The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Thursday, March 28, 2019 — 3A
CSG
From Page 1A
DEI
From Page 1A
HOUSE ON A HILL
Design by Christine Jegarl
Illustration drawn on a track pad juxtaposing the complexities of the rural experience with the fast-paced atmosphere of
urban living
LEADERSHIP
From Page 1A
PRESS
From Page 1A
SCARE
From Page 1A
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
Silva noted Black people have
a long history in Brazil due to
the Black diaspora, the global
displacement of people of African
descent due to slavery between
the 1500s and 1900s. According
to Silva, having a space for Black
culture is necessary in order
for Black people to contribute
to
conversations
about
this
diaspora.
“What is the meaning of
diaspora as a Black Brazilian,
or a Black American, or Black
African?” Silva said. “Art is a
way to approach the struggle
of Black people in Brazil, and
how our experiences connect
with other narratives of the
Black diaspora … In an unequal
society, culture is a basic need.
Art is a demonstration of the
possibility of society.”
Silva
then
presented
on
the work of O Menelick 2o
Ato. According to Silva, the
independent magazine is the
only printed media in Brazil
specifically focused on Black
culture and creators. Started
in 2010, O Menelick 2o Ato
publishes articles, essays, artist
and activist profiles, poems,
photographs and illustratrations
of and by Black artists.
According to Silva, more than
40,000 copies of O Menelick
2oAto have been distributed in
São Paulo, its base of operations,
and throughout Brazil, as well
as internationally in the U.S.,
Europe, Asia and Africa.
Silva explained O Menelick 2o
Ato is a non-profit organization
that distributes copies of the
magazine for free in order to
reach a wider audience.
“We
distribute
for
free,
because the community that we
focus on, they don’t have money
to pay for a magazine,” Silva said.
“We work mostly through public
grants … we apply for private
grants … We have a community
of writers and thinkers (who)
believe it is necessary to do this
work. Sometimes we have to put
in money ourselves.”
Though print editions are
more expensive than online
media,
Silva
expressed
O
Menelick 2o Ato is committed to
publishing in print.
“The capacity to read and
understand and really learn with
the page is very much different
from online,” Silva said.
Silva explained the name of
O Menelick 2o Ato translates to
“O Menelick Act 2” in English
and is a tribute to O Menelick,
the
first
Black
journal
in
Brazil established in the 1915
which closed in the mid-1900s
when it was unable to sustain
production. According to Silva,
this is an acknowledgement of
the history of Black press in
Brazil.
In 2018, O Menelick 2o
Ato was selected as a Prince
Claus laureate, a Dutch award
established in honor of Prince
Claus and supported by the
Dutch
Ministry
of
Foreign
Affairs. According to a report
from the Prince Claus Funds
Committee, O Menelick 2oAto
was honored for its work in
increasing Black representation
in Brazil, among other reasons.
To
end
her
talk,
Silva
expressed her belief in the
power of art to shape culture.
“Even though Black (people)
are more than 50 percent of the
population, Blacks are othered
in Brazil,” Silva said. “But we
still fight as our elders, mostly
because we believe in the power
of the creative imagination …
As an artist and anthropologist,
it makes me comfortable to
communicate
that
culture
and art is a way to experiment
and feel and develop critical
perceptions about society.”
Frieda Ekotto, professor of
comparative
literature
and
Afroamerican
and
African
studies, attended the event.
Ekotto said in an interview with
The Daily after the event that
the work of O Menelick 2o Ato
is important as it serves as an
archive of Black thought and
expression.
“This
is
a
place
where
we can collect and excavate
knowledge,” Ekotto said. “And
that knowledge is not there.
There’s a need to document this
history, Black culture, Black arts
… It’s extremely important that
other generations will go back to
the archive to see that this work
is being done.”
Haugh-Ewald couldn’t attend
the CSG executive ticket debate
on March 18 due to a scheduling
conflict with an exam.
“I signed up and I attended the
meeting and then I couldn’t make
the presidential debate because I
had an exam at the same time, but
that wasn’t an issue from what I
understand, it wasn’t a critical part
of the campaign,” Haugh-Ewald
said.
According to Haugh-Ewald,
when the University Election
Commission sent out the sample
ballot on March 21, he was
listed as a candidate for College
of
Engineering
representative,
rather than the CSG presidency he
thought he’d signed up for.
Haugh-Ewald
immediately
emailed the election committee
once he noticed the error, but said
they never responded.
The Daily reached out to Law
student Victoria Allen, CSG’s
Election Director, for this article,
but she said she was unable to
comment on the incident until the
conclusion of the election.
The sample ballot included an
area for candidates to write their
campaign platform. Because at
that point he assumed his position
on the ballot would not be changed
from Engineering representative
candidate
to
presidential
candidate, Haugh-Ewald wrote
“I won’t let you down” in lieu of a
longer platform.
He said he was not notified
his position had been changed
to
presidential
candidate
by
the election committee until he
noticed his name on the ballot on
March 27.
“My initial impression attending
the first meeting was that they (the
election committee) were a little
disorganized and they weren’t
entirely able to answer some of
the questions about hard rules and
campaigning,” Haugh-Ewald said.
“By the time they had changed
the election I was in the system,
I couldn’t go in and upload any
platform, and they didn’t notify
me that they had changed which
election I am in until I noticed
today (Wednesday) that I was
indeed a presidential candidate.”
Haugh-Ewald said he again
emailed the election committee
March 27 to ask if he could add a
platform late but was told he was
not able to. Haugh-Ewald said this
was the first time the committee
responded to him since he emailed
them six days before.
Although his platform is not
included on the ballot, if elected,
Haugh-Ewald said his biggest
initiative would be open-sourcing
more course material to unenrolled
students
to
make
education
more accessible. He discussed
using certificates from learning
platforms such as Coursera to help
students earn their degrees.
“The vast majority of courses
on the platform are respectively
developed, but lack any tangible
coordination
with
existing
university coursework,” Haugh-
Ewald said. “Potential actions to
this end include the conversion
of already digitized U-M classes
into an open-source compatible
syllabus,
and
eventually
the
offering of limited exams to
un-enrolled students. It is critical
that we as a university recognize
the equivalency of certain open-
source materials so as to open
doors for students that would
normally be unable to sacrifice
the time and money to obtain a
traditional degree.”
Haugh-Ewald is joined on the
executive ticket ballot by LSA
sophomore Ben Gerstein and LSA
junior Isabelle Blanchard of the
Engage Michigan party, running
for president and vice president
respectively, and Engineering
freshman
Shub
Argha
who
is running independently for
president. When reached by The
Daily, the candidates said they
are not allowed to comment on
Haugh-Ewald’s situation until
the polls close tonight at 11:59
p.m.
LSA junior Jacob Inosencio said
he noticed Haugh-Ewald’s name
on the election ballot but did not
recognize his name. He said he has
heard other students who believe
his campaign is a joke because of
the singular sentence included as
his platform on the ballot.
“I think people should definitely
have the opportunity to have their
platforms put on there,” Inosencio
said. “You want to be informed
about who you’re going to vote for.”
LSA interim dean Elizabeth
Cole wrote in an email to The
Daily this event, as well as the
previous DEI events in the
series, are opportunities for
faculty to gauge student input
and a chance for students to
give feedback about the Uni-
versity and LSA-specific DEI
plans.
“I encourage you to attend
one of these sessions,” Cole
wrote. “The university is at the
midway point of the campus-
wide five-year DEI Strategic
Plan, and this is an opportu-
nity to check in on progress.
These
Student
Community
Conversations are a chance
for you to give feedback to the
U-M administration that will
help shape the future of the
U-M and LSA DEI plans, and
of our work together.”
Rob Sellers, chief diversity
officer and vice provost for
equity and inclusion, empha-
sized at the event the impor-
tance of student voices and
explained the reasoning for
the strategic plan’s creation
and continuing dialogues dur-
ing his speaking portion of the
meeting.
Sellers said DEI plays a
vital role in the success of the
University, adding that it is
important the University feels
accessible and comfortable for
all students. According to Sell-
ers, the DEI plans are “living
documents” that can change
over time.
He also noted the University
has 51 different plans for dif-
ferent administrative units, in
addition to a University-wide
plan.
“Instead of having a single
plan, the University of Michi-
gan has done it very differ-
ently,” Sellers said. “Those
plans — and the fact that each
unit has a plan — was a way for
us to reinforce the idea that
diversity, equity and inclusion
isn’t something that simply
resides in the President’s office
or reside in the Chief Diversity
Officer’s office, but it is a core
aspect of who we are as a uni-
versity.”
Sellers also tied diversity to
institutional success. He said
DEI helps all students feel like
they can reach their potential
and belong at the University.
Sellers said the University
has made progress from when
DEI was first created and is
more proactive than it has
been in the past in relation to
diversity issues, but there is
still work to be done.
“It took us 200-plus years as
an institution to get here and
it’s not going to change com-
pletely in five years,” Sellers
said. “I will tell you we’ve made
a great deal of progress and …
we are not the same institution
that we were three years ago.
I will also equally state we are
not where we need to be.”
A student inquired about a
report from the University of
Southern California released
in September that gave the
University an F grade on over-
all racial equity among public
universities. The student asked
if the University has acknowl-
edged the report and if it has
prompted any changes.
Specifically, the report gave
the University an F in repre-
sentation of Black students on
campus, who make up 4.4 per-
cent of undergraduates student
population.
The
University
received a C grade for its Black
graduation rate, which is 12.1
percent lower than the overall
completion rate.
Sellers pointed out the part
of the report focused on the
graduation rate is complicated
because the University’s grad-
uation rate is higher than the
national average. He said the
study was important, but found
its analysis simplistic because
it looked at graduation rates
between populations rather
than compared to national
averages.
“We do have a problem of
graduation rates as a func-
tion of ethnicity here at the
University of Michigan and
we are continuing to work to
change that,” Sellers said. “If
we would have had really, real-
ly poor graduation rates across
the board, we would have got-
ten an A. It didn’t take into
consideration that our gradu-
ation rates are so high across
the board.”
Students shared ideas with
present faculty members dur-
ing different portions of the
event. One included crowd-
sourcing ideas through ice-
breaker and writing activities
and through small-group facil-
itation. The final event is on
April 2 from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
in Rackham Assembly Hall.
Information senior Chalse
Okorom helped facilitate stu-
dent discussions as a Diversity
Peer Educator. She said it is
important to have the events
so student voices can be heard.
“We’re the most populous
people on campus,” Okorom
said. “If faculty is making
changes, then I think that this
is the best way for them to
get that input or those ideas
instead of just coming up with
it on their own.”
Katrina Wade-Golden, dep-
uty chief diversity officer, said
at the conclusion of the event
that the feedback from stu-
dents will be considered going
forward as the University pre-
pares for the fourth year of
the initiative and beyond. She
thanked the students in atten-
dance for their time and input.
“Many of the items that got
positioned in our original plan
came through from events
like this,” Wade-Golden said.
“We are really happy that you
shared the gift of your ideas
and we will be taking those
ideas under advisement as we
prepare.”
liaison to Student Life in the pre-
vention and community engage-
ment
department,
reassured
students those improvements will
continue to come from within his
department.
“You’ll see a lot more proac-
tive communication through the
remainder of the semester from
prevention and community out-
reach within DPSS,” Baker said.
Baker has facilitated numer-
ous events on behalf of DPSS since
the scare occurred. Last week, he
spoke at a CSG meeting, a Resi-
dence Hall Association meeting
and a town hall with Rackham
students. Baker has also contrib-
uted to an ongoing DPSS initiative
to register students for the emer-
gency alert system.
DPSS is exploring new avenues
to improve their emergency com-
munications after receiving exten-
sive student complaints regarding
the timeliness of alerts.
LSA senior Niccolo Beltramo
raised the issue of the timing of
alerts at the town hall.
“Specifically with regard to
sort of the speed of communica-
tion from DPSS … obviously some
delay is to be expected because
you all had to check our the situ-
ation and validate, but 30 minutes
seems like quite a long time in a
potential active shooter situation,”
Beltramo said.
Washington
explained
that
during an emergency, when stu-
dents take to their phones to con-
tact friends and loved ones it clogs
the servers and prevents text or
email alerts from being received
by the student body in a timely
fashion. Washington said DPSS
advises students to download
their app because the push noti-
fications are more expedient than
traditional alert forms.
Another concern voiced at the
town hall is the inability of some
students with disabilities to com-
ply with the run, hide and fight
protocol the campus community
was advised to adopt.
LSA senior Bradley Ebenhoeh
wrote questions on this issue that
were asked by his caregiver, Kine-
siology sophomore Natalie Bull-
ock.
“For people with disabilities
such as myself, many of us cannot
run, hide or fight,” Bullock said on
Ebenhoeh’s behalf. “That was eas-
ily the most terrifying part about
it. It felt like my own school did
not care about my safety.”
Washington said DPSS has
been in the process of remedy-
ing this issue by training “capable
guardians” who would be able to
provide assistance to all vulner-
able communities in the event
of emergency. This includes stu-
dents with disabilities, as well as
children and those hospitalized in
Michigan medical facilities.
The capable guardians are cur-
rently undergoing training with
Baker to learn a nuanced proce-
dure to follow during an active
shooter alert. Instead of running,
hiding and fighting, they are
taught to instruct, evacuate, shel-
ter and defend. All doctors, nurses
and University staff are expected
to be trained under this new pro-
gram.
Greene said this town hall is a
way to wrap up loose ends before
solidifying a final, improved pro-
tocol.
“We have done multiple events
on multiple fronts over the past
few weeks, and this is our final
event,” Greene said. “Tonight
was the last chance out of a whole
series of events that provided stu-
dents with the same opportunity
and the same information to bet-
ter understand what happened
but also to be able to provide criti-
cisms and provide feedback about
how we can even better react in
the future.”
DPSS expressed they are taking
student feedback into account.
“We have some work to do
ahead of us,” Baker said.
“Don’t be afraid to ask people …
to ask about learning more about
what they do,” McQuade said.
“They will say yes far more than
you think they will.”
When asked about obstacles they
faced in their careers, Dominguez
and McQuade discussed battles
with
self-confidence
in
their
abilities as women.
“In many ways, it was my
own kind of … nervousness about
not
really
having
particular
characteristics that were needed
for particular jobs that held me
back more than even other people,”
Dominguez said.
They discussed the need for
extra
self-confidence,
as
the
men around them seemed more
confident
in
their
leadership
abilities. Especially when applying
for jobs and internships, McQuade
said women tend to underestimate
their ability to get a position, and
encouraged
audience
members
to
have
more
confidence
in
themselves.
“Before women will apply for
a promotion or position, they will
feel like they have to meet 100
percent of all the qualifications
on the list, whereas men apply
for the job if they meet 25 percent
of the qualifications on the list,”
McQuade said. “Don’t let the fact
that you don’t check all of the boxes
cause you to eliminate yourself. You
might bring something to the table
that other applicants don’t, so don’t
eliminate yourself.”
LSA junior Emma Hess said in
an interview with The Daily after
the event that McQuade’s point
resonated with her.
“That’s always how I look at
internship
applications,”
Hess
said. “I think, ‘Oh, I meet like one
of these out of the seven that they
have there, I’m never going to get
this, I shouldn’t even apply.’ So that
was like really good advice to know
that I should just take the chance
and express my interest in a cover
letter and hope that they are willing
to listen.”
McQuade also spoke about
workplace
harassment
as
an
obstacle that most women will have
to experience. McQuade said while
these situations may not always
constitute the “legal definition of
sexual harassment, they could be
described as biased incidents.”
As a woman in a male-dominated
and, at times, competitive field, she
discussed needing to decide ahead
of time how to respond to these
situations.
“What are you going to do
when the moment comes, when
this happens, because it’s going
to happen,” McQuade said. “And
there’s certainly some things that
are absolutely intolerable and you
need to stand up and call it out the
way it is.”
The speakers discussed the
women
who
inspired
them,
speaking to the importance of
speaking
their
minds,
having
integrity and remaining “calm in
the face of a storm.”
The discussion concluded with
audience
members
asking
for
advice on career paths and law
school. McQuade offered guidance
on recovering from failure.
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com