SACUA discusses ethical investment, Congressional antisemitism hearings

The University of Michigan’s Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs met in the Alexander G. Ruthven Building Monday afternoon to discuss summer initiatives and a recent meeting with University President Santa Ono. The committee discussed Ono’s involvement in Congressional hearings on antisemitism. 

SACUA chair Rebekah Modrak, Art & Design professor, opened the meeting by updating members on the committee’s activities over the summer. Modrak specifically discussed the formation of the Ethical Investments Committee in July 2024. 

The committee is a workgroup of faculty researching the ethics of financial investments from universities across the United States, according to Modrak. The committee plans to use this research to identify investment metrics that should be made public and develop recommendations on how community members can raise concerns about the University’s investments. Modrak said SACUA anticipates a report from the committee this fall. 

Modrak also discussed Political Speech and The Public Square, an upcoming SACUA-sponsored forum series on policy issues and the 2024 election. The series will be held on the Diag. 

“Over the summer, one of the questions was, ‘How do we ensure that there’s political speech on the Diag this semester?’” Modrak said. “And also, how do we provide a forum for voicing concerns in the run-up to the elections?” 

SACUA member Tom Braun emphasized the importance of unbiased moderation at the forums. 

“It’s really hard for me to say that I would participate in this if I don’t know who’s moderating it, nor what their views are on that topic, so that’s crucial,” Braun said. 

Luke McCarthy, director of the Faculty Senate Office, reported on upcoming SACUA events, including the Faculty Senate’s annual Davis, Markert, Nickerson Lecture on Academic and Intellectual Freedom. He announced the next guest, Judith Butler, who will speak about their recent book, “Who’s Afraid of Gender?”. 

“I encourage anybody that can fit (Butler’s) book into their reading schedule to do so,” McCarthy said.

Modrak reported on her most recent meeting with Ono at the meeting Monday evening. She said she recommended that the University administration work with the Program on Intergroup Relations to bridge campus divisions that grew out of last year’s Gaza solidarity protests. Modrak said she also expressed concern to Ono about recent amendments to the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities.

The amendments, as part of an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education, aim to increase the University’s responsiveness to violations of Title IV of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and more efficiently hold students accountable for nonacademic misconduct. They also clarify that the University administration can serve as the complainant in a case involving a student’s alleged violation of Statement responsibilities. 

“Many of the policy changes seem to be towards punitive measures rather than restorative ones,” Modrak said.  

Modrak also said she and Ono discussed recent Congressional hearings about antisemitism on college campuses. Ono was initially called to testify before Congress in person, but his testimony was postponed and replaced with a transcribed interview that has not been released to the public. Following the hearings, Congressional Republicans have threatened to withhold federal funding to higher education institutions that fail to appropriately combat antisemitism in accordance with Title IV, including research grants and federal financial aid. 

Modrak also said she encouraged Ono to collaborate with other universities to resist Congressional influence on University policies. 

“I asked him what was being done across University leadership to push back against these political attacks on higher education, thinking about McCarthyism and lessons learned from that period,” Modrak said. “There doesn’t seem to be any efforts to organize amongst the University presidents.”

Given the impact of federal grants on university research, Braun said he was especially concerned about the potential loss of federal research grants like those from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

“A simple one-week moratorium on funding (would be) devastating for people on this campus, so it’s a real issue,” Braun said. “I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but there are a lot of faculty on this campus for which funding as a threat is a very real threat.”

Daily Staff Reporter Edith Pendell can be reached at ependell@umich.edu

The post SACUA discusses ethical investment, Congressional antisemitism hearings appeared first on The Michigan Daily.


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