The unremitting activist

Aria Everts

Earlier this month, LSA senior Aria Everts faced a dilemma when she was tapped to join the senior honor society Order of Angell.

Everts questioned whether she should join the group and help implement reforms from the inside out or turn down the invitation because of the group's secrecy.

She said her decision to decline the invitation shows how her outlook on reform has changed since she came to the University.

Before transferring to the University from the International Academy of Design and Technology in Chicago, Everts thought she could change the way the clothing industry does business from the inside out.

Over the past three years, Everts has been one of the most consistently active and visible members of the labor rights group Students Organizing for Labor and Economic Equality.

SOLE has earned a reputation on campus for it's often extreme demonstrations against the use of sweatshops in the manufacturing of University-licensed apparel. These include the group's "I'd rather be naked" protest and last year's sit-in at University President Mary Sue Coleman's office.

Looking back, Everts said she was na've to think she could change how business was done from within a company.

"I really don't think it's possible to work within the systems we find ourselves in," she said.

But for someone who is still banned from the Fleming Administration Building after being led away from Coleman's office in plastic handcuffs last April, Everts has also spent considerable time working with the University administration and other student groups.

She has served as a student representative on Coleman's Advisory Committee on Labor Standards and Human Rights and the Michigan Student Assembly's Peace and Justice Commission.

"Aria maintained a consistently positive and open approach, even when she did not agree with the outcomes of committee's processes," said School of Social Work Prof. Larry Root, who chaired the advisory committee.

LSA junior Blase Kearney, a fellow SOLE member, said Everts has greatly improved SOLE's relationship with other campus groups.

"They learn to associate SOLE with Aria because she's always out there," he said.

-Kelly Fraser

The subtle dignitary

Mohammad Dar

LSA senior Mohammad Dar's term as Michigan Student Assembly president came to a close yesterday. With it ends four dedicated years of MSA service, culminating in a presidency.

Yet, it wasn't supposed to have happened this way. Dar was supposed to be the quiet, hardworking vice president while Zack Yost steered the reins of the assembly as president. But Yost stepped down in December after an offensive Facebook group he had created was made public. Dar was then handed the reins.

LSA senior Nate Fink, who filled the vacant MSA vice presidency after Dar's ascension, said Dar's hardworking presence kept the assembly going in the wake of Yost's departure. A lot of people, he said, might have quit trying and just waited for the next elections. Not Dar.

"He's very dedicated and hardworking - like - the hardest working person that I know on the assembly," Fink said. "He will be seen as someone who helped to really move the assembly forward."

The tears shed at Yost's resignation could certainly mark the nadir of this year's assembly, but the tears Dar shed at a rally for more state funding for higher education in Lansing were definitely the pinnacle. Dar was one of primary organizers for the rally that sought to keep the Michigan state government from reneging on nearly $150 million owed to universities across the state - including roughly $30 million to the University of Michigan.

Before the crowd, Dar stood and delivered a speech about his father's sacrifices to help Dar get through school. Dar's father died in 2006 from cancer that Dar said would have likely been treated sooner if his father hadn't given up his health insurance to pay for Dar's education.

Dar said the first 10 times he practiced the speech he could barely finish.

"I couldn't get through it without crying every time," he said.

After the rally, the state ended up delivering the promised funds to the universities.

Around the same time, he helped found - and was then elected president of - the Statewide Student Association, a collection of Michigan's student governments.

After last week's election, Dar e-mailed all the independent candidates who weren't elected, encouraging them to stay involved. He cared. He actually did what he set out to do. In a world of politics and stagnation, Dar quietly made his mark.

-David Mekelburg

The student veteran