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Tuesday, April 9, 2019 — 3
In an interview with The Daily,
LSA freshman Andrew Gerace
suggested that while this was
an important step to address
concerns over sexual misconduct,
more should be done by SMTD to
address this issue.
“I think it will help students
feel more comfortable. And that’s
an important step to take,” Gerace
said. “But I think what the music
school needs to grapple with is the
gray, squishy areas.”
Gerace also expressed surprise
at how this policy was being
implemented thus far. Despite
being a member of the Jazz Lab
Ensemble, he said he had heard
nothing about this policy from
faculty or students around SMTD.
“I am baffled by the fact that the
music school continues to try and
talk about transparency, and even
with a policy that is literally trying
to augment physical transparency,
they’re still going behind the
students’ backs,” Gerace said.
Besides this new door policy,
SMTD has taken multiple steps
recently
to
address
sexual
misconduct
concerns.
They
announced the formation of a
Faculty and Staff Allies Network
(FASAN)
intended
to
change
campus culture by improving
communication and transparency
regarding sexual misconduct and
gender bias.
“The Faculty and Staff Allies
Network … is a volunteer effort by
SMTD faculty and staff to discuss
and address issues across SMTD
concerning
sexual
misconduct,
equality, and safety. To date, it
has supported dialogue, faculty
and staff training efforts,” Clague
wrote. “We expect FASAN to
continue into next academic year
and beyond. Its efforts are vital for
the SMTD community.”
As part of this effort, SMTD
also held a panel discussion in mid-
November featuring University
administrators
around
sexual
misconduct. In late-February, the
school held another event around
sexual misconduct. Yet despite
pledges at these events of increased
transparency between students
and faculty, Gerace expressed
surprise that SMTD administrators
had not announced these changes
being planned SMTD buildings.
“I think the dialogue needs
to be continuous,” Gerace said.
“After that panel we were told we
would be informed about steps
that would be taken regarding this
issue, but here we go, learning from
hearsay, instead of getting direct
messaging from the University.
… it’s connecting back to letting
students know what’s going on,
recognizing mistakes are made in
both the way this was handled, in
the way the situation was allowed
to occur, recognizing the fact that
situations have occurred, not just
that this is ‘heightened awareness
around sexual assault.’ ”
The Daily spoke with a current
SMTD faculty member about this
change. They requested anonymity
in order to speak candidly about
the new policy without fear of
profession repercussions.
“My priority is that our students
feel safe,” the faculty member
said. “If having a larger window in
the door of our studios helps our
students feel more safe, I believe
we should spare no expense.”
The faculty member noted that
while SMTD has seen many public
allegations
recently
of
sexual
misconduct, these concerns are
not unique to the University of
Michigan.
“It does feel a little bit to me
like an optics reactions to the
accusations that we have seen at
our school,” the faculty member
said. “And my hope is that what this
does is sparks a larger conversation
across the country because this
bad behavior is not exclusive to
the University of Michigan, by
any means. And my hope is that
we can have more broad actions
in academia with regards to what
systems are in place that enable bad
behavior.”
Clague
also
wrote
of
the
changes that need to take place
both at the University and in the
larger performing arts community
as it works to address heightened
concerns
around
sexual
misconduct.
“It’s also important to note that
the changes needed at SMTD and
in the performing arts industry as
a whole will not be solved by any
one action or person. It will take
a commitment from everyone,”
Clague wrote. “At SMTD, we see
all faculty, staff and students as
vital and necessary partners to
make our community stronger and
safer. We need everyone’s help to
address issues of sexual justice
with courage and action.”
SMTD
From Page 1
“And many people within
GEO hold such positions, so in
addition to being GSIs (graduate
student instructors), they might
have other paid positions that are
affected by this … you know, all of
us as GSIs as GSSAs, as graduate
students taking courses, are part
of a broader U of M community.
And it’s important for us to show
solidarity invested in creating
an equitable, safe and inclusive
University community.”
The
working
group
is
a
collaboration between GEO and
other
student
organizations,
including UMich Behind Bars
and the Carceral State Project.
While the working group is still
in its founding stages, Helps
said the goals of the group
are to amplify what work is
already being done, to draw
more attention to the policy and
to foster an environment for
productive dialogue about the
effects of the policy and others
like it.
The felony disclosure policy
has garnered a lot of criticism
from
different
groups
on
campus. Some say it violates due
process and disproportionately
targets minority communities
through flaws in the criminal
justice system. The Carceral
State Project released an open
letter to the University on the
policy, and it currently has
1,867 signatures. In addition,
the University administration
has
been
criticized
by
the
Senate Advisory Committee on
University Affairs for not asking
for their input on the policy
before its implementation.
Helps echoed these concerns
and said the University has other
policies regarding people who
have a criminal history that is
not made public. He said the
University should be moving
towards banning the box and
stopping
background
checks
rather
than
implementing
policies like the felony disclosure
policy.
“In addition to the most recent
policy, the University also has
a number of policies, many
(of) which are not public, that
prevent people with criminal
convictions or felony convictions
or felony charges from attending
the University and working for
the University,” Helps said. “It’s
my hope, personally, to see them
actually align the set of policies
that exist at the University more
with the best practices of the
Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, the Department of
Education and what many other
universities are doing.”
Helps said he hopes the
University administration will
become more transparent and
make all policies regarding the
criminal justice system available
to the public. He feels policy
should be rescinded and replaced
with a new one that does not
further criminalize those with a
criminal history.
“We
know
what
policies
would actually address sexual
harassment and sexual assault,
and this policy isn’t that, you
know,” Helps said. “So, my
hope is that we would be able to
have the University first make
those policies publicly available,
because many of them are not,
and then begin to address those
policies and make them much
more in line with what the
general trend amongst employers
and
institutions
of
higher
learning is.”
University
President
Mark
Schlissel addressed the policy at
the University’s Board of Regents
meeting on March 28. He said
the policy was created with the
intention of keeping the campus
safe. He noted the University has
been doing background checks
during the application process for
six years and this policy does not
mean an employee who disclosed
a felony charge or conviction
would face consequences.
“University
leaders
believe
that information about a faculty
or
staff
member’s
criminal
activity helps us maintain a
safe
community,”
Schlissel
said. “We’ve been obtaining
such information on most new
employees by way of a pre-
employment background check
since 2013. The new policy
requires disclosure of current
felony charges and convictions
by 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
then
cited
an
example of a situation when
the policy would be useful.
He addressed aspects of the
controversy
surrounding
the
policy and stated the University
will review the cases closely to
assure it does not have a stronger
impact on minority groups.
“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,” Schlissel said.
“For instance, if a staff member
who works with or near children
is being prosecuted for or is being
convicted of felony assault of a
child, a disclosure would allow
us to remove the individual
from that environment. We will
carefully monitor the results of
this new policy to make sure it
does not have disproportionate
effects on specific subsets of our
community.”
LSA junior Hannah Agnew, a
student organizer with UMich
Behind Bars, said despite what
the University says about this
policy, it will inherently impact
minority
populations
more
significantly due to the nature of
the criminal justice system.
“Inevitably,
even
if
the
University is saying that they’re
not going to target people of color
or low-income status, that is what
the carceral state does in the way
that it functions,” Agnew said.
“Inevitably, people that have
convictions are people of color or
low-income communities, those
are the communities that tend to
be over policed and surveilled, so,
inevitably it is those people and
those groups that the University
is going to deter through this
policy and target. There is no
way to really separate those
communities from this policy
because they’re the ones that
disproportionately have prior
convictions and records.”
GEO President Emily Gauld,
a Rackham student, said GEO
is
a
union
that
advocates
for
all
University
students
to make the University the
most
conducive
environment
for
higher
education.
Gauld
discussed how GEO decided to
get involved regardless of the
policy’s impact on members of
the union because it does impact
graduate students not part of
GEO and other members of the
University community due to
the disproportionate effects the
criminal justice system has on
people of color and those of lower
socioeconomic status.
“We recognize that the policy
has a lot of reasons, a lot of
concerns, that kind of revolve
around the existing biases in
the
criminal
justice
system
and the implications that a
policy like this could have for
not only our members but the
broader University community,”
Gauld said. “And we are really
dedicated to finding a solution
that would avoid putting an
unwanted or unnecessary extra
barrier for graduate student
workers that are already facing a
difficult system, so we recognize
the problems with it.”
Gauld
said
while
GEO
understands why the University
administration
created
this
policy, they also believe there
is a more effective way for the
University to achieve its goal.
“We
also
recognize
that
our members and many others
have said that they recognize
that there are reasons that the
University might create a policy
like this and we’re also interested,
you know,” Gauld said. “We want
to acknowledge those reasons
but also find a better solution for
what exactly it is the University’s
trying to achieve and we don’t
feel like this policy is the best
means to do that.”
Helps
discussed
the
importance of collaborating with
other organizations on campus
through this working group. He
said the felony disclosure policy
impacts everyone on campus and
claimed the University did not
ask for any input from the expert
faculty and staff or students who
would be affected by it.
“We are the flagship public
university in the state, and
so this is an opportunity to
overcome all sorts of silos that we
end up in, and to actually points
to a way in which this policy,
which was, you know, totally
arbitrarily and un-transparently,
undemocratically,
and
very
quietly forced through,” Helps
said. “This is the type of policy
that affects all of us in that it’s
an opportunity to think about
what we have in common as
people who play different roles
within the University but who
are all, nonetheless, affected by
this policy that’s being forced
upon us without any of our input
in telling the University what
policies would actually make us
feel safe.”
Gauld
said
GEO
has
an
obligation to advocate for the
well-being
of
all
graduate
employees at the University
of Michigan. She said having
multiple student groups come
together
to
pressure
the
University to rescind the policy
magnifies the strength of their
voices.
“I think that it’s important for
all of the student groups to get
involved because it’s very much
the reason that organizations like
GEO and other student groups
exist because we have a better
chance of having a voice when we
all voice that together, when we
come together,” Gauld said. “So
I think that, especially GEO as a
labor union, has a responsibility
for us to stand up for our
members who might be facing
unnecessary discrimination in
the workplace because of a policy
like this.”
GEO
From Page 1
2016 LSA graduate Arnold Reed,
who was president of BSU during
the #BBUM movement, said the
opening of the new Trotter Center
exemplifies the power and reach
of students’ voice on campus.
However, he cautioned that it may
be too early to understand what
the development of the new center
means in terms of the University’s
responsiveness to Black students’
needs.
“It shows that students coming
together are extremely powerful
and so if you come together and
unite, you never know what’s going
to happen,” Reed said. “... I think
it shows that the administration,
they pledged the money, they got
this thing built, and it’s right on
State Street. So I think that they are
responsive to student needs, but like
I said again, that was something
that came after years and years of
activism. We’ll see what it means.
It could be too early to tell, we’ll
have to see how the building is used,
who’s using it, for what purposes.
If it fulfills its mission of Trotter
Multicultural Center, I think that’s
the biggest thing.”
LSA sophomore Thomas Vance,
the Seba on BSU’s e-board, said the
best metric to use when measuring
the University’s responsiveness is if
they have met the demands, or are
attempting to meet them.
“Having our records in the
Bentley and more transparency
around conversations that were
happening during Black Action
Movements, that’s a plus, and the
new Trotter on State Street is also
a plus,” Vance said. “But things like
trying to increase Black recruitment
and retention … are pretty damning,
and very telling, because they reflect
this possible resource disparity,
or possible lack of attention to the
needs of Black students.”
Vance
said
he
can’t
say
definitively whether the University
has met the needs of Black students
on campus.
“While student organizations are
doing what they can to advocate for
the community that they represent,
at some point that all needs to come
from the University, and I’m not
sure if there’s a solid answer as to if
are they are meeting the needs (of
Black students),” Vance said.
Reed said he was surprised the
new center was built so soon.
“When you’re a group of students
and you’re trying to make change,
you definitely expect the University
to listen to you, to have some
dialogue,” Reed said. “But then,
for the change where it’s multiple
millions of dollars and involves
breaking ground and building a new
building … In my wildest dreams
and expectations, I still don’t know
if I necessarily imagined the new
building being built so quickly. I
knew this was the type of demand
where I wouldn’t necessarily be on
campus to see it through to fruition,
but I didn’t think it would happen
within 10 years.”
2018 LSA graduate Haleemah
Aqel,
program
coordinator
at
the
Program
on
Intergroup
Relations and an activist in the
Arab-American
community,
toured Trotter with her office and
noticed a collage dedicated to the
#BBUM movement. Aqel said that
those who enter the building can
“automatically
understand”
the
history of the history of the BBUM
movement, as well as other activist
movements featured on separate
walls.
Aqel
said
she
appreciated
#BBUM’s important role in securing
a centralized location for Trotter.
She also noted how Arab-American
activism, such as the #WeExist
and #UMDivest campaigns, was
not featured on the walls, although
she said this may be updated in the
coming years.
“I think one of the things they
were trying to push is that activism
will always grow on this campus, so
we want to adjust our walls to reflect
the history,” Aqel said. “I was kind
of surprised that #UMDivest wasn’t
on there, or #WeExist, but at the
same time I recognize how #BBUM
was really the big push to have this
space over here on State Street.”
Cardena said the images adorning
the walls are current through
October 2017 and the center intends
to update the graphics on a regular
basis.
“To address potential concern
over inclusion of images from
#WeExist or #UMDivest, there will
be opportunities as materials from
those important student movements
as well others are chronicled by
the Bentley Historical Library and
are available to us to include in
future wall graphic iterations in the
Sankofa Lounge,” Cardena said.
LSA junior Dim Mang, incoming
co-chair for the United Asian
American Organizations, said the
new location will make it easier for
new students to attend events and
participate in the activities offered
by Trotter.
“I’m really excited just to be able
to walk a couple of minutes to new
Trotter, instead of having to go
all the way down South U,” Mang
said. “I think that when you have a
centralized location, more people
are bound to show up because
you can just see the building.
Even people who aren’t in those
communities are able to show up to
events.”
Aqel said the new location may
attract students who would not
usually visit the center.
“I think it will be interesting,
one, to see who goes into the space,”
Aqel said. “Because the Trotter
on Washtenaw, it was always just
people of color. But now that you
have this Trotter on State Street, I’m
wondering if more white students
will go into the space, how inclusive
it’ll be. I think so long as students
recognize the history of the space
and why the space moved to State
Street, I think it’s fine. But I also
see this space being for students
of color and students who have
worked effortlessly within different
activism
movements
on
this
campus.”
Aqel said she appreciated the
thought put into the space. As
a student, she worked toward
increasing the number of reflection
rooms on campus, which many
Muslim students use to pray. When
Aqel toured Trotter with the IGR
office, she was happy to find a
reflection room, along with a station
for wudu, which Muslim students
use to wash themselves before
prayer.
“It’s small, there could be more,
but it’s something, because there
isn’t anything on this campus, or
other campuses in general, that
have something like that,” Aqel said.
“So I was just like, ‘Wow.’ And I was
going with the rest of my coworkers,
and they were just really happy to
see my reaction, because we had
been working so hard to create more
reflection spaces, and then Trotter
really spent a lot of time thinking
about what Muslim students would
need, or other students who would
be using this space.”
LSA sophomore Ronnie Alvarez,
co-director of La Casa, said he
appreciates how Trotter prioritized
student needs.
“They
have
specific
rooms
that cannot be reserved at all by
offices, so it’s just for students,”
Alvarez said. “And they also always
prioritize us — student events —
over any other reservations. The
director of Trotter, he let a lot of the
cultural student orgs know, ‘Yo, this
is a space for you, and as soon as the
Trotter opening week begins, we
want to include all of you.’”
The opening will be followed by
the Trotter Grand Extravaganza
— two weeks of events to celebrate
the new space. Vance said the
Extravaganza seeks to remind
students that Trotter is not just a
study space, but a space with a hard-
fought, unique history.
“One of the things we were
concerned about is, well, we don’t
want Trotter to just become a
new study space,” Vance said.
“The history of it, and how hard
organizations have had to work for
it, we didn’t want that history to
be lost by students thinking it was
just another study space, which
is why we engaged in intentional
programming to make sure that,
at least during the grand opening,
it’s not used as a study space, but
rather used as a place that these
organizations can get together and
have a place for their communities.”
TROTTER
From Page 1
According
to
Sergeant
Kevin Gilmore, a Novi police
detective, police brought in
Ackerman around 5:30 p.m.
on Jan. 2 after he got in an
accident in stop-and-go traffic.
“He rear ended someone
near Beck (Road) and 10 Mile,”
Gilmore said. “The officer
got there and noticed that
Mr. Ackerman’s eyes were
bloodshot and glossy and he
had slurred speech. Talking
to him, he had the odor of
intoxicants coming from his
vehicle and from his person.”
Gilmore also explained that
while Ackerman’s actions were
reckless and dangerous, such
arrests are made relatively
frequently in law enforcement.
“It was nothing out of the
ordinary in our line of work —
a car accident where someone
ended up being intoxicated,
we
arrested
him,
held
him, released him the next
morning,” Gilmore said.
In the weeks following the
arrest,
however,
Ackerman
neglected
to
inform
his
constituents and fellow Ann
Arbor councilmembers, only
disclosing
information
to
fellow
councilmembers
on
March 27, followed by an April
1 City Council statement.
“This happened nearly three
months ago,” Ackerman said in
the statement to City Council.
“I did not disclose any of this to
anyone at this table until this
past Wednesday. I recognize,
that as public officials, we walk
a fine line between what should
and should not be private. I
considered this a private part
of my life because these events
were a wake-up call. They
were a wake-up call that I had
a serious, and now diagnosed
health issue — Severe Alcohol
Dependence.”
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
DUI
From Page 1