University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

Page 31 text:

BAM is Back Black activists decry racism at AM III, named after two pre- 1 V vious Black Ac- tion Move- ments, arose in the middle of March. Saying that they were at war with U-M, the students boycotted the Union for 24 hours one day and held a sit-in at the Fleming Building the next day. Problems were smoothed out when the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrived on campus on March 22, to meet with President Harold Shapiro and other Black leaders. Speaking to a cheering crowd in Hill Auditorium, Jackson declared, There ' s no surer way to trip and fall than to move forward while looking backward. Let ' s move on to higher ground. Tensions had started to build on January 27 when a flyer declaring open season on Blacks appeared in a Couzens lounge. A week lat- er, the campus radio station WJJX aired a phone call containing several racist jokes. BAM Ill ' s well-publicized demands included a $5 million, five-year initiative to increase Black enrollment above its current level of just over five percent. Shapiro said last spring that the Uni- versity should try to enroll 12% Blacks, which is the percentage of Blacks living in Michigan. By Michael A. Bennett EFFORTS TO SHUT the Fleming Building down failed! when workers entered through the: steam tunnels. I THE RALLY on the Union steps was one of the emotional high points of BAM III. BAM III 27

Page 30 text:

BAM ACTIVISTS targetted thei fi : Union (right) during their first da) of protests. LAST SPRING ' S PROTESTS were the third in a string of BAM strikes since 1970. oV T B BAM Ill ' s Demands Cease all publications which use a lower case b when referring to Blacks. A $5 million, five-year initiative to improve recruiting and retention of Blacks. 4 An endowment of $ 1 50,000 for the Monroe Trotter House. Tenure for all Black faculty as well as an increase of Black faculty and speedier tenure processes for Blacks. A racial harassment clause in U-M ' s rules and regula- tions. ; BAM PARTICIPANTS picketed the Union carrying pictures of Malcolm X. 26 4 BAM III

Page 32 text:

Activism is Back Who says students don ' t care? A or years, it has k been written qt yb that college stu- dents don ' t care about the world around them. The evidence at the University of Michi- gan over the past year doesn ' t necessarily support this premise. One of the most dramatic examples of recent activism on campus are the shanties on the Diag. Erected a year apart from each other, the shanties are meant to call attention to apartheid until that South African system of racial separ- atism ends. It was student pressure that made the regents wthdraw 90% of U-M ' s mon- ey invested in South Africa two years ago. Related to South Africa were the student protests about racism last spring (see pages 26-27). Students in the United Coalition Against Racism (UCAR) issued a list of 12 demands last spring for the University to meet to im- prove the racial climate. These demands included fi- nancial aid plans for minority students, a mandatory work- shop on racism and diversity for all students, and the grant- ing of an honorary degree to imprisoned South African Black leader Nelson Mandela. The BAM III boycott against the Union and the Fleming Building echoed the UCAR demands. Gay rights groups joined the act around this time, naming a Blue Jeans Day where supporters of gay rights at U-M were supposed to wear blue jeans. Mandela did receive his de- gree at commencement last spring, ending a two-year bat- tle between supporters of the degree and the regents. How- ever, the presence of CBS re- porter Mike Wallace at gradu- ation touched off another storm. Many students turned their backs on Wallace as he spoke because of some alleg- edly racist remarks Wallace had made in the past. Shortly before graduation, local residents protested rape and called for more equal rights for women during the annual Take Back the Night Rally. Hundreds of women marched around the campus shouting slogans. Student protests about campus safety led to the installation of emergency phones around campus and the formation of Safewalk, in which student volunteers offer escorted walks every night. By Michael A. Bennett THE SHANTIES on the Diag have become fixtures; the first one has been up for two years. JANK ESSELSTYN (far right) marches with the crowd during the Take Back the Night rally last spring. 28 ACTIVISM