University Housing and its semester of censorship and institutional regress

On Nov. 6, 2024, student resident advisers and diversity peer educators, collectively referred to as ResStaff, coordinated teach-ins in multiple residence halls on the history of Palestine as part of their monthly event obligations. Some members of ResStaff chose to conduct their programming themselves — a common practice for residence hall events — while others decided to conduct it alongside Students Allied for Freedom and Equality. 

Despite the unexceptional nature of these events, they gained a disproportionate response on social media, where one RA event invitation made its way to Eyal Yakoby, an online right-wing commentator on X. On Nov. 4, he posted the email of an RA inviting their residents to one of the teach-ins in East Quad’s Abeng Minority Culture Lounge, a space dedicated to “advocates for positive social change.”

Standard practice for residence hall events requires ResStaff members to submit proposals for the following month’s events two weeks before the start of the month, giving Michigan Housing Leadership ample time to approve events across the University of Michigan. For these events, ResStaff submitted their proposals in mid-October, received approval, put up flyers and invited residents to join the event as usual.

A few days before the teach-ins were scheduled, and weeks after ResStaff’s programming proposals were approved, University Housing capitulated to smears like Yakoby’s. First, University Housing requested to audit the content of students’ presentations — an unprecedented request. Then, hours before the start of the teach-ins on Nov. 6, University Housing leadership verbally informed ResStaff in each residence hall that they were not allowed to present any of the material. Instead, they told ResStaff to remain neutral, unbiased and not favor a viewpoint on any issues. When asked to provide guidelines or a policy to help ResStaff remain “neutral,” University Housing leadership pointed ResStaff toward The University Record article on the University’s Board of Regents’ vote to approve institutional neutrality, demonstrating a frantic scramble to justify arbitrary policy changes.

On Nov. 18, University Housing grounded their new policy agenda by sending all ResStaff an update email of their policy, demanding that ResStaff not “favor one viewpoint over another.” Further, the email stated that supervisors are free to ask “follow-up questions” and “gather information about programs” before the program begins, and that “it is expected that (ResStaff) provide this information in a timely manner.” The email further stated that events with sponsored organizations can be “moderated, not presented” by ResStaff in their community.

While the email claimed supposedly to “provide clarification” and “reminders” for residential programming, it clearly was crafted to allow University Housing leadership to claim such a policy has long existed. In reality, any neutrality requirements in ResStaff programming have been either virtually unenforced, or more likely, wholly nonexistent.

To cement their self-inflicted institutional regress, University Housing unilaterally changed their diversity and inclusion statement over the holiday break. As recently as Dec. 17, 2024, University Housing claimed to promote “social justice education” in residence hall communities, and that it was the responsibility of ResStaff to conduct “educational, cultural and social programs that promote the values of diversity, equity, inclusion … and social justice.” Now, University Housing’s diversity and inclusion statement is a gutted version of its former self, with no mention of social justice nor programming.

With that in mind, it is clear that University Housing is exploiting its neutrality policy to bar ResStaff from teaching any Palestinian culture or history, creating an environment where the mere mention of Palestinian culture and identity is inherently controversial, problematic and, of course, non-neutral. While sponsored organizations, approved by a University Housing administrator, may still host an event celebrating Palestinian history and culture, it is important to note that the only Palestinian cultural and activist group sponsored by the University is currently facing the risk of an organizational suspension. 

Thus, University Housing has rolled out and enforced policy that mutes any discussion of Palestine from ResStaff, while the University is simultaneously working to ban the only Palestinian advocacy group on campus. These efforts can only be seen in conjunction with regents altering the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities, an action that permits the University more repressive measures to enact on pro-Palestine advocacy on campus. The Faculty Senate, in a historically unprecedented move, has censured the regents for this alteration. 

The institutional and extralegal crackdowns on pro-Palestine advocacy, along with the potential suspension of SAFE, pose serious implications on ResStaff in the residence halls. As ResStaff of Palestinian descent are prohibited from presenting on their own heritage, it is natural to assume ResStaff of all identities are prohibited from doing the same, as University Housing perceives it as a threat to residence hall inclusivity. This development from University Housing raises pressing questions regarding the status of diversity efforts at the University. Why must members of ResStaff have to suppress their identity, history and culture in the name of neutrality? 

The Edward Said Minority Culture Lounge, for instance, is the legacy lounge for SAFE, created to celebrate Palestine advocacy, culture and history. An RA can hold an event in the Said Lounge, yet ironically, as per the new guidelines, cannot present about what is written there in plain sight — instead, all attendees can simply read the text on the walls. But on those same walls, there exists no reference to the roots of the lounge, when in 2014, student activists occupied Central Student Government to demand a divestment vote, renaming the chamber the Edward Said Lounge. Just a year later, the lounge was unveiled as a clear homage to the student occupation. 

While University Housing has been quick to implement new policies censoring Palestinian history, they have failed to implement tailored institutional support for Black and Arab students given the persistence of anti-Black and anti-Arab incidents in University Housing including graffiti and residence hall door vandalism. This semester, one diversity peer educator was forced to switch residence hall rooms after a series of targeted, anti-Palestine vandalism on their door, including ripping down their Palestine flag, door decorations and attaching a poster of renown antisemite, Candace Owens, on their door. Other incidents range from racist vandalism of housing spaces and bulletin boards to dangerous cases of harassment and stalking. 

Since mid-September, ResStaff workers have reported over a dozen instances of anti-Palestine hate in University residence halls. Yet, University Housing has failed to provide any substantive support on all fronts. Ignoring mere recognition of these events, a single email has yet to be sent from University Housing or other administrative units even acknowledging anti-Palestine sentiment festering in residence hall communities. The lack of any serious response from University Housing enables hateful, racist actors to continue to spread vitriol in residence hall communities and against ResStaff. Through their inaction, University Housing is itself responsible for the continued pattern of racism plaguing residence halls. 

With this new neutrality policy in mind, the role of Diversity Peer Educators — a core segment of ResStaff — is seriously jeopardized. The DPE program, previously known as the Minority Peer Advisor program, aims to cultivate a housing community that is welcoming, inclusive and actively supportive of students across all social identities. DPEs are told that this unique University program emerged from the Black Action Movements between 1970 and 1987. These movements (BAM I, BAM II, BAM III and #BBUM) confront the University’s racist policies regarding the recruitment, enrollment and campus experience of minorities at the University. 

Nearly half a century later, they were regarded as among the “most challenging for university administrators and arguably the most influential in shaping the university’s diversity efforts and policies today.” Today, the DPE job description states that DPEs “strive to create an inclusive community by building relationships with residents and conducting educational, cultural, social and personal enrichment programs that promote the ideals of diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice.”

But now, with the new University Housing restrictions imposed on all ResStaff, the DPEs “cannot favor one viewpoint over another.” This thwarts many of the DEI efforts that the University prides itself on. Can DPEs, for instance, hold past events like the “Activism Alive and Well Workshop” discussing Black struggle in the U.S. — commemorated in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Minority Culture Lounge — or is that considered a favoring of one viewpoint over another? Can they teach residents about Indigenous struggles — commemorated in the Vicky Barner Multicultural Lounge — or is that also considered a favoring of one viewpoint over another? Will infringements on neutrality rules result in DPE discipline, or even eviction?

The University can, of course, sideline these questions by cherry-picking the events that do not threaten its institutional interests. Since pro-Palestine advocacy has clearly threatened said interests — showcased by the University’s catalog of repressive actions this past year— it is no longer considered a topic that can be freely discussed by ResStaff in their residence hall events. The University is now hiding its repressive efforts under the guise of so-called neutrality, which has trickled down from Student Life to University Housing.  

In sum, University Housing’s sequence of decisions profoundly undermine decades of progress reflected in the creation of multicultural lounges and the DPE role. It leaves unaddressed concerns of anti-Black, anti-Arab and Islamophobic sentiment, allowing one-sided narratives to take precedence in University communities. Through rolling back values of social justice, University Housing’s capitulation to so-called neutrality highlights a troubling trend of stifling speech and academic freedom. When University Housing suppresses Palestinian ResStaff from dialogue on their own history and social identities, they only further contribute to making Arab, Palestinian, Muslim and Black existence more vulnerable on this campus. 

University Housing must rescind its flawed programming neutrality policy, and ensure ResStaff and residents can exist without the arbitrary grips of institutional neutrality suffocating their academic lives and personal identities.

Ammar Ahmad is a former DPE in North Quad and a Senior in LSA Honors Philosophy and Cognitive Science. Erek Mirque is a DPE in Markley and a Junior in Public Health. Mark Tallents is the RAO President, an RA in North Quad and a Senior in LSA Honors Political Science.

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