It’s been an eventful
summer at the University
of Michigan. While the
pandemic remains front of
mind, the University has
also dealt with the fallout
from
a
massive
sexual
assault tragedy, grappled
with
buildings
named
after
prominent
figures
with problematic actions,
committed
to
carbon
neutrality and more.
If you’ve been away from
the news for the summer,
here’s what you need to
know.
April
27:
President’s
advisory
committee
recommends
renaming
Yost Ice Arena
After numerous requests
from community members,
The President’s Advisory
Committee on University
History released a report
that
recommended
the
University remove Fielding
H. Yost’s name from Yost
Ice Arena. Yost was the
University’s head football
coach
from
1901-1923;
the University’s athletic
director from 1925-1926;
and
led
the
Michigan
football team to ten Big 10
conference titles and six
national
championships
from 1921-41.
During
Yost’s
tenure
as athletic director, he
infamously benched Willis
Ward, the second Black
U-M football player and
the 1933 Big Ten Athlete
of the Year, for a game
against Georgia Tech after
Georgia refused to play if
a Black player was allowed
on the field. The Advisory
Committee
specifically
cites this incident in their
case for removing Yost’s
name
from
the
arena.
The committee received
hundreds
of
community
comments on the report.
University President Mark
Schlissel said he will renew
the
conversation
during
the fall semester.
May 11: Report finds
37 years of abuse by
U-M doctor, alleges top
U-M officials including
football
coach
Bo
Schembechler knew
A class action complaint
was filed on May 20 in
the U.S. District Court
for the Eastern District
of Michigan against the
University of Michigan for
its handling of allegations
of sexual assault against
deceased University doctor
Robert E. Anderson.
The
law
firm
WilmerHale, which was
hired by the University to
conduct the investigation
into
these
allegations,
concluded in its May 11
report that there was “no
doubt” that the hundreds
of
complaints
against
Anderson were credible.
WilmerHale’s report also
recommended
steps
to
improve the University’s
practices around sexual and
gender-based misconduct.
The
class
action
complaint seeks a court
order that will require the
University to carry out
major reforms surrounding
the school’s best-practice
policies
and
procedures
related
to
sexual
and
gender-based
abuse
on
campus. The University has
made a motion to dismiss
the case.
On
June
11,
Matt
Schembechler, the son of
former Michigan football
coach Bo Schembechler,
in
addition
to
former
players Gilvanni Johnson
and Daniel Kwiatkowski,
alleged in a press conference
that
Bo
Schembechler
was aware that Anderson
sexually assaulted student-
athletes.
The
claims
sparked widespread debate
on campus about renaming
Schembechler
Hall
and
removing
Schembechler’s
statue on campus.
May
20:
Schlissel,
Regents
commit
to
decades-long
carbon
neutrality plan
At
the
Board
of
Regents meeting in May,
Schlissel
announced
a
commitment to becoming
carbon neutrality by 2040
across
the
three
U-M
campuses after years of
community activism. The
announcement came two
years after the President’s
Commission
on
Carbon
Neutrality was formed to
draft
recommendations
and
seek
community
feedback on achieving this
goal.
The plan aims to eliminate
Scope 1 emissions, which
derive directly from the
University’s
operations,
by 2040. The University
committed
to
achieving
carbon
neutrality
for
Scope 2 emissions, which
come from the purchase of
power off-campus, by 2025.
Defined goals for achieving
carbon neutrality for Scope
3 emissions, which are
any emissions indirectly
related to the University,
will also be laid out by
2025.
June 3: Weiser Hall
retains its name
After
a
petition
to
rename Weiser Hall gained
hundreds
of
signatures
from
members
of
the
physics
and
astronomy
departments,
Schlissel
decided to not recommend
renaming
the
building.
Weiser Hall is named for
Ronald Weiser, U-M regent
and chair of the Michigan
Republican Party, as well
as his wife Eileen Weiser.
In
April,
Michigan
community
members
known as the Network for
Ongoing
Reconsideration
of
Our
Nomenclature
(NORON)
voiced
their
displeasure with the hall’s
namesake by hosting a
mock “renaming,” calling
the building the “Weiser
Center for Voter Supression,
Political Assassination and
Witch Burning.”
The name derived from
a remark Weiser made at a
March 25 North Oakland
Republican Club meeting,
when he labeled Michigan’s
top officeholders — three
Democratic women — as
“witches” and joked about
political
assassination.
Soon after, Weiser was
censured by the Board and
removed from committees,
though he remains on the
Board.
June
17:
University
briefly
lifts
mask
requirement
for
fully
vaccinated individuals
For nearly two months
this
summer,
fully
vaccinated
individuals
were not required to wear
masks
in
most
indoor
campus
spaces.
The
University had reported
single-digit
COVID-19
cases in each of the previous
six weeks. The move came
the same day Gov. Gretchen
Whitmer
announced
an
end to all statewide mask
and capacity restrictions
as Michigan saw its lowest
case numbers since the
pandemic began.
June
17:
Board
of
Regents expands the Go
Blue Guarantee to the
University of Michigan’s
Flint
and
Dearborn
campuses
After years of activism
from cross-campus groups
such as One University,
the University expanded
its signature financial aid
program to the Flint and
Dearborn campuses. The
Go Blue Guarantee is a
free-tuition
scholarship
for in-state students whose
family income is less than
$65,000 annually, which is
the state’s median income.
The
expansion
was
not without controversy,
as
some
protested
the
requirement that incoming
students
at
Flint
and
Dearborn
earn
an
3.5
incoming GPA to receive
the
scholarship
—
a
requirement not in place
on the Ann Arbor campus.
University
officials
responded that nearly all
Ann Arbor campus students
enter with higher than a 3.5
GPA due to the Ann Arbor
admissions process, so a
GPA requirement is not
necessary.
July
15:
Office
of
Institutional
Equity
rebranded as Equity, Civil
Rights and Title IX office
in attempt to overhaul
culture
around
sexual
misconduct
Faced with scrutiny for
high-profile
mishandling
of
sexual
misconduct
cases
in
recent
years,
Schlissel announced that
the
University
would
create a new unit known
as the Equity, Civil Rights
and Title IX Office to
replace
the
Office
of
Institutional Equity. ECRT
will handle the same cases
as OIE, but will focus on
providing more “support
and prevention” measures,
Schlissel said.
Though the office was
rebranded, it will continue
to
be
led
by
Tamiko
Strickman, the associate
vice president and director
of OIE who faced scrutiny
over alleged mishandling
cases of student sexual
assault and racism during
her time at the University
of Nebraksa-Lincoln.
The
University
also
attempted to reform the
culture around responding
to misconduct, including
protecting
those
who
report
misconduct
from
retaliation;
prohibiting
supervisors
from
attempting to initiate a
relationship
with
those
they
supervise;
and
outlining plans to improve
how potential outside hires
and candidates for board-
approved appointments are
vetted.
The
University
also
established a large Title IX
advisory group composed
of students, faculty and
staff
that
will
provide
input on matters related to
sexual and gender-based
misconduct
policy
and
prevention.
July
18:
Librarians,
archivists and curators
join LEO with bargaining
status
Librarians,
archivists
and curators were formally
recognized as a bargaining
unit within the Lecturers
Employee
Organization,
the University’s main union
of non-tenure-track faculty
on all three campuses.
The new unit is called
LEO-GLAM, which stands
for
galleries,
libraries,
archives and museums, to
reflect the environments in
which most LACs work.
July
30:
Schlissel
announces
vaccine
requirement
for
all
students,
faculty
and
staff
As
the
Delta
variant
spread across the country
after
an
early
summer
COVID-19
lull,
the
University announced it
would require all students,
faculty and staff to be
fully vaccinated for the
fall semester. The policy
grants
limited
medical
and religious exemptions,
in addition to deferrals for
students to get vaccinated
right away once they arrive
on campus.
The
requirement
was
well-received,
as
community members said
it
alleviated
confusion
over
different
policies
for
vaccinated
and
unvaccinated
students.
The campus community
has a higher vaccination
rate than the surrounding
area — 92% of students
and 75% of employees are
fully vaccinated, compared
to 67% of eligible residents
in Washtenaw County —
but rates are much lower
among
University
staff
than students and faculty.
Aug. 9: Indoor mask
mandate reinstated with
exception for residence
halls
After Washtenaw County
COVID-19
transmission
rose to levels at which
the Centers for Disease
Control
and
Prevention
recommends
indoor
masking,
the
University
reinstated
its
mask
mandate
regardless
of
vaccination status. Though
student vaccination rates
had surpassed the 75%
benchmark
originally
set to allow unmasking
in classrooms, the policy
change
means
students
will need to wear a mask
indoors for the foreseeable
future.
A large exception is for
students living in residence
halls, who will be able to go
unmasked on their floors.
Masks
are
encouraged,
but not required, at large
outdoor gatherings such as
football games.
Aug.
9:
Lecturers’
Employee
Organization
quits
their
contract,
threatening a strike
After
negotiations
stalled, University lecturers
announced that LEO would
quit their contract with
the University due to pay
inequities
for
lecturers
on the Flint and Dearborn
campuses. Though LEO’s
previous
contract
with
the
University
already
lapsed on April 20, the
union has spent the last
several months attempting
to negotiate the terms of
a new contract before the
start of the fall semester.
This decision means a
large portion of faculty
instructors could possibly
go on strike on Sept. 8,
just
before
the
second
week of school. It would
mark the second straight
year of strikes to begin the
fall term, as the Graduate
Employees’
Organization
striked for nine days in
September 2020 to protest
the University’s pandemic
response.
Daily News Editor Calder
Lewis
and
Daily
Staff
Reporter
Jared
Dougall
can be reached at calderll@
umich.edu and jdougall@
umich.edu.
2 — Wednesday, September 1, 2021
News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
NEWS
Here’s the biggest news out of the
University of Michigan this summer
On top of changing COVID-19 situation, administration grappled with Anderson abuse, building names, carbon neutrality
CALDER LEWIS &
JARED DOUGALL
Daily News Editor &
Daily Staff Reporter
DOMINICK SOKOTOFF/Daily
While the pandemic remains front of mind, the University has also dealt with the fallout from a massive sexual assault tragedy,
grappled with buildings named after prominent figures with problematic actions, committed to carbon neutrality and more.