In the fall of 2013, the Black
Student Union e-board sat in a
room in Palmer Commons to
discuss the possibility of a new
hashtag. They hoped the hashtag,
#BBUM — or, Being Black at the
University of Michigan — would
create an opportunity for Black
students at the University to share
their experiences on campus. Little
did the e-board know, the hashtag
would lead to a movement that six
years later resulted in the relocation
of the Trotter Multicultural Center.
#BBUM went viral and gained
traction from national media.
Following the tradition of past
Black
activist
movements
on
campus, the e-board created a list
of demands and announced them
at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day
rally in 2014. Their seven demands
included requests for increased
representation and affordability on
campus.
The third demand on the list was
to move the Trotter Center, once a
15-minute walk from the Diag, to
Central Campus. This demand
was the only one administrators
agreed to meet in its entirety at
the time, though they have since
met the sixth demand of increased
exposure to documents in the
Bentley Historical Library.
This Thursday, after six years,
the new Trotter Multicultural
Center will open its new location on
State Street, a 20,000-square-foot
facility across from the Diag. The
space will include lounges, quiet
study and student organization
space, reflection rooms and a
multipurpose room that can fit up
to 300 people.
According to an article in the
University Record from 2016, the
funding for the new $10 million
Trotter Multicultural Center came
entirely from investment proceeds
and gifts.
In an email sent to The Daily,
Julio Cardona, director of the
Trotter Center, said the opening
of
the
new
Trotter
Center
marks a historic moment for
multiculturalism and inclusion on
campus.
“This is a historic time for the
Trotter
Multicultural
Center,”
Cardona wrote. “The new location
of the building on State Street
is an important indicator of the
commitment of the University
to increase accessibility to the
center. As a supportive home and
environment committed to social
justice and diversity, the Trotter
Multicultural Center will continue
to serve as a space that promotes an
inclusive campus climate.”
According to a timeline on the
Trotter Center website, various
discussions were held between
student groups as well as Trotter
Center officials to get input on
the planning process for the new
building, including town halls and
several meetings with groups such
as the Black Student Union, Multi-
Ethnic Student Affairs and more.
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Tuesday, April 9, 2019
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Mark
Conger,
a
lecturer
in
the
LSA
Comprehensive
Studies Program, received the
Golden Apple Award and gave a
lecture on Monday in Rackham
Auditorium. His lecture, titled
“The Local, the Global, and the
Nature of Infinity,” discussed
the relationship between the
number infinity and his personal
life.
The Golden Apple Award
is a student-selected award
given to professors on campus
to
recognize
those
who
demonstrate
exceptional
teaching
abilities.
More
nominations
were
received
this year than ever before, with
close
to
1,000
submissions,
making it the most competitive
yet.
Students
nominate
professors
using
a
Google
form
circulated
throughout
campus groups by the event
coordinators. Education junior
Kyle Riebock, president of the
Golden Apple Committee, said
Conger received many heartfelt
nominations.
“Not only did Mr. Conger have
the quantity (of nominations),
but he also really did have the
quality, which is something
that is not as common with
the nominations that we see,”
Riebock said. “I would say almost
90 percent of his nominations
had paragraphs about why he’s
such an amazing teacher, and so
it was a no-brainer at that point
that he deserves the award.”
Following a Jan. 2 drunken
driving arrest in Novi, Mich.,
Ann Arbor City Councilmember
Zachary Ackerman, D-Ward 3,
was sentenced in February to a
year of probation and five days
of community service. Despite
the January arrest, Ackerman
did not disclose his arrest to
City Council and the public
until he released a statement to
the council on April 1.
After being found with a
blood-alcohol level of 0.20
percent,
Ackerman
was
originally
charged
under
Michigan’s
“Super
Drunk
Law,” for which drivers with
a
BAC
over
0.17
percent
face extended punishments,
even for a first time offense.
However, after pleading no
contest
and
accepting
the
sentence
in
late
January,
Ackerman’s
charge
was
reduced to a year’s probation.
SMTD to add
transparent
doors amid
misconduct
Dean announces all rooms will include clear
panels after professor sexual assualt allegation
Rackham
student
David
Helps,
a
member
of
the
Graduate
Employees’
Organization, is heading up a
working group in collaboration
with
other
student
organizations on campus on the
new felony disclosure policy.
The policy, which requires the
immediate disclosure of all
felony charges and convictions
for all University of Michigan
employees, does not apply to
those protected by a union.
Even though the policy does
not apply to union members,
Helps said he has other roles
at the University that are
impacted by the policy and
GEO has an obligation to
advocate for the entire student
body.
“I have other capacities at
the University, including as
a research assistant, that are
impacted by this,” Helps said.
GEO voices
concern for
new felony
policy at ‘U’
ADMINISTRATION
The union, students orgs
explain the pratice could
target minorities on campus
Mark Conger wins Golden Apple Award,
discusses nature of infinity in life
Professor gives lecture on mathematics and his personal life after winning teaching prize
Ackerman
admits to
receiving
DUI in Jan.
ANN ARBOR
In an email to staff and
faculty in the School of Music,
Theatre & Dance sent out on
Feb. 14 by SMTD dean David
Gier, the school announced it
will be replacing all faculty, staff,
practice room and instrument
storage
doors
to
include
transparent panels. The change
has not been announced publicly,
but according to the email it is
due to a “heightened climate …
surrounding sexual misconduct
prevention.”
Gier’s email explained the
specifications of the doors, which
will be installed over the summer.
They will be “...consistent in
size,
completely
transparent,
wide enough to support broad
room visibility, and low enough
to support wheelchair height
visibility.”
Gier explained they come after
“a review of our buildings … in
partnership with the Office of
the Provost,” Dean Gier wrote.
“We have come together unified
in the opinion that in order
to foster a community ethos
around occupant safety and the
prevention of sexual misconduct,
we must alter our physical
spaces.”
These
changes
come
on
the heels of the publication of
multiple
sexual
misconduct
allegations against former SMTD
professor Stephen Shipps and
professor David Daniels. In both
instances, further investigation
into the situation has brought
administrative
responses
to
these allegations into question.
In the case of Daniels, SMTD
awarded Daniels’s tenure in
May 2018 despite being made
aware of misconduct allegations
against him as early as March
2018. In the case of Shipps, an
email regarding an allegation
of “statutory rape” to the then-
interim dean of SMTD went
unanswered for more than a year.
In an email to The Daily, Mark
Clague, SMTD associate dean
for academic and student affairs,
spoke of the administration’s
response to heightened concerns
around sexual misconduct.
“We believe the update to
SMTD studio and office doors
increases transparency within
the SMTD community both
literally
and
symbolically,”
Clague
wrote.
“Literally
it
makes the activities in what
have historically been limited-
view
or
unviewable
spaces
more public. Symbolically it
sends an important message
to our community and beyond
that
everyone
deserves
an
environment that is safe and
in which they can comfortably
and
confidently
accomplish
the artistic work that is our
educational mission.”
See SMTD , Page 3
See GEO, Page 3
CLAIRE MEINGAST/Daily
Professor Mark Conger presents a lecture titled “The Local, the Global, and the Nature of Infinity” after receiving the Golden Apple Award in recognition of his out-
standing commitment to his students at Rackham Auditorium Monday.
New Multicultural Center location
inspired by Black activism on campus
After six years, the new Trotter building will open Thursday on State St.
SAMMY SUSSMAN
Daily Staff Reporter
Councilmember given
lesser punishment after
0.2 blood alcohol content
See TROTTER, Page 3
BEN ROSENFELD
Daily Staff Reporter
LANE KIZZIAH/Daily
ZAYNA SYED &
ATTICUS RAASCH
Daily Staff Reporters
JULIA JOHNSTON
Daily Staff Reporter
See DUI, Page 3
EMMA STEIN
Daily Staff Reporter
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com