University of Michigan regent Denise Ilitch tells The Associated Press she believes there’s enough support for the Big Ten school to launch a Division I women’s hockey program that it’s only a matter of when, not if, it will happen.

The budget was approved by the U-M Board of Regents 7-1.

ANN ARBOR – The governing board at the University of Michigan expressed support Thursday for President Mark Schlissel, two days after he acknowledged that trust in his leadership had slipped on campus. “People are concerned and frightened,” Denise Ilitch, chairwoman of the Board of Regents, said, reading from a statement at a meeting. We know the University of Michigan needs to communicate better and do better. “Our board supports Mark Schlissel and the administration as they continue to lead our university through these tremendous challenges,” Ilitch said. “We know that the president and the administration will continue to listen and adapt through these challenges, honor our common values and advance the mission of the university."

ANN ARBOR, Mich. A tuition increase at the University of Michigan failed Thursday in a tie vote by the school's governing board. Schlissel had proposed a 1.9% tuition increase at the Ann Arbor and Dearborn campuses and a 3.9% increase in Flint, where enrollment has been sliding. Denise Ilitch said it's plain wrong" to raise tuition when families are facing uncertainty in the midst of a struggling economy and the coronavirus outbreak. Regent Mark Bernstein said a tuition increase was justified. Michigan State University and some other schools are freezing fall tuition.