The University of Michigan
hosted a virtual town hall titled
“Constructive Conversations for
Societal Change” on Friday, in soli-
darity with the protests that have
erupted across the nation against
racism and police brutality. The
town hall was moderated by Rob-
ert M. Sellers, vice provost of equity
and inclusion and chief diversity
officer, and focused on providing a
platform for the University of Mich-
igan community to come together.
“Our conversation today marks
our collective recommitment as
individuals and as a university to
ending systemic racism in our soci-
ety and within our institution,”
Sellers said. “In doing so, we affirm
that Black lives matter. We recog-
nize that this conversation is not the
solution, nor can it be our response,
our only response, to the senseless
killing of George Floyd and far too
many other African Americans. It’s
only a necessary start to acknow-
ledging our collective pain and out-
rage.”
LSA senior Darlena York shared
her experiences with racism on
campus, citing a survey from a pol-
itical science class she took and the
effect of the survey on students’
mental health.
“It makes students not want to
participate in class, not want to
go to class, because it’s very detri-
mental to our mental health, detri-
mental to how we want to perform
in class and it’s detrimental to our
overall well-being as students,”
York said. “A lot of my experiences
aren’t that positive when reflecting
on racial inequality on campus. It’s
very exhausting as a student lead-
er sometimes, having to constantly
combat those things.”
Rackham student Naomi Mae
Wilson, who has been a commun-
ity organizer for the past 10 years,
spoke about her involvement in
fighting systemic racism at the
University of California at Berke-
ley, New York University and in
her communities at the University
of Michigan. She emphasized that
fighting for change can be exhaust-
ing and traumatic.
“Having been in the work for 10
years, it’s not really, really long but
it’s a lot for me. My experience and
my feelings are both exhaustion and
also a deep, deep fire in my spirit to
fight for justice and to make sure
that we have change,” Wilson said.
“Young people are out there and
they are dedicating their childhoods
for justice which in some ways, in a
lot of ways, is beautiful and in a lot
of ways is incredibly sad that we
lift up these young folks who are
out there, to march and demand for
their lives to matter.”
Riana Anderson, an assistant
professor at the School of Pub-
lic Health, spoke about the link
between systemic racism and the
disparate impact of COVID-19
on the Black community and the
effects of the protests on mental
and physical health, making people
more susceptible to the dangers of
COVID-19.
“My work shows how racial acts
exact a toll on psychological out-
comes like anxiety, depression and
trauma, even if it’s not personally
happening to us, as is the case with
so many of the virtual experiences
we viewed online,” Anderson said.
“Our bodies also react through
physiological
processes,
like
increased blood pressure, quick-
ened heart rate and heightened
production of stress hormones,
eroding our physical health and
wreaking havoc on our normal
stress responses including regulat-
ed breathing, which of course ties
back to COVID.”
Eddie L. Washington Jr., the
executive director of the Division of
Public Safety and Security, shared
his emotional reaction to the video
of George Floyd’s murder.
“When I saw the video, the first
thing I thought about was just the
loss of life. And I think about the
loss of life and the impacts that that
has directly on (Floyd’s) family, on
the community, on Blacks specific-
ally,” Washington Jr. said. “It causes
a spark of images that I think about
for most of my life, images from
the 60s and the 70s. I think about
the loss of trust for some, but the
increase of distrust for others.”
2
Thursday, June 11, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
NEWS
‘U’ hosts discussion
on societal change
The challenges that international
students face in attending American
universities are plentiful, ranging
from intense culture shock to rising
tuition fees. Add the COVID-19
pandemic, which comes with strict
travel
restrictions,
troublesome
flights home and visa issues, and
those challenges double.
The University’s International
Center Director Judith Pennywell
told the Daily that over the past
few
months,
the
center
has
received numerous requests for
help regarding the pandemic and
uncertainty for the fall semester.
“Students are wondering about
the availability of remote learning
opportunities for fall and whether
there are visa or immigration related
implications,”
Pennywell
said.
“Some students have expressed
concerns about internship offers
being revoked in light of COVID-19.”
Second-year Information student
Chengyue Qiu, an international
student
from
China
and
the
secretary for Graduate Rackham
International (GRIN), a student-
run organization at the University
meant to support graduate students
on campus, mentioned how since the
pandemic hit, her peers have faced
both academic and career obstacles.
“I have a lot of friends who had
their internships canceled because
of COVID,” Qiu said. “That’s a really
common thing.”
Engineering alum Mohammed
Majid had his offer as an upcoming
software engineer at Uber rescinded
due to the pandemic. Majid, an
international student from India,
shared his story on a LinkedIn post
that spread widely throughout the
University community.
“Hi Everyone!” the post begins.
“Yesterday, I received a phone call
from my recruiter: my new grad
SWE offer from Uber was rescinded
due to COVID-19, with 90 days
left to find employment or risk
deportation.”
Upon graduation, international
students who do not want to
return home usually apply for
Optional Practice Training, which
allows students to stay in the U.S.
for a maximum of 12 months for
employment-related training in their
field of study. But not all companies
choose to sponsor international
students and some organizations
related to defense or national
security seldom hire or interview
non-U.S. citizens. Students who are
granted OPT are only allotted 90
days of unemployment.
In an interview with The Daily,
Majid spoke about the grueling fall
job recruitment process and how
difficult it was to do it all over again
last month. Back in September,
he said he applied to as many as
100 jobs and by November had a
couple of offers — three months
of applications, phone calls and
interviews.
Int’l students face
uncertain future
Read more at michigandaily.com
NAVYA GUPTA
Daily Staff Reporter
MAGDALENA MIHAYLOVA
Daily Staff Reporter
Design by Hibah Chughtai
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327
www.michigandaily.com
EMMA STEIN
Editor in Chief
enstein@michigandaily.com
ANITA MICHAUD
Business Manager
ammichau@michigandaily.com
EDITORIAL STAFF
Devak Nanua
Managing Editor
dnanua@michigandaily.com
Jasmin Lee & Francesca Duong
Managing News Editors
news@michigandaily.com
Brittany Bowman
Editorial Page Editor
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Nick Stoll & Kent Schwartz
Managing Sports Editors
sportseditors@michigandaily.com
Emily Yang
Managing Arts Editor
arts@michigandaily.com
Madeline Hinkley & Julia Schachinger
Managing Photo Editors
photo@michigandaily.com
Hibah Mirza
Managing Design Editor
design@michigandaily.com
Olivia Bradish
Managing Copy Editor
copydesk@michigandaily.com
Cheryn Hong & Gabrijela Skoko
Managing Michigan in Color Editors
michiganincolor@michigandaily.com
John Grieve & Ben Korn
Managing Social Media Editors
Alexander Cotignola
Managing Online Editor
webteam@michigandaily.com
Iulia Dobrin
Managing Video Editor
video@michigandaily.com
Andie Horowitz
Managing Statement Editor
statement@michigandaily.com
CONTACT INFORMATION
News Tips news@michigandaily.com
Corrections
corrections@michigandaily.com
Letters to the Editor tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Photo Department photo@michigandaily.com
Arts Section
arts@michigandaily.com
Editorial Page opinion@michigandaily.com
Sports Section sports@michigandaily.com
Magazine
statement@michigandaily.com
Advertising
Phone: 734-418-4115
Department
dailydisplay@gmail.com
Read more at michigandaily.com
The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through
Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University
of Michigan. One copy is available free of charge to all readers.
Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office for $2 per
issue. Subscriptions for September - April are $250, and year-long
subscriptions are $275. University affiliates are subject to a reduced
subscription rate. Subscriptions must be prepaid.
Academic and career
dilemmas emerge as
COVID-19 rages on
Community reflects
virtually on protests, law
enforcement and racism