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

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

ARTS............................6

STATEMENT...................8

OPINION......................12 

SPORTS........................14
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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

