Washtenaw County has more than 

700 cases of COVID-19 as of this 

week. While residents who identify as 

African American or Black make up 

12.4 percent of the county population, 

48 percent of hospitalized cases are 

residents who identify as African 

American or Black.

This 
pattern 
is 
consistent 
in 

coronavirus cases across that state 

and the nation. Detroit has almost 

7,000 cases of COVID-19 and close to 

400 deaths. Of those same cases, 57.7 

percent are African American Detroit 

residents and 75.7 percent of COVID-19 

deaths are African Americans.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has taken 

measures to address the increasing 

number of cases among African 

Americans in Michigan, including 

creating a minority taskforce to advise 

her on issues concerning the Black 

community led by Lt. Gov. Garlin 

Gilchrist. She has declared a state of 

disaster and is working with the federal 

government to get more ventilators and 

personal protective equipment. 

Susan 
Ringler-Cerniglia, 

communications and health promotion 

administrator, sent out an email 

to 
Washtenaw 
County 
residents 

highlighting data about race and 

zip codes. This email explained the 

disparities 
between 
the 
African 

American 
COVID-19 
cases 
from 

Washtenaw County and the total 

population 
of 
African 
American 

residents from Washtenaw County. 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, April 14, 2020

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

COVID-19 disproportionately 
affects Black population

Employees maintain campus amid crisis

LIAT WEINSTEIN

Daily News Editor

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

INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 105
©2020 The Michigan Daily

N E W S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

O P I N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
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Proposed changes to tenure bylaws include refusal 
of severance pay in cases of alleged misconduct

Recommendations from working group alter Regents’ Bylaws 5.09, 5.10, streamlining process of reviewing cases

The 
University 
of 
Michigan 

announced recommended changes to 

policies for handling the dismissal of 

tenured faculty members on Monday, 

more than six months after a tenure 

bylaw working group comprised of 

nine faculty members was formed to 

discuss these recommendations. These 

changes impact Regents’ Bylaws 5.09 

and 5.10, which deal with procedures 

for dismissing tenured faculty accused 

of crimes or misconduct, in addition to 

severance pay policies.

Changes to the bylaws include 

creating one streamlined process for 

cases referred to the Senate Advisory 

Committee on University Affairs, 

forming a new SACUA Standing 

Judicial Committee and Hearing 

Committee of tenured faculty and 

implementing a policy that suspends 

a faculty member’s pay during the 

investigation if they were accused of a 

felony involving violence, among other 

revisions. 

The group also recommended the 

University not provide severance pay 

to tenured faculty members accused of 

“moral turpitude” or misconduct.

In a statement, Susan Collins, 

interim provost and executive vice 

president 
for 
academic 
affairs, 

reiterated the University’s commitment 

to protecting the institution of tenure 

and mentioned the need to account for 

unusual circumstances requiring the 

dismissal of tenured faculty.

“The academic freedom granted 

by tenure is at the core of everything 

we do at the University of Michigan,” 

Collins told The University Record. 

“However, there are some situations, 

though rare, that rightfully fall outside 

of tenure’s protections.”

The Board of Regents is scheduled 

to discuss and vote on these revisions 

at their upcoming meeting on May 21.

In an email to The Daily, University 

spokesperson Rick Fitzgerald said the 

changes are a result of work done by 

the faculty working group. 

“This recommendation is largely the 

work of a group of faculty members, 

appointed by the provosts on all three 

campuses,” Fitzgerald said.

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

Washtenaw County residents discuss barriers in preventing virus

Meet the essential 
University workers

See COVID-19, Page 3
See ESSENTIAL, Page 3

The University of Michigan feels 

like a ghost town.

In any normal year, April might 

be one of the most active months 

on campus. As the weather warms 

up, students cautiously come out of 

hibernation. The Diag comes alive 

with picnickers and hammockers, 

resembling stock photos of an 

idyllic college campus. This is 

when freshmen venture down to 

Blank Slate to get their first ice 

cream scoops of the calendar year 

and when seniors frolic in caps 

and gowns, showing their families 

around a campus they have called 

home for four years. 

Instead, campus is almost entirely 

empty, which Music, Theatre & 

Dance and LSA sophomore Michael 

Hu, a student transit coach operator, 

said feels both terrifying and surreal.

“Seeing the places that you’re so 

used to being filled with people, 

some of these areas you just never 

have seen without people,” Hu said. 

“And it’s definitely a crazy sight 

to see — the places are completely 

empty.”

Since classes shifted online in 

mid-March due to the coronavirus 

outbreak, students were urged to 

go home unless they “truly have no 

other alternatives.” Most students 

have left campus, leaving closed 

libraries 
and 
other 
University 

buildings behind. Following Gov. 

Gretchen 
Whitmer’s 
stay-at-

home executive orders, almost all 

University faculty and staff have 

been told to work from home as well. 

In 
response 
to 
uncertainties 

resulting from the pandemic, the 

University created an 80-hour “U-M 

COVID-19 Paid Time Off” bank on 

March 13 for all full-time employees 

for any COVID-19 related scenario. 

Starting 
April 
1, 
the 
Federal 

Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act 

provides employees an additional 

80 hours of PTO on top of the U-M 

COVID-19 bank. Michigan Medicine 

employees who need to self-isolate 

after contracting the virus are also 

eligible for a 120-hour time off work 

bank in addition to the other two 

banks.

However, 
“certain 
employees 

designated 
as 
critical 
to 

infrastructure or public health and 

safety” continue to report in-person 

to work. Some are our custodians, 

the individuals who do the work 

behind reassurances from numerous 

University-affiliated 
offices 
that 

cleaning protocols have increased. 

CLAIRE HAO
Daily News Editor

ALEC COHEN/Daily 

The University announces proposed tenure changes that could refuse severance pay in cases of misconduct.

JASMIN LEE

Daily Staff Reporter

