The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Thursday, March 15, 2012 - 5A

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Thursday, March 15, 2012 - 5A

Court to make decision
on Rutgers student case

A hallway in the still under construction Sigma Phi Epsilon house.
Sig pFto move to newly
renovated e in

Ravi may be
charged with
hate crimes after
roommate's suicide
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.
(AP) - After nearly two weeks
of testimony, the case that kick-
started national conversations
about gay youths and Internet
privacy was sent yesterda to a
jury that must decide whether a
former Rutgers University stu-
dent is a criminal or just a young
man who was confused by see-
ing two men kiss.
Dharun Ravi, now 20, is
accused of viewing a few sec-
onds of his roommate's intimate
encounter with another man in
their dorm room at Rutgers and
telling people about it in text
messages, tweets and in person.
He could face years in prison
if convicted of charges includ-
ing invasion of privacy and bias
intimidation, a hate crime.
Lawyers gave their summa-
tionsTuesdayin the case, which
has gotten enormous attention
since the events of Septem-
ber 2010, when the roommate,
Tyler Clementi, jumped to his
death from the George Wash-
ington Bridge.
The trial, which included tes-
timony from about 30 witnesses
over 12 days in addition to the
closing arguments, focused on a
few days inthe dormwhere Ravi
and Clementi, both 18-year-olds
from well-off New Jersey sub-
urbs, were randomly assigned
to be first-year roommates.
Defense attorney Steven Alt-
man told jurors that Ravi was
surprised to turn on his web-

cam and see his roommate in an
intimate situation with another
man. He emphasized that there
was no recording, no broadcast
and no YouTube video of the
Sept. 19,t2010, encounter.
And he said Ravi was not act-
ing out of hatred of his room-
mate or gays in general when he
saw the image from his webcam
on the computer of another stu-
dent.
"If there's hate in Dharun's
heart, if there's ugliness in Dha-
run's heart, where's there some
information and some evidence
to support it?" Altman asked
jurors.
Ravi tweeted and talked
about what he saw, but Alt-
man said lie was only doing
so because he was young, had
never before seen men kissing
and did not know what to do.
He'd turned on the webcam
in the first place, Altman said,
because he was worried about
what was happening in his
room after seeing Clementi's
guest, whom Ravi described as
"older" and "sketchy."
His client, Altman said, was
concerned about whether the
stranger might take the Pad
he'd left in the room.
Julia McClure, a prosecutor
for Middlesex County, remind-
ed jurors of testimony from
some of Ravi's high school
friends that even before Ravi
moved into the dorm, he was
concerned about having a gay
roommate.
"He was so shocked that
within about four minutes, he
sent out a tweet, because he
was seeking advice?" McClure
asked. And, she said, there was
evidence that he then told other
students about what he'd seen

and invited them to a friend's
room where they could see for
themselves.
The challenge for jurors
could be deciding whether
the laws apply to what Ravi is
alleged to have done.
He faces 15 charges. Four are
invasion of privacy and attempt-
ed invasion of privacy charges,
where the required proof is that
he saw or disseminated images
- or attempted to - of private
parts or sex acts, or a situation
where someone might reason-
ably expect to see them.
Four charges allege bias
intimidation. Ravi can be con-
victed of intimidation if he's
also found guilty of an underly-
ing invasion-of-privacy charge.
Two of those charges are sec-
ond-degree crimes punishable
by up to 10 years in prison - the
most significant penalties he
faces if convicted.
Seven charges accuse him
of trying to cover his tracks.
Among the allegations: that he
deleted and changed Twitter
postings and text messages and
told another witness what to
say.
Clementi's death was one in
a string of suicides by young
gays around the country in Sep-
tember 2010 and became prob-
ably the best known. President
Barack Obama commented on
it in an online video, as did talk
show host Ellen DeGeneres.
New Jersey lawmakers has-
tened passage of an anti-bul-
lying law because of the case,
and Rutgers changed housing
policies to allow opposite-sex
roommates in an effort to make
a more comfortable environ-
rment for lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender students.

Fraternity to
relocate to building
on corner of Tappan
and Hill Streets
By LIANA ROSENBLOOM
Daily StaffReporter
After 22 years of housing
complications and four reloca-
tions over the past 12 years, the
Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity is
looking forward to finally mov-
ing into a permanent home this
fall.
The brothers officially final-
ized the purchase of Memo-
rial Christian Church, located
at the corner of Tappan Avenue
and Hill Street, and renovations
began at the end of January.
According to Jerry Mangona,
president of Sig Ep's Michigan
Alpha Alumni Board, the fra-
ternity has long struggled to
overcome complications with its
housing.
Mangona said Memorial
Christian Church approached
Sig Ep's real estate agent after
making plans to relocate in
order to accommodate for its
growing congregation. After
nearly two years of negotiation
and hearings before the Ann
Arbor Zoning Board of Appeals,
a sale price was agreed on last
summer. The total cost of the
project, including renovations,
will be more than $3 million.
"Financing the project was
complex in an environment
where banks are risk-averse,
especially for a construction
project," Mangona said.
He added that renovations
will include the conversion of
old office spaces into bedrooms
and other areas into study space,
a social and dining area, and a
room to formally display chapter
memorabilia and awards.
Mangona said closing on the
property involved cooperation
from the Bank of Ann Arbor,
BB&T Bank and the Sig Ep hous-
ing corporation, adding that
more than $700,000 in pledges
from alumni are helping finance
the renovation.
Phoenix Contractors is han-
dling the construction and its
scheduled to be complete late
this summer, Mangona said.
Hobbs + Black Architects,
founded by William S. Hobbs, a
Sig Ep alum and 1958 University
graduate, has been contracted
for project design.
Kinesiology sophomore
Michael Freedman, president
of Sigma Phi Epsilon, said the
brothers are thankful for their
current home, but the space is
not sufficient. He said there is
very little common living space
and the setup is not conducive to
hosting parties.
Freedman added that once
renovations are complete on the
church, it will house 44 Sig Ep
brothers and one resident schol-
ar. He asserted that no exter-
nal changes will be made to the
church.
"I'm very excited about it and
I know the rest of the guys are
too," he said. "We, as a fraterni-

ty, have been hearing about this
for years."
Freedman said anticipation
about the new house is mount-
ing, especially now that con-
struction has begun. He added

that he is proud that the fra-
ternity is the second largest on
campus and said lie has high
hopes for the fraternity's prog-
ress once it has a place to call
home.
"Since walking by the church
and seeing the construction ...
the morale is extremely high.
The way we look at it is they
sky is the limit with an actual
home," he said.
According to Mangona, Sig Ep
surrendered its charter in Octo-
ber 1994 following sanctions
over a hazing incident.,The local
chapter still owned the house
that the fraternity had for-
merly occupied, but numerous
problems plagued the property,
including substantial inten-
tional damage and a fire in Sep-
tember 1995. The blaze, believed
to be caused by vagrants, sig-
nificantly rewduced the amount
of funding the University had
offered to pay to recover the
house from Comerica Bank.
Mangona said the Continen-
tal American Insurance Compa-
ny filed a lawsuit in 1996 against
the University, the fraternity,
fraternity alumni and the Uni-
versity's Office of Greek Life,
claiming the insurance compa-
ny had been put at "undue risk"
due to the occupants' treatment
of the house. The property has
since been demolished and is
now the site of Weill Hall, which
houses the University's Ford
School of Public Policy.
Since the fraternity, which
was founded at the University
in 1912, officially returned to
campus in 1998, brothers have
lived at four different locations,
including their current apart-
ment complex on Hill Street
that they have transformed into
a fraternity house, Mangona

said.
He added that the alumni
board recruited him in the early
2000s to find a permanent chap-
ter house, which he said was not
an easy task.
"Our biggest challenge was
finding a suitable property that
met the zoning requirement for
the city for more than six unre-
lated people to share a common
space," he said.
Mangona said concerns arose
with the Delta Delta Delta
sorority, which will be Sig Ep's
neighbors when it moves into
the new property in the fall of
2012. He added that Sig Ep has
worked closely with Jane Coo-
per, president of the House Cor-
poration of Tri Delt, to address
their concerns, which includes
headlights shining into win-
dows of the sorority's house and
Sig Ep guests cutting across the
Tri Delt property to get to the
Sig Ep house.
During an internal meeting
prior to their hearings with the
Zoning Board of Appeals, Man-
gona said documents on the
centennial history of the church
were uncovered that indicated
there was a time capsule inside.
the bronze cornerstone of the
church. A ceremony to open
the capsule will be held in early
April, involving former mem-
hers of the fraternity and the
church.
Mangona added that Sig Ep
brothers havebeen encouraged
to gather items for their own
time capsule, which they also
plan to create at this time.
"The conversations have all
been very fruitful and amicable,
and we are looking forward to
continuing to build a relation-
ship with our neighbors," Man-
gona said.

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..S .. y
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Fellow of Corpuas Christi College;
Unsisy of Oslo
THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 2012.4 PM
BALLROOM OF THE MICHIGAN LEAGUE


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