News
4 — Wednesday, October 28, 2020
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
BOARD OF REGENTS Candidate Profiles
PHOTO COURTESY OF MARK BERNSTEIN
PHOTO COURTESY OF SHAUNA RYDER DIGGS
MARK SHAUNA BERNSTEIN RYDER DIGGS
(D) INCUMBENT (D) INCUMBENT CALDER LEWIS
JASMIN LEE
COURTESY OF SARAH HUBBARD
SARAH HUBBARD (R) EMMA STEIN
Daily Staff Reporter
Daily Staff Reporter
Daily News Editor
University of Michigan Regent Mark Bernstein (D) says he’s running for reelection this November to settle unfinished business. In his first election bid in 2012, he drove a school bus around the state covered in slogans like “Keep College Affordable” and “Higher Education, Lower Cost.” “I’ve had some success in that direction, and I’ve kept that promise, but there’s still a lot more to be done,” Bernstein said in an interview with The Michigan Daily. Bernstein pointed to the Go Blue Guarantee, which offers free tuition to in-state students coming from families making $65,000 a year or less, as a major initiative he’s championed. He also said the University has reduced net tuition for most Michigan families since he was elected in 2012. Affordability isn’t the only issue facing the school. The University is being sued by both sexual assault victims and a former student accused of sexual assault in high-profile lawsuits. An independent report found accusations of decades of sexual misconduct by Martin Philbert, the former provost who rose to the second highest office at the University despite knowledge of allegations by numerous administrators. Bernstein said misguided interpretations of fiduciary responsibility often lead organizations to work against victims’ interests. His campaign website says the University must be “victim and justice centered” and that “our bias should be towards the victims, not the institution.” “It’s in the long-term interest of the institution to address these issues in a way that’s focused on making things right for the victims — for people who are harmed by the institution — because then you are preserving the integrity of the institution in the long run,” Bernstein told The Daily. After this summer’s 1.9% tuition increase as part of a budget Bernstein voted for, some students advocated for drawing from the endowment to keep tuition frozen. Bernstein supported the tuition increase in June, explaining that it would only be students who could afford to pay tuition who would be bearing the brunt of the policy.
University Regent Shauna Ryder Diggs (D) is running for her second term on the University of Michigan’s Board of Regents to expand financial aid initiatives and provide her expertise as a practicing physician to the board amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Ryder Diggs and fellow incumbent Regent Mark Bernstein (D) are running to keep their seats against challengers Sarah Hubbard (R) and Carl Meyers. Hubbard is participating in her first election for Board of Regents, while Carl Meyers is running in his third. As a University alum and the child of college professors, Ryder Diggs said her family commitment to education makes her a valuable member of the board. She also has experience serving on other community boards such as the Detroit Institute of Arts and Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Michigan. Ryder Diggs said the accomplishment she is most proud of during her time on the board is supporting and expanding the Go Blue Guarantee. Ryder Diggs said she wants to ensure the legacy of the Go Blue Guarantee and other initiatives that will benefit students in the future. “There’s more work to be done and you have to be at the table to keep past accomplishments going,” Ryder Diggs said. After the board decided to freeze future fossil fuel investments amid consistent demands from the Climate Action Movement, Bernstein announced at the October regents meeting that the board will be looking into possible avenues to divest from the fossil fuel industry. Ryder Diggs said she is hopeful experts can find a path that allows the University to divest without sacrificing revenue for financial aid. “What many people say is that we need our investments to bring the best return possible so that we can be able to give the financial aid that we want to give and expand the Go Blue Guarantee to give it to Flint and Dearborn,” Ryder Diggs said. “That definitely resonates with me, but I don’t think the two things are mutually exclusive.”
Sarah Hubbard, Republican candidate for the University of Michigan’s Board of Regents, is looking to balance the political powers that she says are hindering the board’s ability to have a robust discussion about issues affecting students. Hubbard is one of two Republicans challenging Democratic incumbents Mark Bernstein and Shauna Ryder Diggs for their seats on the board in the upcoming November election. Currently, Regent Ron Weiser (R) is the only Republican on the eightperson board. According to Hubbard, the University’s response to COVID-19 is the most important topic for students right now. She said, despite Tuesday’s stay-in-place order from Washtenaw County specifically directed at undergraduate students, instruction should be in person. She noted that attending class or other University-related responsibilities are not the reason for the recent spikes in COVID-19 on campus, according to school leaders. “Students are spending a lot of money to get that education, and they never really plan to get it all remotely,” Hubbard said. “There needs to be in-person learning opportunities in a way that can be done safely for everybody. Students need to get the value for their tuition here.” Hubbard, who owns Acuitas LLC in Lansing, holds two University of Michigan degrees and has a history of working in Republican politics. Her platform aims to protect freedom of speech on campus, lower tuition and bring more diversity of thought to the board. Part of Hubbard’s reason for running is because she wants to even the playing field. “I think my experience is the kind of thing that the board needs right now,” Hubbard said. “You have a real imbalance on that board from a Dem-Republican perspective. And I think that I could help bring balance back to that board and those discussions.” Hubbard said her background in politics has taught her how to develop strong, bipartisan relationships, though she leans right. She has previously donated to both Democrats and Republicans running for office in Michigan, including the Michigan Republican Party and Michigan Democrats U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell and Sen. Gary Peters.
READ MORE ONLINE AT MICHIGANDAILY.COM
COURTESY OF CARL MEYERS
CARL MEYERS (R) DOMINIC COLETTI Daily Staff Reporter
Carl Meyers is in the middle of his third campaign for regent at the University of Michigan. Meyers also made a bid in 2014 but didn’t get enough votes at the Republican State Convention to get through to the general election. He hasn’t changed his message much since his first campaign in 2004, and he said he feels his policies are more relevant than ever. “I ran for the Board of Regents in 2004 predicting that if we didn’t slow the growth of the budget and put Michigan families and Michigan students first … that many middle-class families would be priced out of higher education, (which) would severely impact diversity, inclusion and access,” Meyers said. “Here we are in the middle of a pandemic, and shame on the (Board of Regents) for raising tuition … and shame on the administration.” Meyers took several opportunities to discuss the 1.9-percent tuition increase approved over the summer and said he has made access to higher education a theme of his campaign. His goals include a tuition freeze and a rollback of this year’s increase. When discussing the practicality of his tuition freeze, Meyers pointed to his background as a financial adviser, saying his experience on nonprofit boards and with investments makes him more qualified than the current board. He said he would push for a larger portion of the endowment to be distributed to meet operating expenses in addition to finding inefficiencies throughout the University. Currently, 4.5 percent of its value is distributed annually. “U of M is … a massive hospital system, a massive sports complex, a massive academic (operation),” Meyers said. “It’s inherent with any operation that there are opportunities to become more efficient. I’m not saying you’ve got to cut, but I’m saying you’ve got to operate with a heck of a lot more efficiency.” Meyers said Regents don’t focus enough on cutting student costs. “It’s going to take a seismic cultural change to do that, and I think COVID is going to be the impetus for that,” Meyers said.