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12 GROUNDCOVER NEWS BACK TO SCHOOL State of the [Michigan] Union Twenty-five years removed from my last class as a student in the Mechanical Engineering program at the University of Michigan, I find myself yet again a resident of the great city of Ann Arbor. This time as writer for Groundcover News. Much like every other entitled U-M alumnus I have strong opinions about the overall state of The University of Michigan in particular, as well as the city of Ann Arbor as a whole. Having been back in the city for near to a year now, after a 22-year hiatus, I’ve had limited interactions with the current study body outside of peripheral interactions with student-athletes and their families in the course of my chronicling the tradition of continued excellence in sports. #NattyU Unlike other news sources, here at Groundcover we prefer to lead with good news. Two National Championships in the last three calendar years — in the two most popular, mostviewed sports in American leisure/ entertainment culture (basketball and football), no less — has cemented U-M as Kings of Sport throughout the entire landscape of college athletics. Psych Warde “With great power comes great responsibility”— Spider-Man On the heels of unprecedented success in collegiate athletics has come significant scandal and controversy, turmoil and turnover, with each and every triumph on the student-athlete battlefield. Fortunately, none of the aforementioned drama was derived from the exemplary student-athletes who flock to Ann Arbor’s campus halls every semester. On the contrary, it’s the adults in the room who have shown epic fails in conduct over the last four years, beginning with Michigan Football’s return to relevance alongside Jim Harbaugh realizing his potency as a Head Coach to the tune of a Big 10 Championship during the 2021-2022 season. Some of the lowlights to follow would be: 1) Coach Harbaugh receiving a notice of allegations from the NCAA suggesting recruiting violations during the COVID pandemic recruiting off period. It may very well be the case that he got in trouble for buying a prospective recruit a hamburger, but that’s neither here nor there. 2) Offensive Coordinator Matt Weiss allegedly hacking computers to steal private videos and photos from thousands of college girls across the country. 3) Connor Stallions forming a sophisticated football espionage KAHLIL MUHAMMAD Groundcover vendor No. 691 network to decipher play-call signals, and using prohibited recording to advance scout the offenses of opposing teams. 4) Sherrone Moore "knocking up the nanny." Not quite, but it sounds a little accurate than, “an inappropriate relationship with a staffer.” Even a return to form as the Leaders And Best by winning its first National Championship in basketball in nearly 40 years wasn’t enough to circumvent the ghost of controversy past from rearing its ugly head into the winners circle. After saying all the right things and recruiting another powerhouse team, Coach Dusty May dipped out on us and agreed to replace Jason Kidd as head coach of the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA. This may have been the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back as calls to rid the university of Athletic Director Warde Manuel grew to a fevered pitch. The timing of Coach May’s departure was only a matter of days before the latest investigation (labeled a "culture review") into Michigan’s Athletic Department came to a close. Almost certainly there is a direct correlation to the inability to retain championship coaches (in confluence with all the cultural turbulence in general) and the University’s decision not to retain Warde Manuel as Athletic Director moving forward. The review found that while systemic misconduct was not pervasive, there were profound weaknesses in structural organization that led to oversight and accountability gaps, as well as predictable leadership lapses. The first reporting of the review stated that AD Warde Manuel had agreed to resign at the end of this calendar year 2026. In the days to follow we were informed that he agreed to a $7 million buyout of a contract that was supposed to be in effect until June of 2030. One student-athlete, a member of the gymnastics team, whom I’ll refer to as Mary Lou, is relieved for the ‘Psych Warde’ era to be over. In her words: “This is long overdue. It’s been so hard for me as an athlete struggling with mental health. I know that they never really had to deal with this before. But, the way that they did deal with it, it was like they were looking for a quick fix, instead of taking the time to try to understand. It’s like when I did have a panic attack, or maybe was manic, my sports psychologist would just paint me as some crazy, emotional girl. Hopefully we’ll get someone in there that understands that mental health is as important as physical health for us athletes.” Changing of the guard Despite my expressed intent to realthere are significant istically capture the State of the Michigan Union, reasons to maintain an optimistic disposition towards the U-M Athletic Department at present: 1. The football program is in great hands considering the hire of super-Mormon Latter Day Saint Utah football coaching legend Kyle Whittingham. He has a 40 year track record of being an undeniably good and genuine man who prioritizes Faith, Family, and then Football. No scandal, no controversy, he aims to get the athletes under his stewardship at least an undergraduate degree, and an opportunity to win a conference championship. 2. The basketball program for men and women at U-M is still in a glorious place despite Coach May activating all of our abandonment issues. The Wolverine Women made the Elite 8 this past season, and the Michigan Men obviously went the distance to win the whole shebang. Plus, Michigan was able to look internally and promote last year’s defensive coordinator, Mike Boynton, for the men’s basketball team. His ability to retain all but one player on the roster added optimism for the team making yet another deep run as we lean on reliable cliches such as, “defense wins championships.” Ann Arbor At present, Ann Arbor is the most educated city in the United States for the seventh year in a row. The city ranked #1 in educational attainment and #2 in its quality of education and attainment gap — only a 1.8% gap between women and men who have at least a Bachelor’s degree. Meanwhile, a staggering 96% of adults aged 25 and older in the area have at minimum a high school diploma. As a city we boast the highest percent of adults with an associates degree and/or college experience, with nearly 60% of Ann Arbor residents holding a Bachelor's degree, and nearly one-third having an advanced degree (i.e. Masters or Ph.D). The quality of universities here were ranked inside the top 10, and, according to a recent study by WalletHub, A2 claimed the #1 spot for best public school system in the country. In other words, U-M is the best university in the universe, and it’s not even close. It is an unfortunate aspect of civic living that, at times, power corrupts those who are prone to corruption. With the U-M living up to its lyrical reputation as "leaders and best" in sport, while enmeshed in a city leading the way in education, the spotlight will always shine a little brighter on U-M. As such, perceived and actual deficiencies in the functioning of our educational organism will be noticed (and rooted out) more frequently than other learning institutions. There is a long list of notable alumni that will be approached in the days to come to lead the most visible portion of student life here at U-M — the Athletic Department. Depending on that hire, I could anticipate the State of the Michigan Union as more learned, proficient, supported, heard, victorious — and in the near future, productive — than ever before. AUGUST 21, 2026

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