Schlissel then directly addressed
points students would be discussing
during the public comment portion
of the meeting.
He first addressed the “dissenting
views” surrounding the recently
announced
felony
self-disclosure
policy by saying information helps
maintain a safe community. Schlissel
noted the University already has
felony-related
information
about
new employees through background
checks, but this policy gives the
University information about current
employees.
“To be absolutely clear: history
of a felony conviction does not
automatically prevent an applicant
from working at the University,
nor would it necessarily result in a
current employee losing their job,”
Schlissel said. “Knowing about a
serious criminal charge allows the
University to take timely action
in instances where there could be
a significant risk of harm in the
workplace.”
He noted this policy triggers an
internal review and the University
will “closely monitor” the policy
to ensure it doesn’t have disparate
impacts on certain communities.
Schlissel then discussed carbon
neutrality by emphasizing he shares
students’ urgency about the issue. He
clarified the University will develop a
plan to achieve carbon neutrality, and
then will commit to a specific date.
“When we are at our best, our
impact does not stop at the borders
of our campuses,” Schlissel said. “We
seek to change society, to help others
and to make significant, measurable
differences on the world we share.”
Schlissel noted the University has
already achieved carbon reduction
and carbon emission is down 7
percent from the 2006 baseline, while
the physical campus has grown since
then by 20 percent. He also said he is
aware of the controversy surrounding
the plan to expand the Central
Power Plant, but said the University
would need to purchase more coal-
based electricity. Functioning as
a university, especially one with
a major hospital, requires a lot of
energy, and fossil fuels are the only
way to provide enough energy for the
foreseeable future, Schlissel said.
He also noted the President’s
Commission on Carbon Neutrality
added a public session of the
commission on April 9. To end his
speech, he commended University
athletic teams for their success
throughout the year.
After Schlissel finished, Regent
Denise Ilitch (D), vice chair of the
board, commended Schlissel on
his election into the John Hopkins
Society of Scholars. The society — the
first of its kind in the U.S. — honors
faculty who have served at least a year
at Johns Hopkins and have received
distinction in their discipline while
not working at the school.
Following Schlissel’s remarks, Joy
Beatty, vice chair of Senate Advisory
Committee on University Affairs and
a professor at U-M Dearborn, said
faculty care about the University
and are well-poised to offer advice
on University affairs. She requested
faculty to be included in decision-
making processes so there is time
to offer constructive and helpful
feedback.
Specifically,
Beatty
noted
faculty’s
longstanding
concerns
about the Office for Institutional
Equity’s processes, including lack
of notification, due process and
opportunity for appeals as well as
long timelines for investigations. She
said the Senate Assembly is preparing
suggestions for improvements and
passed resolutions to share with the
Office of the Provost.
“To realize the full benefit to the
community that stems from the
consultation with involved faculty,
elected faculty representatives need
to be included early in decision-
making processes, so that there
is time to offer constructive and
thoughtful feedback,” Beatty said.
“If we are consulted after decisions
have already been made or too
late in the process for substantive
feedback, the administration risks
becoming entangled in conversations
which miss key points of community
concern.”
During updates from the regional
campuses,
it
was
announced
that Schlissel will be on the U-M
Dearborn campus next week to give
a speech about the future of higher
education and the importance of
a growth mindset. Additionally,
according to the board, significant
progress on scholarships and funding
for student support has been made
on the Flint campus because of the
success of the Victors for Michigan
campaigns.
The board voted on appointments,
buildings, degree programs, policy
and partnerships. One action request
that was approved was a master
affiliation and related joint venture
agreement
between
Michigan
Medicine
and
Sparrow
Health
System of central Michigan.
The
board
also
approved
an addition of classrooms and
accessibility improvements to the
Detroit Observatory, the second-
oldest building on campus. The
project will cost an estimated $10
million.
E. Royster Harper, vice president
for student life, commended Daniel
Greene, Central Student Government
president, for his leadership. She
called him “tenacious” and said his
leadership has made “the University
stronger.”
In his final address to the board,
Greene, a Public Policy senior, said he
struggled to decide what to discuss.
He began by thanking faculty
members and DPSS, then discussed
how to build a better University in
the future.
He said in the past he has
spoken on a variety of topics —
from food insecurity to mental
health awareness on campus — but
reflected on how the University can
be more accessible and inclusive
going forward. Greene emphasized
it is important every student feels
welcome and safe on campus.
Greene noted the University’s
strides in these areas, including
the Go Blue Guarantee, the Maize
and Blue Cupboard, the Trotter
Multicultural Center and the holistic
well-being model. However, he said
he realizes the campus community
at-large still has a long way to go.
Greene said CSG ideally represents
all students, but he hoped his role
has also been as an advocate for
those voices who were not heard on
campus.
“Our institutional values include
equity, diversity, liberty and justice,”
Greene said. “Our mission statement
calls for developing leaders and
citizens who will challenge the
present and enrich the future.
Unfortunately, those values and
mission are not always upheld. We as
a campus community still fall short
in our mission and, unfortunately,
oftentimes fall short for the most
vulnerable members of our campus
community. For me, the Michigan of
the future has a campus community
where visible and invisible identities
… do not predict the quality nor the
potential of each student’s Michigan
experience.”
Public comments
During the public comments
portion of the Board of Regents
meeting on Thursday, 15 students
and community members addressed
the board and University of Michigan
administration.
They
discussed
carbon
neutrality,
the
felony
disclosure policy and undocumented
students.
Carbon Neutrality
The first speaker was U-M
alum Jan Culbertson, leadership
council chair of the Ann Arbor 2030
District partnership. She discussed
setting standards on University
buildings as part of its goal to reach
carbon neutrality. Culbertson said
because the University is such a big
institution, it has the opportunity
to make a huge impact and asked
the board to actively set standards
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
from University buildings.
LSA
sophomore
Hallie
Fox,
member of the Climate Action
Movement, then asked University
President Mark Schlissel and the
Board of Regents to take stronger
action and show the same level of
commitment to achieving carbon
neutrality as the students have.
She noted while she and her fellow
students are passionate about climate
change, they need Schlissel’s help to
achieve their goals.
“You say it’s not reasonable for us
to divest from carbon-based energy
sources,” Fox said. “If we’re lucky
enough to spend millions of dollars
renovating University office space,
then we’re wealthy enough to invest
in the urgent need for true carbon
neutrality on campus. President
Schlissel and the regents, I challenge
you to take meaningful action like
the rest of us. Time and time again,
us students have been brave enough
to take a stand… We’ve showed our
commitment to carbon neutrality. So
far, you showed us your commitment
to taking small actions that aim to
appease the masses.”
Rackham student Gordon Fitch
also spoke about the University’s path
to carbon neutrality. Fitch claimed
when he signed up to speak at this
meeting, he had hoped he would
be congratulating Schlissel and
the regents on their excellent work
setting an achievable goal to reduce
emissions. Instead, Fitch discussed
his disappointment in the University
for its treatment of student protesters
during the Climate Strike on March
15.
“You decided it was preferable to
arrest peaceful protesters, including
minors, rather than simply agreeing
to an open meeting,” Fitch said. “Since
then, we have heard from those high
school student organizers that they
are no longer interested in attending
the University of Michigan, so long
as it continues to refuse substantive
action on climate change. These are
some of the brightest, most dynamic
young people in Ann Arbor — if any
of the 15- to 18-year-olds out there fit
the description of leaders and best,
it’s them.”
Fitch said he hopes the University
will begin creating more substantive
policies on carbon neutrality going
forward.
“It would be a shame — and I
really mean a shame — on you,” Fitch
said. “If you continue to allow this
issue to drive a wedge between this
great university and the current,
future and former students that are
its lifeline, but I hope that you will
reconsider your position to commit to
neutrality before it’s too late.”
Felony Disclosure Policy
Cozine Welch, a Prison Creative
Arts Project member and a formerly
incarcerated individual, discussed
how he often feels like an outsider
on campus and how this policy
reinforces those feelings. He said he,
as well as other formerly incarcerated
people, provide an opportunity for
the community to grow.
“I don’t see myself reflected on
campus in race, in culture or socio-
economic status and circumstance,”
Welch said. “But the University
is lacking in the diversity a public
university needs in order to be fully
prepared to educate students and it’s
this. These are not just my words —
any students that have been fortunate
enough to teach will tell you the
same. Their parents will tell you,
student evaluations will tell you, the
formerly incarcerated are an asset
to this university, this thing in this
country at large, we are even without
the advantage of equal opportunity
or former education. Through self-
taught means and Herculean efforts
in a system set to deny us, we acquire
education, the only thing that cannot
be taken.”
Welch
said
this
policy
disproportionately targets people
of color and those of lower socio-
economic statuses. He then called on
Schlissel and the board to rescind the
policy.
LSA senior Hannah French,
a PCAP member, said the felony
disclosure policy does not follow
through on its claims to promote
campus safety. French discussed
how she has learned a lot from
the formerly incarcerated and she
claimed the policy promotes mass
incarceration and is harming the
community rather than making it
more secure.
“As a student, I am ashamed to
be paying tuition that supports mass
incarceration, especially when my
best learning on the subject comes
from interactions with people who
have lived experience,” French said.
“This policy is not preventative, it
does not mitigate risk; its safety is
really presumed and it is limited to a
very specific population. This is not
the only way that the University is
further repressing and harming our
communities. The University claims
to uplift student voices, but it remains
silent on issues which target and
suppress them.”
Policy
regarding
undocumented students
Taubman
freshman
Juan
Muñoz-Ponce is an undocumented
student
and
member
of
the
Student Community of Progressive
Empowerment. He discussed the
University’s
policy
that
allows
undocumented
students
to
get
in-state tuition. He claimed the policy
has a requirement of applying within
28 weeks of graduating high school,
but he said many undocumented
students live in poverty and often
need more time.
Muñoz-Ponce and fellow SCOPE
members asked Schlissel and the
board to consider changing the policy
to give students more time to apply.
Muñoz-Ponce said he was not able to
apply for in-state residency within 28
months and his appeal was denied.
“This elections season has
been nothing short of electric
- we thank the student body for
their enthusiasm for our party,
our ideas, and most importantly
our candidates,” they wrote.
“Tonight serves as a win not
only for the executive ticket,
but for our representatives,
street team, and our entire core
who all invested their time
and energy into the campaign.
Managing a full party and
running a campaign is no easy
task, and without the work of
our team, it never could have
happened.”
Argha
ran
independently
under
a
three-pronged
platform.
He
hoped
to
implement initiatives including
“Ban the Bottle” to eliminate
all plastic water bottle sales on
campus, “Change the Cycle” to
provide free feminine hygiene
products in campus restrooms
and “WTH is CSG?” to help
increase awareness of CSG
through hosting social events.
His platform also included
plans to tackle diversity, mental
health,
affordability
and
sustainability.
Students
selected
representatives
for
their
respective colleges: 14 for LSA,
six for Engineering, seven for
Rackham, four for Business and
one for each of the remaining 13
colleges.
Also on the ballot was an
amendment to add a CSG
commission to select justices
of the judiciary committee. The
amendment passed with 1,759
votes in favor.
At the end of their statement,
Gerstein
and
Blanchard
emphasized their commitment
to the student body.
“We will work tirelessly
on behalf of the students of
this university, to make this
university work for you, and to
make each and every student
feel that this is their home,”
they wrote. “We can’t say that
this will be an easy journey, or
that we’ll never misstep, but at
the end of the day, we will never
stop working for you.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Friday, March 29, 2019 — 3
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“I would hope that for those
folks (who have a direct connection
to this issue) that we’re doing this
(exhibition) respectfully, that we’re
raising awareness, and that with
what we’re doing, for those folks we
can memorialize those who have
been lost,” De León said. “But we’re
also doing this for the people who
have never even thought about this
issue, so we can emotionally connect
with an audience, also, that has never
thought about this issue previously.”
Though the first iterations of the
exhibit featured tags filled out by the
project’s team members, hundreds
of University students were involved
in filling out each tag’s information
by hand in the days preceding the
exhibit’s opening.
LSA senior Daniel López is one of
the project’s team members and has
worked as an undergraduate research
assistant with De León for two years.
Some of López’s responsibilities
include photographing and videoing
the installation of the exhibit,
documenting
its
process
and
publicizing the project online and
through social media.
He said De León’s approach
to communicating the stories of
undocumented immigrants through
photography
and
multimedia
distinguishes
the
project
from
written research.
“I think I have a personal
connection to the project, just
because
I
am
undocumented
myself,” López said. “He (De Léon)
humanizes immigrants in a way that
other researchers don’t — he talks
about them, he provides a platform
for them to have a voice, and I think
that that’s what, like, drew me to
work with him.”
One of the intentions of the exhibit
is to raise awareness of the deaths
and suffering that have been occurring
along the Mexico and United States
border for more than 20 years.
In the 1990s, the U.S. Border Patrol
enacted a policy that redirected paths
of migration between Mexico and
the United States toward extremely
dangerous terrains. The policy, titled
“Prevention Through Deterrence,”
entailed militarizing the traditional
points of entry along the border. With
these points of entry cut off, migrants
had to to seek out paths in more
remote areas, where it was hoped the
dangers of the natural environment
would discourage migrants from
undertaking the journey.
“One of the understandings was
early on was that if enough people died
from this policy, that they would stop
coming,” De León said. “But what has
happened is that a lot of people have
died, but they still have not stopped
coming.”
This policy was put into place
in 1994, which is the reason 94
communities will host the exhibit in
the future.
The
Sonoran
Desert,
which
blankets the area where Arizona,
California and Mexico intersect,
contains one of the hostile paths that
migrants travel along when crossing
the border. Thousands of people have
died on this journey since 2000 due
to dehydration, hyperthermia and
other consequences of the natural
environment.
“The implication of the full policy
is knowingly putting people in harm’s
way, (and) it knowingly leads to the
death of a lot of people,” De León said.
“And yet it’s still in place, and no one
seems to want to keep talking about it.”
De León is the director of the
Undocumented Migration Project,
based at the University of Michigan, a
“long-term anthropological analysis of
clandestine border crossings” between
Mexico and the United States. “Hostile
Terrain” is a smaller project within the
UMP.
The UMP uses “a combination
of ethnographic and archaeological
approaches” to study the process and
experience of these border crossings.
De León’s research focuses on the
material culture of border crossings,
which refers to the material items
such as clothing and water bottles
that migrants leave behind on their
journeys.
López said he thinks the exhibit
will
encourage
viewers
at
the
University to think about the realities
of undocumented migration outside of
popular contexts.
“I feel like we don’t humanize
people, you know,” López said. “We
just talk, like, about policy and stuff
like that, but what about the people
who are suffering, what about the
people who are dying, for example?”
LSA senior Moncerrat Llamas
first heard about the exhibit through
friends on social media who are
involved with the project.
Read more online at
michigandaily.com
Read more online at
michigandaily.com