U-M basketball fans are still in 'hoops heaven' | Letters

Michigan fans walk down South State Street following the Michigan men's basketball team’s national championship parade through the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor on Saturday, April 11, 2026.

Who'd have thought Hungary would be a role model?

Incredible that Hungary is, today, the role model of democracy. The country held free and fair elections. People voted to remove an autocratic leader who had been in power for 16 years. And that leader, Viktor Orban, conceded. No accusations of fraudulent voters, misdeeds at the polls, devious mail-in ballots. Just admitted defeat.

Linda Levy

Farmington Hills

I'm ready to turn my back on Ford, GM

If Ford and General Motors agree to build weapons for a war we don't belong in, I will feel no further obligation to buy American when it comes to a new car.

(Editor's note: The Free Press reported last week that senior defense officials have asked the automakers to produce weapons components, but neither GM nor Ford has publicly stated whether they plan to do so.)

Both companies have turned their backs on employees and the public since we saved their butts back in the 2000s; this is the final insult. Building munitions for a war most Americans did not vote for and do not want. They might as well say "screw you" out loud to the public. I would walk everywhere or use public transportation, or even buy a foreign car, before I would ever purchase a Ford or GM ever again. Keep on ignoring the public. See where that leads.

Roberta Crank

Algonac

It's a big week for free speech at U-M

Two events this week have implications for protecting freedom of speech at the University of Michigan.

1. University of Michigan president‑elect Kent Syverud has announced that he is being treated for brain cancer and will not take over as president next month. Our hearts go out to Syverud and his family during this very challenging time.
2. April 19 at the Michigan Democratic Party’s state endorsement convention, attendees will select the Democratic nominees for the two open positions on University of Michigan’s Board of Regents. Jordan Acker and Paul Brown are incumbents each seeking another eight-year term, and Amir Makled is a challenger running for a spot on the Board of Regents.

The regents and the president determine the culture of the university. They determine if students feel safe expressing contrary points of view. They determine if faculty are able to teach and pursue research without fear. They make the difficult decisions about when to be judicious and comply with political pressure and when to stand up for the values which have made the University of Michigan one of the preeminent public research universities in the world.

The selection of the new president and the new regents provide opportunities to strengthen a commitment to freedom of speech at U-M. They also provide an opportunity to strengthen our democracy.

Strong universities are the foundation of democracy. Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia based on a revolutionary idea for higher education. The University of Virginia was “designed to educate citizen leaders for a fledgling democracy.”

Jefferson understood that widespread literacy, critical thinking, active debate, open expression of unpopular views and skepticism of pronouncements from those with power are the foundation of a government run by and for the people. He understood that democracy cannot flourish when there are political constraints on speech, teaching and research.

U-M alumni, including some of those in the Maize and Blue Courage volunteer organization I chair, are concerned about damage being done to the university over the past 18 months. We are concerned about: significant loss of research funding, faculty freedom to teach and research without fear, challenges to student freedom of speech, political intrusion into health care, dissolution of DEI initiatives, visas for international students, ICE on campus, due process, privacy and political pressure on accreditation.

Every University of Michigan graduate has benefited from this world-class university. U-M alumni are making the world a better place. And yet this university from which they have benefited — and from which future generations can benefit — is being significantly damaged.

For University of Michigan alumni, and for all voters in the state of Michigan who are concerned about protecting our preeminent university, and protecting our democracy, the time to speak up is now. Now is the time to tell President Domenico Grasso and the Board of Regents to protect U-M academic freedom and independence from the federal government.

Donald Levitt

This letter writer is the Chair of Maize and Blue Courage

Ann Arbor

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: U-M's basketball championship honeymoon will never end | Letters