In 
the 
middle 
of 
the 
Michigan League’s Maizie’s 
Kitchen & Market, a dozen 
undergraduate 
students 
huddled around a laptop to 
sign in for their canvassing 
shifts. 
The 
small 
group 
decided to brave the January 
blizzard and knock doors for 
Solomon Rajput, a 27-year-
old Ann Arbor native who put 
his medical studies on hold 
for a year to challenge Rep. 
Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., for 
Michigan’s 12th congressional 

seat.
Dingell has represented the 
district for the last four years. 
Previously, it was held by the 
late John Dingell for 59 years 
and before that, by his father 
John Dingell Sr. for 22 years. 
Rajput hopes to disrupt this 
85-year-old political dynasty. 
He said he was interested 
in politics as a teenager but 
was disenchanted with how 
candidates 
seemed 
to 
be 
controlled by big corporations. 
Still 
looking 
to 
make 
a 
difference, Rajput decided to 
enter the medical field. 
“I ended up in medicine 
because it is a way to help 

people in a very vulnerable 
moment, heal people,” Rajput 
said. “I was thinking maybe 
we can change our health care 
system from the inside out.”
After Hillary Clinton lost 
the 2016 presidential election, 
Rajput’s political ambitions 
were 
reignited, 
leading 
him to found the activist 
organization 
Michigan 
Resistance. The goal of the 
group was to advocate for local 
progressive bills in the county 
and state legislature. Noting 
the success of progressive 
campaigns such as those run 
by 
U.S. 
Reps. 
Alexandria 
Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, 

and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., 
in 2018, Rajput said he became 
hopeful that he, too, would 
be able to make a difference 
through politics.
In 
September 
2019, 
he 
decided to put his medical 
studies on the back burner 
and run for Dingell’s seat. 
“I 
feel 
like 
times 
are 
changing, and it’s actually 
really exciting because we 
have a new generation of 
leaders who are running for 
office. We’re saying we’re 
not going to be beholden to 
corporate interest any longer,” 
Rajput said. 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, February 6, 2020

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Freezing 
temperatures, 
wind and swirling flurries 
of snow did not stop about 
25 students and Ann Arbor 
community members from 
gathering in the Diag for a 
candlelight vigil in support 
of sexual assault victims 
Wednesday night. 
The event was organized 
by 
the 
Sexual 
Assault 
Victims 
Alliance 
(SAVA), 
in conjunction with The 
Michigan 
Democracy 
Institute 
for 
Civic 

Engagement 
and 
Roe 
v. 
Rape. 
In order to protect the 
privacy of the speakers, they 
will be referred to only by 
their first names.
In an interview with The 
Daily, 
Candice, 
Eastern 
Michigan 
University 
student and an organizer of 
the event, spoke about the 
construction of the vigil.
“We wanted to have some 
kind of display that would 
show how many victims 
there are at U of M and how 
common it is here,” Candice 
said. “We thought that the 

candlelight vigil would be 
really awesome.”
Candice 
said 
events 
raising awareness of sexual 
assault 
are 
valuable 
for 
decreasing stigma.
“I think that events like 
this are super important, 
especially with taboo issues 
like sexual assault,” Candice 
explained. “When no one’s 
talking about the issue … 
you don’t really know that 
it exists — that people are 
struggling with it. Because 
no one is really open about 
it, so these events do a lot to 
educate people who maybe 

would be and will be our 
allies, but they don’t know 
what the problem is.”
She also expressed her 
surprise at the amount of 
enthusiasm she encountered 
while organizing the event.
“Almost every person I 
reached out to was really 
excited about it. I had really 
good engagement,” Candice 
said. “People were really 
excited 
and 
were 
really 
willing to contribute to the 
event, which I wasn’t really 
expecting.”

GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 64
©2020 The Michigan Daily

N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

C L A S S I F I E D S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

Saline HS
racist acts 
of concern 
to parents 

ANN ARBOR

JULIA RUBIN, BRAYDEN 
HIRSCH & EMMA RUBERG 
Daily Staff Reporters

Candelight vigil draws community 
to share experiences of sexual assault

Michigan students gather on Diag Wednesday evening to demonstrate support

ADMINISTRATION

Follow The Daily 
on Instagram, 
@michigandaily

During 
a 
community 
meeting on diversity, equity 
and inclusion in Saline Area 
schools on Monday night, one 
man asked a Latinx parent 
why he had come to the 
United States, rather than 
“stay(ing) in Mexico.” The 
meeting was held following 
an incident last week at 
Saline High School when 
students were found posting 
racial slurs in a Snapchat 
group chat. 
The altercation occurred 
after 
Adrian 
Iraola, 
the 
father of three Saline school 
district alumni, shared his 
children’s experiences with 
racism during their years in 
Saline. In a video recorded 
by MLive, Iraola said other 
students called his children 
“taco, nacho and enchilada.” 
While Iraola was sharing 
his story, parent Tom Burtell 
interrupted and said, “Then 
why 
didn’t 
you 
stay 
in 
Mexico?” The remark was 
followed by gasps from the 
audience and various calls for 
Burtell to leave. 

PETER HUMMER
Daily Staff Reporter

HANNAH YOO/Daily
Michigan student Jenny Lavin speaks during the Sexual Assault Survival Candlelight Vigil on the Diag Wednesday evening.

Undergraduates send 
letter in response to 
jury’s verdict in trial 
over discrimination

JENNA SITEMAN 
Daily Staff Reporter

See VIGIL, Page 3

JULIA FANZERES
Daily Staff Reporter

See RAJPUT, Page 3

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Solomon Rajput, candidate for Michigan’s 12th Congressional District, canvases at houses in Ann Arbor in January.
Riding the socialist wave

Medical student Solomon Rajput puts studies on hold to primary incumbent 
US Rep. Debbie Dingell, channels leftist discontent in appeal to voters

Spread of Coronavirus impacts 
students enrolled in school trips

Statement 
authored 
by A/PIA 
targets ‘U’

After a jury found the 
University of Michigan did 
not 
discriminate 
against 
a couple who accused the 
school of violating the state’s 
civil rights statute, a group of 
students minoring in Asian/
Pacific 
Islander 
American 
Studies authored an open 
letter to the University and 
public. The students outlined 
requirements they would like 
to be met to make them feel 
more supported.
On 
Dec. 
20, 
2019, 
a 
jury 
determined 
that 
the 
University 
did 
not 
discriminate against Emily 
Lawsin and Scott Kurashige, 
who filed a discrimination 
lawsuit in 2016 against the 
University under the Elliott-
Larsen 
Civil 
Rights 
Act, 
with 
claims 
of 
disparate 
treatment, 
discriminatory 
hiring 
practices 
and 
sex 
discrimination, 
among 
others. 
In the letter, the group of 
students introduced a path 
of action they would like to 
see the University embark 
on to improve their working 
relationship. 

See LETTER, Page 2

In discussing children’s 
encounters with racism, 
Chela’s owner Iraola 
expresses frustration

See SALINE, Page 3

Study abroad 
programs in 
China face 
cancellation

LSA sophomore Katyanne 
Calleja planned on studying 
abroad 
for 
two 
semesters 
this summer in China when 
the program she had applied 
to was canceled due to the 
recent coronavirus outbreak 
and a lack of interest in the 
program. 
Calleja said not all of the 
abroad programs in China 
have been canceled, though 
there 
has 
been 
a 
lot 
of 
confusion 
among 
students 
hoping to still travel there 
over the summer. 
“I know so far that the 
Beijing one is not canceled 
and they say that they are just 
waiting to see what’s going 
to happen,” Calleja said. “I 
feel like the whole situation 
is kind of confusing because 
sometimes you hear things are 
canceled, but then sometimes 
it’s not.” 
Since 
the 
University 
of 
Michigan 
issued 
a 
travel 
restriction on Jan. 27 for the 
entire country of China due 
to 
the 
recent 
coronavirus 
outbreak, all undergraduate 
and most graduate student 
travel to China has been 

prohibited and many study 
abroad programs have been 
canceled. 
The 
University’s 
travel 
ban 
specifically 
discourages 
any 
“non-
essential” travel to China for 
students, faculty and staff 
and has affected all spring 
and summer study abroad 
programs 
affiliated 
with 
the Center for Global and 
Intercultural Study.
When 
contacted 
by 
The 
Daily, 
University 
spokeswoman 
Dana 
Elger 
referred all students, faculty 
and 
staff 
interested 
in 
learning more about the virus 
to the Key Issues section of 
the Office of Public Affairs’s 
website. On Friday, the page 
addressed the travel ban and 
the international and national 
threat from the coronavirus.
“The 
U.S. 
State 

Department 
classifies 

China as a level 4 travel 
advisory, recommending that 
individuals avoid all travel to 
the country,” the post reads. 
“The entire country remains 
under a U-M travel restriction. 
All U-M Related Travel to 
China, including for faculty 
and 
staff, 
is 
discouraged. 

See CORONAVIRUS, Page 3

HANNAH MACKAY
Daily Staff Reporter

