GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
INDEX
Vol. CXXXII, No. 90
©2022 The Michigan Daily
NEWS............................1
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
O P I N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
Follow The Daily
on Instagram,
@michigandaily
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, September 7, 2022
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY ONE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Law professor sues ‘U’
for racial and gender-
based discrimination
Michigan Medicine nurses
authorize strike
Union alleges University officials have refused to negotiate in good faith
IRENA LI
Daily News Reporter
RILEY HODDER & IRENA
LI
Daily News Reporters
UMich plans for COVID-19 and monkeypox on campus: Free rapid tests, vaccination headline prevention strategies
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Festifall brings crowds and success to student organizations
CARLIN PENDELL
Daily News Reporter
The University of Michigan
Professional
Nurse
Council
(UMPNC)
voted
to
authorize
a strike Friday afternoon after
months of unsuccessful contract
negotiations with the University,
according to a statement from the
union. The authorization is not an
announcement of an immediate
work stoppage but would allow the
bargaining unit to call for a strike
at any point.
According to the statement,
96% of voting members voted in
favor of the strike authorization.
The release says the union would
only call for a strike if they deem
it “absolutely necessary” to protest
the University’s alleged unfair
labor practices.
An
FAQ
section
regarding
the vote on the UMPNC website
says
union
leadership
sought
authorization to strike because it
believes the University has violated
labor practices in its negotiations.
“We are voting to authorize a
work stoppage for the purpose of
protesting the university’s alleged
unfair labor practices,” the website
reads. “We believe the university
has failed to bargain in good
faith, made improper changes to
our working conditions, and has
undermined our elected union
… We just want the university
to respect our rights, voice, and
union.”
Michigan
Medicine
spokeswoman Mary Masson said
in a statement that the University
was disappointed in the UMPNC’s
decision to authorize a strike and
that preparations are being made if
a work stoppage were to occur.
“Patients can still expect to
receive the same high quality
care at our hospitals and health
centers,” Masson said in the
statement.
“We
are
currently
planning to ensure safe staffing
levels if a work stoppage occurs.”
The UMPNC is a branch of the
Michigan
Nurses
Association,
which published a statement on
the vote Friday and said over
4,000 MNA-UMPNC members
participated in the vote.
“The vote shows that thousands
of nurses are united in standing
up for their rights and demanding
respect,” Renee Curtis, president
of MNA-UMPNC, wrote in the
statement. “We will not sit by
while the university violates the
law, especially when it comes to
their refusal to negotiate over safe
workloads. Nurses are ready to
do whatever it takes to hold the
university accountable.
The
strike
authorization
comes after the MNA filed a
lawsuit last month alleging the
University violated the Public
Employment Relations Act of 1947
by refusing to bargain over nurses’
workloads. Negotiations between
the University and Michigan
Medicine nurses have been
ongoing since March 15, with
nurses having worked without a
contract since the previous one
expired on July 1.
According to Masson, the
nurse’s union and the University
are close to a resolution. The
current proposal includes a
21% base pay increase in nurses
over the next four years, the
elimination
of
mandatory
overtime and a $4,000 bonus for
each member of the bargaining
unit.
The
union
said
in
the
statement that members would
be attending the next Board of
Regents meeting on September
22 to “make sure (the regents)
understand
what
Michigan
Medicine’s administration has
been doing.”
Daily Staff Reporter Irena
Li can be reached at irenayli@
umich.edu.
TESS CROWLEY/Daily
Festifall
returned
to
the
University of Michigan this week
with student organizations lining
the streets of campus hoping to
recruit the next class of promising
students.
Festifall began Tuesday on
North Campus in the late afternoon
before moving to Central Campus
on Thursday for afternoon and
evening sessions on the Diag and
Ingalls Mall.
This week’s festivities marked
the second in-person student org
recruitment event since classes
were canceled due to the COVID-
19 pandemic in March 2020. Last
year, Festifall was conducted fully
in person while Winterfest, the
winter semester equivalent, was
held virtually due to the spread
of the highly contagious omicron
variant of COVID-19.
Over the two days, Festifall,
organized by the Center for
Campus Involvement (CCI), hosted
over 750 student organizations,
community vendors and campus
departments seeking to engage
and recruit students.
Devon
Vaughn,
program
manager for student development
in CCI, estimated that about
9,000 people, primarily students,
attended
Festifall
on
Central
Campus, and about 3,000 people
attended
Festifall
on
North
Campus. Vaughn said the in-person
format allowed organizations to
connect with students.
“Fully
virtual
(events)
are
such a challenge. You don’t have
those moments of connection and
face to face contact. Last year, we
came back for the first time, and
it was great, but there was a lot of
hesitation,” Vaughn said. “This
year, it felt a lot closer to what
we saw in 2019 and 2018. The
attendance was beyond what (the
CCI) expected.”
Vaughn spoke on some of the
more difficult aspects of Festifall
and how the CCI plans to mitigate
the challenges of such a large
event.
“I think really great connections
are being made,” Vaughn said.
“There
are
challenges,
like
(Festifall) is overwhelming. It’s
huge. One of the things we’ve
tried to do is offer a one-on-one
appointment after Festifall for
those who could use that kind of
space.”
LSA freshman Maddison Linker
attended Festifall on Thursday and
shared her thoughts on the event.
“I was a little overwhelmed at
first because it seemed like a lot
of people, but now that I’m here,
it feels a lot better, and I’m very
excited to be learning about all
these organizations,” Linker said.
“I love it. Other than the free items,
I would say I’m really excited about
joining the volunteering clubs and
even some of the more random
clubs. I’m looking for fun things
to do outside of class.”
With a return to normal life
on campus, many organizations
felt this semester’s Festifall
differed
from
the
mid-
pandemic. Public Health senior
Meghna Singh is the president
and programming chair of
the
American
Foundation
for
Suicide
Prevention
at
the
University
(AFSP-UM).
The organization’s table was
scattered with pins, stickers,
flyers and candy on Thursday
in the Diag. Singh talked
about AFSP-UM’s recruitment
process this semester.
“The
energy
is
what’s
different,” Singh said. “There’s
definitely more people walking
around checking out tables,
versus a virtual environment,
which we’ve done multiple
times. It’s just not as successful.
I’m glad to see people are
excited and wanting to get back
involved again.”
Engineering
junior
Nicole
Baalbaki is the Director of Finance
for the Syrian Student Association.
She
discussed
the
association’s
tactics for recruiting new members at
Festifall.
“I think just playing some good
Arabic music, Syrian music, teaching
people about our culture, and who
we are,” Baalbaki said. “Just being
ourselves, showing what our culture
is.”
While some Festifall participants
said they are planning for a primarily
in-person semester, many said they
will use online meetings in the early
stages of membership.
LSA junior Deniz Kirca, outreach
chair of the Neuroscience Student
Association (NSA),, explained that
while his organization is conducting
many in-person events this year, the
NSA is still using a hybrid format.
KATE HUA/Daily
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Monday marks the beginning of
the fourth academic year impacted
by the COVID-19 pandemic. And
as the U-M community embarks on
another school year, The Michigan
Daily has you covered with the
most frequently asked questions
about health and safety on campus.
With the state of Michigan still
grappling with COVID-19 and the
monkeypox virus (MPV) reaching
the state in June of this year,
campus leaders have been tasked to
make preparations for the viruses’
impact on campus this fall.
COVID-19
Who was consulted in making
plans for Fall 2022?
In preparation for the Fall 2022
semester, the University created
the
Public
Health
Infection
Prevention and Response Advisory
Committee to advise on safety
plans,
University
spokesperson
Rick Fitzgerald told The Daily in
an email.
The
committee
includes
specialists
from
Michigan
Medicine on infection prevention,
University Health Services (UHS),
the School of Public Health,
athletic department, leadership
from all three U-M campuses and
other
university
professionals
according to Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald
also
wrote
that
University
established
the
Department
of
Infection
Prevention
and
Epidemiology
in 2020 within UHS to oversee
aspects
of
the
University’s
infectious disease response.
What percentage of classes will
be taught in person for the Fall
2022 semester?
The University did not provide an
exact percentage of classes taught
in person during the Fall 2022
semester. Fitzgerald confirmed
that
the
University
will
be
welcoming everyone back for a
“fully residential” semester, but
also recognized “the important
role of technology, in the classroom
and for other academic activities, to
augment the learning experience
and to address accessibility needs,
consistent
with
pedagogical
and programmatic needs.” It is
expected that some courses will
continue to be fully remote.
Why are vaccine-exempt
students no longer required
to test weekly?
Robert Ernst, U-M chief health
officer, announced in an email to
the campus community on August
18 that testing would be optional but
“encouraged” for anyone who is not
up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations
required by the University last fall and
winter.
Fitzgerald
wrote
that
the
University’s COVID-19 response has
shifted to encouraging individual
risk assessment related to adoption
of vaccination, testing, masking and
social distancing.
Will the University continue to
offer free single-use antigen tests
at on-campus COVID-19 testing
sites?
Single-use antigen tests will be
available at Community Sampling
and Tracking Program sites for U-M
students and employees. Fitzgerald
did not confirm how many tests
the University has reserved for
the fall semester, but he wrote that
“everyone is encouraged to have
antigen tests on hand” in case they
develop symptoms and need to test
quickly.
How will students be able to
report COVID-19 results taken on
an at-home test?
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Laura Beny, University of
Michigan Law School professor, filed
a lawsuit in the U.S District Court
for the Eastern District of Michigan
against the University and Law
School Dean Mark West on Friday,
claiming race, gender, familial and
marital status discrimination.
The
lawsuit,
which
names
the University, the Law School
and West as defendants, asserts
that Beny experienced a hostile
work
environment
created
by
her
co-workers
and
employers
throughout
her
time
at
the
University.
The
suit
claims
that
she
encountered multiple instances of
gender and race discrimination in
her classroom and, upon reporting,
the situations were not remediated
by the University. The lawsuit
references the Law School’s “lock
step”
payroll
policy
in
which
employees hired at the same pay rate
are expected to receive equivalent
raises, and the lawsuit claims that
Beny was not given pay raises in lock
step with a white male and white
female professor who were hired at
the same salary as her.
According to the lawsuit, Beny
sought a meeting with West in 2014
on this issue, who claimed that it was
a clerical error. West then applied for
a retroactive pay increase for Beny,
the lawsuit says.
“(Beny)
felt
that
the
administration had penalized her
for having championed equality and
making complaints about inequities
at the law school,” the lawsuit reads.
University spokeswoman Kim
Broekhuizen told The Michigan
Daily in an email that the allegations
were baseless. Beny, who was hired
at the University in 2003, remains as
a tenured faculty member at the Law
School, Broekhuizen added.
“The University of Michigan
will vigorously defend itself and the
Law School against the meritless
allegations made by Professor Laura
Beny in her complaint,” Broekhuizen
wrote.
The lawsuit describes several
instances throughout Beny’s tenure in
which she allegedly faced derogatory
remarks and harassment regarding
her race, gender and familial status,
including from West. The suit asserts
that the University and West are
in violation of the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Family
Medical Leave Act of 1993, which
prohibits discrimmination based on
disabilities and protects the right for
temporary leave.
The lawsuit claims that West made
multiple
inappropriate
comments
regarding Beny’s appearance, as
well as the appearance of her female
co-workers,
and
insinuated
that
Beny was a “dominatrix” on multiple
occasions. Included in the lawsuit was
one email in which West signed off
with “Your humble minion.”
“This theme of (Beny) being a
dominatrix has been constant in Dean
West’s inappropriate sexist and racist
comments towards (Beny) and it has
influenced his discrimination and
retaliation to her in the present,” the
lawsuit reads. “(Beny) felt demeaned
and horrified. (Beny) was a new
single mother, her daughter being
exactly one year old. No other single
parents were on the faculty at (the
University’s) Law School, to (Beny’s)
knowledge and belief, and Defendant
West never spoke to other new
mothers, white women, on the faculty
in the same offensive manner.”
West was also implicated in
controversy in March 2021, when he
publicly apologized for featuring racist
and sexually suggestive depictions
of Asian women on his book covers.
The suit recalls West’s apology and
claims it was merely “lip service,” as
he did not apologize to Beny for his
continued race- and gender-based
GEORGE WEYKAMP &
RONI KANE
Daily News Editors
Laura Beny accuses school of unfair pay
practices and unlawful harassment
Relaxed pandemic-era policies attract new members, restore feelings of normalcy at fall club fair