CAMPUS LIFE Read more at MichiganDaily.com Design by Abby Schreck News 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 MichiganDaily.com 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 Read more at MichiganDaily.com Read more at MichiganDaily.com GOVERNMENT CAMPUS LIFE