Monday night, the University
of Michigan Diag was filled with
over 100 voices chanting ‘Yes on
three!’ as activists and Ann Arbor
community members rallied for
Proposal 3, also known as the
Reproductive Freedom For All
ballot initiative that will appear in
the upcoming midterm election.
The
Reproductive
Freedom
For All proposal would amend
the Michigan Constitution to
enshrine the right to abortion,
birth control and other forms
of
reproductive
health
care.
Following the overturning of Roe
v. Wade in June, access to abortion
remains legal in Michigan for the
time being under a preliminary
injunction blocking a 1931 abortion
ban. However, this injunction has
already been challenged multiple
times and there is no permanent
legal protection for abortion in the
state.
The event kicked off with
speeches from representatives for
Promote the Vote — another ballot
proposal this November, aimed
at increasing voter accessibility
— and the Reproductive Freedom
For All initiative. Representatives
spoke on the urgency of voting
in this year’s election to support
these ballot proposals and other
Democratic politicians.
Shanay
Watson-Whittaker,
deputy campaign manager for
Reproductive Freedom For All,
recounted her personal experience
of having an abortion for an
unplanned pregnancy. She said
she was living in a shelter with her
siblings at the time and was unable
to financially support a child.
“I had to make the decision to
terminate my pregnancy because
I could not imagine raising a child
in that environment,” Watson-
Whittaker said. “I could not
imagine putting myself through
that kind of trauma and putting
my family, my siblings through
that trauma of raising a child
in that environment. So I made
that decision. I don’t regret that
decision at all because I don’t know
where I’d be if I didn’t make that
decision.”
Watson-Whittaker
urged
attendees
to
vote
‘yes’
on
Reproductive Freedom For All,
which will appear as Proposal 3
on the ballot, and encourage other
people in their lives to do the same.
“S
peak to your friends and
neighbors
and
your
family
members about why you support
Proposal 3,” Watson-Whittaker
said. “Normalize the conversation
around
reproductive
care.
Normalize it. Talk to your friends,
neighbors and family about it like
it’s just a sunny day out here in
Michigan.”
Michigan
Attorney
General
Dana Nessel was also in attendance
Monday evening, as she recounted
reading Margaret Atwood’s “The
Handmaid’s Tale” in an English
class as a U-M student. Nessel
said the novel, which depicts a
dystopian world where women
are classified as “handmaids”
and forced to bear children of
high-profile government officials,
mirrors the current state of
reproductive rights in Michigan.
“It’s not really fiction anymore,
is it?” Nessel said. “It’s actually
closer to reality because we now
have a government that is able to
regulate and politicize the bodies
of women in a way that they,
frankly, don’t regulate or politicize
the bodies of men.”
The event was organized by
the University’s chapter of College
Democrats. LSA senior Vivi Iyer,
College Democrats co-chair, told
The Michigan Daily there is still
uncertainty about abortion access
in Michigan, but she is motivated by
the support of attendees and other
activists fighting for Reproductive
Freedom For All.
“It’s encouraging to see so many
people backing people who can get
pregnant of all ages,” Iyer said. “I
have more confidence that Prop 3
will pass.”
Nessel also spoke at the rally
about the importance of being
politically engaged, especially for
students.
“If you haven’t gotten involved
and you haven’t been engaged and
you don’t vote, you’re not gonna get
another chance to bring back your
fundamental rights,” Nessel said.
“Because once they’re gone, they’re
gone and they’re not coming back.”
Three multicultural lounges in
University of Michigan residence
halls
will
reopen
this
fall
following the conclusion of recent
renovations.
The
Abeng
Multicultural
Lounge in East Quad reopened
on Sept. 13. The Edward Said
Multicultural Lounge in North
Quad and the Yuri Kochiyama
Multicultural Lounge in South
Quad will open on Oct. 12 and
Nov. 15, respectively.
The lounge reopenings this
fall are part of the Multicultural
Lounge Program, which consists
of 18 lounges in total, all housed
within U-M residence halls. The
program was first created by U-M
alum Dr. Harvey Slaughter in the
1970s, and the program celebrated
its 50th anniversary last year.
Jeannene
Jones-Rupert,
assistant director for diversity
and
inclusion
at
Michigan
Housing, said the University’s
multicultural lounge program is
the only one in the country that
exists within college residence
halls.
Jones-Rupert
said
the
program was inspired by the Black
Action Movement, a student-
led initiative in the 1970s that
advocated for an increase in Black
student enrollment and better
supported community spaces for
activism work.
“These were spaces that were
seen as hubs of connection,
support,
for
socializing,
for
having programming, for coming
together
to
talk
about
the
advocacy work that (students)
were doing on campus through
their student activism work,”
Jones-Rupert said. “The spaces
were created out of a need for a
place for culture and community
and
connection
when
there
weren’t those kinds of spaces on
campus.”
Jones-Rupert
said
students
were involved in the process
Four
candidates
who
are
currently running for a spot on
the University of Michigan Board
of Regents met Monday morning
at the Alexander G. Ruthven
Museums Building for a Q&A
moderated by Silvia Pedraza, chair
of the Senate Advisory Committee
of School Affairs (SACUA).
The candidates are running for
two spots in the Nov. 8 general
election to serve an eight-year
term. The contenders include
incumbents Katherine White (D)
and Michael Behm (D) as well
as Green Party nominee Sherry
Wells and Republican candidate
Sevag Vartanian. Lena Epstein,
the other Republican nominee for
Regent, was not in attendance.
The board currently consists
of two Republicans and eight
Democrats.
All of the candidates gave
brief statements before the Q&A
session. Questions were chosen
prior to the event and were asked
either directly from the attendees
or anonymously from Pedraza.
Behm spoke first and discussed
the challenges the University
has undergone during the past
eight years of his tenure. He said
while the University still has not
addressed all of its problems, it
has taken strides toward making
campus a safer, healthier and
more inclusive place to learn.
“One of the prime problems
that I found out was with
communication,”
Behm
said.
“There was an issue you would go
forward and address and instead,
that did not occur with the
administration, as evidenced by
the no-confidence vote. So those
are some issues issues that were
interrelated with labor issues and
also safety and the environment of
safety and assault on campus.”
Behm
acknowledged
the
numerous
sexual
misconduct
allegations
against
University
officials
that
have
surfaced
in
recent
years,
specifically
mentioning
the
allegations
against former University Provost
Martin Philbert, as well as the
thousands of abuse allegations
made
against
late
University
athletic doctor Robert Anderson.
Behm also discussed the effect
of the COVID-19 pandemic on
the University and the firing of
former University President Mark
Schlissel as some of the biggest
challenges the board has faced
during Behm’s time as a regent.
Students, faculty and staff at the
University of Michigan reported
feeling less positive about the
general University climate but
better about the diversity, equity
and climate specifically than in
2016 according to the 2021 DEI
climate survey conducted at the
University this past fall.
The findings of the survey
were discussed at a series of
sessions run by the U-M Office
of Diversity Equity and Inclusion
for all interested U-M community
members on Sept. 27 in the
Michigan Union and Oct. 6 in the
Michigan League. Both sessions
were livestreamed, recorded and
posted on the U-M Diversity,
Equity & Inclusion website. These
results come as the campus wraps
up its first DEI five-year strategic
plan, in which all departments on
campus were provided a guiding
framework for leadership and
success by the Office of Diversity,
Equity and Inclusion.
The
framework
was
built
around DEI Plan 1.0, which
Chief Diversity Officer Tabbye
Chavous referred to as “the first
five-year plan”, prompting every
department on campus to identify
what DEI meant to them. Many
units also came up with different
practices
around
admissions,
hiring and retention that have
been implemented and are already
making a difference, Chauvous
explained.
William
Axinn,
research
professor
in
the
Sociology
Department,
presented
the
survey’s
approach
and
methodology. The 2021 survey
was developed by the Office of
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
and
mirrored
the
survey
conducted in 2016, with new
additional questions on mental
health, health and COVID-19.
Axinn said the online survey
yielded a highly representative
sample of students, staff and
faculty, whose response rates
were high: 49%, 62% and 64%,
respectively.
“This is among the very best
that’s ever been done,” Axinn said.
“So we’re thrilled with that.”
Chavous led the conversation
about
the
University’s
DEI
climate. Chavous explained the
term, “climate,” and how it applies
in a diversity, equity and inclusion
context.
“Climate is intended to feel out
a temperature that’s hot or cold,”
Chavous said. “You can think
about the climate of a setting in the
same way — is it hot or is it cold? Is
it uninviting? Is it unwelcoming?
It really is about how people
experience a setting — what they
feel, observe, see on a daily basis.”
Grant Benson, Director of Data
Collections for the Institute of
Social Research, said he attended
the event to better understand
how he could implement these
survey results into his work.
“I want to know: how can
I contribute to bringing our
department into alignment with
University values?” Grant said.
“When you talk about diversity,
inclusion and justice in some
cases, what are the action steps?
What’s the next step? What can
we actually do to promote those
values?”
LSA junior Sophia Grant said
she
supports
the
University’s
efforts to better incorporate DEI
into campus life.
“There’s definitely a lot of
places where we can grow and
improve,”
Grant
said.
“Not
everything is completely equitable
yet. I’ve talked to people who feel
like they don’t feel as represented
on campus. I think it’s important
that we look at the results of
these surveys and look at where
we can go to improve from where
we are now to making U-M more
equitable.”
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INDEX
Vol. CXXXII, No. 95
©2022 The Michigan Daily
NEWS............................1
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
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, October 12, 2022
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWO YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Campus Climate survey results released,
University readies for phase two of equity plan
Newly renovated
multicultural
lounges to reopen
in Michigan
Housing this fall
Regents candidates discuss sexual
misconduct, health care at forum
JI HOON CHOI
Daily News Contributor
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Community members
reflect on history of the safe
spaces, design process
Perceptions of DEI at ‘U’ improved, views of overall culture declined in past five years
Four contenders talk platforms, answer questions about priorities and values
NEWS
ADMINISTRATION
‘Normalize the conversation’: Activists,
politicians rally for reproductive rights
Over 100 protest in support for Proposal 3 in November election
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
ELLIE VICE/Daily
LILA TURNER/Daily
CAMPUS LIFE
COURTNEY PLAZA &
EMMA SPRING
Daily News Contributors
CARLIN PENDELL
Daily Staff Reporter
SAMANTHA RICH
Daily Staff Reporter
The
Students
Allied
for
Freedom and Equality (SAFE)
chapter at the University of
Michigan constructed a 36-foot
long, eight-foot tall “apartheid
wall” to represent the current
Israeli
separation
wall
that
stretches over 400 miles in the
West Bank. SAFE members stood
in front of their version of the
wall at the Diag on Thursday to
share narratives from Palestinian
refugees
with
attendees
and
passersby.
The
separation
wall
was
authorized
by
the
Israeli
government in June 2002 and
includes electric fences, trenches
and security patrols. Since it was
first built, the wall has faced
international
criticism
from
the United Nations because it
illegally annexes some of the most
fertile lands and water sources in
the West Bank.
SAFE’s wall featured paintings
depicting the treatment of the
more than 5 million Palestinian
refugees
and
displayed
facts
about
the
refugees
enclosed
within the wall. Painted along the
wall’s surface read “1.6 million
Palestinians live under military
blockade”,
as
well
as
other
information: nearly two-thirds of
those in poverty and 1.4 million of
those residing in the 140-square
mile Gaza strip struggle with
food insecurity.
LSA sophomore Bilal Irfan,
SAFE board member and LSA
Student Government president,
said the event’s goal was to bring
light to Palestinian suffering
under apartheid, a term Irfan
said is accepted by the Human
Rights
Watch
and
Amnesty
International to describe the
crimes
committed
by
Israel
authorities.
Irfan
said
the
narratives SAFE highlighted at
the event come from Palestinians
and allies.
SAFE holds
demonstration
to stand with
Palestinian
refugees
Students construct wall
representing Israeli
separation barrier on the Diag
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
CAMPUS LIFE
GOVERNMENT
SEJAL PATIL
Daily Staff Reporter
U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., speaks at the Reproductive Rights Rally in the Daily Monday evening.
Incumbent Democrat Michael J. Behm speaks at the Regent Candidate Forum at
Ruthven Building’s University Hall Monday Morning. Reproductive Rights Rally in the
Daily Monday evening.