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 NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM University ranked top public school MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let us know. WEATHER TOMORROW HI: 32 LO: 18