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INDEX
Vol. CXXX, No. 10
©2020 The Michigan Daily

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M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

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SPORTS.......................19
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The University of Michigan is 

prepared to begin administering 
Pfizer vaccines as early as 
Dec. 15 pending government 
authorization, school officials 
confirmed 
in 
the 
weekly 

COVID-19 
briefing 
Friday 

afternoon.

Anyone 
enrolled 
in 
the 

Pharmacy, 
Kinesiology, 

Nursing, 
Social 
Work 
and 

Medical schools who is exposed 
to patients will be included 
in the first phase of COVID-

19 
vaccine 
prioritization, 

according to Medical School 
professor Sandro Cinti. 

COVID-19 vaccines will be 

distributed in three phases, 
according to Cinti, who is also 
co-lead of Michigan Medicine’s 
COVID-19 
Vaccine 
and 

Therapeutics Task Force. 

Phase 1 will be administered 

in three parts. Phase 1A, set 
to begin Dec. 15 if the Pfizer 
vaccine 
receives 
emergency 

approval next week, includes 
health care personnel and long-
term care facility residents and 
staff. Pfizer has said the vaccine 
will be ready within hours after 
government authorization.

“We will start on the 15th 

— probably — of December in 
our phase one,” Cinti said. “We 
will ramp up as we get more 
vaccine. And we’re looking to 
start vaccinating people on the 
Hill in the hospital. And then we 
will also have off-site clinics in 
ambulatory care. Very quickly, 
we will move into Phase 1B, 
which includes the University.”

Phase 
1B 
will 
vaccinate 

essential workers in sectors 
like education, food, utilities 
and transportation, including 
members 
of 
the 
University 

community. Cinti said Robert 
Ernest, director of University 
Health 
Service, 
and 
other 

University 
personnel 
are 

working on how to distribute 
the vaccine to the campus and 
Ann Arbor communities. 

“1B 
is 
essential 
workers 

and this is why we added 
the 
University,” 
Cinti 
said. 

“(Getting) educators back to 
work, which includes K-12, the 
college campuses, is going to be 
important.”

Phase 1C includes senior 

citizens and others with high-
risk conditions. The components 
of Phase 1 are planned to begin 
about five weeks apart from 
each other and overlap. 

In May, LSA senior Bhoomika 

Gupta received a call that her 
internship was canceled due to 
COVID-19, similar to students 
across the country. Through 
networking, Gupta was able to 
successfully secure a virtual 
internship 
with 
a 
global 

nonprofit. 

Despite working this past 

summer, Gupta has not secured 
full-time employment. Gupta, 
who hopes to pursue a career 
in 
human 
resources, 
said 

the competitiveness of full-
time recruiting has only been 
worsened 
by 
the 
economic 

uncertainty of the pandemic. 

“People aren’t recruiting as 

easily,” Gupta said. “Companies 
that are recruiting are really 
large companies that are, of 
course, aggressively competitive 
this semester, because everyone 
knows that very few companies 
are hiring.”

According to Gupta, who 

hopes to work in business 
human resources, the pandemic 
has forced seniors interested 
in 
similar 
fields 
to 
adjust 

their expectations and their 
recruiting timeline. 

“The Michigan norm is you 

recruit first semester, you’re 
done, second semester you get to 
relax and then you’re working. 
But this year, it’s going to be more 
of second-semester recruiting 
or at least until December, 
which is an interesting mental 
game,” Gupta said. “I think for 

many students, because you feel 
behind your peers, you feel like 
you’re not doing enough.” 

The 
University 
recently 

announced 
its 
plan 
for 

the 
winter 
term, 
which 

acknowledged 
unprecedented 

stressors students are facing 
and emphasized the importance 
of 
mental 
health. 
Though 

the 
search 
for 
professional 

opportunities 
against 
the 

backdrop of the pandemic has 
not been easy for many, the 
plan did not include anything 
specifically 
pertaining 
to 

enhanced 
career-related 

services. 

Kelly 
Day, 
an 
internship 

program manager at the LSA 
Opportunity 
Hub, 
said 
the 

office has various resources for 
students seeking internships. 
She 
pointed 
to 
the 
LSA 

Opportunity Network where 
internships are posted daily. 

“(We’re) trying to provide all 

the support that we can, and 
letting students know that it’s 
okay wherever you’re at in the 
situation, and it’s pretty normal 
to have some of these questions 
and concerns,” Day said. 

Limited job options have 

caused Gupta to contemplate 
alternative 
post-graduate 

opportunities such as graduate 
school. 

“I know something will work 

out,” Gupta said. “I’ve started 
thinking about grad school as 
well, because I’d rather be safe. 
Grad school was not something 
that was even in my plans for at 
least another five or six years.” 

CAMPUS LIFE

DOMINICK SOKOTOFF/Daily

Healthcare workers at Michigan Medicine have been asked to work even if they have a close contact with COVID-19.
University plans to start vaccine 
distribution as soon as Dec. 15

Pending government authorization, Michigan Medicine makes preparations

COVID complicates 
career prospects for 
seniors, recent grads

Professional opportunities hard to find 
as coronavirus upends nation’s economy

JASMIN LEE & 
CALDER LEWIS
Daily Staff Reporters

ELIZABETH WILLIAMS 

For The Daily 

Three Washtenaw County 

business owners have teamed 
up to found the Association of 
Businesses of Color. The ABC 
provides aid to businesses 
owned by people of color 
that are struggling with the 
economic downturn brought 
on by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The ABC was created by 

Brian Jones-Chance, Patton 

Doyle 
and 
Ylondia 
Portis, 

business owners and members 
of the Downtown Development 
Board in Ypsilanti, to address 
the 
economic 
disparities 

between businesses owned by 
white people and those owned 
by people of color in the area.

“A lot of businesses have 

closed 
permanently, 
and 

staffing is another issue,” 
Jones-Chance, 
co-founder 

of 734 Brewing, said. “Many 
of our remaining businesses 
have found it difficult to keep 

teams employed, the revenue 
issue stemming from reduced 
hours or reduced capacity or 
both.” 

As 
businesses 
adapt 
to 

another 
round 
of 
forced 

closures, 
members 
of 
the 

ABC have focused on how 
business owners of color in 
particular are handling the 
new restrictions. 

When 
county 
leaders 

declared 
racism 
a 
public 

health crisis this summer, 
they noted that Washtenaw 

was 80th out of 83 counties 
in 
Michigan 
for 
income 

inequality 
according 
to 
a 

2020 ranking. Black residents 
have been disproportionately 
impacted by COVID-19.

A 
new 
grant 
will 
be 

introduced on Dec. 15 to 
support 
businesses 
that 

closed in response to the most 
recent state order. The ABC 
is working to ensure equal 
access to this grant. 

2020 
marks 
the 
50th 

anniversary of the University 
of 
Michigan 
Department 
of 

Afroamerican 
and 
African 

Studies within LSA. DAAS is 
committed to African studies and 
conducting research to support 
the broader African and African 
American communities.

Throughout the 1960s, Black 

student 
organizations 
joined 

together as the Black Action 
Movement, 
demanding 
racial 

justice at the University. In 1968, 
BAM 
organized 
on-campus 

protests to urge the University to 
increase Black enrollment to 10%. 
Among BAM’s achievements was 
the creation of an Afroamerican 
and African Studies Program, 
which later became DAAS.

As 
a 
product 
of 
social 

activism 
at 
the 
University, 

DAAS was founded upon the 
principles of diversity, equity and 
inclusion, according to Matthew 
Countryman, DAAS department 
chair and associate professor. 
Since then, these foundational 
principles have been integrated 
into 
DAAS’s 
undergraduate 

major and minor in addition to its 
graduate certificate program. 

Countryman 
said 
the 

department seeks to create a safe 
space for students and values 

inclusivity greatly.

“We can be a home for students, 

whatever their major or however 
many courses they take with us. 
We can be a place that affirms 
their presence and values their 
presence on campus in ways that, 
unfortunately, they don’t always 
experience in their other classes,” 
Countryman said. “That’s crucial 
to our mission and something 
that all of our staff and faculty are 
aware of on a daily basis.”

LSA senior Thomas Vance, 

an AAS major, said this 50th 
anniversary is a testament to 
what Black activism can achieve.

“The 50th anniversary, to 

me, is just a celebration and a 
highlight of what happens when 
Black students fight for change,” 
Vance explained. “It’s something 
I’m 
always 
thankful 
for. 
I 

don’t think that my Michigan 
experience would be as positive 
without DAAS.”

LSA senior Tiffany Harris, 

also an AAS major, found that 
DAAS faculty foster a welcoming 
environment where students of 
color feel comfortable discussing 
race in the classroom. 

“In a lot of political science 

classes, I’ll be the only Black 
girl, and it’s uncomfortable to 
have to fight for the whole Black 
community consistently in class,” 
Harris noted. 

ACADEMICS

SHANNON STOCKING 

Daily Staff Reporter 

JEREMY WEINE/Daily

Three Washtenaw County business owners have teamed up to found the Association of Businesses of Color.

EVAN DELORENZO 

For The Daily

Business owners look to support 
companies run by people of color

Local entrepreneurs form group to provide assistance, guidance amid pandemic

DAAS students, faculty 
reflect on department’s 
history in its 50th year

Social activism spurred creation of Dept.
of Afroamerican and African Studies in LSA

See BUSINESS, Page 3

See JOBS, Page 3
See VACCINE, Page 3

See DAAS, Page 3