The Michigan Daily sat down with
new University President Santa Ono on
Tuesday afternoon for his first formal
interview since officially taking office
last Friday. Ono discussed his priorities
for the administration, the University’s
Climate Action Plan and his plans for
engaging with student organizations on
campus.
This interview has been edited and
condensed for clarity.
The Michigan Daily: From city
council member to senator to university
president, the beginning of a tenure of
a public servant often sets the tone for
the goals of the administration and the
work yet to come. To help our university
community understand what to expect
from
your
administration,
what
are your priorities for your first 100
days as president of the University of
Michigan?
Santa Ono: The most important
thing is for me to meet with different
parts of the institution; that’s why I am
thrilled that we are meeting in the first
several days of my time here. As you
know, I have been on campus for about
four or five days, and I am meeting
with people in formal meetings, but I
am also out and about. For example, I
went to the Michigan Union recently,
and I’ve also been to the Michigan
League. I am also having meetings
with all kinds of individuals around
the entire institution, including going
to Flint later this week for the regents
meeting. It has been a whirlwind of
activity, but it hasn’t just started in the
past four or five days. It has been three
months since the announcement. I
have put in hundreds of hours of Zoom
meetings and a couple of visits, and
had a chance to meet leadership with
the student government, but also the
Faculty Senate and some of the unions.
And so, to answer your question, the
priorities are to first listen and then
inform my priorities based upon what I
learn from that.
TMD: Throughout your tenure
as President-elect, you were active on
social media trying to engage with
student groups on campus. Now that
you have officially stepped into the role
of president, how do you plan to engage
with students here on campus?
SO: So you probably noticed that
I have actually enhanced the level of
engagement on social media. Just in the
past hour, I got about 12 direct messages
from students and staff and faculty, so
that seems to be continuing and is a
medium where people feel comfortable
interacting with me, which is great.
Let’s get a “hail yeah” for the
University of Michigan class of
2026. At this point, this year’s
freshmen have survived their first
seven weeks on campus, including
five game days in the Big House,
about 130 meals in the dining halls
and two University presidents.
The Michigan Daily sent a survey
to the 5,357 students Information
and Technology Services listed as
members of the class of 2026 on
Sept. 8, receiving 1,194 answers
about freshman experiences and
expectations. Overall, The Daily
found that this year’s freshmen are
fairly optimistic when it comes to
grades and dorms but less so about
the impending winter.
Here are the results of those
who responded:
Residence Halls
West Quadrangle has been
officially
crowned
the
most
coveted
dorm
placement
on
campus for the second year in
a row. Freshmen rated their
residence halls on a scale of 1-10
with West Quad averaging a
9.28 satisfaction rate. That’s still
slightly down from last year, when
the class of 2025 gave West Quad a
9.56 average rating.
When LSA freshman Rachel
Lim was placed in West Quad over
the summer, she said her mother
— an alum of the University — told
her she was lucky. That’s turned
out to be true, Lim told The Daily,
and she has enjoyed living in
her dorm over the past couple of
months.
From
air
conditioning
to
spacious rooms and lounges, Lim
said West Quad is one of the best
dorms on campus. And the location
can’t be beat, she said.
“West is definitely top-tier,”
Lim said. “The main thing is how
central it is. It’s really convenient
getting to classes.”
Compared to last year, East
Quad (8.88 average rating) upset
South Quad (8.74 average rating)
as the second-most satisfactory
dorm on Central Campus for this
year’s freshmen. With an average
satisfaction rate of 7.76 across all
of the dorms, it seems that the
freshmen are already feeling pretty
at home in Ann Arbor. This year,
Baits II beat out Bursley for being
the favorite North Campus dorm.
And with an average rating of 9.04,
Alice Lloyd Residence Hall was
the king — or queen — of the Hill
compared to Couzens and Mosher-
Jordan Residence Halls’ ratings of
8.19 and 8.75, respectively.
GPA Forecasts
According to the respondents,
prospective neuroscience students
think they will have the lowest
GPAs upon graduation — with an
expected 3.43 average. They’re
followed
by
architecture
and
nursing students with anticipated
GPAs of 3.49 and 3.54, respectively.
Out of the 10 majors with
the
lowest
expected
grades,
half of them are in the College
of
Engineering.
Mechanical
engineering, computer science,
aerospace engineering, chemical
engineering and environmental
engineering students all think they
will end up with a GPA lower than
3.70 — the median GPA anticipated
by the class of 2026.
Engineering
freshman
Julie
Anton said she expects her GPA
to be around a 3.5 when she
graduates in four years. She said
she recognizes that engineering
courses
are
rigorous
and
challenging, especially since she
did not have a strong engineering
background in high school.
“Nobody
really
learns
engineering in high school,” Anton
said. “I think (a 3.5 GPA) is pretty
reasonable for the university we go
to and considering the courses I’ll
be taking in the future.”
Tuition Stress
Seventy-eight percent of first-
generation students in the class
of 2026 are at least somewhat
concerned about paying tuition,
while less than half of non-first-
generation students are stressed
about paying for college.
About
14%
of
all
U-M
undergraduates
are
first-
generation
students,
though
almost a third of underrepresented
minority
students
are
first-
generation. According to a 2017
New York Times analysis for the
class of 2013, the median family
income at the University was
$154,000. The University’s website
for first-generation students says
66% of first-generation students
come from households making
$65,000 or less. That means
the majority of first-generation
students come from backgrounds
where their parents were making
less than half of the median family
income at the University.
While the Go Blue Guarantee
offers free tuition for students
whose parents make less than
$65,000, many first-generation
students do not qualify for in-state
tuition and are therefore ineligible
for the guarantee.
LSA
freshman
Vanessa
Rodriguez is a first-generation
student whose parents immigrated
to Michigan from Cuba about 23
years ago. Though Rodriguez said
qualifying for in-state tuition and
financial aid has helped take some
of the financial burden of going to
college off her family, she still has
to work a campus job to fund her
education.
In general, Rodriguez said she
has noticed higher stress levels
among first-generation students
concerning tuition.
“Sometimes
it’s
stressful,”
Rodriguez said. “I have to work to
help my parents pay (for college)
because they said they would help
me, but I have to put in that work,
too.”
GOT A NEWS TIP?
E-mail news@michigandaily.com and let
us know.
INDEX
Vol. CXXXII, No. 97
©2022 The Michigan Daily
NEWS............................1
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
O P I N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 1
STATEMENT..........INSERT
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
Follow The Daily
on Instagram,
@michigandaily
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWO YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
UMich class of 2026 by the numbers: From winter woes to this year’s dream dorm
Freshmen share their feelings on residence halls, anticipated GPA, concerns with tuition
CAMPUS LIFE
‘The priorities are first to listen’: Santa Ono
outlines goals since taking office
New University president says engaging community, facilitating conversation
are values he will pursue during his tenure
GRACE BEAL/Daily
Following
the
first
snow
flurries of the fall, students
gathered in the University of
Michigan Diag Thursday evening
to listen to live music, eat free
pizza and register to vote at the
Tune In Turn Out Festival. The
event was co-hosted by Citizens’
Climate
Lobby
(CCL)
and
Empty Mug Records to spread
awareness about climate action
and encourage U-M students to
vote in the midterm elections.
Voter
registration
tables
bordered the Diag as upbeat rock
and folky acoustics rang from the
steps of Hatcher Graduate Library.
The event featured performances
from environmentally-conscious
artists Kelly Hoppenjans, Ani
Mari and Big Chemical.
Empty
Mug
Records,
a
student-run
record
label
on
campus, booked the musicians
and coordinated the audio setup
for the concert. LSA senior
Aly Latherow, co-president of
Empty Mug Records, said it was
important to prioritize musicians
who understood the issues the
event advocated for.
“We
just
want
to
make
sure that the artists that are
representing the event actually
know what they’re representing
and know the platform that we’re
giving them,” Latherow said.
Public Health junior Joseph
Cerniglia,
co-president
of
CCL, spoke about CCL’s goals
for the festival, emphasizing
the importance of voting for
candidates who will prioritize
environmental issues.
Tune In Turn Out Festival
hosts musicians to
promote sustainability,
voter registration
Environmentally-conscious artists invited
to Diag, encourage climate legislation
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
CAMPUS LIFE
ADMINISTRATION
NATALIE ANDERSON
Daily Staff Reporter
University President Santa Ono speaks during his first interview with The Michigan Daily in the Alexander G. Ruthven Building October 18.
Big Chemical performs at the Tune in Turn Out Festival on the Diag Thursday evening.
JOSÉ BRENES/Daily
RONI KANE
Daily News Editor
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
See ONO INTERVIEW, Page 3
PAIGE HODDER &
GEORGE WEYKAMP
Editor in Chief & Daily News Editor