As the Michigan Union reopened 
Monday morning for the second 
time this calendar year, University 
of Michigan alumni Isabel Wil-
liams, Amanda Wasserman and 
Lucy Rosenthal stopped to say 
goodbye. The trio, who met their 
freshman year, roamed the silent, 
empty halls, reminiscing on game 
days and late-night food runs 
together one last time before their 
senior year housing lease ends later 
this week.
“It’s definitely very sad look-
ing not seeing everyone else run-
ning around here,” Rosenthal said. 
“I think everyone was so excited 
to explore the new spaces and see 
what this building had to offer, 
because they put so much time and 
money into making this a great 
place for student events.”
When the Union opened its doors 
Jan. 13 after a two-year, $85 million 
renovation, students were greeted 
with a 500-person line, food trucks 
and a ceremony with a speech from 
University President Mark Schlis-
sel.
That same day, a woman in 
Thailand was hospitalized with 
a “novel pneumonia virus” — the 
first known COVID-19 case outside 
China. The century-old building, 
where John F. Kennedy introduced 
the Peace Corps and Martin Luther 
King Jr. met with student leaders, 
closed its doors only three months 
later. When students come back to 
campus in the weeks, physical dis-
tancing and face covering require-
ments will be in place. The contrast 
between the Union’s reopenings 
strikes Rosenthal. 
“It could not be more different,” 
Rosenthal said.
Thinking back to simpler times, 
Williams passed by the old Sweet-
waters location and remembered 
milestones of her four years in Ann 
Arbor.
“I was like, this is where I had 
this meeting, and this is where I 
booked that flight, and this is where 
I studied for that test,” Williams 

said. 
Yet as Wasserman scanned the 
one-person tables and spread apart 
chairs in the north study room, she 
worried about incoming students 
getting the same college experience 
they had. 
“Even studying wise, like going 
somewhere to study with a bunch 
of friends or getting a study room, 
I don’t know how that’s gonna work 
anymore,” Wasserman said. 
Williams said there’s an added 
level of fear every time a student 
goes to a public place.
“It’s like is this actually safe?” 
Williams said. “Should I be doing 
this? It’s sad and it’s a stress that 
they shouldn’t have to deal with … 
I don’t know how I would balance 
it. I’m so glad I don’t have to make 
that decision.”
LSA 
sophomore 
Madeleine 
Lynch is one of tens of thousands 
of students who will have to make 
those decisions shortly. She stood 
in the north study room Monday 
morning, impressed with the safety 
precautions. 
“I think they’re doing a pretty 
good job keeping everything safe,” 
Lynch said. “I’ve seen all the one-
way signs and I used some Purell 
that was around there. I liked 
the way it was all over the place. 
I noticed there’s only like three 
people at each of these tables, and 
it seems like it’ll be a pretty good 
space. I’d feel safe studying here.”
Lynch is hopeful for a good year 
despite the circumstances. 
“I’m still hoping for a pretty good 
experience, even though you have 
to stay far away from other people,” 
Lynch said. “I’m hoping it’s still 
gonna be a meaningful experience.” 
A floor below, Blue Market 
manager Ann Heiden said many 
students over the years sign up 
for their first job at the basement 
retailer freshman year and keep 
punching in until graduation. 
“It becomes a family,” Heiden 
said. “You work with these people 
— it’s just beautiful.”

3

Thursday, August 13, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com NEWS

Just weeks before fall classes 
start, over 1,400 University of 
Michigan community members 
signed an open letter urging the 
University to provide transpar-
ency in the reopening plans for 
this fall and an analysis outlining 
exactly how these plans will keep 
the community safe. 
The letter — written to the Uni-
versity July 27 — drew professors, 
staff members and graduate and 
undergraduate students to call 
for the logistics and proof of what 
a “public-health informed” fall 
semester will look like. Though 
class instruction modes have been 
adjusted and planned for classes 
still meeting in-person, the letter 
explains, little information has 
been released regarding contain-
ment of the virus.
“We have heard very little about 
other key containment strategies 
such as widespread testing, con-
tact tracing, and isolation of the 
sick,” the letter reads. “The imple-
mentation of these containment 
policies across the whole campus 
would be quite complex and, with 

just one month remaining, we 
have not seen a demonstration that 
plans are in place.”
Physics professor Dante Ami-
dei, one of the contributors to the 
letter, said it is a call for transpar-
ency. 
“We — the folks who are going to 
be bearing this risk — believe that 
as a public institution, the Univer-
sity has a responsibility to put all 
the cards out here on the table, to 
show us the plan and show us an 
analysis of that plan that says that 
this is going to be safe,” Amidei 
said. “We understand that noth-
ing can ever be risk free, but there 
are many examples of analyses like 
this that can take these factors 
into account and estimate the risk 
or not of a plan.”
On 
Aug. 
3, 
the 
University 
released several updates for the 
fall semester, including a require-
ment that all students self-quaran-
tine for 14 days prior to returning 
to campus. The announcement 
also alluded to providing all stu-
dents living in University Housing 
with COVID-19 testing. There are 
no details regarding whether fac-
ulty, staff and students living off-
campus are included.
Though 
the 
University 
has 
released details to testing and iso-
lation methods, Amidei said the 
University is still responsible for 
providing reasoning for how these 
decisions protect its community. 
According to Amidei, the writers 

have since drafted a second letter 
calling for greater transparency on 
the risk analysis.
“We’ve seen the plan, but there 
was nothing in that message about 
point two, which is asking to see 
a critical analysis of the plan that 
shows why it is safe,” Amidei said. 
“We believe this is a public health 
issue that can be addressed by sci-
ence. We want to see the science. 
We would like to see the met-
rics that are being used and the 
expected impact of this plan on the 
health of the surrounding commu-
nities.”
Rackham student Jeff Lock-
hart is a member of the Graduate 
Employees’ Organization’s COVID 
Caucus. Lockhart said detailed 
guidance and procedures sur-
rounding employee infections for 
those currently on campus, includ-
ing researchers and maintenance 
staff, has been provided. 
“There has been, all summer, 
detailed guidance and updates on 
what to do if you have symptoms 
and who to go to in terms of your 
supervisor,” Lockhart said. “If 
someone in your workplace is out 
getting tested, you know what to 
do with their workspace and who 
you can and can’t share the infor-
mation about test results with 
because there’s privacy concerns 
there.” 

‘U’ urged for more details 
about fall semester plans

CELENE PHILIP & 
KRISTINA ZHENG
Daily Staff Reporter & 
Summer News Editor

Design by Hibah Chughtai

Union reopening 
Union reopening 
sparks memories 
sparks memories 

CALDER LEWIS
Summer News Editor

Read more at michigandaily.com
Read more at michigandaily.com

Students and staff contrast the current changes 
in the building with its pre-pandemic state

Over 1,400 community 
members sign open letter 
calling for transparency

