On September 1, the Board of Regents is scheduled to vote to confirm C. Cybele Raver as the next president of the University of Michigan.
Presidential transitions matter for this fight. The data center proposed next to our neighborhoods was set in motion under previous leadership — but the incoming president will inherit it, along with every decision about whether it proceeds, on what terms, and with what protections for the community around it. It will be on her desk from day one.
That makes the window between now and her first day the moment of greatest leverage we may ever have. Before positions harden, and before her briefings are shaped entirely by the project’s champions, she should hear directly from the people who live beside the site.
Our message is respectful, factual, and simple. This project is exempt from every local safeguard — no site plan approval, no zoning, no building permits. Its water commitments near the Huron River are promises in a press release, not enforceable obligations. Roughly ten megawatts of generators and a continuous cooling plant would run beside homes with no required acoustic review. And the community has been excluded from the process — township officials learned of the 124-acre land purchase by text message. We are asking the incoming president to say publicly that this project should not proceed without oversight, enforceable protections, and genuine community consent.
Take five minutes today
Click through, enter your address, and you’ll get a ready-to-send email and a call script addressed to the incoming president. A new president’s office pays close attention to what arrives in the first weeks — let’s make sure Ypsilanti is part of that picture.
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