If individual damages were to 

total between $1,000 and $20,000 
each, the individuals would face 
felony charges — which could 
result in up to five years in prison, 
“a fine of not more than $10,000 
or three times the amount of the 
destruction or injury, whichever is 
greater,” or both.

However, no individuals have 

yet been identified, at least pub-
licly, as culpable for the damages.

Beyond state law, E. Royster 

Harper, vice president for stu-
dent life, said in an interview last 
week with The Michigan Daily 
the students will also face Univer-
sity-centric procedures to address 
their actions.

The 
Statement 
of 
Student 

Rights and Responsibilities is a 
set of rules to which all students 
who attend the University are 
bound. In its introduction, the 
document states that the Univer-
sity’s standards of conduct extend 
beyond the University and Ann 
Arbor “only if the behavior poses 
an obvious and serious threat or 
harm to any member(s) of the Uni-
versity community.”

Harper 
said 
individuals 

involved in damages to resorts 
exacted not only physical dam-
age, but also reputational damage 
to the school — as there has been 
national attention surrounding 
the issue.

“How do we as an institution do 

what’s right?” she asked. “Lots of 
people were harmed by the irre-
sponsible behavior. So then the 
question becomes, ‘How do you 
repair that harm?’ And that’s what 
we’re trying to think about.”

Student violations to the State-

ment of Student Rights include 
“stealing, vandalizing, damaging, 
destroying or defacing Univer-
sity property or the property of 
others” — which the resorts have 
accused all six Greek organiza-
tions of doing.

The process under the State-

ment of Student Rights would 
likely deal with individual stu-
dents, and subsequently these stu-
dents would have three options for 
resolution of the issue. However, 

because individuals have not yet 
been identified, the proceedings 
are as of now undetermined.

If the students came to a “gen-

eral agreement” with the involved 
resorts about how to resolve the 
conflict, they could discuss poten-
tial sanctions before entering 
into a formal agreement whereby 
they accept “responsibility for the 
alleged violations of the State-
ment.”

Informal 
conflict 
resolution 

processes “such as mediation, 
facilitated dialogue and restor-
ative justice circles” are available. 
However, these are highly unlike-
ly to be employed given the large 
monetary damages inflicted in 
this situation.

The students could have a 

University-affiliated 
hearing 

arbitrated by either a Resolution 
Officer or a Student Resolution 
Panel. These hearings could take 
place in a group or on an individ-
ual basis. They would ultimately 
“result in findings of fact” and 
subsequent recommendations for 
punishment, which would then 
be reported to Dean of Students 
Laura Blake Jones. Jones has the 
final say on either accepting or 
modifying the recommendations.

Potential 
punishments, 

referred to in the Statement of 
Student Rights as “sanctions/
interventions,” include a “formal 
reprimand,” which is essentially 
a warning; “restitution” which 
is “reasonable compensation for 
loss” through community service, 
money or material replacement; 
suspension from coursework and 
University activities; and most 
severely, expulsion from the Uni-
versity.

SOAR, 
a 
University 
body 

housed in the Center for Campus 
Involvement, is meant to create a 
formal relationship between the 
University and its student organi-
zations. Its accountability proce-
dure outlines how the University 
responds to student organizations 
that violate the Standards of 
Conduct for Recognized Student 
Organizations.

University students, faculty and 

staff can bring complaints against 
student organizations through the 
SOAR accountability process.

Any enrolled student, faculty 

Americans are immigrating to 
Detroit to seek refuge from dan-
ger in their homeland.

Thibodeau said some Latinos 

have difficulty finding jobs if 
their education from home isn’t 
recognized in the United States 
or if they are undocumented. In 
these cases, the Latino commu-
nity has been able to support itself 
by establishing its own work.

“We have someone who came 

from Honduras recently and 
she was a teacher in Honduras, 
but obviously that’s not going 
to translate here in America,” 
Thibodeau said. “The Latino 
community does an awesome job 
with really creating their own 
economy, creating their own 
businesses. Usually it’s labor 
work: building up houses, fixing 
up houses, landscaping, they do a 
lot of work in the suburbs and sur-
rounding areas.”

Southwest Detroit is also a 

cultural hub, which helps immi-
grants adjust to life in Detroit, 
Thibodeau said.

“It’s very possible to grocery 

shop, go to school, go to church, live 
in the community and be in this 
insulated cultural community,” he 
said.

Detroit’s 300-year legacy of 

immigration and migration to 
Detroit has contributed to the city’s 
culture and growth, but DeBarde-
laben, who moved to Detroit three 
years ago, said the city continues 
to provide opportunities for both 

newcomers and former residents 
deciding to return home.

“Those Detroiters who leave 

for college, they come back,” she 
said. “A lot of young profession-
als have options of going any and 
everywhere. They can go to L.A., 
New York, Philadelphia, but they 
want to come back to Detroit to 
work because it’s a place where 
they have a passion for and it’s in a 
period of transition and they want 
to be a part of that. People see the 
opportunity to shape a better 
future for Detroit.”

2-News

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Monday, February 2, 2015 — 3A

mittee chair for CSG and SAPAC 
volunteer, said the retreat was 
designed to create an environ-
ment conducive to serious dia-
logue around sexual assault on 
campus.

“I think we are fed up with the 

national narrative that is being 
portrayed in the media — and not 
just that, but in our campus,” she 
said.

Diaz alluded to students call-

ing for former Athletic Direc-
tor Dave Brandon’s termination 
from the University, where more 
than 1,000 students gathered in 
protest. Brandon came under fire 
after a series of events, most nota-
bly the Athletic Department’s 
controversial handling of sopho-
more quarter-back Shane Mor-
ris’s concussion in a September 
game against Minnesota.

“Where is that when it comes 

to real, serious issues, such as 
rape?”

From the start of the retreat, 

Anna 
Forringer-Beal, 
co-coor-

dinator of SAPAC’s Networking, 
Publicity, and Activism program, 
emphasized using the word “sur-
vivor” as opposed to “victim” in 
conversations about sexual assault.

“We use the term ‘survivor’ 

instead of ‘victim’ because it’s 
a more empowering term and 
because sexual assault at its core is 
such a disempowering thing, one 
of the ways to regain control is to 
refer to yourself as a survivor and 
show that you have ownership over 
this event,” she said.

On Friday, SAPAC Director 

Holly Rider-Milkovich and Dean of 
Students Laura Blake Jones deliv-
ered a presentation on the Univer-
sity’s Student Sexual Misconduct 
Policy.

“Basically, our policy falls into 

four categories: respect, report, 
respond 
and 
review,” 
Rider-

Milkovich said.

Both went on to discuss the 

definitions of important terms per-
taining to sexual conduct, namely 
consent. She said consent must be 
given on a continuous basis, not 
just once. She also emphasized that 
consent can’t be given by “a person 
who is incapacitated.”

“Students need to be mutually 

agreeing to each step of behavior as 
it’s happening,” Rider-Milkovich 
said.

The speakers also highlighted 

the fact that one in six men and 
one in four college-aged women 
will experience some form of sex-
ual assault. However, Jones said 
because sexual assault is the most 
underreported crime in the United 
States — with about 60 percent of 
cases going unreported — the sta-
tistics can vary depending on the 
source.

LSA junior Jacob Abudaram, 

an LSA representative in the CSG 
Assembly who attended the confer-
ence, said the topics were impor-
tant to discuss given the prevalence 
of sexual assault.

“People think, ‘Well, I don’t need 

to go to these workshops because I 
would never sexually assault some-
one’ and that’s not the right role to 
play,” he said.

The topics discussed at the 

retreat focused heavily on preven-
tion from all parties involved.

For example, LSA junior Don 

Lyons, co-coordinator of SAPAC’s 
Men’s Activism program, led a pre-
sentation Saturday on bystander 
intervention that considered the 
concepts of coercion and sexual 
harassment.

After showing the group an 

advertisement for an episode of 
FX’s “It’s Always Sunny in Phila-
delphia,” in which one character 
discusses isolating a girl on a boat 
so that she will have sex with him, 
Lyons explained coercion as “tak-
ing away someone’s ability to say 
no.”

To curb sexual assault, Lyons 

also said people must take sexual 
harassment more seriously.

“It’s a really horrible thing 

that leads to other really horrible 
things,” Lyons said. “A lot of the 
times this is how someone will 
start exerting their power over 
someone.”

On campus, the topic of sexual 

misconduct has attracted signifi-
cant attention in recent months. In 
October, student protestors called 
on University officials to address 
several demands to address per-
ceived issues in the University’s 
procedures 
to 
combat 
sexual 

assault on campus.

Earlier this month, Univer-

sity President Mark Schlissel, who 
attended a portion of the Culture 
Shift retreat, announced the Uni-
versity’s plans to survey students 
on campus climate surround sexu-
al misconduct and public safety.

CULTURE
From Page 1A

of scientific ideas,” SLC Director 
Claire Sandler said in an e-mail 
interview.

The panel of judges was com-

posed of five individuals with 
expertise in a wide variety of 
fields, including science, art, edu-
cation and literature. The submis-
sions were ranked according to 
their scientific basis, originality, 
skill and technique and quality of 
the written explanation.

This year, the grand prize was 

awarded to Art and Design senior 

Sidney Krandall for her piece 
“Progressive Resistance Exercise 
Design Concept,” a pen and ink 
illustration.

Several new categories were 

incorporated for the first time, 
including the People’s Choice 
award, which allowed attendees to 
vote for their favorite pieces.

LSA 
junior 
Ashley 
Miller 

won this year’s People’s Choice 
award for her piece, “Unobjec-
tive Research,” which depicted 
a woman’s face surrounded by a 
mass of long, flowing hair from 
which 
different 
three-dimen-

sional shapes protruded. The hair 
curled into the form of a hand, 

choking the woman. The submis-
sion was done in acrylic paint and 
clay.

“My piece is about doing 

research and how sometimes 
some of the things that you want 
to do in research are not always 
things that you want to do,” Mill-
er said. “It’s really hard to work 
with animals, but you just have 
to look at what comes out of it 
and the good that you’re working 
towards.”

LSA junior Lawrence Chen also 

participated in the exhibition with 
a large piece examining the seem-
ingly chaotic, yet strictly struc-
tured nature of DNA.

“Science and art are both a very 

large part of my life and I see them 
intersect all the time,” Chen said. 
“This competition is exactly what 
I’m looking for. Both bring great 
joy to my life.”

Miller emphasized the impor-

tance of the event in that it pro-
vided a more visual medium of 
science.

“This event is really important 

because it shows people what sci-
ence is doing through more of a 
visual and easier way to get it out to 
people who aren’t particularly sci-
entifically-knowledgeable,” Miller 
said. “It makes it more interesting 
to the everyday person.” 

SCIENCE
From Page 1A

SANCTIONS
From Page 1A

HISTORY
From Page 2A

to close the University even if we 
wanted to,” she said. “Closing a 
university is more like closing a 
city than closing a building. You 
can’t just close; there is a hospital, 
there is a police force, there are 
students on campus who need to 
be fed.”

After last January’s cold day, 

the University created a com-
mittee to update its severe-
weather policy. The updated 
policy, released in October, pro-
vides more detailed protocols for 
reducing service in the situation 
of severe weather. To do so, the 
executive director of the Uni-
versity’s Division of Safety and 
Security and the executive vice 
presidents assess the weather 
conditions and provide recom-
mendations to the University 

president, who makes the final 
decision.

Eddie Washington, executive 

director the University’s Divi-
sion of Public Safety and Security, 
wrote in a release that dangerous 
road conditions factored into his 
recommendation to cancel classes.

“Snowfall totals of 12 to 18 inch-

es with high winds are making the 
roads dangerous, especially for the 
many faculty, staff and students 
who live outside the city of Ann 

Arbor,” he wrote.

Despite the closure, Atmo-

spheric 
Sciences 
Prof. 
Perry 

Samson said he will still hold his 
class Extreme Weather, or AOSS 
102. Students were “advised to 
stay home, but can use the class 
Echo360 technology to view the 
live broadcast.”

This story has been updated 

to include additional background 
and information from a University 
release.

SNOW DAY
From Page 1A

drivers, who honked as they 
passed the demonstrators. How-
ever, most waited for the protest-
ers to continue down the street. 
Police arrived when the protest 
reached the intersection of Huron 
and Main streets. Officers did not 
interfere with the protest and 
allowed the group to continue 
marching.

Saturday’s rally was not the 

first in recent months. In Decem-
ber, 
demonstrators 
convened 

on the Diag and outside Winter 
Commencement for “die-ins” to 
protest police brutality.

Shae Ward, Rosser’s younger 

sister, participated in the march 
and thanked the protesters. In 
an interview Saturday with The 
Michigan Daily, Ward said she 
appreciated the turnout. Ward, 
who lives in Detroit, noted that 
this is her first time in Ann Arbor 
since Rosser’s death.

“I’m disappointed, but I hate 

to say that it is to be expected, 

unfortunately, with our history 
in this country,” she said. “I am 
hoping for a change. I am hoping 
that the American people — right 
now, 2015 — will wake up and 
see what’s going on. And It’s not 
about class and color. It really is 
about money.”

Ward described Rosser as a 

kind, compassionate, soft and 
highly educated woman who 
loved Ann Arbor. She added that 
while Ann Arbor is supposedly a 
liberal city, racism is prevalent in 
the AAPD and that citizen groups 
have spoken about this.

“My hope is that I can get 

strong enough to speak for her,” 
Ward said. “Because I know her 
person. She would have never 
attacked Officer Ried. She would 
have never made him feel that 
he would have to take her life to 
defuse the situation. That is just 
outlandish. It totally is outland-
ish.”

Rackham 
student 
Austin 

McCoy, a member of Ann Arbor to 
Ferguson, said he hopes that the 
protest raised awareness about 
the issue.

“We believe that since the 

prosecutor made the announce-
ment so late last night that they 
were trying to evade accountabil-
ity,” he said. “So this is partly to 
show that we have some strength 
and to try hold people responsible 
but then we hope that this action 
is one of many. We hope to actu-
ally put out some demands and go 
from there.”

“I think what people can do 

is join organizations like ours, 
educate themselves about the 
criminal justice here, especially 
it’s inequities when it comes to 
people of color in this country and 
make sure they are involved.”

Darius Simpson, a student at 

Eastern Michigan University who 
participated in the march, said he 
hopes the protest inspired further 
action rather than just personal 
feelings of accomplishment.

“This is a first step rather than 

the end all,” Simpson said, “I am 
hoping folks leave with inspira-
tion and curiosity, because the 
reality is that people don’t know 
what to do. They’re not doing 
stuff because they have no idea 

where to go and who to talk to.”

In a statement released Fri-

day evening on Facebook, Ann 
Arbor Mayor Christopher Taylor 
(D) noted the ongoing necessity 
of combating racial injustice, but 
also said he believes the officer’s 
actions were justified in this situ-
ation.

“The events of that night of 

course were a tragedy, but not 
a tragedy of racism, which is 
loathsome 
and 
unacceptable 

and contrary to everything Ann 
Arbor and the Ann Arbor Police 
Department stands for,” he said. 
“The events of November nine 
were a tragedy of mental illness 
untreated and drug use unabated. 
They were a tragedy of a society 
that does not devote the resourc-
es necessary to give help to those 
who require it.”

Protesters also demonstrated 

against police brutality at the 
Ann Arbor City Council meeting 
in December. During that meet-
ing, the Council voted to equip 
AAPD officers with body cam-
eras, which are expected to be in 
operation by the summer.

PROTEST
From Page 1A

member or staff member at the 
University can file an official 
complaint form at the Center for 
Campus Involvement within six 
months of the incident. These 
complaints must include back-
ground facts showing which 
Standards of Conduct have been 
breached and a request for relief.

Complaints can be referred 

to the student governing body 
that has jurisdiction over that 
organization if the body has a 
written procedure for investiga-
tions, though some cases may be 
referred to the Office of Student 
Conflict Resolution, which can 
conduct their process currently 
with the SOAR process. The direc-
tor of the CCI can also refer the 
complaint to a specific academic 
unit for an informal resolution.

In this case, the “student gov-

erning body” that the complaint 
would be referred to is the Greek 
Activities Review Panel, the judi-
cial branch for the University’s 
Greek Councils — the Panhellenic 
Association, the Interfraternity 
Council, the National Pan-Hellen-
ic Council and the Multicultural 
Greek Council.

GARP, which includes up to 

eight justices and one chief jus-
tice from each Greek council, is 
in charge of investigating and 
resolving misconduct allegations 
against any chapter or individual 
members affiliated with the Greek 
Councils.

Complaints submitted to GARP 

can be filed by any individual or 
organization and must provide 
written details of the violation.

Within seven days of receiving 

the complaint, the chief justices 
must review the complaint and 
determine one of the following 

outcomes: to dismiss the case, call 
for a mediation or call for a hear-
ing.

Mediation requires the com-

plainant and the defendant to 
reach a mutual agreement, facili-
tated by the chief justices. If the 
mediation succeeds, the agree-
ment will be put in writing and 
enforced by GARP.

If not, the complaint proceeds 

to a GARP hearing. In the event 
of a hearing, the complainant car-
ries the burden of the proof and 
the involved parties are expected 
to present relevant evidence and 
testimony.

After all testimony and evi-

dence is presented, the justices 
deliberate until a decision is 

reached, requiring two-thirds of 
the justices to agree.

The final agreement is put into 

writing, provided to all involved 
parties and filed as a public record.

Similar to the Student State-

ment of Rights and Responsibili-
ties, GARP’s imposed sanctions 
vary depending upon the case, but 
can include: a letter of reprimand, 
restitution 
charges, 
monetary 

fines, community service require-
ments, educational programming, 
or more severely, probation, sus-
pension or expulsion from mem-
ber’s respective Greek Council.

The final decision can be 

appealed by submitting a written 
notice of appeal within seven days 
of receiving the GARP decision to 

the Greek Appellate Board, which 
comprises two chapter presidents 
from each of the Greek councils, 
randomly selected by the chief 
justices, and a ninth member who 
is selected from the list of GARP 
members uninvolved in the origi-
nal case.

A two-thirds vote is necessary 

to overturn GARP’s decision.

Jones, the dean of students, is 

charged with imposing sanctions 
based on the student governing 
body’s decision, which in this case 
is GARP. Though the dean of stu-
dents will focus the recommenda-
tion in most cases, she can deviate 
from the recommended sanctions.

