As
University
of
Michigan
students began school two weeks
ago, approximately 30 international
students were unable to matriculate
because of delays in their United
States visa applications, according
to University spokeswoman Kim
Broekhuizen.
The three students interviewed in
this article all requested anonymity
due to fear of retaliation from the
United States Department of State.
Other identifying information, such
as the students’ undergraduate
institutions and programs of study
at the University, will also not be
disclosed.
The students interviewed, who
are referred to as John, Sue and
Bob in this article, described poor
communication
from
the
State
Department and uncertainty for
their futures in separate interviews
with The Daily.
The University’s International
Center is aware of approximently 30
students who could not begin classes
in Ann Arbor because of delays in
processing and approving visas from
the State Department, Broekhuizen
wrote in an email to The Daily. She
noted the majority of the students
affected were enrolled in graduate
programs at the University.
Foreign policy under the Trump
administration has led to a sharp
increase in visa delays and denials,
according to an article published in
the New York Times in August.
In an email to The Daily, a State
Department spokesperson noted 74
percent of student visa applications
globally were approved in the 2018
fiscal year. The spokesperson said
the department’s top priority when
reviewing applicants was national
security, which was the cause of any
increased vetting.
“While some campuses may
report delays, we have also heard
anecdotally that there is variation
in what different campuses are
experiencing,”
the
spokesperson
wrote.
The three students interviewed
all said their applications were put
through administrative processing,
which has been likened to an
elongated security check.
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
In order to commemorate
Constitution Day, the University
of Michigan invited Rep. Justin
Amash, I-Mich, to speak. The
former
undergraduate
and
Michigan law alum represents
Michigan’s 3rd District. While
the first half of the lecture largely
centered around how Amash’s
philosophy as a public servant
centers around the powers of
the constitution, he also spoke
about political theatrics and the
grim side of Congress.
The
conversation
was
moderated by Richard Primus,
a Theodore J. St. Antoine
Collegiate Professor of Law.
Primus, who has previously
clerked
for
Supreme
Court
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,
acknowledged
that
while
he
differs
with
Amash
ideologically, he values their
political discourse.
“We disagree on things like
taxation,
health
insurance,
foreign policy,” Primus said. “We
disagree in the constitutional
realm about things like from
the proper allocation of power
among the federal government
to
the
states.
And
these
disagreements
matter.
They
matter a lot. If Mr. Amash
didn’t think they mattered, he
wouldn’t be in public life. But
when I talk with him about
Constitutional law, I know that
I am talking to someone who
has a deep commitment to be
principled in the conversation
and to act upon the principles he
arrives at.”
Primus used to be Amash’s
Common Law professor and
fondly
recounts
teaching
Amash. He remembers Amash
always having deep reverence
for the Constitution.
“Mr. Amash sat, I think fourth
row, and in the middle,” Primus
said. “Almost in the center of the
group. This spatially was not a
reflection of his place in politics.
The
Ann
Arbor
City
Council discussed a variety
of legislative issues facing
the community, ranging from
zoning laws to policing to
marijuana licensing, at their
meeting Monday evening.
To
start
the
meeting,
Mayor
Christopher
Taylor
acknowledged September as
National Recovery Month. He
gave two recovering addicts
a chance to testify to the
wealth of addiction recovery
resources in the Ann Arbor
area, including the Dawn Farm
outpatient and detoxification
programs.
Sam,
seven
years
clean,
commended
Ann
Arbor’s
recovery resources.
“This
is
one
of
the
more
supportive
recovery
communities that I have been a
part of,” Sam said. “I have never
been to a place that had such
a celebration of recovery and
professional
opportunities...
where I can stand up in a City
Council meeting and declare
that I am in recovery.”
The council then moved
forward
with
a
resolution
approving a purchase order of
new police body cameras to be
GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 132
©2019 The Michigan Daily
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
CL A SSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
Town hall
reflects on
influence of
Blue Ribbon
Graduate students give feedback
on report about faculty responsibility
BARBARA COLLINS
& ALEX HARRING
Daily Staff Reporters
Members
of
the
Senate
Advisory
Committee
on
University Affairs met Monday
afternoon
in
the
Fleming
Administrative
Building
to
discuss the Big Ten Academic
Alliance, which will be held
this year at the University of
Michigan starting on Oct. 17.
The BTAA, which is a yearly
consortium of the 14 Big Ten
universities,
convenes
for
three days to discuss research,
academics, university resources
and faculty governance.
SACUA
Chair
Joy
Beatty
led
the
discussion
Monday,
and
faculty
representatives
suggested potential talks and
panels at the three-day meeting
next month. The conference
tends to be attended by several
faculty
representatives
from
each Big Ten university, Beatty
said.
“BTAA is all the heads of
faculty senate from Big Ten
schools, so the chair of faculty
senate, the vice chair of faculty
senate and any staff members
they want to bring,” she said.
“It’s actually kind of a small
group that’s coming.”
SACUA
talks Big
10 event
themes
ACADEMICS
Annual conference
of 14 universities
convenes to discuss
research, academics
BEN ROSENFELD
Daily Staff Reporter
U.S. Rep. Amash talks birth, death
of Constitutionally-based policies
Lawmaker commemorates day founding fathers signed Constitution
Council
discusses
marijuana
licensing
ANN ARBOR
JASON SIEGELIN
Daily Staff Reporter
Follow The Daily
on Instagram,
@michigandaily
Rackham Graduate School
hosted a town hall to garner
graduate
student
feedback
about a Blue Ribbon Panel
report on Monday. The report
addressed the question put
forth by University Provost
Martin A. Philbert: “What
ought to be the intersection
between
political
thought/
ideology and a faculty member’s
responsibility to students?” The
question and report followed
last fall’s controversy of faculty
rescinding
recommendation
letters
for
study
abroad
programs held in Israel and
the University’s sanctions in
response.
Sociology
professor
Sandra Levitsky opened the
town hall by summarizing
the
recommendation
letter
rescindment
and
sanctions
controversy and why the Blue
Ribbon Panel was created.
“What the controversy really
revealed is that the University
of Michigan actually has no
policy in place that governs
situations of this kind that
could offer clear guidance
about what to do in this type
of situation,” Levitsky said.
“What should we do when a
faculty acting on his or her
perceived freedom of political
thought conflicts with the
freedom of another person?
What should we do when the
exercise of faculty freedom of
thought conflicts with faculty
responsibilities to students?”
After
gathering
feedback
from
over
1,100
students
through an anonymous form
and holding four two-hour
listening sessions at University
campuses, the panel published
its report on March 21, 2019
which included a Statement
of Principle, stating faculty-
student interactions “must be
based solely on educational
and
professional
reasons.”
Levitsky explained that faculty
need relevant and appropriate
reasons to decline students
letters
of
recommendations
or research and lab work.
Additionally, faculty should
not treat students differently
if they share or do not share
similar political ideologies.
ALEC COHEN/Daily
U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, I-Mich., shares his reasoning for becoming an independent at an event to commemorate Constitution Day in Jeffries Hall Monday afternoon.
Visa delays force international
students to defer acceptance
Chinese admittees left confused following State Deptartment review process
See BLUE RIBBON, Page 3
See CITY COUNCIL, Page 3
SONIA LEE
Daily News Editor
DESIGN BY SHERRY CHEN
See VISA, Page 3
JULIA FANZERES
Daily Staff Reporter
See AMASH, Page 3
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
City representatives
speak on cannabis
permits, zoning laws
and police cameras