The announcement of a $1.5 million gift to Eastern Michigan University highlighted the Board of Regents meeting Tuesday in 201 Welch Hall.
Timothy Dyer, alumnus and regent at EMU, pledged the gift to establish the Dr. Timothy J. Dyer Distinguished Interdisciplinary Chair in Forensics/Debate and Human Rights.
“Hate grows out of ignorance, and the best way to combat this ignorance is through educational enlightenment,” Dyer said.
The new position would be in charge of the creation of the Center for the Study and Research of Equality and Human Rights in the College of Arts and Sciences. The center will have ties to the communications department, media and theatre arts department, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center along with other programs.
Dyer said he chose EMU for a number of reasons, including his history with EMU as an undergraduate and graduate student.
He also has ties to the area, graduating from Ypsilanti High School and serving as mayor of Ypsilanti from 1968 to 1970. EMU’s record in forensics and debate and its willingness to take on issues of hate and inequality ultimately persuaded Dyer to come forward with his gift.
“Eastern has a remarkable record, and has had great success with the debate and forensics program,” Dyer said.
Dyer went on to point out the 167 individual championships and nine team championships the program has won over the last 30 years.
Dyer had sponsored two campus-wide events prior to the announcement of the gifts: a lecture given by Eric Alva in April 2010 on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and a panel discussion on “Race and Sexuality” that will take place Tuesday.
Susan Martin, president of EMU, commented on what the gift might mean to EMU in the future of the new center.
“We feature our donors and hope to ignite other alumni who value living and co-operating with others,” Martin said.
“Today is the first time it has gone public, the campaign starts here,” Dyer said.
The fund, which is set up in Dyer’s parents’ names, is set to be released upon Dyer’s death.
Prior to the announcement of the gift by Dyer, Dr. Mahmud Rahman, professor of accounting and finance at EMU, and Dr. Susan Moeller, president of the American Association of University Professors at EMU, gave a speech to the board supporting the University Faculty Senate’s call for a greater voice in developing the budget.
Rahman first addressed the board and explained how he felt faculty input on the budget had been marginalized.
“When our common destiny is at stake we should be working together,” Rahman said. He went on to explain greater cooperation could “let us go to greater heights and better places than we have ever been.”
Moeller pointed out certain areas of the faculty contract the AAUP believes directly addresses faculty input in the budgeting process, and provided eight examples where she felt the university fell short of this obligation.
Some of these concerns were the administration setting tuition and fees without faculty input, department heads hiring new faculty without existing faculty input and a lack of explanation for why faculty input is sometimes ignored.
“My goal today is to make sure that you as board members understand contractually what faculty input is at this university and what it is not,” Moeller said.
President Martin said during her speech to the board that the budget council will hold its first meeting Tuesday.
“Budget Council participants have been provided with a work plan/timeline that will result in UBC budget input being developed earlier to be considered in the overall university budget planning process,” Martin said.
Following the meeting, Martin said this work plan, which she described as a template for the budget development process, would be shared with the faculty members and would provide for better input into the process.
“We are hoping to get feedback, and look forward to their input,” Martin said.
When contacted on Wednesday, Moeller said she had not seen anything from the budget council and remained hopeful the AAUP would soon receive the documents from the administration.
“We’re glad she’s [Martin] looking forward to our input, but we haven’t seen any template,” Moeller said.
Other issues raised during the meeting were EMU’s request for a 5 percent increase in state aid to help maintain tuition costs and help cover investments in faculty, facilities and financial aid.
The administration pointed to its 3.8 percent and 0 percent increases in tuition in 2009-10 and 2010-11 respectively as being the lowest among Michigan’s 15 public universities.
Martin stressed the 5 percent increase as important to the state as a whole.
“Nearly 90 percent of our students are from Michigan and 80 percent remain here after graduation,” Martin said. “An investment in Eastern Michigan is an investment in Michigan.”
Martin then addressed the renovations to Strong Hall, pointing out the estimated cost of $38 million, with $9.5 million funded by EMU and the rest coming from the state.
Also at the meeting, the 2010 recipients of the Presidential Scholars Award were honored.
The Presidential Scholars Award is a scholarship given to first-year students. The awards, valued at $64,000 apiece, provide a full-ride scholarship to 14 students.
This year’s recipients were Amanda Heise of Adrian, Mich.; Kendra Jones of Aurora, Colo.; John Jordan of Cincinnati, Ohio; Ashley Kerby of St. John’s, Mich.; Tori Klitz of St. Clair, Mich.; Kara Marsac of Clarkston, Mich.; Andre Moses of Canton, Mich.; Jessica Northrup of Mason, Mich.; Adomas Rauckis of Imlay City, Mich.; Rachel Ruth of Metaora, Ohio; Luisa Scavo of St. Clair Shores, Mich.; Patrick Seick of Middletown, Ohio; and Michael Still of Redford, Mich.
The Presidential Scholars Award will be given to 16 students next year, with judging taking place in December.
