“I 
was 
really 
confused 

as to why we’re just now 
implementing 
asymptomatic 

testing for next semester,” 
Makar said. “I have friends at 
other schools like Ohio State, 
another big public university, 
where they get tested weekly, 
and it’s mandatory. I was 
curious 
as 
to 
know 
why 

we 
didn’t 
implement 
that 

beforehand.”

Alison Roberson, another 

LSA 
freshman 
and 
South 

Quad resident, said she was 
“shocked” by the plan for next 
semester. Roberson stated she 
returned home a month into 
the fall semester, but intended 
to come back next semester. 
Roberson 
said 
she 
was 

disappointed by the decision 
but that she felt it was the right 
decision, even though she felt 
“kind of just sad.”

“Even 
though 
we’re 
all 

disappointed, I think that it is 
the right decision.” Roberson 
said. “But I do think that they 
had to make that decision 
impulsively because of a lack 
of safety that they took in the 
first semester. First semester, 
I thought the way U of M was 
handling COVID was kind of 
bizarre because we were told 
that they were going to take 
safety precautions and they 

were not up to par with other 
universities.” 

Jennifer Rayman, class of 

1994 and a mother of a freshman 
living in a dorm this semester, 
said she felt “betrayed” and 
“blindsided” by the University. 
She also expressed concerns 
as an alum that the University 
isn’t doing enough to support 
undergraduates 
during 
the 

COVID-19 pandemic. As of 
Monday afternoon, more than 
800 
parents 
of 
University 

students 
have 
signed 
an 

open 
letter 
criticizing 
the 

University’s handling of fall 
semester and its plans for 
winter semester.

“As an alum myself I cannot 

believe these are the actions of 
the place I used to call home,” 
Rayman said. “The experience 
my child is having seems to not 
be a fraction of the one I have 
had and (the University has) 
perpetuated this situation... 
(The 
dining 
experience) 

has been despicable. Mental 
health? (The University) has 
done literally nothing for the 
isolated students.”

Soneida 
Rodriguez, 
a 

resident 
adviser 
and 
LSA 

senior, 
said 
she’s 
been 

experiencing anxiety after her 
family lost their home during 
the height of the COVID-19 
pandemic, and keeping her job 
as an RA was “high stakes” for 
her. 

Rodriguez also said she 

felt 
the 
precautions 
for 

next semester are “in the 
right direction” and should 
have 
been 
implemented 

earlier, but also maintained 
the 
importance 
of 
having 

on-campus housing options. 
She said students should have 
a “seat at the table” when 
decisions are being made.

“I think if nothing else, 

this pandemic has revealed 
the 
importance 
of 
having 

student voices heard, giving 
students a seat at the table, 
especially 
student 
staff 

members.” 
Rodriguez 
said. 

“Because at the end of the 
day, all of these decisions, 
and the lack of response 
could have been prevented if 
students had a seat at the table. 
Students could have helped 
the University respond in real 
time to the issues that we were 
seeing like a lack of testing 
and 
enforcement 
of 
social 

distancing and other safety 
measures.”

In an interview with The 

Daily Monday, University of 
Michigan 
President 
Mark 

Schlissel said he does not 
regret 
choosing 
to 
make 

classes in-person for the fall 
semester.

“I think that we deserved as 

a community a chance to try 
our very best to have a good 
mix of remote, in-person and 
hybrid classes, and to have 
as many people as possible 
remain 
healthy 
and 
make 

it through the end of the 

semester,” 
Schlissel 
said. 

“Most people were successful 
at doing this and some groups 
were less successful at doing 
this. So I don’t regret trying. 
The world keeps changing in 
the setting of the pandemic, 
it’s novel. We’ve never been 
through 
this 
before 
as 
a 

university. Although the basic 
principles are clear about how 
to prevent transmission, we 
didn’t know until we tried to 
figure out how our community 
would respond, how much 
compliance we would get, 
where the weak points turned 
out to be.”

Overall, the announcement 

brings drastic changes for many 
students living on campus. 
Engineering freshman Ashwin 
Saxena said he now has to pack 
up his dorms in the middle of 
midterms.

“The announcement about 

the winter semester really 
throws 
off 
everything,” 

Saxena said. “I think the 
University’s decision to bring 
us back this semester was not 
well thought out and the two-
week lockdown was necessary. 
Personally, I would be sad that 
I won’t be able to come back, 
but I realize this decision is 
important for the health of the 
community.”

Daily Staff Reporters Jared 

Dougall and Kaitlyn Luckoff can 
be reached at jdougall@umich.
edu and kluckoff@umich.edu.

place somewhere for us to do 
better.”

Dwight 
Wilson, 
a 

community 
member 
who 

served 
an 
integral 
role 

in 
advocating 
for 
police 

reform after Rosser’s death, 
traveled around the country 
observing 
other 
cities’ 

methods of police reform 
and oversight to bring back 
to Ann Arbor. Ultimately, 
efforts 
by 
community 

members culminated in the 
formation of ICPOC.

“I have no idea how many 

officers cross the line, but 
relatives and friends who are 
law enforcement officers are 
clear that they know of no 
force, including their own, 
where 100% of the officers 
walk the straight line. Their 
reputations 
are 
protected 

when the disreputable are 
held accountable. As for the 
victims of killings, brutality 
and 
disrespect, 
police 

oversight is our best hope,” 
Wilson wrote in a statement 
to The Michigan Daily in 
November of 2019. 

In a memo released two 

months after Rosser’s killing 
in January 2015, Washtenaw 
County 
Prosecutor 
Brian 

Mackie labeled the incident 
as justifiable homicide, citing 
a section of the Michigan 
Criminal Code stating that if 
a person’s belief that deadly 
force was necessary was 
genuine at the time, it does 
not matter if they were later 
proven to be wrong about 
the level of danger they were 
facing. 

Rosser’s killing prompted 

a 
series 
of 
protests 
in 

Ann Arbor. At one of the 
gatherings Rosser’s sister, 
Shae Ward, spoke about her 
sister’s death. 

“My hope is that I can get 

strong enough to speak for 
her,” Ward said at a January 
2015 
protest. 
“Because 
I 

know her person. She would 
have never attacked Officer 
Ried. She would have never 
made him feel that he would 
have to take her life to 
defuse the situation. That is 
just outlandish. It totally is 
outlandish.”

In 
the 
years 
since, 

University students and Ann 
Arbor community members 
have continued to honor 
Rosser’s 
memory, 
holding 

vigils on the anniversaries of 
her death. 

Members 
of 
the 
Black 

community in Ann Arbor 
have cited several incidents 
of over-policing and misuse 
of force before and since 

Rosser’s 
death, 
including 

increased police presence 
at multicultural fraternity 
tailgates and alleged racial 
discrimination at local bars. 
In the fall of 2017, the violent 
arrest of 16-year-old Ciaeem 
Slaton at the Blake Transit 
Center sparked a protest of 
more than 100 Ann Arbor 
residents outside of city hall 
a week later. 

Ann Arbor resident Shirley 

Beckley, who at 78-years-old 
has lived through decades of 
protest movements in Ann 
Arbor and was in attendance 
at the vigil, said the city 
hasn’t progressed as much 
as it thinks it has in terms of 
racial justice. 

“I think all of you need 

to understand Ann Arbor 

isn’t what it pretends to be,” 
Beckley said. “And we need 
everybody’s help to bring 
that forth, to make this the 
place that it ought to be — 
that they say it is.” 

Beckley said it is difficult 

to rebuild trust between 
local authorities and the 
community 
when 
Rosser 

isn’t recognized as much as 
she should be.

“You know, I don’t know 

how they think we’re gonna 
bridge 
the 
gap 
between 

the 
community 
and 
the 

police when you won’t even 
recognize 
Aura 
Rosser’s 

name,” Beckley said. “How 
are we gonna mend and 
heal when you don’t even 
recognize the woman that 
you killed, who is the mother 

of three children? How are 
we going to bridge that gap?”

After community members 

spoke and led several rounds 
of “Say her name!” “Aura 
Rosser!” chants, the crowd 
lit handheld candles and 
observed 
six 
minutes 
of 

silence: one for each year 
since Rosser’s death. 

During those six minutes, 

as the sky overhead darkened, 
Ann Arbor resident Julius 
Theophilus II said his mind 
was set on justice. 

“I was thinking of ways 

that the family and the 
people that this continuously 
happens to — what justice 
looks like to them, what 
it looks like to me, what it 
looks like to the country, 
what 
it 
looks 
like 
for 

Black people collectively,” 
Theophilus said. “And if it’s 
even possible.”

After 
the 
silence, 
the 

crowd moved swiftly through 
downtown 
Ann 
Arbor, 

marching down Main Street 
and Liberty Street. Along the 
way, several outdoor diners 
showed support with raised 
fists and cheers. 

LSA junior Rose Sproat 

said the visibility of the event 
was important for those in 
downtown Ann Arbor at the 
time. 

“It’s really important that 

we’re showing them what 

we want and that they can 
participate too,” Sproat said. 

When 
the 
marchers 

stopped at the corner of 
Liberty and State Street, 
several danced in a circle to 
accompany chants, trumpets 
and trombones. 

“Black joy is also a form of 

protest,” one person said.

Next, the crowd stopped 

in the shadow of the Burton 
Memorial Tower to hear 
a carillon piece, “Enough 
is 
Enough: 
Never 
Again 

Sketches,” played by Music, 
Theatre & Dance professor 
Tiffany 
Ng. 
The 
piece, 

coming from the bell tower, 
used a musical alphabet code 
to spell out the names of 
victims of police violence. 
Rosser’s name was played in 
measures 91 and 92, toward 
the end of the piece. 

After 
reflecting, 

Theophilus explained what 
justice looks like to him.

“The people that have 

suffered 
the 
most, 
they 

are in a position of power,” 
Theophilus 
said. 
“That’s 

what justice looks like to 
me.”

Daily Staff Reporter Calder 

Lewis and Daily News Editor 
Ben Rosenfeld can be reached 
at calderll@umich.edu and 
bbrosenf@umich.edu. 

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, November 11, 2020 — 3

VIGIL
From Page 1

While 
several 
states 

are still counting ballots, 
political analysts have said 
it is “mathematically, nearly 
impossible” 
for 
Biden’s 

trajectory in key states to 
change. 

Harris 
thanked 

enthusiastic supporters for 
their hard work leading into 
election day. 

“Thank you for turning out 

in record numbers to make 
your voices heard,” Harris 
said. “For four years you 
marched and organized for 
equality, justice, for our lives 

and for our planet; and then 
you voted.”

Harris acknowledged her 

historic ascent as the first 
woman to be elected to the 
vice presidency.

“While I may be the first 

woman in this office, I will 
not be the last, because every 
little girl watching tonight 
sees that this is a country of 
possibilities,” Harris said.

Harris said the election 

was a decisive mandate of 
support for their campaign.

“You 
delivered 
a 
clear 

message,” Harris said. “You 
choose hope, unity, decency, 
science and yes, truth. You 
choose Joe Biden as the next 
president of the United States 

of America.”

Biden broke the record, set 

in 2008 by former President 
Barack Obama, for the most 
votes 
for 
a 
presidential 

candidate with more than 75 
million cast. 

As of Saturday, Americans 

are still waiting for final 
tallies from swing states like 
North Carolina and Georgia 
since 
Tuesday 
evening 

when polls closed across the 
country. 

President Donald Trump 

issued a statement shortly 
after the Associated Press 
called the race, refusing to 
concede, pointing to lawsuits 
his campaign has filed in 
battleground states. 

“We all know why Joe 

Biden is rushing to falsely 
pose as the winner, and why 
his media allies are trying so 
hard to help him: they don’t 
want the truth to be exposed,” 
the statement reads. “The 
simple fact is this election is 
far from over … Legal votes 
decide who is president, not 
the news media.”

The 
Trump 
campaign’s 

lawsuit before the Michigan 
Court 
of 
Claims 
was 

dismissed as it is “unlikely 
to succeed on the merits” 
and the campaign’s request 
for immediate relief were 
denied.

Despite Trump’s baseless 

claims of fraud and insistence 

that the election still has not 
been decided, the former vice 
president urged the nation to 
come together in his address 
Saturday. 

“This is the time to heal 

in 
America,” 
Biden 
said. 

“Now that the campaign is 
over — what is the people’s 
will? What is our mandate? I 
believe it is this: Americans 
have called on us to marshal 
the forces of decency and the 
forces of fairness. To marshal 
the forces of science and the 
forces of hope in the great 
battles of our time.”

In Ann Arbor, students 

shared Harris and Biden’s 
excitement about the results 
of the race.

Music, Theatre & Dance 

sophomore 
Brock 
Boze 

celebrated on State Street 
this morning and said it was 
exciting 
to 
see 
everyone 

come together in a safe way. 

“I’ve been getting about 

three hours of sleep all week 
waiting for all this to come 
in,” Boze said. “... It’s been 
a 
really 
cool 
experience, 

everyone is socially distanced 
and masked up and I am 
loving the enthusiasm.”

Daily Staff Reporter Alec 

Cohen contributed reporting.

Daily Staff Reporter Sarah 

Payne can be reached at 
paynesm@umich.edu. 

ELECTION
From Page 1

PLAN
From Page 1

ADAM MATZGER 

Charles G. Overberger Collegiate 
Professor of Chemistry

An online lecture. For more information,

visit events.umich.edu/event/75455, 

or call 734.615.6667.

Online Event: Thursday, November 12, 2020 | 4:30 p.m.

LSA COLLEGIATE LECTURE

From Better
Health to
Improved
Lethality:

Controlling 

Crystallization 

of Pharmaceuticals 

and Explosives

Unnikrishnan 
said 
he 

became interested in this 
work when he found out that 
President Donald Trump won 
in Michigan by about 10,000 
votes, the same number of 
people who did not vote in 
his own neighborhood of 
Ward 1 in Ann Arbor. 

“I needed to do something 

to increase voter turnout,” 
Unnikrishnan 
said. 
“We 

wanted to take on voters 
that were unlikely to vote in 
2020 and pursue them till 
the end, until they had cast 
their ballot, either absentee 
or otherwise.”

Though the organization’s 

initial goal was to achieve 
a 75% voter turnout, the 
student voter turnout in 2020 
was about 50%, as seen on a 
giant thermometer posted in 
front of the UMMA counting 
the percentage of the voting-
eligible student body that 
had voted. 

Unnikrishnan 
said 
the 

turnout 
started 
at 
about 

32% at the start of early 
voting 
and 
increased 
as 

Nov. 3 approached. He said 
he wishes the University’s 
administration offered more 
clarity on how students could 
vote.

“We put enormous pressure 

through Faculty Senate and 
even talked to the Board of 
Regents,” Unnikrishnan said. 
“President Schlissel sent an 
email to all students, and the 
email was two pages long. 

Nobody reads two-page-long 
emails. It could have just 
read: ‘Students, you just need 
your MCard, go to UMMA, 
change your registration and 
vote on the spot.’”

Nick 
Schuler, 
LSA 

sophomore and spokesperson 
for the University’s chapter 
of 
College 
Republicans, 

wrote in a statement that 
he 
was 
happy 
with 
the 

organization’s efforts to get 
out the vote.

“We saw work on both 

sides of the aisle to turn 

out the vote and I’m glad 
it worked,” Schuler said. 
“Voting is a God-given right 
in the United States and we 
should use that. Voting is 
more important than for who. 
We look forward to the 2022 
midterms and continuing our 
efforts to elect Republicans 
all across the state.” 

Andrew 
Schaeffler, 

co-founder of the student 
organization 
Students 
for 

Biden, said the group was 
excited that so many students 
used the UMMA to vote.

“We are super happy to see 

the large amount of turnout 
among 
students, 
even 
as 

some of these numbers might 
lag 
behind 
what 
turnout 

was expected,” Schaeffler 
said. “(We) hope that the 
University sees this as a 
building block for making 
voting more accessible, and 
continues to utilize this..”

Daily Staff Reporters Julia 

Forrest and Varsha Vedapudi 
can be reached at juforres@
umich.edu 
and 
varshakv@

umich.edu. 

TURNOUT
From Page 2

“I think all of you need to understand 
Ann Arbor isn’t what it pretends to be. 
And we need everybody’s help to bring 
that forth, to make this the place that it 

ought to be — that they say it is.”

