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 

2

Thursday, July 2, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
NEWS

Students flock to 
bars after reopening

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. 

Graduate students 
rally for protection

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Additional copies may be picked up at the Daily’s office for $2 per 

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GEO expresses 
concerns about fall 
semester and teaching

After restrictions lifted, 
lack of social distancing, 
face masks reported

JASMIN LEE AND 
SARAH PAYNE
Summer Managing News Editor and 
Summer News Editor

