“In addition to all the administrative
bloat and administrative growth
that’s been driving up the cost of
tuition, this is now a whole new part
of subset of the bigger picture of more
and more administrators making
higher and higher salaries, and then
burdening students and their parents
with higher and higher levels of
student loan debt to be able to afford
this rising tuition that’s blowing up
not because instructional costs are
necessarily increasing or their hiring
full-time professors, they’re hiring
more and more bureaucrats.”
Perry published a list of diversity
officers at the University on his
Twitter account. He said over 70
positions have been added and the
money spent would be equivalent
to
giving
in-state
full
tuition
scholarships to over 700 students.
In response to a Detroit News
editorial critical of DEI spending,
University President Mark Schlissel
wrote in a letter to the editor over 80
percent of the positions were created
before 2016 and have had diversity
duties added since their creation.
“In many cases, staff with the term
‘diversity’ in their job descriptions
have added these specific duties
to jobs they already had,” Schlissel
wrote. “Everyone benefits from
their work.”
University spokeswoman Kim
Broekhuizen reiterated the message
of Schlissel’s letter in an email
interview with The Daily. She added
there is also a DEI Implementation
Leads Group, which is a group
helping
with
department-level
DEI work, but these are University
employees doing this in addition to
their other work.
“They help carry out unit
and department level DEI goals
and meet on a monthly basis to
share best practices, engage in
professional development activities
and receive updates, information,
tools, templates and other resources
from
central
administration,”
Broekhuizen wrote. “Many of these
employees are not solely dedicated
to DEI efforts but do so in addition
to their roles and responsibilities
within their department.”
National
discourse
on
diversity and Title IX compliance
Perry filed a complaint in May
with the U.S. Department of
Education’s Office for Civil Rights
challenging 11 University programs,
initiatives,
organizations
and
scholarships. An OCR letter to Perry
dated Jan. 24 said the department is
opening an investigation into the
claims.
Perry said his claims stemmed
from males being overlooked and
the University not taking action.
He said the roles of employees who
have diversity-related duties should
be to ensure programs and policies
work against discrimination against
all groups equally. He specifically
noted the case of men.
“From a legal standpoint it’s
very clear and yet it seems like it’s
never tolerated to discriminate
against women or minorities, but
discriminating
against
men
is
either overlooked or encouraged or
even advocated,” Perry said. “That’s
where this double-standard, I think,
in the diversity industry, the Title
IX enforcement and compliance
is, so that’s where I think if they’re
really doing their job, then they
have to look at discrimination
against men as a violation of Title
IX — which it is — and they have to
take that as seriously as they take
discrimination against women.”
Perry is known for challenging
a women-only lounge at Michigan
State University in 2016. His
complaint prompted a petition in
favor of the lounge garnering over
6,500 signatures and the school
converting the lounge into a study
space for all students. Additionally,
he has filed complaints with OCR
against Wayne State University,
the University of Virginia and the
University of Minnesota, Twin
Cities.
However, Perry is not the only
person vocalizing his opinions
on diversity programs and Title
IX policy compliance on college
campuses.
Margaret
Valois,
a
Virginia-based
lawyer,
filed
a
complaint
with
OCR
against
Tulane University for “financial
discrimination” against men in
awards and internship grants.
Ultimately, Tulane reached an
agreement requiring administrative
training to prevent discrimination
in
funding
and
on-campus
opportunities in the future.
Perry
held
up
the
Tulane
University
agreement
as
an
example of the outcome of OCR
investigations
into
diversity
programs.
He
said
there
are
parallels between his complaints
and those made against Tulane.
“Tulane University was just
challenged on a bunch of similar
programs,” Perry said. “They were
found to be in violation of Title IX,
so they’re now under sanctions
from the Office for Civil Rights in
Dallas for programs that are very
similar to the ones that I challenged
at the University of Michigan, and
so they’re now under orders from
the Office of Civil Rights to open up
all these programs that previously
discriminated based on gender…
The outcome at Tulane, I think,
should be a precedent for what
happens at Michigan.”
Similarly, Harvard University
has recently faced a flurry of
lawsuits
related
to
Title
IX,
diversity and discrimination. One
pair of lawsuits, known unofficially
as #StandUpToHavard, was filed by
Greek groups and three anonymous
students. The lawsuits claim a
school policy barring students
involved in single-sex finals clubs
— a select group of fraternity-like
student organizations recognized
by the school — and Greek
organizations from holding campus
leadership positions, varsity team
athletic captaincies and school
endorsement
for
fellowships
violates the U.S. Title IX policy
and the Constitution, as well as the
Massachusetts state constitution
and Civil Rights Act.
In another case, a transgender
woman is suing Harvard and
one of its Office for Dispute
Resolution investigators for alleged
discrimination
and
retaliation
against the plaintiff after she
reported an admissions officer
for sexual harassment. All three
lawsuits are ongoing.
Broekhuizen
said
because
Title IX decisions are made on an
institution-by-institution
basis,
rulings made on programs at other
campuses like the decision at
Tulane University, do not influence
University decisions.
“A ruling at Tulane University —
which is specific to the programs/
policies at Tulane University —
does not impact our policies and
programming here at the University
of Michigan,” Broekhuizen wrote.
“The University of Michigan, as
an equal opportunity/affirmative
action employer, complies with all
applicable federal and state laws
regarding nondiscrimination and
affirmative action. The University
of Michigan is committed to a policy
of equal opportunity for all persons
and does not discriminate on the
basis of race, color, national origin,
age, marital status, sex, sexual
orientation, gender identity, gender
expression,
disability,
religion,
height, weight, or veteran status in
employment, educational programs
and activities, and admissions.”
Student opinions, involvement
Kinesiology
junior
Jackson
Schleuning,
secretary
of
the
University’s chapter of College
Republicans, said he doesn’t take
issue with the intentions of DEI, but
feels University resources should be
placed directly into the classroom.
“I believe the intentions are good
behind the efforts,” Schleuning
said. “The resources could better be
used if those are funneled directly
back into the classroom. What
strengthens us as a University
and community is being one of the
most high-level institutions in the
nation and I believe that comes with
having highly funded classrooms.”
Broekhuizen
recognizes
any
program
will
garner
differing
opinions
from
students.
She
referenced the first and second-
year progress reports for the five-
year plan to show the impact of the
program on campus. As of today,
she said 92 percent of the 2,177
individual action items are already
implemented or in progress.
In regards to student input,
Broekhuizen said there are many
avenues for students to share their
thoughts. For instance, one 2018
DEI Summit Week event, hosted
by the Office of Student Life, was
a student-designed event that gave
students the opportunity to discuss
possible approaches to campus
climate-related issues, as well as
give input on the proposed Trotter
Multicultural
Center
interior
finishes and programming.
Additionally,
Broekhuizen
also said many individual schools
and departments have diversity
committees comprised of students
and faculty. She said all students
are welcome to contact the Office
of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to
share their thoughts. Broekhuizen
also noted a new student advisory
planning group in the Office of
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,
which students can join if interested.
Wheeler said. “And obviously
the
things
the
Ronald
McDonald House does are
just amazing.”
The
Ronald
McDonald
House
has
undergone
extensive
renovations
over the past decade. They
launched a new program
where volunteers push a
hospitality cart around the
hospital, complete with hair
ties, phone chargers and
whatever else families may
need. The house has been
expanded and re-outfitted
from the house originally
built in 1985, with new
housing
in
the
hospital
just steps away from the
Newborn
and
Pediatric
Intensive
Care
Units
at
Mott.
The
Alpha
Delta
Pi
sorority pairs with Ronald
McDonald House for their
primary philanthropy, and
the
University’s
chapter
works
closely
with
the
Ronald McDonald House of
Ann Arbor year after year.
LSA junior Sarah Daly is the
formerly philanthropy chair
of Alpha Delta Pi. She said
it’s important for students
to be aware of and support
the
Ronald
McDonald
House.
“Everyone
can
feel
connected because it’s so
close to campus and its
children are staying at the
Mott’s Hospital which is
right on campus right next
to
Markley,”
Daly
said.
“Students have the ability
to go in and cook dinner
for the families and see
the impact they can make
and the impact the Ronald
McDonald house is making
on the families.”
Daly spent time in a
Ronald McDonald House
when
she
was
younger
while her cousin received
medical care. She said the
organization’s
cause
still
has a place in the hearts of
herself and her family.
“They
don’t
ask
the
families to pay,” Daly said.
“That’s another thing that’s
so special is that these
families are able to stay
there, feel warm, feel like
they’re at home for free or
for a small donation, but
those rooms do cost a lot
of money. That’s why they
need people like us to help
take care of them, volunteer
but also donate money.”
It
costs
approximately
$100 per night to house one
family. With 44 rooms and
those at capacity nearly all
of the time, LeDuc said it
becomes expensive to keep
the house up and running.
The
Michigan
Masonic
Charitable
Foundation’s
grant will cover a year’s
worth of occupancy for one
of the rooms.
“We receive a few very
large
donations
a
year,”
LeDuc
said.
“This
is
certainly one of our largest
donations,
and
we’re
incredibly grateful to the
Masons for providing this
wonderful
community
grant.”
LeDuc said that donations
like the Masons’ grant or
Alpha
Delta
Pi’s
efforts
are
what
sustain
the
organization.
“We
rely
on
the
community and appreciate
the community support that
we receive,” LeDuc said.
The
University
will
use
the gift to create the FinTech
Collaboratory,
which
will
engage
students
and
faculty
in
educational
and
research
opportunities. The Collaboratory
will be an interdisciplinary effort
between the Center for Smart
Infrastructure Finance (UM-SIF)
at the College of Engineering,
the Center on Finance, Law and
Policy at the School of Public
Policy and the FinTech initiative
at the Ross School of Business.
UM-SIF
Director
Peter
Adriaens, a professor of civil
and environmental engineering,
highlighted
education,
case
research
and
applying
blockchain knowledge to real-
world opportunities as the main
components of the Collaboratory.
“There’s
that
student
education side to help develop
a pipeline that companies like
Ripple can hire,” Adriaens said.
“To new use cases, that’s really
all about market expansion for
opportunities for FinTech and
blockchain. And then the third
one is how do we translate all of
this more into the public markets
and public finance and public
infrastructure systems.”
The
financial
technology
space also has a social impact.
Adriaens
stressed
the
need
to look past the algorithmic
side
of
cryptocurrency
to
see the business needs and
legal implications of financial
technologies.
“It’s not because you can do
it that you should do it, from a
business perspective,” he said.
“On the social side it’s again, it’s
not because you can do it that
you should do it. Or if you do it,
you’re going to have to put some
protections in place, privacy
protections in place for people...
It might potentially result in
destabilization of the markets
and that’s why we need financial
policy. So, not just public policy
but financial policy to be in place.
That’s why we’re starting to look
at students in all different sides,
there are legal students involved
both from the Center on Finance,
Law and Policy but also in the
Business School that look at the
legalities.”
Blockchain
and
cryptocurrency fall under the
broader umbrella of financial
technology, aiming to improve
financial
service
activities,
usually through the use of
algorithms. Originally created
for
Bitcoin,
a
blockchain
is
a
growing
linkage
of
“blocks” storing transactional
information,
which
can
be
accessed by anyone and is
stored on multiple computers
as opposed to in one central
location.
Because
of
this,
blockchain is seen as a more
robust, protected way of making
transactions.
Cryptocurrency
is a medium of assets using
cryptography to secure financial
data and transactions.
Student interest in FinTech
has been growing rapidly and
surged in popularity in 2017
when cryptocurrencies rapidly
rose in price. On Jan. 1, 2018,
Bitcoin hit its highest price
of
$13,412.44.
Engineering
senior Andy Walner, president
of Wolverine Blockchain, sees
interest from students in both
blockchain and cryptocurrency.
“We were founded at the
beginning of last school year,
and that was a time when
blockchain and cryptocurrency,
which people often think of as
synonymous, was getting a lot
of media coverage,” Walner said.
“We held our first event and had
a turnout of 500 people at Ross
in the Robertson Auditorium,
and we’re seeing a lot of interest
in December.”
Business junior Rishi Prasad,
co-founder
of
Wolverine
Blockchain and president and
founder of Michigan FinTech,
a
student
organization
that
promotes
education
and
opportunities in the field of
financial
technology,
echoed
Walner’s
sentiments.
He
recalled a Michigan FinTech
event in 2017, where Andrew
Wu,
assistant
professor
of
technology and operations and
finance, spoke and where the
club saw how many students
were interested in a FinTech
course. The club would go on to
develop the course, today taught
by Wu and finance professor
Robert Dittmar.
“That was one of our first
events, we had 300 people come
out to it,” Prasad said. “And
(Wu) said, ‘If you’re interested
in taking a FinTech course, raise
your hand.’ And nearly every
hand in the room went up, and
he literally took a picture of that
and sent it to the dean. That was
proof right there that there’s
insane interest in the space.”
According to Wu, meeting
high student demand is difficult
because
already
present
resources
like
courses
and
faculty are being utilized to
their full capacity. Resources
from the Collaboratory and from
Ripple would provide additional
learning
opportunities
for
students.
“We’re capacity-constrained
by faculty, but the demand is
there,” Wu said. “We’re going
to launch a new MBA section
this year. All of our action-
based learning things, as you
can imagine these things are
very popular. But again, the
Collaboratory would give us a
lot more resources to develop
more of that, maybe getting
more faculty involved so that
we can better serve student
demand. Right now essentially
the demand is so high that we’re
capped by what we can do.”
Weber said one goal of the
UBRI is to grow a network of
students and faculty who can
lead the way in cryptocurrency
and
blockchain
development
and application.
“Part of the program is
to
create
more
connecting
tissue
and
more
synergy
between students and faculty
who
are
working
at
these
different universities,” Werner
said. “There’s a lot of cross-
pollination, it can happen in
collaboration,
already
we’re
seeing
subjoined
research
happening. There are workshops
and conferences planned for
later this semester and later this
year where, you know, Ripple
partners will either be hosting,
co-hosting or attending.”
As one of the 29 universities
partnered
with
Ripple,
the
University serves as a “node”
on a RippleNet blockchain. Wu
said this will be particularly
helpful as a hands-on approach
for student learning.
“We’re going to have a Ripple
validator here on campus,” Wu
said. “That means we’re going to
be part of the Ripple blockchain
network,
actually
processing
the Ripple transactions. As part
of that, we’re also going to build
what’s called stock servers for
the students, our students, to
get involved. So they can see the
transactions, that’ll give them
a better understanding of how
this blockchain actually works.
They can see that in real time,
live.”
Since
FinTech,
cryptocurrency and blockchain
are new topics, Wu said there
are no textbooks and no cases
for students to study. Instead,
he said, students will engage
through action-based learning.
“We already launched a bunch
of projects which we are going
to do more with the FinTech
Collaboratory,” Wu said. “We’re
going to build essentially action-
based
learning
projects
for
students to actually work in
these FinTech companies. Be
it Ripple, be it startups, across
different markets. In the U.S.,
we have one here this spring in
the U.K., we’re going to build
new markets in China and Israel
… just to give these guys first-
hand experience in actually
working with the companies.
And in doing so they can learn
what FinTech is and how it
works.”
Prasad
believes
the
Collaboratory can help solve
challenges on campus, including
a lack of recruiting events for
those interested in a FinTech
career, as well as increasing
student
engagement
and
education across the University.
“I think it’s tremendous that
the University is doing this, I
think it’s definitely a step in the
right direction,” Prasad said.
“I’d say the blockchain space
can definitely be crowded and
the legitimacy of companies in
that space can definitely, to put it
bluntly, be called into question.
But I’d say Ripple is definitely
one of the industry leaders,
one of the most legitimate
companies in the space, with
their leadership team, the type
of investments they’ve attracted
and
the
partnerships
that
they’ve garnered with some of
the biggest financial industries
and companies in the world.
I think it’s great and in terms
of research and connections it
should help a lot.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, February 15, 2019 — 3
GRANT
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DIVERSITY
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PE NNY STAMPS SPE AKE R SE RIES
Umayyah Cable, associate english professor at Hartwick College, speaks on independent filmmaking at the Critical Conversations: Media Studies at
the Intersection of Theory and Practice discussion in Hatcher Graduate Library Thursday afternoon.
ZACHARY GOLDSMITH/Daily
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