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Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
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Sports Tuesday
Schlissel’s second
ice cream social caps
off Welcome Week
festivities
By ISOBEL FUTTER
and GEN HUMMER
Daily Staff Reporters
Weathering
some
light
sprinkles of rain, about 1,200
University students, faculty, staff
and parents gathered for an ice
cream social at the President’s
House on Saturday.
Attendees,
who
had
the
chance to explore the first floor
of the residence, were also given
the opportunity to meet and
snap pictures with University
President Mark Schlissel and his
wife, Monica Schwebs.
Students were invited to the
event, which offered ice cream
bars, cookies, water and apple
cider.
Schlissel,
who
dressed
down in a block ‘M’ polo shirt,
greeted those willing to wait in
line for a chance to shake his
hand.
The social, which began in the
1930s when Florence Ruthven,
wife of seventh president of
the University, began hosting
tea parties for female students.
During the 1950s, University
President Harlan Hatcher opened
the event to all students. Since
then, the social has been an
annual event.
Open to both parents and
students, the backyard of the
house filled up quickly as students
meandered around the gardens,
munching on homemade block-
’M’ cookies and ice cream.
Last year was the first year
Schlissel hosted. Many students
who attended this year were
excited to meet the relatively new
president.
“It was cool to talk to him,
because he’s still new,” LSA junior
Alaina Stevenson said. “It’s nice
to put a personality to a face and
a name.”
Others
came
to
tour
the
renowned
South
University
University
communications
on alcohol missing
needed context
By MICHIGAN DAILY
who has this position
In a brief August 25 e-mail
to all University students, E.
Royster Harper, vice president
for student life, announced
the University will implement
“additional strategies” in its
continuous effort to reduce
students’ alcohol consumption.
The widely publicized pilot
program will notify parents of
first-year students under the
age of 21 who receive a second
alcohol or drug violation, or
“a violation accompanied by
other serious behavior such
as needing medical attention,
significant property damage or
driving under the influence.”
Harper also wrote that the
University of Michigan Police
Department
and
the
Ann
Arbor
Police
Department
will collaborate further on
outreach efforts. Though the
ultimate goal is to have joint
jurisdiction
in
off-campus
student neighborhoods, UMPD
will initially “provide early
engagement and feedback to
students to help them better
understand how to avoid being
in violation of alcohol laws.”
How these strategies will be
put into practice remains to be
seen.
It is understandable that
the e-mail was concise, for
if it were longer it may have
gone unread. But that came at
the price of omitting critical
information,
as
discovered
in a recent Michigan Daily
interview
with
University
officials. A subsequent article
published by the University
Record on Sep. 1 also failed
to provide full details. In
the
interview,
University
officials explained first and
foremost that these changes
New emphasis
on ‘community
policing’ to drive
approach to alcohol
abuse
By SAM GRINGLAS
Managing News Editor
Under a proposed collabora-
tion with the Ann Arbor Police
Department, officers with the
University’s Division of Public
Safety and Security could have
joint authority to police off-
campus neighborhoods heavily
populated by students.
The initiative is one com-
ponent of a set of recently
announced University efforts
designed to curb alcohol abuse at
the University.
“Our philosophy — and the
shift that we see is happening
University to
consider alerts
on ‘case-by-case’
basis
By MICHAEL SUGERMAN
Daily News Editor
A week after unveiling a
plan to involve the parents of
first-year students following
violations of University alco-
hol policies, administrators say
the new protocol will be imple-
mented on a case-by-case basis
— not uniformly.
In an exclusive conversation
with The Michigan Daily on
Wednesday, University higher-
ups provided further details,
and framed the new directive as
a matter of health and wellness.
E. Royster Harper, vice pres-
ident of student life; Mary Jo
Desprez, director of Wolverine
Wellness; and Eddie Washing-
ton, executive director of the
Division of Public Safety and
Security, spoke to the reason-
ing and goals of the initiative.
Desprez noted that the poli-
cy is present in some form at a
majority of schools in the Big
10 conference. The University’s
iteration of the practice will
notify parents if a first-year
student under the age of 21
“commits a violation accom-
ROBERT DUNNE/Daily
LEFT: Engineering junior Peter Larsen, the Chi Phi “little brother” of Joshua Brigham, lights candles at a vigil held in his memory at Chi Phi fraternity house on
Sunday. RIGHT: LSA Senior Alec Buchholtz shares his memories of Brigham to those gathered.
Friends remember
Josh Brigham, who
fell from Nickel’s
Arcade rooftop
By EMMA KINERY
Daily Staff Reporter
With
candles
in
hand,
fraternity brothers and friends
of Josh Brigham — the LSA
student who died in July after
falling from the roof of Nickel’s
Arcade — came together to
celebrate his life with a vigil at
the Chi Phi fraternity house.
Brigham, who was a rising
senior
studying
psychology,
died July 24. He fell through
the arcade’s glass ceiling while
climbing to the building’s roof
through an unlocked stairway
door. According to the Ann
Arbor Police report, obtained by
The Ann Arbor News, Brigham
was intoxicated at the time of
the incident.
Since many of the Saugatuck,
Mich., native’s friends were
unable to attend his funeral,
LSA senior Alex Buchholtz, a
friend and fraternity brother,
said the vigil was held for
friends to commemorate his life.
Tealight candles were given
to the hundreds of people who
filled the Chi Phi porch and
lawn. On the porch, a photo
of Brigham was placed with
a candle, a pamphlet from his
funeral, flowers and a can of
Natural Ice beer.
Several people shared stories
of the fun, happy friend who
lived life in the moment.
“Josh was a very smiley
guy,” Buchholtz said. “He made
everyone laugh; he could make
anyone laugh instantly … He
was a very fun guy. He kind of
lived it up and had fun when he
could.”
Buchholtz, who organized
the vigil, said since Brigham’s
passing
he’s
found
himself
instinctively trying to call or
text him.
“It’s just weird because last
week I moved back to Ann
Arbor, and when I was pulling
into Ann Arbor I almost picked
up the phone and called him,”
Buchholtz said. “The other day
I woke up after a long night and
texted him to see if he could get
some food.”
Seeing Nickel’s Arcade is
hard for Buchholtz. He said
the other night he visited it
and cried for a half hour. The
passing of their beloved friend
was hard on everyone, but the
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Mary Jo Desprez, director of Wolverine Wellness, speaks to Michigan Daily staff about the new university alcohol
policy in a meeting on Wednesday.
See SCHLISSEL, Page 5A
See VIGIL, Page 3A
See UMPD, Page 3A
See PARENTS, Page 3A
See POLICY, Page 4A
President’s
open house
draws 1,200
despite rain
CAMPUS LIFE
Student honored at vigil
‘U’ introduces new alcohol policies
From the Daily:
Nuance lacking
in new policy
Wellness staff to involve
parents for repeat offenses
UMPD
to expand
off-campus
presence
INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 121
©2015 The Michigan Daily
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