Jordan Else, a member of 

AASPIRE 
and 
Ann 
Arbor 

resident, 
said 
she 
would 

like to see an increase in 
urgency regarding the rollout 
of the plan and said the 
superintendent needs to lead 
the implementation. 

“Our concerns come in the 

fact that this is taking time,” 
Else said. “We really would 
like a greater sense of urgency. 
When we talk to other districts 
… the things that we hear are 
that we need urgency and that 
we need this to come from the 
top down.” 

One major critique of AAPS’s 

equity plan was its lack of 
specifics, according to Else. 
She said through AASPIRE’s 
investigation of past successful 
equity plans in other school 
districts, they found common 
themes. 

Successful 
plans 
properly 

defined the problem schools 
were 
facing 
and 
provided 

specifics 
on 
accountability, 

which is something the AAPS 
equity plan lacks, Else said. 
One of the successful equity 
plans was the Campaign for 
Racial Equity in Our Schools in 
Chapel Hill, N.C. 

“Through 
this 
problem 

identification and looking at 
the data, successful plans, every 
single one, include specific 
measures and accountability,” 
Else said. “When we look at 
the best practices, they all 
included all stakeholders at 
the beginning of the plan. Not 
having teachers, not having 
students and not having parents 
in this plan is almost sure to set 
it up where it is not going to 
meet everyone’s needs.”

Stacey Ebron, a member of 

AASPIRE and the mother of 
two boys at Lawton Elementary 
School, 
discussed 
how 

identifying the problem is a key 
step in proper implementation. 

“You really need to have 

an 
understanding 
and 

acknowledgement of the ways 
that the school system is set 
up to benefit white children 
and disadvantage children of 
color,” Ebron said. “When we 
look at Chapel Hill’s problem 
statement and AAPS’s equity 
plan, what we are missing is the 
understanding of the problem. 
The mission statement is to 
increase equity, but there is 
no explanation of what the 
problem is, the goals and the 
objectives.”

Angela Guy-Lee, a member of 

AASPIRE and mother of three 
AAPS 
students, 
discussed 

how 
AAPS’s 
definition 
of 

equity does not address the 
responsibility leadership holds 
in solving equity problems in 
schools. 

“When 
everyone 
is 

responsible, no one is actually 
responsible,” 
Guy-Lee 
said. 

“This is a game that institutions 
play, and what they say is ‘All 
of us have a role in fixing this, 
but all of us don’t have power 
to implement change.’ Equity 
at its core is about power. 
You can’t even create a power 
statement that doesn’t address 
the power differentials. This 
kind of statement sounds good, 
it’s performative, it’s fluffy, but 
it doesn’t actually hold anyone 
who’s getting paid to do this 
work accountable.” 

In response to AASPIRE’s 

critiques, Johnson said it is 
important to note that the plan 
is only a draft.

“We are still in somewhat of 

a starting point,” Johnson said. 

AASPIRE also researched 

the equity plans forJefferson 
County 
Public 
Schools 
in 

Kentucky, 
which 
included 

specifics such as quantifiable 
goals 
and 
timeframes. 
On 

promoting 
equity-centered 

leadership, 
JCPS 
included 

specifics such as funding and a 
racial equity analysis protocol 
that was used to review the 
entire district’s school policy.

Ebron 
reiterated 
the 

importance of speeding up 
the process and having more 
community representation in 
tweaking the equity plan.

“It’s past the time that 

parents 
and 
children 
and 

community members should be 
at the table helping to improve 
the equity plan,” Ebron said. 
“We realize that we are in a 
pandemic, but we can’t wait any 
longer because our children are 
still suffering in the Ann Arbor 
Public Schools systems.”

Regarding 
further 

partnership between AASPIRE 
and the BOE, Ebron said they 
hope the information presented 
at 
this 
meeting 
would 
be 

brought to leadership in order 
to implement changes sooner 
rather than later.

“What we hope is, since you 

are not going to let us have 
access to Dr. Swift (AAPS 
superintendent) or the district 
leadership 
team, 
that 
you 

will take these concerns back 
to that team and bring them 
up as part of your board’s 
responsibility in governing this 
equity plan,” Ebron said. “We 
hope we have given you some 
fruitful thought that you can 
act on, because that is what this 
group is all about.”

Daily Staff Reporter Caroline 

Wang 
can 
be 
reached 
at 

wangca@umich.edu.

In 2021, more than 1,700 transfer 

students enrolled at the University of 
Michigan, according to the Office of 
Undergraduate Admissions.While the 
transfer process varies by student and 
the institution they are transferring 
from, over the past year transfer stu-
dents all had to adapt to a virtual cam-
pus community. 

As the University returns to a mostly 

in-person semester, transfer students 
shared with The Michigan Daily their 
experiences and the organizations that 
best supported them on campus dur-
ing the pandemic as well as during their 
first semester on campus. 

Several students transferred to the 

University to attend their dream school, 
as they were not admitted to the Uni-
versity out of high school. Kinesiology 
senior Lior Kolton transferred to the 
University from Michigan State Univer-

sity after his sophomore year. Kolton 

said he did not originally intend to 
transfer but that the switch was worth it 
once he found his community. 

“Once I did really well in my classes 

(at MSU), I thought why not try it out 
and see what happens,” Kolton said. ”I 
think the biggest adjustment was trying 
to find my community on campus and 
find student orgs to get involved in. I’m 
in a pre-law fraternity that’s amazing, so 
trying to find that took a semester, and it 
was a little stressful, but I was very lucky 
to have already had a big school experi-
ence so I kind of knew what to expect.” 

LSA senior Charlotte Gamperle 

transferred to the University as a junior 
from Northeastern University in Bos-

ton because she said she wanted a more 
conventional college experience, as 
Northeastern utilizes a student co-op 
program in which students alternate 
between working and taking classes 
each semester. 

“I just felt like what I was lacking (at 

Northeastern) was community and the 
traditional college experience,” Gam-
perle said. “It kind of detracted from my 
overall college experience because I felt 
like I was a younger professional rather 
than a college student, and I realized 
that I am in no hurry to rush into the 
professional world if I’m going to be in it 
for the rest of my life.”

When applying to college out of high 

school, Gamperle said the University 
was not on her radar. After researching 
the best schools for student life, she said 
she discovered the University almost 
immediately and was drawn to the cul-
ture of school spirit. 

Entering campus in the fall of 2020, 

Gamperle said she knew the adjustment 
would not be easy, as she was seeking 
an inclusive campus community dur-
ing the peak of the pandemic. She said 
being part of the Global Scholars Pro-
gram and joining student organizations 
helped, and she also tried to reach out to 
as many students as possible. 

“Even though it was uncomfortable 

a lot of the time, I would basically reach 
out to people one on one and ask to meet 
up socially distanced, and I did that 
until it got cold,” Gamperle said. “I think 
it was worth it in the long run because I 
have a good set of people now.”

Gamperle said Transfer Connec-

tions, a student organization that facili-
tates peer and faculty mentoring, helped 
her find her place on campus. 

According to the Office of New 

Student Programs, through Transfer 
Connections each transfer student 
serving as a mentee, is matched with 
a former transfer student mentor and 
faculty mentor to assist them in finding 
on-campus opportunities after trans-
ferring. 

“They’ve been really helpful tailor-

ing my Michigan experience to me, 
and just being there for me,” Gamperle 
said. “This year I actually came back as a 
mentor myself. I have a group of 18 men-
tees that have come in this year, and my 
job is to meet with them as often as I can 
and plan social events.”

Other on-campus resources for 

transfer students include M-Connect 
and 
SuccessConnects. 
M-Connect 

assists students looking to transfer from 
community colleges, and SuccessCon-
nects pairs transfer students with an 
individual mentor to help them find 
communities on campus. 

Kolton, who transferred right before 

the pandemic began, said the Universi-
ty’s orientation program was extremely 
helpful. 

“The orientation they ran was fan-

tastic, and I met a cool friend of mine,” 
Kolton said. “He’s actually in class 
with me but transferred over as well. I 
thought that was a really good way to 
help me adjust.”

In an email to The Daily, Michael 

Hartman, assistant director of LSA 
Student Recruitment for Transfer Ini-
tiatives and Partnerships, said assisting 
transfer students during the pandemic 
has been more difficult than normal.

“Some of our transfers will have 

spent more of their semester learning 
remotely than they have had on campus 
by the time they graduate,” Hartman 
wrote.

Gamperle said the virtual events 

planned by the University during the 
completely remote semester when she 
transferred were not beneficial. 

“Because so much of the concern 

when you’re transferring is all about 
finding a community, I think that was 
really difficult to do in the virtual for-
mat,” Gamperle said. “I didn’t really gain 
anything from the University in terms 
of finding community here or finding 
my place. It was more self-directed of 
me seeking people out and seeking out 
my own resources like Transfer Con-
nections.”

Hartman said resources such as 

the LSA Transfer Student Center, the 
Undergraduate Research Opportunity 
Program, optiMize as well as Transfer 
Connections are helpful for transfer 
students to become more embedded in 
the University community and engage 
with other transfer students.. 

“Going to office hours to connect 

with faculty can make all the difference 
in improving the transfer experience,” 
Hartman said.

Like most freshmen, Gamperle said 

she experienced the nervousness that 
accompanies arriving on campus for the 
first time and emphasized the impor-
tance of putting yourself out there. 

“I know it can be really hard and 

uncomfortable, but I think it’s defi-
nitely worth it to try and to meet as 
many people as possible,” Gamperle 
said. “Reach out to professors, just try to 
make as many connections as you can, 
because Michigan does have so many 
resources that are waiting to be taken 
advantage of.” 

Daily Staff Reporter Kaitlyn Luckoff 

can be reached at kluckoff@umich.edu.

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
2 — Wednesday, October 27, 2021 

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