concerned about issues of safety, 
physical safety and psychological 
safety. So, we’re going to work 
with students around there. And 
then the Ginsberg Center has been 
working since the last midterm 
elections to get students registered 
to vote and to think about what it 
means to be a part of a democracy. 
They’re going to lead out their 
efforts. We’re trying to think about 
what the academic offerings might 
be. I’m hoping when the media is 
just walking down the street every 
student they interview is really 
spot on and will really showcase 
the University well and how smart 
and engaged our students are.
TMD: How do you think 
the debate will affect political 
discourse on campus, and how 
will the University work to make 
sure that this discourse does not 
harm certain members of the 
community?
Harper: I know that many of 
the academic units are thinking 
about hosting teach-ins and teach-
outs, where we can strengthen our 
skills around debate and dialogue. 
So, I think there will be some 
investment in skill development 
in classes and in teach-outs and 
teach-ins. I think student orgs will 
also do some of that work. We’re 
just going to have to practice that 
you don’t get good at talking to 
people whose point of view might 
be different than yours without 
practicing it. … The other thing is, 
if we stay curious, if we could start 
practicing being curious about 
how other people think about an 
issue, that will allow us all to grow 
and develop. It is when I think I 
know everything about everything 
that I’m really limited. … The 
other thing that there has been 
conversations about is creating a 
repository. I don’t know if it’s going 
to be a website or what, that has 
books and articles that you can 
read that represent multiple points 
of views. 
TMD: What potential safety 
issues, whether physical safety 
or 
psychological 
safety, 
does 
the University foresee with this 
debate, and what preparation is 
the University planning to do to 
counter those possibilities?
Harper: 
With 
respect 
to 
physical safety, we have a fabulous 
Department 
of 
Public 
Safety 
and Security, so I think that they 
will do enormous work around 
us physically being safe as a 
community. Psychologically, places 
like CAPS, places like MESA and 
Trotter, many of the organizations 
that marginalized communities are 
a part of will create opportunities 
for students to be together and to 

have a sense of being in community. 
Because I think psychological 
safety comes from a sense of being 
in community. I also think that 
our students will rally around each 
other, so I think students will do 
their own work. Then collectively, 
student orgs and the University 
and service organizations will 
think about what we need to make 
sure that students are actually 
safe and feeling like they are part 
of the community. We’ll start that 
work really, really early. We’ll 
actually start towards the end of 
this spring, some of the work in 
the summer, and then certainly 
when school first starts. … So, this 
is work we’re going to have to do 
together, because it’s not possible 
for the University separate from all 
of us who make up the University 
to provide for your psychological 
safety, because I don’t know what 
that means for you. So, we’re going 
to have to talk about, “OK, for you 
to feel safe, what is it (that) you’re 
needing?” and that might be very 
different than what I need.
TMD: 
Two 
University 
of 
Michigan reports (one from DPSS 
and the other a campus climate 
survey) had conflicting trends 
on sexual assault on campus. 
What do you think explains the 
divergence? What do you hope the 
University can do to lower rates of 
sexual misconduct and increase 
reporting?
Harper: I think reporting, 
telling someone, getting support 
is critical for all members of our 
community. I think the prevalence 
of sexual assault and harassment is 
too high. DPSS reports the sexual 
misconduct data in terms of (the) 
Clery (Act), and so the law requires 
that universities make known that 
level in the community. And then 
there’s the other data set that you’re 
referring to from the Association 
of American Universities. These 
are two different surveys for 
two different purposes that two 
different or even some overlapping 
students might have responded 
to. One’s reporting to the police 
for purposes of the Clery Act, and 
the other one is a national survey 
that had about a 16 or 17 percent 
response rate. Students could 
choose to participate in the survey 
or not. … So, the differences in 
the responses simply speak to the 
complexity of the issue, the nature 
of the survey, and who fills them 
out. … I think what’s important 
for us is that it’s too much, too 
often and unacceptable in our 
community, and we have just be 
vigilant about making sure that 
everybody has an opportunity to 
be safe here, physically safe here, 
which then also has implications 
for being psychologically safe here.
TMD: What kind of takeaways 
do you have from these two 

reports? Given these takeaways, 
what do you think the University 
can do to lower rates of sexual 
assault and increase reporting?
Harper: I think we have to 
keep educating, and right now, 
one of the things the University is 
doing is we have a draft of a sexual 
misconduct policy that’s out there, 
and we’re going around meeting 
with students and student orgs to 
get their reactions, their advice. … 
I think students have to continue 
to take ownership of this issue on 
our campus, so I think we do have 
to watch out for each other in that 
way. Again, one of the things I’ve 
been thinking a lot about, I know 
some of this is just a function of 
retiring and looking back, but many 
of the problems that we have on our 
campus that are important to solve, 
the University alone can’t do very 
much. But if we see ourselves as 
the University, then we can do a lot. 
So, students can intervene when 
they see something, we can make 
sure that there’s a policy in place, 
that the policy is followed, that 
students can trust the University 
and feel like something will happen 
when they report. Because the 
University is seldom in the space 
where the assault and harassment 
are happening. So, we can educate, 
we 
can 
make 
sure 
students 
understand what the reporting is, 
who to go to. We can make sure 
that when a student does disclose, 
they get support. We can believe 
students when they say they’ve 
been harmed. We can put in place 
additional resources to support 
students and also the support we 
provide for the accused. And so, we 
can do all of those things, and there 
are things that students can do, and 
then there’s of course stuff that our 
public safety and criminal justice 
system can do. If we’re to eradicate 
sexual assault on our campus, it is 
going to take a collective.
TMD: Could you speak to 
the 
implementation 
of 
cross-
examination 
within 
the 
University’s sexual misconduct 
resolution process? The University 
has said that this policy was put in 
place for concerns of accessibility 
and equity, and concerns that 
perhaps one of the parties would 
bring in a lawyer, which some 
students might not be able to 
afford. I’ve heard from both people 
who support cross-examination 
in University sexual assault cases 
and those who don’t that if the 
University were forced to have 
cross-examination and processes, 
that it should allow for a third party 
to question the other, and that if 
the student couldn’t pay for it, the 
University should pay for it. 

Ackerman, 
a 
proponent 
of 
affordable housing during his 
previous tenure as Ann Arbor’s 
Planning Commissioner, promoted 
the 
ordinance 
as 
necessary 
legislation due to the stark shift in 
rezoning laws and large hikes rent 
prices.
“We are in the midst of an 
affordable 
housing 
crisis,” 
Ackerman said. “Our neighbors 
are getting priced out of our 
community, and getting priced 
out of our community faster every 
year. Our zoning code, the laws that 
govern what gets built where serves 
to worsen this crisis… Many of 
these changes have been good… but 
most of this new construction has 
been expensive, expensive to build 
and expensive to rent. Now 10 years 
later, rent is rising 16 percent year 
over year. We need to take action to 
address rents downtown.”
The newly introduced ordinance 
would 
incentivize 
developers 
to 
build 
affordable 
housing, 
prioritizing renters who make 
less than 60 percent of the city’s 
median income. The ordinance 
would appeal to developers by 
trading their height limits zoning 
requirements and slashing excess 
parking requirements for increased 
affordable housing inclusion. The 
first two developments to sign on 
would only need to allot 9 to 12 
percent of the units as affordable 
housing, 
while 
the 
following 
developments 
would 
need 
to 

designate 15 to 30 percent of their 
units as affordable housing.
Councilmember Ali Ramlawi, 
D-Ward 5, said adding 15 to 30 
percent of affordable housing units 
in order to address the housing 
crisis is a small price to pay for the 
growing classism in Ann Arbor. 
“I am highly concerned with the 
economic segregation that we have 
in our downtown area,” Ramlawi 
said. “It’s classism and economic 
segregation whether it’s on purpose 
or not, it’s just the reality. So this 
will will help provide more housing 
opportunities for those on the 
lower end of the economic income 
spectrum. Again it’s not a silver 
bullet, it’s not going to take care 
of the issues by itself but I think 
it would be irresponsible not to 
support this in light of concerns that 
our community has on affordable 
housing.”
The council also addressed 
a resolution for Ann Arbor to 
achieve carbon neutrality by 2035. 
The 
resolution 
was 
approved 
unanimously 
and 
met 
with 
applause from the crowd. The 
council also voted unanimously to 
push the deadline to achieve carbon 
neutrality up from 2035 to 2030. 
Initially, some members were 
reluctant to pass the resolution due 
to it’s highly ambitious nature. 
Ramlawi said while he was in 
support of the resolution, he wanted 
to urge the council to consider how 
making false promises could be 
detrimental to their credibility as 
elected officials.
“We can pass these ambitious 
resolutions and these goals, and I 

do support them. But I also like to 
throw some caution in the wind. 
There is issues that we currently 
have, and all you’ve got is your 
word in this life,” Ramlawi said. 
“And we’re never going to hit these 
targets the way we are moving on 
these other issues.”
On 
a 
similar 
note, 
Councilmember 
Jane 
Lumm, 
I-Ward 2, cautioned that the price 
of such an expedited climate plan 
would be felt fiscally among Ann 
Arbor residents.
“I’ll be supporting this tonight 
but with the concern of where 
this may be headed in terms of the 
resources required and the related 
impacts on other priorities,” Lumm 
said. “I don’t think we should try to 
solve global warming on the backs 
of our Ann Arbor tax payers.”
Other 
councilmembers 
remained 
positive 
about 
the 
carbon 
neutrality 
resolution. 
Councilmember Kathy Griswold, 
D-Ward 2, said she felt reinvigorated 
by the passing of the resolution and 
urged residents to use social media 
to share their suggestions with the 
council.
“I am really optimistic about 
this,” Griswold said. “But also want 
to compare this more to putting a 
man on the moon. And one of the 
things we didn’t have back then 
was social media. And we need 
to realize that… if we’re going to 
be successful we’ve got to come 
together and we’ve got to tell the 
people out there ‘use social media 
to share your ideas with us so we 
can be successful.” 

Background on Hong Kong 
protests
Conflicts sparked in China 
after Hong Kong citizen Chan 
Tong-kai murdered his girlfriend 
Poon Hui-wing in February 
2018 while the couple was on 
vacation in Taiwan. Though 
Chan was arrested, there was 
no extradition treaty that would 
permit him to return to Taiwan 
to face his murder charges. 
As a result, Carrie Lam, 
Hong Kong’s chief executive, 
proposed 
the 
Fugitive 
Offenders and Mutual Legal 
Assistance in Criminal Matters 
Legislation (Amendment) Bill, 
a 
controversial 
extradition 
bill which would allow Hong 
Kong authorities to detain and 
transfer suspects from countries 
and regions with which it has no 
official extradition agreements. 
These 
territories 
include 
Taiwan, Macau and mainland 
China.
Many were opposed to the 
bill because they believe there 
is a lack of transparency and 
no guarantee that their rights 
would be protected within the 
legal system of mainland China. 
According to a study conducted 
by the University of Hong 
Kong, 66 percent of Hong Kong 
residents surveyed disagree or 
strongly disagree on extraditing 
people from Hong Kong to the 
mainland for trials. 
This dissatisfaction with the 
government 
spurred 
protests 
within Hong Kong, which have 
occurred for 22 weeks thus far. 
They have resulted in violent 
confrontations 
between 
the 
police and the protesters, as 
well as the arrest of over 2,800 
people.
According 
to 
May 
Chan, 

faculty member at the University 
of Michigan’s Medical School, 
seeing the violence unfold in her 
home city is both shocking and 
difficult for her to accept. 
“I 
was 
born 
and 
raised 
(in Hong Kong), so it’s very 
disheartening to see how much 
the entire society, in terms of the 
governing of the city, has really 
deteriorated,” Chan said. “A lot 
of things people never thought 
would happen in Hong Kong are 
happening in Hong Kong, like 
all the police brutality, reports 
of torture by police and also, 
how the government is probably 
trying to cover up a lot of the 
things they’ve done.”
Though 
Lam 
officially 
announced 
that 
she 
would 
withdraw the extradition bill in 
September, protests have moved 
beyond the bill, as protesters 
formed four other demands 
for 
the 
government: 
the 
development of a commission 
of inquiry into alleged police 
brutality, 
retracting 
the 
classification of protestors as 
“rioters,” amnesty for arrested 
protestors and universal suffrage 
for the Legislative Council and 
the chief executive.
Engineering 
senior 
Edgar 
Chung, who moved to Michigan 
from Hong Kong when he was 19 
years old, said it was troubling 
for him to learn about the 
protests and conflicts occurring 
while he was in Ann Arbor this 
summer for research.
“It was really sickening,” 
Chung said. “It was really hard 
for me to just read all the news. 
You got this feeling where all of 
this is happening in Hong Kong, 
but I wasn’t able to do anything 
because I am on the other side of 
the planet.”
Violent protests and police 
brutality
One of the major issues 
expressed by the group members 

has been the police brutality at 
these protests. Police have been 
using batons, rubber bullets, 
pepper spray and even live 
bullets, among other weapons, 
on protesters. Others have also 
complained about the minimal 
and delayed responses of the 
authorities when protesters are 
attacked by civilians. 
According to Chan, the right 
for people to protest in Hong 
Kong has deteriorated overall, 
becoming less and less protected 
as disputes continue. 
“Hong 
Kong 
people 
are 
supposed to have freedom of 
assembly, it is in the constitution, 
but somehow the police are 
not allowing them, basically by 
making it illegal,” Chan said. 
“It’s taking away their freedom 
of assembly.” 
The conflict and violence is 
not one-sided, however. Some 
protesters use weapons of their 
own against police, and others 
who hold resentment towards 
the Chinese government target 
Chinese-affiliated businesses in 
the city. 
On Saturday, for instance, 
protesters 
attacked 
Xinhua 
News Agency in Hong Kong, the 
official press agency of China, 
by throwing petrol bombs and 
attempting to torch the building 
while people were still inside. 
The office’s windows and doors 
were also smashed, and graffiti 
covered the walls.
Chung said this quick and 
violent 
progression 
of 
the 
conflict is worrisome. 
“As the protests escalate and 
then all the police brutality 
escalates, you cannot help but 
think, ’Oh, what would I do if it’s 
my friend or my family being put 
in that situation?’” Chung said.
Chung, Tse and Chan each 
have personal connections with 
people heavily involved in the 
political movement in Hong 

Kong.
Chung’s friend from high 
school, who is currently 21 years 
old, is protesting at the front 
line. He recently got arrested 
for 
possession 
of 
weapons 
when police found a brick in his 
backpack, Chung said. Many of 
Tse’s friends in Hong Kong are 
also supporting the movement 
by putting up political posters, 
which he says is dangerous — 
people get beaten up for doing so.
Furthermore, according to 
Chan, her relative was previously 
at the front line of the conflict 
and is now gathering protective 
gear for those currently at front 
line. Chan said she and her 
family are concerned for her 
safety. 
“It’s scary,” Chan said. “My 
relative lives alone and she’s 
much younger than me, like 10 
years younger than me. Well 
obviously, her family — my 
family — we’re all very worried 
about her, but we also know that 
she’s doing the right thing, so 
we’re all supporting her as much 
as we could.”
Group supports Hong Kong 
Human Rights and Democracy 
Act
The U.S. has also recently 
become involved in the Hong 
Kong conflict. The House of 
Representatives 
passed 
the 
Hong Kong Human Rights and 
Democracy Act Oct. 15 with 
strong 
bipartisan 
support. 
Among 
other 
measures, 
the 
bill would require an annual 
review of Hong Kong by the State 
Department to determine if the 
city is adequately autonomous 
from Beijing. If the autonomous 
status is upheld, then the U.S. 
government will allow Hong 
Kong to receive special trading 
status according to U.S. law. 
Now that the bill is under 
review by the Senate, the group at 
the University has been actively 

lobbying 
Michigan’s 
senators 
to approve the bill. The group 
says they met with Sen. Debbie 
Stabenow last week and are 
meeting with Sen. Gary Peters 
this week to discuss the bill.
They have also collected about 
270 signatures from those on 
campus in support of the bill. 
Chung says the group’s efforts in 
speaking with Michigan senators 
is a crucial step in helping Hong 
Kong.
“One of the reasons why our 
work here is important, despite 
being such a small group, is if we 
were actually able to convince 
the senators to vote yes for the 
bill, a vote is a vote,” Chung 
said. “It could potentially mean 
actually changing the future in 
Hong Kong.” 
According to Chan, the bill 
is crucial because under the 
communist system, government 
officials and police can currently 
act in any way they would like, 
which puts the people of Hong 
Kong in harm’s way. She believes 
the bill would establish a much-
needed system of checks and 
balances in the city. 
Opposers of the bill have 
been calling on the U.S. to stop 
interfering with China’s affairs, 
believing 
that 
its 
previous 
involvement in other nations’ 
internal 
politics 
have 
had 
detrimental effects.
Furthermore, 
according 
to 
Chung, people believe the U.S. 
does not have true intentions 
to better the human rights and 
democratic conditions of Hong 
Kong through this bill. Instead, 
they say the U.S. is just using 
Hong Kong as financial leverage 
against China. 
“A lot of people are saying 
Hong Kong is just being used as 
a pawn, as a bargaining chip, for 
the U.S. to gain some advantage 
in the trade war,” Chung said. 
“But to be fair … so what if we’re 

being used as a pawn? So what 
if the intentions behind it are 
not pure? We don’t really care, 
because it works in our favor.”
Tse says he understands that 
there is always potential for the 
U.S. to take advantage of Hong 
Kong through this bill as it has 
done to other territories in the 
past. However, he sees Hong 
Kong as being different than 
some of these other regions 
because the city is a vital financial 
connection point between China 
and western countries like the 
U.S. 
“Hong Kong’s value is not to 
become a military power,” Tse 
said. “Maybe, it can be, but right 
now, the reason why businessmen 
are on board for all of this bill is 
because Hong Kong’s value is not 
to destroy it; it’s to keep it as a 
neutral zone for business.”
If the group is able to help get 
the government to pass the bill, 
members hope to continue their 
group’s work by educating people 
at the University about the 
political and social environment 
in Hong Kong. One way is 
through screening films and 
documentaries about Hong Kong 
and the experiences of those 
living in the city.
Chung recognizes the work the 
group is pursuing is important. 
However, for him, participating 
in the group is more than just 
achieving immediate solutions.
“It’s because me, as someone 
who was born and raised in 
Hong Kong, who has friends and 
family in Hong Kong, it is kind 
of like a responsibility, it’s kind 
of like a duty,” Chung said. “I’m 
obligated to do something about 
the town that I came from where 
maybe where my future would 
be, where my kids, my friends 
and family would be. And you 
know we would not have a future 
in Hong Kong if Hong Kong does 
not have democracy.”

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Tuesday, November 5, 2019 — 3A

HONG KONG
From Page 1A

CITY COUNCIL
From Page 1A

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

HARPER
From Page 1A

Other grievances with the 
policy included inconsistency 
between 
the 
timelines 
for 
employees and students when 
reviewing 
the 
preliminary 
report of their case, nonspecific 
language within the report 
and 
employees’ 
inability 
to appeal to the Office of 
Institutional Equities. SACUA 
chair Joy Beatty voiced these 
concerns, wondering aloud if 
employees would be allowed 
the opportunity to challenge a 
suspension.
“What is the rationale for 
not providing an employee 
with 
the 
opportunity 
to 
challenge a suspension without 
pay?” Beatty said. “Why are the 
timelines shorter for employees 
than they are for students?”
Cheney-Lippold also spoke 
at the meeting to discuss the 
University’s response to his 

decision to rescind a study 
abroad recommendation letter 
in 2018. Cheney-Lippold said he 
rescinded the letter because of 
his participation in an academic 
boycott of Israel organized 
by Palastenian activists. In 
response to the incident, the 
University moved to take away 
Cheney-Lippold’s 
sabbatical, 
freeze his pay and threatened 
to potentially dismiss him. 
Cheney-Lippold asked to meet 
with SACUA to discuss faculty 
political freedom.
“The Dean’s office seemed 
to stop caring about faculty 
wellness 
at 
all,” 
Cheney-
Lippold said. “I believe my 
case raises specific concerns 
regarding faculty academic and 
political freedom.”
Senate Assembly Member, 
Sara Ahbel-Rappe, a professor 
in 
the 
classical 
studies 
department, 
pushed 
back 
against 
Cheney-Lippold’s 
decision to decline to write 
the 
recommendation 
letter, 

referencing 
discrimination 
within American institutions. 
She said the fact that Cheney-
Lippold isn’t boycotting the 
United 
States 
is 
a 
double 
standard. 
“Black 
people 
are 
shot 
everyday 
because 
they’re 
Black. I find it surprising when 
you say that you won’t write 
a letter for anybody going to 
Israel, and you would write 
one for someone in America,” 
Ahbel-Rappe said.
The 
SACUA 
committee 
agreed 
that 
their 
original 
statement 
regarding 
the 
case was rushed and didn’t 
represent the true beliefs of 
SACUA 
members. 
Multiple 
committee members mentioned 
that Cheney-Lippold’s case was 
worrying because it showed 
the relative powerlessness of 
the faculty senate. Instead of 
having a say in the proceedings, 
SACUA’s statement was used 
to bolster the position of the 
University administration.

SACUA
From Page 1A

