University of Michigan Faculty Seek Help After Asian Students Harassed
ANN ARBOR, Mich.
Several University of Michigan faculty members have asked school president Dr. Mary Sue Coleman to take action after two reported cases of ethnic intimidation against Asian students.
The professors in the Asian/Pacific Islander American studies program said the incidents “unmasked more pervasive ethnic and racial discrimination that remains undocumented,” reported the Detroit Free Press.
Coleman responded in a letter to the professors, saying she would “not tolerate actions that target or intimidate members of our community based on race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity … or other personal characteristics.”
About 13 percent of Michigan students are Asian.
Two Asian students reported that at about 11:15 p.m. on Sept. 15, a White man urinated on their arms from his apartment balcony, says Ann Arbor Police Lt. Chris Heatley. He says the man swore at the students.
The next day, Cindy Chuang, president of the school’s Taiwanese American Student Association, said she was walking with two female Asian students when two White men confronted them. She said the men told them, “You speak good English and you speak with a White accent.”
— Associated Press
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