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Wednesday, April 13, 2022 — 3

ADMINISTRATION

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

The Ford School of Public Policy 

hosted 
Pulitzer 
Prize-winning 

author and journalist Anne Apple-
baum at the Michigan League on 
Monday to discuss challenges to 
democratic institutions and the role 
of the press in a conversation with 
Dean Michael S. Barr. 

Offered in both an in-person 

and virtual format, the event titled 
“The Twilight of Democracy” 
drew hundreds of attendees for the 
culmination of the Ford School’s 
“Democracy in Crisis” series. 
Beginning in March, the series 
hosted four acclaimed journalists 
to speak on threats to democratic 
systems in the U.S. and around the 
world. Applebaum, who specializes 
in geopolitics and the contempo-
rary political landscape, is currently 

a staff writer for The Atlantic.

Barr began the conversation 

asking Applebaum about her book 
“Twilight of Democracy: The 
Seductive Lure of Authoritari-
anism”, which explains how the 
appeal of nationalism and autocracy 
has paved the way for a new wave of 
authoritarianism around the world.

Applebaum 
said 
her 
book 

explored the rise of right-wing 
nationalism in Poland following the 
fall of the Soviet Union as well as a 
similar phenomenon being found 
in countries such as the U.S. and the 
U.K.

“A part of the right (in Poland) 

in particular, had come to different 
conclusions and had decided that 
the system that was built after 1989 
didn’t reflect their views,” Apple-
baum said. “A part of the Repub-
lican Party became disappointed 
with modern America. A part of 
the Tory party became disappoint-
ed with Britain, that the country 

was not what it had been or not 
what they imagined it should be 
… So they attached themselves to 
new, radical political movements.”

Applebaum went on to explain 

how conspiracy theories such as 
birtherism — the belief of any dis-
crediting claims that former U.S. 
President Barack Obama was 
not born a U.S. citizen — have 
fueled public distrust of the gov-
ernment in Western democra-
cies around the world.

“Each country has its differ-

ent version of this: in Poland, 
there was a terrible plane crash 
involving one of the former pres-
idents and a huge set of conspir-
acy theories were built around 
the plane crash,” Applebaum 
said. “The use of conspiracy the-
ory to undermine public trust … 
in democratic institutions, was 

 Pulitzer winner Anne Applebaum 
discusses challenges to democracy 

at Ford School event

Writer discusses declining trust in government, conspiracy 

theories, emphasizes agency of citizenry

IRENA LI 

Daily Staff Reporter 

DAILY INVESTIGATION
From Page 1

Read more at 
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Due to the small size of her class, 

Emma asked that the years she 
was enrolled in the program not 
be identified in the investigation. 
According to the 2015 Rackham report, 
the average enrollment cohort between 
2004 and 2014 was four students.

In her first month at the University, 

Emma was warned of Borders’ behavior 
toward graduate students. She was 
specifically advised by another student 
not to speak with him at the annual 
department party hosted at Borders’ 
house.

“(An older student) clearly mapped 

out (the house): This is the layout of 
the kitchen, this is the layout of the 
living room, this is probably where the 
professors will be,” Emma said in an 
interview with The Daily. “‘Don’t hover. 
Don’t try to make small talk. Don’t 
think that this is going to be a pleasant 
experience.’”

At the party, Emma watched Borders 

allegedly approach an Asian student 
to talk to them about “Japanese ritual 
suicide.” She alleged Borders then 
pretended to perform such a suicide. 

“‘So when you want to commit 

suicide, let me know because I can help 
you or I can tell you how to do it,’” Emma 
alleged Borders told a group of students 
at the party.

Another student who attended this 

party 
independently 
corroborated 

Emma’s account.

In an interview with The Daily, 

Alyssa Wells, a current student enrolled 
in the musicology doctoral program, 
recalled her time in fall 2017 as a 
graduate student instructor (GSI) for 
one of Borders’ classes.

On Nov. 1, Wells learned that her 

mother-in-law had been moved into 
hospice care due to a decline in her 
health. She called a fellow GSI and made 
arrangements for them to cover her 

duties before that day’s 8:30 a.m. lecture. 
She emailed Borders at 6:58 a.m.

“I woke this morning to the news 

that my mother-in-law has a very short 
amount of time left. I will not be in 
class today,” Wells wrote. “Right now I 
am still too much in shock to make the 
judgment about whether or not I will be 
in for the rest of the week.”

After a lengthy discussion over 

email about plans for Wells’s sections, 
Borders wrote that Wells had failed 
to communicate clearly in her earlier 
emails. The email exchanges between 
Wells and Borders were obtained by 
The Daily.

“Your 
personal 
situation, 
as 

emotionally challenging as you find 
it, neither reduces your responsibility 
nor the reasonable expectation of clear 
communication so long as you are a UM 
instructor,” Borders wrote to Wells on 
Nov. 3, 2017. 

Borders included Associate Dean 

Jason Corey, one of Wells’ colleagues 
and two musicology professors in his 
response, which Wells told The Daily 
she felt was inappropriate because the 
emails “revealed sensitive personal 
information.”

Wells said she asked other faculty 

members for their advice on how 
to handle Borders’s complaint. In 
one email, a different department 
faculty member suggested that Wells 
“de-escalate.”

“The urgent thing you need to do at 

this point is to de-escalate the situation,” 
the faculty member wrote on Nov. 4 in 
an email obtained by The Daily.

Wells recalled speaking to other 

faculty 
members 
about 
Borders’s 

complaint. They all had the same 
response, Wells claims.

“‘Apologize to him,’” Wells said. 

“Apologize to the person who had tried 
to initiate disciplinary action against me 
in my job because I took a total of four 
days off … that I’m legally entitled to.”

According to the U.S. Department 

of Labor Family and Medical Leave Act 

of 1993, one reason employees can take 
time off is “To care for the employee’s 
spouse, child, or parent who has a 
qualifying serious health condition.”

Wells told The Daily she later met 

with her advisor, who told her that 
Borders had criticized Wells during a 
faculty meeting. 

“(The advisor) said that I had done 

something to make him think that I was 
not serious about the subject … that I had 
abandoned students,” Wells said.

When she returned to teaching after 

Thanksgiving Break, Wells said she 
attempted to apologize to Borders to 
de-escalate the situation. During their 
conversation, Borders allegedly told 
Wells he had complained about her 
in a faculty meeting and spoke for so 
long that two faculty members left the 
meeting.

Tara Browner, a graduate of the 

musicology doctoral program from the 
late 1980s, alleged Borders’s behavior 
created an intimidating and hostile 
classroom environment. 

“It was just awful,” Browner said 

of her time in Borders’s musicology 
bibliography class. “He’s one of these 
people that finds somebody in the class 
and picks on them.”

Another student who took this class 

independently corroborated Browner’s 
characterization of Borders’s classroom 
conduct.

After Browner decided to confront 

Borders about his teaching style, she 
alleged Borders retaliated by lowering 
her grade to a B. She recalled calling 
Borders after the end of the semester to 
discuss her grade.

“‘I gave (the grade) to you because of 

those things you said to me,’” Browner 
alleged Borders said. “‘You had a bad 
attitude.’”

Browner said her grade was allegedly 

raised after that phone call. The 
Daily has obtained a transcript listing 
Browner’s final grade as a B+. 

Eight years later, while attending 

the American Musicological Society 

conference in Baltimore, Browner 
alleged that during dinner one night 
Borders made a toast about her in front 
of some graduate students and faculty.

“(Prof. Borders was) drinking and 

drinking, and people started doing 
toasts,” Browner said. “And he stood 
up and … his toast was, ‘Fuck you, Tara 
Browner.’”

Browner was shocked at Borders’ 

behavior, particularly given that she was 
no longer a University graduate student.

“What was shocking is that he 

treated a professional colleague — me 
— the way he did,” Browner wrote in a 
statement to The Daily.

Browner described feeling a lack of 

support from the musicology faculty 
while she was a student at the University.

“I kept thinking, these people don’t 

care about me at all,” Browner said of the 
department. “They don’t care about my 
career. All I am is I’m something that’s 
here, that’s on a fellowship … they just 
simply do not care about me.”

The Daily’s investigation also found 

numerous allegations of unprofessional 
conduct and academic bullying against 
Professor Louise Stein, a member of 
the musicology department since 1987. 
These allegations come from interviews 
with 14 current and former students of 
the 16 total interviews and a review of 
emails, assignment feedback and other 
documentation.

Stein has previously drawn attention 

in the “Overheard at umich” Facebook 
group for a threatening and aggressive 
email she sent to Information and 
Technology Services in 2016. In an April 
2021 Facebook thread, multiple students 
who took Stein’s courses expressed 
concern over her conduct in class and in 
emails.

The Daily spoke with one of Emma’s 

classmates, 
who 
also 
requested 

anonymity out of fear for professional 
repercussions. In this article, they will 
be referred to as Noah.

In their first semester at the 

University, Noah and Emma enrolled in 

Musicology 509 with Stein. They allege 
that Stein repeatedly offered feedback 
that was insulting and unproductive.

“‘You all write like you have 

absolutely no graduate experience,’” 
Emma alleged Stein said.

Emma took another class with 

Stein the next semester. In this course, 
students began work on their third term 
paper, an essay the department used 
to determine which students would 
continue in the doctoral program. 

Stein returned one of Emma’s papers 

with comments written in all caps and 
red text. The Daily obtained a copy of 
this essay.

“I feel like I can’t breathe when I 

look at those pages,” Emma told The 
Daily. “I can’t tell you how often I cried 
over emails and feedback from her.”

In her application to the University, 

Emma wrote a diversity statement 
in which she described growing up 
below the poverty line. Emma alleged 
Stein repeatedly brought up Emma’s 
statement to critique her work. The 
Daily was not able to independently 
verify that Stein had access to these 
documents.

“She actually weaponized details 

from my diversity statement against 
me,” Emma said.

The Daily obtained an email 

containing feedback on a presentation 
Emma gave in class in which 
Stein 
commented 
on 
Emma’s 

socioeconomic background. 

“Sometimes I have to say things 

that are not as ‘nice’ as the things we 
exchange in social discourse,” Stein 
wrote. “You come from a very different 
world than the one we are training you 
to enter (academe!!).”

Despite her concerns over Stein, 

Emma said she never filed a complaint 
about Stein’s behavior for fear of 
retaliation. 

“(I heard) that other people had 

complained in the past … and that 
nothing had ever happened,” Emma 
said. “All that could really happen was 

that it could make Stein have more 
reason to attack.”

Emma alleged that Stein’s recurring 

negative feedback prevented her from 
progressing on her third-term-paper. 
She was later cut from the doctoral 
candidate 
program 
because 
of 

problems with this paper, according to 
a letter from the department obtained 
by The Daily.

“Two years at Michigan set me 

back five years in my career,” Emma 
said.

Wells is a first-generation college 

student. When she enrolled in one of 
Stein’s classes, she alleged that Stein 
repeatedly made comments about her 
family background. In one instance, 
Wells mentioned that her mother was 
taking a college music appreciation 
course. 

“From that point on, (Stein) 

made comments about me sounding 
unrefined,” Wells alleged.

Wells alleged Stein once held 

the class overtime for 15 minutes to 
criticize how Wells presented a mock 
lesson for a piece based on a Spanish 
poem. One other student, who was in 
the class at the time, independently 
corroborated Wells’s account.

“She held the class over to 

interrogate me about my knowledge 
of Spanish and my inability to translate 
the poem and (to) truly know what 
the poet was getting at … other classes 
were waiting to get in,” Wells said.

In interviews with The Daily, 

multiple 
current 
and 
former 

students alleged Stein created a 
hostile environment in class by 
asking aggressive questions during 
presentations.

A former graduate student who 

entered the program in the fall of 2007 
asked to remain anonymous out of fear 
for professional repercussions. In this 
article, they will be referred to as Lauren.

SMTD premiers first in 

series of 10 compositions by 

Black composers

School commissioned pieces to make classical music more 

accessible and inclusive

CARLIN PENDELL 

Daily Staff Reporter

The University of Michigan 

School of Music, Theatre & Dance 
premiered 
“Tethered 
Voices”, 

the first of 10 compositions of the 
Michigan Orchestra Repertoire for 
Equity (MORE). The project aims to 
increase equity in classical music by 
commissioning 10 Black composers 
in the next 10 years.

Music, Theater & Dance pro-

fessor Kenneth Kiesler began the 
MORE project in 2020. He was 
motivated to commission “Teth-
ered Voices” after reading its name-
sake poem which was written by his 
colleague and friend Kalena Bovell. 
The poem is a reflection on the pro-
tests and racial anxiety following 
the death of George Floyd in May 
2020. Kiesler said he knew the first 
piece of the MORE project would 

involve Bovell’s work after reading 
“Tethered Voices.” Kiesler reached 
out to U-M alum James Lee III 
(’99, ’01, ’05) shortly after to write 
music to accompany the poem. 

In addition to her poetry, 

Bovell is involved in the music 
industry, serving as the assistant 
conductor of the Memphis Sym-
phony Orchestra. Kiesler and 
Bovell met over 10 years ago at 
the Conductors Retreat at Medo-
mak. 

The performance took place at 

Hill Auditorium and featured the 
University Symphony Orchestra. 

In an interview with The 

Michigan Daily, Kiesler said 
Bovell’s poem and Lee’s epony-
mous composition are a power-
ful combination, living up to his 
expectations for the first piece of 
the project.

“Kalena sent me her poem, 

which she had just written, and 

when I read it, I immediately was 
moved by it,” Kiesler said. “I knew 
that this would be the first piece, 
so I contacted her right away and 
told her how I felt about the poem 
and asked if we could go ahead and 
have it set to be a piece for orches-
tra. She agreed later that day, so I 
asked James (to write the music) 
and we reached an agreement and 
the next day he started working on 
it … it’s an incredibly great piece and 
the two together — the music and 
the poem — really have the mov-
ing and inspiring impact that I had 
hoped the piece would have.”

Lee said equity in the music 

industry is extremely important, 
and there is always room for 
improvement. While writing the 
composition for the MORE proj-
ect, he tried to emphasize mean-
ingful words in Bovell’s poem 
and vocalize the emotions felt by 
many Black people today. 

“It’s this idea of being tired 

of the situation, tired of tears, 
tired of feeling hopeless, that 
kind of thing,” Lee said. “The 
very last line says ‘I’m tired of 
not being seen’, so it’s this kind 
of tiredness, of not being seen 
as equal — not being given equal 
opportunities.”

Bovell said she knew many 

people in the Black community 
shared her frustration and anger, 
especially following the death of 
George Floyd. She said Lee was 
able to convey her emotions in a 
meaningful piece of music. 

“It’s a really powerful piece,” 

Bovell said. “Musically, when 

you take the words away, there’s 
such a darkness and depth to 
it. I think (Lee) really was able 
to pull out the emotions that I 
was feeling when I wrote those 
words.”

As warmer weather comes to 

Ann Arbor, students are yearning 
for opportunities to spend time in 
the long-awaited spring sun. After 
being cooped up inside avoiding 
Michigan’s harsh winters, time 
outside is a precious thing for 
many Wolverines. 

Outside of many traditional 

D1 sports like football, hockey 
and basketball, some students at 
the University of Michigan have 
found hobbies and talents in other 
sports teams.

The Quidditch team has had 

much success since it was intro-
duced to Ann Arbor in 2010. This 
past fall, the team won awards 
at multiple tournaments, includ-
ing being named Michigan State 
University Starting Rush Cham-

pions, Penn State Nittany Invi-
tational Champions and Great 
Lakes Regionals runners-up. This 
semester, they have also been 
awarded Miami University Quaf-
fle House Cup Champions. The 
quidditch team will be heading 
to the national championship on 
April 23 and 24. 

Rackham student Mara Hill, 

an MSE student in the mechani-
cal 
engineering 
department, 

spoke to The Michigan Daily 
about their experience on the 
quidditch team. The rules of the 
game reflect those of the rules 
in the book, including keep-
ing a PVC pipe between your 
legs as you would a broomstick 
and using deflated volleyballs 
and dodgeballs as Quaffles and 
Bludgers. 

Hill said her favorite memory 

for the team was regionals dur-
ing their sophomore year. 

“At that time we had such a 

deep team, with talent and such, 
that we actually had two official 
teams at regionals … both teams 
did really really well …. it was 
just a full weekend of Quidditch 
and it was just so much fun,” Hill 
said. “It was the first time in my 
college career that I had a week-
end where I wasn’t home, and 
I didn’t think about school the 
entire time, and I was just sur-
rounded by that found-family 
sort of environment.” 

The 
Michigan 
quidditch 

team also strives for diversity, 
equity and inclusion on the field, 
according to Hill. Quidditch 
teams across the world follow 
gender inclusivity rules, which 
state that no more than four of 
the six players on the field (less 
the seeker) can be of the same 
gender. 

Backpacking, parkour and 

quidditch give UMich community 

chance to get out and play

Unconventional, niche sports fill gap, keep students active, 

engaged in novel ways

MEGHAN KUNKLE & 

EMILINE FAHMY
Daily Staff Reporters

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