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michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, February 20, 2015

CELEBRATING OUR ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Regents held
closed strategic
session in Jan.

Professor talks presence of
Muslims in African history

Task force
holds open
forum about
honor code

RUBY WALLAU/Daily

(LEFT) Newly appointed chief financial officer Kevin Hegarty attends the February Regents’ Meeting in the Anderson Room at the Union Thursday. (RIGHT) President
Mark Schlissel opens the Regents’ Meeting.

Regents approve
building projects,
calendar changes

By GENEVIEVE HUMMER

and ALLANA AKHTAR

Daily Staff Reporters

At the University’s Board

of Regents meeting Thursday,
several renovation projects and
appointments were approved,

including an updated plan for
the Intramural Sports Build-
ing and the confirmation of a
new University chief financial
officer.

Renovations to athletic

buildings

The regents approved a bud-

get increase for the renova-
tion of the Intramural Sports
Building. The budget for the
project has now been extended
from $18.7 million to $21.4 mil-
lion. The additional funds will

be used in part to build more
group exercise rooms, add
perimeter drains and install air
conditioning.

The additional funding will

be provided by investment pro-
ceeds and the Student Life Stu-
dent Fee for Facility Renewal.

E.
Royster
Harper,
vice

president for student life, who
included mention of the reno-
vations in her report to the
regents, said preserving the
building is important. At the

time it was constructed in 1928,
the facility was the first colle-
giate intramural sports build-
ing in the country.

“The project will preserve

the history of the 87-year-old
iconic facility,” Royster said.
“It will also promote the health
and wellness of our students,
faculty and staff.”

LSA senior Jacob Light, a

member of Building a Better
Michigan and a Residential

Student group
hosts event in
honor of Black
History Month

By EMMA KINERY

Daily Staff Reporter

The Muslim Student Asso-

ciation celebrated Black History
Month Thursday night with a
lecture on Islam’s roots in Africa.

The event, which was attend-

ed by about 50 people, was held
in the Henderson Room of the
Michigan League and features
Associate History Prof. Rudolph
Ware.

In his lecture, Ware outlined

the history of Islam in Africa.

He said that even before the offi-
cial beginning of Islam, when
Muhammad
traveled
from

Mecca to Medina on an invita-
tion to escape persecution, the
religion has had a presence on
the continent.

In the year 615 CE and again

in 616 CE, Ware said Muslims
escaped persecution by cross-
ing the Red Sea into present
day Ethiopia and seeking refuge
with a Christian king. However,
over time, he said Blacks practic-
ing the religion have been alien-
ated by current Middle Eastern
countries, leading to the earlier
prominence of Islam in Western
Africa often being forgotten.

Nonetheless, one sixth of the

world’s Muslim population cur-
rently resides in Sub-Saharan
Africa, Ware said. In Senegal,
he said 98 percent of citizens are

Muslim.

“The only Arab countries that

have that percentage are Saudi
Arabia and Yemen,” Ware said.
“There are more Muslims in
Nigeria than there are in Egypt,
and Nigeria’s only 50 percent
Muslim. There’s more Muslims
in Ethiopia than there are in
Iraq.”

This number is so high

because of the tradition of
Qur’an schools in western Afri-
ca, he said. Dating back to the
1400s Qur’an schools were open
to teach Muslim children math-
ematics and reading.

These schools, which still

exist today, promoted the spread
of Islam because certain groups
of scholars were trained to mem-
orize the Qu’uran to the point of
being able to reproduce it, Ware

Six fraternities,

sororities suspended

for vandalism
undergo review

By MICHAEL SUGERMAN

Daily News Editor

After six University Greek

life chapters drew criticism last
month for causing extensive
damage to two Northern Michi-
gan ski resorts, discussion about
the incidents surfaced at Thurs-
day’s meeting of the University’s
Board of Regents.

At the meeting, Interfrater-

nity Council President Alex
Krupiak, an LSA senior, and
Panhellenic Association Presi-
dent Maddy Walsh, a Business
junior,
issued
apologies
on

behalf of the Greek commu-
nity and said Greek life judicial
proceedings have already rec-
ommended sanctions for those
involved.

“We have been collectively

embarrassed and humbled by
the actions of some of our mem-
bers,” Krupiak said. “We fully
understand how our actions
impacted everyone involved…

and that severe measures need
to be taken.”

Krupiak added that students

have already faced the Student
Organization Advancement and
Recognition’s judicial process.
The system referred cases to
the chapters’ respective stu-
dent governing body, the Greek
Activities Review Panel.

GARP is the judicial branch

for
the
University’s
Greek

Councils — the Panhellenic
Association, the Interfraternity
Council, the National Pan-Hel-
lenic Council and the Multicul-
tural Greek Council.

Hearings
are
currently

underway and Krupiak said
GARP has recommended sanc-
tions, which are currently under
review by Dean of Students
Laura Blake Jones.

“The only way to move for-

ward completely from this is
to ensure that every member
understands the consequences
of his or her behavior,” Krupiak
said.

“We also recognize that,

regardless of if an individual
caused damage or not, each
member had a responsibility
to be an active bystander,” he
added. “Failing to do so caused

Body discussed
diversity, higher
education during

meeting in A2

By GENEVIEVE HUMMER

Daily Staff Reporter

Members of the University’s

Board of Regents convened in
the Michigan Union on Thurs-
day afternoon for their month-
ly public meeting. In January,
the regents also met in Ann
Arbor, but in place of an open
meeting, they gathered for
closed strategy sessions.

In a January interview with

The Michigan Daily, Univer-
sity President Mark Schlis-
sel said the retreat focused
on philosophical discussions
around what it means to be
an excellent university and
to brainstorm ways in which
the University can continue to
improve. He said the regents
continue to bring an important
perspective to the University’s
policy-making process.

“The regents are incredibly

engaged in the governance
of the University,” he said.
“They’re really the connection
between professional academ-
ics like me and this huge public
that we serve.”

In an e-mail interview after

the strategic session, Regent
Katherine
White
(D–Ann

Arbor) noted that no official

decisions were made at these
meetings, but said the session
gave the board a chance to
focus on broad topics related
to higher education.

“The retreat contrasts with

our monthly meetings, which
are focused on the topics that
need
immediate
attention,”

White said. “Our strategic ses-
sion was a good opportunity to
focus on the future of higher
education. It also gave us a
chance to welcome new regent
Michael Behm and get to know
him better.”

Apart
from
White,
no

other regents were available
for comment for this article.
Five regents did not respond
to e-mail inquires from the
Daily. Regents Denise Ilitch
(D–Bingham Farms) and Larry
Deitch
(D–Grosse
Pointe)

declined interview requests
due to scheduling conflicts.

White said the closed strate-

gic session provides the board
a chance to speak openly about
how to improve the University,
an opportunity not afforded at
the monthly meetings.

“Again, this is our one

chance a year to turn our atten-
tion to asking ‘What if?’ types
of questions and to step away
from the topics that demand
our attention on a monthly
basis,” White said. “It is good
governance to have an oppor-
tunity to do a little blue-sky
thinking and have very candid
discussions.

Students weigh

possible addition to
Student Rights and

Responsibilities

By TANAZ AHMED

Daily Staff Reporter

The Central Student Govern-

ment’s Student Honor Code Task
Force held a forum Thursday
night to gather student input for
a new University-wide student
honor code.

CSG President Bobby Dishell,

a Public Policy senior, estab-
lished the task force earlier this
month to compose a code per-
taining to academic integrity,
individual behavior and student
rights. The goal of creating a
code is to complement the pre-
existing Statement of Student
Rights and Responsibilities, a
University document that out-
lines appropriate responses to
inappropriate student behavior.

The forum was open to stu-

dents
across
campus.
Aside

from CSG members, 10 students
attended the event.

CSG Vice President Emily

Lustig, an LSA senior and the
task force chair, led the forum.

According to Lustig, some

student leaders opposed the
Statement of Student Rights and
Responsibilities when it was first
approved and said the honor
code would give students a space

ADMINISTRATION
STUDENT GOVERNMENT

ZACH MOORE/Daily

Associate History Prof. Rudolf Ware speaks about Islam in Black America at the Michigan League Thursday.

See GREEK LIFE, Page 3
See REGENTS, Page 3

See SESSION, Page 3
See HISTORY, Page 3
See FORUM, Page 3

UT administrator approved
as University’s next CFO

Greek life
chapters
could face
sanctions

INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 70
©2015 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com

NEWS............................2

OPINION.......................4

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

SPORTS.........................7

SUDOKU....................... 3

CL ASSIFIEDS.................6

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