The University of Michigan will be extending its Go Blue Guarantee to in-state students on its Flint and Dearborn campuses beginning fall semester. It guarantees free tuition to Michigan residents from families with less than $65,000 in income and less than $55,000 in assets.
Regent Mark Bernstein was one of the regents who lauded the decision.
"Three years ago, this board made a promise to the students of Michigan, that if you show outstanding academic achievement in high school, you can attend our Ann Arbor campus no matter your family's financial resources. Today, we take that promise one huge step further,” Berstein said.
Unlike U of M’s Ann Arbor campus, Flint and Dearborn students will be required to have a high school GPA of 3.5 to qualify.
Many public commenters were pleased with the decision to extend the guarantee, but were unhappy with the GPA requirement.
Kiersten Herold, president of the U of M Lecturers' Employee Organization or LEO, recognized the efforts of One University to achieve the extension.
"We are proud of the tireless advocacy from our members, the One University campaign, students, and the community in order to achieve this victory. But while this is a terrific step , we are disappointed in the 3.5 GPA requirement of high school graduates in order to receive this scholarship—a requirement not present in the Ann Arbor Go Blue Guarantee, and one that will prevent students from underfunded high schools to attend these campuses,” she said.
Another person who says he’s a survivor of abuse perpetrated by the late Dr. Robert Anderson came forward during the public comment portion of the meeting as well.
John Clubb is a pilot who was working at Willow Run in the 1980s. He says he was abused during a medical exam he was required to get as a part of FAA regulations.
Clubb says the university wrote survivors “a bounced check,” and said U of M needed to hold its employees accountable.
"I'm here for those who are no longer with us, because their shame won. It's my goal that no one ever again sees no hope in fighting for who they were always meant to be, before our innocence and light were taken from us from those who wanted to give us their shame,” Clubb said.
Regent Denise Illitch thanked Clubb for his service in the Marine Corps, and Regent Jordan Acker thanked Clubb for his bravery in sharing his story. No other regents commented on abuse perpetrated by Anderson, and no mention was made of football coach Bo Schembechler, or his son Matt, who has recently claimed that the legendary coach knew about and enabled Anderson’s abuse.
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