The University of Minnesota Board of Regents discussed proposed updates to Title IX policies as Graduate Labor Union (GLU) protesters picketed outside the Board’s July 12 meeting.

The Board will take action on the proposed Title IX changes during its meeting on July 22, according to Board materials. Despite the temporary injunction placed on the University’s proposed updates, in addition to approximately 670 other institutions across the country, approval or disapproval is still expected to be considered.

At the Board meeting on July 10, Director of the Equal Opportunity & Title IX Office Tina Marisam said under the current proposed regulatory update, Union advisors are welcome to be with their union-represented individual throughout the Title IX process and have access to all evidence gathered by the Title IX office.

The proposed regulatory updates focus on compliance with Biden administration updates in time for Aug. 1 when the changes were set to be implemented, as reported by the Minnesota Daily.

Marisam also addressed questions by Regent Robyn Gulley at the July 10 meeting regarding the potential coexistence between proposed union grievance processes and Title IX changes. A union grievance process is a formal complaint under a collective bargaining agreement providing union protections to employees, according to Romano Law.

“Since I know that this is an important issue to the graduate students, is there a compromise position possible?” Gulley said at the meeting.

According to Marisam, the regulation states Title IX processes must treat both employers and employees equally, giving both parties access to grievance procedures. 

“It would just have to be configured to comply with that part of the regulations that allows both parties to have equal access to the proceedings,” Marisam said.

In a publicly released GLU statement, members said they were not satisfied.

Nearly 10 months of bargaining has not led to significant progress in creating protections for graduate students from harassment and discrimination through union grievance processes, according to the statement.

GLU’s protest on July 12 was primarily centered around the administration’s refusal to agree to non-discrimination and hostile work environment language to protect employees from bullying, verbal abuse or coercion, said Sam Boland, a GLU representative. 

Boland said GLU’s overarching goal is to build a grievance procedure through the Union that can appeal Title IX decisions. However, progress stalled as University administration has not put out a unique contract proposal since October.

“We just haven’t really been able to make any headway,” Boland said.

The University does not have a current Equal Opportunity & Title IX procedure to address non-sexual harassment and hostile working conditions, according to a document written by University Senior Labor Relations Consultant Coy Hillstead. 

The document was written in response to a March information request by the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, which is affiliated with the GLU.

Currently, GLU is working on its first contract, including a grievance procedure for Title IX complaints that would ideally coexist with Title IX updates, Boland said.

Boland is involved with negotiations around the proposed Title IX regulations and the Union’s proposed grievance process. While he said the changes to Title IX are good overall, GLU takes issue with the University’s inability to implement the Title IX office recommendations.

Boland said the new proposed Title IX regulations explicitly state changes should not prevent union employees from using a grievance procedure.

However, there are potential conflicts between the proposed Title IX and regulatory updates, Boland said. According to the policy, supervisors would need access to the grievance procedure under the proposed updates.

In an emailed statement to the Minnesota Daily, the University’s Office of Human Resources said they look forward to more productive negotiations scheduled through October and are committed to reaching an agreement bargained in good faith.

“The University values the contributions made by our Graduate Assistants to our teaching, research, and outreach missions,” the statement said. “Together, GLU-UE and the University have made significant progress on a first contract in 16 two-day bargaining sessions since September and reached 18 tentative agreements so far.”

While Boland said the University has a fairly robust non-discrimination policy and the Title IX office is a good resource, there is a concern among graduate students that enforcement of Title IX regulations is not being taken seriously.

“If there is an issue of discrimination, the University is going to treat graduate assistants like second-class employees and it’s going to bend over backward to protect faculty,” Boland said. “Even if that comes at the expense of graduate assistants.”

Boland said the case of University biochemistry, molecular biology and biophysics Professor Gianluigi Veglia is a good example of why the grievance procedure could be necessary for appealing decisions.

Veglia violated sexual harassment policies in 2017, making inappropriate comments and advances on graduate student assistants, as reported by the Minnesota Daily.

Boland said Veglia’s case was not properly addressed after claims against him were substantiated and properly investigated by the Title IX Office, as he regained clearance to advise graduate students. Veglia is still permitted to advise graduate students, Boland said.

The Title IX office recommended Veglia be dismissed from the University. This was not followed by the medical school, which instead temporarily removed his ability to advise graduate students.

“People want to be able to have another mechanism to address these kinds of decisions,” Boland said.

According to Boland, the lack of implementation of Title IX recommendations created a lack of trust in using Title IX office resources among graduate students.

The proposed GLU grievance process would be able to appeal University decisions about sexual harassment, discrimination and assault cases.

University of Minnesota President Rebecca Cunningham officially began her role on July 1, and the Board retreat on July 10-12 was her first during her presidential tenure. 

To kick off the three-day retreat, Cunningham shared her goals with the Board and observations from the hiring process. Cunningham framed “five buckets of University aspirations” during her presidency.

Strategic planning, workforce reinvestment, campus safety, marketing engagement and legislature and University relations were all listed as top priorities for the year and immediate future.

Communication engagement and marketing were clear themes of the retreat. Throughout her list of priorities, Cunningham said University sustainability efforts should be addressed as a louder selling point, in addition to University research priorities with AI.

Cunningham said she is considering a new study on the University’s economic impact on the state of Minnesota to replace an older study from 2018 that said the economic impact was approximately $8.6 billion.

“Our government relations colleagues care a lot about our economic impact across our state,” Cunningham said.

Cunningham also said she discussed with campus leaders about the path forward for balancing academic freedom and safety on campus.

“Every leader across the country needs to be doing planning for how we actively manage unrest in a way that keeps our community safe,” Cunningham said.

Cunningham said many of her colleagues across the Big Ten have active plans already out for how they will manage their campuses in the fall.

“Two weeks ago we had a vote of no confidence for our administration,” Cunningham said. “Therefore, part of my work going forward is to rebuild that trust and academic freedom across the campus.”

Shared understanding across the University community on academic freedom is going to be a key objective moving forward, Cunningham said.

Quick Hits

• The Board discussed a variety of potential objectives for the next MPact plan and the future direction of the University and its communication strategy.
• The University’s Executive Director of Government and Community Relations Melisa López Franzen gave a presentation updating University progress with the legislature to the Board as state support for the University continues its downward trend.
• Cunningham spoke about the critical importance of M-Fairview and discussed its assets and University Health Systems.
• The Board listened to a presentation from Julie Peterson of the Peterson Rudgers Group on University strategic planning, focusing on analysis of other universities’ plans.

The University of Minnesota Board of Regents approved a proposal by Twin Cities Intercollegiate Athletics to sell canned cocktails at Gopher sports games in the Twin Cities at their meeting Wednesday.

The Board also reviewed an endowment using donations for the Eastcliff property and officially paused the search for a Director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. The Board also discussed a possible neutral stance regarding the University’s consolidated endowment fund and potential changes to Title IX regulations. 

Gopher Athletics

Within the next academic year, canned cocktails will be sold in concessions and premium areas at Huntington Bank Stadium, Williams Arena, Maturi Pavilion and Mariucci Arena. By the 2025-26 academic year, there will be bottle service in suites and full-service bars in premium areas. By 2026-27, spirits, wine and beer will be sold in the stands and bleachers of Huntington Bank Stadium.

Athletics Director Mark Coyle and Senior Advisor to the President Jon Steadland presented the proposal, which will be implemented in three phases over the next three academic years.

Coyle also presented an update for Gopher Athletics spending, which covered Big Ten updates and the FY24 athletics budget. The Big Ten will expand from 14 schools to 18 on Aug. 2.

A lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletics Association is pending judicial approval, Coyle said. The settlement addresses an approximately $2.7 billion back payment to uncompensated student-athletes anticipated in fall 2025.

Coyle said his team is prepared to adapt to potential adjustments from the lawsuit. He added the Southeastern Football Conference is expected to bring in added revenues in FY27.

“It’s no doubt that there’s going to be some financial pressures as we try to navigate the new chapter of college athletics,” Coyle said. “And we’ll have to take a hard look at all of our sports and what we provide our student-athletes.”

Gopher athletics salaries and fringe expenses were $7.4 million less than the Big Ten average for 2023, and ranked 10 out of 14 in the organization, according to the presentation. FY25 budgeted approximately $147 million in revenue and roughly $150 million in expenses.

Eastcliff

The Board unanimously approved a policy presented by Regent Mary Davenport, chair of the Eastcliff property task force, to use private donations to fund improvements at the property.

Eastcliff has been the official home of the University president for more than 60 years and is also an event space used for students, faculty, alumni and guests.

The initial policy recommendation in 2022 suggested maintaining Eastcliff using University funds is not central to the University’s mission.

A study completed by the University of Minnesota Foundation (UMF) determined there was sufficient philanthropic support for the Eastcliff property, according to Davenport. 

The University will provide support through a presidential housing allowance and the salary portion necessary for workers to maintain the property.

This new policy retains the Eastcliff property and will use philanthropic donations over the next five years in collaboration with UMF to create a permanent endowment fund for capital expenses in the 10-year plan. $4.5 million will be needed over the next five years for the new operating endowment fund.

The University will complete the 10-year capital improvement plan projects for the Eastcliff property upfront for approximately $6 million, Davenport said. The University will be reimbursed with philanthropic funds as they are raised.

If funds are not sufficiently raised in five years, the Board can determine whether retaining Eastcliff is in the University’s interest.

“I’ve heard from many individuals about the special place that visits to Eastcliff hold in their memories, many individuals,” Davenport said. “And I thank voices for their input, lessons in history, some are quite fascinating, and many expressions of support.”

Title IX Updates

Title IX coordinator Tina Marisam and Senior Associate General Counsel Carrie Ryan Gallia presented potential changes to 2020 Title IX policies consistent with federal policy. Policy changes will be presented to the Board for approval on July 22.

Title IX is a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education. The Biden administration issued final regulations on April 19, and changes must be implemented by Aug. 1, according to presentation materials.

The 2024 proposed regulations expand on what warrants an institutional response to sexual misconduct, Marisam said. The new proposed policy expands to all forms of sex discrimination, including sex-based harassment, differential treatment sex discrimination, sexual misconduct and sex discrimination retaliation.

The 2020 regulations required a live hearing in all sexual harassment, assault, stalking and relationship violence cases, according to presentation materials. The new proposed regulations will allow an investigator to decide on the necessity of a live hearing pending completion of other requirements.

The new regulations will expand employee reporting requirements to all forms of sex discrimination, according to presentation materials. Additionally, if employees are told about a student pregnancy or related conditions, they must inform students about available Title IX resources.

The new proposed regulations will also set new requirements for the privacy of involved parties, according to presentation materials.

Quick Hits

• The Board discussed the possibility of adopting a position of neutrality with the consolidated endowment fund.

• The Board officially approved a pause in the hiring process for a Director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

• University President Rebecca Cunningham gave her first presidential report to the Board.

• University of Minnesota – Duluth Interim Chancellor David McMillan was thanked for his service at the University as he leaves the position.

• It is the 120th anniversary of the University of Minnesota Alumni Association, which provided $3.6 million to the University in FY24.

University of Minnesota Board of Regents Chair Janie Mayeron brought forward a potential policy adopting “institutional neutrality” regarding the University’s consolidated endowment fund Wednesday.

The potential policy would set a precedent that the University will not make investment decisions on social and political matters outside of the University’s control, Mayeron said. Board policy currently uses an environmental, social & governance (ESG) framework for investing to align with the University’s mission and values, which would interact with the new policy if passed.

Listening to the University community and better understanding the endowment’s function with the University’s mission are two of the most important priorities in the conversation, Mayeron said.

“We have learned that our University community is divided on the topic of divestment,” Mayeron said. “And that even if it were not, the feasibility of doing divestments in this current financial environment is complicated, and I would say nearly impossible.”

At the previous Board of Regents meeting on June 13 and 14, there was a work session where Chief Investment Officer Andrew Parks and Associate Secretary of the Office of the Board of Regents Jason Langworthy explained the University’s consolidated endowment fund and the history of divestment at the University.

The endowment is worth approximately $2.3 billion as of March 31 and uses third-party fund managers to manage 98.3% of the endowment.

The fund managers run the endowment by investing in selected companies. The funds are then used to support core University missions including research, fellowships and scholarships.

Selling certain pieces of the endowment could impact returns as it would affect holdings in a larger number of companies, Mayeron said. She added she has concerns about how endowment changes could impact costs for students and revenue streams.

According to Mayeron, after the previous work session, the Board sees divestment as largely symbolic with no meaningful impact on companies or federal and international policy.

Regents Bo Thao-Urabe and Mike Kenyanya said they had questions about how this potential new policy will impact the current ESG framework for socially responsible investment.

“If we take this position without clear frameworks for engagement it just feels like we have not truly engaged in good faith,” Thao-Urabe said.

Regent Robin Gulley said she worked on efforts to divest the University from genocide in Darfur, South Sudan when she studied at the University.

“It was one of the things I was most proud of as a student,” Gulley said.

Divestment from one university can create a domino effect, where other institutions may follow and have a real impact, Gulley said.

Gulley said taking a neutral stance is convenient, but this policy would show the Board will not listen to students when called to take a moral stance.

“I am deeply disturbed by the idea that that’s the kind of message that we want to send to our students a month after we told them that we would really consider divestment,” Gulley said.

The policy was discussed because several regents expressed their interest, Mayeron said in an interview with the Minnesota Daily.

“I think the next step is to absorb what we heard and figure out what the next step should be,” Mayeron said.

President Rebecca Cunningham said she appreciates the respect and dialogue of students on campus in their activism, but the Board also needs to consider safety and welfare on campus for the fall.

The Board has not made an official decision on the policy.

In the basement of Appleby Hall, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. Program works to provide University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts students across the Twin Cities Campus with an activism-focused community.

The University’s MLK Program has been working on campus for 55 years — since the Morrill Hall Takeover — to provide a space for Black people, Indigenous people, people of color, first-generation, LGBTQIA+ and social justice-minded students to connect in a smaller cohort within the college.

The program follows students from their first year in the freshman experience course to graduation where they receive a special cord for being in the program.

The Morrill Hall Takeover was a 1969 demonstration by 70 of the University’s Black students, who occupied Morrill Hall in protest of institutional racism at the University. The protest resulted in the creation of the Afro-American Studies Department and the MLK program.

In the 2023-24 academic year, the MLK Program consisted of approximately 44% first-generation college students and more than 70% students of color, according to a program document. The program has a higher graduation rate than CLA at 70%.

Evan Johnson, associate director of Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and departmental advisor for African American & African Studies, American Studies and the Comparative Race & Ethnicity Minor, developed the MLK Program’s curriculum and was a former academic advisor in the program.

The program serves as an advising space that connects approximately 1,250 students with advisors who have smaller caseloads and can better connect to their identities, according to Alexander Hines, the director of Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. 

Hines said helping students understand the meaning of their different identities is at the core of the program. The MLK Program is accredited by the Association for Black Cultural Centers and is the oldest in the country.

The program improved retention rates among CLA students, with 93% of first-year students returning for their second year, according to Hines. In the 2023-24 academic year, 40% of MLK students were admitted into the University’s Honors program.

Senior Academic Advisor and Departmental Advisor for the Chicano/Latino Studies Department Marisela Rodríguez-Gutiérrez is one of the academic advisors in the MLK Program.

“Our students are excellent, there’s nothing remedial about our office,” Rodríguez-Gutiérrez said.

The program includes a first-year experience course connecting program members with their peers, access to the MLK office space as a place to gather and an optional immersion trip focusing on the history of social justice initiatives nationwide. In 2023, the trip focused on the American South, bringing students together to see notable sites in civil rights history.

The program also created a dedicated living-learning community in Pioneer Hall allotting a $3,000 scholarship.

Academic Advisor Sonyna Castillo said social justice is important to the program’s legacy.

“We’re here because of student activism and that’s what we uphold,” Castillo said. 

Peer advisors are another key aspect of the program, easing students’ transition into their freshman year. MLK peer advisors are students at the University who work during orientation to help students register for classes. 

Tejiri Ogbemudje and Brianna Jackson both enrolled in the MLK Program’s first-year experience and now work as peer advisors.

“It made being at a PWI (predominantly white institution) feel a lot less like a PWI,” Jackson said.

Johnson said the first-year experience course provides many opportunities for students to share their experiences.

“It felt like more of a deeper connection because it gave us some of the tools to speak about our various identities,” Ogbemudje said.

The course mainly covers historical context in the first semester and transitions into group discussions and presentations where students can speak about their experiences and identities freely.

“There’s activism in telling your story and listening, it’s really about working towards the beloved community that the Reverend Dr. King was mentioning,” Castillo said.

Programs like the Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence (MCAE) and the President’s Emerging Scholars program (PES) also aim to serve underrepresented University communities, but approach the mission from a different angle, Johnson said. While the MLK office focuses on civil rights, MCAE and PES focus on belonging.

The current overarching goal is for the MLK Program to expand to being University-wide instead of just encompassing CLA, Hines said.

“I think we have a dynamic team of academic advisors, staff and peer advisors that are promoting the holistic support of students,” Hines said.

Changes to the Minnesota Public Employment Labor Relations Act (PELRA) allow University of Minnesota workers to form new unions, beginning July 1.

An over 2,000-page bill was passed on May 19 as the legislative session ended, including PELRA reforms, allowing new unions to be created for workers across the Twin Cities campus. 

PELRA was passed in 1980 to enable union rights. However, it did not allow students receiving work-study compensation or workers classified as fellows to be part of collective bargaining units or unions.

The new language in PELRA will not change current employees’ worker classification but will allow University employees to join unions they could not previously, according to Tracey Blasenheim, a University Labor Rights Coalition leader and political science lecturer.

Problems with the 1980 bill were caused by unions being predetermined, mandating who belonged in which unit rather than allowing for organic union formation, Blasenheim said.

The main sponsors of the legislation were Sen. Jennifer McEwen (DFL) of District 8 in St. Louis County, Rep. Sydney Jordan (DFL) of District 60A and Sen. Omar Fateh (DFL) of District 62 in Hennepin County, Blasenheim said. The bill had approximately 20 co-sponsors.

Heather Holcombe, a lecturer in the University English department and vice president of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) University of Minnesota Twin Cities chapter said she has been in conversations about working conditions for faculty at the University. The AAUP provided testimony at the legislative session for PELRA.

“The previous bargaining units no longer reflect the realities of who’s working on campus and in what jobs,” Holcombe said.

Blasenheim said some mandated units made sense, such as the University of Minnesota Teamsters, which represent public employees. Others spanned thousands of workers, making organizing virtually impossible.

“These were effectively gerrymandered, maybe not by intention, but that was the outcome,” Blasenheim said.

The new language passed will allow University workers to decide which worker groups belong in their unions, according to Blasenheim. It will also allow students receiving work-study and graduate students paid by fellowships to join unions on campus.

Holcombe said with PELRA’s passage, students can advocate for more benefits. She added the language has the potential to stabilize the teaching workforce at the University, directly contributing to the quality of education. 

“It’s about everyone on campus, which is why the reform is so exciting,” Holcombe said.

The Graduate Labor Union (GLU) under United Electrical was also lobbying for PELRA reforms, specifically focusing their efforts on representation for fellows at the University.

The GLU is currently negotiating with the University to see how University fellows can be involved, Sam Boland, a bargaining committee representative for the GLU, said.

In an email statement to the Minnesota Daily,  a University spokesperson said they agreed that reviewing the University-specific provision of PELRA was appropriate. 

“At those hearings, we asked legislators for time to engage in the type of consultation that we felt was important, nonetheless, we respect their decision to move the legislation forward,” the email statement said.

Blasenheim said the University submitted a fiscal note claiming the legislation would cause financial strain on the University.

“It provided consistent testimony that was critical of the bill and appeared to be working against its passage,” Blasenheim said.

The University chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) also provided support to the labor coalition. YDSA Communications Director Sam Lucio said it was important to give students the choice to collectively bargain.

“It seemed like they were just kind of trying to stall what was going on and kind of maybe defuse the momentum behind these reforms,” Lucio said.

Sens. Erin Maye Quade (DFL), Clare Oumou Verbeten (DFL), Jen McEwen (DFL) and House Labor Committee Chair Rep. Michael Nelson (DFL) also criticized the University’s response to the bill during the legislative session.

Lucio said it is currently unclear how new collective bargaining units and negotiations will take place. He added what happens in the future rests with University employees.

Lobbying for the rights of students with work-study, fellows and faculty has granted legislative reform, Blasenheim said. But now negotiations with the University administration and communication among workers will determine the future of unionization at the University.

University of Minnesota students will see up to a 5.5% tuition increase next year following the approved annual budget at the Board of Regents meeting on June 13.

Twin Cities campus tuition will increase by 4.5% for in-state students and 5.5% for out-of-state students. However, all five campuses’ student bodies will experience tuition increases of at least 1.5%.

This tuition change will leave Twin Cities campus in-state students with a yearly cost of approximately $18,000 in the upcoming school year, according to calculations by the Minnesota Daily. The increase is part of the $81.3 million budget initially presented at the meeting on May 9 and 10.

The budget passed with a 9-3 approval; Regents Robin Gulley, James Farnsworth and Bo Thao-Urabe did not vote to approve the budget due to tuition concerns.

“I’m really struggling with what feels to me like a significant increase for students,” Thao-Urabe said.

Regents who approved the budget said they felt this was the best solution in a tough financial year due to the lack of state support.

“We would have had a whole different conversation if they would have come through,” Regent Mary Turner said. “But they didn’t, and that’s the reality.”

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the percentage increase in the lede. Students will only see an increase of up to 5.5%. Quotes from Alice Roberts-Davis were removed for accuracy.