The general election is on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.

In addition to the presidential, Congressional, and state House races, voters across the state will be casting their votes for who they’d like to serve on the boards of Michigan’s three largest universities.

There are two seats up for reelection on the University of Michigan Board of Regents in November. University board members oversee financial operations at the institution, and are responsible for the hiring of the university’s president and other key responsibilities — per the state constitution. Board members serve staggered eight-year terms, and serve without compensation.

There are six candidates running to join the U-M Board of Regents, including Democrats Denise Ilitch — an incumbent who has served on the board since 2008 — and Shauna Ryder Diggs. They’ll face Republican candidates Carl Meyers and Sevag Vartanian, as well as third-party candidates Andrew Chadderdon (Libertarian Party) and Donna Oetman (U.S. Taxpayers Party).

WDET distributed surveys to university board candidates on the Michigan ballot in November to gain a deeper understanding of what’s motivating them to run. Below, you’ll find candidate bios and their answers to WDET’s questions about their platform and political priorities.

For more information about the November election, visit WDET’s election guide at wdet.org/voterguide.

Responses have been edited for clarity and length.

Read more:

• Michigan State Board of Education candidates highlight their priorities 
• U-M Board of Regents candidate sues Michigan Democratic Party over convention results
• Why university boards are key to accountability in higher education

The Michigan Democratic Party is facing a lawsuit over the race for its University of Michigan Board of Regents nomination.

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The race was decided at the party’s Aug. 24 nominating convention in Lansing.

According to official party results, civil rights attorney Huwaida Arraf lost her bid for the party’s nomination for the U of M Board of Regents.

But Arraf said there were irregularities she’d like explained. She said her lawsuit is because party leaders haven’t provided election data she’s been asking for.

“If there’s something [that] happened that we don’t understand, then just tell us,” Arraf told reporters during a press call Thursday.

Arraf’s claims include that more people voted in the race than were credentialed and that the party barred her campaign from observing the vote tabulation process during the August convention.

One source of confusion was the party’s weighted voting system in which “each county’s (or portion thereof) delegates within a multi-county Congressional District Convention, caucus, or meeting, or at the State Convention, have a voting strength proportional to the number of Democratic voters from that county (or portion) at the last General Election relative to the total number of Democratic voters in the District or the state, regardless of how many delegates are present at the convention, caucus, or meeting.”

A press release sent by Arraf’s campaign earlier this week included screenshots that the campaign said show email exchanges with party chair Lavora Barnes listing out raw vote totals and weight equivalent.

In her lawsuit, Arraf is asking Michigan’s 30th Circuit Court in Ingham County to bar the race results from being finalized to the general election ballot until “a full and transparent investigation or audit of the University of Michigan Regents vote-counting process” takes place.

In a statement, a Michigan Democratic Party spokesperson said, “We are waiting to review the complaint filed with the Ingham County Clerk and look forward to following the proper legal process.”

Arraf had entered the race later than her two opponents, whom were already serving on the board and seeking renomination. She came in with support of pro-Palestinian activists.

While talking to reporters, Arraf acknowledged she very well may have lost the race. But she accused the party of sending the wrong message to her supporters by not being transparent.

“Encouraging young people, encouraging minorities, encouraging historically disenfranchised people to get involved in the voting process, what we hear over and over and over again is, ‘What does it matter? My vote doesn’t count anyway.’ And this is exactly the message that they’re getting now,” Arraf said.

According to court records, Ingham County Judge James Jamo has sent a first hearing in the case for Friday at 9 a.m.

Reporting by Colin Jackson, MPRN

Other headlines for Friday, Sept. 6, 2024:

•  The city of Detroit is now accepting applications from senior citizen homeowners who wish to apply for a discount on their Solid Waste Fee for their home.
• This Sunday will be the last day to check out the Michigan Science Center’s “Above and Beyond” exhibition offering a 360-degree view of Earth in Orbit.
• The Detroit Board of Police Commissioners is seeking applications for the BOPC Youth Advisory Panel. Applications are due Sept. 30.

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.