Over 700 community members
gathered in the University of
Michigan Diag on Sept. 18 to
participate in the second annual
Entheofest, a festival dedicated
to
the
decriminalization
and
awareness
of
entheogens,
or
psychedelic substances. The event
brought
together
people
and
organizations from all over the
Ann Arbor area, fostering a sense
of community through a variety
of performances and educational
booths.
This
September
marks
the
two-year anniversary of the Ann
Arbor
City
Council’s
decision
to
decriminalize
psychedelics,
declaring it “the lowest priority” for
law enforcement. The Washtenaw
County Prosecutor’s Office also does
not charge individuals for the use,
growth or possession of entheogenic
plants. According to an MLive
article,
City
Council
members
were “swayed by arguments about
medical and spiritual benefits of
using psychedelics, including for
mental health treatment” in 2020,
when they made their decision.
Though the state of Michigan
has not decriminalized psychedelic
substances statewide, the city of
Detroit officially decriminalized
entheogens in November 2021, with
Hazel Park following in March 2022.
According to Bridge Michigan, only
14 cities nationwide have passed
similar policies by March, and
Oregon is currently the only state to
have decriminalized entheogens for
medical purposes.
Julie Barron, president of the
Michigan Psychedelic Society and
board member of Decriminalize
Nature Michigan, has been involved
with Entheofest since its inception,
one year ago. Barron was beaming as
she talked Sunday about the success
of this year’s event. Barron told The
Michigan Daily that hosting public
events like Entheofest promotes a
sense of inclusion in the community.
“We want to honor our sacred
plants and fungi,” Barron said. “We
want to create a space of diversity
and equality in the space. Our event
is really just to continue the forward
motion of the work already done.
It’s really to make sure we take time
and honor the community and the
plants.”
Keynote
speaker
Moudou
Baqui, who is also a key leader in
the Decriminalize Nature Detroit
campaign, emphasized the less
obvious benefits of psychedelics,
such as healing trauma and helping
those with mental health concerns.
His speech spoke to the importance
of keeping psychedelic substances
under the jurisdiction of activists
rather than the government.
“How do (psychedelics) stay in
the hands of people? By avoiding
the mistakes that we made in the
previous movement of cannabis,”
Baqui said. “We allowed people to
convince us that legalization was the
smart way which was really signing
us up to enter into a legal structure.”
Based on previous research,
Baqui said there is potential for
increased health benefits from
improving access to psychedelics
for individuals experiencing mental
health concerns, the elderly and
those healing from trauma.
“When
we
do
mushrooms,
sometimes I’m dealing with a
kid that’s got memories of police
repression or drive-bys or memories
of friends dying on the street, so we
do it with a deeper level of healing,”
Baqui said.
Matt Strang, another member
of the Michigan Initiative for
Community
Healing,
attended
Entheofest for the second time
on Sunday. Strang said he was
happy with how the event seemed
to attract more visitors and felt
more welcoming to him this year
compared with 2021.
“I like how (Entheofest) is
maturing and changing,” Strang
said. “People are kind of learning as
we go.”
Daily News Reporter Isabella
Kassa can be reached at ikassa@
umich.edu.
If Trevor Noah could have any
wish granted, he would not wish for
more money, success or even more
wishes.
Instead, he told University of
Michigan students that he would
wish for something “crazy.”
“I wish that the world would
have this weird system where at
any time, in any place, you could be
snapped out of your body and you’d
have to live in somebody else’s for an
indeterminate period of time,” Noah
said. “I wonder how they would treat
(other) people knowing that they
might be them on any given day.”
Noah,
a
38-year-old
South
African comedian and host of The
Daily Show, presented life advice
— and humor, of course — to U-M
engineering students while talking
about his 2016 autobiography “Born
a Crime.” He gave the equivalent of
an intimate “fireside chat” from the
stage of a packed Hill Auditorium
and returned to Hill after sunset to
perform stand-up. The comedy show
was a stop on his ongoing “Back to
Abnormal” world tour and marked
the first time Noah has appeared live
at the University.
Following the fireside chat, which
was exclusively for engineering
students, Noah hosted a comedy
show at the Hill Auditorium that
drew over 3,000 attendees, of which
over 1,100 were U-M students. The
show featured a comedic take on
U.S. and U.K politics, the COVID-
19 pandemic and the upcoming
live-action remake of Disney’s “The
Little Mermaid.”
Engineering freshmen in 2021
and 2022 were asked to read
Noah’s “Born a Crime” as a part of
the Common Reading Experience
program before stepping foot on
campus and starting their first
courses. Since 2013, the program
was created to give new students an
easy way to start conversations with
their peers. The literary selection has
changed from year to year, but for
the past two summers, engineering
students have started their time as
Wolverines by reading Noah’s book
about growing up in South Africa
during apartheid.
Friday’s talk was specifically
reserved for engineering students
who filled up the main floor and
mezzanine of Hill Auditorium — over
2,000 seats total. At the talk, Alec
D. Gallimore, the Robert J. Vlasic
dean of engineering, introduced
Sita Syal, an assistant professor of
mechanical engineering, who led the
conversation with Noah.
Gallimore spoke to the crowd
about why the College of Engineering
wanted to bring Noah to campus
to talk to students. He mentioned
that Noah speaks eight different
languages — English, Xhosa, Zulu,
Tsonga, Southern Sotho, Tswana,
Afrikaans and German — and was
listed as one of Time’s 100 Most
Influential People in 2018.
“The
Common
Reading
Experience creates an opportunity
for class bonding and thought-
provoking discussions even before
the students arrive on campus,”
Gallimore said. “Our aim is to
compliment our technical excellence
with insights from other disciplines
such as the humanities and the arts
and broaden the understanding
of equity as we cultivate the
global perspective we call this
comprehensive approach to our
work: People-first Engineering.”
Syal asked how Noah strikes
a balance between humor and
social sensitivity when discussing
controversial topics in his comedy
routines. Noah said he uses comedy
to
overcome
the
day-to-day
challenges that come with “being
human” and to contextualize his
individually lived experiences.
The University of Michigan
published its first climate action
report detailing the University’s
progress toward its sustainability
and
carbon
neutrality
goals
during the 2022 fiscal year on
Sept. 23.
In a press release obtained
by The Michigan Daily, Interim
University President Mary Sue
Coleman
said
the
University
will continue its commitment
to its carbon neutrality goals
and collaborate with various
stakeholders to achieve them.
“Carbon neutrality is at the
heart of what we do; in planning
and
powering
our
buildings,
deploying our buses, pursuing
leading research, and making
investments to fund such work,”
Coleman wrote. “I look forward
to building on our progress
and learning from like-minded
partners and communities as we
pursue a more sustainable world.
Together, we can take meaningful
climate action.”
According to the report, the
University has reduced its total
greenhouse gas emissions by 25%
from 2010 to 2022, achieving a
goal to do so three years early.
This includes a 4% reduction in
emissions in the past fiscal year.
The
report
also
said
the
University is on track to reduce
both scope one and two emissions
by 50% by 2025. This is in line
with
the
Intergovernmental
Panel
on
Climate
Change’s
recommendation
to
reduce
emissions by 45% by 2030.
The
University’s
carbon
neutrality plan — which was
released
in
March
2021
—
highlights three kinds of carbon
emissions and unique timelines
to reduce each type. Scope one
includes direct carbon emissions
from University facilities, which
the University is working to
eliminate
entirely
by
2040.
Scope two entails off-campus
purchases of electricity, which
the University hopes to achieve
net-zero emissions by 2025. Scope
three includes indirect carbon
emissions from food and travel.
The University said they are
working to define its goal and
timeline for scope three emissions
reduction by 2025.
The
University’s
carbon
neutrality plan came as a result of
continued student and community
activism to push the University to
take more aggressive action on
climate change and go beyond the
recommended emission reduction
targets. Throughout the two-
year process of creating the plan,
the President’s Commission on
Carbon Neutrality engaged in
extensive research by a group
of faculty, students and other
advisors starting in 2019.
In the past year, the University
identified 50 energy conservation
projects to finance through its
Revolving Energy Fund, which
in total, is estimated to reduce
carbon emissions by over 5,600
metric tons per year. They also
issued $300 million in green bonds
and unveiled plans for geothermal
heating and cooling systems. The
University also released the U-M
Emissions Reduction Dashboard
this year, where members of the
campus community can track
carbon neutrality progress.
In a statement, the University
highlighted its key priorities for
climate action in the upcoming
fiscal year.
“In
the
year
ahead,
key
priorities
include
finalizing
a
renewable-power
purchase
agreement, initiating on-campus
solar
energy
projects
and
partnering
with
like-minded
institutions,
consortia
and
community
stakeholders,”
the
statement read.
The University of Michigan
Board of Regents met on Sept.
22 at the Alexander G. Ruthven
Museums Building to discuss
enrollment rates at the University
of Michigan-Flint, new residence
halls and dedicating the tunnel
at Michigan Stadium to former
football coach Lloyd Carr.
The meeting marked Interim
University President Mary Sue
Coleman’s last meeting before
President-elect Santa Ono takes
office on Oct. 13. She opened the
meeting by addressing challenges
at U-M Flint, including a 30% drop
in enrollment since 2014. Coleman
announced a strategic plan to
improve U-M Flint and to extend
Flint Chancellor Debasish Dutta’s
appointment until June 2026.
“The work begins tomorrow
morning when (Dutta) will host (a)
town hall meeting,” Coleman said.
“It will be driven by comprehensive
data, including labor and student
market
demand
for
academic
programs. It is critical that the
Flint campus align its programs
with the needs of our state’s
workforce.”
The town hall meeting will
take place Sept. 23 at 10 a.m. at the
U-M Flint Riverfront Conference
Center. Strategic planning will
continue through the fall and
winter semesters under Ono’s
presidency.
In anticipation of an increased
demand
for
student
housing,
Coleman
proposed
naming
a future residence hall after
former Vice President of Student
Life Dr. E. Royster Harper. The
board approved the renaming
unanimously. It will be the first
University of Michigan building to
be named after a Black woman.
Athletic Director Warde Manuel
also proposed a dedication, asking
the Board of Regents to name
the players’ tunnel at Michigan
Stadium for former U-M football
coach Lloyd Carr, who was present
at the meeting.
“There is something that’s so
appropriate about naming this
tunnel after (Carr),” Regent Mark
Bernstein (D) said. “When you
go through a tunnel, particularly
the tunnel at the football stadium,
The Big House, you emerge in
this majestic and formative place,
and that’s what (Carr has) done
for countless numbers of student
athletes and students on campus.”
The
board
approved
the
proposal unanimously.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXXII, No. 93
©2022 The Michigan Daily
NEWS............................1
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
STATEMENT.............. . . . . . . . 5
M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
O P I N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 1
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michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, September 28, 2022
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWO YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
ISABELLA KASSA
Daily Staff Reporter
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Board of Regents approve transformative
plan for Flint Campus
Trevor Noah talks
innovation, equity with
engineering students
University publishes first climate action
report on sustainability progress, priorities
RONI KANE &
SHANNON STOCKING
Daily News Editors
SAMANTHA RICH
Daily Staff Reporter
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
RILEY HODDER &
MATTHEW SHANBOM
Daily Staff Reporter
The Daily Show host gives fireside chat,
stand-up comedy performance
Mary Sue Coleman present at her last meeting to talk new dorms, Michigan Stadium
UMich reaches benchmark of 25% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
ANN ARBOR
ADMINISTRATION
ADMINISTRATION
Shelly Smith (right) and Sarah Nuñez-Bida (left) help festival attendees enter a drawing to win books about psychedelics at Entheofest in the Diag Sunday afternoon.
Entheofest returns to Ann Arbor to spread
awareness of psychedelic decriminalization
Activists host second annual celebration of entheogenic plants
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
JEREMY WEINE/Daily
Interim President Mary Sue Coleman speaks at her final Regents meeting Thursday evening.
HANNAH TORRES/Daily
CAMPUS LIFE
R
A
Y
E
1
S
3
2