“We’re trying to avoid a
situation in which the same
group of people tend to get
invited or quoted in all of
the different pieces and
make it easier to erase the
excuse of, ‘I didn’t know any
women to appear on this
panel or this conference, or
to consult for this particular
project,’” Litman said.
While the database is still
being created, the Twitter
account has been in use
since Oct. 1. Prifogle said the
account is used to showcase
the diversity of scholarship
women
and
gender
nonconforming people have
in the discipline.
“Women don’t promote
themselves in the same way
that men might promote
themselves,”
Prifogle
said. “We can do some of
that promotional work for
them, we can amplify their
scholarship, we can amplify
awards that they have won
and bring greater attention
to their work.”
The initiative is inspired
by
Women
Also
Know
Stuff, a similar database
and corresponding Twitter
account of political science
experts
who
identify
as
women
or
gender
nonconforming.
Prifogle
was a member of a group
which formed an additional
database
and
Twitter
account
for
historians
identifying as women and
gender
nonconforming
individuals called Women
Also Know History, which
is also based off of Women
Also Know Stuff. Though
the three initiatives are not
in an official partnership,
Litman explained, Women
Also Know Law has been in
contact with the others and
has received support from
them along the way.
In addition to Litman and
Prifogle, Women Also Know
Law has a faculty advisory
board
consisting
of
11
University law professors
who
help
manage
the
Twitter account, generate
ideas for website content
and publicize the initiative.
A group of students from
the Women Law Students
Association
collaborate
with the faculty advisory
board on the projects.
Second-year Law students
Rachel
Czwartacky
and
Emma
Macfarlane
are
co-presidents of the Women
Law Students Association
and both became involved
with Women Also Know
Law when Litman reached
out
to
them
about
the
initiative at the beginning
of the semester.
Czwartacky
and
Macfarlane said they are
both looking forward to
the impact of the initiative.
From her involvement in
Women Also Know Law,
Czwartacky said she has
gotten
the
opportunity
to work with influential
female law professors that
she
wouldn’t
have
met
otherwise.
“There
are
so
many
panels that go on in the
law school all the time
that are all put on by
different student groups,”
Czwartacky said. “Even just
between
(Mcfarlane
and
me), we’re always thinking
about
whose
voices
are
represented on these panels
… (Women Also Know Law)
is really perfect for both
of us. And I think that was
something we were looking
to do.”
Before
coming
to
law
school at the University,
Macfarlane
taught
in
Bangkok,
Thailand,
for
two years. Working in a
very male-dominated field,
Macfarlane said she found
importance
in
having
female
role
models
and
experts to look up to.
“It’s difficult to make
your way when you don’t
have people immediately at
the forefront of your brain
to look up to,” Macfarlane
said. “I think that this
is an excellent project to
highlight people and maybe
encourage the default be
not a white man, but a
woman or a person of color,
or a person who is gender
nonconforming.”
Litman
said
those
involved
in
the
Women
Also Know Law initiative
want the project to be used
as a positive reinforcement
and support tool for those
who
identify
as
women
and gender nonconforming
in law academia. She also
hopes
those
considering
entering
academia
can
utilize the initiative to see
the great work they can go
on to do.
“We want to change the
look and feel about what it
means to be experts and to
be supporting women who
are doing amazing things
in
the
law
(field),
and
also
encouraging
people,
reminding them about all of
the amazing experts in the
field who identify as women
or gender nonconforming,”
Litman said.
Prifogle said she wants
Women Also Know Law
to
start
a
productive
conversation
about
including
more
diversity
in the field and bringing
women
and
gender
nonconforming
voices
to
the
foreground
of
legal
academia.
“I
hope
for
more
representation of women
in academia, on conference
panels and syllabi; I hope
the
database
enables
greater
representation
and greater diversity in
those key components of
academic
life,”
Prifogle
said. “But I also hope it
starts
a
conversation
in
legal academia about the
importance
of
diversity,
the importance of tackling
gender bias. We’re tackling
gender bias in a couple of
specific ways that I think
are modeled on other ways
that have proven successful,
but they are not the only
ways to tackle gender bias.
And we alone are not going
to solve gender bias in the
academy.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Thursday, October 17, 2019 — 3A
LAW
From Page 1A
The Union has been closed
since April 2018, when work
began on the two-year, $85.2
million renovation project.
Students played a role in
the decision-making process
through the Michigan Union
Board
of
Representatives,
a
student
organization
that consulted with Union
administrators
on
the
renovation.
Rackham student Timothy
Williams,
a
member
of
the MUBR and one of the
students who served on the
food review committee, said
sustainability was a primary
concern
in
considering
which restaurants to put in
the Union.
“I
know
for
a
lot
of
us
sustainability
was
at
the
forefront,”
Williams
said. “We wanted to avoid
anything that wasn’t either
recyclable or compostable,
keep up with sustainability
trends, not only in front of
house but also back of house
and make sure they’re using
sustainable equipment and
composting, et cetera. That
was a pretty big part of it
as well as menu diversity,
which obviously played a
huge role.”
Amy
White,
director
of
the
Michigan
Union
and associate director of
University
Unions,
said
she was looking forward to
introducing new restaurants
into the space.
“I think you’ll see that
there
are
some
familiar
favorites, as well as some
new
faces
and
I
think
that’s good,” White said. “I
think that if we opened the
renovated Union and the
same folks that we’ve seen
for the last 30 years are still
doing
business
that
says
something. In some ways
that says some really good
things, and it may also say
some things that are not so
good, so I think having some
fresh businesses alongside
long-standing
favorites
is
something that I’m excited
about.”
LSA senior Nick Schmidt,
chair of the Michigan Union
Board
of
Representatives,
said customer service was
another consideration.
“I think that that’s a huge
part of any operation that we
have in the Union is making
sure
that
the
business
interacts
well
with
the
students because we want
students to feel comfortable
in the Union,” Schmidt said.
“That is their space.”
The
current
contracts
vary from five to 10 years in
length.
Some
restaurants,
including
Wendy’s,
opted
not to renew their contracts
for space in the Union. Last
January,
activists
from
Washtenaw Solidarity with
Farmworkers
called
on
the University and Central
Student
Government
to
block Wendy’s from coming
back to campus after the
chain
refused
to
sign
the
Fair
Food
Program,
an
initiative
seeking
to
promote adequate working
conditions and fair wages
for agricultural laborers.
The Wendy’s location in
the Union was independently
franchised and the owner
subsequently decided not to
renew the lease.
White said the controversy
did not impact the selection
process in a significant way.
“I think we didn’t see a
huge amount of controversy
from individual vendors,”
White said.
Williams
agreed
with
White, adding “at the end
of the day, we picked them
because we thought they
were all the best.”
“It
was
definitely
in
the back of my mind, just
because it was so prevalent
on campus, but by and large,
we just didn’t run into that
with businesses that we
looked at in my opinion,”
Williams said. “We asked
about food sourcing for a
sustainability
perspective,
more so than that particular
concern. As far as I’m aware,
it just never really came up.”
Apart from food, Schmidt
said he was looking forward
to seeing students return
to
the
Union
after
its
renovation.
“I mean, in my opinion, the
open inviting space and the
vibrancy of collaboration is
something I’m excited for,”
Schmidt said. “I’m excited
to go into the Union and
hear people talking and see
people laughing and things
like that.”
Williams
noted
the
renovation will also enclose
the courtyard on the main
level, creating more space
for students.
“I’m
really
excited
about the new courtyard,”
Williams
said.
“I
think
it’s going to be beautiful.
It’ll be actually usable for
most of the year, instead of
freezing out there.”
The enclosed courtyard
will be near the IdeaHub,
a
co-working
space
for
student collaboration that
will be built where the
97-year-old billiards hall
previously stood.
Pile said she was excited
to see the Union come alive
again and watch students
use the IdeaHub.
“It’s going to be this
amazing
new
space
for
student organizations on
campus, really unlike any
other space that we’ve ever
seen on campus just for
student organizations,” Pile
said. “So it’s exciting to
think about moving into that
space and what it’s going to
mean for student orgs on
this campus.”
FOOD
From Page 1A
Sellers said. “I think it’s
important
that
we
start
there, to understand that we
are talking about cultural
change.”
Sellers went on to discuss
that while achieving change
is not easy, the long-term
benefits render it crucial to
maintaining a reputation of
greatness at the University.
“By definition, that requires
hard work,” Sellers said. “It
means that the work has to
be
pervasive
throughout
the
organization.
It
will
take time… It also means
the
change
must
happen
at
multiple
levels
of
the
University… if we are going to
make long term sustainable
change.”
LSA senior Kyle Duffy said
he attended the event because
of his job on campus at the
Office
for
Organizational
Culture and Strategy.
“A huge importance of our
work is based on DEI,” Duffy
said. “So, a big part of the DEI
for the business and finance
department is knowing what’s
going
on
around
campus.
We came here to figure out
what’s been going on… I am
just interested to see what’s
different.”
Sellers went on to discuss
specific points of progress
within the plan. He explained
the plan was implemented in
conjunction
with
feedback
his team had received from
community members within
the University.
Currently,
there
are
37
action
items
taking
place
within the DEI plan. The
items
specifically
target
areas
such
as
raising
institutional
awareness;
aligning
University
policy,
procedures
and
programs
with
DEI
initiatives;
creating
inclusive
cultural
norms;
and
broadening
institutional access. Sellers
noted they were formulated
through individuals’ direct
participation at every level of
the University. He said they
did not come from personal
directives from any University
officials such as University
President Mark Schlissel.
“These were not top-down
handed initiatives,” Sellers
said. “These action items were
all developed from the initial
planning
process
through
focus
groups,
through
social media opportunities…
through town hall meetings
and other kinds of meetings.
These are not the president’s
action
items,
these
are
definitely not my action items,
these are action items that
you all developed yourselves.”
Sellers went on to discuss
specific points of empirical
evidence the strategic plan
has made significant changes
at the University.
Rhonda Todd, director of
academic success at the Ross
School of Business, told The
Daily she was motivated to
attend the event in an effort
to see the impact of the DEI
initiative across campus.
“The work I do for the Ross
School of Business revolves
around
DEI,
supporting
students’ academic success,”
Todd said. “I am always really
busy in that building, and I
wanted to consciously make
myself get out of the building
to get more on campus and get
more involved with DEI work
across campus, not just in our
building.”
She went on to discuss how,
from her perspective, DEI
initiatives are most successful
when
subunits,
like
the
Business School, commit not
only to internal improvements
but think about changes in
the context of the larger
University.
“DEI
is
important,
necessary work,” Todd said.
“Although we are making
strides
within
our
Ross
community, it’s important to
me to also be involved in the
big picture. To do that, I must
conscientiously engage.”
Sellers
concluded
the
discussion
by
announcing
while areas for improvement
certainly still exist, the plan
has helped the University take
steps forward.
“We understand that we
have
made
a
difference,
and we are not the same
University that we were at the
start of this process,” Sellers
said. “We still have a ways to
go, but we are not where we
were when we started.”
DEI
From Page 1A
Hussain
is
also
on
the
symbolic
programming
committee, which works to
bring awareness to the historic
past
of
the
buildings
on
campus, while also celebrating
the
milestones
of
these
buildings.
The committee put on events
for the closing of the Union in
2018, as well as a halfway point
of construction, which Hussain
said were especially important
to her because of how much
she loved the Union. She spent
many hours absorbed in her
studies in the Union prior to its
reconstruction.
“The sophomore year that I
spent 17 hours in the building
one day… I loved the Union,”
Hussain
said.
“I
worked
there, I would study there, I
would grab meals there, so it
definitely was a little hard not
having it for my whole junior
year. I’m so happy it’ll be open
when I graduate.”
Laura
Seagram,
the
director of account services
for
auxiliary
marketing
and
communications
said
she
was
very
excited
to
help with and attend this
event. She mentioned that
the construction plans were
running earlier than expected.
“We feel really good that
we can meet that date and we
had all been saying winter for
2020 before, but now I think
we’re comfortable in saying
this coming January,” Seagram
said. “It’s exciting.”
LSA
junior
Nithin
Weerasinghe
discussed
his
excitement for the birthday
celebration as well as the
reopening of the Union.
“I think it’’s going to be
really nice to have it back,”
Weerasinghe said. “I know a lot
of people studied there down
at the cafes and I think a lot of
clubs also used the space.”
ANNIVERSARY
From Page 1A
“We want to identify best
practices around what the
crisis
intervention
teams
should be doing, what are
the best practices around
counseling kids, how quickly
you get there, what role does
family play, how long do
services need to be available,”
Zimmerman said. “We don’t
really know what they are
all yet, by the way. Part of it
is we are going to learn. We
have experts who are going
to help us identify different
areas, and we are going to try
to see where the evidence is
and help get the information
out to the schools.”
When
asked
how
the
bureau will cater to unique
school
characteristics,
Zimmerman discussed the
complex
approach
needed
to provide schools with a
tailored set of guidelines
based on their individual
situations.
“One of our tasks is to
identify what are the best
practices,” Zimmerman said.
“What we also want to do is
help schools identify what are
their resources, and what are
the needs of their context...
Absolutely, (we are) thinking
about
many
factors:
the
size of school might matter,
socioeconomic status might
matter, geographical location
might matter, the resources
available to a school might
matter,
a
public
charter
might matter. So what we are
going to try to do is, in a way
where we can be as helpful as
possible, identify what their
place is like and what best
fits them.”
In addition to his work
with the center, Zimmerman
co-leads the Firearm Safety
Among Children and Teens
Consortium.
Launched
in
2017, FACTS is a five-year
project devoted to seeking
a scientific approach to gun
violence
prevention
with
respect to gun ownership
rights. Funded by the Eunice
Kennedy
Shriver
National
Institute of Child Health and
Human Development as part
of the National Institutes of
Health, the interdisciplinary
project partners with over
30
researchers,
health
practitioners
and
firearm
owners, as well as a dozen
academic institutions.
These
efforts
seek
to
address the issue of gun
violence
and
threats
to
safety
in
American
schools. According to U-M
researchers, there has been
an increase in violence at
schools:
The
number
of
shootings in K-12 schools
increased from 15 to 97 from
2015 to 2019, and up to one in
five students reported being
in a fight in the last year.
Zimmerman said schools
are in a position to implement
better
practices
or
more
evidence-based strategies to
support students who may be
experiencing these issues.
“The idea (of the center)
is to create a resource that
will help make a difference
in making our schools safer
for kids so they can learn,
instead of worrying about
their
safety,”
Zimmerman
said.
As a member of the Warren
County
Democrats
and
the policy chair of U-M’s
Roosevelt
Institute,
LSA
junior
Morgan
Showen
said he hopes the center
will address the legislative
inaction on gun violence.
“Efforts
to
provide
education and training to
protect
young
Americans
from further gun violence
are always a step in the
right
direction,”
Showen
said. “However, just like the
science behind the existence
of
climate
change,
the
evidence is settled on which
solutions have the greatest
impact
on
reducing
gun
deaths.”
Showen
comes
from
Lebanon, Ohio, and noted
his home state has recently
received national attention
after a mass shooting in
Dayton in August.
“My hope is that the School
of Public Health’s new efforts
will not simply be focused
on treating the symptoms of
gun violence, but will instead
help to enable legislators in
both Michigan and Ohio to
take proven actions towards
addressing the root cause of
our national gun violence
epidemic,” Showen said.
LSA senior Taylor King is
a member of U-M Students
Demand Action, a student
organization
dedicated
to
fighting gun violence. King
said research dedicated to
gun
violence
prevention
is
important,
especially
following
the
passage
of
the Dickey Amendment in
1996, which forbade federal
funding
for
gun
violence
prevention research.
“I hope to see this initiative
take a varied approach to
gun violence prevention at
schools — considering not
only mass shootings, which
make up less than 1 percent
of all shootings, but also
considering gun suicide, daily
gun violence and the toll it
takes on young people who
are impacted — primarily
low-income
students
of
color — and the mental and
emotional toll of all gun
violence on all young people
and students,” King said.
King tied the need to fight
gun violence to social justice
causes.
“However, I do want to
highlight that centers like
this should not be the only
thing we are doing. While
school safety is undeniably
important, we also need to be
looking into daily gun violence
and
its
disproportionate
impact on people of color,
the
intersection
of
gun
violence
and
domestic
violence, gun suicide, hate
crimes and the countless
other manifestations of gun
violence in our communities,”
King
said.
“There
is
a
tendency for people to only
think of mass shootings and
school shootings when we
talk about gun violence, but
the problem is so much bigger
than that and school safety
campaigns cannot solve all of
our problems.
SAFETY
From Page 1A