BY ELIZABETH WOLFE,
OPINION ADVICE
COLUMNIST
Wednesday, March 30, 2022 // The Statement — 3
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
A crash course on
alpha males
Content warning: Messages pertaining to violence against
women and gun shootings.
Oct. 2, 2021
I’m sure you remember it was the beginning of October.
Though it really doesn’t matter what kind of day it was — which
day of the week, whether it was sunny or rainy — it really was
lovely. Fall is my favorite season. It was sunny but breezy, and
I had a window open to let the wind carry the sweet scent of
falling leaves into the little study room I’d found empty that
morning. I brought a mug of hot apple cider and played my
“spooky study” playlist as I worked. My mom would be arriv-
ing on campus soon. I don’t remember why she was coming up,
but I was excited to see her.
I was being lazy, checking Instagram and TikTok instead
of working on my homework. A Snapchat notification popped
up from a crudely named conversation group. Was I expecting
a funny video, an invite to hang out? Again, I guess it doesn’t
matter, especially once I opened it.
I could’ve stopped reading after I saw the words shooting
threat. In fact, I wish I hadn’t continued reading, at least in the
moment.
“Those fucking animals deserve (to) die.”
“There is a violent pro-male revolution coming.”
He was specifically targeting women at the University of
Michigan. I still don’t know why us in particular. What con-
fused me even more was the lack of concern demonstrated
by University administration. They said they were taking the
threat seriously, but there was no mention of classes being can-
celed or extra measures being taken to ensure our safety.
DPSS and the FBI said the perpetrator was found the next
day, on Oct. 3, and that everyone was safe. None of my classes
were canceled; my job went remote for one day.
Nothing is going to happen. From that Saturday to a week
later, that phrase rang constantly in my head; when I cried
on the phone to my mom, when I frantically texted my sister,
when I emailed my professors saying I’d be missing class.
When we talk about violence against women, we talk about
physical harm, excluding the great emotional harm that is
involved as well. Female U-M students faced collective emo-
tional damage, whether anyone wanted to admit it or not.
When the Monday following the threat rolled around, there
was a false of report of shots fired on the U-M Flint campus.
There was no indication of what caused the false alarm; my
guess is the heightened anxiety from Saturday’s threat. How-
ever, I fell apart for a moment. My sister texted me, we’re com-
ing to get you. I took an Ativan and stumbled out the door in
my pajamas. As
we drove down
Hill Street, the
streets of Ann
ILLUSTRATION BY TAMARA TURNER // PAGE LAYOUT BY SARAH CHUNG
Let’s talk about who
pays your tuition
BY HALEY JOHNSON, STATEMENT COLUMNIST
I’ve begun to think that the University of Michigan commu-
nity isn’t really defined by shared experiences, or sports, or “the
Michigan difference,” or any of the other things people say it’s
about. We talk about being a Wolverine like it’s something we all
just choose to buy into — wear maize and blue, sing “Mr. Bright-
side,” go to Rick’s and you too can be the Michigan difference.
But underlying all this supposed togetherness and camara-
derie is something that no one likes to talk about. We’re all here
because someone pays our tuition. Someone, or some combi-
nation of people, is paying between $16,178 and $56,962 every
academic year for each and every single one of us to attend this
school.
It’s uncomfortable to talk about tuition. Especially if your par-
ents aren’t paying it. There’s no hard data on what percentage of
students are supporting themselves through college, but given
the Ann Arbor campus has a median family income of $154,000
(over twice the median family income in Michigan) and a perva-
sive wealth culture, you have to imagine these students are few
and far between.
But behind the high-rise apartments, the “daddy’s credit card”
attitude and the wealth culture are hundreds if not thousands of
students who struggle to attend this University. There are stu-
dents at this university who feel like people from their socioeco-
nomic backgrounds are invisible on campus.
As recent U-M alum Mattie Bowen described in an inter-
view, “Most people at Michigan would be considered by most
people in this country to be rich. And rich people really get
uncomfortable if you tell them that you’re not rich.”
You won’t hear from any of these rich students in this story.
They make up the majority of the student body, and their
story has long been told. Here’s what the rest of us have to say.
***
What the majority of our study body doesn’t understand is
that U-M financial aid is no guarantee.
LSA senior Trenten Ingell, a recipient of the Go Blue Guar-
antee, explained that his aid package would often be adjust-
ed before the start of the academic year, factoring in more
money from work study or loans. “T
here’s always a moment
over the summer where they process things and say, ‘Okay,
here’s what you’re getting.’ That’s never the thing that you’re
getting,” he said. There’s something paradoxical about the
“Go Blue Guarantee,” which is supposed to cover the cost of
attendance for in-state, low-income students. But in actual-
ity, there is no “guaranteed” support when the aid you do get
is constantly fluctuating and students are burdened with
more loans year to year.
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
ILLUSTRATION BY TAMARA
TURNER // PAGE LAYOUT BY
SARAH CHUNG