President Mary Sue Coleman released a statement last week underscoring the university community’s support for Michigan Student Assembly President Chris Armstrong.
Armstrong, who was elected by the student body in the spring, has been targeted by an individual “in a reprehensible manner” because of his sexual orientation.
Coleman said that to protect Armstrong and others, the university has prohibited the individual from coming onto the Ann Arbor campus. In addition, the university has called upon “others in positions of authority” to take all appropriate action.
“As a community, we must not and will not accept displays of intolerance,” Coleman said. “We are heartened, but not surprised, by the response of the campus community in supporting Chris. We are impressed with his resiliency and stand by him and the important work he is doing on behalf of all of our students.”
In addition, two senior U-M administrators wrote in a viewpoint piece in the Michigan Daily Friday that the campus reaction to this situation “has been exactly what we would expect from the ‘leaders and best.’”
“Freedom of speech and expression do not include behaviors that target, harass, threaten or defame others. As a campus community we must continue to ‘Stand Up, Step In and Speak Out’ against the repeated vitriolic attacks on any one of us,” stated the essay written by Vice President for Student Affairs E. Royster Harper and Laura Blake Jones, associate vice president and dean of students.
To read Coleman’s full statement go to www.vpcomm.umich.edu/pa/key/msastatements.html.
