The Michigan Daily sat down
with University President Santa Ono
Tuesday to discuss working with
students and the expansion of both
on-campus housing and Diversity,
Equity and Inclusion. He also spoke
about his favorite parts of Mosher-
Jordan’s dining hall and his order at
Pizza House.
This interview has been edited
and condensed for clarity.
The Daily: The University of
Michigan is currently in the midst
of negotiations with the Graduate
Employees’
Organization.
How
do you feel about the progress
you’ve made with GEO, such as
the agreements you made on
meeting logistics and deciding that
a mediator was no longer needed?
What are your hopes for the rest of
the negotiations?
Santa Ono: I’m not directly
involved in the negotiations; that’s
led by University Provost Laurie
McCauley and Academic Human
Resources. I have tremendous
confidence in that team. And with
any negotiation, there’s a back and
forth that occurs. But I understand
that things are moving in the right
direction. I really want there to be
a resolution and I want there to be
strong support for our graduate
students. They are an incredibly
vital and important part of the
University.
TMD:
DEI
1.0
recently
concluded and DEI 2.0 has begun.
At the event covering the DEI 1.0
Evaluation Report, you spoke of
hopes that DEI 2.0 can expand to
the state level. How do you hope the
University can achieve this? What
are your expectations for DEI 2.0?
SO: So I want to clarify — that
was in the quote from an interview
with The Michigan Daily, but it
was kind of taken a little bit out
of context. It wasn’t that I would
want to see the University’s DEI
efforts go statewide. It was more
that I felt that to achieve some of
the objectives of the University,
and also some of the objectives
from the Black Student Union, that
we would have to expand some of
our existing Effective Pathways,
like
Wolverine
Pathways,
to
more places throughout the state
and perhaps outside the state of
Michigan as well. So it wasn’t so
much, you know, scaling what we’re
doing here to the state. We have to
engage with additional schools and
high schools and different cities for
us to achieve the diversity that we
want to see here on our campuses.
TMD: In November, you visited
the Trotter Multicultural Center.
How often do you plan on visiting
the Multicultural Center or other
spaces like this? How will you
increase and support the diversity
of the University community?
SO: I loved my time when I
visited the Multicultural Center,
and part of it has to do with how
often they want to see me there. I
was invited to that meeting and I
was happy to go. Students are very
busy and all of the different centers
and organizations on campus are
very busy, so I don’t want to impose
myself. If I hear that they want me
to come again, I would be happy to.
TMD:
Will
there
be
any
collaboration between the Ann
Arbor,
Flint
and
Dearborn
campuses about DEI 2.0 and future
DEI initiatives?
SO: The strategic visioning
process, that I hope students
received
an
email
about
(on
Tuesday), is meant to apply to the
entire University, not just the Ann
Arbor campus. I’ve had a chance
to be at the Flint campus and the
Dearborn campus, and they’re an
important part of the University.
All
three
campuses
have
a
commitment to Diversity, Equity
and Inclusion. And so, there are
initiatives that are happening on all
three campuses … So yes, the DEI
1.0 and 2.0 projects encompass all
three campuses.
TMD: What are your hopes
and expectations for the Flint
Transformation Plan? How often
do you currently visit the Flint/
Dearborn campuses?
SO: I’ve been here for three
and a half months, and I’ve visited
both campuses twice, so I don’t
know whether I can maintain
that frequency. Faculty and staff
(involved with) leadership on both
campuses have said that’s quite
a high frequency of visitation
compared to some of my peers. I
love going to both campuses, so I
will try my very best to continue
visiting. I’m planning to go to the
Dearborn campus again pretty
soon. I would say that frequent
visits are important for me. I think
the faculty, staff and students
appreciate my presence, so I will do
my very best.
TMD: In November, not long
after you took office, the Black
Student
Union
released
their
“More
Than
Four”
platform,
calling on the University to, one,
increase Black student enrollment
from its current level of 4% of the
student population, two, combat
anti-Blackness, three, improve DEI
policies and, four, invest in K-12
education to increase equity. How
do you as University president plan
to address each of these points?
SO: I’m one person, and I’m
very committed to and I’ve been
very public that I support all sorts
of those initiatives. I’ve met with
the BSU and there is going to be a
pretty robust and intense process
for leadership within an institution.
There are about 30 individuals at
the University that will be engaging
with the (BSU’s platform), and
there will be committees that are
focused on all four of those requests
and
our
commitments.
These
committees will come back to me
by the end of the semester with
their recommendations on actions
that we can take as a University to
actually make progress toward each
of those four recommendations.
The collaborative approaches to
each of those recommendations
involve leadership and students,
which is a different paradigm. It
used to be that students would
make requests and administration
would go away, and time would pass
and (administration) would come
back (with recommendations). In
this case, it’s a collaborative effort
where students and administrators
are coming together and really
working together to achieve each of
those objectives.
TMD: Name, Image, Likeness
(NIL) has greatly altered college
athletics, and Michigan’s NIL
opportunities have lagged behind
other universities like Texas A&M,
Alabama and Ohio State, to name a
few. What changes to Michigan’s
NIL system would you like to see,
and what role do you plan to take in
making those changes?
SO: I’m not sure it’s actually
true that we lag behind those
schools. There is a perception
among some that that’s the case,
but if you actually look at the
Jersey Licensing Program, the
University of Michigan was at the
forefront of that program, which
is a big part of NIL. We’re very
fortunate that there have been
three or four collectives that have
been involved, and we’re very
grateful for the passionate support
of individuals who are donating
to those collectives to support
our student-athletes. I’m not sure
that we’re lagging — the support
and donations of people who care
about our student-athletes and the
Wolverine teams has been very
generous. You may have heard
that the athletic director, Warde
Manuel, sent out a communication
to
supporters
of
Wolverine
Athletics, encouraging them to
support student-athletes through
those collectives, and that had
an immediate impact. There has
already been an uptick in support
of our programs through those
collectors and those individuals
leading
those
collectives
are
already speaking with each other.
How
will
I
personally
be
involved? I will be there to listen
to and then to provide advice that
might be helpful to (the athletic
director) as they stand up those
initiatives. It’s very important to
the University that we do things
right and we remain in compliance
with the NCAA and the law. I’ll
play that advisory role as they
stand things up, but this is really in
the domain of the athletic director,
and Warde Manuel is doing a great
job interfacing with the leadership
of those collectives. He has my full
support.
TMD: The University recently
announced the construction of a
new residential and dining complex
on Elbel Field. What hopes do you
have for this new residence hall
and the improvement of student
housing availability on or near
Central Campus? What kind of
change do you think this new
residence hall will bring to campus
culture?
Verbena, a local clothing
store on State Street, will close
its doors at the end of February
after more than eight years of
business. The small boutique
offers unique, feminine street
wear and formal wear options
to their customers — many
of whom are University of
Michigan
students.
Father-
daughter duo Bob Duerksen
and Kate Ryan opened Verbena
together in 2014 and announced
its closing following a decrease
in sales as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The
store
announced
its
closing in a Jan. 11 Instagram
post, thanking customers for
their support for the business.
“We are sad to announce that
we will be closing Verbena by
the end of February 2023,” the
post reads. “We are so grateful
to have been a part of so many
special occasions and getting
to see some of you almost every
day.”
Mary
Duerksen,
Verbena
manager and Bob Duerksen’s
wife, told The Michigan Daily
she is disappointed the store
is closing. Duerksen said she
feels sad to leave the Ann Arbor
business
community,
noting
that
the
pandemic
heavily
impacted Verbena’s sales.
“I
wasn’t
surprised
to
hear about the store closing,”
Duerksen said. “Our sales have
not been very good ever since
(the pandemic).”
Small businesses across the
country have been impacted by
the COVID-19 pandemic and
subsequent rising inflation rates
and supply chain management
issues. In June 2020, inflation
hit 9.1% in the United States
while
rates
rose
in
many
other countries around the
world. According to Duerksen,
Verbena was affected by all of
these issues in some capacity.
Verbena is currently offering
discounts
on
all
remaining
items
—
including
office
fixtures — which will run until
the store officially closes, or
everything is cleared off the
storeroom floor.
Nursing senior Hannah Park
said she was surprised to walk
down State Street in January
and see the closing sign in
Verbena’s front window. Park
said the location, right next
to
the
University’s
Central
Campus, was convenient and
many frequent shoppers are
sad to see the store leave Ann
Arbor.
“I come to shop sometimes
after class,” Park said. “I had
no idea about the store closing.
I love how trendy their clothes
are.”
LSA
freshman
Natalyn
Kapner
echoed
similar
sentiments, telling The Daily
she had no idea Verbena was
closing.
“I didn’t know it was closing
until I saw the signs on the
door,” Kapner said. “I was
surprised because there are two
stores that are so similar right
next to each other; one minute I
saw it open and the next it was
closing.”
Kapner said she will miss the
store and its offerings.
“I liked that they had a lot of
casual options and it also wasn’t
that expensive,” Kapner said.
Duerksen said the family is
not sure what they will do next
or what will replace Verbena on
State Street in the future. She
said while she is sad to see the
store close, she remains grateful
for the community of customers
and employees Verbena brought
together over the years.
“My favorite part of Verbena
is all the people who shop here
and work here,” Duerksen said.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXXII, No. 104
©2023 The Michigan Daily
NEWS............................1
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
O P I N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 0
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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, February 8, 2023
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY TWO YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
President Santa Ono talks new housing, DEI plans and Pizza House
The Daily sat down one-on-one with President Ono for the first time this year
ADMINISTRATION
MADDYN SHAPIRO
Daily Staff Reporter
Verbena to close doors on State
Street at end of month
A local clothing store on State Street will be closing
its doors after nine years of business
BUSINESS
Conversation
and
laughter
filled
the
Michigan
League
Ballroom Wednesday as more
than 200 students settled in for
the first-generation winter dinner.
The
First-Generation
Student
Program organized the dinner
for undergraduate and graduate
first-generation students at the
University of Michigan.
With
approximately
4,000
first-generation students at the
University, the program works to
increase resource accessibility for
first-generation students as well as
build community among them.
Terra
Molengraff,
assistant
director
of
First-Generation
Student
Program,
told
The
Michigan Daily this was the first
event the program put together
for all first-generation students
this academic year. She said the
purpose of the event was to focus
on community building among
first-generation college students.
“First-generation students (are)
very relationship based and, like
all students, they really benefit
from
community,”
Molengraff
said. “This is a space that is
dedicated to having students just
get to know each other and share a
little bit about their experiences.”
At the event, attendees enjoyed
provided food, participated in
group discussion questions, and
played a human bingo game to
facilitate
student
connections.
The
dinner
also
showcased
a
presentation
from
First-
Generation College Students @
Michigan, a student organization
that aims to support the goals of
first-generation
U-M
students.
The
presentation
spread
awareness for the First Generation
Student Gateway, a study and
meeting space located in the
Office of Academic Multicultural
Initiatives in the Student Activities
Building for all first-generation
students and a place to access
resources.
LSA freshman Haylie Toth told
The Daily she attended the dinner
to surround herself with people
who have similar experiences,
especially regarding acclimating
to college life.
“For me, at least, I had to figure
out a lot on my own,” Toth said. “It
just feels like a really welcoming
space and just looking around and
seeing everyone together and just
talking and chatting … that’s really
nice.”
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
First generation U-M students
gather over winter dinner
Over 200 students celebrated their college journeys
together in the League
CAMPUS LIFE
GRACE LAHTI/Daily
First generation Michigan students get food at the First Gen Winter Community Dinner
at the Michigan League Ballroom Wednesday.
NATALIE ANDERSON
Daily Staff Reporter
SHANNON STOCKING,
KATE WEILAND &
RILEY HODDER
Co-Editors in Chief & Daily News
MARIA DECKMANN/Daily
University of Michigan President Santa Ono answers questions in an exclusive interview with Michigan Daily news reporters Tuesday evening in the Ruthven Building.