let us have conversations about
important issues in informal set-
tings,” Alfarhan said.
For Eljamal, the Chai Circles
and community dinners through
MEdAN have given her the
chance to explore shared identi-
ties.
“The spaces the MEdAN
has created have enabled me to
self-reflect and reclaim my nar-
rative, and these opportunities
to reclaim my narrative are so
empowering, in a way that is very
hard to put into words,” Eljamal
said.
For Ekotto, similar conversa-
tions emerge from Fanon’s work.
Ekotto took questions from stu-
dents as they further discussed
race, oppression, identity and
colonialism. With each question,
Ekotto noted how many of these
considerations come up before in
Fanon’s work.
“I
realized
it’s
extremely
important that if we’re talk-
ing about questions of identity,
because this group they’re inter-
ested in reclaiming their identity,
I think it’s important that they
understand the bases — how you
get to even understand who you
are,” Ekotto said.
to provide input on a new policy.
“We really want this to be stu-
dent-focused and based on stu-
dent input,” Lustig said.
The code’s tentative language
was presented at the forum and
most attendees’ comments were
centered around the possibil-
ity that the document’s language
could infringe on students’ free-
dom of speech. Many were con-
cerned that the honor code gave
the University too much power.
“As a member of the University
of Michigan community, I will
honor the institution with hon-
esty and integrity,” the proposed
honor code states.
The code continues by asking
students to pledge to promote
inclusivity and respect, uphold
the University’s reputation and
refrain from cheating, stealing
and plagiarism.
“I understand that if I fail to
act in accordance with the afore-
mentioned principles then I will
face appropriate consequences to
be determined by my peers and
faculty members,” the code con-
cludes.
Several attendees thought the
overall language of the code was
broad and vague.
Students also suggested the
document define the code’s geo-
graphic parameters. Attendees
asked if the code would apply to
students while they were outside
of Ann Arbor or Michigan.
The desire to create an honor
code was propelled, in part, by
incidents in Northern Michigan
where six University Greek life
chapters caused extensive dam-
age at two ski resorts.
Some students wanted to know
if a student would always be con-
sidered as representing the Uni-
versity, or if their actions were
only considered a reflection of the
University in specific situations.
Despite his concerns, LSA
freshman
Grant
Strobl
was
pleased CSG hosted the forum.
“I’m happy to see that the stu-
dent government wants to listen
to the students,” Strobl said. “I
think the honor code is great. I
just want to make sure that it is
respecting student rights to speak
freely and engage in academic
and controversial topics on cam-
pus because that is what the Uni-
versity of Michigan is all about.”
Law student Amanda Urban,
associate chief justice of Central
Student Judiciary, also found the
forum helpful.
“I think this code gives us a
really great opportunity to move
forward in being able create
something that is student-driven
with students holding each other
accountable instead of a closed
process where administrators are
making all the decisions with-
out students,” Urban said. “That
being said, we have to be very
careful of the language of the
code and making sure that it’s
fair.”
The task force will host anoth-
er forum on Feb. 25 on North
Campus in the Pierpont Boule-
vard Room.
Adviser, said during public
commentary he believes the
renovation will be a worth-
while investment. Building a
Better Michigan is a student
advisory group for the Univer-
sity’s unions and recreation
buildings.
“I invest time and energy
into these projects so that my
first-year residents, students
that I give campus tours to,
my younger brother and future
generations of Michigan stu-
dents have access to quality
exercise facilities,” he said. “We
renovate in the hopes of giving
the IM building the opportuni-
ty to be self-sufficient in years
to come.”
Harper said the project’s
planning has involved feedback
from approximately 2,000 stu-
dents, faculty and staff mem-
bers.
The
original
renovation
plans included new racquet-
ball courts, locker rooms, and
group fitness and weightlifting
rooms. Updates to plumbing,
staff office rooms, wireless net-
working and wiring, exterior
window replacement, mason-
ry repairs, as well as lighting
improvements and a gym floor
replacement are also planned.
The renovation is scheduled
for completion in fall 2016.
The board also approved
the demolition of a South State
building formerly owned by
publishing company Edwards
Brothers Malloy. The demoli-
tion is intended to create addi-
tional land for the construction
of a $168 million athletic com-
plex approved by the regents
in September. The $2.4 million
price tag is included in the proj-
ects total $168 million budget.
The additional land will both
provide for future stormwater
management and reduce wet-
land impact during the com-
plex’s construction.
The demolition process for
the building, which was vacated
in December 2014, is slated to
begin in April 2015, and will be
completed by Summer 2015.
Academic calendar
revisions
The regents discussed an
action request submitted by
University Provost Martha Pol-
lack suggesting changes to the
winter 2016 academic calendar
to accommodate the Jewish hol-
iday of Passover as well as Greek
Orthodox Easter.
This
conversation
also
expanded to discuss recent out-
cry from students regarding
the fall 2015 academic calen-
dar, which currently has exams
scheduled to end Dec. 23.
These dates would effectively
shorten winter break by four
days compared to this year’s
break, and could force out-of-
state students to travel home on
Christmas Eve.
More than 5,000 students
have signed a petition created
Monday to change the fall 2015
dates. The petition was origi-
nally circulated by members of
a classroom group project titled
“Crush the Calendar.” Several
members of the group attended
the meeting.
Kinesiology sophomore Wil-
liam McPherson spoke to the
regents during public commen-
tary on behalf of the group.
He said the late exam sched-
ule would hurt many students
due to the high cost of airline
prices and overcrowded air-
ports on days near Christmas
Day, as well as cause interna-
tional and out-of-state students
to potentially miss Christmas
due to extended travel time.
“We believe that any exams
on such a late day will have neg-
ative repercussions on students,
faculty and families,” McPher-
son said.
The
group
has
proposed
changing the calendar to either
shorten or eliminate the Fall
Study Break in October, or begin
classes before Labor Day.
“We would appreciate the
opportunity to work alongside
with the Board of Regents in an
effort to find an academic cal-
endar that works both for the
administration and the student
body,” he said.
In response, Pollack said
beginning classes before Labor
Day wasn’t feasible.
“Beginning
classes
before
Labor Day simply won’t work,
especially this year, for a num-
ber of reasons,” she said. “I
think it is important to under-
stand that the reason the last
day of finals is so late this year
is because Labor Day moved ear-
lier and earlier and earlier, and
this year it was September 1st
and next year it falls on Septem-
ber 7th.”
However, she said the regents
would
consider
shortening
or eliminating Fall Break if a
majority of students agreed.
“I am completely willing,
and I think the board would be
completely supportive, if the
student body as a whole wanted
to eliminate the study break,”
Pollack said. “But we do need to
get a sense, not just from a small
group of students, but from a
large group of students.”
Fall Break was originally pro-
posed in 2001 by the Michigan
Student Assembly, now CSG,
and approved unanimously by
the Board of Regents.
Pollack said she would meet
with
CSG
President
Bobby
Dishell, a Public Policy senior, to
discuss the issue further.
New appointment
approvals
The regents approved several
new appointments and reap-
pointments at the meeting.
Kevin Hegarty, current vice
president and chief financial
officer at the University of Texas
at Austin, was approved as the
University’s chief financial offi-
cer and executive vice president.
University President Mark
Schlissel
announced
Mon-
day that he would recommend
Hegarty, who held his position
at UTA for 14 years. In April,
he will take over for Douglas
Strong, interim executive vice
president and chief financial
officer.
The previous executive vice
president and chief financial
officer, Tim Slottow, held the
position for 12 years. He left
his post last year to assume the
presidency at the University of
Phoenix.
During his tenure, Slottow
worked closely with Univer-
sity President Emerita Mary
Sue Coleman to initiate several
cost saving programs, includ-
ing a strategic sourcing program
designed to cut costs by buying
supplies in bulk. He also helped
launch the Administrative Ser-
vices
Transformation
initia-
tive, a controversial program
designed to increase efficiency
by consolidating department-
level employees in a shared ser-
vices center.
A certified public accountant,
Hegarty was formerly the vice
president and chief financial
officer of Dell Financial Servic-
es LP. He serves on the boards of
NewComLink and the Greater
Austin Chamber of Commerce.
Hegarty said the opportunity
arrived at the right time for him,
as other UTA administrators
were also rethinking their posi-
tions.
“It’s one of the number one
publics,” Hegarty said in an
interview with The Michigan
Daily. “When we compare our-
selves at the University of Texas
to other great public universi-
ties... the University of Michi-
gan is always near the top, so it’s
a great opportunity.”
In an e-mail to faculty and
staff Monday, Schlissel thanked
Strong for his service to the Uni-
versity as CFO and welcomed
Hegarty.
“My recommendation of Mr.
Hegarty follows a successful
and competitive search pro-
cess,” he wrote. “I thank the
members of the search commit-
tee for their thorough efforts
leading to this outstanding rec-
ommendation.”
The regents also approved
Pollack’s recommendation for
a new dean of the Horace H.
Rackham School of Graduate
Studies.
Chemistry Prof. Carol Fier-
ke, chair of the department,
will take over for Dean Janet A.
Weiss.
Fierke
is
a
postdoctoral
graduate
from
Pennsylvania
State University. She has pub-
lished 217 research articles and
reviews and received grants
from foundations including the
National Science Foundation
and the American Cancer Soci-
ety.
In her time at the University,
Fierke has received the Distin-
guished Faculty Achievement
Award and the Jerome and Isa-
bella Karle Distinguished Uni-
versity Professor of Chemistry
title, among other accolades.
Weiss has held the post since
2005.
“I’m honored to serve the
University of Michigan in this
important
leadership
role,”
Fierke said in a University
news release. “I look forward
to working with my new col-
leagues to further enhance the
experience of graduate study
for students and faculty.”
The regents also reappoint-
ed Daniel Little to his post as
chancellor of the University’s
Dearborn campus through June
2018. Little has held the posi-
tion since 2000.
CSG president talks new
projects
CSG President Bobby Dishell
addressed spoke on a number of
issues involving CSG, including
student safety and a proposed
honor code, as well as a propos-
al to pay the CSG president.
Dishell said he appreciated
University Parking and Trans-
portation Services’ additional
funding to the Night Owl bus
route, a service created by CSG
that runs late at night to help
transport students living off
campus home safely. The route
was initially slated to end this
semester, but the funding from
PTS has allowed it to continue.
According to Dishell, the
route transported 13,000 peo-
ple in the last year.
At the end of his address,
Dishell voiced concerns with
the potential for some students
to be excluded from running for
CSG executive positions based
on socio-economic status.
He said both he and his vice
president work 30 to 50 hours
per week, meaning that for stu-
dents who need to devote time
to work-study or off-campus
jobs, the position would be
impossible to do.
Dishell asked the board to
consider creating some form of
reimbursement for CSG execu-
tives to allow more students to
take on student leadership.
“The current job structure
eliminates many students that
could potentially do an infi-
nitely better job than I or my
predecessors,”
Dishell
said.
“Unfortunately,
this
means
that students of privilege will
likely hold these roles until we
do something to fix this. And
to me, that is not right, just or
fair.”
3 — Friday, February 20, 2015
News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
said.
For hundreds of years, the cler-
ics who taught Islam were protect-
ed through an agreement with the
country’s rulers. However, when
the Atlantic slave trade took off in
the region, African kings began
selling Muslim peasants despite a
long history against enslavement of
Muslims, Ware said. This led to the
spread of Islam to America, Ware
said.
“When those people are cap-
tured and sold as slaves and they’re
taken away on European slave
ships, and they’re dropped in plac-
es, they can reconstitute partial or
entire copies of the Qur’an because
they are the Qur’an,” Ware said.
Though some historians believe
Muslims were unable to pass
their religion onto their children
because of this history, Ware said
he disagreed. He cited several
instances where Islam was preva-
lent in enslaved America, namely
a case where slaves kept records in
Arabic because their masters could
not write. Other evidence include a
1920 interview with a woman who
was freed during the Civil War
remembered other slaves practic-
ing Islam and a 1860 Louisiana
census which acknowledged Black
Muslims.
Ware noted many traditional
Black superstitions in the United
States come from Islamic roots,
which he said additionally proved
African Muslims were also a part
of the slave trade.
A common superstition in the
American South is that if some-
one sweeps a broom over one’s
feet, in response the person whose
feet have been swept spits on the
broom, paralleling a common Mus-
lim practice.
“That’s the reason why for an
African American convert (to
Islam), it’s a reversion not a conver-
sion,” Ware said.
Engineering junior Jainabou
Barry, who attended the event,
grew up both in Gambia and the
United States. She said through her
experience, she was able to expe-
rience differences and parallels
between the discussion of Islam in
Africa and in the United States.
“There, my Qur’an school, was
focused more on the spiritual,”
Barry said. “Coming here, I saw
the more political agenda being
pushed.”
Ware said he saw America
today as a unique opportunity for
Muslims — one they have not had
for seven or eight centuries. With
freedom of religion in the United
States, there are Muslims of all eth-
nic and racial background.
“The only way that you change
the nature of the conversation is
by changing the composition of the
room,” Ware said. “If as relatively
privileged upper middle class Mus-
lims we don’t reach out to the Afri-
can American Muslim community,
to the African immigrant Muslim
community, to the Bangladeshi
Muslim community, if we don’t do
that, then we can lament the fact
that this conversation hasn’t start-
ed, but the truth is, we haven’t done
our job to start it.”
HISTORY
From Page 1
major ramifications for their
entire organizations and the Uni-
versity as a whole.”
A damaged reputation for
the University has been a major
complaint for University admin-
istrators. E. Royster Harper,
vice president for student life,
said in a January interview with
The Michigan Daily that the
“ski trip” vandalism marked a
turning point in the University’s
interaction with Greek life on
campus.
“We can’t keep going this
way,” she said. “Too much at risk.
Too many safety issues. We can’t
keep behaving like we have this
system, and because there are so
many good things about the sys-
tem, that makes the things that
are unhealthy and dangerous
about the system okay. And that’s
what we’ve been doing. I think
that Up North was a wakeup call
for us as an institution and as a
community.”
University
President
Mark
Schlissel added in a February
interview with the Daily that the
incident made him quite angry,
and emphasized that measures
were necessary beyond mak-
ing those responsible pay for the
damages.
“Simply allowing restitution
to be paid and thinking that
that’s all that happens when
you do something that actually
seems criminal, that’s not right
either,” he said. “So I do think
that we need to use our existing
procedures to figure out what
happened, try to figure out who
individually is responsible, and
have an appropriate punishment
that will really ask people to
wake up and look at what they’ve
done and consider very seriously
their behavior in the future.”
Walsh said leaders from the
Greek community plan to work
together and with University
administrators to shift the Greek
life culture and prevent similar
events from occurring again.
She also noted the importance
of pairing formal sanctions with
other measures.
“While I cannot speak to the
exact sanctions, I would expect
that punitive measures would
be the most effective if paired
with restorative and educational
efforts as well,” Walsh said.
Regent Denise Ilitch (D–Bing-
ham Farms) thanked Krupiak
and Walsh for their comments
and said she accepted their col-
lective apology. She noted that,
as a University alum and former
member of Greek life, she was
happy to see students working to
ameliorate unhealthy practices.
This is the third year the
regents opted to replace their
January public session with
closed door meetings. In 2013,
the regents traveled to Califor-
nia where they met with offi-
cials from Stanford University,
the University of California and
Google. Last year, the board
gathered in New York City to
hear from several higher educa-
tion officials, including the presi-
dent of Yale University.
This time, the regents chose to
remain in Ann Arbor.
“This meeting is internally
focused and we will neither be
meeting with outside speakers
nor traveling outside the state of
Michigan,” Regent Kathy White
(D–Ann Arbor) wrote in a Janu-
ary e-mail interview. “Instead,
this session is to give the Board
an opportunity to have long-
term strategic sessions with our
new President, Dr. Mark Schlis-
sel.”
In a 2013 interview with The
Ann Arbor News, University
spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said
“a scheduling issue” prevented
holding both that year’s Califor-
nia trip and the regularly sched-
uled January public meeting.
“It falls in the week when
these people’s schedules were
already set aside for a board of
regents meeting,” he said in 2013.
“They decided to take that time
that was already in their sched-
ules and handle that differently.”
In
subsequent
years,
the
regents have continued to hold
a January strategic session in
place of a public meeting.
This year, Schlissel said the
group discussed efforts to diver-
sify campus. He noted the Uni-
versity’s long-standing goal to
diversify but said the current
strategies must be improved.
“It really is fair to say that
there has been a long-term com-
mitment to diversity at the Uni-
versity of Michigan, I think the
record is really clear,” Schlissel
said. “The problem is, our suc-
cess hasn’t matched our aspi-
rations despite peoples serious
efforts and serious commit-
ments.”
On Monday, Schlissel held a
leadership breakfast on diversity,
where he gathered input from
attendees and emphasized his
administration’s
commitment
to inclusion and equity. He also
mentioned the University’s ongo-
ing efforts to compose a campus-
wide diversity plan, a project
which he said is slated for release
in the spring.
“One (component) is work-
ing on undergraduate admission
and recruitment,” he said. “So
we have to reach out and find
talented students in all different
parts of our state and parts of our
country without regard for their
socioeconomic,
racial,
ethnic
background.”
In addition to diversity, Schlis-
sel said discussions touched on
possible improvements to the
individual schools and colleg-
es and methods for increasing
accessibility and affordability of
higher education.
GREEK LIFE
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FORUM
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SESSION
From Page 1
SPEAKER
From Page 1
REGENTS
From Page 1
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