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Wednesday, February 19, 2025
Ann Arbor, Michigan
CAMPUS LIFE
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CSG hosts candlelight vigil to honor victims on two-year anniversary of MSU shooting
‘We persevere, we organize, we connect with one another — and we remember.’ ANNA PIERSON Daily Staff Reporter
Content warning: This article contains mentions of gun violence. The University of Michigan’s Central Student Government hosted a vigil on the Diag Thursday evening to honor the lives of Michigan State University students Brian Fraser, Alexandria Verner and Arielle Anderson, who died in the 2023 shooting at Michigan State University. Candles were placed around the block ‘M’ in the center of the Diag, where attendees were welcomed to stand and share a moment of silence for the four students. CSG President Mario Thaqi shared opening sentiments, thanking everyone for coming to the event and coming together community. “I thought it was important for all of us as a community at the University of Michigan to come together and show support for our friends at MSU,” Thaqi said. “Grieve together, come together and show that, here as a community, we’re stronger together.” Connor Le, Associated Students of Michigan State University president, spoke to the crowd about the reality of experiencing a tragedy such as a mass shooting. “I hope we can all agree that we didn’t go to college to become a statistic, or to hide in a classroom or to use desk and chairs to make sure that someone can’t break into the room you’re hiding in,” Le said.
Bridgette Bol/DAILY Students line the Diag block ‘M’ with candles at the Candlelight Vigil for Michigan State University in the Diag Thursday.
LSA sophomore Aubrey Greenfield attended the event to represent March for Our Lives, a youth-led movement dedicated to ending gun violence. In her
speech, Greenfield emphasized the power of unity in the face of tragedy and said organizing against gun violence is a way to honor the victims.
CAMPUS LIFE
Winterfest tournament hosted by Sigma Nu raises record $270,000 for charity
‘Having fun while you’re making a strong impact in people’s lives and communities is valuable to me.’ PATRICIA LEONCIO Daily Staff Reporter
On Saturday, more than 5,000 people attended the annual Winterfest broomball tournament hosted by the Sigma Nu fraternity. In partnership with the Interfraternity Council and the Panhellenic Association, Sigma Nu has raised more than $270,000 so far for the Fisher House Foundation, Autism Alliance of Michigan and the Women’s Center of Southeastern Michigan. Donations for this year’s tournament will continue to be accepted until Feb. 23. Similar to hockey, broomball is a game in which players use broom-shaped sticks to score goals with a rubber ball. At Winterfest, the top eight fraternity fundraisers and top eight sorority fundraisers play in teams of six in a singleelimination tournament. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Caden Bellaire, Kinesiology sophomore and president of Sigma Nu, explained the fraternity has a long history of hosting the Winterfest tournament. Bellaire said significant preparation contributed to planning the logistics of the event and ensuring safety of players and attendees. “In terms of player safety, we send out the rules and regulations for playing in the event and we have every team sign waivers for every member of the roster,” said Bellaire. “We also have security at the entrances in and around the
rink monitoring who goes in and out. Players obviously must have helmets before they get in the rink.” Bellaire said he contacted the University of Michigan, the Ann Arbor Police Department and the Division of Public Safety and Security’s Community Engagement Department to ensure safety at the Winterfest tournament. Bellaire also said the fraternity hired private security, stationed several sober monitors at the event and secured an on-site ambulance as a precaution for potential incidents. “Winterfest is a non-alcoholic event, meaning no alcohol is provided,” Bellaire said. “But people choose to do what they want to do beforehand. So we just try to take every preventative measure that we can to make sure that in the event something does happen, we are well prepared for it.” Alberto Molina, LSA sophomore and philanthropy chair of Sigma Nu, explained the fraternity’s decision to support the three organizations donations are going towards. Molina said the three organizational groups involved in Winterfest each selected a charity to be supported by the event. “What we’ve done is we’ve decided to let the Panhellenic Association, the Interfraternity Council and (Sigma Nu) choose one organization (each),” Molina said. “The Panhellenic Association obviously chose the Women’s Center of Southeastern Michigan, and
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the Interfraternity Council has chosen the Fisher Foundation.” Molina explained the donations are split evenly between all three charities after the tournament costs are accounted for. He shared it cost about $10,000 for Sigma Nu to host the tournament — including funding private security, safety gear, rink materials and other associated costs — leaving the remaining $260,000 to charity. Molina said he hopes costs will decrease for future Winterfest events so they will be able to raise additional funding for charity. “A lot of those costs are things where we just have to buy wood every year, but there are some costs that will go down eventually,” Molina said. “For example, we buy tools every year and we try to reuse them. Hopefully our costs will go down as time goes by, and we can give as much money to charity as possible.” Bellaire said it was gratifying to see the positive impact on organizations in the local community that came from Sigma Nu’s efforts. “I know specifically that the Autism Alliance, they rely on us heavily each year,” Bellaire said. “I know that a portion of what they budget for each year comes from our donations. I think that’s great, being able to do that for an organization. As the face of this fraternity, being in charge of directing and communicating with people, the payoff is definitely worth it to me.” CONTINUED AT MICHIGANDAILY.COM
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“Tonight, we stand together even when our words fail to capture the devastation within us,” Greenfield said. “We act, we advocate and we stand up
for what’s right to honor victims of gun violence everywhere. We persevere, we organize, we connect with one another — and we remember.”
Martino Harmon, the University of Michigan’s vice president for student life, spoke at the event to remind students they are supported and shared different services offered by the University that those struggling can look to for support. “We are united by our shared grief, but also by our shared commitment to support one another,” Harmon said. “I want to remind everyone here that there are resources available to support you from counseling, wellness, coaching and other services such as peer support groups. Please take advantage of those services.” Thaqi concluded the guest speaker segment by encouraging attendees to stay for as long as needed and to write messages on a paper banner that will be sent to MSU students. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, LSA junior Emma Johnston noted the importance of community in difficult moments and said the shooting affected her as a transfer student from MSU. “I went to State my freshman year … and it’s kind of weird being disconnected from that community,” Johnston said. “I think, even if you don’t realize it, just having and knowing that people are there for you, who can come together in moments like this, even if they’re brand new strangers, it’s really nice knowing that you’re not alone and feeling the things that you’re feeling.”
RESEARCH
UMich researchers grapple with the effects of Trump’s executive orders ‘There is tremendous uncertainty.’
ABIGAIL VANDERMOLEN Daily Staff Reporter
Elizabeth Evans, Research Center for Group Dynamics researcher and lecturer at the University of Michigan School of Social Work, was working on an application for a grant that would allow her to implement Promoting Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide, a suicide-prevention and community-building program for Alaskan Indigenous communities in the state of Michigan. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Evans said the website went down before she could submit the application. “I was working on the application one day, and the next day, the website was down, and that was it,” Evans said. “Within that week, they just said they canceled … They were not accepting any more applications.” The grant Evans was planning to apply for was a National Institutes of Health Diversity Supplement, intended to supplement existing NIH grants that support researchers from underrepresented backgrounds. Although the funding would not have been guaranteed, Evans told The Daily her application would have gone through a limited review process and likely faced higher odds of receiving funding because it is connected to an existing grant. Instead, Evans said she has been scrambling to find alternative sources of funding. “I feel optimistic that this is something that is fundable,” Evans said. “It’s just a matter of
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(whether) I feel everyone else is also going to be doing that same thing. They’re going to be pivoting and it’s just a matter of whether or not you meet the focus areas of the foundation.” Since President Donald Trump took office Jan. 20, 2025, he has signed a number of executive orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs in federal departments and among federal contractors. The pause in NIH Diversity Supplements complies with executive orders against DEI in federal agencies. Evans isn’t the only U-M researcher to report feeling the impacts of federal actions under the Trump administration. In an email to The Daily, Darrell Hudson, chair of the Health Behavior and Health Equity department at the School of Public Health, described feelings of uncertainty in his department and said many faculty feared cuts to their projects or positions. “There is tremendous uncertainty, with highly experienced staff at risk of losing their jobs and faculty seeing their life’s work directly disrupted,” Hudson wrote. “NIH meetings have been postponed, canceled, or significantly altered, despite the immense effort required to prepare for them. Faculty focusing on LGBTQIA health are particularly concerned, with some already experiencing proposal removals from NIH study sections.” Hudson also explained how the effects of the anti-DEI orders are especially troubling for researchers from marginalized and underrepresented communities. “For many in marginalized
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communities, these policies feel like an attack on their very identity,” Hudson wrote. “Flattening people and populations into language that the administration deems acceptable erases lived experiences and invalidates the struggles they continue to face. Regardless of where we stand on politics, we can all agree that every person deserves dignity and recognition. As a health equity researcher, it is deeply frustrating to see efforts to address real, systemic inequities under attack.” The University’s Office of the Vice President for Research has begun posting updates on changes to federal research funding in response to new executive orders. The University’s Office of Public Affairs also has a webpage with updates on federal policy affecting the University, which says the institution will carefully monitor changes to research funding. In an interview with The Daily, a social science researcher at the University who asked to remain anonymous for fear of her lab losing its NIH funding, described confusion caused by the short turnaround between federal actions being announced and going into effect. In this article, the researcher will be referred to as Kristine. “There’s no opportunity for consultation, for questions, for discussion,” Kristine said. “It’s just these sort of edicts that are coming down from afar. So that is creating, I would say, a lot of uncertainty and anxiety about, well, ‘What’s going to happen tomorrow, or in two weeks?’” CONTINUED AT MICHIGANDAILY.COM
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