Thursday, June 11, 2020
INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 120
© 2020 The Michigan Daily
NEWS ....................................
OPINION ...............................
ARTS/NEWS..........................
MiC.........................................
SPORTS................................
MICHIGAN IN COLOR
The American
Dream: Impossible
Communities of color
perpetually have their
inalienable rights
restricted from them
>> SEE PAGE 9
NEWS
Students go to bars
Experiences & opinions of
students going to bars that
reopened amid COVID-19
>> SEE PAGE 2
OPINION
Deconstruct
America’s youth
Commentary on the histories
of Tulsa, Juneteenth and east
Oklahoma. >> SEE PAGE 4
ARTS
“Braiding
Sweetgrass”
A book that asks us to
reconsider our place in
nature.
>> SEE PAGE 6
SPORTS
Perfect storm
Race in America and how
the lacrosse community
needs to do better
>> SEE PAGE 10
inside
2
4
6
8
10
The University of Michigan’s
Board of Regents passed the
administration’s 2020-21 budget
in a 5-2 vote during a special
meeting Monday night, days
after a 4-4 vote at their June 25
meeting had appeared to sink
proposed increases in tuition
and fees. The approved budget
includes a 1.9 percent increase
in tuition for the Ann Arbor
campus; a 3.9 percent increase
for UM-Flint and UM-Dearborn;
a 1.9 percent increase in room
and board fees and a $50 COVID-
19 student fee.
Regents Paul Brown (D),
Jordan Acker (D), Ron Weiser
(R), Mark Bernstein (D) and
Michael Behm (D) voted in favor
of the budget, with Brown and
Acker changing their votes from
Thursday. Regents Shauna Ryder
Diggs (D) and Denise Ilitch (D)
voted against the budget. Regent
Katherine White (D) was not
present, though she called in to
vote for the proposed budget at
the previous meeting.
After the budget initially
failed to pass on June 25,
University
President
Mark
Schlissel said he anticipated the
budget proposal the executive
team would present at the July
Regents meeting would diminish
or eliminate a tuition increase for
the Ann Arbor campus.
Schlissel explained that the
Board called for the special
meeting on Monday because,
without a budget, the University
would not be able to operate and
continue paying employees in
the new fiscal year, starting July
1. Half of the revenue from the
tuition increase will go toward
increasing
financial
aid
to
address the pandemic, according
to Schlissel, and the new budget
also doubled the funds provided
to Flint and Dearborn campuses
from $10 million to $20 million.
Schlissel
defended
the
proposal
and
cited
the
University’s ongoing efforts to
protect students and families
from the pandemic and economic
recession
including
COVID-
19 testing, hiring freezes, the
suspension of nonessential travel
and spending, and the use of $400
million from the endowment.
“We’re committed to do
our very best to make sure that
the COVID-19 pandemic does
not result in a lost generation
of students who are unable
to continue or complete their
Michigan
education
because
of the circumstances we find
ourselves in,” Schlissel said.
Students have criticized the
University for trying to increase
tuition, claiming their learning
experiences will not be the same
with online classes and more
students are now struggling
financially due to the recession
sparked by the pandemic.
After Schlissel’s introduction,
most of the meeting was devoted
to
Regents
explaining
their
support for or disapproval of the
budget.
Weiser, who supported the
budget last Thursday and on
Monday,
addressed
demands
made by students and activists to
use the endowment to balance the
budget and cover financial losses.
He said much of the endowment
funds are restricted to particular
units of the University and thus
cannot be redirected legally.
“While we are a university
that’s blessed by having an
endowment that’s gonna give
us 400 million dollars this year,
most of that money is restricted
to certain areas,” Weiser said. “…
It’s not a 12 million (sic) dollar
endowment where we can take
the income and spread it, put it
Transgender
rights at risk
in new policy
Rules from the Trump
administration and
Supreme Court seemingly
at odds
ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Read more at michigandaily.com
JULIANNA MORANO
Daily Staff Reporter
CALDER LEWIS &
ARJUN THAKKAR
Summer News Editor
and Daily Staff Reporter
Read more at michigandaily.com
michigandaily.com
Regents approve new budget with
tuition increase in special meeting
Dominick Sokotoff/Daily
On
June
12,
the
Trump
administration announced a rollback
of
Obama-era
anti-discrimination
policies for trans and nonbinary people
in the healthcare system. According to
a statement from the Department of
Health and Human Services, the federal
government will no longer recognize
gender identity as protected categories
under the civil rights section of the
Affordable Care Act, and will curb the
interpretation of “sex” to pertain only
to “the plain meaning of the word” as
“male or female and as determined by
biology.”
Three days later, the Supreme Court
followed with its own ruling on sex
discrimination in employment, arguing
sex discrimination does encompass
discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation and gender identity. These
seemingly contrasting federal rulings
have raised questions in terms of what
that ultimately means for trans and
nonbinary people’s rights.
LSA junior Hazel Gordon voiced
her concerns to The Daily in the wake
of the Trump administration’s ruling,
stating that trans discrimination in
this country is not necessarily new, but
explicit government backing for it is.
“It is worth noting that it does
happen already,” Gordon said. “This
just provides, I guess, legal backing
for it … I think it opens up a lot of
already vulnerable people to further
discrimination.”
Gordon, who identifies as a trans
woman, said the Supreme Court’s
decision is a sign of progress, on the
other hand, but shouldn’t be met
without
skepticism,
especially
in
michigandaily.com
Thursday, July 2, 2020
ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
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