The University of Michigan’s Central Student Government hosted a Twitter town hall Thursday afternoon, asking students and other CSG members to submit questions to Regents Shauna Ryder Diggs (D) and Andrea Newman (R) by using the hashtag #AskARegent.
Many of the questions touched on campus concerns that have risen over the past few weeks, including racist and anti-Semitic emails, crime alerts and President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders halting immigration on several Muslim-majority countries.
Several questions pertained to tuition at the University. Currently, it costs lower-division students $7,037 for undergrad — an increase from the 2015-2016 school year’s $6,764 2014-2015’s $6,579.
Many students asked how they could further play a role in the University and connect with the Board of Regents. Last semester, many students felt the Regents lacked transparency.
CSG hosted a similar town hall last semester, with Newman and Regent Mark Bernstein (D). The student government has also taken steps to instating student voices on the board through the new Student Advisory Council. In early September, the board also voted and passed a bylaw to do so.
“That bylaw highlights the importance of student input in University decision making,” CSG President David Schafer, an LSA senior, said during the meeting. “To reiterate, let’s not view this bylaw as the final product but rather as a foundation upon which more specific efforts can be built that match the spirit of this bylaw.”
The town hall with Newman and Diggs lasted for an hour.