ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Friday, September 6, 2019
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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New LSA dean welcomes students ACLU calls for back to school at pop-up event change to ‘U’ Activities outside Angell Hall include visit from surprise guest Anne Curzan policies on misconduct Civil rights organization takes issue with cross-examiniation protocol AMARA SHAIKH Daily News Editor
DANYEL THARAKAN/Daily New LSA Dean Anne Curzan plays cornhole with students at an event to introduce her to the U-M community in front of Angell Hall Thursday afternoon.
ARJUN THAKKAR Daily Staff Reporter
New LSA Dean Anne Curzan welcomed students back to campus with a pop-up event Thursday outside of Angell Hall to introduce herself to students. LSA representatives encouraged students walking by to chat with the dean and enjoy snacks and cornhole games during the event. LSA Communications Director Tamra Talmadge-Anderson credited the dean for having come up with the idea. “When we sat down and met with (Curzan) before she became dean, she said ‘It is so important to me that I connect with students, and I want to connect with them in ways that are fun and meaningful and give them the opportunity to talk with me,’” Talmadge-Anderson
said. According to Curzan, this is the first time the college has done this kind of spontaneous event to connect with students. The dean explained how, as she was planning her meetings at the beginning of the semester, she also wanted to hold an event to welcome undergraduates to LSA. Curzan worked with her team to plan the event three weeks ago, stressing the importance of play in an individual’s well-being as well as the importance of the connections between University faculty and students. “It’s really important to me that LSA be a place where students feel like they can explore, find the subjects that they love to study, feel connected to faculty and other mentors on campus and then connect that education to whatever they want the next chapter to be,” Curzan said.
ACADEMICS
LSA alum awarded prestigious fellowship Carly Marten to pursue project based in Ethiopia LIAT WEINSTEIN Daily Staff Reporter
This summer, recent LSA graduate Carly Marten was awarded the prestigious Wallenberg Fellowship to pursue a research project in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The award offers $25,000 to a graduating senior who is interested in public service to conduct a year-long, selfdesigned research project abroad. Henry Dyson, director of the Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships at the University of Michigan, said the fellowship attracts students with a willingness to take risks and strong interest in public service. “On the one hand, (they need) an entrepreneurial spirit,” Dyson said. See FELLOWSHIP, Page 3A
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Talmadge-Anderson explained how the event was designed to be a pop-up event and the department used social media to spread awareness of the event. The day before, the LSA Twitter page teased the event with the hint of a “special guest.” The day of the event, Curzan sent out an email sharing her vision for LSA and inviting students to join her that evening. Before becoming dean on Sept. 1, Curzan was an associate dean for the humanities as well as a professor of linguistics, education and English. She received a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University in English Language and Literature and appears regularly on Michigan Radio’s segment “That’s What They Say” about the English language. The dean explained how her work as a professor influences how she views her new position.
“We are as good as the people in the college, and so my job is to make sure that everybody can thrive,” Curzan said. “We’re gonna try to make sure that this is a place where students can enjoy learning … because that’s how you get the best education.” LSA sophomore Jasmine Glover was passing by when she saw the crowds. She spoke with the dean, who asked her about how her classes were going and told her to explore her interests and passions before committing to a major. Glover expressed appreciation for the opportunity. “She seems very enthusiastic about what she’s doing and really wants to help people,” Glover said. “It was really nice that she decided to do this and decided to come out and interact with us. That’s something I don’t typically see.” See DEAN, Page 3A
The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and the American Civil Liberties Union Women’s Rights Project released a letter to the University of Michigan Thursday morning calling on the administration to change its interim student sexual misconduct policy. The investigative resolution pathway of the policy has students who file a sexual misconduct complaint undergo an in-person hearing and crossexamination. The interim policy was implemented on Jan. 9 due to a Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling. Though the outcome of the Sixth Circuit’s ruling allows students to directly crossexamine their accuser, it does not ban the employment of personal advisers — like attorneys — to conduct the procedure. It was the University that decided students alone must complete their own cross-examinations. According to Bonsitu Kitaba, deputy legal director at the ACLU of Michigan, the letter was written as a follow-up to the University after they rejected the ACLU’s request for a meeting. The meeting would have been for the purpose of further discussing the interim
Panelists discuss sexual assault at ‘The Hunting Ground’ showing Documentary viewing features expert conversation about rape on campus CALLIE TEITELBAUM Daily Staff Reporter
On Thursday night, the Ann Arbor District Library, in partnership with the University of Michigan’s Michigan Community Scholars Program, offered a free viewing of the 2015 documentary, “The Hunting Ground,” which depicts sexual violence on college campuses and the failures of universities to appropriately seek action against perpetrators of sexual assault. The viewing was followed by a panel discussion led by Elizabeth Seney, senior associate director of the U-M Office for Institutional Equity and Title IX Coordinator; Heather Colohan, program manager for the University’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center; and Kamaria Porter, U-M doctoral candidate and Title IX Project Lab manager. The film discussed the shame survivors feel in speaking out, the actions by universities to minimize reports of sexual
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assault and the role star atheletes have played in sexual assault allegations. Because the film was made in 2015, Seney discussed the changes and lack thereof she has
seen in the culture surrounding sexual misconduct. Seney said while there has been an increase in reporting incidents of sexual assault, that does not necessarily correlate with
an increase in action taken against perpetrators because it is dependent on the outcome desired by the person reporting the allegation. See DOCUMENTARY, Page 3A
policy with administrators and students. In the letter, the ACLU stressed how a policy that forces those accused of sexual assault or harassment to personally question their accuser could result in fewer sexual misconduct complaints, re-traumatization of those who made complaints and a hostile campus environment. The letter also urged the University to establish a new policy that better complies with Title IX and due process rights by having cross-examinations conducted by those who have legal training. Kitaba further emphasized the issue of students not having the option to employ a personal adviser for cross-examination. “It’s especially concerning because it prohibits ... the respondent’s or claimant’s adviser or representative from doing the cross-examination and actually requires that the students conduct it themselves,” Kitaba said. “It’s important to note that due process rights are vital to Title IX proceedings to ensure fairness for both parties, but the way the University has chosen to go about it completely undermines the Title IX process, as well as the safety and security of students on campus.” See ACLU, Page 3A
CAMPUS LIFE
Community still upset over Ross’ Trump ties Petition seeks to remove prominent donor’s name CLAIRE HAO
Daily Staff Reporter
KEEMYA ESMAEL/Daily
Title IX Coordinator, SAPAC Program Manager Heather Colohan, and the Title IX Project Lab Manager Kamaria Porter discuss different parts of the film “The Hunting Ground” at the Ann Arbor District Library Thursday evening.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 126 ©2019 The Michigan Daily
As students arrive back on campus, some in the University of Michigan community are once again calling on the University to sever ties with real estate developer Stephen M. Ross — the largest donor in the University’s history — following the controversy surrounding a re-election fundraiser he held for President Donald Trump in early August. When reports of the fundraiser broke, Ross’s name trended on Twitter nationwide, with many calling for boycotts of SoulCycle and Equinox, two luxury gym companies owned by Ross. Soon after, the companies released statements saying they did not support the fundraiser and are not affiliated with Ross’s political contributions. See ROSS, Page 3A
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 CLASSIFIEDS................6
SUDOKU.....................2 ARTS...................5 SPORTS.................2A