ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Friday, April 15, 2016
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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Suspension of Munger head sparks questions Residents call for Greg Merritt’s return amid controversial lease changes
For Latino students, several paths to upping ‘U’ diversity Group currently represents 5.4 percent of total student enrollment
plan aimed at improving issues of diversity on campus, Latino and Latina members of the University community said in a series of interviews they feel that despite an increase of students identifying with this group on campus, there is more to be done to reach full inclusion and equity. The current makeup of Latino students on campus Hispanic students make up 5.4 percent of total student
By NISA KHAN Daily Staff Reporter
Amid a push by the University of Michigan’s administration to create a campus-widestrategic
enrollment, which breaks down to 4.9 percent of the undergraduate body and 6.6 percent of the graduate and professional body, according the University’s annual enrollment report. Total Hispanic enrollment has increased by 0.75 percent since 2011. Hispanic students have a slightly higher proportional representation in the student body than Black students, another underrepresented
minority group alongside Native Americans, Hawaiians and those of mixed race. Larry La Fountain-Stokes, director of Latina/o Studies at the University, said despite increases in Latino and Latina enrollment over the years, the group still feels marginalized on campus. He pointed to the recent growth of the Latino population in Michigan as a reason for the increase in See LATINO, Page 3
By BRANDON SUMMERSMILLER Daily Staff Reporter
Greg Merritt, senior associate director of University Housing, was indefinitely suspended from his duties at Munger Graduate Residences about a month ago and the University of Michigan has yet to release an official statement regarding the reason his suspension, despite student outcry. Merritt’s leave came after he decided to honor residents’ nine-month leases, despite the University’s announcement of its plans to change 9-month leases to 12-month leases, according to residents and staff at Munger who attended a town hall meeting for the building on the issue. This is the first year Munger Graduate Residences have been
CAMPUS LIFE
ANN ARBOR
Ann Arbor orgs join to address sexual assault Start by Believing campaign explores issues of underreporting By ISHI MORA Daily Staff Reporter
University of Michigan leaders gathered Thursday to collaboratively explain the underreporting of sexual assault — both nationally and at the University. For Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the University of Michigan Department of Public Safety and Security and the University Health System, along with six other Washtenaw County organizations, launched the Start by Believing campaign on campus, part of a national public awareness initiative created by End Violence Against Women International. Sexual assault is one of the most underreported crimes in the United States. According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, 68 percent of assaults are never reported and only 2 percent of rapists ever spend time in prison. The 2015 Campus Climate Survey found that 22.5 percent of female undergraduates at the University of Michigan experienced nonconsensual touching, kissing or penetration, yet in the same year only 172 incidents were reported, according to the Office for Institutional Equity’s second
WEATHER TOMORROW
annual sexual misconduct report. EVAWI is a nonprofit founded in 2003 by Sergeant Joanne Archambault, a retired San Diego Police Department officer, to improve criminal justice and community response to genderbased violence. The organization provides training and technical assistance for law enforcement agencies investigating sexual assault and domestic violence cases. According to Detective Margie Pillsbury, head officer of the University Police’s Special Victims Unit, the discrepancy between real and reported cases can be attributed to the neurobiology behind trauma and sexual assault. Many victims of traumatic events cannot think rationally during and immediately after the event due to cellular damage in neurological circuits. The temporary damage helps the brain manage with potentially life-threatening events like rape, but it inhibits their ability to logically explain the circumstances. For this reason many people, including law enforcement officers, dismiss rape survivors’ stories as nonsensical and incomprehensible. This is secondary victimization, which discourages the victim from pursuing the issue further. Barbara Niess-May, executive director of SafeHouse Center, said misconceptions about the justice system can also influence the decision of whether to file a report or not. See CAMPAIGN, Page 3
HI: 70 LO: 39
open to students — the hall finished construction for the 20152016 academic year at a cost of $155 million. Following Merritt’s dismissal, members of the Munger community have taken several actions to express frustration about the decision, including creating a survey disseminated among the building. Results of the survey were shared with The Michigan Daily. LSA junior Elizabeth Guthrie, a staff member at Munger, wrote in the survey that she was upset with Merritt’s unexplained departure because he was a valuable member to both the Munger community and the campus at large. “As an undergraduate student who has both worked with Greg in Munger and as a first gen undergraduate who has engaged in meaningful discussions with him at first gen meetings, I feel upset believing that he may not return,” Guthrie wrote. “There is very little context given around his exit; however, I really want to support him in being re-instated.” See MUNGER, Page 3
Candidates for city exec. talk A2 ties to University Contendors for administrator position speak on former experiences By BRIAN KUANG Daily Staff Reporter
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Heben Nigatu talks with co-host Tracy Clayton at a live recording of the Buzzfeed podcast ‘Another Round’, sponsored by the School of Social Work’s People of Color Collective in the Michigan Union Thursday.
Buzzfeed journalists discuss stereotypes at live taping Humor and musical performances draw more than 300 students By ALEXA ST. JOHN Daily Staff Reporter
Music from popular artists — including Beyoncé and Rihanna — blared in the Rogel Ballroom of the Michigan Union Thursday night while more than 300 students gathered to view a live recording of BuzzFeed’s popular podcast “Another Round” with Heben Nigatu and Tracy Clayton.
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Nigatu and Clayton, both journalists, spoke on a wide range of social issues regarding race and gender stereotypes and social problems. The event, sponsored primarily by the School of Social Work’s People of Color Collective, blended both humor and seriousness in discussions about race, gender and culture both on campus and nationwide. Other sponsors of the event included the Office of the Vice Provost for Equity, Inclusion and Academic Affairs, the Department of Afroamerican and African American Studies, the Women’s Studies Department and the Spectrum Center. Raina LaGrand, master’s
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student in the School of Social Work and the School of Public Health, as well as a member of the People of Color Collective, said in opening remarks that the event provided a much-needed platform for students of color on campus to be engaged. “We want people of color to feel supported, to feel like they have a healing space, to feel like they can have a co-intentional learning space,” LaGrand said. In an interview after the event, LaGrand said the Collective believes the podcast brings a new lens to the political realm. “A lot of us are personally in love with the show — their See BUZZFEED, Page 3
Vol. CXXV, No. 111 ©2016 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
The four candidates for the position of Ann Arbor city administrator discussed their backgrounds and approaches to management — particularly the management of relationships between local communities and universities in large college towns — during a meet-andgreet event Thursday evening. The city has been seeking a replacement for Steve Powers, the previous city administrator, after he left to be city manager of Salem, Ore. last October. Tom Crawford, the city’s chief financial officer, has served as interim manager since Powers’ departure. The four finalists — Thomas Couch of Georgia, Paul Fetherston of North Carolina, Howard Lazarus of Texas and Christian Sigman of Ohio — were chosen through a nationwide search and will be publicly interviewed by City Council Saturday before a hiring decision is made. All four candidates emphasized their experience working in local government in large college communities, and said the presence of a large research university such as the University of Michigan presents See CITY, Page 3
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