nteractive Investments, the TAMID Israel Investment Group, and the Michigan Economics Society[133] are also affiliated with the university. The university also showcases many community service organizations and charitable projects, including Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children, Dance Marathon at the University of Michigan,[134] The Detroit Partnership, Relay For Life, U-M Stars for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, InnoWorks at the University of Michigan, SERVE, Letters to Success, PROVIDES, Circle K, Habitat for Humanity,[135] and Ann

udents for a Democratic Society, which recently reformed with a new chapter on campus as of February 2007. Another student labor campaign organization recently established on campus is the United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS). This group seeks to hold accountable multinational companies that exploit their workers in factories around the world where college apparel is produced. Though the student body generally leans toward left-wing politics,[131] there are also conservative groups, such as Young Americans for Freedom, and non-partisan groups, such as the Roosevelt Institution.
There are also several engineering projects teams, including the University of Michigan Solar Car Team, which placed first in the North American Solar Challenge six times and third in the World Solar Challenge four times.[132] Michigan Interactive Investments, the TAMID Israel Investment Group, and the Michigan Economics Society[133] are also affiliated with the university.
The university also showcases many community service organizations and charitable projects, including Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children, Dance Marathon at the University of Michigan,[134] The Detroit Partnership, Relay For Life, U-M Stars for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, InnoWorks at the University of Michigan, SERVE, Letters to Success, PROVIDES, Circle K, Habitat for Humanity,[135] and Ann Arbor Reaching Out. Intramural sports are popular, and there are recreation facilities for each of the three campuses.[136]
Fraternities and sororities play a role in the university's social life; approximately 18 percent of undergraduates are involved in Greek life. Membership numbers for the 2009-2010 school year reached the highest in the last two decades. Four different Greek councils - the Interfraternity Council, Multicultural Greek Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council, and Panhellenic Association - represent most Greek organizations. Each council has a different recruitment process.[137]
The Michigan Union and Michigan League are student activity centers located on Central Campus; Pierpont Commons is on North Campus. The Michigan Union houses a majority of student groups, including the student government. The William Monroe Trotter House, located east of Central Campus, is a multicultural student center operated by the university's Office of Multi-Ethnic Student Affairs.[138] The University Activities Center (UAC) is a student-run programming organization and is composed of 14 committees.[139] Each group involves students in the planning and execution of a variety of events both on and off campus.
The Michigan Marching Band, composed of more than 350 students from almost all of U-M's schools,[140] is the university's marching band. Over 100 years old,[141] the band performs at every home football game and travels to at least one away game a year. The student-run and led University of Michigan Pops Orchestra is another musical ensemble that attracts students from all academic backgrounds. It performs regularly in the Michigan Theater. The University of Michigan Men's Glee Club, founded in 1859 and the second oldest such group in the country, is a men's chorus with over 100 members.[142] Its eight member subset a cappella group, the University of Michigan Friars, which was founded in 1955, is the oldest currently running a cappella group on campus.[143]

sciences, community service and the German language.[118] The Michigan Research Community and the Women in Science and Engineering Residence Program are housed in Mosher-Jordan Hall. The Residential College (RC), a living-learning community that is a division of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts, also has its principal instructional space in East Quad. Also housed in East Quad is the Michigan Community Scholars Program, which is dedicated to civic engagement, community service learning and intercultural understanding and dialogue.[119] The Lloyd Hall Scholars Program (LHSP) is located in Alice Lloyd Hall. The Health Sciences Scholars

igan Housing
Red brick facade with white stone fronts and angled roof

North Quad Residence Hall
The University of Michigan's campus housing system can accommodate up to 10,900 people, or nearly 30 percent of the total student population at the university.[115] The residence halls are located in three distinct geographic areas on campus: Central Campus, Hill Area (between Central Campus and the University of Michigan Medical Center) and North Campus. Family housing is located on North Campus and mainly serves graduate students. The largest residence hall has a capacity of 1,240 students,[116] while the smallest accommodates 25 residents.[117] A majority of upper-division and graduate students live in off-campus apartments, houses, and cooperatives, with the largest concentrations in the Central and South Campus areas.
The residential system has a number of "living-learning communities" where academic activities and residential life are combined. These communities focus on areas such as research through the Michigan Research Community, medical sciences, community service and the German language.[118] The Michigan Research Community and the Women in Science and Engineering Residence Program are housed in Mosher-Jordan Hall. The Residential College (RC), a living-learning community that is a division of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts, also has its principal instructional space in East Quad. Also housed in East Quad is the Michigan Community Scholars Program, which is dedicated to civic engagement, community service learning and intercultural understanding and dialogue.[119] The Lloyd Hall Scholars Program (LHSP) is located in Alice Lloyd Hall. The Health Sciences Scholars program (HSSP) is located in Couzens Hall. The North Quad complex houses two additional living-learning communities: the Global Scholars Program[120] and the Max Kade German Program.[121] It is "technology-rich," and houses communication-related programs, including the School of Information, the Department of Communication Studies, and the Department of Screen Arts and Cultures.[122][123] North Quad is also home to services such as the Language Resource Center and the Sweetland Center for Writing.[124]
The residential system also has a number of "theme communities" where students have the opportunity to be surrounded by students in a residential hall who share similar interests. These communities focus on global leadership, the college transition experience, and internationalism.[125] The Adelia Cheever Program is housed in the Helen Newberry House.[126] The First Year Experience is housed in the Baits II Houses, Northwood Houses, and Markley Hall.[127] The Sophomore Experience is housed in Stockwell Hall and the Transfer Year Experience is housed in Northwood III.[128] The newly organized International Impact program is housed in North Quad.[129]
Groups and activities[edit]
Red brick building with large windows, tall central tower, and green ivy growing on the facade

Michigan Union on Central Campus
The University lists 1,438 student organizations.[130] With a history of student activism, some of the most visible groups include those dedicated to causes such as civil rights and labor rights. One group is St

ndergraduate students are able to participate in various research projects through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) as well as the UROP/Creative-Programs.[105] The U-M library system comprises nineteen individual libraries with twenty-four separate collections—roughly 13.3 million volumes.[106] U-M was the original home of the JSTOR database, which contains about 750,000 digitized pages from the entire pre-1990 backfile of ten journals of history and economics, and has initiated a book digitization program in collaboration with Google.[107] The University of Michigan Press is a

 The university is also home to major research centers in optics, reconfigurable manufacturing systems, wireless integrated microsystems, and social sciences. The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute and the Life Sciences Institute are located at the university. The Institute for Social Research (ISR), the nation's longest-standing laboratory for interdisciplinary research in the social sciences,[104] is home to the Survey Research Center, Research Center for Group Dynamics, Center for Political Studies, Population Studies Center, and Inter-Consortium for Political and Social Research. Undergraduate students are able to participate in various research projects through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) as well as the UROP/Creative-Programs.[105]
The U-M library system comprises nineteen individual libraries with twenty-four separate collections—roughly 13.3 million volumes.[106] U-M was the original home of the JSTOR database, which contains about 750,000 digitized pages from the entire pre-1990 backfile of ten journals of history and economics, and has initiated a book digitization program in collaboration with Google.[107] The University of Michigan Press is also a part of the U-M library system.
In the late 1960s U-M, together with Michigan State University and Wayne State University, founded the Merit Network, one of the first university computer networks.[108] The Merit Network was then and remains today administratively hosted by U-M. Another major contribution took place in 1987 when a proposal submitted by the Merit Network together with its partners IBM, MCI, and the State of Michigan won a national competition to upgrade and expand the National Science Foundation Network(NSFNET) backbone from 56,000 to 1.5 million, and later to 45 million bits per second.[109] In 2006, U-M joined with Michigan State University and Wayne State University to create the University Research Corridor. This effort was undertaken to highlight the capabilities of the state's three leading research institutions and drive the transformation of Michigan's economy.[110] The three universities are electronically interconnected via the Michigan LambdaRail (MiLR, pronounced 'MY-lar'), a high-speed data network providing 10 Gbit/s connections between the three university campuses and other national and international network connection points in Chicago.[111]
The University of Michigan is a participant in the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), an academic consortium of the universities in the Big Ten Conference plus former conference member the University of Chicago. The initiative also allows students at participating institutions to take distance courses at other participating institutions and forms a partnership of research.[112] Students at participating schools are also allowed "in-house" viewing privileges at other participating schools' libraries.[113][114]
Student life[edit]

Residential life[edit]
Main article: University of Mich

iness 1924 School of Natural Resources & Environment 1927 School of Public Health 1941 School of Social Work 1951 School of Information 1969 School of Art & Design 1974 School of Kinesiology 1984 The University of Michigan consists of a flagship campus in Ann Arbor, with two regional campuses in Dearborn and Flint. The Board of Regents, which governs the university and was established by the Organic Act of March 18, 1

f the early master plans for North Campus and designed several of its buildings in the 1950s, including the Earl V. Moore School of Music Building.[36] North and Central Campuses each have unique bell towers that reflect the predominant architectural styles of their surroundings. Each of the bell towers houses a grand carillon. The North Campus tower is called Lurie Tower.[37] The University of Michigan's larges
See also: President of the University of Michigan and Board of Regents of the University of Michigan
College/school founding[44]
College/school    Year founded
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts    1841
School of Medicine    1850
College of Engineering    1854
School of Law    1859
School of Dentistry    1875
School of Pharmacy    1876
School of Music, Theatre & Dance    1880
School of Nursing    1893
A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning    1906
Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies    1912
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy    1914
School of Education    1921
Stephen M. Ross School of Business    1924
School of Natural Resources & Environment    1927
School of Public Health    1941
School of Social Work    1951
School of Information    1969
School of Art & Design    1974
School of Kinesiology    1984
The University of Michigan consists of a flagship campus in Ann Arbor, with two regional campuses in Dearborn and Flint. The Board of Regents, which governs the university and was established by the Organic Act of March 18, 1837, consists of eight members elected at large in biennial state elections[45] for overlapping eight-year terms.[46][47] Between the establishment of the University of Michigan in 1837 and 1850, the Board of Regents ran the university directly; although they were, by law, supposed to appoint a Chancellor to administer the university, they never did. Instead a rotating roster of professors carried out the day-to-day administration duties.[48]
The President of the University of Michigan is the principal executive officer of the university. The office was created by the Michigan Constitution of 1850, which also specified that the president was to be appointed by the Regents of the University of Michigan and preside at their meetings, but without a vote.[49] Today, the president's office is at the Ann Arbor campus, and the president has the privilege of living in the President's House, the university's oldest building located on Central Campus in Ann Arbor.[50] Mary Sue Coleman is the 13th president of the university and has served since August 2002.[51] Her compensation for 2008–2009 totaled $783,850.[52]
There are thirteen undergraduate schools and colleges.[53] By enrollment, the three largest undergraduate units are the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, the College of Engineering, and the Ross School of Business.[54] At the graduate level, the Rackham Graduate School serves as the central administrative unit of graduate education at the university.[55] There are 18 graduate schools and colleges, the largest of which are the College of Literat residence hall, Bursley Hall, is located on North Campus.[32]
North Campus houses the College of Engineering, the School of Music, Theatre & Dance, the School of Art & Design, the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, and an annex of the School of Information.[38] The campus is served by the Duderstadt Center, which houses the Art, Architecture and Engineering

ion (LEO) and the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), the union representing graduate student employees. These conflicts led to a series of one-day walkouts by the unions and their supporters.[19] The university is currently engaged in a $2.5 billion construction campaign.[20] Law Library Law Library Interior In 2003, two lawsuits involving U-M's affirmative action admissions policy reached the U.S. Supreme Court (Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger). President George W. Bush took the unusual step of publicly opposing the

ints challenged the university's physical development; but, in the 1980s, the university received increased grants for research in the social and physical sciences. The university's involvement in the anti-missile Strategic Defense Initiative and investments in South Africa caused controversy on campus.[17][18] During the 1980s and 1990s, the university devoted substantial resources to renovating its massive hospital complex and improving the academic facilities on the North Campus. In its 2011 annual financial report, the university announced that it had dedicated $497 million per year in each of the prior 10 years to renovate buildings and infrastructure around the campus. The university also emphasized the development of computer and information technology throughout the campus.
In the early 2000s (decade), U-M also faced declining state funding due to state budget shortfalls. At the same time, the university attempted to maintain its high academic standing while keeping tuition costs affordable. There were disputes between U-M's administration and labor unions, notably with the Lecturers' Employees Organization (LEO) and the Graduate Employees Organization (GEO), the union representing graduate student employees. These conflicts led to a series of one-day walkouts by the unions and their supporters.[19] The university is currently engaged in a $2.5 billion construction campaign.[20]
Law Library

Law Library Interior
In 2003, two lawsuits involving U-M's affirmative action admissions policy reached the U.S. Supreme Court (Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger). President George W. Bush took the unusual step of publicly opposing the policy before the court issued a ruling.[21] The court found that race may be considered as a factor in university admissions in all public universities and private universities that accept federal funding. But, it ruled that a point system was unconstitutional. In the first case, the court upheld the Law School admissions policy, while in the second it ruled against the university's undergraduate admissions policy.
The debate continues because in November 2006, Michigan voters passed Proposal 2, banning most affirmative action in university admissions. Under that law, race, gender, and national origin can no longer be considered in admissions.[22] U-M and other organizations were granted a stay from implementation of the passed proposal soon after that election, and this has allowed time for proponents of affirmative action to decide legal and constitutional options in response to the election results. The university has stated it plans to continue to challenge the ruling; in the meantime, the admissions office states that it will attempt to achieve a diverse student body by looking at other factors, such as whether the student attended a disadvantaged school, and the level of education of the student's parents.[22]
Campus[edit]

The Ann Arbor campus is divided into four main areas: the North, Central, Medical, and South Campuses. The physical infrastructure includes more than 500 major buildings,[23] with a combined area of more than 31 million square feet or 712-acre (2.88 km2).[24] The Central and South Campus areas are contiguous, while the North Campus area is separated from them, primarily by the Huron River.[25] There is also leased space in buildings