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
michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit
Follow The Daily 
on Instagram, 
@michigandaily

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

