September 2024
Hello alumni, colleagues, friends, and supporters:
I’m so excited that we’ve joined together for the start of a new academic year. There’s such a sense of purpose, of energy, of possibility in the air. It’s a season of new beginnings for each of us as we embark on the year of democracy, civic empowerment, and global engagement. It’s a year in which we will listen thoughtfully, deliberate respectfully, and engage constructively and creatively.
In this time of growing polarization and faltering faith in the foundations of our democracy, here at Michigan, we can rise, we can lead, and we can show a better way. So let us do so. Whether you are returning as a student or a first-year member of our faculty, it is a time to learn and to grow, to dream and to do, to aspire and to achieve.
That brings us to this month’s Portrait of a Wolverine – Laura Blake Jones, our Associate Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students. Laura, thank you and your entire team for all that you do, for the support you offer, and the opportunities that you provide to Michigan students. Learn more about Laura’s work in the video below.
Portrait of a Wolverine: Laura Black Jones, Associate VP for Student Life and Dean of Students
Paying respects
As you may have read in last month’s issue, U-M president emeritus James Duderstadt passed away in August. This is an inestimable loss to U-M and our community.
Dr. Duderstadt led with exceptional vision and extraordinary energy. He had a transformative impact at the University of Michigan, and he leaves behind a profound and lasting legacy.
More recently, we lost another dear friend of the University. Greg Harden was a counselor and a coach, an encourager and an adviser, and a mentor and a leader. His impact went far beyond national championships and Super Bowl superstars — he touched untold lives, and he made our University, our community, and our world a better, brighter place.
Expressing gratitude
Looking forward, let me express my profound gratitude to Regent Ron Weiser for a most generous and extraordinary gift.
He has provided $25 million to the Weiser Family Breast Cancer Research Center, which will speed new discoveries, open new insights, and further empower our world-class researchers to provide compassionate and personalized breast cancer care, even as it strengthens the place of Michigan Medicine as one of the nation’s leading medical centers.
It is also thanks to our regents that our acclaimed Michigan Marching Band has recently begun rehearsing at our new, state-of-the-art Elbel Field.
The regents approved this project last year, and now, if you go by at the right time in the afternoon, you can hear and see our band practicing for the next big game.
Strengthening diversity of thought
In addition, I would like to thank Vice President and General Counsel Tim Lynch and the members of the Committee on the University of Michigan Principles on Diversity of Thought and Freedom of Expression for their diligence and dedication, and for the deliberation and engagement with our community that went into their report, which aims to strengthen diversity of thought and freedom of expression at U-M.
I’m so pleased by the breadth of expertise and cross-disciplinary collaboration of the Principles Committee, which included 32 faculty members from 12 different schools and colleges, as well as a librarian, seven staff members, and two students.
And I’m so grateful for the tremendous engagement we had across our community, with more than 4,000 comments received.
Celebrating success
Notably, our participating programs are again performing highly in the national rankings.
According to U.S. News and World Report, U-M remains one of the premier universities in the country for grad school education. We were also ranked as one of Princeton Review’s 390 Best Colleges, as well as #7 for return on investment among overall public universities. The Wall Street Journal also ranked us as one of the top public universities in the country.
We have so much to look forward to this upcoming year.
Sincerely,
Santa J. Ono, PhD
President
(Lead image of the Michigan Marching Band rehearsing at Elbel Field in August 2024, courtesy of the Michigan Marching Band.)
Mike Jefferson - 1980
How about commenting on how you’re going to promote democracy and ban fascism notably expressed by the pro-Hamas elements who are attacking Jewish students on campus?
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Jennifer Sparks
As a Jewish university employee, the cowardly behavior displayed by President Ono in support of fascism and the settler colonial state of Israel is disgraceful, and directly conflicts with our university’s supposed values and support of both civil and human rights.
Reading the administration’s statements has frankly scared me more than any of the actions of the student protestors who are rightly standing against genocide, because of what those statements represent.
Never again means never again for anyone, and tikkun olam is about more than ourselves.
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Patrickp Parker - 1963
I have been around long enough to have made many Jewish and Palestinian friends so I have seen and heard many points of view. I am very familiar with Israel; it is a beautiful country, made so by Jewish immigrants coming in over the years. But Palestinians have paid a heavy price: many lost their homes after the birth of Israel in1948 without compensation and when I was there in 2017 the conservative government under Netanyahu had, among other acquisitions, taken over an area of wilderness near Bethlehem belonging to Palestinians…no compensation–they were pushed out. Why? They were building more homes for newly arrived Jews from Europe…beautiful homes, but is this right? Conservative settlers are now attacking Arabs in the West Bank between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. These are simple Palestinian goat herders…still–it’s their land. I was horrified by the attack last October, and the immediate Israeli response justifiable, but the annihilation going on right now perpetrated by out-of-control Israeli generals is totally unacceptable and is also condemned by the rest of the civilized world. Now there is more bloodshed in Lebanon. Will this “tit for tat”” ever end? Let’s think about a solution. Perhaps the US must limit the anti-personnel bombs we send and also consider whether the billions (it is a wealthy country now) we give as aid to Israel is worth it…even though Israel is our only ally in the Middle East; we have no friends elsewhere…. Our foreign policy is seriously flawed.
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Jay Shayevitz - 1974 (BS), 1978 (MD), 1997 (MS)
Dear President Ono-
I am not materially wealthy and I have very little political power, but I have withheld donations to U-M because of the response of your (and other) administrations to antisemitism on campus. This is a dangerous precedent. I first came to Ann Arbor at the end of the active protests by Black Action Movement and the Students for a Democratic Society. Robin Fleming, who was president then, restored order by calling in the Ann Arbor police and Michigan state troopers. Perhaps in one of your monthly statements you can provide us your reasoning for not using the law enforcement at your disposal to end the antisemitic protests by terrorist supporters who look favorably on Jewish genocide. This is not a question of free speech. Calling for and condoning the elimination of the state of Israel is after all a call for Jewish genocide.
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