LSA senior Kathy Zhu, the
vic LSA senior Kathy Zhu, the
vice chair of the University of
Michigan College Republicans,
made national headlines after
Miss World America stripped her
of her Miss Michigan title in July.
The action was in response to two
tweets from her public Twitter
account. According to an email
the organization sent to Zhu, the
tweets were deemed “offensive,
insensitive
and
inappropriate
content.”
As a new school year begins,
students have mixed ideas on
how her comments will affect the
campus climate at U-M.
One of the tweets, posted
in February 2018, responded
to a “try on a hijab” booth in
celebration of World Hijab Day at
the University of Central Florida,
where Zhu used to attend school.
Zhu’s tweet equated the use of a
hijab to the oppression of women
under Islam. Zhu transferred to
the University of Michigan the
following semester of Fall 2018
after receiving backlash for the
tweet from thousands of Twitter
users and UCF students, some of
which called for her expulsion.
The other tweet brought into
question by MWA was posted in
October 2017, and blamed Black
Americans for violence within
their own communities. Both
tweets have since been deleted
from Zhu’s account, although she
told Fox News in July she does not
rescind any of her statements.
“I stand by all of the tweets that
I tweeted out from my Twitter
account, but I don’t think that
any of them were remotely racist
or insensitive,” Zhu said in her
interview with Fox News. “I just
think I presented the facts and
presented my own opinion of
things.”
Zhu did not respond to requests
for comment from The Michigan
Daily.
Less than a week after the
incident, Zhu was named to the
Women for Trump Coalition
Advisory Board. More recently,
founders of a new beauty pageant
titled Miss MAGA said Zhu’s
story inspired them to create the
competition.
LSA senior Maria Muzaurieta
said College Republicans “fully
stands behind” Zhu in an email to
The Daily back in July.
“Although (MWA is) within
their rights to do this as a private
organization, we believe that
this decision shows incredible
bias
against
unextraordinary
right wing opinion, which we
expect will come back to hurt the
organization,” Muzaurieta wrote.
Since her initial comment in
July, Muzaurieta has not
responded
to
additional
requests for comment from
The Daily.
Public
Policy
junior
Camille
Mancuso,
communications
director
for the University’s chapter
of College Democrats, wrote
in an email to The Daily
in July that the College
Democrats condemn Zhu’s
statements and regard them
as “racist.”
Now, with the start of a
new school year, Mancuso
said Zhu’s comments are
still
very
important
to
discuss.
“Unfortunately,
the
incident regarding Kathy
Zhu and her comments
is not unique,” Mancuso
wrote in a recent email.
“Whether it’s in the form of
racist graffiti in residence
halls, Ben Shapiro speaking
on campus, Stephen Ross
fundraising for Trump or
the words of Kathy Zhu, the
racism on this campus is
unfortunately very present
and very persistent and
very reflective of the systemic
racism that is existent not only
in Michigan and on Michigan’s
campus but across the nation.”
Zhu’s actions will diminish
the
mental
well-being
of
the
student
population,
and
specifically students of color on
campus, Manusco said. She said
student activists like the College
Democrats will continue to fight
for equity and inclusion within
the University and surrounding
community.
“Racism is not welcome on our
campus, and we will do the work
as an organization to combat this
continued
harmful
rhetoric,”
Mancuso wrote to The Daily.
LSA junior Fareah Fysudeen,
vice president external of the
Muslim
Student
Association,
received
infuriated,
deeply
saddened
and
disappointed
reaction messages in an MSA
group chat when Zhu’s comments
first became public, she told The
Daily in an email interview.
“As
an
active
community
member
in
the
Muslim
community on campus, I believe
every Islamaphobic remark, no
matter how little, chips away at
our general feeling of safety and
belonging,” Fysudeen wrote.
However, LSA junior Thomas
Vance, an Afroamerican and
African
studies
and
political
science double major, said he
believes the campus political
climate is constantly shifting and
a significant change will not occur
solely as a result of Zhu’s actions.
“I don’t think it’s in the
forefront of anyone’s mind,” Vance
said. “Because it was over the
summer, people have internships,
take classes, but I don’t think
anyone’s been thinking about it.
The conversations I’ve had within
my friend group or the circle that
I’m in, they haven’t really brought
it up. It was something that
happened, and we thought about it
for a few days.”
OVE RTIME
2A — Wednesday, September 4, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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Daily Staff Reporter
College Republicans vice chair lost beauty queen title after controversial tweets
Campus reacts to summer controversy
over student’s insensitive social media posts
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RISKY BISCUIT
puzzle by sudokusyndication.com
Hurricane Katrina’s effects felt at ‘U,’ school takes
in displaced students from the storm-stricken coast
September 6, 2005
In response to the devastation
left by Hurricane Katrina, the
University has begun admitting
displaced college students from
disaster-stricken
universities
while continuing to locate missing
University students from areas hit
by the hurricane.
Sue Eklund, the University dean
of students, said yesterday that of
the 86 current University students
who are from the disaster-affected
areas - Alabama, Mississippi and
Louisiana - her office has yet to
hear back from 32 students.
“We have not heard of our
students being seriously injured or
worse, though it’s important to note
that some do have missing relatives,
more have missing friends,” she
said.
Eklund added that her office is
using e-mail to contact the missing
students and offering to pay for
plane tickets for student who could
not access their bank accounts. She
said the Office of Financial Aid
has also been assisting students
financially
affected by the disaster on an
individual basis.
While
the
University
does
not know the whereabouts of 32
students, Eklund said many of those
students may have ignored her
office’s e-mails or will only begin
checking their University e-mail
accounts once school has started.
With some colleges effectively shut
down from the flooding, University
officials said their offices have been
inundated with inquires
from displaced students hoping
to attend the University.
Ted
Spencer,
director
of
undergraduate admissions, said on
Friday
that his office has received about
50 inquiries, 31 of which were from
Tulane
University
students.
Tulane, a college of about 8,000
undergraduate students located
in New Orleans, canceled its fall
semester on Friday.
The Office of Undergraduate
Admissions has so far admitted 12
as nondegree students, Spencer
said, adding that the office does
not plan to limit the number of
displaced students who wish to
attend the University.
“We are taking this one on a
case-by-case basis,” Spencer said.
“There
is no number associated with
this. Our primary concern is to help
the students in the area attending
a university by helping them
continue
their education.”
He
also
noted
that
the
admissions office has in some cases
abided by an “honor system” for
displaced students that have never,
applied to the University and as a
result undergraduate admissions
does not have their
transcript information on hand.
But Spencer said his office does
not anticipate any future problems
because the students who have
been
admitted either applied to or
were accepted by the University
but chose to attend a different
college. Spencer said he expects the
inquiries to cease by Sept. 9, when
fall semester is underway.
The University’s law school
also announced on Friday it would
begin accepting displaced students,
with priority given to third-year
law students and to students with
connections to the state or the
University.