LSA
sophomore
Jack
Wroldsen came to the University
of Michigan knowing he was
interested in a history degree.
Yet Wroldsen said he faced
skepticism from parents and
employers about the choice when
he declared a history major.
“My boss at my internship last
summer basically told me that
I shouldn’t major in history,”
Wroldsen said. “I worked at a
law firm, and he asked me ‘When
do you ever think I’m going to
hire a historian?’ which was
interesting. I think people have
reservations about it because it
isn’t really a field you’d go get
a job in unless you want to be a
teacher of history or a professor
or work in a museum.”
Even so, Wroldsen said he
chose to study history because
it complements most fields of
study, even if others perceive
the degree to be useless or
unemployable. He’s pairing the
degree with economics.
He said a course on Europe
since 1945 with Professor Rita
Chin convinced him to declare
history as his major, alongside
economics.
“I’m majoring in history in
part because I love it, and it’s
what I’m most interested in,
but also because I can look at
economic history, or business
history, or things of that nature,”
Wroldsen said. “And people can
do that with medicine, they can
do it with psychology. Any field
has a history to it, and being
a history major only supports
those interests.”
The skepticism witnessed by
Wroldsen mirrors a trend found
at the University and across
the nation. Jay Cook, chair of
the history department, said
the number of undergraduate
students declaring a history
major at the University has
decreased each year for the past
decade, reflecting a nationwide
trend.
A
study
by
Benjamin
Schmidt, assistant professor
of
history
at
Northeastern
University, found that while
the number of history majors is
declining among students of all
races, genders and geographic
backgrounds, the dip is most
prominent among universities
in the Midwest.
Since the Great Recession
of 2007-2009 — when the
U.S. labor market lost around
8.4 million jobs and a typical
household
saw
their
yearly
income decline by $2,700 — the
belief that majoring in history
leads to low paychecks and
limited employment prospects
has deterred students across
the country from pursuing the
major.
Even at the University, where
the
history
department
is
consistently ranked as one of the
top ten programs in the country
by U.S. News and World Report,
the department has noticed the
declining numbers in the major
despite
steady
interest
and
enrollment in history courses.
Degree
reports
from
the
Office of the Registrar show
that while there were 251
History
B.A.s
conferred
in
2006, the number of history
graduates was down to 131 by
2016. That downward trend
is matched at Michigan State
University, where there were
262 declared history majors in
the spring of 2006 and 137 in the
spring of 2019.
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
The University of Michigan
Institute for Social Research
and Rackham Graduate School
sponsored the latest installment
of the Cultural Racism and
American
Social
Structure
Speaker Series Monday morning.
The lecture consisted of a panel
of three faculty members from
Washington
University
in
St. Louis who discussed how
today’s racial tension is a result
of historical mistreatment of
minority groups, particularly
African
Americans.
The
audience included about 30
students and faculty members.
Margaret Hicken, assistant
professor of research at the
Survey Research Center of the
Institute for Social Research
who oversees the RacismLab,
organized the series to highlight
how American culture is racist
toward and marginalizes those
who do not fit the ideal American
image.
“We have an idea in this
country of what it means to be
American,” Hicken said. “If
you don’t fit those ideals, then
your citizenship and sense of
belonging is questioned. The
speaker series talks about the
idea of who gets to belong in
this society and the underlying
idea of what it means to be an
American.”
The
panel,
which
was
presented on behalf of the
Lasting
Legacies
exhibit
at
Washington University in St.
Louis, aims to analyze how the
study of history is critical to
understanding modern concepts
of equality. The project’s goal
is to demonstrate that history
is
continuous.
Though
the
present-day United States may
look different than it did in the
past, its policy of undermining
minorities has stayed the
same.
The Michigan Daily recently
sat down with E. Royster Harper,
vice president of student life
at the University of Michigan,
to discuss several issues on
campus, including disaffiliated
fraternities,
the
sexual
misconduct policy revision and
mental
health
resources
on
campus.
The Michigan Daily: Within
the past year, several University
of
Michigan
fraternities
have
disaffiliated
from
the
Interfraternity Council. They
have since joined the Ann Arbor
Interfraternity Council, which
does not fall under University
jurisdiction. As an administrator,
what are your opinions regarding
these actions and how will the
University address issues that
arise regarding the fraternities
in IFC?
GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 81
©2019 The Michigan Daily
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
CL A SSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
Protest takes
place outside
‘U’ president’s
campus house
Activists dispute U-M Flint professor’s
claim “Black Girls Code” is discriminatory
When
G
Ryan
started
swimming at 6 years old, they
swam just to prove they could to
an older brother. They continued
the
sport
into
collegiate
athletics and eventually earned
a scholarship to the University
of Michigan. Friends described
Ryan as a “big name” in their area,
a kind teammate and a successful
member of the distance squad of
the women’s team.
However, when Ryan came out
as gender non-binary sophomore
year, things changed.
“People had to change in order
to interact with me,” Ryan said.
“They could not exist as they had
previously. My pronouns changed
and my name changed. That kind
of had to be acknowledged.”
Ryan, who uses they, them and
their pronouns, graduated from
the University in the winter
of 2018 after spending four
years competing in collegiate
athletics.
Non-binary
swimmer
challenges
stereotypes
CAMPUS LIFE
Former ‘U’ athlete
talks heteronormative
culture in varsity sports
ZAYNA SYED
Daily Staff Reporter
ISR, Rackham host Cultural Racism
and American Social Structure speakers
Panel discusses historical mistreatment of minorities, current racial tensions
NOAH FISHER
For the Daily
VP Harper
talks frats,
new U-M
procedures
CAMPUS LIFE
RACHEL CUNNINGHAM
Daily News Editor
MADELINE MCLAUGHLIN &
CALLIE TEITELBAUM
Daily Staff Reporters
Follow The Daily
on Instagram:
@michigandaily
Monday afternoon outside
of the home of University of
Michigan
president
Mark
Schlissel,
demonstrators
from the Michigan chapter
of
the
National
Action
Network gathered to voice
concerns regarding U-M Flint
professor Mark Perry’s recent
claim against Wayne State
University. The claim, filed
last week, accused Wayne
State’s
summer
program,
Black Girls Code, of race and
gender discrimination.
According to a press release,
NAN held the demonstration
to
protest
Perry’s
claim.
They
argued
Black
Girls
Code serves to educate and
empower
a
marginalized
group of women.
“National Action Network
activists are outraged that
a
University
of
Michigan
Professor would work to stifle
a program built to teach and
empower
disenfranchised,
underrepresented,
and
underserved young women of
color,” the press release reads.
“In a climate when University
of
Michigan
currently
struggles with diversity in
faculty staffing and student
admissions activist(s) believe
that University of Michigan
should assess the relation
between the professor and
the university.”
Fifteen members of NAN
attended the demonstration,
chanting,
“No
justice,
no
peace,” and “Hey hey, ho
ho, Professor Mark Perry
has got to go.” Rev. Charles
Williams II, president of the
Michigan chapter of NAN,
spoke on behalf of NAN at the
demonstration. He said the
University’s silence on the
issue is unacceptable.
“The
University
should
either decide to send him
(Perry) a message making it
clear that this is not upholding
the ideals of the University
of Michigan, or they need to
make sure they send out a
statement letting the public
know that this is not the
University
of
Michigan’s
stance,” Williams said. “We
are calling on Schlissel, we
are calling on the Board of
Regents immediately to take
a stand on where they are on
this issue.”
Williams said NAN plans
to take legal action against
Perry and will continue to
protest until the University
addresses the issue. He said
the University needs to step
up and be more accountable
for
Perry’s
duties
as
a
professor.
See PROTEST , Page 3
See SWIMMING, Page 3
CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily
African and African American studies associate professor Geoff Ward speaks during the Cultural Racism and American Social Structure series at the Institute for Social
Research Monday morning.
Enrollment of History majors in
decline across midwest schools
Students, faculty reflect on reasons for decrease in number of individuals pursuing the field
See POLICIES , Page 3
BARBARA COLLINS
Daily Staff Reporter
Harper discusses new
sexual misconduct, felony
self-disclosure policies
LIAT WEINSTEIN
Daily Staff Reporter
ROSEANNE CHAO/Daily
See HISTORY, Page 3
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com