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INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 65
©2020 The Michigan Daily
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
CL A SSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
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As part of University of
Michigan
Housing’s
new
commitment
to
redesign
and update all 18 of the
multicultural
lounges
on
campus, Abeng Lounge in
East Quad Residence Hall,
Audre Lorde Lounge in Helen
Newberry
Residence
Hall
and Yuri Kochiyama Lounge
in South Quad Residence Hall
are set to be renovated this
summer. The project, which
launched in 2015 based on
student feedback, is set to be
completed in 2021, in time
for the 50th anniversary of
the
Multicultural
Lounge
program.
According
to
Amanda
McLittle,
director
of
diversity and inclusion, the
renovation
plan
includes
a
redesign
of
the
walls,
furniture
and
technology
of each space as well as
structural
improvements.
These changes come at no
additional cost to students or
University Housing.
“One thing we’ve learned,
if you want a space to look
and work great not just for
this generation of students
Angela Washko, an artist,
writer and activist, began
her lecture speaking about
her project targeting hate
speech
in
public
video
games — specifically World
of Warcraft — at a crowded
Michigan Theater.
“I thought that I could
use
my
background
in
performance art, grassroots
activism
and
collective
organizing to directly talk
to players about why the
community had become so
homophobic,
misogynistic,
and
racist
in
its
public
communication channels, at
least on all the servers that
I’ve played on,” Washko said.
As part of the Penny Stamps
Speaker Series, Washko spoke
to Art & Design students
and
community
members
Thursday evening about her
various art pieces targeting
misogyny
and
promoting
inclusivity in niche online
spaces.
Hate speech is especially
prevalent on online games
with users targeting certain
players once they realize the
Lecturer
examines
misogny
in gaming
TECHNOLOGY
ISABELLA PREISSLE
Daily Staff Reporter
Columbia professors address sexual
assault prevention in college setting
Jennifer Hirsch, Shamus Khan discuss new book ‘Sexual Citizens’
CAMPUS LIFE
Penny Stamps Speaker
Series brings activist,
artist Angela Washko
to Michigan Theater
Plan includes updates
to spaces in South Quad,
Helen Newberry and
East Quad by 2021
IULIA DOBRIN
Daily Staff Reporter
See GAMING, Page 3
See LOUNGES, Page 3
Cultural
lounges in
dorms to
be redone
ALICE LIU/Daily
Columbia University professor Jennifer Hirsch speaks about campus sexual assault at a talk and panel about her and Shamus Kahn’s new
book, “Sexual Citizens,” at Rackham Amphitheater Thursday afternoon..
MEGHANA LODHAVIA
For The Daily
A woman who reports
she was held in captivity
and abused at two southeast
Michigan
hotels
filed
a
lawsuit
that
contends
Marriott International, Inc.
and
the
InterContinental
Hotels Group are liable for
failing to notice she was being
trafficked at their properties.
The lawsuit, filed in the
U.S. District Court for the
Eastern District of Michigan
in December, provides details
of how the victim, identified
as H.G. due to the sensitive
nature of the case, withstood
repeated abuse at the hotels
over the span of several years.
The case is one of 26
similar lawsuits filed across
the country against 15 major
hotel brands. Attorneys filed
a movement to consolidate
the cases under a single
federal judge, but it was
denied Feb. 5 by the Judicial
Panel
on
Multidistrict
Litigation.
Court filings claim H.G.
was first trafficked in 2003
when she was a 17-year-old
living in Detroit, not under
the custody of her parents.
The lawsuit states H.G.’s
traffickers would frequently
kidnap her and hold her
captive for days at a time at
the Ann Arbor Fairfield Inn
or the downtown Detroit
Holiday Inn Express and
Suites.
These
hotels
are
franchises operated under
the Marriott and IHG brands,
respectively.
“H.G’s
trafficker
specifically
chose
the
hotels in Detroit and Ann
Arbor because they had a
reputation for commercial
sex and illegal activity,” the
complaint states.
While at the hotels, H.G.
was
allegedly
verbally,
physically
and
sexually
abused by the traffickers
and buyers. If she did not
sexually
service
enough
buyers to meet daily quotas, a
trafficker would beat her, the
complaint says.
The
lawsuit
details
instances at the Detroit
hotel in which hotel staff
did not attend to H.G.’s
screams and in which
Woman takes legal action against
Ann Arbor hotel for neglecting abuse
Lawsuit says
Fairfield Inn
ignored signs
of trafficking
DOMONICK SOKOTOFF
For The Daily
See TRAFFICKING, Page 3
See ASSAULT, Page 3
Students,
faculty
and
community members filled
Rackam
Amphitheaterto
hear
Jennifer
Hirsch,
professor of sociomedical
sciences
at
Columbia
University
and
Shamus
Khan, chair of sociology
at Columbia speak about
the prominence of sexual
assault on college campuses.
Education
graduate
student
Kamaria
Porter
spoke
alongside
epidemiologist
and
2018
gubernatorial
candidate
Abdul El-Sayed on a panel
addressing campus sexual
assault.
Hirsch
and
Khan
discussed
their
research
regarding
sexual
assault
and their book, “Sexual
Citizens: A Landmark Study
of Sex, Power, and Assault
on Campus,” which was
published in January.
Allison Alexy, assistant
professor
of
women’s
studies
and
modern
Japanese culture at the
University, described her
experience working with
survivors of sexual assault.
“Sexual
assault
is
something that looms large
in our society,” Alexy said.
“Students regularly share
their
experiences
with
me.
Sometimes
because
they are looking for formal
or
informal
support,
sometimes
because
they
need my help specifically,
sometimes
because
they
are reflecting on how their
experiences
with
sexual
assault
—
or
university
responses to it — have
shaped their lives and their
world views.”
Before
discussing
her
research in sexual assault,
Hirsch spoke directly to
her audience and reassured
them that they have her
support.
“To the survivors in the
room,” she said. “We see
you.”
Hirsch
continued
by
sharing a story of a freshman
girl at Columbia who was
sexually assaulted at the
beginning of her college
career. Hirsch said that, as
most survivors do, the girl
partially blamed herself for
the events that took place.
She added young people
should know that it is their
right to set boundaries, a
message
that
resounded
with the audience.
Hirsch
also
said,
though this example she
used
exemplified
toxic
masculinity, there are many
other types of assault that
can take place.
“Sexual Citizens outlines
how to prevent campus
sexual assault,” Hirsch said.
‘You will see you don’t belong’
Cozine Welch holds multiple posi-
tions at the University of Michi-
gan, including managing editor of
The Michigan Review of Prisoner
Creative Writing, co-instructor of
the Prison Creative Arts Project,
researcher for the Carceral State
Project and producer of the “While
We Were Away” podcast, among
others. Welch is not a student at the
University but hopes to enroll in an
MBA program in the fall.
In addition to occupying these
roles, Welch was formerly incar-
cerated for 20 years in the state
of Michigan and since then has
worked to publicize and fight the
injustices within the carceral sys-
tem in this country.
Welch spends most of his day
on the University campus, but is
unable to find housing nearby due
to the high cost of living in Ann
Arbor, as well as the discrimination
that those with a felony record face
in renting a home.
Welch said that after almost three
years of working in Ann Arbor he
is still living at friends’ homes. He
said the process of divulging prior
incarceration records to
landlords, through
checking
a
crimi-
nal history box, feels personally
demoralizing.
“I still can’t find housing,” Welch
said. “I’m really still staying here
off the kindness of a friend. I’m
trying to find housing, and maybe
now I will since I’m doing this cam-
paign (fighting against ‘the box’ on
housing and employment applica-
tions) but that’s the reality of Ann
Arbor. (The issue) is the price point
and the fact that you have a felony.”
This also occurs with applica-
tions to the University of Michi-
gan’s undergraduate and graduate
programs: students must disclose
if they were formerly convicted of
a felony.
The University
does not
admit
stu-
dents on
parole,
which
often lasts
three years,
and requires
appli-
cants to check a box if they have a
felony. This topic is currently being
reviewed in many states as part of a
larger debate over voting rights.
Welch said he feels unwanted on
the University of Michigan-Ann
Arbor campus.
“If you come to Ann Arbor, you’re
Black before you even get to wheth-
er or not you actually have a felony,
right?” Welch said. “And if you
walk down the street in Ann Arbor,
you will see you don’t belong,
because you don’t see anybody
that looks like you. The
only
time you
see
somebody else that looks like you
is in the reflection or a storefront.
It’s based largely on the University
because they’re like, ‘Well, that’s
what Flint and Dearborn campuses
are for.’”
Welch pointed out the disparities
between the Flint and Dearborn
campuses in comparison to the
Ann Arbor campus, specifically
noting the diversity of Flint and
Dearborn classes.
“(Those campuses are) under-
served,
under-staffed,
under-
everything
satellite
campus,”
Welch said. “I’ve guest lectured
at Dearborn a couple of times and
when you go to Dearborn, you’re
like, ‘Oh, this is what collegiate
life should look like; my class looks
really diverse.’”
School of Social Work alum Yusef
Shakur is an activist, author and
formerly
incarcerated
person.
He said he hopes the future may
be different for other formerly
incarcerated people look-
ing to become involved in
academia in Ann Arbor.
Shakur said after talking
with Lynn Videka, Social
Work School dean, in the
spring of 2019, the School
of Social Work will no
longer place a box asking
about previous felony con-
victions of applications .
The move follows pres-
sure from the undergrad-
uate campus organization
“UMich Behind Bars.”
“We benefited from an
undergrad organization,”
Shakur said. “Once it hap-
pened with the under-
JENNA SITEMAN
Daily Staff Reporter
See INCARCERATED, Page 3
Formerly incarcerated students, community members
find difficulties navigating University environment
Design by Erin Ruark