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C U LT U R A L C O L L I S I O N
BSU leaders to meet with ‘U’ officials After Monday’s protest, group will discuss their seven demands By YARDAIN AMRON Daily Staff Reporter
The University will meet with students from the Black Student Union Friday to discuss diversity and the seven demands the organization laid out in a protest on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The meeting was confirmed both by a tweet from @THEBSU Thursday afternoon and by University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald. “#BBUM organizers have a meeting with university administration this Friday to discuss the #7Demands,” the BSU tweeted. Fitzgerald said the meeting will begin a dialogue to ensure administrators and students have a shared understanding of the BSU’s demands before beginning to map a path forward. “This is the meeting that we’ve been seeking to set up since the Black Student Union issued its voice of concerns on Monday,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ve said all along that the first step would be to get to the leaders of the Black Student Union and leaders of the
University together to talk about those concerns, and this is the first step in that process.” Representing the University at the meeting will be Liz Barry, special counsel to University President Mary Sue Coleman, E. Royster Harper, vice president for student life, Dean of Students Laura Blake Jones and University Provost Martha Pollack. The meeting comes amid growing concerns regarding diversity on campus, highlighted by the #BBUM campaign that launched last semester and trended nationally on Twitter. The BSU’s seven demands include an increased BSU budget, more affordable off-campus housing for students of lower socioeconomic status, a more centrally located Trotter Multicultural Center, emergency scholarships for Black students, access to historical documents at the Bentley Historical Library related to race relations and an increase in Black enrollment “equal to 10 percent.” BSU members announced the set of seven demands Monday after a protest outside of the University’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day Symposium’s keynote lecture. The protest came days after Pollack announced a series of initiatives designed to address the concerns raised by the #BBUM See BSU, Page 3
TRACY KO/Daily
LEFT Amala Dancers perform at the Cultural Collision: Showcase of International Performing Arts Thursday at the Mendelssohn Theatre. UPPER RIGHT Members of the Filipino American Students Association dance. BOTTOM RIGHT Members of the Native American Student Association pose on stage.
PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH
Regents surprise today With no public agenda, speculation about Coleman’s successor builds By SAM GRINGLAS Daily News Editor
The University announced Thursday afternoon that the Board of Regents will hold a special meeting scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday.
Kelly Cunningham, University director of the Office of Public Affairs, declined to comment on the topic. However, it is possible that the meeting could be convened to appoint the University’s next president or to address the Black Student Union’s campaign to promote diversity on campus. University President Mary Sue Coleman announced in April that she will retire when her contract expires July 31. The University’s Board of Regents, which led the search,
MOTOWN MAGIC
BUSINESS
By CHRISTY SONG Daily Staff Reporter
After the Union’s Starbucks opened Monday, students once again have another shop at their disposal. The Starbucks located on the corner of South State and East Liberty streets reopened Thursday after five weeks of renovations after closing on Dec. 18. The largest structural change is that the basement is no longer a part of the floor plan. Instead, the store is entirely one level with added open space. Scott Pelky, the district manager of Starbucks in the greater Detroit area, said in an interview that taking out the basement created more space for students to sit in the café. “We actually added seats to the store in the newer design that we have now,” Pelky said. The interior design has been See STARBUCKS, Page 3
WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 21 LO: -5
the University community during a series of public sessions in October. In the early stages of the selection process, multiple University entities expressed concern with their lack of representation on the committee, mainly students and members of the University’s faculty governance board, SACUA. The regents spent Thursday and Friday last week in New York participating in closeddoor sessions with some of the See REGENTS, Page 3
FACULTY
State St. Starbucks reopens its doors Post renovation, coffee chain to debut new layout design without basement space
spent much of the summer and fall gathering input from faculty and students on the qualities desired in the next University president. The regents also retained the executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates throughout the search process. Though the University’s eight regents have the sole responsibility of selecting a president, the board sought input from a University-appointed search committee which included seven faculty members and from
New professional guidelines established for faculty interaction New standards aim to combat bullying among faculty members By ANASTASSIOS ADAMPOPOULOS Daily Staff Reporter ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Junior Phil Di Giuseppe celebrates after scoring the game-winning goal in Michigan hockey’s 2-1 win over MSU.
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
CSG hopes to create new napping spots on campus Proposed rest stations could come to libraries By KRISTEN FEDOR Daily Staff Reporter
Finding the time to squeeze in a nap between the demanding schedules of University students is often an exhausting endeavor in itself. However, Engineering junior Adrian Bazbaz, Central Student Gov-
ernment Representative, has a plan to ease those woes. At the Jan. 14 CSG meeting, Bazbaz proposed designated napping locations throughout campus libraries. He cited the success of similar sleeping spots at major companies, such as Google, as his inspiration for the proposal. Though he is still working with both CSG and facility directors of the libraries to solidify what the napping locations will look like, Bazbaz hopes to have trial spaces
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open in the Duderstadt Center and the Shapiro Undergraduate Library in the near future. Bazbaz described a setup of couches and lounge chairs that students can use for a quick nap between classes or during a long night of studying. He also proposed the idea of cushions-for-rent that students would sign out with their MCards. LSA sophomore Irene Suh, a CSG representative, is workSee NAPPING, Page 3
NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM Jesse Jackson endorses #BBUM movement MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS
INDEX
Faculty members who disagree with their colleagues will need to carefully consider their conduct, according to new professional guidelines set by the University. This week, the University’s Office of the Provost announced the uniform adoption of the Standard Practice Guide for faculty, formally known as SPG 201.96. The guide has been in place since fall 2013. University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said although the University has guidelines that clarify unacceptable behavior, expectations would be outlined in a more positive way if presented in the form of best practice standards. “This is more of a policy statement about what the University expects of the faculty, while many other SPGs focus on specific actions that will not be tolerated,” Christina Whitman, vice provost for academic and faculty affairs, said in a statement. The new guidelines contain expectations for proper conduct
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among faculty members while upholding free speech. While dissent is welcome in an academic environment, the guidelines will ensure faculty members act respectfully toward other faculty members and their work. The guidelines note that failure to uphold the standards could result in University sanctions or dismissal. Such punishable actions include bullying as well as verbal and physical threats. The SPG was partly drafted by the Secretary of the University Advisory Committee, which conducted a study on bullying in the University workplace. Classical Studies Prof. David Potter, chair of the Secretary of the University Advisory Committee, said the SPG has been three years in the making. He added that said the Office of the Provost did carefully took into consideration the Secretary’s recommendations, addressing bullying and setting standards for faculty. Potter also noted that the concern for workplace bullying extends beyond faculty. “It is very disappointing that we don’t have a similar SPG protecting staff,” he said. “The climate of bullying has been outrageous.” Potter also said the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs has pushed for a similar framework for staff, and See GUIDELINES, Page 3
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