Couple Withdraw $3M Gift for U-M Multicultural Center After Naming Flap

FARMINGTON HILLS, MI — University of Michigan regent Mark Bernstein and his wife, Rachel Bendit, have withdrawn a $3 million dollar gift after learning their name would would appear on the new multicultural center, currently the only one on the Ann Arbor campus named after an African-American.

The couple said their intent was never to have their names replace that of William Monroe Trotter, an African-American civil rights pioneer, businessman and Boston Guardian publisher who played a key role in the inception of the National Association of Colored People.

Regents approved the new name, Bernstein-Bendit Hall, and relocation of the building in April. The Trotter Center was to retain its name, but it would not appear on the building itself. It’s standard procedure for universities and other institutions that receive large philanthropic gifts to recognize the donors by placing their names on buildings.

At a meeting Thursday, U-M Mark Schlissel announced a shift in plans after hearing objections from students, faculty and others, including Leon Howard, program manager at the UM Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs, who said removing Trotter’s name effectively silenced his message for equality.

Construction of the new $10 million building in the heart of campus on State Street will remain on schedule. The university agreed to build it in an effort to improve the campus climate for minority students after Black Student Union protests in 2014.

Ironically, when Bernstein, the president of the Sam Bernstein Law Firm in Farmington Hills, and Bendit made the gift, they said they wanted to recognize the importance of multiculturalism.

“We did not want to silence Trotter — this one, lonely African-American voice on our campus,” the statement continued. “This was, of course, not our intention, but it could have been the result.”

Bernstein, the president of the Sam Bernstein Law Firm in Farmington Hills, said he and Bendit will continue to look for ways to support multiculturalism.

“When we realized that it (the gift) was not necessary for the building to be built, and hearing from people on campus about their concerns, we decided to restart the process,” Bernstein told the Detroit Free Press.

He added:

“We have never sought to put our name on anything at the university. The bulk of our philanthropy we have done privately. We wanted to make this gift as a public statement of our commitment to this important issue. We appreciate this is an enormously complicated issue and situation. We wanted to show that we, as white Jewish leaders, are very supportive of the work being done.”

Image: University of Michigan photo