SPORTS STATEMENT..........INSERT

from 2022-10-26

MIC

NICHOLAS STOLL Managing Sports Editor

Nearly every year of Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh’s tenure has prompted the question whether he’s the right man for the job. Season after season, questions swirled and doubts arose — until this one, that is.

A College Football Playoff berth, a Big Ten Championship and, perhaps most importantly, a win over rival Ohio State vaulted Harbaugh onto a pedestal. He expelled his demons overnight like a scene pulled straight from The Exorcist.

But one ghost still remains.

The final blemish on Harbaugh’s updated résumé is Michigan State. Harbaugh holds a meager 3-4 record against the Spartans in his previous seven seasons as coach. In the past two years, with Mel Tucker at the helm in East Lansing, Harbaugh is winless. And unlike the juggernaut Buckeyes, Michigan State has been human, rendering some losses inexcusable.

It’s why Harbaugh focused his and his program’s attention on the Spartans all the way back in July.

“I don’t want us to be more worried about Ohio State than we are of Michigan State, because we haven’t beat (those) guys in two years,” Harbaugh said. “We need to get right, get dialed in with them too, and we will.”

Now is the time for that attention spent on the Spartans to pay off in a win; But Harbaugh’s grotesque history with Michigan State almost seems, well, haunted.

It began in Harbaugh’s first bout against the Spartans as coach, perhaps the most harrowing of them all. You might not want to talk about it, but you know it as well as any game — win or loss — in the past decade.

It’s 2015, the No. 12 Michigan football team is 5-1 and a No. 7 undefeated Michigan State team is in town. Up 23-21 late in the fourth quarter, the Wolverines landed an all-important sack and forced a turnover on downs. An upset, the first rivalry win in Harbaugh’s career, was in reach. With 10 seconds left, Paul Bunyan was all but Michigan’s — all the Wolverines had to do was punt.

You can fill in the blank.

“We played winning football and didn’t get the result,” Harbaugh said after the game. “Welcome to football.”

Welcome to the rivalry, Jim.

Harbaugh’s Spartan woes never really went away. A 14-10 loss in a virtual monsoon, a Halloween COVID-year upset and a heartbreaker last season in a top-10 battle of unbeatens round out the remaining defeats. His results haven’t done much to inspire confidence in a rivalry where Michigan fans like to claim dominance.

That confidence is a large reason why, from an outside perspective, this game matters so much for Harbaugh. There’s been little reason, and few legitimate excuses, for his teams not to be dominating this rivalry. Year after year, the Wolverines bring in better recruiting classes. Michigan State has even undergone a coaching change. But still, Harbaugh has struggled.

Some losses, such as last year’s, are so puzzling that all Harbaugh has left to say is simple.

“That didn’t go the way we wanted to,” he lamented after the 2021 defeat.

And what else can he say? That he failed once again? That, whether the Wolverines are the better team or not, the Spartans seem to be able to walk away with Paul Bunyan in years they shouldn’t?

No, the only thing that can speak for Harbaugh are the results on the field. And those results can shout.

After the 2020 loss, in Michigan’s worst season in many years, three-star recruit Andrel Anthony — an East Lansing-native — might have wavered.

“That did open a lot of eyes,” Anthony told the Detroit Free Press in 2020. “I can tell you that. It opened eyes across the United States. Everybody was looking at MSU as ‘Oh, they’re really bad right now and they’re in a rebuilding process.’ But to go out and beat Michigan, I am pretty sure everybody was surprised.”

JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily With Saturday’s matchup against Michigan State looming, Jim Harbaugh has the opportunity to take control of the in-state rivalry.

The sophomore receiver, as we of course know now, did not flip his commitment. Anthony remained steady, bound for Ann Arbor. But that’s not always the case, and there are fallout effects that span larger than a loss on the record.

And it’s on Harbaugh to prevent that from happening.

A 3-4 record isn’t enough, zero wins against Tucker isn’t enough and frequently losing to worse Michigan State teams is far from enough.

This Saturday, against the hobbling 3-4 Spartans, Harbaugh has the chance to get even in his tenure and begin to reclaim the rivalry. Frankly, he doesn’t have a choice. A loss would be catastrophic, not only proving once again Michigan State has his number, but crippling the Wolverines’ chances at the College Football Playoff and back-to-back Big Ten trophies.

A win won’t earn Harbaugh high praise or laurels. It’s what should happen, and it’s what needs to happen. But it will be a part of his narrative. This week, in preparation, Harbaugh gets to dip his pen in the ink one last time.

Saturday, it hits paper.

ICE HOCKEY

Ian Hume’s impact: as remembered by Michigan

CHARLIE PAPPALARDO Daily Sports Writer

Last Friday night, just prior to their matchup, the lights dimmed and the No. 5 Michigan and Lake Superior State hockey teams lined up on their respective sides of the ice for a shared moment of silence.

It was a solemn moment, but it also served as a clear reminder of what the Wolverines were playing for this past weekend. They weren’t just playing for themselves, or glory, or their future careers; they were playing for the memory of their longtime equipment supervisor — and friend — Ian Hume, who had sadly passed away the night before after a battle with cancer.

In every play on the ice after that moment of silence, it was clear that Hume’s presence was still with his team. After two dominant performances in which Michigan both swept and outscored the Lakers, 10-3, Hume was top of mind for many of the Wolverines’ players and staff postgame, and his memory had only served to push them further.

“He was a huge part of this organization,” junior defenseman Jacob Truscott said. “ … He was great to us, and obviously it’s sad to see someone like that go. He’s a huge part of our team. We’ve just got to honor him and keep playing for him every game.”

From conversations with players and staff one thing is clear: Hume’s impact will be felt far past his 33-year tenure at the University of Michigan. For starters, it’s clear that he was an expert at his job. After quite literally stumbling into the role under long-time coach Red Berenson, Hume spent the next three decades honing his craft. And his dedication to his work didn’t go unnoticed.

“I’ve known (Hume) for a long time,” Michigan coach Brandon Naurato told The Daily. “ … And he’s a legend, very well respected by equipment managers from pro hockey to college.”

Freshman forward Adam Fantilli shared a similar sentiment.

“He was an amazing guy,” Fantilli said. “An amazing equipment manager and I know he loved this team with everything he had.”

While on paper Hume’s job title may have been equipment supervisor, a position usually seen as administrative, he understood that his role extended far past what most would expect. He understood himself to be an outlet for players to just talk. He consistently made himself available and instituted an open door policy for players to come in and talk about anything, hockey or otherwise.

And it’s clear that while that wasn’t necessarily asked of him, it was something players needed. He was a friendly and supportive face for student athletes who needed affirmation, and he was always there to provide it.

“He did so much for us,” junior forward Phillippe LaPointe said. “He wasn’t just an equipment manager, he had an open door policy. And you know oftentimes I’d just sit there and shoot the (breeze) with him. … I’ve had some really tough conversations with him with adversity and stuff like that, so I’ve opened up to him, he’s opened up to me. And you know, we’ve always had that really good strong relationship where we can tell each other anything. I’ll be forever thankful to have him as a friend and mentor.”

Hume wasn’t just a staff member who sharpened skates. He wasn’t just someone who got equipment from point A to point B. Heck, he wasn’t just an equipment manager. He was a friend to everyone on the Michigan hockey team who needed him to be a friend, and he stood up for his athletes and colleagues when they needed someone to stand up for them.

That’s the part of Hume that won’t be forgotten, that’s the part of Hume that the Wolverines had in mind after they swept Lake Superior and that’s the part of Hume that Michigan has vowed to play the rest of their season for.

“We showed it this weekend, we played for him,” LaPointe said. “And I’m grateful for the memories that I have with him.”

FILE PHOTO/Daily With the passing of Ian Hume, the No. 5 Michigan hockey team was playing for a greater purpose this weekend.

VOLLEYBALL

Michigan falls to unranked Indiana, 3-1

KENDALL MCCASKILL For The Daily

At the end of the second set, audible tension rumbled through the arena as the score was tight at 22-24 and the No. 25 Michigan volleyball team led the match, 1-0. But then, a Wolverine service error forced an end to the set, giving Indiana the 25-22 win.

Following the set loss, the Wolverines (13-6 overall, 4-5 Big Ten) were unable to regain their momentum, falling to the Hoosiers (11-10, 4-5) in four sets in a Pink-Out Game Friday night.

“We knew tonight that Indiana was a team that was going to pose some challenges,” Michigan coach Mark Rosen said. “We did the best to prepare for it but they did a really nice job tonight.”

In the first set, the Wolverines got off to a slow start. They trailed seven points behind Indiana after a series of serve-receive errors, eventually forcing them to call a timeout. Michigan returned to the floor with more tenacity, starting with a kill by senior middle blocker Jess Robinson. The Wolverines continued on a seven-point run to tie the game at 15 apiece. After several more back-and-forth rallies, a strong blocking performance by freshman right-side hitter Serena Nyambio closed out the first set over the Hoosiers, 25-22.

Michigan opened the second set with a kill by junior outside hitter Kendall Murray. It kept a tight lead in the first half of the match, up 13-12. The Hoosiers fought back aggressively, creating separation from the Wolverines. As a result, Michigan fell victim to Indiana at the service line, ending the set down 22-25.

“Indiana came out and served really aggressively; they had a great game plan in terms of getting us in trouble,” Rosen said. “When we were in system I thought we handled it really well, but out of system is a different game and tonight they got us out of system a lot with that serve.”

In the third set, Michigan looked to regain its lead against Indiana but struggled to take complete control of the match. Despite a kill from senior middle blocker May Petrofsky to tie the score at ten, a series of hitting errors that followed cost the Wolverines the opportunity to take control of the match. Michigan fought back with a three-point run but couldn’t claw back, falling 19-25 and dropping the match score to 1-2.

In a do-or-die fourth set, the Wolverines worked to create a lead against the Hoosiers early. Spurring a four-point run powered by aggressive net play from junior outside hitter Jess Mruzik, Michigan jumped out to a 10-8 lead. In spite of its scrappiness and hard-fought rallies, Indiana capitalized on its forced errors. The Hoosiers followed with a three-point run to win the match, 25-23.

“I think just going into this match something that we focused on (was) not overlooking anybody,” Mruzik said. “And especially in the Big Ten this year it’s crazy, anyone can beat anybody on any given day. It’s a blessing that we get to be in a conference where every single night you’re going up against the best teams in the country.”

And with difficult Big Ten matchups upcoming, Michigan needs to hone-in to make sure that blessing doesn’t become a curse.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Liza Cushnir: By failing Brittney Griner, we’re failing all women in sports

Brittney Griner, an eight-time WNBA all-star and Phoenix Mercury center, turned 32 last week. Instead of being able to celebrate with her friends and family, she spent her birthday in a Russian jail cell — just like she’s spent the past 249 days.

On Feb. 17, Griner was detained in a Russian airport, accused of having vape cartridges with hashish oil in her luggage. On May 3, the US state department declared her “wrongfully detained” and on Aug. 4, Griner was sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison for drug smuggling.

As Griner awaits her appeal hearing, which is set to start on Oct. 25, she worries about being forgotten back home.

Those fears aren’t unfounded. Outside of the WNBA and women’s sports, the sports community has largely stayed silent. The WNBA started its most recent season in May featuring decals with Griner’s name and initials on every single court. The NBA, on the other hand, has mostly remained disengaged.

Individuals and teams such as Stephen Curry and the Memphis Grizzlies have taken it upon themselves to show their support for Griner on occasion. But outside of women’s sports, the sports world has generally refrained from advocating for Griner.

And that’s the crux of the issue; The sports world can claim to support women’s sports as much as it wants to, but when it comes down to it, people refrain from making comments and in some cases, even ridicule those who do lend their voices.

Society doesn’t care about women in sports, and female athletes — including at Michigan — notice.

“When you compare Title IX and if you compare an NBA player that’s going to be there and in the same situation that she’s in, you could argue that they would either be back by now or that a lot more people would be involved to try to solve that,” Michigan guard Leigha Brown said at Big Ten Media Days on Oct. 12.

Society makes it a habit to tell young female athletes that Title IX provides them with equality. But outside of mandates for equality in institutions receiving federal funding, where can women in sports look to see that society cares about them, that society values them?

Imagine a parallel: Picture LeBron James or Patrick Mahomes — or any star male athlete, for that matter — being arrested in a foreign country. Now think of the outrage and demands for their return that would follow. There would be immense pressure, from all fronts, on the United States government to do whatever it takes to get them home.

Brittney Griner deserves the same outrage. Not just from the women’s sports world, but from the entire sports world.

“I think about Brittney every single day and I pray for Brittney and her family every single day,” Michigan women’s basketball coach Kim Barnes Arico said at Big Ten Media Days. “And I hope we’re working incredibly hard outside of our women’s basketball network, nationally, to bring her home.”

But right now, that simply isn’t the case. And if the entire sports world doesn’t get involved, Griner’s prospects remain the same: slim and dark.

Of course, there have been people doing everything they can to bring Griner home. Across the women’s basketball world, players and coaches have repeatedly called for her release and sent prayers her way.

But the NBA has a far wider reach than the WNBA, with a much larger fanbase. More voices within the NBA community calling to bring Griner home could have a significant impact.

“I think everybody in the Phoenix community and the WNBA community and women’s basketball and basketball as a whole has done a fantastic job of keeping (Griner) top of heart and top of mind,” Cindy Brunson, the play-by-play voice of the Mercury told The Daily. “ … In the NBA because their platform is so gigantic, and their voices are so big, anytime they have the opportunity to speak on it, it just keeps the issue top of heart and top of mind.”

Brunson — who works for various other networks in addition to the Mercury — has spoken about Griner’s detention as much as she can and intends to do so on all broadcasts she is part of for as long as Griner remains detained. If the rest of the sports world joins Brunson and those who already are fighting for her freedom, that detention will likely be a lot shorter.

When speaking to The Daily,

Brunson suggested multiple ways to pressure the Biden administration to work harder towards advocating for Griner’s release, including canceling the NBA’s Christmas games. That would show that the NBA actually cares, compelling the government to LIZA listen. Because right now, not CUSHNIR enough people are showing that they give a damn to force the State Department to listen. For things to change, NBA players, teams and fans have to show that getting Griner home is important to them. “If those teams decided, we’re not going to provide wall-to-wall basketball (on Christmas). We’re going to stay home with our families because (Griner) can’t,” Brunson said. Brunson highlighted the exigency of the situation. Griner has been away from home for eight months. That’s eight months away from her home, her wife, her family and her team. And while canceling Christmas games would be a significant and unprecedented step, NBA players have refused to play to bring attention to social justice issues in the past. After the shooting of Jacob Blake in August 2020, the Milwaukee Bucks and Orlando Magic boycotted their playoff game which led to all three playoff games scheduled for that day also being postponed. Players used their platform, and the world took note. Yes, the situations are very different. What it showed, though, is that when athletes call attention to an issue that matters to them with a significant gesture, fans are forced to pay attention. Brittney Griner deserves that attention. She needs that attention to get home quickly, perhaps even to survive. There are many ways to call attention to Griner’s detention. But right now, all she gets from the majority of the sports world is inaction. One of the best players in the WNBA has been detained in Russia for 249 days. Few outside of the women’s sports world have consistently brought attention to her plight. Women in sports are listening, and they’re hearing silence. And that, more than any legislation like Title IX, more than any claims about supporting gender equality, is the clearest message being sent.

SPORTSWEDNESDAY SUPERIORITY COMPLEX

Michigan dominates the slot to claim sweep over Lake Superior State

NOAH KINGSLEY Daily Sports Writer

SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. — When the No. 5 Michigan hockey team took the ice against Boston University last weekend, the balance of high-danger chances swung heavily away from it. Doomed by tips, screens and rebounds, the Wolverines were simply outmatched at net front, leading to their first loss of the season.

But on Saturday night, Michigan demonstrated plainly that it had learned its lesson.

Dominating the premium spaces at both net fronts, the Wolverines (5-1 overall) outshot Lake Superior State (0-3-1) by 14 while blocking 8 to stave off a season-high 22 penalty minutes and complete the sweep, 5-1, in their first road series of the season.

“I thought our O-Zone was a lot better this weekend,” Michigan coach Brandon Naurato said. “Getting into high ice and then switching, and then just converging to the net, there were some really nice plays.”

Forced to spend four of the first six minutes on the kill after committing two early penalties, however, the Wolverines struggled to get much going on offense right away. Instead, they tightened up on the opposite end, getting bodies in the slot to block shots and cross-ice passes, limiting the Lakers to just four shots over two power plays and seizing the early momentum.

“One thing we talk about is pressure versus containment,” Naurato said. “When we can outnumber them, that’s pressure, and when we’re containing, they’ve got numbers. I think we contained the net front very well.”

Michigan faced momentary lapses in its domination of center ice on defense, specifically when Lake Superior State forward Timo Bakos snuck into the slot on the power play during the second period to cut the Wolverines’ lead to two. But by staying tight to the crease to kill off 10 of 11 power plays, Michigan limited the damage and turned that goal into an anomaly.

And for the limited time that they were at full strength, the Wolverines monopolized the slot in the offensive zone to create golden scoring chances.

With multiple Michigan players stationed at the net front in the first period, sophomore forward Mackie Samoskevich fired a point wrister that bounced off multiple bodies, one of the posts and into the net to take the 1-0 lead. Minutes later, freshman forward Adam Fantilli collected a loose puck in front of the crease before backhanding it in to double the first-period lead.

“Our biggest thing is just outnumbering at the net,” Naurato said. “Defensively, you’re trying to protect the net front, so then how do you pull people away (on offense)?”

Then, two minutes into the second period, freshman forward Jackson Hallum delivered a forecheck in the offensive zone slot to steal the puck from Lake Superior State’s defense. Freshman forward TJ Hughes picked up where Hallum left off, corralling the puck and faking a cross-crease pass back to Hallum right at the post, before blasting it top shelf. Hughes added his second on the night later, crashing the net to clean up Fantilli’s rebound and extend the lead to three.

Though the Wolverines only tacked on one more goal — off the stick of sophomore forward Dylan Duke — it continued to control the slot both ways. Michigan kept creating chances off tips and rebounds in the offensive end, while clearing loose pucks in front of the net to prevent the Lakers from sustaining theirs.

“It seemed like they would have had more shots,” Naurato said. “But I thought our defensemen did a great job of boxing out, getting body position, lifting sticks and clearing the front of the net.”

Given that the Wolverines had to contend with being down a man for more than a third of the game and spent 40% of the final period on the kill, that commanding net-front presence prevented a slew of penalties from spiraling into a collapse.

And for a team that only trudged to the final whistle the night prior, Michigan’s 60-minute domination of center ice served as a forceful reminder of how important controlling that region is to the Wolverines’ success.

And for the limited time that they were at full strength, the Wolverines monopolized the slot in the offensive zone to create golden scoring chances.

‘The grid in the green:’ Envisioning a better North Campus

LUCAS CHEN/Daily Scenes at and around the North Campus Grove Saturday, October 22. BY HALEY JOHNSON, STATEMENT CORRESPONDENT

There’s no singular campus experience, but there are a few moments that are iconically “Michigan” — walking through the Diag, studying in the UgLi, going out to the less-than-pristine bars on South University Avenue. Until recently, I had never noticed a common thread between these scenes, but now their similarity strikes me: all of them take place on Central Campus.

The fact that when we think of Michigan we think of Central Campus is unsurprising. There’s a reason students joke about having never been to North Campus, and why incoming freshmen assigned to live on North try to pay thousands of dollars to swap dorms with someone on Central. Everything we envision as “The Michigan Experience” revolves around Central. Why would anyone sacrifice Ann Arbor’s indescribable energy and its historic, vibrant Central Campus for the dated ’50s architecture and suburban sprawl that is North Campus?

Much has already been said about the shortcomings of North Campus. But for better or worse, it’s part of the University, and as the campus continues to grow, we’ll be increasingly looking toward North for extra space.

But how did North and Central develop such distinct characters in the first place? And how might we envision a better North Campus? ***

In my final year as a University undergraduate student, I figured it’s finally time to immerse myself in the illusive, evergreen acres of North Campus. My plan was this: to spend a whole day on North Campus and to try to appreciate and evaluate it on its own merits, not just in contrast to Central.

I’d like to think I’ve spent more time on North Campus than the average student whose classes are all on Central. I never lived in Bursley or Baits, but over the pandemic, I would frequently drive to the Ford Robotics Building to study, since it was one of the few buildings on campus that was open into the late hours of the night.

During some of those study sessions, I found myself walking through the woods behind Bursley, getting takeout off Plymouth Road and exploring Pierpont Commons. However, I had never spent more than a few hours on North Campus and had never truly immersed myself in it.

So, in an effort to understand what it was really like to live and learn on North Campus, I devised a way to better understand the space.

Admittedly, spending a day on North is nothing compared to living there. Before embarking on my north-bound excursion, I decided to speak with some of the folks who’ve previously made North Campus their home.

Information senior Huda Shulaiba lived in Northwood Housing last year, despite only having classes on Central, because it was more affordable for her than signing a year-long lease on Central. Since Northwood is being demolished, Shulaiba moved onto Central before the beginning of this fall semester — but said she would’ve moved to Central even if she had the option to live in Northwood again.

“Northwood was great, but a lot of the things that make college life fun don’t really happen (there) because everyone else is on Central,” Shulaiba explained.

Despite feeling some social isolation there, Shulaiba admitted that “I always love talking about living on North because I love having lived on North. But sometimes I don’t want to talk too much about North because then everyone will go up there. It’s nice and peaceful, and I want to gatekeep it a bit. Central is great, but it can be so overstimulating. But you can go back up to Northwood, and you get that bus ride to switch off school-mode and switch on home-mode.”

Riding the bus up to North, I felt that mental shift Shulaiba was describing, albeit in reverse. As the Commuter North approached Pierpont Commons, I felt a refreshing sense of clarity and focus. Equipped with three practice exams for my upcoming midterms, a coding project I hadn’t started and a list of buildings my friends in engineering had suggested I visit, I set out to experience North. ***

Maybe the mainstream culture of the University does not lie at North Campus. However, fiscally and academically speaking, North Campus has been, and will continue to be, the future of the University.

In 1947, the University purchased 267 acres north of the Huron River — the land that would eventually become North Campus — in anticipation of the post-WW2 boom in higher education. The rapid increase in enrollment also coincided with the rise of STEM positions in the workforce and a desire for higher education. Plans were soon made to gradually move the College of Engineering to the undeveloped site, and new buildings to house the School of Music, Theatre & Dance and the School of Architecture and Urban Planning followed less than a decade later.

Construction plans were then scaled back in response to shortfalls in the state’s budget in the 1970s. Since then, however, North Campus has continued to grow without interruption, although not without complaints from students that North isn’t “integrated into campus,” that the commute between North and Central is too long and that living there will negatively impact their social life.

LUCAS CHEN/Daily

Canvassing the canvassers — Evangelicals, voting drives and more

BY CHARLIE PAPPALARDO, STATEMENT COLUMNIST

BY CHINWE ONWERE, STATEMENT COLUMNIST

I think that one of the easiest things to do on a college campus is ignore people — I know this because it’s something I do all the time. When I’m going to class, or to a friend’s house, or even just wandering around campus and enjoying the fall, I do it all with my AirPods in. I put my hood up, walk at a decent speed and, frankly, do everything I can to ignore those trying to get my attention.

And as a college student, there are quite literally hundreds of people on this campus who are trying to get your attention, from one end of the Diag to the other. Every single day, you and I walk past voter registration drivers, the Jehovah’s Witness missionaries, the student organization advocates, the blood drive people and, of course, and more rarely, the preachers with comically large signs telling us that we’re all going to hell. And like me, I’m sure you do your best to ignore them. You probably avoid eye contact, quicken your pace and pray that you don’t have to interact.

But there’s a part of me that really, really respects what these people are doing. Because every single day, these people are ignored, and even accosted by tens of thousands of students who unequivocally don’t want to deal with them. But every day, they keep coming back — and there’s a part of me that is deeply intrigued by that fortitude.

On an ideological level, I don’t agree with most of them, nor do I desire to adopt their practices. I am, however, interested in them as people. What brings them back? Why do they brave the cold and rain to sell, or preach, or offer something to students who have repeatedly said that they don’t care?

So, for a weekend, I decided I’d change up my routine. I took my AirPods out, kept my head up, made eye contact and immersed myself in conversation with everyone I found on the Diag who wanted my attention — everyone I was used to ignoring. ***

The more you talk with people soliciting just about anything on campus, the more you quickly come to realize that these people aren’t faint of heart — because they can’t be. I think the best example of this necessary resilience is the Jehovah’s Witnesses, at least two of whom can be found from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week, standing somewhere on the Diag beside a small cart filled with flyers about finding eternal life. They never approach students on campus, or call out to them, or yell. They just stand there, smiling, waiting for us to talk to them.

But we very rarely do. I remember that the first time I approached the group earlier this year, they seemed almost surprised when I asked them for their elevator pitch and looked around for a moment to see who would take the lead before they responded.

Once they got started, though, their pitch rarely changed. They worked in shifts, and so in each of the four conversations I had with them, I talked to new people. But in every conversation, many things stayed the same. They were always well dressed — men in suits and ties, women in dresses — they always characterized their faith as an analytical, objective interpretation of the Bible and they were always incredibly kind to me (with the caveat being that my identity as a cisgender, straight male made that easy).

Yet what I was most interested in wasn’t their faith in Jehovah, but rather their faith in the process of evangelization. In one conversation I had, I asked if anyone had talked to them in their three-hour shift. They said no, chuckling, but remarked with a light smile that they had been talked at, likely meaning they were heckled.

When I talked to them one last time that weekend in 40-degree weather and rain, they smiled and said that they were used to being ignored. And the last man I talked to said that working in sales had hardened him and that he wasn’t affected by rejection. They all understand that quite literally, 99% of those passing by will act like they don’t exist, but they remain standing, in freezing temperatures and in stoic postures, for the one person who might.

Every Jehovah’s Witness I talked to that weekend mentioned that they found the religion through their family. But one of the women told me that her mother, a devout Catholic, had been converted because someone knocked on her door. This means that of the group of 10 who I talked to that weekend, only one had a personal experience of being converted, and it was tangential. But their faith in the process was unwavering.

That’s what fascinates me most about every canvasser on this campus who keeps showing up despite the constant rejection: it’s that they never lose faith in the numbers game. And that extends beyond religious outreach.

Rob Sweet, a canvasser who registers passersby to vote in Michigan, explained his personal experience to me simply.

Waltzing my way through ballroom dance history

“Have you ballroom danced before?” a girl asked, as we waited outside the studio door.

I shook my head, a reluctant smile appearing on my face. “Not yet, but I am about to.”

In my creased, worn, white sneakers, I walked toward the mirror room of the Central Campus Recreation Building, my body excited and nervously brimming with anticipation. The dimly lit space was perfumed with sweat and rubber, the clatter of heels against the hardwood floor surface, a clock in the back ticking softly. The glimmer of the moon shone softly over Palmer Field and against the wall, reflecting in the mirror.

Coming in with my lint-ridden sweats and creased shoes, I felt underdressed as I looked at the surrounding dancers. Their flowy skirts, high stiletto heels, ironed suits and black ties made the blaring coffee stain on my Michigan shirt even more apparent.

I hesitantly glanced at the time on my watch: 8 p.m. The Michigan Ballroom Dance Team was offering free newcomer lessons for the month of September in hopes of recruiting people to their team. And while there was no way that I could be a part of the team (my lack of rhythm and inflexibility account for that), there was also no way that I could pass up the opportunity to partake in a free session.

***

My relationship with dancing has always been one of apprehension, but also of discrete fondness. Since I’m of Nigerian heritage, dancing is a tremendous part of my culture and celebrations. During birthday bashes, ladies in their cloth wraps and men in their suits stomp their feet to the Naija beats, the cling-clang of drums swaying their bodies as they move their legs back and forth.

Throughout my life, I have tried to mimic those moves, yet something is always off. My feet seem to lag as I stomp to the beat of the music, my tempo becomes a muddle as I lose track of which limb performs what move and my arms become so stiff that they stick like glue to the sides of my waist.

Yet I honestly love to dance. There is something so freeing about the movement of letting yourself sway to the sound of the music, something so spiritual about floating atop a rhythmic line, with no gravity or weight holding you down.

With something like ballroom dancing — a highly technical and competitive dance that combines multiple styles from around the world, including the cha cha from Cuba, the samba from Brazil and the Pasodoble from Southern France — it is safe to say that I was nervous at the thought of trying to learn how to move my feet correctly in the first steps of the dance.

“Welcome! Are you guys ready?” And with that, we began the proceedings of our magical escapade back to the 16th century, the supposed time period when the first account of ballroom dancing was recorded. The history of ballroom dancing is said have begun in Europe, particularly in Germany. While visiting Augsburg, Michel de Montaigne, an important philosopher of the French Renaissance, accounted for a dance where people were so close that their faces touched. These dances were often performed by lower-class individuals; however, as the popularity and complexity of these styles evolved, they eventually became a marker of high social status.

The development and standardization of this dance continued until the 19th and 20th centuries, when styles such as waltz, tango, quickstep and foxtrot began to emerge and were performed competitively. This art style slowly permeated from the boundaries of Europe to the climbing towers and bright lights of New York City, as a dance style known as the “swing,” created and popularized by African Americans in Harlem, began to emerge in America.

And here I stood, four centuries after this dance’s advent in the mirrored, strangely somber CCRB dance studio, about to test the limits of my self-sanity and limb coordination.

All 40 of us were instructed to form two groups facing each other on either side of the room; the “leads” and the “follows.” Typically, leads are more masculine-presenting participants that “lead” the dance by choosing the steps and often initiate the stylistic techniques such as the twirls or the dips, while the follow synchronizes with their footwork. I migrated toward the follow side, hoping my inability to stand on my two feet would be overshadowed by someone else’s talent.

Two of the ballroom dance club leaders took the center stage of the room, separated by the sea of anticipating newcomers, impatient intermediates and the watchful advanced. Dancing by ourselves at first, we started with a “simple” three-count rhythm; right leg to the front — to the middle — to the back — side step, to the middle — to the front — repeat.

Sitting face-to-face with one of Ann Arbor’s witches

BY ELIZABETH WOLFE, STATEMENT COLUMNIST

My fascination with witches was born out of reading “The Crucible” my sophomore year of high school. I read aloud the voice of Elizabeth Proctor to the class, my voice trembling as I pleaded with the judge for my innocence, that I did not harm Abigail Williams through supernatural means, that John Proctor was a faithful husband, that I wasn’t a witch. But the judge didn’t believe me, nor did the town of Salem, swept away by a fear only God could instill. Soon I’d be hanged with 18 others, one of 20 victims of the trials.

Arthur Miller’s recount of the events of Salem is nonetheless historical fiction, an allegory for the Red Scare of the 1950s. Abigail Williams wasn’t a teenage Winona Ryder but a little girl, and John Proctor wasn’t a strapping and brooding Daniel DayLewis but an old man. There was no affair between the two that led to Abigail accusing Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft.

But the characters mentioned in the play were all real residents of Salem. Abigail really did accuse the Proctors, as well as dozens of others, of witchcraft. And both Proctors really did die as a result of Abigail’s accusations against them, making them two of the 20 victims of the Salem Witch Trials, not counting the four who died in prison and the hundreds of others who were imprisoned on the charge before the chaos ceased in 1693.

This semester, I revisited my fascination with witches and signed up for History 375: History of Witchcraft. Telling my friends about this particular course registration meant I was soon met with raised eyebrows and scrunched faces. They all had the same question: Are witches even real?

The short answer: Yes, but not in the ways one might expect. While there are practitioners of witchcraft today, they are separate from the ‘witches’ of the trials conducted against people like Elizabeth Proctor.

For the United States, much of our understanding of witchcraft is filtered through the lens of Salem. And yet, the events that occurred in Salem pale in comparison to the European trials of the Early Modern Period — a few centuries earlier than Salem. While estimates vary wildly, the most recent numbers are that between 40,000 to 50,000 people were hanged and burned at the stake, 75 to 80% of whom were women, during the European witch trials. In context, as Shakespeare was writing his sonnets and Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel, supposed witches, most of them women, were being burned for crimes they did not commit.

One purpose of History 375 is to dissect the various reasons, events and players behind the atrocities that occurred during the Early Modern Period, and therefore, no one simple explanation exists for why each victim was accused. However, one reoccurring element of witch trials throughout history is apocalyptic thinking, that demonic evil is present and those involved must be defeated. This line of thinking characterized the Red Scare of the 1950s and Satanic Panic of the 1980s. Today, conspiracy movements such as Q Anon rely on this same sensational notion that people, specifically the “elites,” are secretly engaging in child sacrifice and devil worship.

With a basic understanding of the accused witches of Salem and Europe and the hyperbolic ways in which they were portrayed and ridiculed, I wanted to know what the real witches were like, here in Ann Arbor.

HANNAH TORRES/Daily Kai Belcher performs a Tarot card reading Monday, October 17. Read more at MichiganDaily.com