A petition circulating around 
campus and the greater Ann 
Arbor community is calling on the 
University of Michigan to release 
the papers of Dr. John Tanton, 
a U-M alum and pioneer of the 
anti-immigration movement in 
the United States.
The petition, entitled “Tell 
the 
University 
of 
Michigan: 
Stop Hiding White Nationalist’s 
Papers From The Public,” had 
more than 3,600 signatures as of 
Wednesday evening. The petition 
was created by third-year Law 
student Kerry Martin in an effort 
to raise awareness about Tanton’s 
ties 
to 
white 
nationalism, 
eugenics 
and 
anti-immigrant 
movements.
Tanton donated his collection 
of papers dating back to 1984 to the 
University’s Bentley Historical 

Library. The entire collection of 
records totals 25 boxes. Boxes 
numbered one to 14 are “open 
without restriction” according 
to the Bentley Library, but boxes 
15 to 25 are to remain sealed 
until April 6, 2035, per Tanton’s 
request upon donation. Martin 
and other petition supporters 
argue that the remaining boxes 
should be revealed to the public 
sooner because of their potential 
connections 
to 
the 
current 
political landscape surrounding 
immigration.
“The petition is supposed to 
shine light on what the University 
might be hoping to do in the 
privacy of its archives and legal 
department 
and 
demonstrate 
that this touches a nerve with the 
community that the University 
is accountable to,” Martin said. 
“University of Michigan is hiding 
papers that most likely draw a 

direct link between the author of 
those papers and anti-immigrant 
sentiment at the highest levels of 
our nation.”
The petition is part of the larger 
debate 
over 
the 
University’s 
choice to keep the documents 
sealed. In December 2016, after 
reading a New York Times feature 
on Tanton, Hassan Ahmad, an 
immigration activist and attorney 
based 
in 
Washington, 
D.C., 
requested through the Freedom 
of Information Act the records in 
the remaining 11 boxes be made 
available to the public. After his 
request was denied, Ahmad filed 
an administrative appeal with 
the University, which was also 
rejected.
“The lack of transparency 
from the University is really 
alarming to me,” Ahmad said. 
“Why are they trying so hard 
to hide the papers of John 
Tanton? John Tanton was 
a white nationalist, he 
believed that Latinos were 
uneducable (and) he led 
the effort to make English 
the official language of the 
United States… every single 
idea he tossed up was anti-
immigrant.”
In June 2017, Ahmad 
filed a lawsuit against the 
University. The case was 
dismissed 
the 
following 
November. 
After 
that, 
Ahmad teamed up with his 
associate and a Michigan 
FOIA expert, Philip Ellison, 
to fight the University in 
court. They filed an appeal 
with the Michigan Court 
of Appeals and held oral 
arguments in Detroit in 
August 2018, arguing that 
the papers are considered 
public record and cannot be 
withheld by the University. 
The Court of Appeals ruled 
in Ahmad’s favor in June 
2019, reversing the 2017 
decision.
The University is still 
debating whether to release 
the remaining boxes of 

sealed records prior to the 2035 
date. University spokesman Rick 
Fitzgerald wrote in an email 
that if the University chooses 
to uncover the papers against 
Tanton’s wishes, it could affect 
the likelihood of future donors 
choosing the University as the 
place for their own collections.
“The university argues, in 
part, that ‘… the Court of Appeals’ 
decision will have the paradoxical 
effect of impeding public access 
to knowledge,’” Fitzgerald wrote. 
“‘If gift agreements requiring any 
period of delayed public access 
are deemed unenforceable under 
FOIA, no one will donate records 
to a public library under such an 
agreement, and the public will 
lose access to records of invaluable 
historical significance.’”
The University also argues 
that the first 14 boxes are already 
available to the public, which 
should be utilized and researched 
in the meantime. However, Martin 
discredited this claim, citing his 
experience in the legal field.
“As a law student, I know 
the value of sifting through 
massive document dumps, and 
sometimes it is in ‘Box 18’ that 
you find what you need,” Martin 
said. “With another 11 boxes of 
his papers, we’re fairly confident 
that that picture of Dr. Tanton 
could come into clearer view, and 
therefore the illegitimate and 
insidious biases behind the Trump 
administration’s 
immigration 
policies can come into clearer view 
as well.”
Tanton earned graduate degrees 
in medicine and ophthalmology 
from the University in 1960 
and 1964, respectively. He was 
the founder and an executive 
of 
various 
anti-immigration 
organizations starting in the late 
1970s, including the Federation for 
American Immigration Reform, 
Center for Immigration Studies 
and NumbersUSA. 

NE VE R FORGET

2 — Thursday, September 12, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
The Young Americans for Freedom arranged 2,996 American flags to represent the victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks in the Diag 
Wednesday.

DANIELLE PASEKOFF
Daily Staff Reporter

Campaign created to raise awareness about Dr. John Tanton’s support for white nationalism

Petition demands University release 
documents from anti-immigrant alum

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TUESDAY:
By Design 
FRIDAY:
Behind the Story
WEDNESDAY:
This Week in History 

MONDAY:
Looking at the Numbers

THURSDAY:
Twitter Talk

ACLU
@ACLU
We sent a letter to @umich 
urging it to stop requiring 
students who file sexual 
misconduct complaints to 
undergo cross-examination 
conducted by their alleged 
abusers. 

Coach Harbaugh 
@CoachJim4UM 
The 2019 University of 
Michigan Football Team 
sends our condolensces & 
prayers to Scott, Rhonda 
and the Lasby Family on 
the passing of their Son & 
Brother, Skyar. 

EECS at Michigan
@EECSatMI
A new $5.8M gift to support 
precision health and bipolar 
disorder researcher at 
@umich will help researchers 
like @emilymprovost develop 
new ways to predict and treat 
the condition.

negentrippy
@youngtrippywrld
being a umich student isn’t 
easy and idk if ppl who went 
to other colleges will ever 
understand 

Kenzie Raymond 
@raymond_kenzie 
Tomorrow is going to be a 
dream come true. Umich 
football game at noon. Then 
Jonas brothers at 7:30. 

Michael Blaszczyk
@MikeBlaszczyk
Being a University of 
Michigan and Detroit Lions 
football fan is sooooo much 
fun...just a blast 

