in 2015, according to data
obtained
directly
from
the
University of Michigan Police
Department. From 2015 to 2017,
the Black community reported
the
highestnumber
of
hate
crimes (14) followed by hate
crimes
against
multiple
racial groups (4), the LGBTQ
community (4), the Muslim
community
(4),
the
Jewish
community
(3),
the
white
community (2) and females (1).
LSA
senior
Timberlee
Whiteus,
vice
president
of
the
University’s
National
Association
for
the
Advancement of Colored People
chapter, said the data reported
does not surprise her.
“These
numbers
don’t
surprise
me,”
Whiteus
wrote in an email interview.
“These
things
happen,
and
administration does their best
to ensure they happen covertly
so that the university’s name is
not tarnished.”
According
to
Whiteus,
the
University’s
history
of
inadequate
responses
to
hate crimes and other bias
incidents
may
cause
marginalized communities to
feel hesitant about reporting
hate crimes.
“People don’t feel supported,”
Whiteus wrote. “Looking at the
history of how the university
responds to bias incidents, it
can make it difficult to make
a report when one sees that
the university has historically
not responded in a way that is
progressive.”
Business senior Mohammad
Shaikh, president of the Muslim
Students’
Association,
said
the Muslim community feels
comfortable
reporting
hate
crimes to Division of Public
Safety and Security. He noted
it is something they have had to
do relatively frequently in the
past couple years upon finding
condoms and urine in University
reflection rooms, a space where
many Muslim students pray.
Shaikh also noted DPSS has
repeatedly
encouraged
the
Muslim community to use them
as a resource and have been
sensitive
and
understanding
when contacted.
Still, Shaikh said he will
never
forget
the
anti-Islam
speech written on the Diag
in 2016 or the University’s
response to it. The incident was
not recorded as a hate crime and
the University did not remove
the statement.
“Literally the first day, I won’t
forget it, it was a Wednesday
in the middle of April, kind of
like the midst of finals,” Shaikh
said. “Someone wrote ‘Stop
Islam’ in huge black letters on
the Diag. They used the bronze
‘M’ on the Diag to be the ‘M’ in
Islam. I think the frustrating
thing was that the University’s
response
in
these
kind
of
situations,
where
it’s
‘free
speech,’ is called into question,
because it’s something that’s
hateful and potentially makes
Muslim students feel unsafe
on campus, that there’s people
with these views. That was a
big concern, the University isn’t
washing this off, they’re not
taking a strong stance. In those
situations, the University was
very, as expected, very cautious
and not very prompt with their
response. I think it took over a
week for (University President)
Mark Schlissel to say anything
about it.”
Public Policy senior Daniel
Greene, president of Central
Student Government, said the
invisible nature of LGBTQ+
identities presents a unique
challenge
to
the
LGBTQ+
community
when
reporting
hate crimes.
“If it’s a severe hate crime, I
think that what often happens
with the LGBTQ community
is that if somebody has to call
security, call the police, go
to the hospital in the more
severe, unfortunate situations,”
Greene said. “It’s not always
tagged as an LGBTQ hate crime
because being LGBTQ is often
an invisible identity. If the
question is either not asked by
the people who are supporting
the survivor of the hate crime,
or if the survivor, he, she,
or
they,
themselves
don’t
articulate it, then oftentimes it
falls off radar.”
Greene said as a white male
and a student leader, he would
feel comfortable reporting a
hate crime to DPSS or seeking
other
University
resources,
something that more private
members
of
the
LGBTQ+
community may not do.
“I’m fully aware I carry a
lot of privilege as an LGBTQ
member — I’m a gay male who
identifies as white, and I’m also
a student leader, so I’m more
willing to seek those resources
here on campus,” Greene said.
“I do believe there is a barrier
that exists for closeted or non-
out members of the LGBTQ
community in articulating the
hate crimes. I can’t speculate
to whether or not they’d report
that harm was done, but I can
tell you there’s an increased
likelihood that they won’t link
it to a sexual orientation or
a gender identity, if they do
choose to seek some remedy.”
LSA junior Emma Wergeles,
external relations officer of the
University’s Hillel, expressed
concern and surprise about
the increasing number of hate
crimes on campus. She said the
data collected in aggregate is
demoralizing.
“It’s
really
surprising,”
Wergeles
said.
“It’s
disheartening. Looking at the
data from the three years, the
increase in volume regardless
of
which
community
was
attacked is really concerning,
and really hurtful and kind of
heartbreaking for the entire
campus community. The fact
that there’s that many hate
crimes at all is really, really
scary.”
Wergeles
said
with
recent
events
targeting
the
Jewish
community,
such
as the murder of nine Jews
worshipping inside a Pittsburgh
synagogue,
her
community
within
Hillel
has
been
extremely supportive in dealing
with hate crimes against the
Jewish community as a whole.
“I
personally
haven’t
experienced a hate crime, so
I can’t speak to that, but I do
feel a really strong community
and
support
system
within
Hillel and within the Jewish
community,”
Wergeles
said.
“I think that my experiences
within the Jewish community
has led me to believe that
we’re really supported by this
University and we’re really
supported by the administration
and
we’re
really
supported
by the leaders of the Jewish
community, whether it be at
Hillel or elsewhere.”
While
different
marginalized
communities
may express varying levels of
comfort with reporting hate
crimes, Whiteus believes many
people may still be confused
about how to even report them.
“I
believe
people
are
sometimes
confused
as
to
how they can report a hate
crime to DPSS,” Whiteus said.
“Once someone experiences a
hate crime, I don’t think the
first response is to report it,
but to ask, ‘Why me?’ Issues
such as these can cause one
to
be
distraught,
and
yes
uncomfortable when reporting
the crime because it causes
them to relive that moment.”
According to Whiteus, the
solution lies in increased racial
diversity of University police
officers.
“To
increase
comfort,
I
believe DPSS has to increase
representation,”
Whiteus
said. “A student might feel
more
comfortable
reporting
a crime to someone who can
understand, and possibly relate
to them.”
CRIME
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ASSEMBLY
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PROF
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MISCONDUCT
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Read more online at
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