The University of Michi-
gan Board of Regents met 
at the Richard L. Postma 
Family Clubhouse Thursday 
afternoon for the fifth meet-
ing of the calendar year. At 
the meeting, the board dis-
cussed Ann Arbor campus 
planning.
University 
President 
Mark Schlissel opened the 
meeting by thanking UM-
Flint 
Chancellor 
Susan 
Borrego for her work at UM-
Flint. Borrego, who has been 
chancellor since 2014, will 
finish her term at the end 
of July and be replaced by 
Debasish Dutta.
“Chancellor Borrego, as 
we bid you farewell, I want 
to thank you for your leader-
ship and commitment to the 
University, the region and 
the people that your campus 
serves,” Schlissel said. 
Borrego 
thanked 
the 
board for their support of 
UM-Flint. She said UM-
Flint has remarkable stu-
dents, faculty and staff.
“I think the UM-Flint 
campus is a remarkable 
place to be, and it’s been an 
honor to be there,” Borrego 
said. “I look forward to what 
happens for it and with it in 
the future.”
Schlissel recognized six 
new distinguished profes-
sors. He then discussed the 
board’s efforts to examine 
the relations between the 
three University campuses, 
which he said the board 
promised to consider at last 
month’s meeting in which 
five speakers from One Uni-
versity spoke regarding the 
campaign’s goals.
“The board, the chan-
cellors and I are always 
engaged 
in 
discussions 
about how to promote the 
longstanding excellence of 
each of our campuses and 
the success of our students,” 
Schlissel said. “Following 
the board’s guidance from 
when I was hired, we’ve 
worked to expand synergies 
and contribute to the unique 

missions and priorities of 
our three campuses.”
University planner Sue 
Gott gave a presentation on 
the ongoing and future ren-
ovation projects on the Ann 
Arbor campus. Gott said the 
goals of the project include 
enhancing 
campus 
life, 
emphasizing 
sustainabil-
ity, honoring tradition and 
strengthening connectivity.

Gott focused her presen-
tation on plans for North 
and Central Campuses. Cur-
rently, more than eight Uni-
versity buildings are under 
construction, including the 
historic 
Michigan 
Union 
and the LSA building. Gott 
said the University looks 
to expand development on 
North Campus.
“Our largest land area of 
our campuses is North Cam-
pus,” Gott said. “ … It is really, 
out of our five campuses, the 
place where we will want to 
continue directing growth 
and new development oppor-
tunities in our future.”
Future plans include mov-
ing the School of Dance and 
School of Information onto 
North Campus, rebuilding 
the Fleming Administration 
building and constructing a 
new School of Pharmacy.

Plans are also in place to 
construct a new residence 
hall on Central Campus to 
replace Mary Markley Resi-
dence Hall. Gott said the 
University plans to repur-
pose Mary Markley as an 
additional medical center.
“There may be real benefit 
for supporting our clinical 
mission by repurposing this 
site long-term for another 

patient care use,” Gott said.
Gott said property pur-
chased on South Fifth Ave-
nue would be a great location 
for a new residence hall. The 
location is slightly closer to 
the Diag than Markley.
An 
additional 
new 
residence hall on North 
Campus will also replace 
Northwood housing. When 
renovations are complete, 
Gott 
said 
approximately 
one third of students living 
on campus will reside on 
North Campus.
“As we continue to see 
us reach the end of the use-
ful lives of our Northwoods 
facilities, we would like 
to develop that area more 
densely as we replace those 
units,” Gott said.

3

Thursday, July 25, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com NEWS

Public commenters spoke 
about medical processes, 
funding equity, investments 
and climate change at the 
University 
of 
Michigan 
Board of Regents meeting 
Thursday afternoon.
Westland resident Allie 

Parker delivered a list of 
changes to medical processes 
at the C.S. Mott Children’s 
Hospital. Parker — who spoke 
about this issue during the 
February meeting — said her 
family endured psychologi-
cal, emotional and physical 
trauma because a University 
physician inaccurately attrib-
uted one of her children’s 
injuries to parental abuse.
In February, Parker said 
the University Child Protec-
tion Team — comprised of 
doctors at C.S. Mott Chil-
dren’s Hospital — accused her 
and her husband, James Park-
er, of child abuse. The Parkers 
were then brought to court 
over this alleged child abuse, 
with the judge ultimately dis-
missing the case.
Parker claimed in Feburary 
that this legal process unnec-
essarily stalled the treatment 

of her child and believes this 
resulted in a miscarriage. She 
said her predicament could 
have been avoided if there 
was more accountability and 
that she is not the first person 
to raise these concerns.
“U of M was on a fishing 
expedition at my children’s 
expense,” Parker said. “I 
asked you in February and 
I’m asking you again: How 

many families will need to 
stand here with another hor-
ror story before something is 
done?”
Students 
and 
faculty 
expressed support for the 
One University campaign, a 
coalition aimed at creating 
funding equity the three Uni-
versity campus.
UM-Flint student Matthew 
Baldwin shared his experi-
ence as a nontraditional stu-
dent. Baldwin said the Board 
of Regents should align itself 
with the goals of 1U to ease 
the burden of students in the 
University system.
1U has asked for the Go 
Blue Guarantee and funding 
from the Victors for Michi-
gan campaign to be limited 
to the Ann Arbor campus and 
expanded resources to sup-
port programs such as study 
abroad and Diversity, Equity 

and Inclusion at the Flint and 
Dearborn campuses. At the 
board meeting in May, a 1U 
spokeswomen said the coali-
tion had the support of six 
board members.
“You, the University of 
Michigan Board of Regents 
members, have a story you can 
tell here today,” Baldwin said. 
“By having equitable funding 
amongst our three campuses, 
you can tell one of expanding 
opportunity, one of dignities, 
one of respect for faculty and 
students, one of solidarity.”
Multiple public comments 
addressed concerns around 
the potential closing of the 
Livonia Outpatient Surgery 
Center 
operating 
rooms. 
Members of the board reiterat-
ed that no decisions were final.
Stacy Roth, a nurse at the 
Livonia Outpatient Surgery 
Center, read a letter from a 
surgeon at the center, con-
cerned about the possible 
shut-down of the center in 
three years. She said shutting 
down the center would be 
“counterproductive.”
Monica 
Sirven, 
clinical 
assistant professor and medi-
cal director of the Livonia 
Outpatient Surgery Center, 
said the operating rooms ser-
vice the community and has 
consistently been profitable 
for Michigan Medicine.
The board is considering 
expanding its health system, 
though the operating rooms at 
the Livonia Outpatient Surgery 
Center are not currently includ-
ed in this plan. Sirven said she 
hopes the board will reconsider.
“Surgeons want to operate 
at the Livonia Surgery Center,” 
Sirven said. “The long-term 
opportunity to keep patient 
access open in this area will 
be worthy of the investment if 
new ORs are included.”
Last week, Bridge Maga-
zine published an article 
with 
information 
that 
showed the board voted to 
invest endowment money 
into the Detroit Renaissance 
Real Estate Fund, which is 
owned by FDR’s two busi-
ness principals. 

Regents meet for final summer meeting

Board examines construction plans on Ann Arbor campus

Read more at michigandaily.com

ALEX HARRING
Summer Managing News Editor

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily
Westland resident Allie Parker speaks about medical practices at a University of Michigan Regents meeting.

Read more at michigandaily.com

Public commenters address climate, investments, medicine

BARBARA COLLINS
Summer Managing News Editor