The University of Michigan
Board of Regents met virtually
Thursday afternoon for the first
time during the 2021 calendar
year. During the meeting, board
members gave updates about the
current state of the University and
heard from public commenters
regarding concerns over lecturer
status, fund allocations to the
satellite
campuses
and
the
University’s COVID-19 response.
Regents Ron Weiser (R) and
Katherine White (D) were not in
attendance at the meeting, and
the reasons for their absence were
not clarified at the meeting. U-M
spokesman Rick Fitzgerald later
confirmed to The Michigan Daily
that while U-M officials do not
know why the regents were not in
attendance, scheduling conflicts
are not uncommon.
U-M President Mark Schlissel
began the meeting by providing an
update on the status of returning
to more in-person instruction
for the Fall 2021 semester, which
will heavily depend on vaccine
availability.
“We’re optimistic that fall will
look and feel much more like a
normal academic and residential
term at U of M,” Schlissel said.
“We’re looking at various scenarios
based on what fraction of our
faculty, staff and students are able
to be vaccinated … We’re hopeful
that unlike present circumstances,
COVID-19 vaccine supplies will
outpace demand in the coming
months.”
Regent
Jordan
Acker
(D)
then
addressed
the
January
insurrection at the U.S. Capitol
by supporters of former President
Donald Trump.
“We must live in the same basic
truth: the election of 2020 was not
stolen, the insurrection was not a
hoax and our government can only
endure when the losers of election
accept the legitimacy of defeat,”
Acker said. “There was, in fact, no
steal to stop.”
Acker’s speech comes after
calls for the resignation of his
fellow Regent Weiser from some
U-M community members. In
recent weeks, Weiser has come
under fire from those who think
he did not adequately denounce
the riots in the U.S. Capitol and
has been accused of making
undisclosed payments to further
his campaign for Michigan GOP
Chair. Inappropriate emails from
Weiser to the other Regents have
also surfaced in the last few weeks.
In February 2020, the Board of
Regents announced the University
would not bring forward any
new direct investments in fossil
fuel companies after sustained
student activism to divest entirely
from fossil fuels. At Thursday’s
meeting, Regent Mark Bernstein
(D) said he and the board have
been collaborating with activists,
peer universities and other climate
experts to find a way to sustainably
invest the University’s assets,
but did not otherwise specify the
University’s next steps.
“We
aim
to
make
our
investments
in a way that contributes to the
essential transition to a low-carbon
economy, and we expect to share
concrete next steps at our next
board meeting,” Regent Bernstein
said.
In what some residents are
calling a jurisdiction-breaching
move, six Ann Arbor City Council
members and Mayor Christopher
Taylor signed a public letter
Sunday night addressed to the
Ann Arbor Public Schools Board
of Education demanding further
planning and action around a
return to in-person and hybrid
learning in the district.
The move comes after weeks
of debates over the safety of
in-person teaching and a Jan. 31
protest by AAPS students and
parents requesting the option to
return to classrooms in-person.
AAPS has been fully virtual since
March 2020.
According to a Facebook post
from Councilmember Jen Eyer,
D-Ward 4, who is one of the
letter’s signatories, their specific
demands include an accelerated
return
to
in-person
learning
amid declining COVID-19 cases
and
increasing
vaccinations,
confirmation of the district’s
hybrid in-school learning plan and
a target date of return, as well as
greater communication regarding
plans for the Fall 2021 semester.
In
their
letter,
the
councilmembers emphasized the
importance of in-person learning
and the negative impact a lack
of in-person instruction has on
students’ wellbeing.
“The
extended
absence
of
in-school learning harms the
emotional and mental state of
students and stresses already
stressed families,” the letter reads.
“These harms are universal, but
they are compounded among
homes with young students and
community members who are
resource-deprived or who have
special needs.”
This
letter
from
some
councilmembers
comes
after
AAPS
Superintendent
Jeanice
Swift announced mid-January that
the district would conduct remote
instruction
indefinitely,
given
continued difficulty for teachers to
acquire the COVID-19 vaccine and
the presence of the B.1.1.7 variant
in Ann Arbor. She explicitly said
there was no specific date set
for the start of hybrid-learning,
though she wrote that the district
would plan for possible in-person
options with community input.
Swift
also
laid
out
the
district’s stages for return to
in-person
learning,
beginning
with “students with high-level
specialized learning needs” who
choose to return. Other priority
groups include pre-school and
kindergarten age students as well
as small groups of middle and high
school groups to receive in-school
learning center support.
In a Jan. 8 press conference,
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer urged
all schools to offer in-person
instruction
beginning
March
1. Despite guidance from the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention showing that schools
are not major sites for COVID-19
transmission if proper protocols
are enforced, some AAPS parents
and teachers are reluctant to
return to classrooms — especially
as
COVID-19
cases
among
University of Michigan students
remain high.
The Michigan Daily’s 2021
Management Desk voted Feb. 7 to
prohibit any of The Daily’s editors
from holding membership in Order
of Angell, an exclusive senior
honor society formerly known as
Michigamua, or any similar society
at the University of Michigan.
This decision was made after
recognizing that Order’s nature
and those of other such societies
goes against the mission and ethos
of The Daily, as well as to denounce
Order’s egregiously racist past.
As a news organization, The
Daily
aims
for
transparency
and accountability of all public
institutions.
Order
and
other
organizations like it, which bring
together powerful student leaders
from across campus and do not
publicize their actions, are the
antithesis of that.
Order’s “About Us” page and its
members have always been vague
about its activities, which the
group’s members have previously
attributed to the organization’s
historical pillar of “humility in
secrecy.” What this really means is
that those outside the organization
do not know what the group does
and therefore are unaware of the
true breadth of its influence.
Despite former members’ denial
of the organization’s secrecy and
sway, it is clear that Order holds
power on campus. By its own
account, Order was significantly
involved in the creation of the
Michigan Union and continues “to
lead many vital projects that have
made the University of Michigan
the great public institution that
it is today.” Prominent faculty
and
administration
members
have “occasionally” been invited
to
join
the
organization
as
honorary
members,
including
an administrator in the Office of
Institutional Equity in 2007. Many
administrators have spoken at
Order’s Leaders for Life conference,
including University President Mark
Schlissel and at least two regents.
One former Daily staffer who was
in Order cited the organization
as a way to be privy to otherwise
inaccessible information.
The
Daily
believes
it
is
important to remain distinct from
organizations friendly with the
University’s administration, and
Order fits this description. In this
way, having a clear separation from
Order and other such organizations
aligns with The Daily’s existing
policy prohibiting Daily staffers
from
holding
membership
in
Central Student Government.
Furthermore, per The Daily’s
bylaws and code of ethics, Daily
staffers must “remain free of
associations and activities that may
compromise integrity or damage
credibility.” Past Daily staffers
have debated whether being a part
of Order is a conflict of interest for
the closeness that Order fosters
between The Daily’s editors and
student leaders of organizations
that The Daily is supposed to report
on. This year’s Management Desk
has decided that it is.
Membership in societies like
Order places The Daily amid
ongoing controversy and erodes
our integrity. In the past, at least
one Daily staffer has stepped
down
due
to
concerns
over
another’s membership in Order.
Previous Daily editors who’ve
held membership in Order have
deferred editorial oversight of all
articles relating to Order or naming
members of Order. However, there
is still unresolved gray area as
The Daily publishes numerous
articles on prominent student
organizations, many of which have
individuals who carry membership
in the society.
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, February 24, 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. 21
©2021 The Michigan Daily
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
ARTS............................6
STATEMENT...................8
OPINION......................12
SPORTS........................14
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
Follow The Daily
on Instagram,
@michigandaily
Courtesy of Bentley Historical Library, with edits by Madison Grosvenor
FROM THE EDITOR
The Daily votes to prohibit editors from
joining Order of Angell, other societies
Current leadership denounces the racist history of Order, apologizes for past involvement
CLAIRE HAO,
JOHN GRIEVE &
BRITTANY BOWMAN
Editor-in-Chief,
Digital Managing Editor &
Managing Editor
Alumni of color
call on Order of
Angell to disband
in Feb. 22 letter
Letter comes after current class sent
email to all alum Feb. 17 asking input on
“sunsetting” the organization
Order of Angell, an exclusive
senior honor society oft-criticized
for its legacy of racism and its
elitism, is considering disbanding,
according to an email sent to the
society’s alumni obtained by The
Michigan Daily. The email, sent by
the current 2021 class of members
on Feb. 17, says Order is seeking
feedback from alumni on its value
to campus, its changes over time and
the ramifications of “sunsetting”
the organization by not selecting
another class.
Order has suspended the process
of tapping potential new members
while
it
considers
its
future,
according to the email.
Order’s Class of 2021 — known as
the “Pride” of 2021 — cites reasons
“beyond their control” for “not
start(ing) on a solid footing,” such
as their smallest size relative to
past classes, complications from the
pandemic and being called racist
over social media.
“The conditions on campus
have been difficult,” the email
reads. “For example, dealing with
being labeled as racists on social
media, the internal push for further
reforms, and the inability to engage
in oral and in-person traditions
have eroded confidence in selecting
another Pride. Further volatility
around campus standing, sponsor
units,
programs,
agendas,
and
alumni engagement over our recent
history also led to organizational
fatigue.”
Alumni were asked in a Google
form how Order has positively
impacted campus or their lives,
as well as what they had done to
improve campus relations and
promote a “more accurate narrative”
of the organization.
Finally, they were asked: “What
are your reactions, advice, or final
Wise Words to the potential Last
Pride Ever?”
On Tuesday morning, Order
alumni of color released a letter
to the current class calling on the
group to disband or, alternatively,
implement
five
main
reforms.
These reforms include making
Order’s history known through
“public
truth-telling,”
requiring
racial justice education for current
members and alumni and holding
a “restorative-justice” process with
Indigenous community members to
mend the damage done by Order’s
past appropriation of Native American
symbols and traditions.
The other reforms include having a
transparent nomination and selection
process, as well as developing
organizational measures to limit
or end engagement with alumni,
particularly those before the 2006
name change from Michigamua.
The letter, which has 21 signatures
from current members, alumni and
allies as of Tuesday afternoon, says
both Order’s racist past and current
treatment of members of color makes
it necessary for the group to disband.
The letter says that though Order
claims to champion diversity and
inclusion on the surface, “being a
person of color in the organization
was both laborious and harmful.”
“At the table on Monday nights,
students of color often faced a
hostile environment riddled with
microaggressions
and
tokenism,”
the letter reads. “Attempts to address
these inequities were often met with
silence at best and silencing at worst.
The power within the organization
was always with white students,
backed by a powerful cadre of alumni
who pulled strings within the Pride.
Race-based aggression was assumed
to have been limited to “the past,”
even
while
racialized
power
dynamics continued to shape the
day-to-day of the organization.”
The letter also says that students
of color had to cross higher
thresholds to be considered for
acceptance into the society.
“Students of color have had to
be exceptional in their leadership,
while
many
non-marginalized
students are granted seemingly
automatic memberships due to their
association with so-called “legacy”
organizations,” the letter reads.
CAMPUS LIFE
CALDER LEWIS &
LIAT WEINSTEIN
Daily News Editors
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
CITY
ADMINISTRATION
Ann Arbor councilmembers urge
return to in-person, hybrid learning
Council letter comes amid community debate as remote school approaches 1 year
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
EMMA RUBERG &
JULIANNA MORANO
Daily News Editor &
Daily Staff Reporter
Regents pressed to reopen for fall
semester, discuss Capitol insurrection
Board also provides update on fossil fuel divestment
CHRISTIAN JULIANO &
JARED DOUGALL
Daily Staff Reporters
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
See SOCIETIES, Page 3