life?”
Common said much of his
conviction to do good is also
rooted in his spirituality. Pointing
to his heart, he said he believes
God gives everyone a purpose, a
value he said keeps him grounded
in all the decisions he makes.
“I take my time to pray, I take
my time to take it in,” Common
said. “And if it don’t feel right
for me right here, no matter
what my manager says, what my
agent says, what my mother says,
knowing what my core purpose is
and my function is, then I don’t do
it. And I don’t let anything sway
me away.”
Speaking on the role of business
in his work, Common compared
business to an “amplifier” which
gives his music a platform to
have widespread impact. He
also encouraged the audience to
maintain integrity and pursue
their
passions
regardless
of
monetary temptations.
“It’s nothing to profit and get so
much money but lose your soul for
that,” Common said. “No matter
how much money you gain, if you
lose yourself in it, that’s a recipe
for unhappiness.”
DeRue then posed a question
from a student to Common about
how to navigate race relations
in
an
increasingly
divided
United States. To much audience
applause,
Common
said
the
country needs to first recognize
the suffering of Black Americans.
“America, white America, and
especially the ones in government
who hold a lot of the keys to what
history, what the conversation
is about, need to acknowledge
the
pain,
enslavement,
the
dehumanizing of black people in
America,” Common said.
“It does feel to me like we
sometimes make a mistake
in government in saying or
arguing that there is this
wonderful solution to solve
all of these problems,” Patrick
said. “And when we consider
a challenge as profound as
climate change, we need to be
doing a lot of different things
simultaneously.”
Innovation,
Patrick
emphasized,
needs
to
be
fostered in such a way where
failure is not penalized but
instead seen as a step toward
an improved world.
“I think there is also an
appetite for innovation in
government,” Patrick said.
“But successful innovation,
I think, requires that you
raise
your
tolerance
for
failure. And politics punishes
failure.”
One key area Patrick said
needs to be improved upon
was
resource
efficiency
and waste. He highlighted
infrastructure as oftentimes
being outdated and therefore
severely inefficient for cities.
“If
you
think
about
something
like
water
for
example,
we
have
water
pipes
under
the
city
of
Boston — wooden ones —
not all of them, but wooden
water pipes in active use,”
Patrick said. “The amount
of waste that happens in
that piping … When we talk
about massive investment in
infrastructure, what comes
to mind is roads and bridges.
And that’s important. But
there
is
an
underground
infrastructure
that
needs
massive restructuring.”
On the topic of raising
more
awareness
about
climate
change,
Patrick
emphasized
the
idea
of
continuous
improvement
within companies.
“We have to make the case
that we have a better idea
for how to fuel the kind of
society we want to live in and
frankly the expectations that
we have,” he said. “Without
having the only option be
shaming the folks who —
I’m not saying don’t use it,
just not having it as the only
option — shaming the folks
who perpetuate what we
have always done.”
Patrick now works at Bain
Capital in impact investing
where capital is invested in
organizations
addressing
societal and environmental
issues. Through this, he can
help provide the capital for
forward-thinking companies
to innovate and build their
ideas out.
“We
invest
in
lower
middle-market
companies,
so these are positive cash
flow companies where we
can generate both a financial
and
a
measurable
social
or environmental impact,”
he said. “We chose three
of what we call ‘thematic
purposes’:
sustainability,
health and wellness, and
education. … We invest in
companies where executive
teams are trying to take
their companies from where
they are to where they need
to be.”
The end of the conversation
focused
on
politics
and
activism, and how the two
play a part in battling climate
change. Though Patrick is
glad to see younger people
participating
in
activism,
he also has doubts about
how long they will continue
advocating for people and
purposes, he said.
“A whole lot of folks who
haven’t been engaged a lot,
a lot of them young, come
out and show up — they’ve
taken to the streets,” he said.
“Now, I said at some risk at
an earlier meeting … that a lot
of those folks strike me as not
having the longest attention
span, or they’re caught up
in the celebrity culture we
have right now where you get
a person elected, and once
they’re elected you go back to
what you were doing instead
of organizing.”
Following
the
event,
Rackham student Rebecca
Lowy said she agreed with
Patrick’s push for innovation,
emphasizing
the
issue
of
fossil fuels.
“I really liked his comment
that the Stone Age didn’t
end because they ran out of
stones,” Lowy said. “That’s
very relevant to what we’re
facing right now with fossil
fuels.
We
don’t
need
to
deplete them to move on to
something bigger and better
and better for our future.”
Rackham student Shanea
Condon said she came to
the event because she was
interested
in
hearing
a
political
perspective
on
environmentalism.
Condon
agreed with Lowy, saying
she
appreciated
Patrick’s
perspective the government’s
role in technology.
“We need to have more
patience and grace for failure,
especially
with
planning
for innovation and trying to
understand how technology
can improve,” Condon said.
“How politics doesn’t really
make space for that and how
we need to have patience for
each other. Not only with
innovating, but also with
getting people to jump on
board with innovation.”
LSA freshman Nicholas
Cemalovic was surrounded
by Dylan’s music in his
childhood.
“(My parents) would play
it, and there’s this psych
phenomenon where the more
you’re exposed to a stimulus,
the more you’re likely to enjoy
it,” Cemalovic said.
Aside
from
his
music,
students are also intrigued
by Dylan’s background and
influence in music culture.
His music was not only used
for entertainment but also
for social change. According
to Biography.com, in 1965, he
introduced electronic music
into his folk style, causing
controversy
in
the
music
world. In 1989, Dylan was
inducted into the Rock & Roll
Hall of Fame.
LSA
junior
Vincenzo
Convertino started listening to
Bob Dylan in high school and
will be attending the concert.
Convertino
is
particularly
interested in Dylan’s influence
on other artists.
“He also wrote a lot of
famous songs by other artists
— I think that’s pretty cool
about him,” Convertino said.
Of the many songs he wrote,
“All Along the Watchtower”
has
had
a
long
history,
including
immense
success
from
the
Jimi
Hendrix
Experience version.
Cemalovic also expressed
interest
in
Dylan’s
music
history and life.
“You can pinpoint different
things in American history,”
Cemalovic said. “He was very
anti-war and wrote a lot of
music that centered around
counter-culture.”
Tickets for the concert went
on sale on Sept. 20, including
a select number of discounted
student tickets, which sold
out the same day they were
released. However, full price
tickets are still being sold
through the Michigan Union
Ticket Office.
“Our founding fathers, they
were the first group of men
to
found
an
Asian-American
fraternity because they wanted
to join a traditional IFC fraternity
but they weren’t allowed. This was
back in 1929.”
Like the Interfraternity Council
and the National Panhellenic
Conference, NPHC and MGC are
supported primarily by the Office
of Fraternity and Sorority Life. In
addition to helping organizations
with operations and events, FSL
has been trying to help raise
awareness
about
CBFOs
on
campus and within the Greek life
community.
“FSL staff works with the
councils and chapters to affirm the
cultural significance and unique
histories of their fraternities and
sororities, and support their inter/
national and campus initiatives,”
FSL wrote in a statement to The
Daily. “The staff also helps to
provide context and education
about CBFOs to other campus
partners who may interact with
NPHC and MGC chapters during
any of their various campus events
and projects. Additionally, FSL
consults with national speakers
and experts to work with NPHC
and MGC on topics through
the specific lens of culturally-
based
fraternal
organizations
including
recruiting
and
community-building strategies at
predominantly white institutions,
and risk management education.”
LSA senior Chyanne Laldee,
who is president of NPHC and a
member of Sigma Gamma Rho
Sorority Inc.’s Iota Psi chapter
said the council is grateful for the
support they have received from
FSL.
“They have been a constant
support system to help voice
concerns of our communities and
provide the efficient amount of
support to help our community
as well,” Laldee wrote in an email
interview with The Daily. “They
have been a constant advocate for
the NPHC and we wouldn’t have
gained a lot of the things we have
without them advocating for us in
different ways.”
LSA
senior
Silan
Fadlallah
agreed, saying FSL offered a
welcoming
and
encouraging
support
system
during
the
founding of the Zeta chapter of
sorority Epsilon Alpha Sigma, the
first and only Arab sorority in the
country, which started its chapter
at the University in 2018.
“MGC does a great job of
supporting us, and especially our
advisor, Courtney, and the larger
MGC community,” Fadlallah said.
“I could not have asked for more,
especially from the organizations
themselves.”
According
to
some
CBFO
representatives,
while
support
from FSL and fellow council
members
has
been
excellent
and open-minded, support from
the
University’s
administration
has been lacking in areas like
recognition. Additionally, CBFO
representatives said they don’t
have as much money as other Greek
organizations.
University
spokesman
Rick
Fitzgerald
clarified
that
no
fraternal
organizations
receive
funding from the University.
“No fraternities or sororities
in any of the councils receive any
U-M funding,’ Fitzgerald wrote
in an email to The Daily. ‘The four
councils all receive comprehensive
advising and support from the U-M
Office of Fraternity & Sorority
Life.”
LSA junior Dipita Das, a member
of the Beta chapter of Sigma
Lambda Gamma, said that because
MGC and NPHC organizations
were founded more recently, they
lack the donors and funds many
IFC and Panhel organizations have.
Often, she said, MGC organizations
will run small fundraisers or apply
for grants to put on cultural events.
She said financial restrictions
and the limitations on grant
applications make it even more
difficult to put on these events.
“The University claims, ‘Oh
we’re so diverse,’” Das said. “Well,
if you’re so diverse, why aren’t
you allowing us to hold different
events to express our cultures and
identities? Why are there all these
guidelines on how to be cultured?”
One
key
issue
CBFO
representatives brought up was the
publicity of their organizations.
According to Soto, some students
might not join CBFOs simply
because they do not know of the
organizations or that they are
present at the University.
“I would really love to see
multicultural Greek life and the
Divine Nine promoted more on
campus. ... A lot of people don’t
know we exist,” Soto said. “So, they
end up either pushing off Greek
life and not thinking about it, or
joining Panhel and maybe realizing
later that there are multicultural
orgs and wishing they had known
sooner. I think promotion is a big
thing, because we do a lot of great
things for the community, but with
the smaller councils, not everyone
gets to know about what we do.”
Engineering senior Cryserica
Jeter said the Nu chapter of Delta
Sigma Theta sorority, Inc., of which
she is a member, also receives less
recognition for their community
work
from
the
University
administration
than
IFC
and
Panhel organizations do.
“If you asked the president if
he knew about MGC and NPHC
organizations, he probably doesn’’,”
Jeter said. “But he probably knows
a good amount of IFC and Panhel
organizations, just because it takes
an extra effort to get to know
minority groups on campus and to
actually figure out what they stand
for. ... I don’t feel like other people
that don’t identify as minorities
are actually trying to do that, or
trying to fight for us to get space
on campus, or even remember us as
leaders.”
Within Greek life, collaboration
between the four councils has
not always been the norm, not
only because of their differing
sizes but also because NPHC and
MGC serve different purposes
as CBFOs. But with a larger push
for diversity, equity and inclusion
within Greek life, some MGC and
NPHC leaders have been noticing
improved efforts for collaboration
and understanding between the
four councils. In addition to all
prospective Greek life members
having to complete a training
module
about
each
council’s
history, Jeter said IFC and Panhel
organizations are often open to
hearing NPHC’s own concerns.
“We have a lot of meetings as
leaders with Panhel and IFC,”
Jeter said. “So throughout those
meetings we’re able to express
our concerns, and they’re open to
things that they probably didn’t
even know about because they’re
not a part of our communities. And
within that we can collaborate
more and invite them to more of
our events so they can get to know
more about what we’re struggling
with, to help us in any way possible,
and vice versa.”
Soto, however, said it was
sometimes difficult to bring up
these concerns because of the
difference in membership size in
CBFO councils versus IFC and
Panhel.
“I know that our needs and
our wants are very different from
IFC and Panhel, and being much
smaller — both of us are — it can
be difficult to voice our concerns
whenever we’re in spaces with all
four councils, just because of the
number of them when it comes
to IFC and Panhel,” Soto said. “I
know that we do things among the
councils that are equal, but I don’t
think they’re always equitable,
because
our
needs
are
very
different.”
Das
said
similarly
NPHC
and
MGC
mainly
collaborate
with each other because of their
shared
experiences
and
their
emphasis on multiculturalism. The
organizations invite each other to
their events and often share similar
goals and values.
“Just being people of color in
both organizations, we have that
bond, like, ‘Oh, I understand where
you’re coming from, here is some
support,’” Das said.
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The major academic goals
of the project, he said, are
to improve the quality of
on-campus teaching through
the use of XR and integrate
XR
into
online
curricula.
Additionally, Nelson said the
initiative was created in hopes
of prompting public-private
partnerships with the goal of
developing
new
XR-related
technologies.
Nelson said he has been
working
with
professors
across disciplines to increase
the
quality
of
education
through XR. As an example
of this, he noted a School of
Nursing course utilizing XR to
give students the opportunity
to
experience
high-risk
hospital situations without the
actual risk.
“I would love to see really
interdisciplinary engagement,
so students from Engineering,
students from Art & Design and
architecture and humanities,”
Nelson said. “It really brings
different skill sets to the table
to either build new content
or curate these experiences.
Building upon that expertise
is what Michigan is known
for. It’s really cross-discipline
and interdisciplinary research
and learning, and taking that
to the next level in the student
experience.”
The interdisciplinary goals
for the initiative span beyond
STEM, Nelson said. While he
noted XR is typically associated
with the technological and
scientific fields, he said he
sees
opportunities
for
all
disciplines to benefit from XR.
Specifically,
Nelson
said
an English professor could
use this technology to create
a scene from a novel to show
how the characters experience
empathy. He pointed to this
collaboration
as
one-way
humanities scholars have used
XR to improve education.
Currently,
a
team
of
University professors led by
the School of Information
are working on creating a
graduate
certification
for
XR technology. Nelson said
there will be a fellowship
for both undergraduate and
graduate students to work on
projects involving XR at the
University.
Since 2018, the student-led
Alternative Reality Initiative
has been exposing students
to XR. Nelson lauded the
ongoing
commitment
of
students already involved with
this technology and said the
initiative is building off their
work.
Business
junior
Michael
Zhang, ARI president, said
he is excited to see how XR
technology will change how
classes
are
taught.
Zhang
also serves as president of
the Inter-Collegiate XR, a
community
of
school
XR
student organization leaders
in
20
North
American
universities.
“Traditionally,
students
learn using 2-D outlets like
textbooks and worksheets,”
Zhang said. “Now, with XR
technology,
we’ll
be
able
to learn not only with 2-D
elements but also with 3-D
representations
of
material
that we’re learning in 2-D.”
ARI Vice President Matthew
Kosova, Engineering junior,
said he hopes more people
will use XR as the technology
becomes more accessible in
terms of ease of use and cost.
“The
technology
has
reached a point where prices
are becoming better and the
hardware is becoming easier
to use,” Kosova said. “Now,
it’s up to a diverse group of
talented creators to design
new applications, design new
use cases for this technology,
and that’s why XR technology
essentially relies on the fact
that there is a diverse pool of
people using their respective
backgrounds and interests to
discover what are the future
uses of XR technology.”
In the near future, Nelson
said the initiative is planning
an XR speaker series and
hackathons
to
generate
student interest. He said the
new initiative supports the
University’s role as a research
institution
as
well
as
a
commitment to enhancing the
public good.
With the student work done
in the past, Nelson said much
of his work at the beginning
stages of the initiative is
to gauge the work that has
already been completed on
campus in the field of XR and
looking for ways to bolster that
work with the new resources
from the initiative.
“I’’m spending this these
early days understanding what
work has already been done,”
Nelson said. “Who are the
people that are experimenting
and experts in this space?
What sort of resources do we
have? What do we need? And
helping pull that together and
shine a light on all the great
things already being done and
how we take that to the next
level as we go forward.”
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In addition, Common shared he
believes Black Americans should
also strive to heal for themselves.
“We owe it to ourselves to not
carry the weight of oppression,”
Common said. “We owe it to
ourselves to not carry the weight
of that hatred … I’ve got to forgive,
because if I carry this with me,
I’m not going to be the best human
being I can be.”
To
close,
Common
urged
students in the audience to pursue
their dreams in ways that better
other people.
“Love for God, love for self, and
love for others as self — if we can
apply that each and every day, we
will all be bettering the world,”
Common said.
Norman Bishara, Business School
associate dean for undergraduate
programs, explained the school
brought in Common as the speaker
for the event as part of their focus on
integrating the arts and humanities
in business.
“I think you can judge from the
reactions of our students that they
were engaged, that they learned a
lot and also got a lot to think about,”
Bishara said. “In classes, students
are talking about the role of business
in society, so it’s really important for
students to appreciate how all these
different things come together.”
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