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