On Nov. 8, the University of Michigan Faculty Senate — composed of professors, lecturers, researchers, deans and other U-M employees — voted to censure the University’s Board of Regents. This move has no precedent in U-M history. The measure was motivated by recent amendments to the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities, approved by the Board without any of the traditional input from the campus community. In addition to the censure, the Faculty Senate passed three measures aimed at preventing the implementation of the SSRR revisions, addressing police brutality and confronting gender-based violence.
This package represents the broadest divide in recent history between the University’s administration and its constituents. As such, it’s important to examine the chain of events that brought us here.
Over the last year, the Board of Regents has put itself at odds with the University community. In light of the pro-Palestine protests on campus, the Board has cracked down on student rights. Police broke up the Gaza Solidarity Encampment erected on the Diag this past May, and many campus stakeholders expressed concerns that the encampment’s removal infringed on students’ civil liberties and right to protest…