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Thursday, June 10, 2021

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com NEWS

The University of Michigan’s 

Central Student Government (CSG) 
gathered on Tuesday to vote on 
various resolutions pertaining to 
tri-campus equality, scholarship 
distribution to U-M personal care 
assistants and a student health and 
wellness task force, as well as to 
confirm CSG cabinet positions. 

The Assembly discussed and 

passed a proposal, LDF 11-002, 
requesting $10,000 from the CSG 
budget to fund a rally for tri-campus 
equity. Funding for the rally 
includes up to 10 ADA-complaint 
and disability-conscious buses to 
provide transportation from U-M 
Flint and Dearborn campuses to 
Ann Arbor for the protest, supplies 
for staging and victuals. The 
proposal was passed unanimously. 

LSA senior Joseph Lobodzinski 

debated in favor of the motion, 
referencing an article by The 
Michigan 
Daily 
regarding 

University President Mark Schlissel 
asking U-M faculty if they believe 
the University should use funds to 
expand the Go Blue Guarantee to 
the Dearborn and Flint campuses, 

even 
if 
it 
meant 
sacrificing 

‘academic excellence and salary 
growth’ at the Ann Arbor campus. 

“(The question) pits us against 

our fellow students at the University 
of Michigan-Flint and Dearborn. 
They are using the classic divide 
and conquer tactic,” Lobodzinski 
said. “This motion will organize 
about 400 students from both the 
Dearborn and Flint campuses to 
come to the University of Michigan 
(Ann Arbor) campus and advocate 
on their behalf for more funding to 
their campuses.” 

CSG 
also 
discussed 
two 

resolutions 
pertaining 
to 
the 

creation of a Student Health 
and Wellness task force and the 
authorization 
of 
the 
creation 

of an initial funding for a task 
force charged with producing, 
vetting, and gifting scholarships 
to employed as personal care 
assistants at the University. Both 
resolutions passed unanimously. 

Tensions 
initially 
arose 

between the executive nomination 
committee and CSG President 
Nithya Arun after the committee 
released a report of disapproval 
for LSA junior Grace Roberts’ 
confirmation as Chief of Staff 
following their interview with 
Roberts. 
CSG 
member 
Noah 

Zimmerman was present at the 
executive 
nomination 
hearing 

with Roberts and reiterated the 
committee’s 
disapproval 
for 

Roberts for the position of Chief 
of Staff. Zimmerman said Roberts’ 
relationship with Arun, as well as 
her contradictory approach, pushed 
the committee to express their 
disapproval. 

“Grace made it very aware 

that she wanted to take a unique 
perspective on (the role of Chief of 
Staff) and that (Arun and Robert’s) 
had a working relationship, but 
only a working relationship of the 
recent past,” Zimmerman said. 
“She thought that was a beneficial 
quality to have, and we disagreed 
on that. We do think it is a good idea 
to have someone who disagrees 
and someone that is not just a yes 
man … but, however, she (said she) 
would go with what she wanted. 
Those two concerns … gave us no 
confidence to give her a positive 
recommendation.”

When 
asked 
about 
her 

contradictory approach, Roberts 
said that she would not simply 
follow along with the President 
and Vice President’s agendas as a 
rubber stamper.

“What was communicated in the 

executive nominations report is not 

an accurate representation of what 
I said or what I believe,” Roberts 
said. “I am a voice that (President) 
Nithya and (Vice President) Carla 
trust, and I want to be able to say 
to them my honest opinion about 

things, but that doesn’t mean I am 
bull-headed and that I will not do 
the things expected of me as Chief 
of Staff.”

Many members of CSG raised 

their hands to defend Roberts 
against 
the 
claims 
made 
by 

the 
committee. 
CSG 
member 

Zaynab Elkolaly jumped in on the 
discussion to defend the integrity 

of the nomination itself, stating that 
in the past, a person’s character 
was never as important as their 
experience and judgment. 

“I am also confused by the fact 

that her character was particularly 

highlighted to begin with,” Elkolaly 
said. “I know that historically 
in 
nominations 
we 
focus 
on 

experience and things that relate 
directly to the position.”

Members unanimously voted 

to confirm Roberts as the Chief of 
Staff for the CSG executive branch. 

Following many requests from 

the 
campus 
community, 
the 

President’s Advisory Committee 
on University History released 
a preliminary report on April 27 
recommending the removal of 
Fielding H. Yost’s name from the 
Yost Ice Arena. 

Yost played football during 

his time as a student at West 
Virginia University and went 
on to serve as the head football 
coach at six different universities, 
bringing him to the University 
of 
Michigan. 
Yost 
was 
the 

University’s head football coach 
from 1901-23 and again from 
1925-26, and he served as the 
University’s athletic director from 
1921-41. Yost was known for his 
“point-a-minute” teams and led 
the Michigan football team to six 

national championships and ten 
Big 10 conference titles. In 1923, 
the University named the Field 
House after Yost, and in 1973, it 
was remodeled into the Yost Ice 
Arena. 

The 
President’s 
Advisory 

Committee’s 
recent 
report 

asserts that Fielding H. Yost’s 
contributions to U-M athletics 
have historically been emphasized 
while the “profoundly deep and 
negative impact he had on people 
of color” has not been equally 
acknowledged.

“Some who read this report will 

wonder if we are ‘blaming’ Yost for 
simply being a ‘man of his time,’” 
the report reads. “We reject 
this view because our historical 
analysis reveals that Yost — and 
others at the University in his 
day — had choices to make and 
evidence from their own times 
indicating the right ones.”

The 
committee 
specifically 

cites Yost’s involvement in an 

infamous incident in 1934 — while 
he served as Athletic Director — 
when the U-M football team chose 
to bench Willis Ward, the 1933 Big 
Ten Athlete of the Year and only 
the second Black U-M football 
player , in a game against Georgia 
Tech. Georgia Tech refused to 
play against the University’s team 
in Michigan Stadium if a Black 
player was allowed to play, so 
Yost decided to keep Ward from 
playing and met Georgia Tech on 
the field with an all-white team.

In 
the 
Historical 
Analysis 

section 
of 
the 
report, 
the 

committee said Yost scheduled 
the 
game 
against 
Georgia 

Tech despite being well aware 
of the traditional racist rules 
that Georgia would expect the 
University to adhere to. The 
report also suggested that Yost 
was responsible for maintaining 
a “color line” in U-M athletic 
programs during his career at 
Michigan. It noted that Ward was 

the only African American athlete 
to receive a varsity football letter 
during Yost’s 40-year tenure as 
head football coach and athletic 
director.

University spokesperson Kim 

Broekhuizen wrote in an email 
to The Michigan Daily that the 
committee’s report was issued and 
made available for public comment 
after a year of investigating how 
the Ward incident and the rest 
of Yost’s career has impacted the 
campus community.

“In 2020, multiple requests 

to remove the honorific name 
of Fielding H. Yost from the ice 
arena were received and referred 
to 
the 
President’s 
Advisory 

Committee on University History 
for review,” Broekhuizen wrote. 
“The 
committee’s 
preliminary 

recommendation 
comes 
after 

a year of study by the panel of 
university historians.”

The 
committee 
invited 

members 
of 
the 
University 

community 
to 
provide 

feedback on their preliminary 
recommendation by June 7 using 
an online portal which requires a 
U-M email address.

The feedback the committee 

receives will be shared with 
University 
President 
Mark 

Schlissel, who will then be able to 
use it to accept, reject or modify 
the 
original 
recommendation. 

However, ultimately, any final 
decisions 
regarding 
whether 

or 
not 
to 
implement 
the 

recommendation must be made 
by the Board of Regents. A source 
close to the board said the name is 
unlikely to ultimately change.

LSA 
sophomore 
Alexander 

Nguyen 
said 
he 
thinks 
the 

recommendation 
to 
remove 

Yost’s name shows a “positive 
improvement” in the University’s 
commitment to Diversity, Equity 
and Inclusion (DEI). 

CSG approves $10,000 for tri-campus equity protest, confirms Chief of Staff 

President’s Advisory Committee on University History recommends removal 

of ‘Yost’ name from ice arena

Read more at michigandaily.com

Read more at michigandaily.com

DOMINICK SOKOTOFF/Daily

 NIRALI PATEL
Daily Staff Reporter

 ISABELLE REGENT

Daily Staff Reporter