More than 75 Washtenaw 
County residents made the 
trek from Ypsilanti to Ann 
Arbor 
Saturday 
morning 
during the second annual 
Bridging 23 Unity Walk.
Organizer Robin Stephens 
said the 8-mile walk was cre-
ated to unify the east and 
west sides of Washtenaw 
County, which faces dispari-
ties in job access, economics 
and education.
“I think it’s so important 
for us to really connect as an 
entire community so we’re 
all responsible for each other 
and we have to help each 
other,” Stephens said. “If it 
means we have to get out 
and walk … so that we really 
get to know and understand 
each other, then I am willing 
to put these walks together 
for the rest of my days.”
Stephens, an Ann Arbor-
based 
criminal 
defense 
attorney, said she attended 
an event at the Dispute Reso-
lution Center that challenged 
her to create unity within 
her community. Inspired by 
her past participation in the 
Susan G. Komen Race for 
the Cure, Stephens decided 

to create the Unity Walk to 
encourage dialogue between 
county residents who may 
not have met otherwise.
“I had done the Susan G. 
Komen breast cancer walk 
three times prior, and I knew 
from my own experiences 
walking with thousands of 
people that I did not know, 
that by the end of that walk 
I knew some of them much 
more intimately,” Stephens 
said. “We were walking and 
we were bonding and we 
were talking, and … I really 
built a bond with those peo-
ple.”
Participants began the 
day at the Ypsilanti District 
Library. They took Washt-
enaw Avenue all the way to 
Ann Arbor and concluded 
at the Ann Arbor African 
American Downtown Festi-
val.
A rally with multiple 
speakers from the com-
munity preceded the walk. 
Stephens began the rally by 
introducing Jeff Gabrielson, 
vice president of the Asso-
ciation for Youth Empower-
ment.
Gabrielson said the goal 
of the Unity Walk was to get 
to know other community 
members on a personal level.

“What we see is that when 
we get to know each other as 
human beings, there’s a third 
wave that occurs,” Gabriel-
son said. “Our intent with 
Bridging 23 is to look at dif-
ferent ways to bring people 
together.”
Ypsilanti 
Mayor 
Beth 
Bashert also spoke to partici-
pants about fixing income, 
education and health care 
disparities within the coun-
ty.
“We all know that, in our 
area, we have disparities, 
and we talk about them all 
the time; disparities from 
one side of our county to the 
other,” Bashert said. “We 
know what the problems 
are, and I’m going to tell you 
what the solutions are. The 
solutions are right here.”
Bashert said solutions to 
issues of disparity must be 
solved regionally and that 
unification helps the county 
grow stronger.
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, 
D-Mich, commended par-
ticipants on their work in 
bringing both sides of the 
county together.
“This walk is a symbol of 
people caring, and we need 
to get a lot more people 
engaged because we are one 

community,” Dingell said. 
“Together, we can make a 
difference.”
Stephens closed the rally 
by challenging participants 
to meet at least two people 
during the walk they did not 
previously know. During the 
walk to Ann Arbor, partici-
pants conversed with those 
around them and did not use 
their cell phones.
Eastern Michigan Uni-
versity senior Sarah Khan 
said she was encouraged by 
a friend to take part in the 
Unity Walk. She said the 
walk let her see Ypsilanti 
and Ann Arbor from a new 
perspective and helped her 
meet people from across the 
county.
“I think it’s really cool to 
see people come together for 
things like this,” Khan said. 
“I would like to see a little 
more diversity, like genera-
tional diversity, but as far as 
the people that I met, they 
were all really cool.”
In the future, Stephens 
said she hopes to extend 
the walk to reach other sur-
rounding Washtenaw Coun-
ty communities.

Read more at michigandaily.com

3
NEWS

Thursday, June 6, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

On Jan. 23, after nearly a 
year of deliberation among 
University 
of 
Michigan 
administrators, Duo Two-
Factor Authentication was 
introduced 
for 
student 
employees, faculty and staff. 
Duo, a program that aims 
to protect a user’s data by 
requiring they log in to web-
sites like Canvas and Wol-
verine Access using both a 
password and an alternate 
device, is mandatory for 
those employed by the Uni-
versity on all three campuses.
 LSA sophomore Charlotte 
Weisman, a former employee 
at Maizie’s Kitchen and Mar-
ket in the League, said she 
was accustomed to programs 
that use dual-factor verifica-
tion and found the process of 
setting it up fairly simple. 
“There are a lot of plat-
forms that use dual-factor 
authentication, like Facebook 
and Instagram where they 
text you a code or some-
thing,” Weisman said. “Ini-
tially, I was a little annoyed 
because I was like ‘Oh, I have 
to set this up, I don’t know if 
this is going to be a hassle,’ 
but I found it pretty straight-
forward and they kind of 
walk you through the steps.”
Duo Security, an internet-
safety provider with offices 
in three states and the Unit-
ed Kingdom, was founded 
in 2010 by University alumi 
Dug Song and Jon Oberhe-
ide. According to the Duo 
website, the company serves 
over 14,000 customers in 100 
countries, including larger 
brands like Yelp and Face-

book. In August 2018, Cisco 
Systems Inc. acquired Duo in 
a $2.35 billion deal.
According to Ravi Pendse, 
vice president of information 
technology and chief infor-
mation officer, multi-factor 
authentication has existed in 
some form at the University 
since 2005. Pendse said Duo’s 
2FA provides more extensive 
security coverage than pre-
vious verification programs 
because it is based in a smart-
phone app rather than an 
external hard drive.
“In 2005 and even before, 
when people used other 
forms of verification, they 
would not use most of the 
modern tools that we use 
today — tools that we carry in 
our pocket or purses,” Pendse 
said. “A lot of the things that 
we do, we do them through 
smartphone … so smartphone 
has replaced many things, 
including the two-factor veri-
fication that can be used for 
using Duo.”
Most 2FA users verify their 
identity using the Duo Securi-
ty app and their smartphone, 
Pendse said. Student employ-
ees and faculty, however, 
can also request a hardware 
“token” from the University 
that plugs into their computer 
for when they are traveling or 
do not have reliable service.
“One of our challenges 
was communication — let-
ting people know that while 
smartphone is the most pop-
ular way to use Duo, that’s 
not the only way, there are 
many ways you can use Duo,” 
Pendse said.

Students, ‘U’
fauclty reflect 
on Duo after 
six months

Washtenaw County residents trek from Ypsilanti to Ann Arbor on Saturday 

One semester in, users express support 
of heightened online security at ‘U’

COURTESY OF BARBARA COLLINS
Washentaw county residents walk from Ypsilanti to Ann Arbor as part of the Bridging 23 Unity Walk Saturday.

Read more at michigandaily.com

Unity walk encourages
county-wide conversations

LIAT WEINSTEIN
Daily Staff Reporter

BARBARA COLLINS
Summer Managing News Editor

