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Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud selected as next UMich president
The alum will assume the position by July 1, putting an end to the five-month search MICHIGAN DAILY NEWS STAFF Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud has been selected as the next president of the University of Michigan, according to sources with knowledge of the presidential search process. Syverud is an alum of the University, having graduated from the Law School in 1981. He served as a member of the Law School’s faculty from 1987 to 1997 and was the school’s associate dean for academics affairs from 1995 until his departure. Syverud has occupied his position at Syracuse since 2014. He has previously held dean positions at Washington University School of Law and Vanderbilt University Law School. Since 2010, he has also served as a trustee on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Trust, established by multinational oil and gas company BP to settle claims from the manmade ecological disaster of the same name. In a statement provided to MLive, University Regent Michael Behm (D) said he approved of the search committee’s choice. “He’ll be terrific,” Behm said. “He’s just who we’re looking for to lead the University.” LSA senior Eric Veal Jr., student body president and search
Bela Fischer/DAILY Newly appointed President Kent Syverud speaks at a special meeting of the University of Michigan Board of Regents at Ruthven Building Monday afternoon.
committee member, wrote in an email to The Michigan Daily he believed Syverud would embody the University’s values. “In every conversation and interview, it became clear that he doesn’t just understand the
Michigan Difference, he embodies it,” Veal Jr. wrote. “Beyond his credentials, Syverud is a dynamic leader who leads with empathy and a genuine heart for the people he serves. He is profoundly studentcentered, and I have no doubt he
will show a tireless dedication to fostering authentic relationships across every corner of our campus.” Not all attitudes towards Syverud’s potential have been universally positive. Derek Peterson, chair of the Senate Advisory
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Hundreds gather for candlelight vigil honoring Renee Good
UMich considering single-source beverage contract
The vigil honored the memory of Good and others who were killed by ICE
NIKO WILSON & REBECCA BORLACE Daily Staff Reporters
Candlelight illuminated Liberty Plaza Friday evening as more than 300 people gathered for a vigil honoring Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother and poet killed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jonathan Ross during a Minneapolis ICE operation Wednesday morning. Multiple protests have been held in Good’s honor across the country, including Ann Arbor’s: “ICE Oout for Good” march and rally. The event concluded with about 400 protesters gathering outside City Hall. Ann Arbor Indivisible, a local chapter of a nationwide prodemocracy organization, hosted the vigil. The vigil honored Good’s memory, along with others who have fallen victim
to ICE’s violence, and called for the responsible ICE agents to be held accountable. Thirty-two people died in ICE custody in 2025, the highest number since 2004. Community members began the vigil by reading three poems in honor of Good, including one written by Good herself, titled “On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs.” Jeff Kass, an English and creative writing teacher at Pioneer High School, delivered a poem at the event dedicated to Good’s three children. “Your mother became a hurricane, a cyclone, a wind, a forest, a sea, a movement, a light, a light,” Kass said. “Your mother is a light. Let us rise from our lawn chairs. Let us rise from our couches. Let us be our own new hum, blood and wood and water and loud and crashing.” In a post on X the day before Good’s death, the Department of Homeland Security described
the immigration enforcement campaign in Minnesota as the “largest DHS operation ever.” Currently, there are approximately 2,000 federal agents deployed in the Minneapolis area. In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Business senior Keegan Balcerzak, who attended the vigil after seeking out events to honor Good, said he thinks current ICE operations enable interactions like these, specifically based on where agents are stationed. “I think the only reason it happened is because border patrol is in places they shouldn’t be,” Balcerzak said. “I think it’s as simple as that. Minneapolis is 344 miles from the Canadian border, or something. That doesn’t seem like a place where border patrol needs to be.” Gus Teschke, Ann Arbor Indivisible member, said in an interview with The Daily
that the group demands accountability and prosecution of the officers responsible for Good’s death. “Our demands are that the killers of Renee Nicole Good be brought to justice, that they be arrested and prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and that all the other ICE agents who have killed people be brought to justice as well, and that ICE be banned from communities because they’re dangerous,” Teschke said. “They’re a menace to communities. We see it in videos and pictures all the time.” In a Truth Social post, President Donald Trump claimed Good tried to run over the ICE officer who shot her. Following Good’s death, Vice President JD Vance also described the killing as an act of self-defense. CONTINUED AT MICHIGANDAILY.COM
Ann Arbor residents gather for a candlelight vigil for Renee Nicole Good at Liberty Plaza in downtown Ann Arbor Friday evening.
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Committee on University Affairs, wrote that he and the Faculty Senate believed the search committee had not properly considered the desires of the University community. “In principle I as chair of the faculty ought to be in a position to
explain to the University why Dr. Syverud is the right person for the job,” Peterson wrote. “The search process was shrouded in secrecy, despite the expressed views of faculty government. … This is not a great way to start a new presidency, and it reflects badly on the Board of Regents, for the process deprived Dr. Syverud of the opportunity to make his case to students, staff and faculty.” Peterson expressed approval of Syverud’s role defending the University’s affirmative action in the 2003 Supreme Court case Grutter v. Bollinger, as well as his reputation of engaging with students on Syracuse’s campus. Yet, he also criticized aspects of Syverud’s leadership of Syracuse, including him withdrawing investments from the local community while substantially raising tuition, closing Syracuse’s Diversity and Inclusion Office and labeling pro-Palestine activists at Syracuse as “encouraged from Iran.” “His record is uneven,” Peterson wrote. “That would be true for any university leader that we hired in this day and age. The Trump government is placing extraordinary pressures on all American universities, and it is not an easy time to be a college president. That is why it falls to us— students, staff and faculty—to shape this new presidency into what we want it to be.”
The agreement would grant a company the sole right to sell, serve and advertise its products across U-M campuses KAYLA LUGO & LOUISA SUK
Daily Staff Reporters
The University of Michigan is considering awarding a singlesource beverage contract for the first time in two decades. The companies under consideration include Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Red Bull or Keurig Dr Pepper. The agreement would grant the company the sole right to sell, serve and advertise its products in locations including dining facilities and events across the University’s Ann Arbor, Flint and Dearborn campuses and Michigan Medicine. In an email to The Michigan Daily, Tally Thrasher, assistant vice president and chief procurement officer, described the selection process that led to the shortlist of companies under consideration, which included market evaluation and a Request for Proposal. “Coca-Cola, Keurig Dr Pepper, Red Bull, and Pepsi were selected after a detailed and methodical evaluation process that included, among other things, an RFP, information from our peer institutions, market share, product selection, financial proposal, and their commitment to sustainability and customer service,” Thrasher wrote. Currently, 13 of the 18 universities in the Big Ten Conference have exclusive pouring contracts with companies including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. Jorge Iniguez-Lluhi, associate professor of pharmacology, told The Daily there are potential benefits of an exclusive contract but expressed concerns about consumer choice and health. “I’m just afraid the economic interests might overshadow the
INDEX Vol. CXXXVII No. 1 ©2026 The Michigan Daily
need for or the willingness of constituencies to have a more broad access to a wide range of beverages,” Iniguez-Lluhi said. “And the other concern — if an agreement with one large company comes to pass — is whether or not that’s going to create undue influence, pushing specific types of products or less healthy products to the students.” While Iniguez-Lluhi does not believe a single-source beverage contract would significantly restrict student access to beverages, he said it would eliminate an open environment conducive to innovation and competition. “These big companies have a wide variety of beverages, so it’s not like it’s going to be limited to one particular drink,” IniguezLluhi said. “Still, I think that encouraging competition and encouraging diversity in choices is important. So I think these kinds of measures tend to stifle competition, which is not good in the long term.” However, Thrasher wrote an exclusive contract could simplify University operations and allow for potential revenue increases. “Some of the major benefits to the university include simplified operations and administration across the entire institution, dedicated customer service from the supplier, a stronger focus on sustainability as well as opportunities to increase revenue/financial incentives, establish strategic partnerships, and engage with—and support— the U-M community in a variety of ways,” Thrasher wrote. “When considered collectively, these benefits provide significant support of the university’s missions of teaching, research, and patient care.” CONTINUED AT MICHIGANDAILY.COM
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