Michigan Tech receives ultimatum from free speech watchdog after removing professor

Disclosure: This reporter is a full-time student at Michigan Technological University.

Courtesy photo.

An event to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall on Michigan Tech’s campus last month devolved into a billboard for hate which was defended as constitutionally protected free speech.

An uproar of frustrations, anger, fear, and dismay from faculty, students, and staff only intensified after the Provost removed a professor from his teaching duties for speaking critically of the event and its student organizers. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expressions (FIRE), an organization with deep financial ties to conservative dark money groups, has sent the University an ultimatum to “promptly recommit to honoring faculty’s academic freedom and expressive rights” with a deadline set to expire early next week on Tuesday.

YAF ‘Berlin Wall’ Event

On Nov. 10, the Michigan Tech chapter of Young Americans for Freedom (MTU YAF) hosted an event on campus to celebrate the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The event, which invited people to spray paint a message on a large canvas, prominently featured hate speech primarily targeting LGBTQ+ groups.

Numerous student organizations and groups expressed their concern about the event. One student submitted an opinion piece to Copper Beacon last week, “Addressing the Culture of Hate at MTU” expressing frustration with the recurring systemic issues that plague minority groups on campus.

Lexi Tater, a student at the University who protested the Nov. 10, event, co-wrote an open letter to Governor Gretchen Whitmer, detailing the incident and requesting assistance to “encourage change that will protect all minorities.”

Tater offered the following comment for this story.

“Speaking out about something that threatens my identity places me in an extremely vulnerable position. [...] It is important for the rest of campus and the community to understand how these events affect the livelihood of LGBTQIA2S+ identifying people, and that it is comforting for other queer people to know that someone is standing up for what is right.”

YAF student chapters have a mixed history of advocacy with the Michigan State University chapter being listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in 2006. The designation came as a direct result of MSU YAF’s activities and messaging on campus.

As reported by PrideSource, “The group had issued an agenda that included the elimination of minority student organizations, the creation of a white council, the creation of a men's council, and hunting down and deporting illegal immigrants in the Lansing area.”

The national organization that MTU YAF is organized under, the Young America’s Foundation (YAF), is notorious for bankrolling provocative speakers on college campuses. A 2017 New York Times article (paywalled) noted that “The speakers have gotten edgier, more-in-your face and sometime [sic] even meanspirited... The resulting clashes on university campuses, including protests and efforts to block speeches, have raised free speech questions."

YAF is also an associate member of the State Policy Network which SourceWatch describes as “a web of right-wing ‘think tanks’ and tax-exempt organizations in 50 states, Washington, D.C., Canada, and the United Kingdom.”

Professor Removed for Criticizing YAF

Students weren’t the only ones to raise their voices in response to the Nov. 10 event.

On Nov. 13, Carl Blair, a professor of Social Sciences, spoke critically of the MTU YAF event and the students who had organized it during his class. A student discretely recorded Blair. The next day, Blair’s comments were shared in a video on YAF’s Twitter and published in an article on YAF’s website.

On the morning of Nov. 16, FOX News published an article titled “Michigan Tech professor attacks conservative student group as 'homophobic, dumb, racist twits'” which featured the video from YAF’s Twitter account.

Later that day, a little after 3 p.m., an email was sent to Blair’s class from the University Provost Andrew Storer. The email informed students that their Friday class was canceled and that another instructor would be taking over for the remainder of the course. This reporter has confirmed the authenticity of this email from multiple sources.

• Email to Blair's Students

  Editor’s Note: Email addresses have been partially redacted.

  Dear Global Issues UN1025 students,

  As an institution with a strong research focus, Michigan Tech vigorously supports freedom of speech and academic freedom. We follow the Chicago Principles in this manner. With this, we expect an environment of respect and acceptance of diverse perspectives, perhaps most importantly within our classrooms. We regret this has not been your experience in this class this week.

  Tomorrow’s class (Friday, Nov. 17) has been canceled, and upon return after the Thanksgiving break we have arranged for a different instructor for the remainder of the semester. You will receive information from your new instructor prior to the first day of class after break.

  If you have any questions regarding your class or assignments please contact Dr. Don Lafreniere, chair of the Department of Social Sciences, by email (***@mtu.edu).

  If you need support outside of this particular class, I would encourage you to contact the Dean of Students Office at ***@mtu.edu.

  I hope you have a happy and restful Thanksgiving week, and we’ll see you a week from Monday.

  Sincerely,

  Andrew Storer

  Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

Carl Blair did not respond to a request for comment before the time of publication.

University Leadership Defends Decision

Nancy Langston, a tenured faculty member in the Social Sciences department, in response to the news of Blair’s removal, said, "I was surprised and dismayed that he was removed from teaching his class for the rest of the semester."

When asked about the response of University Leadership to faculty questions and concerns, Langston shared a document called ‘Provost Talking Points’ which was distributed to department chairs and others at the University on Nov. 20. Langston expressed concerns about the Provost’s interpretation of constitutionally protected free speech of faculty.

“The provost’s talking points [...] appeared to me to be clear limits on my academic freedom and rights in the classroom and campus.”

The ‘Provost Talking Points’ can be read in their entirety below.

• Provost Talking Points

  Editor’s Note: Email addresses and phone numbers have been partially redacted.

  For Situational Awareness

  -The Dean of Students office and the Center for Diversity and Inclusion has been actively supporting students who expressed concerns about the Berlin Wall event

  -External communications regarding media articles may be forwarded to Heather Herman, Executive Director of Presidential Operations, at 906-***-**** or email ***@mtu.edu

  -The Dean of Students office has also been working with a wide-variety of students to elevate the conversations on campus, moving beyond the boundaries of free speech to more elevated conversations

  -All inquiries from the media should be directed to Ian Repp in UMC

  Talking Points from the University

  Background on Free Speech

  -Michigan Tech has a high tolerance for/highly values freedom of speech. This creates space for deep exploration and learning. It also creates space where individuals can feel hurt, attacked, or disrespected.

  -There are a few limits to free speech (e.g. fighting words, true threats, incitement), but most speech is protected under the First Amendment, including what is commonly referred to as “hate speech.”

  -Michigan Tech adheres to the Chicago Principles, which states, “Although the University greatly values civility, and although all members of the University community share in the responsibility for maintaining a climate of mutual respect, concerns about civility and mutual respect can never be used as a justification for closing off discussion of ideas, however offensive or disagreeable those ideas may be to some members of our community.”

  -That said, we encourage students and other members of the university community to be leaders in addressing these complex topics. Not only content thought leaders, but leaders in respectful discourse.

  -It is also important to note that the university intentionally does not take positions or make statements on issues of social or political debate. As articulated in the Kalven Report (a precursor to the Chicago Principles), “The neutrality of the university as an institution arises then not from a lack of courage nor out of indifference and insensitivity. It arises out of respect for free inquiry and the obligation to cherish a diversity of viewpoints.”

  Classroom Settings

  -Michigan Tech strongly values academic freedom, allowing faculty to freely express ideas within the scope of their course content and to teach those concepts in their classrooms.

  -That instruction must also be respectful.

  -There is not unlimited free speech in the classroom either for faculty or students.

  -Faculty are speaking as representatives of the university in their classrooms - not in their individual capacity.

  -Instances where an instructor makes derogatory statements in such a manner as may cause reasonable students to not feel comfortable sharing or discussing their diverse perspectives, which includes political and social viewpoints, or may cause students to reasonably question if they will be graded fairly or impartially compel the institution to take necessary action to address the situation and uphold its responsibilities in ensuring all students are able to access their educational opportunities.

  Thank you for your patience as these talking points were prepared, and for sharing communications about these important topics.

  With best wishes for the weekend

  Andrew

  *********************************

  Andrew J. Storer

  Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

  Michigan Technological University

  1400 Townsend Drive

  Houghton, MI 49931-1295

  Pronouns: he/him/his

Langston reached out to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expressions (FIRE) and shared the ‘Provost Talking Points’.

“I selected FIRE because they are non-partisan and well-recognized for their defense of free speech on campus, and they have a public university faculty rights hotline for cases such as this,” she said.

FIRE Demands Action from the University

On Dec. 5, FIRE sent a six-page letter to University President Richard J. Koubek. FIRE’s letter expressed deep concerns that the removal of Carl Blair from his course and the subsequent talking points circulated by the provost could constitute violations of court precedent which upholds faculty's right to free expression in classroom settings.

“We appreciate that Storer’s message notes Michigan Tech’s awareness of its special obligations as a public university under the First Amendment to uphold faculty’s rights to free expression and academic freedom. However, the university betrays those obligations by warning all faculty against expressing protected personal opinions in class and punishing faculty who do.”

FIRE concluded its letter by presenting an ultimatum to the University.

“Given [the] urgency of this matter, we request a substantive response no later than close of business on December 12, 2023, confirming Michigan Tech will promptly recommit to honoring faculty’s academic freedom and expressive rights.”

It is unclear what repercussions the University may face for failing to comply with FIRE’s request.

The University did not respond to multiple requests for comment on internal University documents obtained for this story, the removal of Carl Blair from his teaching duties, or FIRE’s letter.

This is far from the first time that FIRE has engaged with Michigan Tech.

At the start of the 2023-24 school year FIRE ranked Michigan Technological University number one in upholding student free speech in the country out of roughly 250 academic institutions surveyed. Michigan Tech’s ranking can be viewed on FIRE’s website.

Early in 2023, FIRE published a press release commending University Leadership for overruling the student government to provide funding for a conservative speaker.

“FIRE commends Michigan Tech for taking this crucial action. Public universities are obligated to consider funding decisions in a viewpoint-neutral manner so as to not violate the First Amendment. Of course, shared governance is important and should typically be respected, but student governments are also bound by the First Amendment to protect students’ expressive rights.”

Copper Beacon covered this story extensively.

In 2011, FIRE published another press release commending the University for rewriting sexual harassment policies to uphold constitutionally protected free speech.

“Michigan Technological University, home to two "red light" sexual harassment policies [...] to its credit, was quick to respond to our mass mailing, replying on January 11 with a request for policy review and analysis. [...] Happily, Michigan Tech's response to our policy review, dated July 22, is an encouraging and promising one. In its response, the university states that the two policies in question ‘were in the process of being reviewed and changed’ and that ‘the items which you address will be removed from all University related publications.’”

FIRE is not without controversy itself, according to reporting from SourceWatch, “FIRE is a major proponent of the intellectual diversity movement which aims to dismantle the so-called liberal bias in higher academia.” SourceWatch additionally reports ties to conservative dark money groups including the Koch Brothers and the Bradley Foundation and lists FIRE as a “[Former] member of the State Policy Network”, the same network that YAF is an associate member of.

With FIRE’s deadline for the University to provide a “substantive response” set to expire early next week, coverage of this story is ongoing.

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Michigan Tech fires deans of two largest colleges, offers no explanation

(Left) Janet Callahan, Michigan Tech professor and former Dean of the College of Engineering and (right) Professor David Hemmer, former Dean of the College of Sciences and Arts.

Editor’s Note: A correction has been made to this article. We implied that David Hemmer said both interim deans learned of their new positions through public announcements, but he was only sure of one. We apologize for any confusion this has caused.

Editor’s Note (2): Another correction has been made to this article. We inadvertently suggested Janet Callahan told us she was given no explanation for her dismissal, but in fact another source, David Hemmer, was speaking in plural, and to our knowledge does not have authority to speak on Callahan’s behalf. We sincerely apologize.

The deans of both the College of Engineering, and the College of Sciences and Arts at Michigan Technological University were fired June 26. According to written statements made by one of the two fired deans, they were informed of their pending termination by Michigan Tech provost Andrew Storer on June 20, and offered a chance to renounce their tenure and resign from the University entirely for three months salary. Both declined the offer. The next day, the Office of the Provost announced that both faculty members would “transition from their leadership roles in the College of Engineering and the College of Sciences and Arts” and that interim deans would be stepping in to fill their vacancies.

One of the two fired deans, David Hemmer of the College of Sciences and Arts, said the two were offered no explanation for their abrupt dismissal and that it was conducted in a manner to “increase our humiliation”. At time of reporting, both former deans are still employed at the University as tenured professors.

Hemmer authored a letter to the Board of Trustees expressing his “shock and disgust at the events that [had] transpired”. Transcripts of the letter soon made their way to social media, where they were shared by students and faculty of the University. Copper Beacon has verified the authenticity of this letter, the full text of which can be read in the card below.

• Dean David Hemmer’s Letter

  Members of the Board of Trustees,
  
  I am writing to express my shock and disgust at the events that have transpired this week. Late in the day on Tuesday June 20, College of Engineering Dean Janet Callahan and I were separately informed that we were fired, effective Monday June 26, that interim deans had already been selected, and that the announcement would be in Tech Today a short 12 hours later. No reason or explanation was given. We were individually summoned to Provost Andrew Storer’s office, asked to leave an ongoing retreat with other campus leaders, in a way very likely intended to increase our humiliation.
  
  We were encouraged to submit letters of resignation. We both refused. Despite both being tenured full professors, we were encouraged to renounce our tenure and resign entirely from the university in exchange for only three months’ salary.
  
  Provost Storer immediately called my direct reports (Department Chairs and college staff) and told at least two of them that I had “resigned.” He told several others that I had “stepped down”. Both are, of course, false.
  
  The Provost’s office submitted an article in Tech Today for Wednesday morning that was designed to further humiliate us. Indeed, our entire set of accomplishments as deans was summed up in one line: “Janet and David played important roles over these past five years, especially during the pandemic, and we thank them for their service.” This cursory summary is an insult to all that we both accomplished over five incredible years of leadership. It feels like an intentional slap in the face to both of us.
  
  It is particularly puzzling given that we were both renewed one a year ago with strong support from faculty, staff, department chairs and students. Indeed, I was recommended for renewal “unanimously and unequivocally” by an evaluation committee of more than a dozen colleagues. In a meeting on May 24, 2022, President Koubek told me he thought I was a “strong leader” and would “make a great Provost or President someday.”
  
  Earlier that same Tuesday, Dr. Storer called Physics Chair Dr. Ravi Pandey and said there “might” be some leadership changes in CSA and asked if he was willing to serve if necessary. Ravi agreed. When we met on Thursday, Dr. Pandey told me that my firing came as a complete shock to him, as did the announcement in Tech Today that he would be the interim dean, his having not even agreed on terms yet. He was not entirely sure he would take the position, but he has already been publicly announced. What a hasty and bungled transition!
  
  I fully understand that deans serve at the pleasure of the Provost and President, and that Dr. Storer has every right to select his own leadership team. The usual and customary way across academia to remove a dean or provost is to quietly let them know they have one year left. This allows them to announce their resignation early, have a proper national search, look for an administrative position at another institution if they desire, and preserve some measure of dignity with little or no suggestion that they were fired. The way Dr. Callahan and I were terminated would typically be reserved for some emergency, or in cases of serious misconduct. Frankly, Dr. Callahan and I were both relieved the other was fired, which makes it clear to everyone that this is the result of a misguided Provost (or President) cleaning house, and not misconduct on our part.
  
  Despite many faculty being away for the summer, and perhaps not paying attention, the outpouring of support and anger I have received has been enormous. More than 100 faculty and staff from across the university have contacted me, and their response was uniformly one of disgust with Provost Storer, bafflement with how and why this decision was made, and fear for the future. This includes a substantial portion of the academic leadership on campus. Comments include “shocked and saddened”, “This isn’t how we operate at Michigan Tech”, “stunned and disappointed”, “the provost is a dictator”, “insane”, “baffled” and on and on. What could possibly be the reason to fire experienced deans of the two largest colleges? Colleagues have called for a vote in the University Senate to censure the Provost, or a faculty vote of no-confidence in his leadership. I am admittedly angry and of course biased, but I do not see any way his provostship survives this decision. Dr. Storer has completely lost the trust and confidence of the large majority of faculty. I encourage the Board of Trustees not to take my word for this, but to poll the faculty yourselves. Talk to department chairs. Seek feedback from the administrative staff as well as to the functioning of the Provost’s office over the past year.
  
  This decision has created fear and uncertainty on campus. Firing the deans of the two largest colleges sends a clear message that the academic side of the house is in crisis. What is the crisis? Did it not exist a year ago? How will having interim deans eventually replaced by inexperienced deans solve it? The campus rumor mill is bubbling over and people are truly afraid of what is coming.
  
  The way this was handled will make it impossible to recruit strong external candidates to fill what will now be three vacant dean positions this coming year. MTU already has difficulty recruiting external administrators. In the past few years we have had failed chair searches in MEEM (even with hiring a search firm), Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, and Chemistry. Our recent national CFO search dragged on for almost a year and ended with the hiring of an original member of the search committee. We will have open chair positions for next year at least in Biological Sciences, Chemical Engineering, and Computer Science. We will be running national searches for at least three deans (CFRES, CSA, COE). Any qualified and savvy external candidate for these chair and dean positions will investigate what happened to Dr. Callahan and me, and the answer will not be encouraging. We risk losing star faculty members as well. MTU has already lost an unusual number of our leading faculty in recent years, and more than one of our current superstars has told me this decision will send them to the job market.
  
  The timing of this decision is horrible as well, with a capital campaign underway and next year being the critical ABET accreditation year in COE. Both Dr. Callahan and I are in the midst of working with donors and foundations on large gifts. Dr. Callahan was in California meeting important donors last week, as well as meeting with her external advisory board. Neither Bill Roberts nor anyone in the advancement office was told of this decision. No plan for contacting alumni and donors was implemented. Perhaps it is expected that Dr. Callahan and I should let our donors know what happened?
  
  Finally, I was a semifinalist for the Provost position and interviewed with the search committee. At least five members of the committee have personally told me how strong my interview was, and that multiple members wanted to advance me to a campus interview (yes, search committees leak like sieves). Having the new Provost fire one of his competitors for the position only a couple months after earning it himself sends a horrible message, independent of the actual motivation for the decision.
  
  The last five years have been great ones for MTU. We survived the pandemic in a strong financial position with growing enrollment. New academic buildings and dormitories are being planned and constructed for the first time in more than a decade, a capital campaign is underway, marketing and recruiting efforts are modernized and working. Dr. Koubek often celebrates this momentum in his public remarks. This capricious decision has completely negated that narrative. The perception now is that MTU is a university in crisis, at least within Academic Affairs, and that senior leadership is not up to the task. The repercussions of this decision will hurt our recruiting for many years.
  
  I am proud of what my team and I accomplished over the past five years. By every metric (enrollment, research funding, fundraising, student retention, etc.) my deanship has been an unequivocal success. I take great pride in my work. I will return to the faculty in Mathematical Sciences and continue to work hard for the success of our students and our university. I carefully negotiated my contract in ways that protected me from just this scenario. I will be ok. I fear MTU will not.
  
  David Hemmer
  

In his letter, Hemmer asserts that the provost behaved in a manner designed to humiliate and insult both faculty members.

“It feels like an intentional slap in the face to both of us,” Hemmer wrote.

Michigan Tech Provost Andrew Storer.

Hemmer also accused provost Storer of conducting a “hasty and bungled transition” that led to at least one of the interim deans learning of their new jobs through a public announcement on the University’s daily newsletter.

Hemmer continued by noting an “outpouring of support and anger [from] more than 100 faculty and staff from across the university” and offered many quote snippets to highlight faculty bafflement, fear, and disgust with the provost’s decision. Hemmer added that “Colleagues have called for a vote in the University Senate to censure the Provost”.

As the University Senate seldom meets during the summer, it is unclear when this measure might be considered or how likely it would be to pass.

Hemmer concluded his letter with a series of concerns about how this decision would impact the University’s ABET accreditation, the current capital campaign, or the ability for the school to recruit and retain faculty in the future.

“I carefully negotiated my contract in ways that protected me from just this scenario. I will be ok. I fear MTU will not,” Hemmer wrote.

The University in response to an inquiry about the former deans being fired without explanation offered the following comment.

“Thank you for reaching out. Regarding your questions, the University does not comment on personnel matters beyond the announcements made elsewhere.”

The second faculty member, Janet Callahan did not respond to a request for comment at time of publication.

The College of Sciences and Arts (CSA) is the second-largest college under MTU’s umbrella, home to approximately 1/6th of their students. The college also supports several notable departments including the Biological Sciences, Humanities, Mathematical Sciences, Physics, and ROTC.

David Hemmer, the former CSA dean, holds a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Chicago and worked for the University of Buffalo as chair of mathematics prior to coming to Michigan Tech. Hemmer replaced retiring CSA dean Bruce Seely in 2018 with much praise from the former provost Jacqueline Huntoon.

Hemmer is being replaced by interim dean Ravindra Pandey who holds a PhD in Theoretical Solid State Physics from the University of Manitoba. Pandey also serves as Chair of the Physics Department.

The College of Engineering (COE) is the largest college by far. More than half of Michigan Tech’s total student population study under one of its programs including the Biomedical, Chemical, Mechanical, Civil, Electrical, and Geological Engineering departments in addition to other programs such as Material Science and Manufacturing.

Janet Callahan, the former COE dean, holds a PhD in Material Sciences University of Connecticut at Storrs and worked for Boise State University as chair of the Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering before coming to Michigan Tech. Callahan replaced retiring dean Wayne Pennington in 2018 with praise from the former provost Jacqueline Huntoon as well.

Callahan is being replaced by interim dean Audra Morse who holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from Texas Tech University. Morse also serves as Chair of the Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering Departments.

If you’re interested in republishing this story, please email us at editor@copperbeacon.org.

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Michigan Tech steps in to meet need for nurses

Finlandia University is closing, and with it goes its nursing program. Michigan Technological University has stepped in to take over the program to meet the local need.

Graduates of Finlandia’s baccalaureate nursing program (BSN) have regularly staffed our local hospitals and medical providers. With Finlandia closing, the nearest BSN is at Northern Michigan University, 100 miles away.

Overall, there are currently 37 baccalaureate nursing programs approved by Michigan’s Board of Nursing in the state, including the Finlandia program.

Gogebic Community College offers a two-year nursing program in both Houghton and Ironwood, as does the Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College. After one year, students can earn an LPN (licensed practical nurse). After two years, they earn an associate in nursing degree and can become RNs (registered nurse). Some then go on to complete their BSN at partner universities.

Tech will offer a Bachelor of Science in Nursing starting in the fall of 2023, a four-year degree that will prepare students to work in nursing management or go on to graduate programs in nursing, as well as doing direct patient care.

Good Idea, Bad Idea?

Some people think it’s a good thing that Michigan Tech is taking over Finlandia’s program. Area hospitals and other healthcare facilities say they need more nurses. Others question whether we require more nursing programs in the Keweenaw and whether a vocational program like nursing is appropriate for Michigan Tech.

It's completely appropriate, says Andrew Storer, Michigan Tech provost.

“It is a logical fit for Michigan Tech, as a STEM-focused institution and a technological institution,” he said. “It will prepare students to be leaders in the nursing field.

“Nurses are using a lot of new technology, and research at Michigan Tech is developing new technologies, I would argue that this is a professional program in the STEM field that fits perfectly with Michigan Tech.”

David Hemmer, dean of Michigan Tech’s College of Sciences and Arts, agrees. He calls the nursing program absolutely appropriate.

“An important part of our mission is to educate students to meet the needs of the employers of Michigan, and there is a critical need for nurses, especially in the Upper Peninsula,” he said.

And Rick Koubek, Michigan Tech president, said, “Pairing a science-focused degree with industry needs, that’s what Michigan Tech does best.”

Hemmer goes on to say, “We pride ourselves in the College of Sciences and Arts on providing great degree programs and dedicated advising for students who are interested in a variety of careers in the health professions, including medical school, veterinary school, physical therapy, physician assistants, medical laboratory scientists and more. Nursing is a natural fit for us.”

Claire Danielson, advisor to Michigan Tech’s laboratory sciences program, points out: “This program may also help to shed light on our programs like medical laboratory science, kinesiology and other pre-health options that students may not know exist.”

The American Association of Critical-care Nurses has stated that baccalaureate education is the minimum level required for entry into professional nursing practice in today’s complex healthcare environment.

Nursing Shortage

Storer said health care providers were concerned over the loss of Finlandia’s program.

“Finlandia worked with 20 area health care providers, including hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities, and they all told us of the need to maintain a local BSN program to support the local healthcare system,” he said.

The United States and the global market are experiencing a nursing shortage that is expected to intensify as the demand for more and different nursing services grows. Peter Buerhaus, Douglas Staiger, and David Auerbach reported in the journal Health Affairs that the U.S. may experience a shortage of more than 500,000 registered nurses by the year 2025.

Casey Huckins, interim chair of Biological Sciences at Michigan Tech, said, “According to Michigan Labor and Economic Opportunity documents, there is a strong need for healthcare workers, including many types of nurses, in rural Michigan as well as across the nation.”

The new nursing program will be housed in the Department of Biological Sciences.

Finlandia and Michigan Tech are working collaboratively with the Finlandia nursing program accrediting agency, the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, and the Higher Learning Commission to arrange program accreditation.

What They’ll Study

Huckins said, “Biological Sciences has a long history of educating and preparing students to enter fields related to human health. Nurses are applied biologists, so having them join us makes sense, and we are happy to welcome them.”

The nursing program at Michigan Tech will integrate courses in the humanities, social, biological and natural sciences with the theory and practice of nursing. The curriculum will remain essentially the same as it was at Finlandia, with some minor adjustments to incorporate Michigan Tech’s non-nursing courses and general education program.

Projected enrollment is 16 per year, with an estimated total program size of 54 without the need for more faculty. The Michigan Board of Nursing limits the size of a clinical group to eight students per instructor, impacting the need for clinical instructors.

The BSN program is designed to provide the stimulus and foundation for progression to the graduate level of academic preparation, in addition to producing RNs to do direct patient care.

Costs

Presenting the nursing program to the Michigan Tech University Senate, Storer said that the cost of the program is expected to be $550,000 for the first year, including fringe benefits and supplies, services and equipment for six full time faculty and one full-time staff member. There will also be a one-time $2,500 accreditation new applicant fee and an annual accreditation fee of $2,777.

Financial analysis suggests that tuition generated by this program is sufficient to cover the faculty and staff costs in its first year and would generate net income for the university by fiscal year 2027, Storer went on to say.

Overall, it appears that Michigan Tech’s move to take over the Finlandia nursing program is a win-win for Tech, the nursing students and faculty at Finlandia and the community.

If you’re interested in republishing this story, please email us at editor@copperbeacon.org.

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Teaching STEM by osmosis

Ann (left) and Amanda proudly displaying their project results. They tested what change soaking gummy bears in different liquids would cause on their size. Photo by Joshua Vissers

Students and parents alike had a chance to experience the fun side of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) at a special event on Thursday afternoon. Older students from local high schools and Michigan Technological University gathered to demonstrate projects and STEM concepts to students from kindergarten up to 8th grade at a STEM Festival on the ground floor of MTU’s Memorial Union Building.

In turn, local 4th-8th graders showed off their STEM chops with science and engineering projects in the upstairs ballroom.

“We thought of this because we really like gummy bears,” said 4th grader Amanda. “And so we wondered, can we make them larger? And do they taste good?”

Amanda and her project partner, Ann, are both 4th graders from Houghton Elementary School. The pair tested soaking gummy bears for 72 hours in sugar water, salt water and pure water against their control group, an unsoaked gummy bear.

The growth results were quite clear and measurable, with pure water causing the gummy bear to roughly double in size. The taste results were more subjective.

“They did not taste good,” Ann said.

“The water one is fine,” replied Amanda.

The pair said they had a lot of fun, and already plan on participating again next year.

Even though it can be fun, the Western U.P. STEM Fair & Festival has high educational value, too.

“These are students that have been preparing their project for weeks now,” said Emily Gochis, Western UP MiSTEM director. “This is hard work for these students.”

The Houghton High School Robotics teams had several of their robots there for demonstrations and even test drives. Video by Joshua Vissers

From doing initial research and forming a hypothesis, designing and conducting an experiment, and finally analyzing and presenting results, the projects give the students a chance to work through the entire scientific process. Rather than a short daily school assignment, the activity models a long-term, in-depth project.

“Which is what we do in the real world,” Gochis said.

A panel of judges made of professors and industry leaders scored each of the projects. Any project that got at least 80 of 100 points has been placed in a bronze, silver, or gold ribbon category.

Click here to check out the 2023 results.

Kinley Lyons is a 4th-year chemical engineering student at MTU now, but she participated in the STEM Fair years ago as a grade schooler. Lyons and her partner constructed a hovercraft as their project, using an old street sign, a tarp, and a leaf blower.

“It didn’t work that well, but it did work,” she said with a laugh. “It is one of the things that got me into engineering, and here I am now.”

It was also the first time Lyons remembers coming to a university campus.

“It really gave me a perspective on Michigan Tech’s campus,” Lyons said.

The STEM Fair and Festival, a partnership between MTU and the Copper Country Intermediate School District’s MiSTEM program, returned to an in-person event this year after COVID-19 forced them to shift to an online format.

Laura Rowe, a 5th-grade teacher at Lake Linden for the last 28 years, said because of the COVID-19 break, this was the first time at the STEM festival for many of the students.

“The kids were so excited to come here,” Rowe said.

The attendance was down a little from previous years, but Rowe thinks it will grow more as people learn what it is again after the pandemic break.

“I think the kids’ favorite part of it is actually doing the experiment itself,” Rowe said.

The Festival was host to several fun demonstrations. The bananas on the table are touch-sensitive and play musical notes through the laptop. Photo by Joshua Vissers

The festival featured demonstrations of a variety of STEM subjects. A thermal camera was available to play with the concept of seeing heat instead of light. A group explained basic circuits using LEDs, 9v batteries, and different colored Play-Doh, which is conductive largely due to the high salt content. The Copper Country Recycling Initiative was explaining the mechanical sorting process and the different makeup of recyclable products. All the demonstrations had an interactive element and invited students to get involved with the concepts being presented.

Gochis said the event was started about 25 years ago as a science fair, but over that time has grown into a STEM fair and festival. This year they added an engineering category to the fair for the first time.

“The age groups of grades 4-8, students tend to be really, really interested in these areas, and that’s not just boys,” Tom Oliver, director of the Michigan Tech Center for Science and Environmental Outreach, said.

After 8th grade, interest in STEM fields drops off among young women, which has led to these fields being dominated by men.

“We’re trying to open up opportunities that will provide those young women the opportunity to stay interested and find things that are engaging,” Oliver said.

Oliver encourages anyone interested in forming a partnership with MTU’s Center for Science and Environmental Outreach to contact him.

Women Get Less: the gender pay gap

Women have always been paid less than men, and the gender pay gap continues to be a prominent issue today. When comparing full-time, year-round workers in 2021, women would have needed to work an extra 49.5 days (using a typical 40-hour work week) to make up for the pay gap, with women taking home 84 cents per 1 dollar of what men were paid. Equal Pay Day is held every year on the day when women would have finally closed the pay gap from the male pay from the previous year. This year, it was held on March 14, 74 days after Dec. 31. The local chapter of the League of Women Voters brought attention to this issue armed with informational brochures handed out at Michigan Tech on March 14. . 

Faith Morrison is a member of the local chapter of the League of Women Voters who taught chemical engineering at Michigan Tech for 32 years before retiring. She acknowledges that it’s true that there are pay differences between occupations that are monopolized by one gender, using the example that engineers make more money than many other fields of work. 

Faith Morrison on Michigan Technological University’s campus on March 14. Photo by Sidney Wilmot.

She said, “because there are more male engineers than female engineers than let’s say nurses, there are more female nurses than male nurses, you could expect that would cause a pay gap.” 

However, according to author Cathrine Hill, once relevant factors (college major, occupation, economic sector, age, marital status, etc.) have been considered, the pay gap was still 7% just one year after graduating from college and widened to 12% ten years after graduating. The League of Women Voters calculated that if a man makes $100,000, the woman then makes $93,000. Assuming both parties receive a 2.5% yearly raise, the man saves the “pay gap” money, and earns a 5% interest, in 25 years he’s over $400,000 ahead of the woman. 

“Even within a discipline we don’t want to see a gap in pay between men and women, because we don’t think that comes from any merit. We think that many women, on average, [in] the same discipline and same background, should make the same,” Morrison said.

So why does this still happen? Morrison highlighted a book by Virginia Valian, called “Why So Slow?: The Advancement of Women,” which talks of nonconscious bias. The book included results of experiments and examples of integrated stereotypes and assumptions in our minds and society that apply to gender differences. An example from the book Morrison cited was where an identical resume was submitted for review, but changed the obviously male name to a female name. The resume with the female name got a lower ranking than the one with the male name. Morrison explained that this experiment has been done with names that denote racial differences, which also ended up considered a lower ranking.

To fight against this inequality, Morrison says that “what we’re doing here is to educate [people] about [nonconscious bias]. Let people know this happens… if you can spot it happening, ask yourself ‘well why did I think that’…if you can catch yourself, you can make a change… we’re not trying to break anything, we’re trying to make something better.” 

She continued to explain that it was often thought that women’s income were simply supplemental to the household income, and not a necessity. The societal role and pressure on women to attend the house and raise children meant that their jobs were done in their free time, and they were financially dependent on men.

“When I started here at Michigan Tech, I was the first woman they ever hired in the Department of Chemical Engineering. … My husband joined the faculty at the same time,” Morrison said. “We had the experience where he had a higher raise than I did. Frankly, there was a good argument to me that it should’ve gone the other way. We confronted the department chair, and he admitted that he had done that on purpose because he didn’t want my husband to feel bad that his wife was going to get a higher salary than he was.”

Morrison’s husband supported her, wondering why he wouldn’t want his household income to be higher.

Morrison also recalls how she went to a program in Washington, DC for the advancement of women in chemical sciences in the early 90s. She remembers a presentation by an MIT professor of biochemistry, Nancy Hopkins, in which Hopkins felt ashamed that she was the target of gender bias. 

Morrison agreed that she shared that shame about being the target of gender bias in her successful career.

She said, “It feels terrible, to have to say that you feel someone is discriminating against you, even though it's true.” 

When encompassing all workers such as seasonal or part-time, however, the pay gap increased. Women were taking home only 77 cents per 1 dollar made by their male counterpart, meaning they would need to work a shocking 77.6 more days per year (also using a typical 40-hour work week) to make up for the pay gap. The pay gap is increased even further for women of color. 

There are sources to fight to close the pay gap. This includes supporting state laws that prevent pay discrimination, advocating for your colleagues and employees, and supporting the Paycheck Fairness Act. If you want more information, visit the American Association of University Women, here. 

Saving the “historical gateway to the entire Keweenaw” – the Ford Alberta Sawmill

Henry Ford once had a rich empire of logging in the UP, and much of it has been lost due to modernization. Yet, a dusty gem shoved into the village of Alberta, just outside L’Anse, Mich. was preserved perfectly. The Ford Alberta sawmill, currently owned by Michigan Tech, is in danger of being destroyed. However, the once-quiet history of the area was dusted off by residents of L’Anse and Alberta, and efforts by the Social Sciences Department at MTU to preserve the area are in action.

In May of 2022, plans were announced to tear down the currently closed Ford Alberta sawmill. Residents of L’Anse and Alberta rallied together to save the doorway to the rich, innovative Ford history in the Keweenaw, forming the Baraga County Historical Society Inc. Subcommittee Saving the Ford Alberta Sawmill. 

“This [sawmill] is the historical gateway to the entire Keewenaw, sitting right here on U.S. 41,” said board member Wayne Abba. 

The first step for the subcommittee was to save the pump house, which would’ve been demolished this summer if members of the society hadn’t heard of MTU’s plans, according to Michael DesRochers, chairman of the subcommittee. 

Dave Stimac, the last Head Sawyer employed by the Ford Alberta sawmill, explaining the steps in processing logs. Photo by Sydney Wilmot.

Dave Stimac, who worked as the last sawyer in the mill said, “From Tech’s side of it too, it just sits and sits, and what are you going to do with the building? But at least it’s salvageable now… if you wait too much longer, it won’t be.” 

The subcommittee agrees that after the pump house, they are likely to redo the siding and paint on the outside of the sawmill and ensure safety measures are in place. 

“This was given to Tech in [1954] by Ford to be used for educational purposes,” said DesRochers. 

Abba continued, “When they say that it’s unique, it’s not only the buildings in the village, but it’s the original 1,700 acres that were donated, plus about 2,300 [acres] that have been added, so there’s about 4,000 acres here of forest, the entire village… it’s a national icon.” 

This huge area is rich in the history of the Keweenaw with Canyon Falls nearby, a popular local attraction.

Professors Steve Walton and Mark Rhodes in MTU’s Social Sciences Department are now working with history students to put the sawmill on the National Register of Historic Places. In their expert opinion, they say that Alberta “is a very, very rare survival of an intact example of a showplace industrial village, built by an industrial magnate as a reaction to twentieth-century industrialization and urbanization.” 

Rhodes and Walton are using Alberta as a space to learn about and study the “industry, community and heritage in our own backyard,” stating that, “The Industrial Heritage and Archaeology program in the Dept. of Social Sciences recognizes the village of Alberta as a nearly unique and little-altered surviving example of a model industrial village from the early twentieth century.”

The pump house in Alberta, which was nearly demolished. Photo by Sydney Wilmot.

Rhodes used Alberta as the central case study in his graduate course Industrial Communities. He and his students have also updated the draft nomination form for the 2017 National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), expanding it to include the whole 1,700 acres that was donated to Tech along with the village and sawmill. Walton is planning on “documenting the sawmill operations, machinery, and process flow with graduate and undergraduate students” in the 2023-2024 academic year. 

Walton recognizes that while most of the historical focus has been on copper and iron mining, logging has been a crucial part of the UP since the nineteenth century, and continues to be a major export today.

He said, “From the point of view of the history of technology the sawmill is exciting as it was never modernized to any great extent, other than the replacement of some electrical systems with hydraulic ones in, we believe, the 1970’s or 80’s.” 

He said he was very interested in documenting the techniques and technologies of the 1930’s and 1950’s. 

Quiet history is easily lost, but local residents have not yet forgotten how much this sawmill means to the history of both the Keweenaw and the United States.

Rhodes and Walton agree that heritage sites are being lost all the time and unique ones like Alberta are both an inherent asset to the memory of a place but also key elements in historical tourism for the UP. 

Abba explained, “I think there was a bit of a realization that it was more than just a sawmill… So what we’ve done is get Tech to realize that it’s a whole lot more than that. The historic significance is international because of who Henry Ford was.” 

The idea of a self-sustaining town that brought Alberta to life was never fully realized, but it did inform Ford’s ideas of other company communities, particularly in Brazil, where he farmed rubber for tires. 

The head saw, with a mannequin standing in as head sawyer, inside the Ford Alberta sawmill. Photo by Sydney Wilmot.

The sawmill was closed as a working mill in 1956, was converted to a museum in 1996, and closed to the public in 2017. The museum illustrates clearly how impressive the sawmill truly was for the time. A “dust-free” environment, heat, and a roof were all luxuries the sawmill offered. Every scrap of wood was utilized – scraps were distributed to the community for firewood, and the sawdust was burned to heat the building.

Stimac recalled that as far as he knows, the mill never burned down, or had any major accidents. This was incredibly rare during the time it operated, as many saw and paper mills burned down and were rebuilt in the years they operated. The dust flying through the air was easily ignited with a simple spark, but with the dustless system and cleaning routine put in place at the Ford Alberta sawmill, this didn’t happen. 

With the increased communication between the sawmill subcommittee and the Social Sciences Department at Michigan Tech, there is a ray of hope to preserve the story of Henry Ford and the rich history of the Keweenaw.

Eventually, the committee hopes to open the sawmill as a museum to the public. 

Admin at MTU subverts student self-governance

Michigan Tech Administration overrules student body decision, says not funding conservative speaker is a violation of free speech

On Friday, a special meeting was convened at the request of University Administration to overturn the Undergraduate Student Government’s (USG) decision to deny a funding request of $3,500 to partially cover a $10,000 conservative speaker’s fee. 

USG had previously voted down the request at their Wednesday meeting, citing high student opposition to funding the speaker as well as safety concerns for minority students who were the target of bigoted rhetoric espoused by the speaker. University administration offered an ultimatum to USG to either change their decision or be overruled. USG, in blatant defiance of administration, voted down the funding request a second time. 

The Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students issued a Memorandum directing USG to transfer the $3,500 immediately to the student organization hosting the speaker. The University Administration justified their actions, stating that USG had violated the speaker's first amendment rights in making their decision to not fund the event.

Leading up to this outcome was a week bustling with student activism, social media pressure, procedural controversy, and appeals to precedent across the University.

The week began relatively quietly, with students circulating a petition Monday afternoon on social media to “Tell USG @ MTU to vote no on funding TPUSA event”. 

Information on Turning Point USA (TPUSA) from Influence Watch.

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Students assembled in the audience on Wednesday for the Undergraduate Student Government meeting. Photo by Juxta Sprague.

The petition argued “TPUSA and its leaders have a history of spreading hate, disinformation, and dubious rhetoric at college campuses across the country.” and that “This money should be used to help other organizations on campus that do not have the same national funding as TPUSA.” 

The petition encouraged students to contact their representatives and to show up to USG’s Wednesday meeting to voice their opposition to providing funding, and ultimately garnered 283 signatures.

Early Tuesday morning, a counter petition was circulated by the president of Michigan Tech’s student chapter for TPUSA, the host for conservative speaker Brandon Tatum set to visit the University in late March. The petition “BE BRAVE with Brandon Tatum Opportunity Fund Request Support” stated that they were hosting a “NON-PARTISAN event for freedom of speech where ALL STUDENTS on campus are welcome”. 

The petition listed the anticipated breakdown in funding for the $10,000 event including grants from their parent organization, TPUSA (40%), student funding from USG (35%), and grants from The Leadership Institute (20%).  The remaining 5% was to be covered by “funds from local business owners” (2%) and “fundraising via grassroots (can drive etc)” (3%). 

The petition also stated that “There is a current push by a small group of people that do not want us to receive the funding in order to fulfill our contractual obligations to Brandon Tatum and his team.” implying that members of the student chapter had signed a legally binding document with the speaker prior to securing funding.

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Late Tuesday evening, Brandon Tatum tweeted “The Crazy Leftist Diversity Inclusion Crowd at Michigan Technological Institute is trying to BLOCK a black man from speaking and I need your help!” before sharing the counter petition to his nearly 690,000 followers.

In a video Tatum published Wednesday morning titled “What They WON’T TELL YOU About the Michigan State Shooting”, he replaced his usual sales pitch for his merchandise store with a plea to his 2.2 million subscribers to sign the counter petition. 

“We need more than 2,000 signatures to show that we ain’t putting up with that BS!  Let’s come together, let’s fight back!  I want to go to Michigan and show these leftists that there’s another perspective to this game and we ain’t playing with them.”

Within 36 hours, the counter petition had garnered well over 6,000 signatures. At time of publishing, the counter petition is still live and is nearing 9,000 signatures. 

Michigan Tech’s website states that there are currently 7,009 undergraduate and graduate students attending the university.

Late Wednesday evening, Michigan Tech's USG gathered for their weekly meeting.  The audience gallery was packed with over two-dozen students, in stark contrast to their typically quiet meetings. Eleven students delivered prepared public comments, one in support, and ten in opposition to the funding request.

Caleb Glenn, president of Michigan Tech’s TPUSA chapter, spoke first, “We are hosting a non-partisan event regarding free speech for all.  All students are welcome to attend. […] We think that having Brandon Tatum on campus is going to elevate the level of free speech on campus, and we're going to get a lot of discourse, which is always good.”

The ten other speakers identified themselves largely as members of the queer community, environmentalists, or proxy spokespersons/representatives for other students who could not attend or wished to remain anonymous.

One student who identified himself as a trans man explained his experience on campus. 

“I’ve been called homophobic slurs by my fellow students, and I’ve felt threatened at times,” he said.

In reference to one of Brandon Tatum’s videos, he said that “[Brandon Tatum] states that trans girls using locker rooms are creepy, weird, and stupid.  […] and also suggested that gay athletes should keep quiet about their sexuality so that they don’t make their teammates uncomfortable.”

Kieran Rowan, co-president of Keweenaw Pride the LGBTQIA+ and Straight Ally student organization of Michigan Tech, began by citing the University’s diversity and inclusion statement to USG before contrasting it with comments made by Brandon Tatum.

“Brandon Tatum has repeatedly made remarks in the past that invalidate the identities of LGBTQIA individuals including that we are ‘abnormal’ and ‘on the wrong side of Christ.’  These types of comments are incredibly hurtful and directly opposed to that idea of a ‘mutual and respectful’ conversation. [...] We want to feel supported by the university and for that we don’t want to feel like our rights are opinions. We want to feel like our rights are human rights.”

Several staff members of the university also weighed in during the discussion.

Laura Putwen, Director of the office of Community Conduct, delivered a summary of a conversation that she had with Michigan Tech general counsel.

“While you all were discussing, I was on the phone with our general counsel.  Funding a speaker is funding a speaker.  The University as a public institution is not going to say ‘No, you can not come to this institution’ in terms of using our space.  Now we might say you can’t be in a certain space, ‘you can go to this space but not this space’ so there are guidelines and limits we can do, but there are laws that we have to follow.”

Danielle Meirow, Assistant Director of Leadership and Involvement as well as an advisor to USG, delivered an official statement to the USG prepared by MTU Marketing and Communications. All attempts to contact staff at the University were redirected to a written copy of the same statement.

One of the most important and exciting things about being on a University campus is the opportunity to experience situations that encourage growth and stretch us out of our comfort zone. Speakers and events that express opinions and ideologies different from our own are an opportunity to learn, to seek understanding, and further develop our own views.

As an institution, Michigan Tech fully supports free speech, which includes protecting the ability of speakers to express what may be considered unpopular views on campus, as well as ensuring others are welcome to criticize and contest those views. However, those criticizing speech cannot interfere with the speaker's ability to share their ideas. Undergraduate Student Government through the SAF [Student Activity Fee] has precedent for funding speakers with a variety of views and has an obligation to follow that precedent. Not passing this opportunity fund request purely based on the expected content from the speaker would be hindering free speech on campus.

I am proud of everyone for being here to participate in a democratic process. I hope you continue doing so as we move through the rest of the semester. Student Leadership and Involvement is available and willing to assist with any conversations regarding additional events on campus.

Dean of Students and advisor to USG, Dr. Wallace Southerland, offered no comment during the vote proceedings.

After more than 50 minutes of discussion, the funding request failed, falling just short of the two-thirds majority requirement.

Despite the successful efforts of many students to lobby their representatives to vote against the funding request, the university quickly found itself mired in controversy. USG was forced to convene a special meeting by administrators Friday afternoon to “align [their] vote with state law, board policy, and university values.” 

The meeting was publicly announced less than five hours beforehand and stated “no public comment will take place, though the public may attend if they wish to.”

The general counsel of Michigan Tech, Sarah Schulte, explained that USG could either change their vote to fully fund the $3,500 request or that the administration would overrule and provide the funding without their consent. Schulte stated that USG had made a decision “due to the viewpoint of the speaker” and as such was in “direct contravention to the first amendment.”  

Many representatives expressed grave concerns about the secretive and undemocratic nature of the meeting, which disregarded the voices of the student body. Others advocated that it was USG’s duty to uphold precedent and approve the funding request as demanded by administration.

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Ben Conlin delivers his remarks at Friday’s meeting. Sitting behind and to the right is Sarah Schulte, university general council. Photo by Juxta Sprague.

College of Computing representative Ben Conlin, a recent addition to the body, offered his comment to explain his vote.

“I’m brand new to USG, this is my [second] meeting so I kinda want to tell a little bit of my story and why I voted the way I did. [...] I’m a member of the Political Affairs committee and my current project is planning the candlelight vigil to honor the lives [lost in] the MSU shooting. I grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the site of the recent Club Q shooting.  [...] I held my best friend in my arms as they sobbed fearing the world that hunted people like them. I had a friend commit suicide because they were forced by family, church, and advisors to hide who they were, choosing death over the world they had been born into. [...] It feels like we have been told we cannot vote no, and I fear that I cannot vote yes, because my heart hurts too deeply for the community that is marginalized and threatened.”

Fourth year student representative Griffin Abbott, stated that, “At Wednesday’s meeting we had students, including representatives from the body of LGBTQIA at this university crying and begging us to consider their safety in this matter. [...] If we are to stay entirely content-neutral in all matters, how far does that go? We have seen students pointing out the lack of consideration for the humanity of trans and gay students. What other protected classes are we willing to allow speakers to come and spew their hatred about on this campus?”

Emily Ruf, treasurer of USG, who made the initial funding recommendation of $3,500 delivered a prepared statement explaining why she was changing her vote from yes to no.

“Forcing the USG body to overturn this decision goes against the will of this body and the desires of our constituents who are paying customers of this university.  The primary argument for my vote on this matter is procedural consistency. [...] Administrators asking USG to revote on a decision essentially in secret, without public comment, against the will of their constituents is not consistent with our normal procedure. [...] Many student members of this community shared deeply personal stories in front of a nerve-wrackingly large group of people in hopes of swaying this body.  They should not have had to undergo that highly stressful situation for it to mean absolutely nothing to that outcome.  I am voting no on this motion because I believe the decision at last Wednesday’s meeting was final.  I am urging members of this body to vote no on this motion.”

The vote to approve the funding request failed a second time. The Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students issued a Memorandum directing USG to transfer the $3,500 immediately to the TPUSA student organization for them to pay Brandon Tatum.