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INDEX
Vol. CXXXI, No. 65
©2022 The Michigan Daily
NEWS............................ 2
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
STATEMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
O P I N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 1
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The University will provide menstrual
products across all 670 main floor restrooms
in all academic and student-facing buildings,
University spokesperson Rick Fitzgerald told
The Michigan Daily in an email Thursday.
In November, the Ann Arbor City Council
approved an ordinance requiring menstrual
products in all public restrooms — the first
of its kind in the U.S. The University did not
immediately make a decision on whether to
follow the ordinance due to constitutional
autonomy.
“Providing
these
products
in
public
restrooms on the Ann Arbor campus is no
small undertaking,” Fitzgerald wrote. “U-M
has hundreds of buildings that are open to the
public.”
In August, the University implemented a
pilot program to offer menstrual products in
96 on-campus restrooms. Fitzgerald previously
told The Daily this was conducted to assess
campus demand and operational costs.
ASHNA MEHRA
Daily Staff Reporter
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, February 2, 2022
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY ONE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Fired U-M President ofered contract
for tenured professor in Fall 2022
Mark Schlissel could return as faculty member in MCDB, Microbiology & Immunology
GRACE BEAL/Daily
A University of Michigan student tested positive
for meningococcal meningitis, according to an email
from University of Michigan Chief Health Officer
Preeti Malani and Lindsey Mortenson, University
Health service medical directors Thursday night.
The student was recently present at a Delta Kappa
Epsilon event on Jan. 20 from 10:30 p.m to 12:00 a.m.
They also attended an off-campus ticketed event at
Michigan State University on Saturday, Jan. 22 at the
Sigma Beta Rho house in East Lansing. The student
started experiencing symptoms on Monday, Jan. 24.
Meningitis is a rare and serious bacterial infection;
however, vaccines can prevent it. It involves an
inflammation of the brain and spinal cord and can
lead to permanent disabilities. Common symptoms
of meningitis include a fever, stiff neck, headache,
rash and vomiting. According to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, most people
recover, but meningitis can occasionally lead to
death within a few hours of contracting the disease.
In a Thursday press release from the Washtenaw
County Health Department, officials urged students
who may have been in contact with the individual to
complete an online survey through UHS. According
to the Health Department, points of contact can
include being coughed on, being sneezed on, kissing,
sharing food or being in a crowded space with an
infected individual.
In the press release, WCHD medical director
Juan Luis Marquez said the health department is
currently working with the University to identify any
close contacts and distribute treatment as needed.
“This is not an outbreak and risk to the larger
community remains low, but meningococcal
meningitis is a very serious illness,” Marquez said.
“We are working as quickly and collaboratively
as possible to provide information and treatment
options to anyone with potential and direct exposure
to the known case.”
The disease is spread by respiratory droplets
such as those from saliva and is only treatable with
antibiotics. In their email to the campus community,
Malani and Mortenson said they are taking the case
seriously and are encouraging any students who
are worried they may have been in close contact
with the positive individual to receive the necessary
prophylactic antibiotic treatment as a preventative
measure as soon as possible.
Positive case of
meningococcal
meningitis
confirmed in
UMich community
Exposed students are
encouraged to fill out
online UHS survey, receive
antibiotic treatment
immediately
After being removed from his term as
University of Michigan President earlier this
month, documents obtained by the Detroit
Free Press reveal that Mark Schlissel could
be returning to campus this fall as a tenured
professor.
Despite being terminated by the Board of
Regents as president, Schlissel is entitled to
his faculty tenure position under his initial
contract with the University, according
to an email from U-M spokesperson Rick
Fitzgerald to The Michigan Daily. Schlissel
currently retains appointments in the College
of Literature, Science and the Arts as well as
the Medical School.
“Those departments are now in the process
of officially absorbing him into the faculty and
determining what his initial duties will be
as he makes this transition, which was the
commitment they made in 2014,” Fitzgerald
wrote. “There are a number of details that
remain to be determined.”
Fitzgerald wrote retaining tenure was a
normal process for faculty members returning
from administrative work.
According to The Press, Schlissel was
offered a salary of $185,000 dollars. It is
still unknown whether or not Schlissel has
accepted this agreement.
In early January, Schlissel was fired from
his position as president after an anonymous
complaint in December 2021 led to an internal
investigation, which revealed that he had been
engaging in an inappropriate relationship with
a University subordinate. This investigation is
ongoing, as the University’s Board of Regents
is currently investigating if Schlissel obtained
University funds to engage in this relationship,
Regent Sarah Hubbard, R-Lansing, confirmed
in an interview with The Daily last week.
Hubbard said the Regents expect to know
the results of the investigation relatively soon
and will proceed accordingly.
‘We certainly don’t expect this to be
something that takes six months to a year, it’s
something I would hope to get some feedback
on, you know, in (the coming) weeks,”
Hubbard said. “I don’t have a specific end date,
and until we know what they find, we won’t
know what to do with the information.”
Hubbard said initial results of the
investigation – which revealed over 118 pages
of email and text correspondence between
Schlissel and his subordinate – led the regents
to a unanimous decision to terminate.
“Once the board saw the nature of the
emails, we all had a lot of concerns about the
nature of the relationship, particularly given
the policy that was put in place last summer
related to the supervisory relationship,”
Hubbard said.
Ultimately, this termination did not revoke
Schlissel’s tenure faculty appointment.
The obtained documents require Schlissel
to teach one class a year if conducting research,
and two classes per year if not. Additionally,
Schlissel would not begin instruction until
the 2022-2023 school year. Prior to teaching,
he will need to conduct research and obtain
grants. In addition to teaching, he will be
relied on to serve on faculty committees and
mentor students.
Bethany Moore, chair of Microbiology
and Immunology at the University, wrote in
the letter obtained by The Press that Schlissel
must adhere to the conditions outlined in the
letter.
“Your appointment will be on a twelve-
month basis with major effort to be
determined by discussion with the chair
and followed up in writing,” Moore wrote.
“Established research-active faculty in the
GEORGE WEYKAMP, KAITLYN
LUCKOFF, & KATE WEILAND
Daily News Editors
Design by Grace Aretakis
LSA SG condemns rise in global anti-Muslim bigotry, supports installing bidets
LSA Student Government passed
two resolutions that intend to create
a more accepting environment for the
Muslim community on the University
of Michigan campus. One of the
resolutions calls for condemning the
global rise of Islamophobia, and the
other supports a bidet initiative to make
public restrooms more accomodating
for Muslim students.
The need to address Islamophobia on
campus was brought to attention when
a copy of the Quran was damaged at
Arizona State University.
Bilal Irfan, LSA SG representative and
LSA freshman, said the resolution aims
to break the pattern of Islamophobia
worldwide, starting in Ann Arbor.
“(The first resolution) kind of looks
into the global trends of Islamophobia,”
Irfan
said.
“(The
resolution)
also
extensively cites some of the things from
the Islamophobia Working Group (IWG)
and what they found on Islamophobia
on campus.”
The IWG was established in 2016
to address Islamophobia in the U-M
community and around the country. The
IWG aims to create a safe environment
for Arab, Muslim and MENA (Middle
East and Northern Africa) students.
Irfan said he and Maria Wajahat, LSA
SG representative and LSA freshman,
drafted the resolution in response to the
ASU vandalism incident.
Wajahat believes the new resolution
will create a safer environment for
Muslim students.
“(The ASU vandalism) invokes a lot
of fear in Muslims, especially on college
campuses, and it’s not something
that’s unfamiliar to the University of
Michigan,” Wajahat said. “There’s no
saying that it won’t happen again, or
that it won’t happen here the way it did
at ASU. I think that this was a really
good way to sort of get ahead of that
and try to make Muslims feel safer on
campus and just feel more accepted.”
Irfan also said other Islamophobic
attacks rattled the country during
the first two weeks of December such
as an arson attack at a mosque in
Albuquerque, N.M. on Nov. 29 and death
threats against U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar.
He argued the University has not done
enough for Muslim students in recent
years, and the resolution is a small step
towards change.
Two resolutions approved to increase inclusivity for Muslim community
ERIN CHAI
Daily Staff Reporter
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
MATTHEW SHANBOM
Daily Staff Reporter
University to
provide free
menstrual
products in all
public on-campus
bathrooms
Following Ann Arbor City Council
ordinance, ‘U’ to increase supplies
in 670 restrooms
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Read more at MichiganDaily.com