Nikole 
Hannah-Jones, 
domestic correspondent for The 
New York Times Magazine and 
creator of the NYT 1619 Project, 
compared slavery to the red pill 
in the movie, “The Matrix.” As 
Hannah- Jones described it, the 
legacy of slavery in America is 
“the coding and the architecture 
of everything that we see, and 
we have been allowing this 

country to pretend that slavery 
is marginal to the American 
story.” 
Tuesday night, The Wallace 
House 
hosted 
Hannah-Jones 
for a dialogue with Rochelle 
Riley, a 2008 Knight-Wallace 
Fellow, City of Detroit Arts and 
Culture director and longtime 
columnist at the Detroit Free 
Press. Hannah-Jones spoke to a 
packed Rackham Auditorium. 
The 1619 Project is an ongoing 
initiative by The New York Times 

Magazine, discussing the history 
of slavery in America, its legacy 
within 
the 
Consitution, 
the 
miseducation of American youth 
and the modern implications 
of 
America’s 
discriminatory 
history. The project also includes 
a five episode podcast. The 
project, released in August 2019, 
marked the 400th anniversary 
of institutional slavery, when 
The White Lion ship brought 
over 20 enslaved Africans to the 
English Colony of Virginia in 

August 1619.
Throughout 
the 
talk, 
Hannah-Jones 
discussed 
the 
gruesome existence of slavery in 
American culture. She answered 
audience 
questions 
bluntly, 
jokingly exclaiming “no” when 
an audience member asked if she 
had a “sense that a real reckoning 
is happening in our communities 
and in our systems” because of 
the 1619 project.

The University of Michigan 
issued a travel warning for the 
city of Wuhan in China’s Hubei 
Province 
Monday 
afternoon 
following 
the 
outbreak 
of 
coronavirus, a rapidly spreading 
new virus. With the warning, 
undergraduate 
students 
may 
not travel to the region and must 
prepare a safety plan to study in 
other areas in China, according 
to an email sent to all University 
faculty, students and staff.
The 
novel 
coronavirus 
strain, 
also 
known 
as 
the 
Wuhan coronavirus, transmits 
quickly. 
According 
to 
the 

Center for Disease Control and 
Prevention, symptoms for the 
Wuhan coronavirus can present 
themselves between two and 14 
days after exposure and include 
fever, coughing and shortness of 
breath.
The 
virus 
broke 
out 
in 
December 2019 in the city 
of Wuhan in China’s Hubei 
Province, and the exact number 
of cases has not been confirmed. 
The Chinese government has 
locked 
down 
several 
cities 
including Wuhan, prohibiting 
travel into or out of quarantined 
destinations. 
There 
are 
multiple 
international confirmed cases 
of 
the 
Wuhan 
coronavirus, 
including a few in the United 

States. According to the World 
Health 
Organization, 
all 
coronaviruses 
are 
zoonotic, 
meaning they are transferred 
between humans and animals. 
The Wuhan coronavirus has 
not previously been identified 
in humans, and many of the 
people who have been infected 
frequented the Huanan seafood 
wholesale market in the city.
Mary 
Gallagher, 
political 
science professor and director 
of the Lieberthal-Rogel Center 
for Chinese Studies, said there 
was an apparent initial effort 
on the part of the local Wuhan 
government to cover up the 
severity of the outbreak. Since 
the central Chinese government 
was made aware of the situation, 

its response has been efficient 
and 
effective, 
especially 
compared to their actions in 
2003 after the outbreak of SARS, 
or 
severe 
acute 
respiratory 
syndrome.
“The government in Wuhan 
seemed reluctant to alert the 
central authorities and public 
health authorities to the severity 
of the breakout in Wuhan and 
the evidence for human to 
human transmission,” Gallagher 
said. 
“The 
Chinese 
central 
government now has reacted 
very aggressively to do some 
things that seem amazing and 
excellent, like building a bunch 
of hospitals as quickly as they 

The University of Michigan 
honored three recipients of 
the Distinguished University 
Professorship on Tuesday at the 
Ross School of Business to an 
audience of about 100 students, 
faculty and staff.
The University established 
the Distinguished University 
Professorships 
in 
1947 
to 
recognize professors with a 
noteworthy 
commitment 
to 
academia. 
Those 
bestowed 
with the honor serve as models 
of success in research, teaching 
and community leadership to 
faculty and students.
In 
his 
opening 
remarks, 
University 
President 
Mark 
Schlissel 
spoke 
on 
the 
importance of talented faculty 
in academia.
“A university can only be as 
great as its faculty,” Schlissel 
said.
Each 
professor 
presented 
topics related to their research. 
John 
M. 
Carethers, 
the 
Richard Boland Distinguished 
University Professor of Internal 
Medicine and Human Genetics, 
spoke on DNA mismatch repair, 
a process that prevents DNA 
mutations by correcting any 
damage that could lead to 

The University of Michigan 
Central Student Government 
released a statement on Jan. 26 
announcing that they passed 
a resolution demanding the 
University freeze all of its 
fossil fuel investments and 
commit to divestment in 2020. 
The resolution was brought 
up at the Association of Big 
Ten Students Conference this 
past weekend in Bloomington, 
Ind. The association includes 
representatives from each of 
the Big Ten schools’ student 
governments. 
“With 
a 
collective 
representation of over 500,000 
students across 14 universities, 
ABTS is a critical organization 
that can be used to push 
for 
concrete, 
institutional 
change,” the statement read. 
“CSG urges the University of 
Michigan Board of Regents 
and 
Executive 
Officers 
to 
stand up for climate justice. 
Hundreds of thousands of 
students 
and 
millions 
of 
alumni are watching.”
The 
resolution 
passed 
unanimously. 

Each month, The Michigan 
Daily’s Administration Beat 
sits down with University 
of Michigan President Mark 
Schlissel to discuss important 
questions about University 
policy, 
commitments 
and 
challenges. Topics discussed 
in this month’s interview 
included 
Provost 
Martin 
Philbert, 
divestment 
from 
fossil fuels, the President’s 
Commission 
on 
Carbon 
Neutrality, the discrimination 
lawsuit 
filed 
against 
the 
University and more. 
This month, we used input 
from the campus community 
to guide our questions for 
Schlissel. 
Stay 
tuned 
for 
next month’s interview to 
submit your questions. This 

interview has been edited and 
condensed for clarity. 
Provost Philbert
The 
Michigan 
Daily: 
On Jan. 22, you sent an 
email to the entire student 
body informing them about 
several allegations of sexual 
misconduct 
by 
Provost 
Philbert. 
Public 
Affairs 
confirmed on Thursday that 
Philbert was on medical leave 
for part of the fall semester. 
I’m aware that his health is 
his personal business. I’m 
more curious as to why this 
administrative leave was not 
widely communicated to the 
campus community given 
the high-profile nature of 
Philbert’s position?
Mark Schlissel: Health 
is a very private matter. It 
affects the Provost. It affects 
his family. It doesn’t affect 
you and me; it’s his health. 
So, we have great respect 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, January 29, 2020

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For more stories and coverage, visit

Professors 
highlight 
research 
impacts

RESEARCH

Nikole Hannah-Jones discusses education, history at Wallace House event

Big 10 SG
executives 
sign CO2 
proposal

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

Follow The Daily 
on Instagram, 
@michigandaily

CALLIE TEITELBAUM
Daily Staff Reporter

See BIG 10, Page 3A

KRISTINA LENN
Daily Staff Reporter

Distinguished faculty 
members share work 
during joint lecture

Resolution calls for
climate action, carbon 
neutrality by 2020

EMMA STEIN & 
BRAYDEN HIRSCH
Daily News Editor &
Daily Staff Reporter

‘This sort of thing should never happen,’ 
President says of Philbert situation

Schlissel on 
‘U’ Provost, 
fossil fuel 
divestment

University warns of coronavirus 
 
outbreak in Chinese province

‘U’ declares there is no threat of the new fatal disease in Washtenaw County

 EMMA STEIN,
PARNIA MAZHAR &
ARJUN THAKKAR
Daily News Editor &
Daily Staff Reporters

See CORONAVIRUS, Page 3A

See 1619, Page 3A

HANNAH MACKAY
Daily Staff Reporters

DESIGN BY MICHELLE FA N

statement

See SCHLISSEL, Page 2A

New York Times journalist talks 
racial justice, impact of ‘1619’ project

RUCHITA IYER/Daily
New York Times Domestic Correspondent Nikole Hannah-Jones speaks on her “1619 Project,” examining slavery in the United States in Rackham Auditorium Tuesday evening.

See RESEARCH, Page 3A

