22 — Thursday, August 5, 2021
Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

The Official Merchandise Retailer of Michigan Athletics

The M Den on Campus 
303 South State Street 
Ann Arbor

The Victors Collection 
by The M Den 
307 South State Street 
Ann Arbor

The M Den on 
Main Street 
Ann Arbor

The M Den 
12 Oaks Mall 
Novi 

The M Den 
in and around the 
Stadium on game day

The M Den 
in Crisler Center – 
2 locations

The M Den 
The Victors Collection by The M Den 
Briarwood Mall 
Ann Arbor

The M Den 
The Victors Collection by The M Den 
55 Columbia Street 
Detroit

FRESH FOR FALL
 FOR FALL

Kick off the semester with new styles that look great on and off campus!

As the official retailer of University of Michigan Athletics, The M Den has the highest 

quality gear from top brands like Nike, Champion and more! You’ll find everything from 

authentic jerseys and sideline wear to unique gifts you can’t get anywhere else. 

And don’t forget – shopping with The M Den is always a win because a portion of every 

purchase goes directly back to Wolverine teams and athletes.

Visit your local storefront or shop online anytime at MDen.com.



Two weeks ago, University 
President 
Mark 
Schlissel 

used an evaluative survey 
sent to all governing faculty 
at the University of Michi-
gan to ask whether they sup-
ported expanding the Go 
Blue Guarantee for the Uni-
versity’s Flint and Dearborn 
campuses. The survey ques-
tion framed the program’s 
expansion as a trade-off with 
academic excellence and sal-
ary growth on the Ann Ar-
bor campus. The question’s 
elitist connotations raised 
eyebrows, a bit of disbelief 
and understandable outrage 
among many campus groups.

Schlissel offered a tepid 
apology a few weeks later, 
though not in a full or public 
fashion. Perhaps he hoped 
to leave this issue behind 
him — yet another episode 
in a list of controversies that 
include being forced to re-
move his provost for sexual 
misconduct, 
overseeing 
a 

controversial COVID-19 re-
sponse that many felt lacked 
transparency and receiving 
an unprecedented vote of no 
confidence from the 2020 
Faculty Senate.

But this incident also reveals 
a deeper problem, both with 
President Schlissel and the 
current structure of the Uni-
versity: There remains a fla-
grant disregard for fulfilling 

the role of a public institu-
tion and serving the people 
of the state of Michigan. 

President Schlissel was edu-
cated and spent his career at 
elite institutions, from Princ-
eton University to Brown 
University to the University 
of California, Berkeley. Un-
like his role at the University 
of Michigan, Schlissel’s lead-
ership at these institutions 
did not carry the responsi-
bility of developing regional, 
comprehensive 
campuses 

that support large numbers 
of working-class students. 
Schlissel’s lack of experience, 
and clear lack of interest, in 
the missions and strengths of 
these campuses has compro-
mised his ability to lead.

In an era rightfully attuned 
to racial and class inequali-
ties, 
Schlissel’s 
treatment 

of the Flint and Dearborn 
campuses undermines the 
institution’s commitment to 
justice and equity.

Sadly, 
President 
Schlissel 

seems ignorant of this — of-
ten willfully so. His admin-
istration misrepresented the 
goals of the One University 
campaign, claiming that it 
wants to “merge” the cam-
puses. One University does 
not believe the mission of the 
Flint and Dearborn campus-
es is the same as the Ann Ar-
bor campus. In fact, it is pre-
cisely the divergent missions 
of our campuses that make 
the University of Michigan 
stronger and positions us to 

make the greatest impact on 
the families and students of 
our state and nation.

The Flint and Dearborn cam-
puses instruct half of the Uni-

versity of Michigan’s in-state 
students. Close to 40% of 
University of Michigan-Flint 
and University of Michigan-
Dearborn students are low-
er-income and therefore Pell 
Grant eligible, while almost 
half of Ann Arbor’s students 
come from the top 10% of 
earners. This means the Flint 
and Dearborn campuses are 

the University’s work-horses 
of upward mobility. They are 
precious resources that — for 
over half a century — have 
built deep ties to two of the 
most dynamic and resilient 
communities in our state.

President Schlissel clearly 
does not see the three cam-
puses in this light. He has 
fought tooth-and-nail against 
expanding programs like the 
Go Blue Guarantee. He has 

resisted 
extending 
other 

resources that would help 
many University of Mich-
igan-Flint 
and 
University 

of Michigan-Dearborn stu-
dents overcome the layered 
inequalities that they face on 
their educational journeys. 
And he has stood by as these 
campuses have cut music and 
foreign language programs 

due to financial pressures, 
taking away opportunities 
from these students.

His position has become in-
creasingly untenable and out 
of step with the views of fac-
ulty, staff and students from 
across the University. It is 
also equally out of step with 
burgeoning support within 
our broader society for a 
more equitable higher edu-
cation system.

At University of Michigan-
Flint and University of Mich-
igan-Dearborn, 
students, 

staff and faculty think of 
President Schlissel as their 
president too. They want him 
to succeed, and they want 
him to want them to succeed. 
This is why it has been so 
disappointing to watch him 

blatantly act like the chancel-
lor of the Ann Arbor campus, 
rather than the president of 
all three campuses — only 
invoking his role as president 
to justify austerity on the 
Flint and Dearborn campus-
es in the name of a distant, 
better future.

A truly great university de-
serves a president who can 
use “both-and” thinking, not 
“either-or.” We can marshal 

our resources in a manner 
that cultivates and enhances 
Ann Arbor’s distinct research 
mission while supporting the 
crucial work taking place at 
the Flint and Dearborn cam-
puses.

President Schlissel: Are you the 
President of U-M or the Presi-

dent of U-M Ann Arbor?

JACOB LEDERMAN, LIZ ROHAN, 

DANIELLE HELD 

and BENNETT WALLING

Daily Opinion Contributors

The University of Michigan Board of Regents have voted to discontinue investments 
with companies that are linked to fossil fuels. 
Alec Cohen/Daily

