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INDEX
Vol. CXXX, No. 71
©2022 The Michigan Daily
N E W S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
S TAT E M E N T. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, April 6, 2022
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY ONE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
VP of Student Life Martino Harmon talks housing investigation, activism
In an exclusive two-part installment, The Daily sits down with campus leader to discuss RHA demands, virtual fraternity and sorority rush
The Michigan Daily sat down with
Martino Harmon, vice president of
student life, to discuss supporting
MHousing
and
MDining,
RHA
experiences and the impact of student
activism. This interview has been edited
and condensed for clarity.
Residence
Halls
Association
(RHA)
TMD: In light of the recent
Daily investigation into University
Housing and the experience of RHA
student workers, does Student Life
plan to make any changes to the
structure of University Housing?
MH: I don’t know that I have
any particular structural changes
that I can share at this time. But
at the same time, I was personally
very concerned at the reports that
I heard and we’ve been in a number
of discussions about what we need
to do moving forward to improve
the culture, improve the support,
training, communication — making
sure that staff understand their roles
and what they can do — and how to
best guide and support students.
We want to make sure that students
feel safe, that they feel valued, that
they know that the support is there
— that’s critically important. The
recent situation just amplifies the
importance of that even more.
TMD: How does Student Life
plan to work with ResStaff to
rebuild trust and protect Resident
Advisors in the coming semesters?
MH: I know that Michigan
Housing staff have been taking
a careful examination of their
training to see how they continue
to work with campus partners. I
think one of the things that we
need to do is make sure when we’re
talking with staff about how they
support students, that we also make
sure they know how Student Life
supports staff. Our goal is to make
sure that the staff are very aware
of the cultural conditions, and we
are doing all we can to enhance and
improve the culture so everyone feels
safe and valued.
TMD: Why are ResStaff encouraged
to
report
allegations
of
sexual
misconduct to Hall Directors instead of
to the Equity, Civil Rights & Title IX
Office directly like other mandatory
reporting policies on campus?
MH: Let me clarify, that any
ResStaff
member
can
report
anywhere. We don’t prevent a student
from reporting to ECRT for any type
of incident. It’s my understanding that
the role of Housing staff is to support
students. We want them to know
that they should definitely report to
Housing staff and not to think that
they can’t, but we don’t prevent them
from working with ECRT directly as
well. It’s my understanding that both
options are available.
TMD: Does Student Life have
any plans to increase support for the
mental health of Student Life workers,
particularly Resident Advisors?
MH: We want to make sure
ResStaff knows that we’re also
supporting
them,
not
just
the
residents they serve. We also have
to make sure that training for our
campus partners — whether it’s a
SAPAC (Sexual Assault Prevention
and Awareness Center) or CAPS
(Counseling
and
Psychological
Services) — is reflective of the
needs of ResStaff and our students.
We are linking this to broader
efforts to expand and enhance
how we address mental health on
campus for all students. We’ve
focused this year on a more
holistic,
institutional
approach
to
addressing
mental
health.
Whether it’s Wolverine Wellness,
UHS (University Health Services),
peer support, resource navigators
or helping faculty to understand
the signs of mental health distress
and knowing how to refer students,
we want to be effective in reaching
students — particularly those we
don’t believe are connected through
support
programs
and
those
underrepresented or marginalized.
We’re really looking at a number of
different ways and want to make sure
the ResStaff members are part of that.
Student organization engagement
TMD: From your perspective,
how did the 2022 Maize Days go —
in terms of fundraising and student
engagement overall — now that
students are back in-person?
MH: I don’t have the exact
numbers, but as I understand it,
the number of organizations that
were involved increased. We would
anticipate that as the campus opens
up, more students are more engaged
and more involved. That’s a good sign.
We also expect that generosity follows
that trend as well. We’re still waiting
on the final data, but it’s exciting to
see us moving back to where we
were with those initiatives. And
that success helps our programs
that support students. Whether it’s
the Maize & Blue Cupboard or other
programs, those donations help to
fill student needs.
TMD: With the Fraterinity and
Sorority Life rush cycle having
to pivot to a mostly online format
— with the exception of bid day —
and different fraternities rushing
in a variety of formats, how did
this year’s rush go from your
perspective?
MH: Early reports indicate that
it went well. I think Fraternity and
Sorority Life utilized the hybrid
format as best as they could to try to
keep the community safe. From what
I’ve learned, the IFC (Interfraternity
Council) had a pretty good increase
of prospective new members, the
Panhellenic Association held steady
— it increased from 2020 and held
fairly steady with 2021.
The MGC (Multicultural Greek
Council) and NPHC (National Pan-
Hellenic Council) are really in a
rebuilding, growth and planning
phase. They tend to be smaller
organizations
so
they’re
really
trying to understand how they can
grow coming out of the pandemic.
RONI KANE,
CARLY BRECHNER ,
& SEJAL PETIL
Daily News Editor & Daily Staff
Reporters
ELLIE VICE/Daily
See VP, Page 3
University
of
Michigan
community
members
gathered
at
the
Michigan
Union
Tuesday
to
celebrate
the 50th anniversary of
multicultural
lounges
in University residence
halls. Current students,
alumni and legacy groups
were in attendance for the
event, which featured the
commemoration of a time
capsule scheduled to be
opened in 25 years. The
event also featured several
speakers
and
musical
performances from the
Women’s Glee Club.
Multicultural spaces in
residence halls serve to
commemorate
activists
from
underrepresented
communities.
These
lounges
were
created
following
increased
activism from the Black
Action Movement — a
coalition of Black student
organizations
in
the
1970s that fought against
injustices and advocated
for Black student rights.
These spaces were formed
in hopes of supporting
students of Color.
The first lounge, the
Abeng Lounge in East
Quad,
was
established
in 1971. Since then, the
program has expanded to
encompass 16 lounges across
the
University’s
dorms.
Martha
Cook,
Betsey
Barbour and Henderson
House do not currently
have multicultural lounges.
Speakers at the event
honored many contributors
to the original lounges. One
of the speakers was Lee Gill,
a former U-M student and
the current special assistant
to the president and chief
diversity officer at Clemson
University. Gill explained
that the importance of
this event was not just to
remember the history, but
to keep educating students
on that history.
“We
need
to
keep
beating the drum,” Gill said.
“Let’s continue to build
an inclusive institution of
higher education … these
great
institutions,
they
have stories that we need
to share with incoming
students.”
The celebration of 50
years
of
these
spaces
comes at a time when
conversations about safe
spaces
on
campus
for
underrepresented
groups
have been deepened by a
recent letter to the Board
of Regents entitled “White
Students
Colonizing
Trotter.”
The
letter
advised
administrators
to
work
on preserving safe spaces
for
students
of
Color,
specifically
the
Trotter
Multicultural
Center,
which was founded in
1972. While smaller in size
than Trotter, multicultural
lounges have also acted as
safe spaces for students of
Color.
RILEY HODDER
Daily Staff Reporter
U-M community celebrates 50 years of
multicultural lounges in residence halls
Event commemorated a time capsule to be opened in 25 years
SYDNEY HASTINGS-WILKINS/Daily
A 50-year celebration for multicultural lounges occurs at the Michigan Union ballroom Tuesday night.
COVID-19 cases
trend upward
again after
weeks of decline
at UMich,
looser mask
requirements
Most positive tests linked to
unmasked social gatherings, free
at-home antigen tests available
With
one
month
of the Winter 2022
semester
remaining,
COVID-19 cases at the
University of Michigan
are trending upward
again
after
weeks
of
declining
cases,
according to a Friday
email
from
Robert
Ernst,
associate
vice
president of student life
and director of campus
COVID-19
response,
and Chief Health Officer
Preeti Malani.
Ernst and Malani
wrote that most of
these cases are likely
linked
to
unmasked
social
gatherings
on
campus and suggested
steps U-M community
members can take to
address rising COVID-
19 case counts in an
email to the campus
community.
According
to
the
University of Michigan’s
Campus
Maize
and
Blueprint, the University
saw a rise in weekly
cases since March 5,
with the largest rise in
weekly cases since Jan.
8 — at least an additional
72 cases — coming in
the week ending on
March 26. This increase
mirrors the trend of
COVID-19
cases
in
Washtenaw
County,
where
case
counts
increased by 32.9 cases
per 100k residents from
the
week
beginning
with March 16 to the
week beginning with
March 23.
“Many
of
these
cases can be linked
to
unmasked
social
gatherings,” Ernst and
Malani wrote.
U-M
students
accounted for 26% of
Washtenaw
County’s
cases in the week prior
to March 30, according
to
the
dashboard.
The increase in case
counts
comes
after
the
University
lifted
its mask mandate on
March 14 for most
indoor spaces, including
offices, residence halls
and at athletic events.
Masks are still required
in classrooms, patient
care
areas,
campus
buses and COVID-19
testing sites.
Pilar’s
Foundation, hosts
first fundraiser
in support of
Washtenaw
Afghan refugees
Family-owned tamale shop raises
money to provide services to
county immigrants
Pilar’s
Foundation
hosted
a
fundraiser
at the Zion Lutheran
Church
Sunday
to
support the resettlement
of Afghan refugees in
Washtenaw
County.
Pilar’s
Foundation,
the nonprofit arm of
Pilar’s
Tamales
that
partners
with
local
and
international
organizations
to
provide vital services
to
immigrants
and
refugees
in
the
Washtenaw
County
area, collaborated with
Jewish Family Services
(JFS) on the fundraising
event.
The fundraiser was
Pilar’s Foundation’s first
“official”
fundraiser
since
acquiring
tax-
exempt 501(c)3 status.
Although the new status
allows them to expand
their
fundraising
efforts, the foundation
has
been
operating
for over 20 years and
has been committed
to “working locally to
make the world a better
place,”
according
to
their website.
Attendees could order
meals
that
included
either two, six or 12
tamales,
accompanied
by curtido (cabbage slaw
with
onions,
carrots,
oregano and apple cider
vinegar), casamiento (a
mix of black beans and
white basmati rice) and
Pilar’s
tamale
sauce.
The restaurant donated
all the proceeds to the
foundation’s charitable
efforts.
In order to adapt to
the ongoing COVID-19
pandemic,
customers
were
able
to
place
orders in advance, and
they
were
available
for curbside pick-up, if
preferred or walk in.
Sylvia
Nolasco-
Rivers, owner of the
restaurant and president
of the foundation, said
Pilar’s has been giving
back to the community
for the past two decades.
“Every event that we
have done continues to
help us to do our work
better,” Nolasco-Rivers
said. “The work that
we’ve been doing for the
past 20 years has been
really a labor of love.”
ELI FIEEDMAN
Daily Staff Reporter
Read more at Michigan-
Daily.com
CECELIA DURAN
Daily News Contributor
Read more at MichiganDaily.
com
Read more at Michigan-
Daily.com