“To
show
the
film
now,
especially
without
substantial
framing, content advisory and a
focus on its inherent racism is in
itself a racist act, regardless of the
professor’s intentions,” Chambers
wrote. “We need to acknowledge
that as a community.”
Five days after Sheng showed
the video, on Sept. 15, Gier
sent a department-wide email
acknowledging the incident and
apologizing for what students
experienced.
“Professor Sheng’s actions do not
align with our School’s commitment
to anti-racist action, diversity, equity
and inclusion,” Gier said.
The email also stated the
incident had been reported to the
Office of Equity, Civil Rights, and
Title IX.
Sheng’s apology causes
controversy
On Sept. 16, Sheng sent out a
formal apology to the department.
He wrote that after doing more
research into the issue, he realized
the true extent to which racism
impacts American culture, adding
that he failed to recognize the racist
connotation of blackface makeup.
“In a classroom, I am a teacher
representing the university and I
should have thought of this more
diligently
and
fundamentally;
I apologize that this action was
offensive and has made you angry,”
Sheng wrote. “It also has made me
lost (sic) your trust.”
However, the apology has been
another
source
of
controversy
among students. Students have taken
particular issue with the section of
the letter where Sheng lists multiple
examples of how he has worked with
people of color in the past.
“At the world premiere of my
opera The Silver River in South
Carolina in 2000, I casted an
African American actress (for
the leading role), an Asian female
dancer and a white baritone for
the three main characters,” Sheng
wrote.
University of Michigan President
Mark Schlissel signed a contract
with the Board of Regents on Sept. 23
guaranteeing that he will be paid his
same salary of $927,000 for two years
after his resignation in June 2023,
according to a copy of the contract
obtained by The Michigan Daily.
Schlissel announced Oct. 5 that
he will resign in June 2023, a year
earlier than originally planned. The
Board of Regents and Schlissel held a
public meeting on Sept. 23 but made
no mention of Schlissel’s planned
resignation or the signing of a new
contract.
“After discussion with the Board
of Regents, I decided that this timing
is appropriate,” Schlissel wrote in an
email to the University community
on Oxt. 5. “The new horizon gives
the Board time to consult with our
community, think about the future
and thoroughly plan and conduct a
search for my successor, while allow-
ing us to continue momentum on
important and time-critical efforts
that are underway.”
After stepping down as president
no later than July 1, 2023, Schlissel
will become President Emeritus, a
role in which he “will be engaging
in a variety of activities in support of
the University as well as continuing
(his) ambassadorship of higher edu-
cation more generally,” according to
the contract.
Per the terms of the contract, as
President Emeritus, the University
will give Schlissel $36,000 per fiscal
year “to be used in (his) discretion to
support (his) activities as President
Emeritus.” He will also be given an
office space on Central Campus, a
parking space and an office assis-
tant. The money, office and office
assistant will be for an initial term
of seven years through July 1, 2030,
with automatic renewal every three
years unless terminated or modified
by the Board of Regents.
In his first year after resigna-
tion, Schlissel will serve as a special
advisor, working under the Board of
Regents to “promote the interests of
the University, support a new presi-
dent in ensuring a successful transi-
tion, and perform other reasonable,
appropriate duties,” according to the
contract. While Schlissel serves as
special advisor, he will be paid his
current presidential salary and also
receive a monthly $5,000 housing
allowance, as he must move out of
the presidential house on South Uni-
versity no more than 30 days after
ending his presidency.
If a new president is appointed
after Jan. 1, 2023 and before Schlis-
sel’s resignation date of July 1, 2023,
Schlissel will start immediately as
special advisor.
After he finishes his term as spe-
cial advisor, he can go on leave for
one year — paid at the rate of his cur-
rent presidential salary. He can then
return to the University as a tenured
faculty member in the Microbiology
and Immunology department and
the Molecular, Cellular and Develop-
mental Biology department.
Per the terms of the contract, the
University will provide Schlissel
with a $2 million starting fund —
which he can begin using while serv-
ing as special advisor — to establish
a research laboratory for his tenured
faculty position. His salary as a ten-
ured faculty member will be at least
50% of his current presidential sal-
ary.
If Schlissel decides to retire on
or after June 30, 2023, his service
requirements will be waived. His
retirement package currently pro-
vides that “the University will match
the President’s five percent contri-
bution with a ten percent Univer-
sity contribution on salary of up to
$290,000,” according to the contract.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
2 — Wednesday, October 13, 2021
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NEWS BRIEF
Schlissel to be paid full presidential salary
of $927,000 for two years after resignation
Contract also includes $36,000 per year, $60,000 housing stipend and $2 million for new lab
JASMIN LEE
Daily News Editor
Associate Editor: Julia Maloney
MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily
The student section for Michigan Hockey – The Children of Yost – holds up Michigan Daily papers while the opposing team introduces its players Saturday night.
PHOTO
MS: I’m always working with the
board, and I work incredibly closely
with them. I’d say there isn’t a week
that goes by that I’m not speaking
with
several
board
members
individually. I think the board is as
responsible as I am for any of the
successes that the University’s had
since I’ve been here. We deal with
the same challenges together, the
challenges are very intense — we’re
living in a very critical era — and just
like any personal set of relationships
that are intense, they go up and down.
I don’t talk in the media about
private conversations with the board
— it’s just not appropriate — but I’d say
there’s great alignment between the
board and myself of what we’re trying
to accomplish for the University: to
continue to make it an outstanding
educational institution where folks
can come and study regardless of
their wealth or their background,
and a diverse community that’s doing
research that makes a difference
in the world, and we’re completely
aligned on that. There are always ups
and downs.
I wouldn’t give credence to
individual news articles, certainly
ones that don’t cite name sources. It’s
always easier that way, and what can
I say?
TMD: Many have criticized the
amount of money offered in your
exit package and the fact that it was
negotiated in secret. What do you say
to these criticisms, and do you believe
that your package is too generous?
MS: I’d say that the package is
really the contract that I signed three
or so years ago when I was renewed
for a second five-year term, and what
the agreement does is it changes the
term from 10 years to nine years,
and keeps me on as a consultant for
that 10th year. It seems like a fair
way forward to the board and to me.
That’s basically it. It’s not new. The
agreement itself that you’re referring
to is new, but the terms are really
basically the terms of my renewal
back in 2018.
TMD: A Free Press report also
details changes in funding the
Detroit Center for Innovation that
were not shared with the regents.
The report states that the original
plan for the center ended and you and
Stephen Ross negotiated with Ilitch
Holdings to gain the firm’s support
of the center. What is the current
status of plans for the center, and why
was the board not informed of the
negotiations?
MS: The work of developing the
Detroit Center for Innovation had
really taken place between Stephen
Ross and his company Related, and
initially with Bedrock, Dan Gilbert’s
company. We were a partner to the
extent that once the whole complex
was built, we were going to run the
educational programs we spoke
about. I was not present for the
detailed discussions between Ross
and Gilbert that broke down, and
then Ross began looking for other
partners, as has been reported in the
media. Again, that wasn’t part of our
part of the deal — we were interested
to see how that turned out.
And at the time that the news
broke about the DCI, I wasn’t
aware of any signed agreement for
a different partnership. I knew Mr.
Ross was in conversation. The board
asked me to hold off while the dust
settles, and now that the pandemic
is on the wane, but will have changed
the world, we need to take a deep
breath and consider whether the
DCI project is the right thing for the
University to do. I think that was a
really fair request for the board that
we reconsider it in a post-pandemic
world. I’m hopeful that we still get to
do the project, but again, that’ll be a
matter of discussion with the board.
TMD: Will you have any role in
the search or appointment of your
successor, and does the Board of
Regents have any kind of timeline for
when that decision will be made or
when the University community will
be receiving any updates?
MS: I can’t speak for the board
in terms of any timing or any details
of the search. Traditionally, sitting
presidents don’t play a role in the
actual search but do play a role at the
stage of helping with the transition,
and that’s what I promised the board.
But I told the board I’m happy to do
whatever they’d like me to do to help,
because I’m invested in the future
success of the University for the
next two years where I remain the
president and then thereafter.
TMD: It was announced that
you recently signed a contract, as we
discussed earlier, agreeing to a role
as president emeritus following the
expiration of your presidency in June
2023. Can you elaborate on what role
you’ll have at the University following
your resignation?
Schlissel: President Emeriti help
raise money and help represent the
university, but not in the capacity that
would create any confusion with the
true president. For example, President
Coleman, she’s president emerita, but
nobody thinks she’s still in charge.
That would be my role.
But after I’m done as president,
I’ll still be a tenured member of the
Michigan faculty. I’m a professor of
medicine, I’m a professor of molecular
biology and biochemistry, and I’m in
a number of divisions in the Medical
School. So most likely I’d end up
starting to teach again and resuming
a small research lab studying the
immune system, which is what I did
for 25 years before I started doing this
administrative work.
Daily News Editor Calder Lewis
can be reached at calderll@umich.
edu. Daily Staff Reporters Arjun
Thakkar and George Weykamp can
be reached at arjunt@umich.edu and
gweykamp@umich.edu.
SCHLISSEL
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SMTD
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