2A — Saturday, April 30, 2016
News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

NEWS
over the
YEARS

2012
2013

SEPTEMBER 2: Following a Title IX mandate from the
Department of Education, the University adopted a new sexual
misconduct policy that placed the burden of investigation

on the Office of Institutional Equity. The policy would

be revised again in 2016 to tighten sanctions and the

definition of consent.

NOVEMBER 19: A Twitter campaign led by the Black

Student Union gained national prominence as Black students

joined an online conversation on issues of race and diversity at
the University. More than 10,000 tweets called out low minority
enrollment and bias incidents on campus.

ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily

Students walk through the Diag Monday, following an announcement by University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald that classes
would be canceled for the first time since 1978.

Previous Greek
life scandals lead
to call for change

by University

President

By EMMA KINERY

and LARA MOEHLMAN

Daily Staff Reporters

University President Mark

Schlissel
discussed
alcohol

abuse and sexual assault —
problems he said are rampant
among the Greek community —
during a gathering of students
from every chapter of University
Greek life Thursday.

The meeting marked the first

of its kind, in which members
of every University Greek life
chapter gathered for the first
time in their 170-year history on
campus.

Schlissel’s argument centered

on the ways in which an
unfettered party culture stains
the University’s reputation —
not only for current students,
but for the 500,000 people who
graduated before them.

“The value of their degrees

are gonna go down because the
reputation of the University
of
Michigan
won’t
be
the

excitement in the Big House or
our teams doing well under our
fantastic new coach,” Schlissel
said. “It’s not gonna be the
kids who receive the Rhodes
Scholarships and the Fulbright
Scholarships, and the famous
professors who do the work that
you’re going to get reflected on
for, or the National Medal for
the Arts that our faculty won
this past week. It’s going to be
the ‘Shmacked’ videos. So it’s
really up to you what the value
of your education is going to
be, what the reputation of this
institution’s going to be.”

The talk was met with mixed

reactions, with some students
coughing loudly when Schlissel,
along with other administrators,
mentioned problems such as
low Greek participation in the
University’s
sexual
assault

survey, among other issues.

Each fraternity and sorority

was required to have at least
70 percent of its chapter attend
the meeting. Those that failed
to comply will face a semester
of social probation, a letter to
their national organization and
a $1,000 fine.

The meeting comes after a

year of magnified tumult in
the Greek community, marked
by national press coverage of
numerous fraternity “ski trips”
gone wrong last winter, in
addition to increased scrutiny of
the role of Greek life in excessive
party
culture
in
university

settings throughout the country.

Dean of Students Laura Blake

Jones told members of Greek
life that the issues facing their
community are grave.

“I fear some of you have

embraced a work-hard, play-
hard mentality and that you
may have taken to the extreme
what has us on this downward
spiral, and we know we have
to turn this around,” she said.
“It’s clear to me that if we can’t
begin
to
make
meaningful,

student-led progress and change
immediately on our campus, the
future of sorority and fraternity
life as we know it is in peril.”

Issues on campus
Though Greek life represents

just 22 percent of students
on
campus,
administrators

emphasized
the
influence

members
wield
on
campus

culture.

Thursday’s meeting comes

as administrators continue to
emphasize the dire need for
culture change in the Greek
community — a point with
which Blake Jones opened the
conversation.

“I’m hoping tonight will be

remembered as a turning point
when the Greek community
came
together,
reinforced

and
recognized
its
positive

attributes,
contributions
and

influence
and
was
willing

to
thoughtfully
reflect
and

consider the need for significant
changes in the community,”
Blake Jones said.

In particular, administrators

said they fear the impact of
Greek life-organized parties on
the University’s image.

Blake
Jones
said
the

popularity of the 2012 “I’m
Shmacked”
video
—
which

showcased and glorified the
party scene featuring University
students — ultimately casts a
shadow over the institution. The
result: potential students are
drawn in for the wrong reasons
or others are turned off for fear
of a wild social scene.

This
was
a
point
that

Mary Jo Desprez, director of
Wolverine
Wellness,
spoke

to
in
anexclusive
interview

with The Michigan Daily on

Sept. 4. She said balancing this
kind of negative picture of the
University with more positive
messages that better reflect the
school’s values is increasingly
difficult in the digital age.

“The one thing that’s different

today that we didn’t have to deal
with 10 or 15 years ago is the
24/7 instant visual of party,” she
said. “For those of you who saw
‘I’m Shmacked’ and how quickly
that went around and how many
views it got — now you’re a 10th
grader looking at the schools you
want to go to and you type in the
University of Michigan. U of M’s
admissions tour had like 70,000
(views) and the ‘I’m Shmacked’
had 800,000 ... so who’s doing
your recruiting and does that
change the way people decide to
come to schools?

“That might have been 1,000

students in that video, but we
have 43,000 students here, and
now you have a video that we’ll
never be able to get rid of that
sort of shows our campus, but
it shows this one teeny-tiny bit
of the story,” Desprez added.
“We’ll never get that sort of
traction with any counter story.”

The
virality
of
“I’m

Shmacked”
seems
to
be

representative of what Schlissel
sees as an increasingly poor
understanding
of
what
it

means to have “fun” at school.
Referencing his roles as a father
and, previously, a practicing
doctor, Schlissel emphasized the
negative effect the party climate
can have on students’ health.

“I don’t like the idea that

we measure how good or bad a
weekend was by how many of
you ended up in an ambulance
taken to our emergency room,”
he said. “That’s not how we
should measure how good a time
we are having.”

According to the Campus

Climate Survey taken last year
and released over the summer,
students involved in Greek life
have a 40-percent higher chance
of experiencing sexual assault.

At the meeting, E. Royster

Harper,
vice
president
for

student life, stressed that the
perception of Greek life on
campus isn’t always positive.

“There
are
others
in

the
community
that
see

your behavior as racist and
homophobic and sexist and
unsafe,” she said. “Some see you
as giving back to the community
and others see you as sucking
the life out of the community.

Severe cold causes
first cancellation of
classes in 36 years

By STEPHANIE SHENOUDA

and MAX RADWIN

Daily News Editor and Daily

Staff Reporter

For the first time since 1978, the

University has canceled classes
Tuesday due to extreme weather,
University
spokesman
Rick

Fitzgerald
confirmed
Monday

evening.

According
to
the
National

Weather Service, temperatures
will be at a high of 2 degrees, with
a wind chill reaching -30 degrees
and winds reaching up to 20 miles
per hour.

Campus buildings — including

dining halls and libraries —
will
remain
open.
University

transportation
services
will

continue operating as normal,
though delays should be expected.

This announcement marks the

first time that the University has
cancelled classes due to weather-
related circumstances since Ann
Arbor was hit with 19 inches of
snow in 1978.

University Police spokeswoman

Diane
Brown
said
University

Police will be taking extra efforts
to keep response times low to limit
the amount of time that people
spend outside in the cold.

After
Fitzgerald
confirmed

the decision, University Provost
Martha Pollack, Chief Health

Officer
Robert
Winfield
and

Laurita Thomas, associate vice
president for human resources,
sent a memo to faculty and staff
encouraging
flexibility
and

telecommuting if possible for
Tuesday.

“Campus
operations
will

continue,”
the
memo
said.

“However, while staff should plan
to report as usual, we ask that
supervisors be flexible and make
reasonable accommodations for
these
extreme
circumstances.

Travel
may
be
hazardous,

especially on foot or by bus, and
we ask that all of our colleagues
remain sensitive to safety concerns.
Parking
and
Transportation

Services
is
increasing
bus

frequency to help minimize wait
times.”

The memo added that staff who

are “unable or choose not to” travel
to campus Tuesday should contact
their supervisors to use vacation
time or unpaid time off.

Medical School Prof. Charles

Koopmann, a member of the
Senate Advisory Committee on
University Affairs, said he feels
it’s “unfortunate” that staff on
main campus have to come in or
be forced to take a day of vacation.
However, he said he believes that
the medical campus should remain
open, which, according to the
memo, will operate normally.

“The University needs to get a

well organized plan for something
like this and should remarkably
improve
communications,”

Koopmann said.

After the controversy over not

closing campus during the Polar

Vortex earlier this month, Pollack
sat in on the Senate Advisory
Committee for University Affairs
meeting Jan. 13 to discuss the
University’s decision to not cancel
classes.

“By the time it became clear that

we were facing an extraordinary
weather
event,
we
realized

that we didn’t have appropriate
mechanisms to close the University
even if we wanted to,” Pollack said.

During that meeting, Pollack

said
the
University
planned

to
establish
a
committee
to

address
emergency
situations,

including weather, that merit the
cancellation of classes.

Though that committee was

formed and held one meeting
last week, Fitzgerald said the
decision to cancel classes Tuesday
was made independently of that
committee, in consultation with
the the Office of the Provost,
Winfield and Thomas.

“This is a decision that was made

based on the unique circumstances
that are being presented with the
weather forecasts for tomorrow,”
Fitzgerald said. “This is not a
reflection of any new protocol.”

Business
senior
Michael

Proppe, CSG president, said he
believes the dangerous conditions
Tuesday warranted the historic
measure.

“It’s really going to be cold

tomorrow, I think the University
made the right call,” Proppe said.
“When it’s -25 degrees out with the
wind chill and you have students
walking 10, 15, or 20 minutes
to class, it can be dangerous to
have skin exposed in that kind of
weather.”

Proppe said he was surprised

because
such
a
decision
is

“unprecedented,” but added that
he knows the University has
students safety at the forefront.

“Though CSG did not play an

active role in today’s decision,
executive
members
brought

up the school’s lack of a severe
weather policy in their last
few meetings with the dean of
students, Laura Blake Jones,”
Proppe said.

While many students may

spend tomorrow binge-watching
Netflix or enjoying some other
form of leisure, Proppe said his
cold day will likely consist of
catching up on homework and
CSG related projects.

Eastern Michigan University

and
Washtenaw
Community

College also have canceled classes
for Tuesday. According to the
Twitter of the State News Twitter,
Michigan
State
University

spokesperson Kent Cassella said
that MSU is expected to “continue
operations as usual.”

St. Joseph County in Indiana,

where Notre Dame is located, is
under a state of emergency and
driving after 7 p.m. is subject to a
$2,500 fine.

See MICHIGAN, Page 3A

Schlissel to Greek life: party
culture devalues University

University calls for historic snow
day after sub-zero temperatures

NOVEMBER 6: U.S. President Barack Obama was
re-elected, winning 51.1 percent of the popular vote over
Republican candidate Gov. Mitt Romney (R–Mass.). Many

students gathered in the Diag to celebrate Obama’s victory.

He was the first president since 1956 to win at least 51

percent of the popular vote twice.

SEPTEMBER 1 “I’m Schmacked” video was filmed

over Welcome Week featuring University students drinking

and partying. The video was met with backlash from students
and the University for portraying the University in a negative
light. University spokesman Rick Fitzgerland condemned the
videomakers for “taking advantage of the situation” and said the
video has “no redeeming value.”