{"id":2488,"date":"2025-08-28T07:49:04","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T07:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/08\/28\/rep-rashida-tlaib-holds-press-conference-outside-ruthven\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T07:49:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T07:49:06","slug":"rep-rashida-tlaib-holds-press-conference-outside-ruthven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/08\/28\/rep-rashida-tlaib-holds-press-conference-outside-ruthven\/","title":{"rendered":"Rep. Rashida Tlaib holds press conference outside Ruthven"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>About 100 community members gathered outside the Alexander G. Ruthven Administration Building Wednesday afternoon, where U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., who represents Michigan\u2019s 12th Congressional District, joined organizers calling on the University of Michigan to<a href=\"https:\/\/tahrirumich.org\/research\/endowment-guide\"> divest<\/a> its<a href=\"https:\/\/record.umich.edu\/articles\/endowment-101-facts-about-u-ms-17-9b-endowment\/\"> endowment<\/a> from companies tied to the Israeli government and to stop what speakers described as administrative repression of pro-Palestinian speech.<\/p>\n<p>The noon press conference, titled \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DNyxI7W2h_z\/\">United Against Genocide, United Against Repression<\/a>,\u201d followed<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/administration\/pro-palestine-activists-hold-walk-out-demonstration-protest-university-response-to-calls-for-divestment-ice-presence\/\"> months<\/a> of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/administration\/opro-palestine-protest-on-commencement-eve-met-with-police-force\/\"> demonstrations<\/a> over the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/topics\/c2vdnvdg6xxt\"> ongoing Israeli military campaign in Gaza<\/a>, including a weeks-long<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/administration\/we-will-not-stop-until-we-get-full-divestment-umich-student-protesters-camp-out-on-diag-for-divestment\/\"> encampment<\/a> in the spring of 2024 and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/news-briefs\/umich-suspends-students-from-campus-jobs-for-participating-in-may-3-pro-palestine-protest\/\"> subsequent<\/a> disciplinary and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/news-briefs\/michigan-attorney-general-charges-three-pro-palestine-protesters-for-festifall-die-in\/\"> legal<\/a> proceedings, which were<a href=\"https:\/\/www.freep.com\/story\/news\/local\/michigan\/2025\/05\/05\/michigan-attorney-general-dana-nessel-drops-all-charges-university-michigan-diag-protesters\/83452242007\/\"> dropped<\/a> in May. Regents have previously<a href=\"https:\/\/record.umich.edu\/articles\/regents-decline-to-divest-from-companies-linked-to-israel\/\"> said<\/a> the University does not take institutional positions on political matters, including<a href=\"https:\/\/publicaffairs.vpcomm.umich.edu\/key-issues\/divestment\/\"> divestment<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Stephen Ward, associate professor of Afroamerican and African Studies, served as the emcee for the event and introduced a lineup of speakers, including students, union leaders and recent alumni facing disciplinary charges related to various demonstrations over the past three years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Before the start of the event, Social Work student Mallery Bee said in an interview with The Michigan Daily she feels the University\u2019s recent stances on divestment reflect a broader trend of authoritarian politics in the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cI think we need to be getting loud about the rise of local fascism and the investment of our places of education in that fascism,\u201d Bee said. \u201cI think no one should be funding genocide, but least of all places that are supposed to educate and protect us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A statement from a former<a href=\"https:\/\/oscr.umich.edu\/\"> Office of Student Conflict Resolution<\/a> student staffer \u2014 identified only as \u201cAriana\u201d \u2014 was read aloud by<a href=\"https:\/\/www.geo3550.org\/\"> Graduate Employees\u2019 Organization<\/a> President Hiab Teshome, who framed the statement as a resignation-style rebuke of OSCR\u2019s tactics. Ariana\u2019s critique follows <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/administration\/oscr-charges-against-11-student-activists\/\">reports<\/a> that the University\u2019s OSCR office was under heightened scrutiny for filing a new round of formal complaints against 11 protesters stemming from demonstrations since 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI sincerely believed in the office\u2019s abilities in restorative justice practices for the betterment of the campus,\u201d the statement read. \u201cIt quickly became clear that OSAR had more interests in exerting power over students and bending the need to the University of Michigan Board of Regents.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>U-M alum Eaman Ali who was charged and found responsible by OSCR for violating the<a href=\"https:\/\/oscr.umich.edu\/statement\"> Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities<\/a> at two protests, also spoke to the attendees, saying he felt the University unfairly portrayed students as violent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey accuse us of community harm and violence despite the (University) police being the one who immediately pepper sprayed and brutalized (us),\u201d Ali said. \u201cSomewhere along the way, the University thought they could convince us that protesting against genocide is violence, but investing in a genocide is not.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>Michael Mueller, a recent doctoral alum and one of 11 students <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freep.com\/story\/news\/local\/michigan\/2024\/09\/12\/pro-palestinian-protesters-university-of-michigan-charges\/75189121007\/\">charged<\/a> by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel in relation to various demonstrations,\u00a0 spoke from a distance after being restricted from stepping onto University property under his disciplinary sanctions. To allow him to address the crowd, demonstrators shifted toward the public sidewalk and passed him the megaphone. Mueller noted that while state prosecutors dismissed criminal charges tied to the encampment, disciplinary proceedings through OSCR remain ongoing.<\/p>\n<p>Nia Hall, the vice president of GEO, directly accused the administration and Regents of attempting to stop dissent on campus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRight now, at (the University), students, staff, faculty and community members are being charged, banned for protesting, for demanding that our tuition dollars and labors not be invested in genocide,\u201d Hall said. \u201cThis repression does not come from an abstract force. It comes directly from our administration and our Regents, masquerading as a champion of our learning, deploying every insidious tactic they can to crush dissent.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When Tlaib took the microphone, she invoked Constitutional rights and the University\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/specials.michigandaily.com\/2025\/historical-protest-movements\/\"> history<\/a> of student activism to buttress calls for institutional change. Meanwhile, on the sidewalk, a passerby shouted \u201cgo home,\u201d to which protesters answered with chants of \u201cfree, free Palestine.\u201d Members of a volunteer organization<a href=\"https:\/\/www.metapeaceteam.org\/\"> Meta Peace Team<\/a> stood behind Tlaib during her remarks to help monitor safety.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t have to be an attorney to know this, just so you\u2019re clear,\u201d Tlaib said. \u201cConstitutional rights of your students, of faculty, of alumni, do not end when they come on campus. I could not believe an alum had to stand on the public sidewalk to be able to participate in the press conference.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>She also reminded the audience of past student victories at the University.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStudents\u2019 antiwar movements were birthed on this campus,\u201d Tlaib said. \u201cStudents organized and won major racial justice reform at this school because they have been forced to do it, and the University even celebrated the history of divesting from fossil fuels and from apartheid South Africa,. his is the University that is charging you now, but there\u2019s a massive exception, of course, when it comes to defending Palestinian life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tlaib then answered questions from the attendees. When asked why she had come to Ann Arbor, Tlaib said she was moved by students, many of them her former interns, who told her they felt isolated.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s the first week of school, and when I talk to some of the students, they brought tears to my eyes,\u201d Tlaib said. \u201cThey said, \u2018We\u2019re alone here\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When asked about sentiment in Washington, Tlaib said pressure to stop policies that contribute to civilian suffering was growing across districts and party lines.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-4    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re being pushed in their districts, in their communities, both Republican and Democrats, to stop the starvation to end the genocide, so I know it\u2019s growing,\u201d Tlaib said. \u201cI mean we got farmers asking Republican colleagues, \u2018Why are you supporting the genocide?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Near the event\u2019s close, Tlaib and roughly five students briefly entered Ruthven at about 1:15 p.m. to deliver a request for a meeting with University leadership; they returned at roughly 1:30 p.m. and told attendees they hoped administrators would agree to a time to talk.<\/p>\n<p><em>Daily News Editor Emma Spring can be reached at sprinemm@umich.edu<\/em>.<\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About 100 community members gathered outside the Alexander G. Ruthven Administration Building Wednesday afternoon, where U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., who represents Michigan\u2019s 12th Congressional District, joined organizers calling on the University of Michigan to divest its endowment from companies tied to the Israeli government and to stop what speakers described as administrative repression of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2489,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[637,644,2690,2688,2687,2691,2689],"class_list":{"0":"post-2488","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-conference","9":"tag-holds","10":"tag-press","11":"tag-rashida","12":"tag-rep","13":"tag-ruthven","14":"tag-tlaib"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2488"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2490,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2488\/revisions\/2490"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}