The brass Block ‘M’ in the
center of the Diag is usually
clear of footprints, with students
sharply changing their trajectory
to safely avoid trodding upon it and
tempting academic fate. However,
during Festifall on Sept. 1 and 2, the
sidewalks throughout the Diag and
Ingalls Mall were so packed with
U-M community members that
numerous individuals walked over
the infamous ‘M’ to navigate the
large crowd.
After operating as a completely
virtual experience last September,
Festifall — an annual campus
involvement
fair
showcasing
over 800 U-M programs and
organizations — returned in-person
over a three-day period for the fall
2021 semester. At the outdoor event,
U-M students perused many of the
clubs, honors societies, academic
certification
programs,
project
teams and social and professional
organizations
available
at
the
University of Michigan.
Heather Guenther, communications
director for the U-M Division of
Student Life, wrote in an email
to The Michigan Daily that the
number of students involved in
student organizations significantly
decreased over the 2020-2021
academic year.
As a result, this year’s Festifall
was the biggest yet, with a record-
breaking number of organizations
attempting to recruit new members
and rebuild after a year of mostly
virtual activities.
“More student organizations
applied at the last minute compared
to previous years,” Guenther wrote.
“Given
the
notable
transition
for
many
organizations,
812
organizations participated this year,
more than 200 more compared to
previous in-person events.”
The Daily spoke with several
Festifall participants, a majority of
whom agreed the in-person event
made it easier to connect with
different vendors than in a virtual
setting. In particular, many said
they were more likely to attend the
event this year because they could
simply follow the crowd from table
to table and did not have to worry
about
“Zoom
Anxiety”
when
speaking with an organization.
Engineering sophomore Gordy
Gwilt attended Festifall online
last year and was representing the
student organization he joined,
Michigan Mock Trial, at their
booth on the Diag on Sept. 1. Gwilt
said navigating Festifall online last
year was somewhat overwhelming
since it was time-consuming to
collect information about different
organizations.
“Last year with it being online,
it was kind of hard to just walk
around and see random clubs,”
Gwilt said. “You kind of had to
know what you wanted (to join)
going in.”
Some
student
organizations
took advantage of the in-person
format by putting on eye-catching
demonstrations for the crowd.
Notably, members of the cheer
team donning bright yellow shirts
spread out across the Diag on Sept.
1 and ran through a series of short
routines for onlookers.
Information senior Benjamin
Millunchick, a member of the
cheer team, spoke with interested
students as they stopped to
watch the performance. Having
experienced Festifall previously in
both in-person and online formats,
Millunchick said the cheer team
benefits from being able to perform
for attendees and explain their
competitive schedule.
Millunchick said that after a
year of socially distant coursework
and extracurriculars, the size and
energy of the crowd might inspire
students to join new organizations
and meet new friends.
“I forgot how many people go to
school here,” Millunchick said.
Despite — and because of — the
energy surrounding the event,
not everyone felt comfortable
with the size of the crowd. In
an attempt to adapt Festifall to
concerns surrounding COVID-
19, the University chose to spread
the event out over three days, as
opposed to one.
Aug. 31’s activities were held
in the Grove on North Campus
in an attempt to de-densify the
Central
Campus
events,
and
all
organization
tables
were
spaced 6-feet apart. Because the
University does not require masks
outdoors, the majority of attendees
were unmasked.
Even
without
a
specific
requirement, LSA sophomore Tara
Yu elected to keep her mask on. Yu
told The Daily being in close contact
with so many unmasked people
made her feel uncomfortable. Yu
said she appreciated that the event
was outdoors, but suggested it
might be even safer if everyone was
wearing masks.
“I didn’t imagine that there
would be so many people here (at
Festifall),” Yu said. “Right now,
with the delta variant going on,
it might be better for everyone to
wear a mask.”
After two and a half semesters
of virtual learning and social
distancing, many students said they
were excited to return to a semblance
of normalcy yet still nervous about
the delta variant as they headed back
to the classroom this past week.
With 91% of this semester’s classes
now in person, many students told
The Michigan Daily they were
relieved to make the transition from
Zoom calls to lecture halls.
Between
awkward
breakout
rooms and all-too-real Zoom fatigue,
some students particularly felt the
absence of one-on-one connections
that
once
defined
in-person
instruction, LSA senior Alex Meyer
said.
“We were lacking face-to-face
contact (during virtual learning),”
Meyer said. “It’s harder to build
relationships with classmates and
professors over Zoom.”
Looking back on the past year and
a half, LSA junior Regan Monnett
found that the challenges of virtual
learning made this week’s return
to the classroom all the more
memorable.
“The
past
year
makes
me
appreciate the classroom in person
much more,” Monnett said. “It also
helps me remember to be patient
with everyone because everyone’s
adapting as everything goes along.”
As eager as students are to be
back in the classroom, concerns
over the looming threat of the delta
variant still linger among both the
student body and faculty. COVID-
19 cases have risen in Michigan to
nearly double their September 2020
numbers.
“I’m definitely nervous about how
things are and have been in terms of
COVID,” Monnett said. “Some of the
buildings have been very busy so far,
which is nerve-wracking.”
Just as flexibility and resilience
were key to navigating the last three
semesters, the past week has already
tested students’ ability to adjust in a
period of unfamiliarity, Meyer said.
“Even just my habits of taking
notes, it’s harder to get back into it
now as opposed to before. It’s a lot
harder to pay attention,” Meyer said.
Many students said they felt
nervous in anticipation of this
week’s
in-person
classes.
This
was especially true for LSA junior
Brianna Evans, who transferred to
the University this past year.
“I was really nervous because I
hadn’t learned in person in a while
and because I’ve never been here
before,” Evans said. “I was anxious
about finding classes, but so far, it’s
been okay.”
Now that Kinesiology junior Peter
Grobel — who transferred to the
University his sophomore year — is
able to experience in-person classes
for the first time, he said he is excited
to finally learn what it means to be a
Wolverine.
“I hope to get the full Michigan
experience, having all clubs and all
classes in person,” Grobel said. “It’s
just nice to have everything up to full
speed, albeit (with) masks and some
restrictions.”
Students fill every classroom,
residence hall and library, reviving
the
once-desolate
campus
he
experienced during his first year at
the University, Grobel said.
“Campus is definitely much more
lively compared to last year when it
was completely empty,” Grobel said.
“There would be two people at the
bus stop, and now you see lines of
freshmen going and going. Campus
is alive again.”
This spirited atmosphere has
welcomed many new faces to
campus. Countless times over the
past week, Art & Design freshman
Mari Kamidoi said they witnessed
campus-wide kindness firsthand.
“My first impression of Michigan
was that everyone’s really friendly,”
Kamidoi said. “I haven’t met a single
unfriendly person.”
Uncertainty remains a defining
theme of the 2021 school year, with
many students unsure of what the
fall semester will ultimately look
like. While grateful for in-person
instruction, Meyer anticipates a
return to online learning in the
coming months.
“Most of my labs are using a mixed
format now with a whole section
built around virtual learning,” Meyer
said. “I’m sort of expecting that we
can see a return to virtual classroom
classes come mid-semester, so I’m
keeping my expectations low.”
Hundreds of University faculty
and Graduate Student Instructors
have signed a petition calling for
greater COVID-19 planning and
safety precautions, citing the rising
threat of the delta variant and its
potential to infect vaccinated people.
In an email to faculty Sept. 2 —
which some faculty said they found
insufficient — University President
Mark Schlissel and Provost Susan
Collins said classrooms are the
“safest place” to be this semester in
response to the faculty and GSI’s
demands for more detailed COVID-
19 guidelines.
For the time being, however,
students are making the most
of in-person instruction as they
continue to tackle school in the age
of COVID-19.
The lecturers’ union, if they
vote to strike, likely will not do so
until next week.
The University of Michigan
Lecturers’
Employee
Organization,
the
union
representing
non-tenure
track faculty, has reached an
agreement with the University’s
administration Tuesday to extend
their current contract to Sept. 15.
“Given LEO’s commitment to
secure a contract and our hope
that the mediation and bargaining
this week will be fruitful, the
Union has proposed a contract
extension until September 15th,”
LEO President Kirsten Herold said
in a statement to The Michigan
Daily. “The Employer has agreed
and we will continue to engage in
the bargaining process.”
The
extension
will
allow
negotiations
between
the
University’s and LEO’s lawyers
over contract terms to resume
through Sept. 15. It follows
weeks of negotiations after the
organization gave the University
an ultimatum to negotiate a new
contract by Sept. 8.
University
spokesperson
Rick Fitzgerald confirmed LEO
reached out to extend their
contract
and
the
University
agreed. According to Fitzgerald,
LEO and the University met with
the state mediator Tuesday and
have another session scheduled for
Thursday. LEO and the University
also
scheduled
a
bargaining
session for this upcoming Friday.
“From
the
University’s
perspective we’re prepared to
continue bargaining as often
as needed to get a settlement,”
Fitzgerald said. “We would take
this indication from LEO of
extending the contract another
week as a positive sign in the
negotiation process.”
When the lecturers’ contract
ends on Sept. 15, the LEO
members will no longer have to
abide by the collective bargaining
agreement and can vote to strike.
If LEO does choose to go on strike
following the Sept. 15 deadline,
it will still violate rules from the
state of Michigan prohibiting
public employees from going on
strike.
Last
fall,
the
Graduate
Employees’
Organization’s
members elected to strike after
their
contract
negotiations
with
the
University
failed.
This resulted in a procession of
protests and rallies across campus
as well as cancellation of many
Graduate
Student
Instructor-
taught classes throughout the
strike’s progression.
The University sued GEO in
response, on the grounds that
both the Public Employment
Relations Act and GEO’s collective
bargaining agreement prohibited
the strike.
The Michigan Daily sat down with
the Regent Jordan Acker (D), chair of
the University of Michigan Board of
Regents, to discuss the University’s
plans for addressing COVID-19
concerns, the new Equity, Civil Rights
and Title IX office, the expansion
of the Go Blue Guarantee, climate
change initiatives, Ron Weiser and
more. This interview has been edited
and condensed for clarity.
The Daily cannot independently
verify
Acker’s
comments
on
documented
cases
of
classroom
transmission at the University of
Michigan.
The Michigan Daily: What is
your response to the University of
Michigan faculty signing petitions
this
week
requesting
stronger
COVID-19
protections
for
the
fall semester? How do you plan
to address concerns surrounding
COVID-19 guidelines?
Jordan Acker: Well, I think
that one of the things that we’ve
done really well is keep everyone
safe in the classroom, whether it’s
vaccine
requirements,
masking
requirements. We still haven’t had a
single documented case of classroom
transmission. All the public health
experts suggest that our current
path forward is the right one to
balance that in-person experience
that we can only have in Michigan,
with a mask in a classroom, with the
safety of our staff, with the safety
of our faculty, with the safety of
our students. The best way to get
there is to make sure that everyone
is vaccinated. We’re getting there
— the students are doing a great
job, the faculty is getting there, the
staff is getting there. But we need
to be there to make sure that we’re
protecting everybody.
TMD: How do you believe the
creation of the Equity, Civil Rights
and Title IX office to replace the
Office
of
Institutional
Equity
will place a greater emphasis on
supporting prevention and reporting
efforts? And are there any other
initiatives or policies you support
that you’d like to see implemented
this year addressing prevention and
reporting efforts?
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, September 8, 2021
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INDEX
Vol. CXXX, No. 49
©2021 The Michigan Daily
NEWS............................2
ARTS............................. 5
M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
OPINION ...................... 8
SPORTS ........................9
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Regents Chair Jordan Acker
talks U-M COVID-19 response
JULIA FORREST
Daily Staff Reporter
Club fair Festifall returns
in-person bigger than ever
Over 800 organizations vied for attention amid COVID concerns
RONI KANE &
KAITLYN LUCKOFF
Daily Staff Reporters
ADMINISTRATION
Lecturers’ union
extends contract
with University
If LEO votes to strike, likely won’t be before Sept. 15
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Jordan Acker, U-M Board of Regents Chair, discussed the COVID-19 response with The Daily this past week. (Note: This photo was taken before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2018)
ACADEMICS
Students reflect on the first
week of in-person classes
Many excited for more connection but nervous about delta variant
EVAN DELORENZO
Daily Staff Reporter
In interview with The Daily, Board official shares goals for the upcoming year
LILY GOODING &
VANESSA KIEFER
Daily News Editor &
Daily Staff Reporter
CAMPUS LIFE
See ACKER, Page 3
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
See FESTIFALL, Page 2