Alumni for A/PIA Studies

[Alumni for A/PIA Studies]

Update on Kurashige and Lawsin v. University of Michigan

On December 2, the lawsuit brought forth by Professors Scott Kurashige and Emily Lawsin went to trial.  After several weeks of arguments and cross-examination, we are now awaiting the final verdict to be delivered by the jury. We share a direct update from the students who have been closely monitoring the court proceedings below. Please stay tuned for updates on the lawsuit.

A Message from University of Michigan A/PIA Student Activists:

After closing arguments on Wednesday, the jury will resume at 8:30AM on Friday to continue deliberating whether the University is guilty of multiple counts of misconduct regarding discrimination against Emily Lawsin and Scott Kurashige. The #UmichIsComplicit campaign would like to take this waiting period to thank every single student, community member, and alumni that has contributed to a powerful presence in court, on social media, in the news, at events, and many other countless measures to support Professor Lawsin and Professor Kurashige. The impact of student pressure on the University during this case was evident, which is a small win that we should celebrate.

Overall, the University’s closing arguments were filled with false statements that held no water and only served to propagate white supremacy and ableism:  stating that the University adhering to the disability act is them being “generous,” and alleging that there was absolutely no discrimination at all - citing that it is not possible for people in American Culture to be discriminatory or racist because their work is “fighting for minorities and their plights.” 

Further, University lawyers used some of their limited time to attempt to discredit student advocates who have been involved in these A/PIA Studies “personnel affairs,” which is fallacious when most of this campaign’s organizers are enrolled in A/PIA Studies, hold Asian American identities, and/ or are our allies. The A/PIA Studies program’s existence and growth has been and is in direct tandem to Asian American and Pacific Islander student activism, so discrediting student advocates in A/PIA Studies personnel affairs is a fallacious attack that displays a lack of understanding on how to support our program. Student activism founded HolidAPA, created the minor, has led to most every faculty expansion, including the present push for ethnic studies sub majors - though much of this work has been claimed by the University. The University’s attempt at erasure and to discredit student activism organized around A/PIA studies is not only fallacious, but also indicative of the Administration’s hypocrisy. If the students that have taken classes and minored in A/PIA Studies do not have a stake in discrimination regarding faculty that have taught and mentored individuals in the program, then the vast presence of faculty in court is completely unwarranted. 

Yesterday, high ranking faculty, from former and current  American Culture chair Gregory Dowd and Film, Television, & Media chair Yeidy Rivero, sat in the courtroom stands while laughing out loud to each other as our lawyer was detailing the emotional and financial damages regarding Professor Lawsin, according to multiple student accounts. From the chair of the American Culture department that houses the A/PIA Studies program, to the chair for the Film department that neither Professor Lawsin nor Professor Kurashige are affiliated to, this Administrative faculty’s exhibition of this racially charged behavior in front of A/PIA Studies students is inappropriate, especially when the University lawyers invalidate student advocates. We have been watching those who have been fighting against us and this case, and we will not forget.  It is an expectation of Asian American and Pacific Islander submission to think that we would not have merit in resisting these strong, widespread institutional forces that are working against us. 

The University’s contradictory strategies to manipulate A/PIA Studies were uncovered through their lawyers’ closing arguments today, which would not have been possible without the willingness of students to support this campaign for years, including now through the time of classes ending and finals. Instead of wondering why students were pushed to act, the University attempted to submit our own statements and social media posts into evidence, arguing that we were being puppeteered by Professors Lawsin and Kurashige. We have been strong advocates because Professors Emily Lawsin and Scott Kurashige are undoubtedly fighting for students, despite the accusations and arguments from the University. It is the University that is hurting students, specifically A/PIA Studies students, through this process. And as we have discovered from the depositions, students are being hurt throughout our campus at the actions and inactions of our administration. We must be prioritized, and we must continue to stand in solidarity and fight alongside faculty who fight for us. The verdict is no longer in our hands, but regardless of the result, we celebrate the education and passion that has resulted from student activism, and we look forward to continuing to work together against a University that is against us: and in support of those in our community.

[Alumni for A/PIA Studies]

michigandaily.com

A/PIA community talks discrimination, upcoming lawsuit

University of Michigan students, faculty and community members discussed discrimination and “sham” investigations at the “UM: Corruption, Complicity, Coverups” town hall in Weill Hall Sunday night. The event was hosted by UMich is Complicit: a movement dedicated to combating discriminatory hiring practices and sexual misconduct policies at the University.

[Alumni for A/PIA Studies]

University of Michigan continues pattern of rewarding faculty and staff who have been charged with discrimination

The University of Michigan Regents recently approved the surprise appointment of Anne Curzan to be the head dean of LSA (Effective Sept. 1, 2019). Curzan had previously been Associate Dean for Humanities in LSA where she oversaw American Culture (AC). She also oversaw Professor Emily Lawsin’s failed lecturer review (because the associate dean of Social Sciences was from Women’s Studies and had to recuse herself). Curzan played a central role in the improper appointment of John Kuwada to be A/PIA Studies director, covered up the violations of bylaws in his appointment, told the faculty on LSA’s executive committee to ignore Emily Lawsin’s legitimate complaint because she had a lawsuit against UM, then admitted in a smoking gun email that she was abusing attorney-client privilege to cover-up the cover-up.

All this makes Curzan’s appointment, which is scheduled to take effect on September 1st, incredibly controversial and improper. Additionally, when LSA promoted Curzan to be head Dean, they moved the chair of American Culture (Alexandra Stern) into Curzan’s former position as Associate Dean for Humanities (the first time anyone from AC has held this position, so it is not a coincidence), and they brought back Gregory Dowd (who removed Scott Kurashige as director of A/PIA Studies) to be interim chair of AC. Such actions suggest that U-M only trusts white people who have been charged with discrimination to be in leadership positions.

The following summarizes information related to Curzan’s misconduct in the public record:

[Alumni for A/PIA Studies]

Why Did the University of Michigan Hire and Promote a Title IX and Civil Rights Investigator with a Checkered Past?

Through an explosive civil rights lawsuit, award-winning professors Scott Kurashige and Emily Lawsin argue that newly released documents expose systematic misconduct by high-level administrators at the University of Michigan. Based on unprecedented findings through discovery, the plaintiffs argue that UM’s procedures for investigating and remedying racial discrimination, sexual assault, and other protected class interests are not only ineffective but actually function to undermine complaints and enable retaliation against complainants.

 In 2017, UM claimed Pamela Heatlie was the “top candidate after a national search” for the university’s Title IX Coordinator and Senior Director of the Office for Institutional Equity (OIE). Heatlie’s promotion to this position occurred despite numerous complaints about investigations being raised during her previous 12 years with OIE. Amid a slew of growing Title IX and civil rights controversies, Heatlie stepped down as the head of OIE in October 2018 with no public announcement by the UM administration.

Bombshell #2: UM Knew of Major Scandal Linked to Heatlie’s Prior Employment

Prior to being hired by UM, Heatlie had been a central figure in a national scandal reported by the New York Times, Washington Post, and many others. In 2000, the Attorney General of Vermont did a formal investigation into rampant hazing by the University of Vermont’s hockey team. As the UVM’s attorney with

[Alumni for A/PIA Studies]

Bombshells and Smoking Guns: The Mueller Report of Academia

Through an explosive civil rights lawsuit, award-winning professors Scott Kurashige and Emily Lawsin argue that newly released documents expose systematic misconduct by high-level administrators at the University of Michigan.

Based on unprecedented findings through discovery, the plaintiffs argue that UM’s procedures for investigating and remedying racial discrimination, sexual assault, and other protected class interests are not only ineffective but actually function to undermine complaints and enable retaliation against complainants. While surveys indicate over 3,000 students are sexually assaulted each year at UM, the latest annual Title IX report revealed the university conducted only twenty investigations for all forms of sexual misconduct and failed to substantiate any sexual assault violations.

Bombshell #1: 

Under cross-examination, UM’s former Title IX coordinator, Anthony Walesby, admitted that information obtained from rape survivors through ostensibly “neutral” Title IX investigations could as a matter of course be shared with the UM attorneys, knowing that such information could be used against survivors in a civil court case. All this would be done without the knowledge or consent of the survivors.

[Alumni for A/PIA Studies]

Alumni Voices: An Open Letter to the University of Michigan Leadership

By Veronica Garcia, MA, LCSW University of Michigan, Class of 2010 Oakland, CA

Emily Lawsin was my first meaningful connection as a transplant to Ann Arbor from southern California. She introduced me to other student activists and community organizers and provided a refuge from the hostile racial climate of the university. I have benefited from her generosity of spirit, fierce commitment to community and social justice, creativity, and intellect in profound ways. 

2008 photo of the A/PIA Heritage Month Board, including A/PIA Studies Minors Veronica Garcia (second from right) and Aisa Villarosa (second from left)

Through Emily, I had the opportunity to mentor Filipino youth in Detroit, develop closer relationships with my own family though training and practice in oral history taking, and sharpen my community organizing skills. My experience as an A/PIA Studies minor was formative to my personal growth and intellectual development, ultimately providing me with a strong foundation in critical analysis and community organizing that I still hold today as a social worker and psychotherapist in the Bay Area. My relationship with Emily continued after graduation; while I was a graduate student at UC Berkeley, she and her partner, Scott Kurashige (whose treatment by the University was similarly disturbing and unjust) supported my organizing of a landmark meeting between the late Grace Lee Boggs and Angela Davis. Over 1,500 people flocked to the UC Berkeley campus (and thousands more streamed the event online) to learn about revolution from two of the movements most influential leaders. Emily and Scott’s dogged commitment to praxis and social justice have inspired students and awakened activism in people far beyond Ann Arbor. 

Emily and her colleagues in A/PIA Studies provided a protective and nurturing space from which I could learn and grow despite the psychological toll of daily microaggessions and occasions of outright racism and misogyny from LSA faculty and other students. Emily’s firing and the systematic dismantling of A/PIA Studies has robbed future generations of Michigan students of their right to a generative and supportive education. As an alumni, I hope that the University will take seriously its commitment to social justice, equity, and inclusion by ending its harassment of Emily Lawsin and support meaningful efforts to re-establish Michigan A/PIA Studies as a nationally renowned academic and community-based program. 

Written by Veronica Garcia, MA, LCSW University of Michigan, Class of 2010 Oakland, CA

[Alumni for A/PIA Studies]

A/PIA community rallies after Lawsin contract renewal denied by ‘U’

“I think the pattern of discrimination and filing things on faculty of color or students of color who speak up is a growing problem that stretches back years and years,” Lawsin said. “But the University would like to cover that up.”

Read the full article at the Michigan Daily here.

The Michigan Daily is investigating other claims of racial prejudice in the American Culture department and throughout the University, including Kurashige’s experience with the administration. Look for additional articles on the topic to follow next semester.

[Alumni for A/PIA Studies]

Alumni Voices: Together, We Rise — A Letter if support for Professor Emily Lawsin

By Kan Yan, University of Michigan, Class of 2008

The first time I met Professor Emily Lawsin was in college, when she was performing for a Filipino cultural event at the University of Michigan. Despite watching the fast-paced snapping of bamboo sticks in Tinikling, or the collective nail-biting that accompanies the “pandanggo sa ilaw”, where dancers move with candles balanced on their heads, the most engaging performance of the entire show was not from a group, but instead, from a woman with boundless optimism and energy.

Professor Lawsin entranced her audience with her poetry, as she reminisced about her culture, embraced her American experience, and shouted down injustice. Through her spoken word performance, I could hear the suffering of our past, the anger at our mistreatment, and the hope that future generations would not have to endure the same hardships. I could see my own Chinese heritage resonate in the struggles of Filipinos/Filipinas in the United States– that, despite our different backgrounds, we all shared the experience of being Asian-American. It was the first time I understood that the A/PIA community either rises or falls together, and that the rights of minorities are not given, but rather, hard-fought through the struggles of generations past and the painful lessons endured by our ancestors.

Professor Lawsin’s performance was also a reminder of how easily those rights could be taken away: how, if the current generation is not taught about our history, and does not continue to fight for respect and understanding in the public consciousness, misguided and racist policies such as The Chinese Exclusion Act or Japanese internment camps can once again arise. Justice is earned, but division and discord are freely spread: it is much easier to sow hate than to find love for those different from you. The fabric of the United States is and has always been enriched by our diversity, as each successive wave of immigrants, including those from many Asian countries, enriches the American melting pot with their own contributions. Professor Lawsin’s performance was a powerful statement that, when we reject diversity or only embrace the experience of a certain ethnic or cultural group, we are denying the very identity of America itself.

Throughout the remainder of my college career, my interactions with Professor Lawsin always affirmed the importance of diversity and the criticality of understanding the cultures, customs, and history of all of the disparate groups that make our nation great. I did not pursue a career in social activism; nonetheless, I am continually reminded of the lessons I learned from her and her impact me, to this day, in the world of engineering. As a federal civil servant working in our nation’s space program, I am proud that my agency embraces and emphasizes the importance of diversity in its hiring and training. Working at the cutting edge of science and technology requires innovative ideas to address those problems that may require new inventions or processes, or to anticipate the questions that may arise years down the road based on our research path.

Every day, I observe diversity being a huge asset to the way we work: diversity in expertise and in thought process, brought forth by diversity in background and upbringing, lead to new concepts and out-of-the-box solutions. In a dynamic and changing field that requires excellence in all that we do, it allows us to continuously evolve in the way we develop our spacecraft and refine the science questions we ask. Diversity keeps us ahead as a nation. My agency’s own experience with how rewarding a diverse workforce can be is based on the tireless advocacy of social justice champions such as Professor Lawsin. It is imperative that we do not backtrack on all the gains we made: the teaching of our diverse history and our continued stance against injustice are critical steps to our collective social awareness and future as a country.

- Visit the A/PIA Tumblr Page to learn more about the struggle for diversity, fairness, and inclusion faced by Professor Lawsin and students and faculty of color

- Sign the student and alumni petition to support Professor Lawsin and the future of Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies

Written by Kan Yan

University of Michigan, Class of 2008

FASA Alumnus

Aerospace Engineer, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

[Alumni for A/PIA Studies]

From the Chronicle of Higher Education

When Accusations of Incivility Spell Doom for Faculty Members

By Katherine Mangan 

MARCH 28, 2018

Two scholars accuse the U. of Michigan at Ann Arbor of punishing them for criticizing the administration. The case highlights tensions that can arise when professors butt heads with their bosses.

When Emily P. Lawsin’s department chair admonished her to be more “collegial and constructive” in her tone, the complaint sounded familiar. The chair had accused Lawsin’s husband, Scott Kurashige, of being uncooperative and disruptive after he, too, had raised complaints about the treatment of minority scholars at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

Lawsin and Kurashige, who together helped build Michigan’s program in Asian/Pacific Islander American studies, are activist scholars who for years were thorns in the sides of university administrators.

Kurashige left for the University of Washington at Bothell four years ago, after he was effectively pushed out, he says. Lawsin was just handed a terminal contract. Both claim, in a lawsuit against the university, that Michigan administrators punished them for their frequent complaints that the university had done too little to attract and retain students and faculty members of color.

[Alumni for A/PIA Studies]

Fact-Checking UM’s National Center for Institutional Diversity Podcast ‘Myths and Legends’

We recently came across the “Myths and Legends” podcast produced by University of Michigan’s National Center for Institutional Diversity (NCID), which purports to summarize the history of Asian American Studies at the University of Michigan. Upon listening to the podcast, we found glaring errors and omissions about how Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies has evolved. This is alarming in light of the program’s current decline and gives evidence to the active promotion of falsehoods about its history.  

Alumni and current students have launched a campaign to fully restore A/PIA Studies.   

Below, we fact-check several statements expressed in the podcast.