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

