Sarah Hubbard, Republican candidate for the 

University of Michigan’s Board of Regents, is 
looking to balance the political powers that she says 
are hindering the board’s ability to have a robust 
discussion about issues affecting students. 

Hubbard is one of two Republicans challenging 

Democratic incumbents Mark Bernstein and Shauna 
Ryder Diggs for their seats on the board in the 
upcoming November election. Currently, Regent 
Ron Weiser (R) is the only Republican on the eight-
person board.

According to Hubbard, the University’s response 

to COVID-19 is the most important topic for students 
right now. She said, despite Tuesday’s stay-in-place 
order from Washtenaw County specifically directed 
at undergraduate students, instruction should be 
in person. She noted that attending class or other 
University-related responsibilities are not the reason 
for the recent spikes in COVID-19 on campus, 
according to school leaders.

“Students are spending a lot of money to get 

that education, and they never really plan to get 
it all remotely,” Hubbard said. “There needs to be 
in-person learning opportunities in a way that can be 
done safely for everybody. Students need to get the 
value for their tuition here.”

Hubbard, who owns Acuitas LLC in Lansing, 

holds two University of Michigan degrees and has 
a history of working in Republican politics. Her 
platform aims to protect freedom of speech on 
campus, lower tuition and bring more diversity of 
thought to the board. 

Part of Hubbard’s reason for running is because 

she wants to even the playing field.

“I think my experience is the kind of thing that the 

board needs right now,” Hubbard said. “You have a 
real imbalance on that board from a Dem-Republican 
perspective. And I think that I could help bring 
balance back to that board and those discussions.”

Hubbard said her background in politics has taught 

her how to develop strong, bipartisan relationships, 
though she leans right. She has previously donated to 
both Democrats and Republicans running for office 
in Michigan, including the Michigan Republican 
Party and Michigan Democrats U.S. Rep. Debbie 
Dingell and Sen. Gary Peters. 

University of Michigan Regent Mark Bernstein 

(D)
says he’s running for reelection this

November to settle unfinished business. In his
first election bid in 2012, he drove a school bus
around the state covered in slogans like “Keep
College Affordable” and “Higher Education,
Lower Cost.”

“I’ve had some success in that direction, and 

I’ve kept that promise, but there’s still a lot more 
to be done,” Bernstein said in an interview with 
The Michigan Daily. 

Bernstein pointed to the Go Blue Guarantee, 

which offers free tuition to in-state students 
coming from families making $65,000 a year or 
less, as a major initiative he’s championed. He 
also said the University has reduced net tuition 
for most Michigan families since he was elected 
in 2012.

Affordability isn’t the only issue facing the 

school. The University is being sued by both 
sexual assault victims and a former student 
accused of sexual assault in high-profile lawsuits. 

An independent report found accusations of 

decades of sexual misconduct by Martin Philbert, 
the former provost who rose to the second highest 
office at the University despite knowledge of 
allegations by numerous administrators. 

Bernstein said misguided interpretations of 

fiduciary responsibility often lead organizations 
to work against victims’ interests. His campaign 
website says the University must be “victim and 
justice centered” and that “our bias should be 
towards the victims, not the institution.”

“It’s in the long-term interest of the institution 

to address these issues in a way that’s focused on 
making things right for the victims — for people 
who are harmed by the institution — because then 
you are preserving the integrity of the institution 
in the long run,” Bernstein told The Daily. 

After this summer’s 1.9% tuition increase as 

part of a budget Bernstein voted for, some students 
advocated for drawing from the endowment to 
keep tuition frozen. Bernstein supported the 
tuition increase in June, explaining that it would 
only be students who could afford to pay tuition 
who would be bearing the brunt of the policy.

CALDER LEWIS
Daily Staff Reporter

4 — Wednesday, October 28, 2020
News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

BOARD OF REGENTS

Candidate Profiles

SHAUNA

RYDER DIGGS 
(D) INCUMBENT

MARK

BERNSTEIN

(D) INCUMBENT

SARAH

HUBBARD

(R)

CARL

MEYERS

(R)

JASMIN LEE

Daily Staff Reporter

University Regent Shauna Ryder Diggs (D) is 

running for her second term on the University of 
Michigan’s Board of Regents to expand financial 
aid initiatives and provide her expertise as 
a practicing physician to the board amid the 
ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Ryder Diggs and fellow incumbent Regent 

Mark Bernstein (D) are running to keep their 
seats against challengers Sarah Hubbard (R) 
and Carl Meyers. Hubbard is participating in her 
first election for Board of Regents, while Carl 
Meyers is running in his third. 

As a University alum and the child of 

college professors, Ryder Diggs said her family 
commitment to education makes her a valuable 
member of the board. She also has experience 
serving on other community boards such as the 
Detroit Institute of Arts and Blue Cross Blue 
Shield Foundation of Michigan. 

Ryder Diggs said the accomplishment she 

is most proud of during her time on the board 
is supporting and expanding the Go Blue 
Guarantee. Ryder Diggs said she wants to 
ensure the legacy of the Go Blue Guarantee and 
other initiatives that will benefit students in the 
future. 

“There’s more work to be done and you have 

to be at the table to keep past accomplishments 
going,” Ryder Diggs said. 

After the board decided to freeze future 

fossil fuel investments amid consistent demands 
from the Climate Action Movement, Bernstein 
announced at the October regents meeting that 
the board will be looking into possible avenues 
to divest from the fossil fuel industry. Ryder 
Diggs said she is hopeful experts can find a path 
that allows the University to divest without 
sacrificing revenue for financial aid.

“What many people say is that we need our 

investments to bring the best return possible 
so that we can be able to give the financial aid 
that we want to give and expand the Go Blue 
Guarantee to give it to Flint and Dearborn,” 
Ryder Diggs said. “That definitely resonates 
with me, but I don’t think the two things are 
mutually exclusive.”

EMMA STEIN
Daily News Editor

DOMINIC COLETTI

Daily Staff Reporter

Carl Meyers is in the middle of his third 

campaign for regent at the University of 
Michigan. Meyers also made a bid in 2014 but 
didn’t get enough votes at the Republican State 
Convention to get through to the general election.

He hasn’t changed his message much since his 

first campaign in 2004, and he said he feels his 
policies are more relevant than ever.

“I ran for the Board of Regents in 2004 

predicting that if we didn’t slow the growth of the 
budget and put Michigan families and Michigan 
students first … that many middle-class families 
would be priced out of higher education, (which) 
would severely impact diversity, inclusion and 
access,” Meyers said. “Here we are in the middle 
of a pandemic, and shame on the (Board of 
Regents) for raising tuition … and shame on the 
administration.”

Meyers took several opportunities to discuss 

the 1.9-percent tuition increase approved over 
the summer and said he has made access to 
higher education a theme of his campaign. His 
goals include a tuition freeze and a rollback of 
this year’s increase.

When discussing the practicality of his tuition 

freeze, Meyers pointed to his background as 
a financial adviser, saying his experience on 
nonprofit boards and with investments makes 
him more qualified than the current board. He 
said he would push for a larger portion of the 
endowment to be distributed to meet operating 
expenses in addition to finding inefficiencies 
throughout the University. Currently, 4.5 percent 
of its value is distributed annually.

“U of M is … a massive hospital system, a 

massive sports complex, a massive academic 
(operation),” Meyers said. “It’s inherent with any 
operation that there are opportunities to become 
more efficient. I’m not saying you’ve got to cut, 
but I’m saying you’ve got to operate with a heck 
of a lot more efficiency.”

Meyers said Regents don’t focus enough on 

cutting student costs.

“It’s going to take a seismic cultural change 

to do that, and I think COVID is going to be the 
impetus for that,” Meyers said. 

READ MORE ONLINE AT MICHIGANDAIL
Y
.COM

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARK BERNSTEIN
PHOTO COURTESY OF SHAUNA RYDER DIGGS
COURTESY OF SARAH HUBBARD
COURTESY OF CARL MEYERS

