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