Content warning: Sexual assault
More
than
one
hundred
protesters
gathered
outside
the Postma Family Clubhouse
at the University of Michigan
Golf Course Sept. 23, where
the Board of Regents were
meeting in person for the first
time since March 2020. The
crowd protested the University’s
handling
of
allegations
of
sexual
abuse
against
late
University
athletic
doctor
Robert Anderson and demanded
stronger
accountability
from
the administration on behalf of
survivors.
The
protest,
which
was
organized
by
the
student
organization Michigan Students
Against Sexual Assault, took
place an hour before the Board
of
Regents
meeting
started.
The general protest session was
followed by speeches from some
survivors of Anderson’s abuse.
Later, the attendees protested
on the sidewalk as the Regents
entered the building.
In an interview with The
Michigan Daily, LSA junior
Porter Hughes, press secretary
for MSASA, said one of the
goals of the protest was to
raise awareness about sexual
misconduct at the University to
try to prevent other people from
having to experience what the
Anderson victims went through.
“We hope to bring awareness
to the greater public about
this issue — it really has not
gotten the press coverage it
deserves,” Hughes said. “Also to
pressure for more reforms and
push for more action and more
community dialogue on what
changes are necessary to make
sure something like this never
happens again.”
In May, hundreds of survivors
of Anderson’s abuse filed a
class
action
lawsuit
against
the University, calling on the
University to rethink how it
approaches sexual misconduct
and abuse. The complaint, led by
LSA senior Josephine Graham,
says the University’s lack of
action against Anderson allowed
his behavior to continue for
decades. The University filed a
response to the suit in August,
where it argued to dismiss the
case on the grounds that Graham
needed “to wait until she has
experienced
sexual
violence
before bringing her injunctive
relief claims.”
A Target location officially opened
at 231 S. State Street in downtown
Ann Arbor on Sept. 21, the former
location of an Urban Outfitters.
The
“small
format”
store,
standing at 12,000 square feet, was
first announced in December 2020.
These scaled-down stores provide
a specifically curated selection of
goods designed to appeal to students
on campus, according to A Bullseye
View.
Similar
stores
have
opened
on college campuses across the
nation, including at Michigan State
University, New York University
and the University of Southern
California.
University of Michigan students
have previously raised concerns
about the lack of a more affordable
grocery store within a walkable
distance to campus. The addition
of this Target will offer students a
walkable, convenient grocery option,
according to Tricia George, a team
lead for Target.
“I think it’s going to have a huge
impact,” George said. “What I’ve
been hearing just in the last half
hour, I’ve talked to some of the
guests, the grocery is the biggest
thing that they’re so excited about
because there’s not really a grocery
store within walking distance for a
lot of the students.”
Store Director James Newbill said
he hopes the new Target will not
only be a place where the students
can buy groceries but where they can
find community as well.
“It was really important to us
that we entered this community,
because the students don’t have a
place that’s really quick for them
to get those fresh food options, and
we’re able to provide them,” Newbill
said. “The service piece is super
important to me in our entire store,
making sure that students are being
helped because sometimes it is really
fast-paced around here. And they
don’t really get that service that they
need.”
Newbill
said
he
encourages
students to be actively engaged in the
process of curating Target’s product
collections so that the store satisfies
customers’ needs.
“I want people to tell me the
collection that they want because we
can order things,” Newbill said. “We
can get a different assortment, but
it’s literally just to serve students on
campus. We can get items that they
normally can’t get shipped here or to
their dorms.”
LSA freshman Jessi Hinterman
said she is looking forward to having
a grocery store within walking
distance from her dorm.
“I’m excited to not wait in
Walgreens for anything,” Hinterman
said. “I mean, we have (a Target) at
home, and it’s the nicest thing. I’m
there all the time. Honestly, (it’s)
convenient. So having one here is
amazing.”
Daily
Staff
Reporter
Emily
Blumberg can be reached at emilybl@
umich.edu.
Pulitzer
Prize-winning
journalist
Nikole
Hannah-
Jones, founder of The New York
Times Magazine’s 1619 Project,
spoke to more than 250 members
of the University of Michigan
and Ann Arbor communities in
Rackham Auditorium on Sept.
22. The event was hosted by
the Ann Arbor District Library
and touched on the impact of
the project two years after its
release.
The
1619
Project
is
a
multimedia
initiative
aiming
to reframe the United States’
history
of
slavery
and
the
ongoing consequences of nearly
200 years of legal enslavement.
Jones discussed the criticism
she has faced since the project’s
release,
most
notably
its
common conflation with critical
race theory.
Much of the backlash —
such
as
former
President
Donald Trump’s creation of a
1776 commission to promote
“patriotic education” in response
to the 1619 project — has resulted
in various attempts to pass bills
prohibiting the teaching of the
project, or critical race theory,
in public schools.
Michigan state Sen. Lana
Theis, R-Brighton, introduced a
bill in May to decrease annual
funding of public schools by 5%
if critical race theory, or related
content like The 1619 Project, is
included in school curriculum.
U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.,
one critic of the project, has
tried to prohibit it from being
taught in public schools and
introduced a federal bill to do so
in July 2020.“(The) 1619 Project
is a racially divisive, revisionist
account of history that denies
the noble principles of freedom
and equality on which our nation
was founded,” the bill says.
Jones dismissed the project’s
critics, defending the research
behind her project.
“I have to say I think I’m a
pretty good journalist, but I
didn’t know how a single word
of journalism in the New York
Times could threaten the very
integrity of the United States of
America,” Hannah-Jones said.
Jones
criticized
the
American
education
system
for inadequately critiquing the
social inequities that underlie
the country’s history.
“They
really
want
propagandistic
history
to
be taught in the classroom,”
Hannah-Jones
said.
“A
classroom that teaches American
exceptionalism, when really, of
course, the classroom should be
teaching us to question and have
skepticism.”
LSA
freshman
April
Hamilton,
who
attended
the discussion, said she is
frustrated with the hyper-
focus on critical race theory
in conversations about public
school curriculum.
“There’s so many other issues
that we could be focusing on,”
Hamilton said. “But this is
something that the Right has
really fixated on.”
Public Policy graduate student
Jessica
Hartshorn
said
she
thinks the reality of American
history
that
Hannah-Jones
portrayed cannot be disputed.
I
f the city of Ann Arbor needed
any
further
indication,
the musical “Heat Waves”
radiating from the Crisler Center
on Sept. 23 made it official: The
Wolverines are back on campus. As
the first “Welcome to Michigan”
Concert in recent years, Thursday
night’s event featured British indie
rock band Glass Animals and was
completely free for the more than
8,000
University
of
Michigan
students in attendance.
Darin
Martin,
assistant
director for the Center for Campus
Involvement, wrote in an email to
The Michigan Daily that Big Ticket
Productions — the University’s
concert production organization
— chose Glass Animals to play at
the Crisler because of their rising
popularity worldwide.
“Big Ticket Productions’ mission
is to bring quality, big name
entertainment to campus that
students want to see and can enjoy
at an affordable rate,” Martin wrote.
The concert was a stop on the
band’s international “Dreamland”
Tour, showcasing Glass Animals’
latest album released Aug. 7, 2020.
On Sep. 11 of this year, their song
“Heat Waves” peaked at no. 1 on the
Billboard Hot Alternative Songs list.
Glass Animals performed “Heat
Waves” as the final song of the
night, turning the mic to the crowd
during the chorus to encourage
students to sing along.
LSA sophomore Rié Vander
Schuur attended the concert and
said she was only familiar with
“Heat Waves” and one other Glass
Animals song going in. Still, Vander
Schuur said she enjoyed watching
Daya’s opening performance and
being exposed to some of the lesser-
known numbers on Glass Animals’
setlist.
“My favorite part was definitely
the ending because ‘Heat Waves’ …
is their most popular song, so it was
fun for everyone to sing along and
jump around,” Vander Shuur said.
The University first announced
the concert Sept. 12, with tickets
— one per student — at first only
being available for first- and second-
year undergraduate students at the
Michigan Union Ticket Office and
online beginning at 10 a.m. on Sept.
14.
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, September 29, 2021
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INDEX
Vol. CXXXI, No. 52
©2021 The Michigan Daily
NEWS............................ 2
ARTS.............................4
M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
OPINION ...................... 8
STAT E M ENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
SPORTS........................10
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British band Glass Animals performs
for new students at Crisler Center
More than 100 people demand accountability for allegations against former athletic doctor
GEORGE WEYKAMP
Daily Staff Reporter
CAMPUS LIFE
Nikole Hannah-Jones
gives talk on 1619 Project
NYT journalist talks impact of digital initiative
GABBY CERITANO/Daily
BUSINESS
‘Welcome to Michigan’ concert was free for 8,000 undergrads in attendance
NIRALI PATEL &
ELISSA WELLE
Daily Staff Reporters
BECCA MAHON/Daily
Glass Animals perform for 8,000 undergraduates on Sept. 23 in a University-sponsored concert.
‘No one on campus should have to fear’: Anderson
survivors protest outside of Regents meeting
Target officially opens
‘small-format’ store at
231 S. State St.
New location provides groceries close to campus
RONI KANE
Daily Staff Reporter
EMILY BLUMBERG
Daily Staff Reporter
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
CAMPUS LIFE
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
R
A
Y
E
1
S
3
1
GEORGE WEYKAMP
Daily Staff Reporter
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Protestors stand outside of the Board of Regents meeting on Sept. 23 to demand better protections for survivors of sexual assault.