The University of Michi-
gan’s endowment, which is
currently valued at $17 billion,
rose by an estimated $4.7 bil-
lion in the 2021 financial year,
a 40.6% return on investment.
The increase was announced by
Geoffrey Chatas, executive vice
president and chief financial
officer, at the Oct. 21 Board of
Regents meeting.
This year, higher education
institution endowments across
the U.S. saw the strongest
annual performance since 1986,
with an increase of 27% on aver-
age. Many similarly endowed
schools
to
the
University
announced eye-popping figures:
Brown University announced
a 51% return and Washington
University in St. Louis broke
records with a return of 65%.
Brian Smith, U-M associate
vice president for finance, said
the timeline for an endowment
is not one year but “perpetu-
ity,” leading him to remain cau-
tious when speculating on future
growth. Over a 20-year period,
the endowment’s return aver-
ages around 9.5%.
“The endowment is here for
the long haul and to provide con-
sistent support or raw consistent
income,” Smith said. “A 40%
year is definitely an outlier. It’s
not often that we have a year like
that. In financial markets in par-
ticular, over time reversion to the
mean typically proves out.”
The growth of endowments
generally mirrors the health
of the stock market, which has
more than doubled its value
in 2021 from its lowest level in
March 2020. Soaring tech com-
pany stocks, various federal
COVID-19 relief bills and inter-
est rate cuts from the U.S. Fed-
eral Reserve all contributed to a
booming stock market, despite
the pandemic.
Smith said the bulk of the Uni-
versity’s endowment growth is
due to the returns from venture
capital and private equity funds,
two asset classes that higher
education institutions increas-
ingly invest in.
However, those gains for ven-
ture capital and private equity
funds are “unrealized,” mean-
ing they are not liquid, accord-
ing to Smith. Non-liquid assets
are typically those that can’t be
quickly converted into cash, like
real estate properties or land.
“Venture capital and private
equity are private transactions
that aren’t publicly traded,”
Smith said. “Typically the under-
lying investment agreements
could be 10-plus year commit-
ments where you’re not going to
get your money for years down
the road.”
Business junior Noah Maci-
ulewicz, president of student
investment
group
Wolverine
Capital Investments, explained
that the endowment benefited
from dips in the stock market
coinciding with the predeter-
mined days when shares were
purchased.
“Every time that the Univer-
sity has bought more shares has
been when the market has been
in the absolute best position,
which is why the endowment’s
been making so much money
over the past year and a half,”
Maciulewicz said. “The people
managing the fund are making
good stock picks and the time in
which they’ve done investing has
just happened to be absolutely
perfect.”
John Burkhardt, clinical pro-
fessor emeritus in the School of
Education, said donors tend to
give more money to schools with
large existing endowments, and
endowment growth relies on the
long history of donations since
the University’s founding in 1817.
“One of the functions for big
endowments is how long has the
institution been soliciting sup-
port from donors,” Burkhardt
said. “Contributions made to
these institutions that were
founded in the 19th century have
been earning interest for a very
long time. This is just a statement
of American society: If you have
money, you make money.”
Bundled up in hats and gloves
and with coffees in hand, doz-
ens of Ann Arbor community
members braved the brisk, cold
morning of Nov. 20 to increase
awareness and advocate for
unhoused individuals in Washt-
enaw County.
In honor of National Hunger
and Homelessness Awareness
Week, the Shelter Association of
Washtenaw County organized
the “Hustle for Housing and
Walk to End Homelessness,”
which included a two-mile walk
around downtown Ann Arbor.
The group first gathered at Lib-
erty Plaza at the corner of East
Liberty St. and South Division St.
Adam, a former unhoused
client at the Delonis Shelter,
recently received housing assis-
tance in Ann Arbor. After being
unhoused for a long time, Adam
told the crowd housing is a
necessity for all people and urged
county leaders to provide the
funding and resources to sup-
port other unhoused individuals
in the county.
“We are people, we are human
beings, we deserve housing,”
Adam said. “We need other peo-
ple to look at us as we are people.
We are human just like you. If we
are left out on the streets, there’s
a possibility we might end up in
the hospital, dead or anything
else. It’s unsafe.”
Amanda
Carlisle,
execu-
tive director of the Washtenaw
County Housing Alliance, also
spoke to the community, advo-
cating for the need to increase
resources to support more per-
manent
affordable
housing
options.
“We want to make sure that
we share with everybody that
there are people experiencing
housing insecurity here, there are
people who are homeless right
here in Washtenaw County, and
we know what we can do to help
them,” Carlisle said. “We can pro-
vide them with permanent hous-
ing. We can provide them with
services. We can provide them
with rapid rehousing, get them
out of the streets, out of shelters.
We know what we can do. We just
need the resources to do it.”
Some local organizations have
already contributed to the effort.
Avalon Housing, a non-profit
organization
providing
per-
manent affordable housing for
more than 800 people in Washt-
enaw County, recently opened
36 affordable apartment units
on Maple Road. The project was
funded in part by the city of Ann
Arbor’s 20-year affordable hous-
ing millage.
“We used a ton of federal dol-
lars to build (the Avalon) housing
but the services that are being
provided
at
Avalon
Hickory
Way projects are being funded
through the millage, so this really
matters,” Carlisle said. “What you
can do now is make sure to pay
attention to what’s happening at
the city and county level and also
at the federal level.”
The Biden Administration’s
Build Back Better Bill, which was
passed in the House of Represen-
tatives on Nov. 19, includes efforts
to build more than one million
new rental and single-family
homes. The bill also contains
rental and down payment assis-
tance using an expanded voucher
program. If passed in the Senate,
the $150 billion bill would be the
single most largest investment in
affordable housing in history.
Dan Kelly, executive direc-
tor of the Shelter Association of
Washtenaw County, also encour-
aged the Ann Arbor City Coun-
cil to allocate more American
Rescue Plan Act funds towards
affordable housing. The Biden
Administration passed the ARPA
in March to help local govern-
ments, municipalities and citi-
zens recover from the pandemic.
Washtenaw County was awarded
more than $71 million to be grant-
ed in two equal allotments: first in
May 2021 and then in May 2022.
“We want to see as much of
(the funding) go towards afford-
able housing and supports like
the shelter as possible,” Kelly
said. “That way we can have more
incredible stories, more housing
right down there, over there, over
there, all over downtown and
throughout the county of course.
Thank you, thank you, thank you
for coming out showing your sup-
port. Let’s just keep this mission
going and end homelessness here
in Washtenaw County.”
The group then began march-
ing down South Division St.,
chanting “Housing is human
right” and “Affordable housing for
all.” As the group made their way
through the Ann Arbor Farmers
Market and into nearby neighbor-
hoods, a few cars drove by honked
in support. The Ann Arbor Police
Department also followed along,
blocking the streets from oncom-
ing traffic.
Rackham student Matt Dar-
gay, a Masters student in the Uni-
versity of Michigan Social Work
program, told The Michigan
Daily he hopes the city prioritizes
affordable housing and gets rid
of exclusive zoning restrictions,
which place limitations on the
types of homes that can be built in
a particular neighborhood.
“We’re here today because we
want to show support for housing
policies and the funding of afford-
able housing in the area because
it’s getting more and more expen-
sive to live here,” Dargay said. “If
we’re going to sustain housing for
essential workers and working-
class people, then we need to pro-
vide more affordable housing. So
we’re here to show our support
for that.”
Ann Arbor resident Shirley
Wolfe, who has been living in the
city since she graduated from the
University in the 1950s, came to
the protest with fellow Ann Arbor
resident Phil Carroll. Despite the
cold, Wolfe said she came out to
rally for the people in the city who
have to deal with this weather day
in and day out.
“We’re both of an age — I’m
in my 90th year, and (Carroll is)
almost in his 80th,” Wolfe said.
“(But) anything to promote more
concern to let people know that
we have a huge number of home-
less in Ann Arbor right now, and
we have a lot of people your age
and even families living in cars.
It’s really cold.”
Carroll said he hopes the City
considers implementing a rent
control ordinance to curb afford-
able housing issues. A similar
proposal was brought to Ann
Arbor in the 1980s, but the state of
Michigan enacted legislation that
prohibited this proposal.
“We will never have afford-
able housing in Ann Arbor as
long as we let the developers
dominate our City Council,” Car-
roll said. “We need a rent control
ordinance, and people should be
aware that there’s a lot of senti-
ment that would favor that.”
Some members of Ann Arbor
City Council were also in atten-
dance, including council mem-
bers Kathy Griswold, D-Ward 2,
and Elizabeth Nelson, D-Ward 4.
Griswold said she is in prelimi-
nary discussions with the Uni-
versity to implement additional
housing for individuals in the
workforce who might not be able
to afford living in the city and
must commute everyday to work.
News
Wednesday, December 1, 2021 — 3
ANN ARBOR
Ann Arbor locals rally for housing rights in county
KRISTINA ZHENG
Daily News Editor
Attendees urged leaders for more affordable housing, funding and resources
Black UMich calls on
‘U’ admin to address
Anderson victims
60 students gathered in solidarity with
survivors camped outside Schlissel’s house
ADMINISTRATION
University endowment grew by 40.6% this year
$4.7 billion increase was announced at the Oct. 21 Board of Regents meeting
ELISSA WELLE
Daily Staff Reporter
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
ADMINISTRATION
LILA TURNER/Daily
Ann Arbor residents gathered to advocate for those unhoused in Washtenaw County on Nov. 20.
About 60 students gathered the
night of Nov. 19 outside University of
Michigan President Mark Schlissel’s
house to demonstrate their solidarity
with victims of former athletic doctor
Robert Anderson as part of a rally
organized by Black UMich. Black
UMich, a student-run organization
on campus dedicated to amplifying
the voices of Black people at the
University, called on the University to
address the demands of victims and
have a formal conversation about the
culture of sexual assault on campus.
The event consisted of speakers,
chants expressing solidarity with
the victims and a demonstration of
“Black joy,” an act of resistance and
expression of Black culture. Music by
Black artists played, and protestors
danced and sang together. Students
chanted, “No justice, no peace. Let
John speak,” “Black students won’t
be silenced,” “Hail to the victims”
and “Black students are under attack.
What do we do? Stand up, fight back!”
Jon Vaughn and other survivors
of Anderson have been camping
outside of Schlissel’s house since Oct.
8 in protest against the University’s
handling of the nearly 1,000 sexual
assault allegations against Anderson.
Vaughn spoke at the event, telling
his story in addition to the history of
sexual abuse at the University. When
Vaughn was recruited to play football
for the Wolverines, he said he was told
that the University would prioritize
his health and wellbeing.
“I think back to how these men
came into my living room when my
mother was dying, and (they) promised
her that (they) were protecting me
and I’d have the best medical care,”
Vaughn said. “Obviously, that was all
a lie.”
Vaughn explained the actions
taken by the University immediately
after Tad DeLuca, a former U-M
wrestler, filed a formal complaint
about Anderson in 1975. DeLuca,
who is the first person known to have
reported Anderson to the University,
had his scholarship and financial
aid revoked and was removed from
the wrestling team after reporting
Anderson’s abuse.
After DeLuca reported Anderson’s
abuse to the University, the Division
of Public Safety and Security began
an investigation. The University later
hired the law firm Steptoe & Johnson
to do a formal investigation, but
switched to WilmerHale in March
2020 due to Steptoe & Johnson’s
previous defense of Jeffrey Epstein
and director Roman Polanski.
“At that point, I knew that we would
never be treated as human beings,
let alone respected as former student
athletes,” Vaughn said. “When I was
recruited here, you celebrated me,
but now I’m a villain, and that’s how
they’ve been treating us ever since.”
The
University
has
denied
knowingly hiring attorneys from
the same law firm that represented
Epstein and Polanski.
Vaughn said conversations with
current U-M students, who he said
continue to experience a culture of
sexual violence on campus on a daily
basis, have been powerful.
“On the second day I was here, a
young lady said to me, ‘you know, I
think about when’s the next time I’m
going to be raped or sexually assaulted
on this campus more than I do what is
going to be my major,’” Vaughn said.
“And at that point … I realized this is
worse than I thought. It’s not only
that they treat us inhumanely, they’re
treating the students inhumanely.
Students’ safety is not a priority here.”
In an interview with The Michigan
Daily, Business senior and student
athlete Job Mayhue said he wants the
public to know about what happened
to survivors of Anderson and hopes
transparency will prevent abuse in the
future.
“I want this event to lead to open and
transparent conversations and culture
to have difficult conversations about
sexual violence,” Mayhue said. “I also
want the University to do more about
creating a safer campus and create a
system where action is being taken
every single time somebody reports
and it’s not just swept under the rug.”
Mayhue also said the University’s
lack of cooperation with the survivors,
as well as their reluctance to talk
directly to survivors and provide any
sort of compensation for them, further
disincentives students from sharing
their stories.
“They keep asking him (Jon
Vaughn), ‘What can we do to get you
off of our space?” Mayhue said. “It’s
not, ‘What can we do to help?” It’s
not, ‘What can we do to make a safer
campus?’ It’s, ‘What can we do to
hush you up and get you going on your
way?’”
LSA junior Zach Briggs also said the
lack of action and accountability from
the University regarding the current
U-M assistant athletic director, Paul
Schmidt, who was allegedly aware
of Anderson’s behavior, has been
disappointing.
“Across every college campus
in America, there’s massive sexual
assault scandals or mishandling of
sexual assault reporting,” Briggs said.
“I definitely think there should be
some form of justice with the firing
of Dr. Schmidt, and I feel as though
anyone who has covered it up needs to
be reprimanded.”
In
mid-November,
Vaughn
announced his plan to run for the
Board of Regents in 2022. During the
rally, Vaughn said he was running
because of the stories he hears from
students about safety and sexual
assault on campus. He also called out
Schlissel directly.
“I watch a man go to work almost
every day, and I’ve never seen him
interact with any student or professor,
in now 42 days, and I just find that
that’s an atrocity,” Vaughn said. “It
really shows where the focus of the
leadership is in this University. It’s
all on money, sponsors, donors, even
donors who let young men into school
that have Title IX rapes in their
history.”
Mayhue said during the rally that
Black representation in the Board of
Regents is essential to making progress.
“I’m so thankful that you are going
for the Board of Regents, because
putting a Black man in a position
of leadership is the first step in
making tangible change for the Black
community and making it a safe space
on campus,” Mayhue said to Vaughn.
Regent Katherine White (D) is
currently the only Black regent on the
eight-member board. Vaughn said that
the marginalization of Black people
at U-M and the ways in which the
University has suppressed the voices
of the Black community has been a
historic problem.
“I might be a student athlete and I
might be a victim of Dr. Anderson, but
I’m a Black man, and that’s something
I can never not be,” Vaughn said.
“I’m ready to fight for not only the
University, but I’m also here to fight
for my people.”
Following the speakers, Rackham
student Byron Brooks recited a poem
he wrote in light of the University’s
handling of the allegations.
“How can an institution of higher
education hire, protect, and admit
known rapists?” Brooks read. “I bet if
Anderson was Black, he would have
been thrown into prison and the story
would’ve been known throughout the
nation. Hail to the victims, yet as their
voices were silenced, checks were still
cleared and retirement was granted.
The President right now won’t even
come out of his house as if he’s on a
vacation. That should be enough to let
you know that the rapist at hand was
a privileged Caucasian. Hail to the
victims.”
In an interview with The Daily,
Brooks said he stood in solidarity with
the survivors.
“For this issue to have gone on
for decades and generations is truly
saddening,” Brooks said. “Although
I was not a victim, I feel like it is
my duty to stand with the victims,
because it takes that solidarity to make
something happen.”
Brooks said he is disheartened
by the lack of action taken by the
University and hopes that they will
be more focused on the wellbeing of
the survivors and all students moving
forward.
“Honestly, I’m tired,” Brooks said.
“I feel like the school is looking at
it from a marketing and PR (public
relations) perspective. I’m looking
for actual equitable actions. And not
only that, but a true apology, authentic
apology, and extra steps that will help.
We are at an institution of learning.
We are here to learn. A lot of these
athletes, they put their bodies on the
line for this institution, so they deserve
some form of equitable reparations.”
Daily News Reporter Kate Weiland
can be reached at kmwblue@umich.edu.
KATE WEILAND
Daily Staff Reporter
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com