ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Friday, April 14, 2017
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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CAMPUS LIFE
24-hour vigil highlights significance of Holocaust Held at Hillel, the ceremonies completed the day-long read of victims of the tragedy ERIN DOHERTY Daily Staff Reporter
DESIGN BY MICHELLE PHILLIPS
Native American students share uncertainty over bicentennial exhibits
The community, making up less than one percent of the University, reflect on inclusion DYLAN LACROIX Daily Staff Reporter
Some Native American students are elated by a recent exhibit that aims to bring awareness to the role Native Americans had in the founding of the University of Michigan but overall there is an underlying concern about the ways the University is representing Native Americans during its bicentennial celebrations. The “Native Americans:
Michigan’s Foundation” exhibit, which is one of seven popup art installations named “Stumbling Blocks” seeking to bring awareness to some of the difficult moments of the University’s history, has led Native American students to point to some of the issues with representing the Native American identity on campus. On Ingalls Mall, one of these “Stumbling Block” exhibits, a raised plaque, highlights a sizably smaller, permanent plaque that already exists in the
ground nearby to commemorate a gift of land from three Native American tribes to the University in 1817. For Native American student Kaitlin Gant, an LSA senior, one of her biggest concerns was the lack of dedication given to other equally significant effects Native Americans have had on the history of the University. “While I think it made a profound impact and drew more attention to the importance of Native American contributions to the campus, a sign is where the
attention stopped,” Gant said. Gant discussed the how the plaque came about as a result of Native American student activism on campus and protests led by Native students in the early 2000s advocating for the removal and University support of a student organization that historically had openly mocked and ridiculed Native American culture. The organization, then called Michigamua, reportedly appropriated Native American culture, going so far as using See BICENTENNIAL, Page 3
As part of the closing ceremonies for the SHARE vigil, a 24-hour event hosted by the Students for Holocaust Awareness, Remembrance and Education, students read names of people who died during the Holocaust and heard from five Holocaust survivors. The survivors attended the closing ceremonies Thursday night at University of Michigan Hillel to tell their stories, talk to students and share music they sang during the Holocaust. SHARE hosted this ceremony, following the reading of names out of a book in front of the Espresso Royale on South University Avenue, as one of its annual events. The students who attended the event noted how valuable it is to hear survivors’ stories, which is the motivation for many of the events SHARE plans. For LSA sophomore Lilah Kalfus, member of the SHARE
board, this sentiment rang especially true, as both of her grandparents were Holocaust survivors. “We’re one of the last generations to be able to talk to survivors, so we are just trying to provide as many opportunities to do that, like my kids won’t be able to talk to a Holocaust survivor,” Kalfus said. LSA sophomore Kyla Klein, a member of Hillel, echoed this sentiment, emphasizing how important these types of conversations are in the current political climate. “My whole life I’ve been very interested in the Holocaust and just how it happened exactly,” Klein said. “I think it’s really cool to gain this type of perspective; especially with what’s happening in the world right now, it’s important to recognize systematic oppression and genocide and the Holocaust.” LSA senior Eitan Katz, who was a board member See VIGIL, Page 3
Islamic Studies symposium keynote MTC now Volunteer rebranded address features UT Austin professor Therapaws
RESEARCH
HOSPITAL
under the name Mcity
Denise A. Spellberg discussed Thomas Jefferson’s involvement with Muslim world
Mobility Transportation Center will take on the more recognized brand
Denise A. Spellberg, a professor of history at The University of Texas at Austin, headlined the annual Interdisciplinary Islamic Studies Seminar Symposium on Thursday where she discussed Thomas Jefferson’s connection with Islam. Spellberg opened the address to an audience of 20 faculty and graduate students in the Michigan League by explaining that Jefferson knew more about Islam than most of his contemporaries. She said he went out of his way to study the faith and meet its practitioners. “As a historian of the American founders and their interest in Islam and Muslims, and as one who teaches Islamic studies, I think the precedence of Thomas Jefferson remains important, because he once imagined Muslims here in the U.S.,” she said. She went on to say the few scholarly books that consider Jefferson’s involvement in the Muslim world emphasize a “dominant negative paradigm.” She said such books emphasize “Muslim” and “American” are terms most often placed in binary opposition as the eternal “them” and “us.” Spellberg’s work focuses on challenging such a dichotomy and is documented in her book “Thomas Jefferson’s Qur’an: Islam and the Founders.”
SOPHIE SHERRY Daily News Editor
Building on the strength and national and international recognition of the University of Michigan’s Mobility Transformation Center and Mcity, the entirity of automated vehicle testing has officially been branded Mcity. The Mobility Transformation Center launched in 2013 as a public-private partnership between government and industry to expand research on driverless cars. The MTC introduced Mcity in July 2015, as the world’s first testing ground for advanced mobility vehicles and technology. Mcity quickly gained worldwide name recognition, which motivated the University to consider changing the name of the entire center. In an email interview, Susan Carney, the director of marketing and communications for Mcity, highlighted the importance of capitalizing on this growing recognition. “We wanted to build on that strength,” Carney wrote. See MCITY, Page 3
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JENNIFER MEER Daily Staff Reporter
At the address, she discussed how the ideas of Islam influenced the United States’ founders and subsequently transformed “imagined” Muslims — a group considered outsiders in the 18th century — into exemplars of the United States’ ideals of religious pluralism and civil rights. “Thomas Jefferson in particular was a visionary — a man who planned for a nation that included Muslims as future
citizens, despite sometimes simultaneously expressing negative views of Islam,” she said. “The ideal of their future presence and shared American spaces — this imagined future, while notional — contains key elements of what today might be considered an aspect of American exceptionalism.” Such exceptionalism, she explained, refers to the precedent that anyone of any religion might
reside in the United States with citizenship and equal rights — ideals that she believes are attacked under President Donald Trump’s administration. In light of this statement, the symposium in general focused on the effect of the Trump administration on Islamic studies and was inspired by solidarity movements such as Black Lives Matter, the response to the See KEYNOTE, Page 3
JEREMY MITNICK/Daily University of Texas at Austin Professor Denise Spellberg gives the keynote speech about Thomas Jefferson’s connection with Islam as part of the Interdisciplinary Islamic Studies Seminar Symposium on Thursday.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 67 ©2017 The Michigan Daily
dog brings joy to U-M
Dog brought to Michigan Medicine proves to be therapeutic for patients KENNEDY WERNER Daily Staff Reporter
Legend, a 7-year-old collie, makes his way into C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital for his afternoon shift. By his side are his owner and Jared Wadley, the senior public relations representative at Michigan News. The two are a part of Therapaws of Michigan, an organization that provides therapeutic and educational canine visits to the Washtenaw County area. Wadley began volunteering about seven years ago with his now-retired therapy dog Bella. Bella was a frequent visitor at the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center for about six and a half years. Now Wadley and Legend can be found at Mott. While the process to become a certified therapy dog is extensive, Legend seemed to have some of the necessary characteristics instilled within him. Wadley noted Legend’s personality made him a good fit to be a therapy dog. “He’s just a friendly dog,” See DOGS, Page 3
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 ARTS......................6
SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............6 SPORTS....................7