I like the fact that it actually went 

beyond simply thinking about how 
to reduce the campus’ release of 
greenhouse gases. It talked about 
creating a culture of sustainability, 
promoting research and teaching 
around 
carbon 
neutrality 
and 

sustainability, and it had a very 
powerful focus on environmental 
justice. What I’ve been doing in the 
week since the report went final, and 
for the next several weeks, is working 
with various subgroups of executives 
and the folks actually responsible for 
the nuts-and-bolts of running our 
facilities and organizing the campus 
and trying to figure out what we 
can do. My aim is to talk about the 
game plan at the regents meeting in 
May. And by then the team will have 
digested and analyzed, and I’ll be 
able to talk about my initial response. 

I can easily see accepting a 

majority of the recommendations. 
There are some that we may need 
to do some more work or study, but 
overall I’m really pleased with the 
results and I’m very optimistic that 
we’ll be able to do a lot of this really 
starting now. In terms of various 
groups being happy or unhappy with 
the report, I think environmental 
sustainability, global climate change, 
greenhouse gases are amongst the 
most important targets of advocacy, 
all around the world, and certainly 
among student groups, and certainly 
here on campus. I predict the 
advocacy will continue, and there’s 
nothing wrong with that, it’s just part 
of how change happens.

TMD: The Board of Regents also 

recently voted in favor of disinvesting 
from fossil fuel companies and 
committing to a net-zero investment 
portfolio by 2050. In previous 
interviews, you’ve said changing 
investment policy is solely a financial 
decision. Regents Mark Bernstein 
(D) and Jordan Acker (D) thanked 
students and community members 
for their input when the new policy 
was approved. Was this disinvestment 
decision solely for financial reasons, 
or did activism and community input 

also influence the decision?

MS: For sure the activism focused 

our attention on this … and I give 
really a lot of credit to the folks who 
are the powerful advocates on this 
issue, it’s an important issue. You 
know my own positions evolved as I 
understand things better. 

The basis of the board moving 

forward is actually fiduciary. So 
what I mean by that is we came to 
understand that it’s inevitable that 
our society moves away from fossil 
fuels. We have to, and we think we 
have to do it quickly. It’s not going 
quickly enough, but the fact that we 
know that we’re going to end up not 
using oil and gas like we use it now 
means that investments in those 
assets are bad long-term investments 
— they’re going to go down in value. 
And we’re responsible not just 
for this year and next year for the 
endowment, but we’re responsible 
for your grandchildren if they 
get into Michigan, there’s still an 
endowment here to help subsidize 
their education. So companies that 
don’t come up with good plans to 
become carbon neutral, they’re going 
to become bad investments over 
time. Either the government’s going 
to start taxing carbon, or there’ll be 
other changes in society that make 
them bad investments. 

TMD: At the special Regents 

meeting April 2, several regents made 
statements 
condemning 
Regent 

Weiser’s 
recent 
remarks 
about 

women and allusions to assassination 
at the North Oakland Republic Club, 
with Regent Acker going so far as 
to call Regent Weiser’s comments 
“a betrayal” of the board’s work 
and “everything the University of 
Michigan stands for.” Regardless 
of the future of Regent Weiser’s 
relationship with the University, how 
do you and the board plan to rebuild 
the trust of the campus community 
as a collective decision-making body 
for the University and as an institution 
that purports to strive for DEI? 

MS: I hope that the board is able 

to rebuild some of the lost trust by 
focusing on our highest priorities and 
showing the public that this is what 
they work on. We work on access and 
affordability of a Michigan education, 

we work on academic excellence, we 
just spoke about work we’re doing in 
carbon neutrality and climate change, 
we work supporting our health system 
and life-saving research on many other 
topics. So I think the way to maintain 
trust and to grow trust is to focus on 
the things that are important to our 
community and do a really good job.

TMD: At this time, do you agree 

with the Board of Regents that 
Regent Weiser should resign? If he 
doesn’t — and he’s repeatedly said he 
won’t — how do you think the board 
will be able to work with him over 
the next four years? Regent Mike 
Behm (D) has said Weiser has been a 
“Regent in name only” since January. 

MS: So as I mentioned a moment 

ago, the board works by majority vote. 
On the vast majority of issues that the 
board addresses, there’s unanimity of 
opinion. We all share the same set of 
goals. I presume that the board will 
have to work its way past our entire 
community’s unhappiness with the 
events from a few weeks ago and 
figure out how to work together for 
the sake of the University. As I said, 
one regent has one vote and there 
are eight regents on the board. This 
process has served us well for 200 
years. Although I don’t know of 
another instance where there was 
a vote of the type that took place a 
couple weeks ago at a special meeting, 
there have been arguments amongst 
regents, disagreements of opinion. So 
it’ll be challenging, but I’m confident 
that the same mechanisms that have 
served the University for a couple 
hundred years will continue.

TMD: To ask you directly, do you 

agree with the Board of Regents’ vote 
that Regent Weiser should resign?

MS: I’m not a voting member of 

the board. I convene their meetings 
and I organize the discussions, but I 
don’t vote.

TMD: 
The 
Washington 

Post reported that you wrote to 
Wisconsin’s chancellor last summer: 
“If you simply delete emails after 
sending, does that relieve you of 
FOIA 
obligations?” 
When 
she 

responded that permanently deleting 
them violates state law, you said, 
“that’s really interesting and difficult. 
Thanks for explaining.” Do you ever 

permanently delete your emails? And 
if so, in what circumstances?

MS: Yeah, I say on a typical day, I 

get between 100 and several hundred 
emails. Every day. Maybe on Sundays 
a few less. So I’m always curating my 
emails, and I’m always discarding 
emails, and I think most people do. 
It’s to keep yourself organized, and 
not everything needs to be kept. 

The reason I was having that 

conversation 
with 
Chancellor 

(Rebecca) Blank is that Michigan 
Freedom of Information Act laws 
say nothing about an obligation to 
retain emails. So, in Wisconsin, their 
law requires they be retained. In 
Michigan, our law doesn’t speak to 
retaining emails. So I delete all kinds 
of emails every single day. I save 
some, I delete some — it just depends 
on what I’m working on.

I should point out … since this has 

received a lot of attention, we were 
conducting a discussion amongst a 
group of presidents, batting around 
ideas about how we were planning on 
approaching the fall semester. I love 
getting advice from other people that 
are separate from us but in analogous 
conversations. There was nothing 
mysterious in the emails and they 
eventually responded to a FOIA in 
Wisconsin, (and now) they’re all out 
there. There was nothing nefarious 
in these emails — it’s just a matter of 
people wanting to know what people 
are talking about.

TMD: In a broader sense, do 

concerns 
about 
public 
record 

requests ever discourage you from 
communicating candidly on official 
channels? 

MS: The most important thing to 

me is that I do my job 100% as best I 
can. And I communicate all different 
kinds of ways: sometimes by email, 
sometimes by telephone and now 
more and more this way, by Zoom. I 
do whatever suits the moment, and 
the idea is I’ve got to get the job done. 
I’ve got to talk to people, I’ve got to 
learn things, I have to compare notes. 
So we do what we’ve got to do.

TMD: The Lecturers’ Employee 

Organization gathered and marched 
outside of your house last Saturday in 
protest against the administration’s 
recent counterproposal in a closed 

bargaining session Friday, April 9. 
LEO has a history of voting to strike, 
and we’ve seen an even more recent 
strike from the Graduate Employees’ 
Organization at the beginning of the 
fall semester. With LEO’s contract 
set to expire in less than a week, what 
is the University prepared to do to 
prevent another strike from occurring? 

MS: We are strong believers in 

collective bargaining. We do our 
bargaining at the table. We don’t do it 
in the newspaper or something. 

But we’ve got multiple additional 

sessions scheduled with LEO. Our 
lecturers are very important to 
delivering our academic mission. 
They’re our colleagues. Many of 
them are neighbors or friends. And 
we’re committed to trying to find a 
mutually agreeable way to complete 
a contract negotiation. 

This happens every three years 

with every union — every two to three 
years, depending upon the union.

TMD: Part of LEO’s platform 

emphasizes pay parity across the 
University’s campuses, but Public 
Affairs recently countered that 
the University does not have an 
obligation to bargain with LEO on 
where funds unrelated to lecturers’ 
contracts go. Where do you stand 
on this question of LEO’s demands 
regarding the Flint and Dearborn 
campuses? Do you think the bigger 
question of equitable funding truly 
lies outside the purview of a labor 
union’s collective action efforts?

MS: As I mentioned earlier, I don’t 

negotiate in public or talk publicly 
about an active negotiation. 

I am comfortable saying that the 

three campuses of the University 
of Michigan are quite autonomous 
from one another. We share a 
Board of Regents and I supervise 
the chancellors on those campuses, 
but each campus gets a separate 
budget from the state — directly 
from the state, directly to that 
campus. Each campus makes its 
own decisions on admission (and) 
has its own standards. Each campus 
is accredited, independently of one 
another by a different accrediting 
agency. Each campus charges a 
different tuition. Flint and Dearborn 
are less (in tuition cost) than Ann 

Arbor. And the chancellors on each 
campus, or the president here in 
Ann Arbor, is responsible for making 
decisions and allocating resources 
on each campus. So, and that’s been 
the case since the 1960s, when Flint 
and Dearborn joined under the 
University of Michigan umbrella. 

TMD: Have you considered 

extending the Go Blue Guarantee to 
Flint and Dearborn? Do you have any 
concrete plans in that area?

MS: Yeah, I know that Flint and 

Dearborn themselves are considering 
whether they’d like to begin a guarantee 
because it’s the responsibility of the 
chancellor and the leadership on each 
of those campuses to decide how best 
to spend their resources. At Flint and 
Dearborn, almost 80% of the students 
or more get financial aid, more than in 
Ann Arbor.

If they decided to do a Go Blue 

Guarantee, they would take money 
away from somewhere else. So they’re 
making the balancing act or values 
judgment about what is best needed 
on each of the campuses. Here in Ann 
Arbor, the reason why we began a 
guarantee approach to this financial 
aid is we have a campus where very 
few people came from the bottom 
50% of the socioeconomic strata 
around our state. So we wanted to 
invest in making sure that Michigan 
in Ann Arbor was accessible to people 
throughout the economic spectrum. 

TMD: What’s your favorite song 

from the rerecorded Taylor Swift 
album “Fearless” released Friday?

MS: Usually I try my very best to 

answer all your questions. I had no 
idea that Taylor Swift just rereleased 
an album, and although I’m sure I’d 
recognize Taylor Swift if I heard her 
on the radio, I’m not sure I can name 
any of her songs. I’m embarrassed. You 
know, my musical experiences stopped 
in the 1970s. If you want to talk a little 
Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney or 
something, I’m with you.

Daily News Editor Calder Lewis 

can be reached at calderll@umich.edu. 
Daily Staff Reporters Jared Dougall 
& Julianna Morano can be reached at 
jdougall@umich.edu & jucomora@
umich.edu. Managing Podcast Editor 
Gerald Sill contributed reporting.

Since April 1, several streets in 

Ann Arbor have been closed to 
make room for additional outdoor 
dining for local restaurants. The 
closure, which is similar in style to 
last summer’s street closures, will 
include the following streets: 

Street closures lasting from 4 
p.m. on Thursday to 6 a.m. on 
Monday will be enacted on: 

• Main Street from William 

Street to Washington Street

• East Liberty Street from Ashley 

Street to Fourth Avenue 

• Liberty Street from Maynard 

Street to State Street,

• State Street from William 

Street to Washington Street 

Street closures lasting seven 
days a week will occur on: 

• Washington Street from Ashley 

Street to Main Street

• East side of Maynard Street 

from Liberty Street to William 
Street

Maura 
Thompson, 
interim 

director 
of 
the 
Ann 
Arbor 

Downtown Development Agency, 
said the change was made as part 
of the city’s COVID-19 response 
to improve social distancing in 
restaurants. Thompson also said 
the decision came after businesses 
reported widespread success in 
expanding outdoor dining and 
social distancing out onto the street 
this past summer. 

“For many businesses, the three 

(street) closures were really helpful 
in generating enough revenue to 
survive,” Thompson said. “(The 
closures) were just really imperative 
to business operations throughout 
the summer.” 

Councilmember Ali Ramlawi, 

D-Ward 5, who also runs the 
downtown restaurant Jerusalem 
Garden, said the City Council’s 
decision 
to 
close 
the 
streets 

again this spring came from 
overwhelming community support 
and 
increasing 
evidence 
that 

outdoor dining was safer than 
indoor dining. 

“I believe the survey that the 

Main 
Street 
Association 
put 

out (showed) over 95% of the 
respondents had favorable opinions 
about it and wanted to see it come 
back,” Ramlawi said. “And this 
allows for greater social distancing. 
It’s 
scientifically 
proven 
that 

eating outdoors is safer than eating 
indoors.” 

Jeff More, the owner of Ashley’s 

on State Street, said even before the 
pandemic he had been advocating 
for the City to allow Ashley’s to 
install a seven-day-a-week parking 
lane to use for outdoor dining and 
more tables. Moore said being able 
to implement this change as well 
as the City allowing him to set up 
a 20-by-50-foot outdoor dining 
area has been incredibly beneficial 
in Ashley’s getting through the 
pandemic. 

“I don’t know many (restaurants) 

that really made money last year 
… so, there is a need to try to get 
back on solid footing,” More said. 
“I think the outdoor seating in that 
expanded space will help get back 
to that vibrancy of downtown Ann 
Arbor.” 

Engineering sophomore Sydney 

Anderson said though she had 
noticed an uptick in traffic since 
the streets closed on April 1, she 
thought the closures would force 
people to get out and walk more 
which would help local businesses 
and the environment. 

“I think it’s healthier for the 

person … It’s way better for the 
community and the businesses 
because if you’re walking, you’re 
more likely to step into a store, rather 
than if you’re driving by,” Anderson 
said. “Pedestrians already run Ann 
Arbor, let’s be honest.” 

Ann Arbor native Ann O’Brien 

moved back to Ann Arbor from 
New York this summer and said she 
thought the street closures were 
one of the best decisions the city had 
made in a long time. O’Brien said 
the closures created an increased 
sense of festival and community 
downtown.

“Summertime is a good time to 

get out, walk around town, be on 
your bike, be a pedestrian,” O’Brien 
said. “It may cause extra traffic 
backups, a few days a week, but 

I don’t think it’s going … to have 
much of an impact because it’s 
more happening on the weekends.” 
 

Ann Arbor City Council has 

previously 
discussed 
making 

the 
weekend 
street 
closures 

something Ann Arbor does every 
summer. Ramlawi said these 
conversations began even prior to 
COVID-19, but the pandemic has 
accelerated them. 

“There’s 
been 
talks 
before 

COVID about having pedestrian 
streets in areas of the town close 
to vehicular traffic,” Ramlawi said. 
“In a post-pandemic (world), we 
have a very beautiful downtown 
that people are envious of … and I 
think we should celebrate that.” 

Ramlawi said there were many 

factors, such as the opinions of Ann 
Arbor residents and the closure’s 
effect on retail commerce, that City 
Council would need to consider 
before 
making 
a 
permanent 

change. 

O’Brien said she hopes the 

closures become permanent as she 
believes the lack of cars in the area 
makes downtown a more desirable 
place for Ann Arbor residents to 
spend their time. 

“It just promotes more of a 

healthy atmosphere; people are 
more inclined to walk, sit outside, 
perhaps not bring their cars into 
that area,” O’Brien said.

Justin 
Zhao, 
co-owner 
of 

Sharetea on State Street, said he 
had some reservations about the 
street closures continuing in a 
post-COVID-19 world. Zhao said 
Sharetea is planning on using 
the space for increased outdoor 
dining for their store, but he said he 
worries once students come back 
full-time, there will be increased 
traffic and congestion in other 
parts of the city. 

“I feel like other areas would 

be very congested around (State 
Street),” Zhao said. “When the 
students are here … those streets 
are pretty important (and) they 
need to be opened up for cars.”

Street closures are currently 

slated to last until late August. 

Daily Staff Reporter George 

Weykamp 
can 
be 
reached 
at 

gweykamp@umich.edu.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
4 — Wednesday, April 21, 2021 

Downtown streets

close for outdoor dining

 GEORGE WEYKAMP

Daily Staff Reporter

ADMINISTRATION
Dr. Robert Sellers to 
step down in December

U-M Chief Diversity Officer was at helm of five-year DEI strategic plan

Dr. 
Robert 
Sellers, 
the 

University of Michigan’s chief 
diversity officer, announced he 
will be stepping down from his 
position Dec. 31, according to The 
University Record. Sellers was at 
the helm of the University’s five-
year strategic plan for diversity, 
equity and inclusion, referred to 
as DEI 1.0, which will come to a 
close this year.

“As DEI 1.0 draws to a close 

after an initial five years and 
we move seamlessly toward 
DEI 2.0, Dr. Sellers believes this 
is the right time to allow new 
leadership to bring new ideas 
and new energy to the work 
that is absolutely essential to 
our success as an institution of 
higher 
education,” 
University 

President Mark Schlissel wrote 
in a message to the University 
community. 
“Yet, 
we 
would 

not be in a position to move 
forward on our goals without 
his leadership and the work he 
has done in this role over the last 
seven years.”

As the University begins its 

search for his successor among 

current faculty members, Sellers 
will remain in his position until 
the end of the calendar year. In 
his 
announcement, 
Schlissel 

affirmed the University “will not 
let up” on DEI 1.0 in this period of 
transition.

Sellers has served as chief 

diversity officer at the University 
since 2014. In an email to 
his 
colleagues 
prior 
to 
the 

announcement, Sellers expressed 
gratitude 
to 
the 
campus 

community members he has 
worked with and their “amazing 
commitment 
to 
making 
the 

university a better place for all.”

“While there is still work to do, 

I am very proud of all that we have 
accomplished,” Sellers wrote.

Schlissel 
provided 
well 

wishes to Sellers in his email to 
community members and outlined 
how important Sellers has been in 
the University’s commitment to 
DEI during his tenure.

“While it truly takes each 

one of us to raise up the work of 
diversity, equity and inclusion at 
a place as big and dispersed as the 
University of Michigan, Dr. Robert 
Sellers has been outstanding in 
leading this critical work across 
our campus on a day-to-day basis 
for the past seven years, alongside 
his tremendous team,” Schlissel 

wrote.

Sellers plans to return to 

his post in the Department of 
Psychology as a tenured faculty 
member. In addition to being 
chief diversity officer, he has 
worked within the University 
for 28 years. Once the University 
finds his successor, Sellers said in 
his message he will work closely 
with administration to help with 
the transition process.

As Sellers steps down, Schlissel 

reaffirmed his own commitment 
to DEI in his email to community 
members.

“We 
cannot 
be 
excellent 

without being diverse in the 
broadest sense of the word,” 
Schlissel wrote. “And we must 
also ensure that our community 
allows all individuals an equal 
opportunity to thrive.”

As chief diversity officer and a 

member of the provost’s cabinet, 
Sellers 
coordinated 
efforts 

such as faculty recruitment and 
retention, tenure and faculty 
development. The position also 
involved advising Schlissel on 
DEI-related issues and serving as 
University spokesperson for DEI 
matters.

CHRISTIAN JULIANO & 

JULIANNA MORANO

Daily Staff Reporters

ALEC COHEN/Daily

Read more at 
MichiganDaily.com

ANN ARBOR

Initiative rebooted after help restaurants, seeing success last summer

 SCHLISSEL
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