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‘U’ survey prompts student complaints SAN PHAM/Daily
U.S. House Representative Debbie Dingell hosts a roundtable on college affordability at the Michigan Union on Thursday.
Dingell hosts community round table on higher ed. Students identify affordable housing, textbook costs as key concerns By ISOBEL FUTTER Daily Staff Reporter
U.S. House Rep. Debbie Dingell (D–Mich.) joined students and college administrators from across the state in Ann Arbor on Thursday to discuss college
affordability. Dingell, who hosted the event, began the round table by outlining challenges faced by many students, especially when it comes to large amounts of loan debt. “We’re all concerned at the staggering amount of student debt that we now see in this country,” she said. “Nearly 40 million Americans owe $1.3 trillion in student loan debt. And 1.5 million people here in Michigan owe $39 billion.” Dingell highlighted a particular bill she’s co-sponsoring, the
Bank on Students Emergency Loan Refinancing Act, which would allow borrowers with federal student loans to refinance their loans. Refinancing loans can lead to lower interest rates. “You can refinance a mortgage, you can refinance a car, but you can’t refinance your student loans,” Dingell said. “We want to be able to help you and those that have gone before you that have got some of this staggering debt refinanced to a lower level.” Dingell said at the undergraduate level, refinancing could save
Trigger warning before AAU sexual assault survey called insufficient By ALLANA AKHTAR Daily Staff Reporter
students $4,000 on a $30,000 loan. She also touched on the various restrictions on federal grants like Pell Grants, such as the requirement that recipients complete their education in six years. “I believe that each student is a different student,” she said. “The UM-Dearborn campus and the UM-Flint campus has students with families ... that are working to support a household and children and trying to get an education.” See DINGELL, Page 3
After the University distributed a survey to students earlier this month to gauge campus climate around sexual misconduct, some students have expressed concerns with the terminology used in the survey. The survey is administered by the Association of American Universities. Twenty-eight public and private research universities employed the survey, making it one of the largest surveys on this issue. “Our primary purpose in conducting this survey is to help our institutions gain a better understanding of this complex problem on their own campuses as well as nationally,” AAU President Hunter Rawlings said in a press release. “Our first priority, and
POLICY
CAMPUS LIFE
Code of conduct will be open for review next year Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities could see changes By GENEVIEVE HUMMER Daily Staff Reporter
The University plans to review its Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities during the 20152016 academic year, according to an e-mail from E. Royster Harper, vice president for student life, sent to students, faculty and staff on Thursday. The statement outlines student conduct expectations consistent with the University’s values, and suggests sanctions and disciplinary procedures if those expectations are not met. “This community-owned document sets forth the University‘s values and expectations for resolving conflicts and is intended to maintain a campus climate that supports learning for all students,” Harper wrote. “Similar to policies articulating standards for academic behavior within the University’s colleges and schools, the Statement sets forth the expectations for non-academic behavior for all students.” University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said the timeline for amendment years is set by the Student Relations Advisory Committee, a committee of the faculty’s central governing body, the Student Advisory Committee on Uni-
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versity Affairs. “The SRAC committee sets the timeline — my recollection is that it has roughly been every three years,” Fitzgerald said. “I think it could be more frequently if there’s a reason.” According to the Office of Student Conflict Resolution’s website, the last statement amendment cycle happened during the 20122013 academic year. At this time, five changes were made. During the last review cycle, the statement was amended to reflect the current titles for Central Student Government and Information Technology Services and SRAC’s affiliation with the Senate Assembly — a governing body comprised of 74 elected faculty members from the University’s Ann Arbor, Flint and Dearborn campuses. In addition, bullying was included as a statement violation, the University’s Student Sexual Misconduct Policy was reconciled with the statement and the Respect for Medical Amnesty was added as a related procedure. Respect for Medical Amnesty is a state law that seeks to remove barriers for minors voluntarily seeking medical help for themselves or another after drinking. Fitzgerald said he’s not yet aware of what specific amendments might be proposed for the coming year. “I’m not aware of any deep plans for amendments that people have in the works at this point,” he said. “As you can see it’s quite a thorough and long process so there’s plenty of time for people to conSee CODE, Page 3
theirs, is to ensure that students not only are safe but feel safe. Universities will be using their data to inform their own policies and practices regarding sexual assault.” However, some University students said they stopped taking or were advised by friends against taking the AAU survey due to triggering imagery and wording. LSA junior Fabiana Diaz, who said she is survivor of sexual assault, received a warning not to take the survey from a friend due to graphic scenarios that could be triggering for her. “I was upset because I think more importantly than other students, it needs the voice of the survivors in order for something to actually be done on our campus,” Diaz said. The survey asks students a variety of questions regarding to their experiences with campus sexual assault, knowledge of prevention and available resources. The survey is separated into lettered sections, each asking about a particular aspect of a See SURVEY, Page 3
Call, film aim to raise awareness of sexual assault University officials, students discuss screening of “The Hunting Ground” By ALLANA AKHTAR
ANDREW COHEN/Daily
Daily Staff Reporter
Business sophomore Sarvani Yellayi performs a traditional Indian dance during “Denied Voices: The Launch,” a variety show and fundraising campaign dedicated to celebrating diversity on campus, at UMMA on Thursday.
Denied Voices seeks to highlight campus diversity Event explores identity, raises scholarship funds By ALYSSA BRANDON Daily Staff Reporter
Despite a delay due to severe weather, several University students took the stage in the University’s Museum of Art auditorium Thursday night to perform songs, dance and spoken word. Hosted by PILOT — an organization dedicated to increasing awareness of identity and providing opportunities for minority students on campus — “Denied Voices: The Launch” featured 10 performances related to identity and acceptance. The event was originally located in the Museum of Art lobby, but due to a tornado warning just as the show was
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about to begin, attendees and performers relocated to the museum’s basement auditorium. Among the student performers were LSA junior Dana Mosa-Basha, who performed “Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley, and LSA freshman JuJuan Griffin, who performed an original rap piece titled “Statistic.” LSA freshman Emily Kaufman also performed several poems discussing her experiences as a transgender woman. “Becoming the woman I was meant to be is the only way that I could live my life as me,” Kaufman said in one of her poems. “All I want is to be my truest self, and I’m not doing this for anybody else. This is for me and me alone.” Along with the performances, the event was also the start of fundraising toward the Denied Voices Scholarship, which will be awarded every year to mem-
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bers of marginalized communities on campus. During the show, PILOT announced Josue Hervert as this year’s scholarship recipient. Hervert is currently a student at Wayne County Community College and hopes to transfer to the University in the future. LSA senior Swati Sudarsan, a member of PILOT, was one of the organizers of the event. In an interview with after the program, Sudarsan said talking about identity and acceptance is important in raising awareness about the diverse identities on campus. “We live in a world where only the most privileged identities are heard, so there’s always a dominant narrative,” she said. “Creating a platform and space where these voices can be heard creates an atmosphere where we can start learning about them and raising awareness about See VOICES, Page 3
Vol. CXXIV, No. 100 ©2015 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
In honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, several local and national officials involved in sexual misconduct prevention on college campuses, including University officials, discussed the issue in a conference call Thursday morning. Later in the day, along with a screening of the documentary film “The Hunting Ground” on campus, a second panel of University officials joined individuals involved in the film to consider the topic. The call featured Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, “The Hunting Ground” film’s producer and director, respectively. From the University, Holly Rider-Milkovich, director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center, and Public Policy senior Laurel Ruza, “It’s On Us” student organizer, participated in the call. Lisa Winchell-Caldwell, senior program manager of the Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence, and Laura Palumbo, National Sexual Violence Resource Center prevention campaign specialist, also joined the call to discuss state and national efforts. Palumbo said the goal of the call was to connect partners in locally See AWARENESS, Page 3
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