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INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 107 ©2019 The Michigan Daily
DESIGN BY ALEC COHEN
COVER .........................1 NEWS.........................2 NEWS......................3 OPINION.....................4
ARTS.....................5 MIC.....................6 SPORTS....................7 SPORTS....................8
News
2A — Saturday, May 4, 2019
ARTS NEWS
over the over the YEARS
YEARS
2016 2013
SEPTEMBER 27: Hundreds of students gather
Bis etum il ius eliquam usaerum eiumdebate veliction in the Diag to protest over the planned comnit dunt, totaBlack que consequo is essunture the merits of the Lives Matter movement. dolor il ea plab ipsae Aftermolesti a debateberiore, sponsored byne The Michigan excero teUnion, volorep tation restudents videndunt Political about 400 gathered omnihil ipienda veliqui nobites et laboriame outside the Michigan League’s Vandenberg lantiossunt hil iusinclusion arumquiand dentibus, Room to demand highlightqui the aliat pa qui simolessit, nes escilit harum importance of black voices. que volorit eicia con plis everum fugitatur siNOVEMBER quiae esto blaturem labo. Itatas mosmarched venis 16: Nearly 1,000 students arumnihilla aut etumelection hil il mod to the Diag tontentotatem protest the presidential quam es est as endaesc escium of Donald Trump the nightipiendis after he was elected. lation cupta doluptam ipsapicit aut optiis Schlissel spoke calling forab unity.
2017 2014
APRIL 29: Bicentennial Commencement Bis etum il ius eliquam usaerum eium looks back on the University’s 200 years, velicti comnit dunt, tota que consequo is alongside celebrating Class of 2017’s future. essunture dolor molesti beriore, il ea ne The event included a series of musical plab ipsae excero te volorep tation re performances, a multimedia presentation videndunt omnihil ipienda veliqui nobites and alumni awards to pay tribute to the et laboriame lantiossunt hil ius arumqui University’s rich history. dentibus, qui aliat pa qui simolessit, nes escilit harum que volorit eicia con plis NOVEMBER 9: All University Greek life everum fugitatur si quiae esto blaturem labo. social activities are suspended. In the midts Itatas mos venis arumnihilla ntentotatem of hazing and sexual assault allegations, the aut etum hil il mod quam es est as endaesc National Interfraternity Council steps in. ipiendis escium lation cupta doluptam ab
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
2018
2019
NOVEMBER 6: Democrat Gretchen Whitmer wins the election for Governor of the state of Michigan over Republican Bill Schuette. Whitmer runs on an all-female executive ticket in an election cycle known for having a record number of women and minorities on the ballot.
APRIL 16: Campus is put on lock-down following reports of an active shooter on campus. The shot-like noise that triggered the panic is found later to be from students innocently popping balloons nearby.
JANUARY 26: LSA student Morgan McCaul discusses her involvement with the Larry Nassar trial after delivering her impact statement at the trial. Nassar is sentenced to 40 to 125 years for sexual abuse.
MARCH 21: The Climate Action movement held a sit-in in President Mark Schlissel’s office following a walk-out that brough upwards of 3,000 people to The Diag. The demonstration ends with 10 people being arrested.
Community celebrates new same-sex marriage ruling LARA MOEHLMAN 2017 Deputy Statement Editor As news that the Supreme Court ruled in favor of samesex marriage swept across the U.S. Friday morning, supporters rallied in both downtown Ann Arbor and Washington D.C. in celebration of this historic decision. The Jim Toy Community Center, an advocacy group for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer residents of Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and the greater Washtenaw County area, hosted a “Day of Decision Rally” so supporters could gather in response to the Court’s decision. After quieting the crowd, April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, one couple represented in the string of cases considered by the Court, offered remarks under rainbow colored streamers during the press conference portion of the event. DeBoer thanked her lawyers for their determination and hard work. In January 2012, Michigan residents April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court, challenging Michigan’s ban on adoption by same-sex couples. DeBoer and Rowse separately adopted one son and two daughters, respectively, but were unable to jointly adopt their children because Michigan law did not recognize same-sex marriages, and only granted joint parent adoption rights to married couples. “It’s been a long, long, hard road,” Deboer said. “It’s been four and a half years in the making … We would not be here
if it weren’t for many people, and first and foremost our attorneys: Dana Nessel and Ken Mogill, Bob Sedler and Carole Stanyar. So I want to thank you guys as well. My last comment is to my beautiful children: We did this for you,” DeBoer said. Carole Stanyar, one of the attorneys for DeBoer and Rowse, also spoke at the press conference, praising her team and clients for their hard work and resilience. She expressed pride in the accomplishments of her case. “This was a definitive statement under equal protection, fundamental right, liberty, due process,” Stanyar said. “It was for now, and it’s for future generations. The bans are unconstitutional. States cannot treat people this way. They cannot treat people unequally. Same-sex couples, their families, their children, have to be treated with dignity and respect,” Stanyar said. In an interview with the press, Attorney General Bill Schuette said throughout litigations, his main argument challenged who would decide if same-sex marriage should be recognized in different states. “We argued this case is a question of who decides: the voters across the United States of America, or the Justices of the Supreme Court,” he said. “It was about voters and who decides, that was what the case was about.” Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor also offered remarks during the celebration. In an interview with the Daily, Taylor was enthusiastic about this progressive milestone in
Michigan’s history. “I could not be more excited for the people of Ann Arbor and for all Americans. This is a day when the Supreme Court has redeemed the American promise of equality before the law. It has ratified that gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual people are fully and finally embraced into the American family. It’s just — it’s wonderful,” Taylor said. Beth Sherman, assistant professor of social work at the University and her wife, Karen Hawver, owner of Precision Accounting in Ann Arbor, attended the celebration and press conference at Braun Court with their two children. Sherman and Hawver were one of the 300 couples married in Michigan in March 2014 after a U.S. federal judge struck down s the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. Both were excited that the Supreme Court’s decision would further legitimize their marriage. “We’ve been together for 21 years and we have two kids, and now it just means eventually we’ll be able to both be their legal parents. We were able to marry the one day in Michigan, but now it just means our marriage will be recognized, so it’s good for us and for our children.” University alum Alanna Maguire, a project manager of the National Marriage Challenge, a non-profit committed to legalizing same-sex marriage in the U.S., said she was proud of her team. She also said she was proud of her fiancé Dana Nessel, also a University alum and an attorney for the April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse case. She said she was also excited that she and Nessel could now obtain a marriage license themselves. “I can get married in my home state. Dana Nessel and I are both from Michigan. We’re both University of Michigan graduates. We love our state. We just wanted to make it better, and I’m so, so proud of Dana particularly today. She carried this case from start to finish,” Maguire said. Brad O’Connor, president of the Jim Toy Community Center, expressed enthusiasm for his own marriage, which was officiated in Illinois, to be officially recognized in his home state of Michigan. “It means that...my family, that was only recognized in twothirds of the country, is now recognized nationwide. I can go to Texas or I can go to Louisiana and Maine and California and have my marriage valid there,” O’Connor said.
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Hundreds walk out of class to protest Spencer visit COLIN BERESFORD 2018 Deputy Statement Editor Last week, the University of Michigan administration responded to Richard Spencer’s request to speak on campus, and moved forward to negotiate the event. Today, in protest of the administration refusing to deny the request, hundreds of students walked out of their classes and rallied in the Diag, then marched into other classrooms on campus. A few hundred students and community members gathered in the University of Michigan Diag at about noon on Wednesday, and after a short rally, marched to the Chemistry Building, Mason Hall and the Fish Bowl in Angell Hall. The rally is part of the #StopSpencer week of action, which includes teachins and other forms of protest. “On Wednesday, November 29 2017, Stop Spencer at the University of Michigan is organizing a student walk out at 11:45 AM in response to the failure of University of Michigan President Mark Schlissel and the Regents to deny white supremacist Richard Spencer’s request to speak on campus,” the Facebook event reads. “We cannot learn in an environment that is constantly disrupting
our learning by threatening our safety and dehumanizing us.” On Nov. 21, the University said it was going to proceed with Spencer’s request to speak on campus, given the administration can ensure the safety of students. In an emergency meeting of the University’s Board of Regents, University President Mark Schlissel laid out “three components” to the decision: the safety of students, protecting free speech in a democratic society, and that denying the request would give more attention to Spencer and his cause. Schlissel repeatedly said safety must be guaranteed in order for the event to take place. LSA senior and organizer Hoai An Pham said, however, in a speech to the protesters in the Diag, the walk-out wasn’t just in protest to the University’s response last week. “This week is not just about protesting Spencer coming here, it’s about protesting white supremacy and it’s about protesting the administration’s lackluster response, inactive, bystander response to a literal white supremacist coming on this campus,” Pham said. “The thing is here too, on this campus every single day, on a regular basis we have hate crimes that are coming.”
Spencer’s representative first requested he speak on the University’s campus at the end of October. This request came after Spencer had requested to speak at several other universities, including Michigan State University and University of Florida. The University of Florida initially denied a request from Spencer, but after being threatened with a lawsuit, relented and allowed Spencer to speak in October. On Aug. 17, a statement released from the Office of the President at Michigan State University declared MSU would deny the National Policy Institute’s request to rent space on campus. The NPI is a white nationalist think tank led by Spencer. MSU now faces a lawsuit for not allowing Spencer to speak. The lawyer representing Spencer threatened to sue the University earlier in November if it did not accommodate Spencer’s request, giving the administration a week deadline to make a decision. This deadline has since been extended until Dec. 8. Previously, University Regent Ron Weiser (R) said in an email Spencer was “a dangerous and disgusting man.”
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Game over: the historical Michigan Time eliminated MAYA GOLDMAN 2019 Editor in Chief LSA sophomore Lexi Michaels wasn’t expecting to be late to her Psychology 280 exam. In fact, she thought she was early. But when she walked into the testing
accommodations room a few minutes after 2:30 — she’d run there right from her last class — she realized the exam was not being administered on Michigan Time, and everyone else had already started. “My expectation was that it would (start on Michigan
Time), because that’s what most of my classes and exams start on, even if they’re in a testing accommodations room,” Michaels said. “And it didn’t. I walked in really flustered. I was like, ‘Are they going to let me take the exam?’” After the initial scare, everything turned out fine for Michaels. She was still given a full two hours to take her exam, and no one was angry at her for coming in late. However, start time confusion is common at the University of Michigan, and the administration has decided it’s time to take action. Starting May 1, no University classes will run on Michigan Time, the 10 minute late-start built into most undergraduate classes at the University. Michigan time is a University tradition that dates back to the 1930s. Students and professors used to time their classes according to the chimes of the Burton Tower at the beginning of each hour, and Michigan time was officially adopted to allow students to get from class to class without being late. Now, to allow for students to get to back-toback classes, all classes will stop 10 minutes before the hour.
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News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Saturday, May 4, 2019 — 3A
Former students allege 40 years of misconduct by SMTD professor
SAMMY SUSSMAN Daily Staff Reporter
The University of Michigan hired Stephen Shipps as an associate professor of music on Sept. 1, 1989. Since then, he has had a successful academic career at the University. From 2001 to 2004, he served on the Executive Committee of the School of Music, Theatre & Dance. From 2002 to 2007, he served as the associate dean for academic affairs. He is currently the chair of strings and the faculty director of the Strings Preparatory Academy, a universityaffiliated pre-college music program for
local middle and high school students. A Michigan Daily investigation unearthed previously undisclosed allegations of sexual harassment and sexual misconduct against Shipps. These reports span nearly 40 years, from Fall 1978 to a University-affiliated summer program in the last five years. They include accusations of unwanted touching, sexual assault, prolonged sexual relationships with teenage students and misogynistic and sexist verbal statements. Shipps declined to comment for this article. His lawyer, David Nacht, also declined to comment. The Daily also found reports that at
least one faculty member in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, Prof. Yizhak Schotten, was made aware of some of these allegations soon after Shipps’s hiring was announced and before he started teaching. It is unclear whether he communicated these concerns to the University at the time, or if the University has ever been made aware of these concerns. *** Shipps taught at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts — known then as the North Carolina School of the Arts before a 2008 name change — prior to coming to the University of Michigan. The Daily spoke
with a former North Carolina School of the Arts college student, who wished to remain anonymous, citing professional and privacy concerns. She currently serves as the associate principal second (the second-ranked member of the second violin section) in a full-time professional orchestra. In this article, she will be referred to as Meghan. Meghan was an international student assigned to Shipps’s private studio in NCSA. By the end of her freshman year, she felt uncomfortable in Shipps’s studio.
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False shooter scare creates Survivor fights for justice mass confusion on campus SOPHIE SHERRY 2018 Managing News Editor
ELIZABETH LAWRENCE 2019 Managing News Editor After various reports of an unconfirmed active shooter threat on campus, the Division of Public Safety and Security notified the University of Michigan community that police found no evidence of this threat. The University sent this latest report through a U-M Emergency Alert email Saturday at 7:51 p.m, as well as on Twitter. At 5:06 p.m., the University alerted campus to the unconfirmed shooter reports, advising students, faculty and staff to “run, hide, fight.” Another U-M Emergency Alert at 5:18 p.m. described the threat as “unconfirmed reports” and to “stay away” from the Mason Hall area. According to a statement from University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald, DPSS received 20 phone calls alleging a possible active shooter on the second floor of Mason Hall. The reports
came in at 4:35 p.m., the same time as a vigil commemorating the 50 people killed in a shooting at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand on Friday. Officers from DPSS, the Ann Arbor Police Department, Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office, Michigan State Police and FBI responded at the scene. Fitzgerald also wrote police confirmed there was balloon popping in the same area where gunshots were reported. He further wrote preliminary investigation by the police found no malicious intent in the balloon popping activity. Noting the terror students experienced, Fitzgerald reminded the University community of resources available to them. “This was a traumatic day for many. And we want everyone to know about these important resources that are available to the campus community,” Fitzgerald wrote. “Our campus offers resources to all students through CAPS, the university’s counseling and psychological services at
734-764-8312. Faculty and staff can receive support through the Faculty and Staff Counseling and Consultation Office at 734-9368660.” Sunday, in the Michigan League Underground from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., CAPS counselors were available to speak with students. According to DPSS deputy chief of police Melissa Overton, police activated the emergency alert system and responded immediately. “We activated the emergency alert system for people to run, hide and fight, and that’s why we train here on campus,” Overton said to The Daily before DPSS had determined there was no threat to campus. “Currently, we are clearing the buildings.” Though there was no active shooter on campus, in the time between DPSS’ initial warning and the all-clear signal, students and faculty alike were swept up in a wave of confusion.
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10 arrested after climate sit-in at Fleming Building BARBARA COLLINS & ALEX HARRING 2019 Summer Managing News Editors After seven-and-a-half-hours in and around the Fleming Administration Building, Washtenaw County Climate Strike demonstrators left at approximately 9:30 p.m. Friday night. Melissa Overton, deputy chief of police and public information officer for the Division of Public Safety and Security, wrote in a message to The Daily that 10 demonstrators — including two minors — chose to remain in the building after multiple warnings. The 10 were arrested and given citations for trespassing, and the minors were held inside until their guardians arrived, Overton wrote. Elizabeth Blackwell, a junior at Washtenaw International High School, said demonstrators inside were given an ultimatum by University employees of either leaving the building by 8 p.m. or facing arrest. If they chose to stay, they were told they would be photographed and the case would
be referred to the prosecutor’s office. “I wasn’t an organizer for it, but I was really amazed by all the work they did because they did a really great job of getting everyone together to have group discussions without alerting the people there, the security guards there, about what was going on,” Blackwell said. “When they gave us that final ultimatum, they (the organizers) did a quick straw poll of who would be willing to stay to get arrested and of those people they confirmed that they were actually able to do this and then made plans based on that.” The Climate Strike was part of a youth-led global movement calling for action on climate change. Organizers estimated 2,500-3,000 attended the initial rally at 12 p.m., which led to a march to the Administration Building. Following the march, a portion of the demonstrators entered the building for a sit-in in University President Mark Schlissel’s office. At 6 p.m., approximately 60 demonstrators were still in the office. LSA senior Olivia Perfetti said demonstrators had intended
to sit in Schlissel’s office until their demands were met by the University and expressed frustration with the University’s response. One of those demands was a one-hour public meeting with Schlissel in which questions regarding the University’s plan to address climate change and carbon neutrality were not screened beforehand. Perfetti was one of the demonstrators who was arrested and received a trespassing citation. She said a police officer interviewed her for approximately five minutes before she was charged with trespassing onto University property after hours. “Even if none of us went into this with the intention of getting arrested, I think we all became very stubborn towards the end given the fact that we realized this was such a simple, straightforward, easy request to approve on his part,” Perfetti said. “The fact that he (Schlissel) didn’t do it, means that there’s something really wrong in the administration.”
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Morgan McCaul entered Michigan State University’s medicine clinic at the age of 12. At the time, McCaul — now an LSA freshman at the University of Michigan — was an aspiring ballerina with tears in both hip flexors. She went to East Lansing in search of world-renowned
doctor Larry Nassar with hopes he could provide her with the help she needed to return to dance. Nearly five years later, McCaul realized she had been sexually assaulted by Nassar under the guise of medical treatment. McCaul had seen Nassar as the physician she wanted to be. Instead, she was a victim of his abuse and manipulation. “I was your little ‘goof’ and so I looked to you as a role model,
hoping to volunteer at MSU Sports Medicine alongside you someday,” McCaul’s impact statement read. “Do you remember taking me out to lunch after I job-shadowed you at the Clinic? I still have our friendly Facebook messages. In my mind, you were my both my mentor and my friend.”
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Opinion
4A — Saturday, May 4, 2019
2016 2013
ARTS OPINION
over the over the YEARS
YEARS
SEPTEMBER The Diversity, Equity, andvelicti Inclusion Bis etum il ius29: eliquam usaerum eium (DEI) initiative to campus and left comnit dunt,was totaintroduced que consequo is essunture students disappointed. While initiative dolor molesti beriore, il the ea ne plab encouraged ipsae future programs, there tation were nore tangible plans for excero te volorep videndunt overhauling campus climate in the moment. It was omnihil ipienda veliqui nobites et laboriame also necessary for to play dentibus, their part inqui fixing lantiossunt hilstudents ius arumqui campus by continuing toescilit voice their concerns aliat paculture qui simolessit, nes harum about campuseicia issues. que volorit con plis everum fugitatur
si quiae esto blaturem labo. Itatas mos venis
OCTOBER 2: ntentotatem The Black Leadership Council arumnihilla aut etum hil addressed il mod the issues alt-right posters found throughout quam essurrounding est as endaesc ipiendis escium campus. lation cupta doluptam ab ipsapicit aut optiis
2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
2018
2019
JANUARY: The University of Michigan kicksedoff its Bicentennial year with a variety of events and celebrations across campus.
JANUARY 25: The Michigan Daily’s Editorial Board stands in solidarity with those affected by the crimes of Larry Nassar.
NOVEMBER 16: With the suspension of University Greek Life following a slew of sexual assault accusations, students across campus questioned the University’s social structure and the role of the Interfraternity Council. The Daily called on the IFC to be more transparent and provide a concrete plan of action to combat the questionable behavior plauging the organization.
APRIL 16: The Daily highlights the Stop the Straw initiative in Ann Arbor. Contributors discuss their work with Grizzly Peak Brewing Company and Frita Batidos, two staple Ann Arbor establishments, to eradicate the unassuming, yet dangerous, plastic straw.
MARCH: On March 16, the University of Michigan campus wasleft in confusion and distress following false reports of an active shooting. This led to outcry among students regarding personal experiences, gun policy and the University’s emergency response system. APRIL 22: The Michigan Daily’s Editorial Board evaluates the University’s hypocrisy with regards to crime, safety and inclusion. There is direct reference to the felony disclouse policy, which was announced by the University on February 4, and it’s contradictions with existing DEI initiatives.
Yes, our Bicentennial matters LUCAS MAIMAN 2017 Columnist
At first glance, the University (and only the University) causes the stress that defines many parts of our college lives. That stress has translated to action many times over; it seems that every other week, some coalition of students expresses its grievances toward University of Michigan President Schlissel. This academic year has been no different. In September, there began more of a push to rename the C.C. Little Science Building; in October, Charles Murray; and this month, perhaps as a chaser for the acrimonious start to the year, East Quad Residence Hall dining hours. At the University, when students detect so much as a drop of blood shed by the University, you can say goodbye to nuance. Outrage and oppression take the wheel. I myself am not entirely blameless of this mindset. I have been contemptuous of the University in the past; a few of my columns have even dealt with problems that I believe the University should address. Nor do I believe students must always acquiesce to the University. We pay a premium to attend the University of Michigan. There is something to be said about ensuring we have the best experiences here. But is our University really so broken that we must harp on its small shortcomings, rather than its years of triumph? Must the student body so frequently drive a wedge between itself and the University? On both counts, I found myself answering in the negative. I arrived at this answer not out of disdain, but from my Twitter feed. It was
on my Twitter feed where, proudly displayed on the University’s Twitter account, I saw an homage to Janaki Ammal, the first woman to earn a U.S. doctorate in botany. In the backdrop of our own seemingly taxing lives at the University, consider Ammal’s life. Ammal, one of 19 children, was born and raised in India. Although she was arranged to marry her first cousin, Ammal instead left for the United States after she earned a prestigious Barbour Scholarship from the University of Michigan. At the University, she first earned her master’s degree in 1925, and then her doctorate in botany in 1931. She then returned to Coimbatore, India, where she used her expertise in cytogenetics to create a highyielding strain of sugarcane that thrived in Indian conditions. Shortly thereafter, in 1935, Ammal was invited to be a research fellow at the Indian Academy of Sciences, but her status as a single woman of a low caste forced her to move to London in 1940 to continue her research. Working in London during World War II, Ammal would describe to friends how she would dive under her bed during German night bombings and continue with her research the next day. Stories of University alumni like Ammal put our own lives in perspective. Ammal used the University to explore and to innovate. For Ammal, the University was not an infringer, an impediment or an institution confining us to our daily routines. The University was instead a bridge, moving her from poverty in India to international acclaim in the sciences. For those of us today, who
inevitably hail from more fortunate backgrounds, Ammal’s story still offers valuable lessons, like the need to step back and consider the University’s storied history before embarking on our own diatribes. Lessons like these hold true in the stories of the other impressive alumni emblazoning the University’s Twitter feed. There were the familiar names, of course, like Desmond Howard, the University’s stud wide receiver who won the Heisman in 1991, and Larry Page, the co-founder of Google. But the University predominantly celebrated some of its less well-known, but equally impressive alumni like Ammal. There was William Mayo, who co-founded the Mayo Clinic in 1889; Frances E. Allen, the first woman to win the Turing Award for her highspeed computing innovations; and Robert Shiller, who shared the 2013 Nobel Prize in economics. For the unaware, the surge in alumni acknowledgments and folklore comes as the University celebrates its Bicentennial. The University has used the hashtag #umich200 to honor alumni like Ammal, Howard and Mayo. For the cynics on campus, the Bicentennial is easy fodder. A cursory look at the Bicentennial celebration flatly reads as another distraction to dodge on the walk through the Diag. And, for that matter, is this even the University’s true Bicentennial? A little research reveals that yes, it is in fact the University’s true Bicentennial, and, yes, the Bicentennial celebration is more than a Diag nuisance. If it were not for the University’s prolonged celebration of its Bicentennial,
perhaps the stories of Janaki Ammal, William Mayo or Frances E. Allen would have remained sparsely told. If nothing else, the Bicentennial celebration has done a commendable job in acknowledging our University’s history. Possessing a deeper understanding and knowledge of the University’s history helps us when we feel tempted to lash out at the University. For the students who feel bogged down by the stresses of University life and for those who feel the need to issue demands toward President Schlissel, the Bicentennial reminds us that our most notable alumni worked with the University rather than in opposition. It does not invalidate our rights as students on campus. We deserve the best here, and it is within our jurisdiction to hold the University to the best standards. But celebrations like the Bicentennial that honor people like Janaki Ammal should give us perspective on how lucky we are to be at this University. There is a wealth of potential for us to seize on campus. And while protest is a right guaranteed to us all, something I touched upon in a previous column, we would do better to remember the great people and the storied history of our University. We are a part of the University, not a foil to it. Consider the role of the University in the life of alumni that the Bicentennial has illuminated. Appreciate that we go to a University that takes pride in alumni like Janaki Ammal — not all schools celebrate their history. Ally with the University and who knows, maybe when the tricentennial comes along, you, too, will be mentioned in kind.
From the Daily: “Leaders and Best?” Prove it. 2019 MICHIGAN DAILY EDITORIAL BOARD In recent weeks, there has been a surge in student activism surrounding the University of Michigan’s policies and commitments on climate action and carbon neutrality. In October, University President Mark Schlissel announced the President’s Commission on Carbon Neutrality, with a directive to create a plan for the University to go carbon neutral. However, the move has been met with frustration from students on campus who feel the commission lacks the strength, transparency and experience to enact effective change. These frustrations culminated in a seven-hour sit-in at the Fleming Administration Building following the March 15 Global Strike for Climate, after which, at the sit-in, 10 students were arrested for trespassing. Student organizations on campus, such as Climate Action Movement, Students for Clean Energy and others have continued to pressure the administration and Schlissel to commit to more aggressive goals for carbon neutrality as well as to increase engagement with the student body. We applaud the climate activism taking place on campus, especially as the institutional processes Schlissel implements further our mistrust of the University administration. There is historical precedent for our apprehension of University climate action. In 2015, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Committee released a report detailing how the University can meet its sustainability goals, but most recommendations have been ignored by the University’s Board of Regents. Both the 2015 commission and the current commission are toothless simply because they are merely recommendations. The only way to ensure action is a binding commitment. But our skepticism is not just based on the past. The current administration and commission have not earned our trust. We are suspicious of the commission because it does not have appropriate representation. Corporate executives from DTE and Consumers Energy each have the power to put forth recommendations on the commission — the same number of votes as the entire student body. For us, this represents a serious conflict of interest because, as our primary energy provider, DTE stands to profit from the
University’s continued dependence on fossil fuels. We understand DTE and Consumers Energy need to be a part of the conversation, because they have expertise in transitioning from fossil fuels to renewables, but they do not need to be members of the commission. It would be more reasonable for them to serve in an advisory role instead. We are also suspicious of the commission because Schlissel is not harnessing the advice of experts to make the right decisions about the University’s carbon footprint. The primary way Schlissel has done this is by stopping the commission from discussing two of the essential components of carbon neutrality: the expansion of the Central Power Plant and the University endowment investment in fossil fuels. Though the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change made clear that the world needs to cut global carbon emissions in half by 2030 in order to avoid catastrophic effects of greater than 1.5 degrees Celsius warming, the University has ignored this urgent report, opting instead to start construction on an $80 million expansion of the Central Power Plant. The University claims that expanding our natural gas profile will reduce emissions via energy efficiency, but in reality this decision will bind us to fossil fuels for years to come. The expansion ignores the latest science that questions that reasoning, as methane leaks are a significant externality of natural gas production. Methane has a higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide, making it unclear if the CPP expansion will help the University get to carbon neutrality. The commission should be allowed to recommend that the University halt the CPP expansion. Furthermore, the commission should also be empowered to recommend that the University divest from fossil fuels. Though the University does not advertise how much of its endowment is invested in natural resources such as fossil fuels, numbers from the 2017 Report of Investments put the total investment in natural resources at $925 million. The University should consider its investments in fossil fuels as part of its carbon footprint. Consequently, Schlissel should empower the commission to talk about the endowment’s role in the climate crisis. In fact, recent trends show investment in renewables can yield high returns as the renewable
sector is outpacing traditional fossil fuels. The University has shown reluctance toward acting in the best interest of the community at large. For example, in 2000, when the University divested from tobacco companies, the final vote from the Board of Regents was four in favor, two abstentions and one against, despite tobacco representing less than .25 percent of the endowment’s investments. The only other example of the University divesting was in 1988 due to apartheid in South Africa. Other than those examples, the University has largely avoided engaging in dialogue surrounding divestment, including the climate fight. In order to create more effective change, the University should include more than just two students on the commission and in the planning and development of a more environmentally-conscious campus. The University has consistently denied requests for a commitment to carbon neutrality by 2030, even though student support has been rapidly increasing. One way to integrate the student body into its decision-making process would be to give students a more powerful voice on a committee that has a central role in working alongside the University to combat carbon emissions. The student group would need to be diverse and have a deep understanding of environmental justice, since marginalized communities around the world are disproportionately impacted by climate change. The University needs to serve its students, and the only way to do that is for the student body to be at the forefront of this fight. Students have repeatedly asked the University to take real climate action, and the University should listen and act accordingly. The threat of climate change is dire and the University’s actions do not reflect its urgency and severity. In expanding the CPP, failing to commit to carbon neutrality and expanding our investments in fossil fuels, the University is failing to be a leader on clean energy. The University has branded itself as an institution dedicated to solving global problems; students flock here to learn the skills necessary to change the world. When the administration works against the values and goals of the students, when the Board of Regents ignores the University’s own research on climate change and when students peacefully protesting are arrested rather than heard, prospective applicants notice.
The University can still be one of the leaders in the climate movement. By taking steps to prevent further harm to the environment, the University can rebrand itself as an institution committed to sustainability. We recognize that transitioning to true carbon neutrality by 2030 will be a challenge, but in our eyes, the University has a moral imperative to lead. The University can and should be a leader. Considering we are one of Michigan’s largest employers, we have a significant carbon footprint. However, this also means we have the greatest potential to reduce such residual impacts. Moreover, those who have felt and will feel the impacts of climate change first — marginalized communities around the world — are less able to address the crisis than we are. We have the power to lead because our endowment, at nearly $12 billion, is one of the biggest in the nation, and just added a record $5 billion. If the University, a public research institution accountable to its stakeholders, cannot meet the objectives set out by the IPCC, no one can. We want to express our feelings of mistrust toward Schlissel as it pertains to his and the administration’s treatment of climate policies based on historical evidence of mishandling, avoiding and lagging behind on climate issues. Despite his attractive, promising rhetoric surrounding climate change and the commission, little has been done or is known about how the University plans to take the lead and enact a just transition to true carbon neutrality. Not only are we behind other schools in committing to carbon neutrality, we are lagging on one of the most serious global issues of our time and the future. We demand the University become more transparent in their plans by giving students more power in the internal committee or more access to open, unfiltered conversations. We must be proactive in creating true, effective changes that will not only brand the University as a progressive and bold campus, but as one that acts with a moral interest in mind rather than profit. Furthermore, we call on student activists to sustain the energy that they’ve exhibited recently via protesting, organizing and demanding serious action. If we continue with this movement, and if the University decides to invest in its students’ future, we can actually make a difference for generations to come.
JOE IOVINO/2016 Cartoonist
From the Daily: Keep Spencer off campus 2017 MICHIGAN DAILY EDITORIAL BOARD Historically and contemporarily, universities have been the center of social change and political discourse. Consequently, the nature of free speech on university campuses is a deeply important issue. Recently, Richard Spencer, a white supremacist and an “altright” leader, has asked to speak at the University of Michigan. His request prompts a muchneeded discussion on free speech and how the University will respond to it. The Michigan Daily Editorial Board believes that the University should fight Richard Spencer’s request to speak on campus through the courts for the purposes of campus safety. By allowing Richard Spencer to speak on campus, the Editorial Board believes the University would offer a platform for Spencer to spread legitimate hate speech. Spencer advocates for the establishment of a “white ‘ethno-state,’” “peaceful ethnic cleansing” and has adopted Nazi terminolog y for the press. Though hate speech is hard to define, we believe Spencer’s speech poses a reasonable threat to public safety. Spencer’s speech has incited rampant violence in the past, most notably in Charlottesville, Va., last August, when Heather Heyer died protesting at a Unite the Right rally which Spencer organized. Furthermore, Florida Gov. Rick Scott called a state of emergency when Spencer spoke on the campus of the University of Florida in October. Allowing Spencer to speak would also be contradictory to the University’s diversity, equity and inclusion ideals. We cannot condone the immorality (and irresponsibility) of providing a platform for white supremacist views at our University. Due to the protections of free speech under the First Amendment, simply denying Spencer an opportunity to
speak will likely spark a legal battle. Other prominent public universities, such as Michigan State University and Penn State University, currently find themselves in lawsuits initiated by Spencer after denying his request to speak. His behavior can be categorized as attentionseeking, and until firm legal precedent is established, his tactics will continue from university to university. Therefore, not only is this an opportunity to take direct action against hate speech, but to fight alongside other universities in developing a legal weapon to prevail against these reactive lawsuits. The University can work to set new legal precedents that would likely help protect smaller universities that may not be able to afford hefty legal fees. We acknowledge that even if the University were to forcefully fight to keep Spencer off campus, he may still prevail. The lawsuit is risky, as the University could relinquish all control they may have over scheduling Spencer’s visit. Measures like scheduling Spencer’s potential speech during a restrictive time — such as over a school break — and in a less central venue on campus may not be possible in the case of a lost lawsuit. However, as the Editorial Board has written about in the past, the string of racist actions on campus has harmed the perception of campus safety and inclusivity, and the University should show unrelenting solidarity with minority students in the current political climate. The University needs to match its rhetoric of student solidarity and inclusiveness with its actions. Accepting Spencer’s speaking request will only add fuel to the fire of a troublingly hostile climate. Regardless, the University needs to be proactive, whether by legal measures or security, in protecting our campus and our students from intentional and degrading hate speech and an inf lux of white supremacists organizing on campus.
Illustration by JOE IOVINO
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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FEBRUARY AND APRIL: Beyoncé redefines music
Saturday, May 4, 2019 — 5A
2017 2014
Bis il ius eliquam usaerum eiumthe velicti andetum visual albums with Lemonade and steals Super comnit dunt, tota Bowl Halftime Show.que consequo is essunture dolor molesti beriore, il ea ne plab ipsae excero volorep tation re videndunt JULY: te J.K. Rowling extends the “Harry Potter” omnihil veliqui laboriame universeipienda to the stage withnobites the playet“Harry lantiossunt hil Cursed ius arumqui Potter and the Child.”dentibus, qui aliat pa qui simolessit, nes escilit harum que volorit eicia con plis everum fugitatur DECEMBER: Carrie Fisher and George siMichael quiae esto labo. Itatas mos venis passblaturem away, concluding a year in which arumnihilla ntentotatem autworld etumlose hil iltheir mod many beloved icons in the art quam lives. es est as endaesc ipiendis escium lation
FEBRUARY: “Moonlight” (not “La La Land”) wins Bis etum il ius eliquam usaerum eium Best Picture at the 89th Academy Awards in a velicti comnit dunt, tota que consequo is highly publicized enevelope mix-up
essunture dolor molesti beriore, il ea ne plab ipsae excero te volorep tation re APRIL: Kendrick Lamar releases DAMN. which goes videndunt omnihil ipienda veliqui nobites on to become the first non-jazz or classical album et laboriame lantiossunt hil ius arumqui to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. dentibus, qui aliat pa qui simolessit, nes escilit harum que volorit eicia con plis NOVEMBER: Greta Gerwig directed film “Lady everum fugitatur si quiae esto blaturem labo. Bird” is met with critical acclaim,blazing trails for Itatas mos venis arumnihilla ntentotatem other female directors. aut etum hil il mod quam es est as endaesc ipiendis escium
2018
JANUARY: The #MeToo movement comes to a head during awards season, dominating red carpet conversation and demanding repercussions for perpetrators of sexual assault. FEBRUARY: “Black Panther” is the first Marvel movie with a predominantly Black cast. NOVEMBER: Former First Lady Michelle Obama pens her memoir “Becoming” which sells more copies in the United States than any other book in 2018 and is on its way to becoming the bestselling memoir of all time.
2019
FEBRUARY-MARCH: Country music moves in bold new directions: Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour wins the Grammy for Album of the Year, and Billy Ray Cyrus’s genre-bending collaboration with Lil Nas X stuns Billboard, the song’s position on its Hot Country Songs chart contested. APRIL: BTS becomes the first-ever Korean group to perform on “Saturday Night Live.” APRIL 14: “Game of Thrones” debuts its highlyanticipated eighth and final season.
MUSIC NOTEBOOK
BOOK REVIEW
‘We Were Eight Years in Power’: required reading LAURA DZUBAY Daily Arts Writer
UNIVERSAL MUSIC NEW ZEALAND
Summertime reflections on ‘Supercut’ by Lorde SHIMA SADAGHIYANI, DOMINIC POLSINELLI & ERIKA SHEVCHEK Daily Arts Writers
It’s June of 2017, and there’s a line off singer-songwriter Lorde’s debut, Pure Heroine, that I find myself revisiting incessantly, partly in preparation for the much-anticipated release of Melodrama and partly for the sentiment hidden under the slick cynicism of her first album: rushing uncertainty and fumbling expressions of affection and all the wide-eyed wonder that comes with trying find your place in an everchanging world. “Bruising the sun, I feel grown up with you in your car,” she sings in “A World Alone,” and all of a sudden it’s June again and I’m sitting next to someone who makes me feel new. In the front seat of his car, dying burn of the setting sun striking us gold, the summer feels infinite. The image of a car is a motif that Lorde uses often in both Pure Heroine and Melodrama. It’s fitting. After all, so many significant moments can pass behind the doors of someone’s Ford Focus — fleeting glances at the person behind the steering wheel and heady rushes of excitement over the future stretching ahead, brimming with possibility; fleeting glances at the same person months later, as he blows smoke into the hush of an early September twilight, and realizations of the fact that there is nothing ahead but hollow memories. “Supercut” is all about that realization: A painful sort of understanding that emerges after you desperately attempt to scramble for a connection that just isn’t there anymore. “In your car, the radio up,” she sings, and it’s the same car she romanticizes in “A World Alone,” but the circumstances are irrevocably, unchangeably different. These moments I used to play in the dark — music on a balcony somewhere in the south of Ann Arbor, a stooped tree house crumbling into ruin — will be forever intertwined with the song’s pounding beat. “In my head I do everything right / When you call I forgive and not fight,” Lorde says, and the beat swells; all the emotion trapped in the final sprint to the end of a dwindling relationship expunged in one blinding yell that eventually fizzles out into muted repetitions of “In my head I do everything right.” In the calm of the song’s last few seconds, Lorde takes a deep breath. I take one too, and we both — slowly, quietly — begin to move on. — Shima Sadaghiyani, 2018 Daily Music Editor
June 15, 2017. It was a warm, windy night before Melodrama dropped. I was hurrying back to my apartment after drinks with friends ran a little longer than expected, and I was anxious in anticipation of the clock striking midnight. It was 11:55 p.m., and I already had two other friends waiting at my building to listen to Lorde’s sophomore record for the first time. I broke into a fullon sprint when I hit Packard, the elation of summer (and maybe a touch of gin) coursing through my veins. Listening to “Supercut” is a lot like the feeling that washes over me when I recall that night — more drunk on a memory than actually living. Cut to four days later: I’m at a house party with these same
Undercut with a pulse that gives the track a life of its own outside the album, “Supercut” draws the listener into Lorde’s desperate reach for the past with each breathless verse friends, and we’re gifted control of the music. “Supercut” was the obvious first choice; we leapt and twirled to the music, screaming “wild and fluorescent come home to my heart.” We held hands and spun around each other like tiny hurricanes as the party’s wallflowers stared in awe (or perhaps, more accurately, fear). I often go back to that evening, constructing my own supercut of everyone’s perfect faces, all of us dancing for the friends who would be leaving, for the friends who recently returned, for the night that was passing too quickly. We smiled breathless in the afterglow of a song that always seems to end too soon. This is the magic of “Supercut,” and it set the gold standard for pop in 2017. Undercut with a pulse that gives the track a life of its own outside the album, “Supercut” draws the listener into Lorde’s desperate reach for the past with each breathless verse, before a painfully drawn out comedown in the last minute of the track puts your feet back on the ground. For me, college has been a collection of these supercuts, days and nights filled with crackling energy; evenings when time bent to my will and
I finally felt like I had a perfect place — “I turn all of it to just a supercut.” — Dominic Polsinelli, 2018 Senior Arts Editor I close my eyes and there we are. Together, pleasant — everything is as it should be. I walk by your house and see the light on in your room, but who knows the last time I was actually there. “Supercut” plays in my ears, and I strut to the beat. I imagine I’m with you, but of course, “when I reach for you, it’s just a supercut.” The bass comes in, and suddenly, I’m dancing with my best friend, Fraley, in my basement. We wanted to have a dance party to release our emotions, so we blasted this song under the mellow blue Christmas lights. Head bobbing, tears forming, grin widening –– I was thrown into a mix of pleasure and pain. Instead of dwelling on these fabricated moments, I dance it out every time, letting the lyrics and harmonies speak for themselves. It’s haunting and inspiring, tame but invigorating. “Supercut” shows me the memories that occurred but I wish hadn’t and the memories I want to make happen but certainly won’t. The song is my pawn to navigate time to whenever and with whomever. Each time I listen, it’s a reminder that I design my own relationships, where in my mind, we’re different people than in reality. It’s the moments I’ll relive again and again, never quite getting an actual grasp on what they are and what they mean. This song reminds me of that painful, frustrating feeling: not knowing how someone feels about you and not knowing where you are within a relationship. It’s a feeling I have far too often (probably because I listen to this song too much). When my anxiety is at its peak, I sing along to “Supercut” in my car. I think of you, and I think of you. I think of him and I think of her. I think of lovers and old friends. I think of me and another me, which is some form of the “quiet afternoon crush” and the “violent overnight rush.” “We were wild and fluorescent, come home to my heart.” But you will never come home. In some way, my life feels like a supercut, comprised of snapshots and sensory images of the past or an impossible moment in the future. “All the stages and the stars, I turn all of it to just a supercut.” Thank you, Lorde, for putting this emotion into a tangible piece of art for me to understand, for me to feel. — Erika Shevchek, 2017 Daily Community Culture Editor
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
The phrase “We were eight years in power” signifies immediate connotations. Historically, it refers to the eight years of Reconstruction that occurred before white supremacy firmly reasserted itself in the South. In his new book, “We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy,” Ta-Nehisi Coates adapts it as a way of examining the eight years of Barack Obama’s presidency. The framework within which “We Were Eight Years in Power” operates is a series of eight essays in chronological order, all originally published in The Atlantic, tracing recent American history through Obama’s initial campaign to the ultimate election of Donald Trump. The questions one starts the book with are, “How did we get here?,” and “What led to Trump’s presidency?” The sense is that the 2016 election will be the ultimate “climax” of the book, so to speak, that Trump’s victory is the “American tragedy” to which the title is referring. This both is and isn’t true. All in all, the focus of the book is surprisingly independent of the topic of Trump. For the majority of it, the 2016 election comes into play only tangentially. The true “American tragedy” that
takes shape over the course of the book doesn’t take the form of one man; rather, one gets the sense that it is really our country’s whole history that has been, and continues to be, the tragedy. A big part of this is due to the historical depth and extraordinary span of the book. The focus of many parts reaches back to the Civil War and even beyond, to the founding of this country itself. His analysis of various aspects of race bring in well-known figures like Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, but also — equally often, if not more so — names that might be less commonplace in households and history books, like Margaret Garner and Ida B. Wells. Every single subject he comes across, Coates treats with dignity, respect and complexity. The book’s approach seems to be that there is no story not worth telling. The result is a book that feels rich, natural and wholly comprehensive. Every article is extremely well researched, and yet Coates’s eloquence leaves the reader with the impression that he knew it all to begin with. These facts and stories were just at his fingertips, and because we are reading his work, they are at ours. He effectively makes things as easy as he can for the reader, at least in terms of comprehension.
This is particularly impressive because the subject matter itself is in no way simple. In “We Were Eight Years in Power,” Coates establishes a pattern of explaining an argument as fully and fairly as possible, then challenging it at every turn in order to see whether or not it holds up to scrutiny. He does this through a wide array of lenses and topics, including the black conservatism of Bill Cosby, the American-ness of Michelle Obama, the firing of Shirley Sherrod, the Civil War, the Contract Buyers League, hip hop, the murder of Trayvon Martin and so much more. The web that Coates spends the book spinning is not only historically farreaching; it also digs deep into the fabric of American culture, entertainment and class. Coates strings the essays together with a brief “notes” section preceding each essay: “Notes from the First Year,” “Notes from the Second Year,” etc. What these notes highlight is a common thread throughout the entire book, which is that we are not only watching the progression of America; we are also witnessing, through these essays, the growth of Coates himself as a person and as a writer.
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
FILM REVIEW
‘Endgame’ is unprecented JEREMIAH VANDERHELM Daily Arts Writer
The Marvel Cinematic Universe will continue on, but there’s an undeniable sense of finality to “Avengers: Endgame.” The story Marvel began eleven years ago with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson, “Glass”) approaching Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr., “The Judge”) to talk about “the Avengers Initiative” is over, and whatever comes next will be something new. For many, including myself, it’s the end of an era. I was 11 years old when “Iron Man” was released in 2008, and I remember watching the trailer that debuted at San Diego Comic-Con 2007 over and over for a year straight because I knew there was no way I was going to be able to see the actual film in theaters. The MCU has defined a good deal of my coming-of-age, and that of countless others, so expectations were higher than perhaps any movie I’ve ever seen outside of “The Force Awakens.” Everything could have fallen apart here at the end. Marvel could have crumbled under the weight of their own ambition, their massive ensemble or the hype they’ve built up around this thing. It would have been hard to blame them for stumbling as they crossed the finish line. Instead, they’ve done something truly miraculous once again. With “Endgame,” they’ve given their unprecedented 21-chapter franchise an equally unprecedented ending. I don’t know that I can say “Endgame” is perfect. The mechanics of the plot recall the TV series “Lost” in that they make sense only when viewed under a very stringent set of rules and make more sense if you don’t think about them at
all. An action scene around the film’s midpoint is made completely incomprehensible by its suddenly frenetic editing. A couple seemingly important beats are yada-yada-ed in order to keep the wheels of the threehour behemoth turning. Yet for all these minor gripes, “Endgame” is the perfect ending to the story Marvel has spent 11 years telling. In every way, it reflects the best of its franchise and the best of its characters. I’ve spent the last four weeks slugging my way through every movie and TV show the MCU has ever put out, and their best work is constantly focused on their characters: What they want and what they are willing to do to get it. As they did in “Civil War,” the Russo brothers seem to manage this mammoth task with ease, using their restrained first act to explore the Avengers and their brokenness before moving on to the meat of the story. Even after that, in a film filled with so much movie science mumbojumbo, everything is constantly grounded in the Avengers and how they react to tragedy after tragedy. These are the characters we’ve been following for over a decade now. We’ve seen them take their first steps into heroism, we’ve seen them at their best and now we see them at their lowest. Even in the darkest moments, though, we still see the traits that made them heroes to so many — a stubborn unwillingness or simple inability to give up and an unyielding faith that good will prevail even when the odds seem hopeless. It’s bittersweet but completely affirming, and in “Endgame”’s most aweinspiring sequence, we finally see that faith rewarded for the characters and the fans alike. Make no mistake, “Endgame” isn’t a movie for newcomers to
the franchise. If Marvel has always been fan-friendly — and they certainly have with their commitment to endless Easter Eggs and in-jokes — they kicked it up a notch here. Everything a die-hard fan could possibly name is paid off, from the smallest of throwaway lines to the most central of character arcs. It could be argued that this renders “Endgame” a film that’s more pay-off than it is its own story, but then, that too isn’t new to the MCU. “Avengers” movies have always functioned as season finales of a sort, and “Endgame” is, for all intents and purposes, a series finale. In an interview with Empire Magazine, producer and mastermind Kevin Feige went so far as to name the first three Phases “The Infinity Saga” — something you can really picture yourself buying a box set of. The trailer for “Endgame” revealed Tony Stark wishing he could have pulled off one last miracle. Viewed in context, it’s one of many meta digs the finished product makes about the MCU; a massive, interconnected universe is a miracle just as any satisfactory ending would be a miracle. For any of the worries that “Endgame” would just wrap itself up only to hint at something even grander on the horizon, this proves to be the end of a story with all that entails. It’s as well-acted and entertaining as any of its forebears, but blown up to a size we don’t see attempted that often and only see done well on exceedingly rare occasions. In matching this scale with the characters that have grounded the whole enterprise since the beginning, it is a catharsis that will be remembered for years to come. Life (and the MCU) will go on, it assures us. The future is a bright one.
Michigan in Color
6A — Saturday, May 4, 2019
ARTS MiC
over the over the YEARS
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APRIL 15: Black and A/PI Activists protest Bis etum ilofius eliquam eium velicti shootings Akai Gurleyusaerum #APIsBlackLives comnit dunt, tota que consequo is essunture dolor molesti beriore, il eaelected ne plab NOVEMBER 8: Trump asipsae President excero te volorep tation re videndunt in unprecedented landslide election omnihil ipienda veliqui nobites et laboriame lantiossunt hil ius dentibus, qui NOVEMBER 28:arumqui Stop Trump Ann Arbor aliat pa qui simolessit, nes escilit harum and resident organized march for immigrants’ que volorit eicia con plis everum rights in light of President Trump’sfugitatur travel ban si quiae esto blaturem labo. Itatas mos venis arumnihilla ntentotatem aut etum hil il mod quam es est as endaesc ipiendis escium lation cupta doluptam ab ipsapicit aut optiis
2017 2014
AUGUST 12: Violent rally in Charlottesville leads to civil unrest SEPTEMBER 17: Two student name tags are defiled on the doors of their dorm rooms with racial slurs. SEPTEMBER 25: Dana Greene Jr. kneels on Diag’s “M” to protest. NOVEMBER 28: #StopSpencer and the U’s response jeopardizing marginalized communities on campus
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
2018
FEBRUARY: La Casa makes headway on demands, calls for further faculty representation, and Demands of Me/Na boxes was added MARCH: Emily Lawson Protests for renewal of teaching contract APRIL 29: First A/PI graduation held on campus OCTOBER 2: Jamal Khashoggi, wellknown American journalist and activist, murdered at Saudi Arabia consulate.
2019
MARCH 15: New Zealand Christchurch mosque shooting and false alarm at vigil on campus APRIL: Sudan Revolution overthrows the Al-Bashir regime APRIL 7: Trotter Multicultural Center opening on State Street
PHOTOGRAPHER / DAILY
Sankofa: Trotter Multicultural Center looks towards new beginnings
COURTESY OF: NA’KIA CHANNEY
NA’KIA CHANNEY and DIERRA BARLOW MiC Editors
On Thursday, April 7, generations of students and alumni joined in unity to welcome the grand opening of the new Trotter Multicultural Center on Central Campus. Forged from decades’ worth of student activism, largely spearheaded by the Black Student Union, Trotter opened its doors to the public and community during a historic community gathering. Students, alumni, faculty and staff lined the basement from wall-to-wall, nearly reaching capacity. The space, amalgamating the past and the present, produced a tangible reward for all the blood, sweat and tears poured into making the new Trotter Center a reality. The Trotter Center’s new space, placed on Central Campus’ South State Street, is a direct result of Black student activism on campus, dating all the way back to the 1970s with the Black Action Movement . Since then, the Black Student Union has continued these efforts with various social movements, a focal point being its 2013 #BBUM (Being Black at the University of
Michigan) Twitter movement. In addition to launching the viral social media campaign, BSU released a list of demands, one of them being an opportunity to congregate at a new Trotter Center on Central Campus. Tyrell Collier, speaker of Black Student Union during #BBUM, spoke at the ribbon-cutting about the persistence of Black student activists on campus and paid homage to organizations like BAM and the Students of Color Coalition that came before him. “It really started decades and decades ago when folks were calling for a new Trotter to recognize Black student rights in general, since the ’70s and ’80s and ’90s,” he said. Collier earned his Bachelor of Arts in Afroamerican and African Studies and Sociology from the University in 2014. He currently serves as the senior coordinator of operations for Relay Graduate School of Education in New York City. At the Trotter Center, Collier remarked on the palpable energy surrounding the groundbreaking day and spoke of his hopes for the future. “Walking through this building, I got emotional. Going into the Sankofa Lounge, seeing
all those photos, it means a lot. I just hope from here on out that history isn’t lost and that this still remains a beacon and a sanctuary for students of color. But, like I said, I always mention the Black student organizations because Trotter started off as the Black house and then it moved to the multicultural center. I just want to make sure that this remains a house and a safe space for Black students here on campus.” This sentiment of paying homage to those who came before was a common thread in many of the words orated by the other speakers at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. The Honorable Cynthia D. Stephens, the 1st District Court of Appeals judge and a University alum, made sure to give thanks to Thaddeus R. Harrison, the only student activist with a criminal conviction for his role in BAM that has not been overturned. Student activism has been a driving force for the prosperity of these movements, and these efforts are apparent in the construction of the Trotter Center’s space. During all steps in the process of the Trotter Center’s design and planning of its architecture, student input was prioritized and integrated into the edification.
Notably, the new Trotter Center features a community lounge titled Sankofa on the first floor, a name advocated by BSU Speaker Kayla McKinney and Secretary Camyrea Barnes. Barnes spoke of the tireless, accumulative efforts of Black students who have fought for a space to share their experiences. “I’m speechless. My heart is full right now. Just knowing the work and the efforts that many of the Black students on this campus have been putting into for 50 years now, and now that it’s being fulfilled, it’s like a full circle of life. It’s up for the future generation of Black students to keep the momentum going.” E. Royster Harper, vice president for student life, reiterated this in her speech to the packed room in her anecdote concerning the significance of the Sankofa Lounge. Sankofa, originating from the Twi language of Ghana, is stylized by a bird with its head turned backward while its feet face forward. Like its symbol, Royster Harper urged community onlookers to acknowledge history and the efforts of the past while pursuing initiative for the future. “In some ways, it really is Sankofa. It really is this idea of
looking back and remembering your past and seeing what’s possible for the future. And that’s what it means to me, a combination of all of that, and to see all of the students and all of the work that has caused this to happen over time.” Elizabeth James, adviser for BSU, reflected on the deep significance of the Trotter Center’s revitalization of community on campus. James’ roots in the University span across generations, — both she and her mother attended the University, in addition to her 27 years of working for U-M. “For me, it’s really surreal to see a dream come true — (it) means more than I can even express in words. It’s the people, not the facility. We could meet at Angell Hall, but we would still be a community.” Robert Sellers, vice provost for equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer, talked about the Trotter Center’s importance to the institution and its catalytic role in creating a brighter future. “I am deeply touched, deeply moved. The fact that we, as an institution, are able to mark this moment in time as a way of both symbolizing the incredible work
that the BSU and many students before the current BSU (have done) in terms of trying to move the University forward to become the institution that it can be, it should be, and that it needs to be, I think this is one more milestone, but it is not the endpoint, and in many ways, it is a new beginning.” Michigan in Color commends the continuous efforts of students of color on campus and the plethora of community members and alumni that have supported these initiatives throughout the years. We hope that students of color will feel empowered, represented and grounded in their rightful place at this University and institutions like it. We welcome students of color from all backgrounds to revel in this space explicitly grounded in intercultural engagement, inclusivity and activism. But while the center is a positive step in the right direction, it is only one step in a larger journey. As the new Trotter Center begins to solidify its place on campus, students will continue to make strides in current and novel initiatives towards equity, inclusion, representation and unity at the University’s campus and beyond.
The reactions of the fire at Notre Dame are an example of white supremacy CHELSEA RACELIS MiC Contributor And that’s not an exaggeration. — Sometime on Monday, a breaking news alert popped up on my phone. “Fire at Notre Dame in Paris.” Within an hour, the first photo appeared of the Notre Dame engulfed in f lames. My group chats and Facebook news feed became saturated with people’s reactions. “This is a tragic, tragic loss.” “Thoughts and prayers are with the people of France.” “Sobbing. Just sobbing.” At first I thought they were joking, being dramatic by using the language of trauma. But after scrolling past post after post, I realized that they were speaking with absolute seriousness. People actually felt personal loss and pain from the destruction of this landmark. It felt ridiculous, to be honest. But then it just became frustrating. The widespread coverage and expressions of pain surrounding the Notre Dame fire are an example of white supremacy. First, when I say “white supremacy,” I don’t mean just the
torch-wielding, Confederate-f lag donning extremists in America. I’m talking about systems, formal and informal, that uphold the domination of white people, history, and narratives in society. Calling the reactions to the fire at Notre Dame an example of white supremacy is not an exaggeration, and let me explain why. This year is on pace to be the deadliest year in America for police violence. But media outlets are not reporting this, they did not do minute-by-minute coverage of the shootings of Jimmy Atchinson, Willie McCoy or EJ Fitzgerald Bradford like they did the fire at Notre Dame. If I were to ask most people around me, I can almost say for certain that more of them would know about the fire at Notre Dame than they would about the death of 20 people in a bombing in Quetta, Pakistan on Friday. Before you think, “Well, the Notre Dame was such an historic site, the loss of history is enormous,” consider what that means. That means it makes sense that the sudden loss of a historic site should overshadow the loss of 20 lives. Think about why that may seem to makes sense — it is because on a global scale, the loss of these lives feels ordinary.
And the loss of those lives has been relegated to the ordinary because one of the tools of white supremacy is making violence, conf lict, and destruction seem like the natural state of things in places like Pakistan or the Congo or even in black communities in the US rather than the result of colonization and unjust policies. Now if that argument seems illogical to you, then let’s compare apples to apples. Since 2014, Syria has lost cultural heritage sitesthat date as far back as the 6th century because of ongoing attacks. If we’re talking about historical significance, losing architectural sites in the cradle of civilization is a pretty big deal. But no one in my news feed or group chats have been mourning those
losses. If you have heard the phrase, “history is written by the winners,” this will make sense to you: It is white supremacy, as a form of power, that dictates which sites are globally significant historical landmarks. Even if we want to specifically focus on of places of worship, there is no shortage of cases. For example, a fire broke out at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on the same day as the Notre Dame fire. The Al-Aqsa mosque is considered one of the holiest sites in Islam and one of the most significant to Islamic architecture. Less than a month ago, three Black churches in Louisiana went up in f lames; unlike the Notre Dame fire, however, these fires were set by a man now charged with hate
I realized that this was all so frustrating to me because it’s privilege if you experience the loss of Notre Dame as pain at all.
crimes. I think the hardest part for me is watching people I know literally sobbing over the destruction of parts of a French landmark. What’s sad is it’s not even their fault — it is because of global white supremacy that people can feel more personally connected to 13th century French architectural history than they do Black and brown lives in the country they live in. People are out here expressing feelings that I don’t see them expressing when those lives are lost and it’s because as a society, we’ve become desensitized to the loss of non-white lives. As I listened closely to the way people expressed their pain over the loss of the Notre Dame, I realized that the pain they were feeling was the same level of pain that I feel for much more severe things. For example, I was “sobbing, just sobbing” when I found out that I have three Filipino relatives who were murdered in a death march by the occupying Japanese forces during World War II, an event I didn’t know about because we never talk about the war in Asia in American public school. It was a “tragic, tragic loss” when my grand-uncle, who in the 1970s
was stabbed on the street simply because of his ethnic identity, passed away last year. As a woman of color, a daughter of immigrants, I’m closer to trauma that some people will never have to experience. I realized that this was all so frustrating to me because it’s privilege if you experience the loss of Notre Dame as pain at all. Now, I say all of this not to diminish the religious significance of the Notre Dame. I have read moving stories from Catholics who have visited this bastion of the religion, and as someone who is not religious, I cannot say I know how it feels to see a major symbol of your faith go up in f lames. I have also seen compelling perspectives from Catholics of color grappling with the complexity of the Notre Dame’s place in French colonial history. Much of what I have seen, however, is not coming from this place of religiosity but rather agony over the architectural, historical loss of this church, even suggesting it is a loss for humanity at large. That, in the face of failure to describe loss of life or even loss of cultural heritage in communities of color, is what I find appalling.
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
ARTS SPORTS
over the over the YEARS
YEARS
2016 2013
JANUARY 1: In his first season as head coach for
2017 2014
Bis il ius eliquam eium the etum Michigan football team,usaerum Jim Harbaugh ledvelicti the comnit dunt, tota que 6-2 consequo Wolverines (10-3 overall. Big Ten)is toessunture a 41-7 victory dolor molesti il eaBowl. ne plab over the Floridaberiore, in the Citrus Theyipsae finished excero te volorep tation videndunt the season ranked No. 12 , butrewho can forget the omnihil ipienda veliqui nobites et laboriame mishandled punt against Michigan State? lantiossunt hil ius arumqui dentibus, qui aliat pa 2: qui simolessit, nes escilit harum APRIL Michigan softball coach Carol Hutchins que volorit eicia concoach plis everum became the winningest in NCAAfugitatur softball sihistory. quiaeThe estoteam blaturem labo. Itatas mos venis would go on to make the Women’s arumnihilla aut etum hil and il mod College Worldntentotatem Series led by senior shortstop Player quam es est as endaesc ipiendis escium of the Year Sierra Romero, sophomore first baseman lation cuptaand doluptam ab ipsapicit aut optiis Tera Blanco senior centerfielder Sierra Lawrence.
MARCH 9: The Michigan basketball team kicked off the Bis etum il ius eliquam usaerum eium Big Ten Tournament, arriving just 90 minutes prior to tipvelicti comnit dunt, tota que consequo is off after its plane slid off the runway the day before. The essunture dolor molesti beriore, il ea ne Wolverines (26–12 overall, 10–8 Big Ten) then went on plab ipsae excero te volorep tation re to win the Big Ten Tournament and reached the Sweet videndunt omnihil ipienda veliqui nobites 16 in the NCAA Tournament.
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APRIL 24: Mel Pearson was announced as the escilit harum que volorit eicia con plis successor to former Michigan hockey coach and legend, everum fugitatur si quiae esto blaturem labo. Red Berenson, signaling a new era for the program. In 33 Itatas mos venis arumnihilla ntentotatem years as head coach, Berenson amassed 848 wins and aut etum hil il mod quam es est as endaesc led the Wolverines to a record 36 NCAA tournament ipiendis escium lation cupta doluptam ab appearances, including two national championships.
Saturday, May 4, 2019 — 7A
2018
2019
NOVEMBER 24: The Michigan football team squared off against Ohio State in the last game of the regular season. A win for the Wolverines was their only hope for a College Football Playoff birth, but Michigan lost 62-39 in Columbus and extended its losing streak against the Buckeyes to seven.
APRIL 19: After a season faced with adversity, the Michigan women’s gymnastics team finished third in the NCAA Championship Semifinal. Freshman Natalie Wojcik became the ninth individual national champion in program history, winning the balance beam competition with a score of 9.950.
APRIL 2: After winning the Big Ten Tournament for the second consecutive season, the Michigan basketball team reached the NCAA National Championship Game for the first time since 2013. The Wolverines lost to the Villanova Wildcats, 79-62.
JANUARY 13: Looking to carry the momentum from last season, the Michigan basketball team won its 17th consecutive game which set a program record for most wins to start a season. The Wolverines eventually lost in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
Instant Classic, Eternal Anguish Michigan drops regular season finale to Ohio State, 30-27, ending hopes for a College Football Playoff appearance. COLUMBUS — The play was called 29 lead. Curtis Samuel took a handoff going left. His blockers created a tunnel. He burst through it, jumped over the goal line and stretched his hands as wide as he could to the fans in the north end zone. MAX It may BULTMAN go down in history as one of the enduring plays in one of college football’s great rivalries — not because it was exceptionally drawn up (though it was), but because it ended an iconic game that may outlive those who saw it live. The nation’s No. 2 team beat the No. 3 team, and then fans stormed the field. That doesn’t happen in games where the home team is favored. But this was Ohio State and Michigan, with the highest stakes in a decade. No celebration was unworthy. That’s the significance of what happened at Ohio Stadium on Saturday: Ohio State 30, Michigan 27. There will be time to rehash what was or wasn’t. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh offered plenty of thoughts in the moments following the game, when he said he was “bitterly disappointed” with
the officiating. He thought one hold went uncalled, one passinterference was called unjustly and one spot — on fourth down in double overtime, no less — should have given his team a victory. None of it matters. None of it’s changing. It took two overtimes for the Buckeyes to beat Michigan, but they did it. They twisted the most jagged of knives through the hearts of those who dared to hope. They did it in the last game of the regular season, and they did it in a year where the Wolverines looked like one of the nation’s four best teams. Ohio State coach Urban Meyer called it an instant classic, and he’s right. Harbaugh said the implications of the rivalry weren’t on his mind. Both are probably true. That’s because instant classics don’t happen without heartbreak, “bitter disappointment” or whatever you’d like to call it. The ingredients of despair and ecstasy are exactly the same. In his postgame press conference, Harbaugh stuck up his hands and showed how far from the first down he thought J.T. Barrett was on a doubleovertime 4th-and-1. With Ohio State down three, Barrett rushed
forward, took low contact from Delano Hill and stretched toward the firstdown marker. Afterward, Harbaugh asked reporters what they saw on the TVs upstairs. “Short,” they agreed. The referees did not. They saw Barrett collide into Hill and fall just over the line of gain. The replay officials did not see enough to
An iconic game that may outlive those who saw it live.
overturn it. That’s how these things go. Harbaugh has a legitimate gripe, but legitimate gripes are worth exactly zero wins. Instead, they are worth years, even decades, of anguish. Harbaugh may be able to eventually rid himself of that burden with other games, other calls that do go his way and maybe even a championship. But he will never be able to undo what happened on the north side of Ohio Stadium on Saturday. His team might have avoided it by gaining more than just five
yards in the fourth quarter, or not committing one of its three turnovers, one of which occurred at the Buckeyes’ 1-yard line. But it’s too late for all that. Nothing will ever change the outcome. The game will be preserved, exactly the way it unfolded, for eternity. After Harbaugh expressed
his displeasures, Meyer held court in the southeast corner of the stadium. It couldn’t have been more different. There was Meyer, the victor, entirely flummoxed. He was asked all kinds of questions, including what he thought his chances were when his team was down 17-7 in the third quarter. “I don’t know,” he responded. “We won the game.” As the questions continued, Meyer found refuge in a clever response. Asked about an unsuccessful fake punt call, he said: “On the last play, we ran a stretch to the left. It’s 29 lead, is the call, and Curtis scored.” Asked about his health, he started, “Curtis…” before laughter finished the sentence for him. On if he remembered anything from after the game: “Yeah, Curtis scored.” It was that simple for Meyer. Harbaugh didn’t even mention the play. That’s the difference between being on the winning and losing ends of a game like Saturday’s. Harbaugh is left looking back on what went wrong, remembering the calls that could have been different. Meyer doesn’t have to remember anything. History will do it for him.
The ingredients of despair and ecstasy are the same.
SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily
Senior linebacker Mike McCray chases Ohio State’s Curtis Samuel en route to the end zone in double overtime.
Sports
8A — Saturday, May 4, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan advances to Sweet 16 on Jordan Poole buzzer-beating prayer MAX MARCOVITCH
2019 Managing Sports Editor
Somehow, some way. His legs flailing each and every direction and a defender square in his face, Jordan Poole caught a pass on the right wing from Muhammad-Ali AbdurRahkman and hoisted a prayer. And as the ball found sweet nylon, the prayer was granted — somehow, some way — in the wee hours of Sunday morning. The freshman guard darted to the opposite side of the court, greeted by the rest of his jubilant team as they celebrated an astonishing 64-63 win. It was a miracle on the Great Plains the likes of which will live in Michigan lore right alongside the Trey Burke shot and the Denard Robinson pass at Under the Lights I. “I was thirsty,” Poole told a swath of reporters after the game. “Definitely thirsty. Because I’ve been hitting shots like that in practice all year. I just felt like I always wanted to be in a situation like that at the end in the game, and my teammates constantly tell me that I’ve got ice in my veins. “I definitely dreamed about this a long time. Actually, before I went out there on there, I thought, ‘What if I hit this shot right now as a freshman?’ ” And that he did. On this stage. With these implications. Somehow, some way, the only player with the personality to match the grand moment found the ball with 0.8 seconds and a season teetering in the balance. Now Michigan will head to Los Angeles next weekend to play its fourth Sweet Sixteen game in six years on the back of a monstrous defense and one
lucky St. Patrick’s Day heave. “I don’t have any words for that one,” said fifth-year senior Duncan Robinson. “It’s incredible. That’s all I got.” Somehow, some way. For much of the game, though, there appeared to be no way. For the second consecutive game, Michigan’s offense fell victim to offensive lulls that threatened its survival in the NCAA Tournament. The Wolverines went to the first TV timeout once again without a made field goal, this time trailing 6-1, having missed their first seven shots including six threes. Robinson broke the seal nearly six minutes in, nailing a deep three with a hand in his face. He did it again on the next possession, pumping up his bench on the gallop back down the court. That was the tone all night, on both sides — a tough, physical street fight. It’s a style Michigan has come to relish this season. For all the talk about Cougars guard Rob Gray offensively — coming off a 39-point performance against San Diego State — it was the defense on both ends that controlled the game. Gray, the alpha and omega of Houston’s offense, couldn’t find his rhythm in the first half, thanks to a swarming defensive effort from Michigan guards Zavier Simpson and AbdurRahkman. Gray finished with 23, but on 8-of-22 shooting. “We just tried to limit his threes, make him score tough twos,” Abdur-Rahkman said. “He made a lot of them, but that’s all you can really do, is try to force him into contested shots.” On the flip side, a physical
My teammates constantly tell me that I’ve got ice in my veins.
EVAN AARON/Daily
Freshman guard Jordan Poole sprints away from teammates in celebration after hitting the game-winning shot against Houston in the Round of 32.
Houston man defense held the Wolverines in check, stifling Michigan’s pick-and-roll action with athleticism, holding it to just 30 percent from the field. By the end of the game, a dejected Wolverines bench thought that would be the culprit of its dying season. “They were down because we did some things that aren’t winning basketball today — just a few, but just enough,” said Michigan coach John Beilein. “But credit Houston. They made us make some of those plays.” At half, the game was tied at 28, those struggles leaving the game back where it started, just with a few more bumps and bruises. And while the bumps and bruises didn’t subside, the lid on the buckets slowly did. Then, it was game on. With 17 lead changes and 12
ties in total, neither team took firm control until Gray began to come to life midway through the half. He scored eight of his team’s 10 points at one point, nabbing a six point lead with 10:43 left on an inexplicably wide-open three. But the see-saw swung right back. Michigan fought through recurring offensive demons, finishing the game with just 36 percent shooting. And it has more than just one fortuitous bounce to thank for the escape. Down 51-46 with just over five minutes left, Matthews shot a 3-pointer off the back of the rim. It careened high into the air and through the hoop just as a Houston forward was whistled for a foul. Teske made both free throws, and suddenly a 51-46 game became 51-51 in only a single possession.
The teams traded blows from there, with the Cougars grabbing what seemed to be the final lead with 44 seconds left on two free-throws from forward Devin Davis. But that wasn’t the last of Michigan’s season. It just couldn’t be. There was a little more than a strong breeze flowing through Intrust Bank Arena on Saturday night. Sophomore center Jon Teske could just feel it. “I actually told CJ (Baird), I didn’t think we were gonna go home,” Teske said. “I felt something special was going to happen and I’m just glad he knocked that down. … It’s something I will always remember.” And in a wild back and forth affair, it all came down to a howling freshman, with the confidence to belt “Ham”
— the team’s nickname for Abdur-Rahkman — with the season on the line. The call was “Tennessee,” the same fullcourt inbound play run to beat Maryland early in the season as time expired. The senior caught the pass at midcourt and then put his season and career in the hands of Poole, who answered the faith with one of the most historic shots in program history. “I knew they were not going to let me shoot the ball. So I was looking for JP,” AbdurRahkman said. “I knew he could knock it down. “Literally, he makes it all the time in practice.” And as the entire team piled on Poole under the hoop, cheers reigned down from the traveling Michigan crowd and band. “It’s great to be a Michigan Wolverine.”