The University of Michigan Board of Regents met Thursday afternoon via Zoom to discuss their continued investment in companies with financial ties to Israel, development of technology to combat media generated by generative artificial intelligence and staff promotions this year.
The meeting began with Hafiz Malik, electrical and computer engineering professor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, presenting his research on deep fakes. Malik and his team developed a reliable framework which aims for public verification and debunking of any false information that is submitted for analysis.
Malik said deepfake campaigns designed for specific groups of people could be powerful in influencing elections.
“If we target a certain group of people, we can swing the election,” Malik said. “If we remember, the 2016 election was decided with 70,000 votes. So basically flipping those votes with these kinds of campaigns is not science fiction. That’s a reality.”
Malik also said there are many paths moving forward to ensure generative AI is used safely and equitably.
“Some other paths include having discussions around developing AI technologies more ethically and establishing regulation policies to address challenges or even raising public awareness of the issue to address collectively rather than just through laws or technology alone,” Malik said.
The board then shifted discussion to official committee reports. University Regent Sarah Hubbard (R) presented the chair’s report and described a protest that took place at her home early in the morning on May 15. Hubbard said she felt the protest was disrespectful and disruptive to her and her neighbors.
“About 30 protesters showed up at my house, started with taping a three-page memo to my front door, erecting three tents on my lawn and then proceeding to strew sheets stuffed with paper that resembled body bags and a number of stuffed toys and a toy crib on my lawn and on my front porch,” Hubbard said. “Then after that, that group of 30 protesters proceeded to use a bullhorn and a drum and very loud voices to wake the neighbors, … strike fear into a lot of children into my neighborhood and create a major disturbance at 6 a.m.”
Referencing the protesters’ demands, Hubbard said she will not support the abolishment of campus policing.
“I will not be voting to defund our police, I will not be abolishing campus policing,” Hubbard said. “I believe that our campus police are some of the most important partners we have to help keep us safe.”
University Regent Mark Bernstein (D) said despite the TAHRIR Coalition’s allegations that the board had been reluctant to meet with students, they did not appear at the public comment portion of the meeting.
“It’s also worth noting that it appears that nobody from the coalition of over 40 groups has signed up for public comment today, not one person,” Bernstein said. “There are many robust opportunities to engage with this board in person, virtually and through submission of correspondence to name a few.”
Following a presentation about U-M Dearborn from Student Body President Jana Rida, University Provost Laurie McCauley presented multiple faculty promotions for review.
“We’re bringing forward 316 recommendations for promotion,” McCauley said. “This includes 179 instructional tenure track promotions for your review and approval. In addition, there are 126 recommendations for promotion for clinical faculty and 11 for research faculty. Each of these has been carefully reviewed at the departmental school provost dual and presidential levels. I present them to you with pride in the accomplishments of the faculty being recommended for promotion.“
Five people then spoke directly to the board during a public comment period and raised concerns about various issues within the University community.
U-M alum Lauren Schandevel urged the board to reconsider its position on maintaining its investments in companies profiting from the Israeli military campaign in Gaza. She said she felt someday the protesters would be looked upon with admiration, even as they currently face criticism from University administration.
“Even mainstream narratives are starting to align with reality,” Schandevel said. “And once that reality is known and felt and the world comes to terms with what it’s done, those protesters, the ones this administration has spent months chastising, mocking and vilifying, will be venerated for their bravery and exceptional moral clarity. “
U-M medical assistant Trisha Pierson said employees should receive bereavement time after a child loss, echoing a proposal put forward by the U-M Aphasia Program.
“UMAP recently proposed that the University allow bereavement time for employees who experienced child loss due to stillbirth and miscarriage,” Pearson said. “Management countered our proposal, saying that as an employee, we may have the time off for child loss, but it would be considered pay time off unscheduled instead of bereavement time.”
Ted McTaggart, dispute chair for the U-M Professional Nurse Council, raised concerns about hospital staff injuries due to faulty security measures.
“One inpatient unit in (U-M Hospital) had a patient who repeatedly returned to the unit after sexually and physically assaulting nurses,” McTaggart said. “Although the patient was on security’s radar and ostensibly banned from anything but emergency care kept getting up to the floor to the point where many nurses on the unit were afraid to come to work.”
Claudine Vainrub, a parent of a U-M student, delivered a statement criticizing the rise of antisemitic incidents on campus and said .
“The First Amendment recognizes the need for certain speech restrictions regarding defamatory, incendiary and disruptive expressions,” Vainrub said. “Statements made on campus that inaccurately accused nations of genocide, called for uprisings or used language that could incite violence cross the line of protected speech into unlawful territory. According to the University of Michigan’s own policies, they constitute illegal disruptions to the University’s functions and undermine Michigan’s educational mission. These issues affect our university’s integrity and the safety of all students, not just Jewish students — all students, all faculty and all staff, including Board of Regents officers.”
Vainrub urged the board to consider measures to stop and prevent antisemitic actions on campus.
“We trust you to take decisive action, fully enforce existing policies and consider additional measures to prevent such behaviors from eroding our university,” Vainrub said. “It is time to restore the University of Michigan from its current state of fear and division back into our cohesive and uniquely spirited place of learning and growth.”
Summer News Editor Edra Timmerman can be reached at edrakmt@umich.edu. Daily Staff Reporter Matilda Sophia Mottola can be reached at msophy@umich.edu.
The post UMich Board of Regents discuss protests, divestment and promotions appeared first on The Michigan Daily.
Leave a Reply