michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, January 20, 2021

ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

INDEX
Vol. CXXX, No. 16
©2021 The Michigan Daily

N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

ARTS............................ 5

OPINION.......................7

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit
Follow The Daily 
on Instagram, 
@michigandaily

A Washtenaw County woman 

has contracted the new B.1.1.7. 
COVID-19 variant, the first known 
case in the state of Michigan, 
according to a press release from 
the Michigan Department of 
Health and Human Services. 
The woman recently traveled 
to the United Kingdom, where 
the variant first appeared. Two 
new COVID-19 cases have been 
identified from close contacts 
with the woman, but it is not yet 
known whether they are caused 
by the variant.

The 
B 
1.1.7. 
case 
makes 

Michigan the 17th state to identify 
the variant within its borders. 
Though it is the only known case 
in Michigan, it is possible there 
are more that have not been 
identified, according to the press 
release. 

The new variant is believed to 

be more contagious, but not any 
more severe, than the original 
COVID-19 virus that has been 
circulating in the United States 
since early 2020. The higher rate 
of transmission could increase the 
number of hospitalizations and 
deaths resulting from the virus if 
it spreads widely in Michigan. 

Joneigh Khaldun, chief medical 

executive 
and 
chief 
deputy 

director for health at MDHHS, 
said in the press release that to 
combat spread of the new variant, 
Michiganders should continue 
to wear masks, social distance, 
avoid crowds, wash their hands 
often and make a plan for getting a 
vaccine when it’s their turn.

“The discovery of this variant 

in Michigan is concerning, but not 
unexpected,” Khaldun said. “We 
all have a personal responsibility 
to slow the spread of COVID-19 
and end this pandemic as quickly 
as possible.”

The B.1.1.7 variant’s arrival 

comes as local health departments 
charged 
with 
administering 

vaccines struggle to keep pace 
with high demand while receiving 
lower than expected supply of 
doses. While Michigan officially 
began Phase 1B — which includes 
senior 
citizens 
and 
frontline 

essential workers — on Monday, 
it may not have enough vaccines 
to vaccinate most members of this 
group until a later date. 

The Washtenaw County Health 

Department announced Friday it 
would be rescheduling its Jan. 19 
appointments until Feb. 9 because 
the vaccine clinic hadn’t received 
enough supply to operate. 

The keynote lecture, focused 

around the symposium’s theme 
of “Where Do We Go From 
Here?,” touched on King’s legacy 
and his impact on current social 
justice work.

The keynote was moderated 

by Dr. Stephen Ward, associate 
professor in the Residential 
College and the Department 
of Afroamerican and African 
Studies, 
and 
featured 
two 

speakers: Dr. Gloria House, a 
University alum, poet and human 
rights activist who designed the 
African American and African 
Studies major at the University 
of Michigan - Dearborn; and 
Malik Yakini, the co-founder 
and Executive Director of the 
Detroit Black Community Food 
Security Network.

The 
lecture, 
coordinated 

by the Office of Academic 
Multicultural Initiatives, is part 
of a larger program of events 
surrounding King’s legacy from 
January through March. 

Lumas Helaire, coordinator 

of the Martin Luther King 
Jr. Symposium and associate 
director of OAMI, said the 
speakers were chosen because 
they were especially suited to 
speak to this year’s theme. 

“They’re looking at some 

of the deepest challenges and 
issues 
within 
communities,” 

Helaire said. “We’re definitely 
looking for speakers who have 
exhibited an ability to work 
towards whatever the theme 
may be, and these two speakers 
definitely have.”

During the keynote, House 

discussed how King’s legacy 
inspires current civil rights 
activists.

“One of Dr. King’s many 

legacies to us as social justice 

advocates is the way he directed 
our attention past any given 
moment of crisis or hardship to 
a time when our communities 
would 
achieve 
justice 
and 

dignity for everyone,” House 
said. “He bequeathed us the 
spirit of hope and perseverance.”

House 
discussed 
her 

involvement 
with 
several 

Detroit-based organizations that 
work to organize and support 
Black communities, including 
the Black Legacy Coalition of the 
Charles H. Wright Museum and 
Riverwise Magazine. 

“These 
organizations 
are 

part of a network of hundreds of 
involved community organizing 
efforts in Detroit,” House said. 
“As social justice advocates, 
or those people who work for 
liberation of our communities, 
we want to counteract the 
despair 
that 
settles 
over 

communities when our rights are 
violated and our representative 
institutions are circumvented or 
usurped.” 

Echoing House, Yakini said 

the social justice work currently 
happening in Black communities 
is often tied to deeper problems 
in American society.

“I 
think 
the 
thing 
that 

we’re realizing now is that all 
of this work is intersectional 
because all of these problems 
are really caused by the same 
root problems: capitalism, white 
supremacy 
and 
patriarchy,” 

Yakini said. 

Both 
speakers 
discussed 

the impact of the Civil Rights 
Movement of the 1960s and 
1970s on their lives and current 
work. Yakini said Civil Rights 
leaders such as Malcolm X 
played a role in his development 
as a Black man and social justice 
advocate.

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.

First Michigan case of new COVID-19 
variant discovered in Washtenaw County

B.1.1.7. found in woman with history of travel to United Kingdom, two close contacts infected

‘This is a lifetime’s struggle’:

Martin Luther King Jr. Symposium 
keynote lecture discusses current 
impact of Civil Rights Movement

CALDER LEWIS
Daily News Editor

ACADEMICS

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily

A resident of Washtenaw County has contracted a new variant of COVID-19.

Former Governor Rick Snyder, eight 
others charged in Flint water crisis
Previous top MI officials facing counts of willful neglect of duty

FILE PHOTO/Daily

Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has been charged in the Flint water crisis. 

Former Gov. Rick Snyder 

(R), 
as 
well 
as 
Snyder’s 

ex-health director and other 
former health officials, are 
being charged in relation to 
the Flint, Mich. water crisis 
following a new investigation, 
according to the Associated 
Press.

Snyder, 
who 
pleaded 

not 
guilty 
in 
a 
Thursday 

morning 
court 
appearance, 

is being charged with two 
misdemeanor counts of willful 
neglect of duty.

Governmental malpractice 

left the majority-Black city of 
Flint with lead-contaminated 
water for years, causing at least 
12 deaths and ongoing health 
issues for many community 

members, especially children.

Multiple 
sources 
with 

knowledge 
of 
the 
planned 

prosecution told the AP the 
defendants were informed of 
the indictments by the United 
States attorney general’s office 
on Tuesday. 

Courtney 
Covington 

Watkins, a spokesperson for 
the Attorney General’s office, 
told the AP investigators are 
“working diligently” and “will 
share more as soon as we’re in 
a position to do so.” 

None 
of 
those 
facing 

charges nor Gov. Gretchen 
Whitmer 
immediately 

released public statements. 
Michigan Attorney General 
Dana 
Nessel 
praised 
the 

prosecutions. 

Snyder’s 
two 
terms 
as 

governor ended in 2014. Under 
his 
administration, 
Flint’s 

water supply — used by nearly 
100,000 
residents 
— 
was 

switched from Lake Huron 
and the Detroit River to the 
Flint River to reduce costs. 
The water was not correctly 
treated 
and 
corroded 
the 

old pipes, leading to lead-
contaminated 
water. 
The 

city is still in the process 
of replacing the corrupted 
pipelines. 

A 2018 report, partially 

funded by the University of 
Michigan, said the former 
governor “bears significant 
legal 
responsibility” 
for 

his 
role 
overseeing 
the 

state agencies in charge of 
protecting 
public 
health. 

The report also said Snyder 
neglected his duties in failing 
to address the crisis sooner. 

KATE WEILAND
Daily Staff Reporter

See SNYDER, Page 3

Members of U-M community call for 
recall or resignation of Ron Weiser
Students, faculty criticize the regent’s prominent role in the Michigan GOP

University of Michigan community 

members are calling for the resignation 
or recall of Regent Ron Weiser (R) 
from the University’s Board of Regents, 
condemning Weiser for not specifically 
denouncing President Donald Trump 
for inciting violence at the U.S. Capitol 
on Wednesday. 

A petition begun by students 

Friday, which has garnered over 4,000 
signatures, calls on Weiser to resign 
due to his past involvement with the 
Michigan Republican Party and the 
Trump administration.

“The evidence is clear: Ron Weiser 

is complicit in Wednesday’s historic 
and horrifying events, and continues 
to defend their instigators,” the petition 
reads. “We demand that he either 
resign or be recalled by the Board of 
Regents, and we expect President 
Schlissel to condemn this threat to all 
students of color on campus.”

The petition is endorsed by the 

past five Central Student Government 
presidents, including the 2020 CSG 
president and vice president, public 
policy senior Amanda Kaplan and 
LSA 
senior 
Saveri 
Nandigama, 

respectively. Prominent University 
groups, including the Climate Action 
Movement, 
the 
U-M 
Graduate 

Employees’ 
Organization, 
the 

University’s Roosevelt Society chapter 
and the One University campaign have 
also signed on.

Because 
regents 
are 
elected 

statewide, an approved recall petition 
must garner signatures from 25 percent 
of the number of Michigan voters in the 
2020 general election. The change.org 
petition is not recognized by the state 
of Michigan as an approved recall 

petition. The requirement of more than 
a million signatures within 60 days 
of the first signature makes Weiser’s 
recall unlikely. 

Dozens of faculty members have 

also signed an open letter released 
Saturday demanding that Weiser 
resign immediately from his position as 
regent. While acknowledging that it is 
unclear whether Michigan Republican 
Party members directly participated in 
Wednesday’s riots, the petition states 
that Weiser’s role as incoming chair of 
Michigan GOP is incompatible with his 
duty as regent. 

“As a University of Michigan 

Regent, you serve as the public face 
of a great university that champions 
the pursuit of truth and a genuinely 
just society,” the petition reads. “By 
contrast, as chair of MI-GOP, you will 
be required to promote policies and 
strategies that MI-GOP uses to pursue 
electoral 
victories. 
This 
includes 

placating violent extremists within 
your party as well as those who support 
or tolerate them.”

The call for Weiser’s resignation 

or recall comes after the regent told 
Bridge Magazine on Thursday he did 
not know if he blamed Trump for the 
Wednesday riots. 

“I didn’t read any of that stuff, and I 

didn’t watch television,” Weiser said. “I 
watched Michigan destroy Minnesota 
in basketball, and that kind of contest is 
something that I strongly support.”

He tweeted a full statement on 

Wednesday’s riot later Thursday 
following the publication of the Bridge 
article. 

“I strongly condemn those people 

who turned into a mob and breached 
the Capitol after what was supposed to 
be a peaceful protest,” Weiser tweeted. 
“Those who broke the law should 
be held accountable. My heart goes 

out to the families of those who were 
unnecessarily harmed. The President 
said this morning that a peaceful 
transfer of power will occur and 
therefore the 2020 elections are over. It 
is time for Republicans to rest, regroup, 
and focus on defeating the Democrats 
in 2022.”

Weiser told the Detroit News 

Saturday 
he 
is 
“definitely 
not” 

resigning, and that he condemned the 
violence once he was aware of what 
had happened.

 “I spent most of that ugly day in 

a dental chair having oral surgery,” 
Weiser said. “I am guilty of not 
watching news on TV or watching or 
using social media. Nothing more... 
Because of this transgression, my 
children and grandchildren have 
been harasssed. There should be more 
civility in our community!”

Weiser declined Thursday and 

Friday to be interviewed by The 
Michigan Daily. The University Office 
of Public Affairs forwarded Weiser’s 
statement to The Daily and declined to 
comment further. 

Weiser is the incoming co-chair 

of the Michigan Republican Party 
— after current chair Laura Cox 
announced Wednesday she would 
not run for the position again — and 
former fundraising chair for the 
Republican 
National 
Committee. 

Democrats and some Republicans have 
accused Trump of inciting a coup on 
Wednesday, and multiple White House 
officials have resigned. 

Some members of Congress are 

now calling for the cabinet to invoke 
the 25th Amendment to strip Trump of 
his presidential duties, and Speaker of 
the House Nancy Pelosi has threatened 
impeachment.

See WEISER, Page 3

CALDER LEWIS
Daily News Editor

GOVERNMENT
ADMINISTRATION

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

LARA JANOSZ
Daily Staff Reporter

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

