Two lawsuits have been 

filed in the past month over 
an alleged sexual assault at 
a 
University 
of 
Michigan 

fraternity party in January 
2016.

The first lawsuit, from a 

now-former male University 
student, was filed against 
several 
employees 
of 
the 

University of Michigan for 
wrongfully 
causing 
the 

student leave the University 
following the alleged assault, 
according to court documents.

“The Appeals Board applied 

an unconstitutionally vague 

or legally incorrect definition 
of the term ‘incapacitated,’ 
applied incorrect standards 
of review, and arbitrarily 
and capriciously set aside the 
investigator’s findings and 
conclusions, 
thus 
denying 

Plaintiff due process,” the 
complaint reads.

The second lawsuit, filed 

Wednesday by the female 
University 
student 
who 

filed the claims of sexual 
assault 
against 
the 
male 

student, seeks to block the 
male student from gaining 
readmission to the University. 
It charges that he is not 
respecting the terms of an 
agreement 
reached 
during 

UM’s investigation of the 
female student’s complaint 

Faced 
with 
a 
changing 

city landscape and student 
anxiety 
about 
high 
off-

campus housing costs, Central 
Student 
Government 
has 

begun 
exploring 
options 

for 
cooperation 
with 
city 

government to address the 
issue.

However, it remains unclear 

which specific policies CSG can 
realistically coordinate with 
city and county government 
officials on tht would alleviate 
off-campus housing costs, or 
even to what extent off-campus 
student rental costs have been 
changing.

CSG President David Schafer, 

an LSA senior, told the Board 
of Regents at their September 
meeting he hopes to start a 
dialogue between students and 
local officials on off-campus 
student housing.

“The issue of increasingly 

costly 
off-campus 
housing 

for students is an issue that I 
believe we’d be well-served to 
tackle together,” Schafer told 
the Regents, adding preliminary 
meetings with city and local 
officials have already taken 
place, including with Ann Arbor 
Mayor 
Christopher 
Taylor 

(D) and Washtenaw County 
Commissioner Andy LaBarre 
(D).

The median rate for rent in 

Ann Arbor has increased 14 
percent to $1,075 per month 
from 2010 to 2015 — even as the 
amount of high-density housing 
has jumped by 32 percent — 
according to the U.S. Census 
Bureau. However, this data is for 
the entire city and may not be 
reflective of the cost of housing 
for students specifically, most of 
which are clustered downtown.

Nadine Jawad, CSG senior 

policy 
adviser 
and 
Public 

Policy senior, said CSG does 
not yet have concrete data on 

off-campus 
student 
housing 

costs or trends, noting they 
are 
conducting 
preliminary 

research to collect this data. 
She added, however, that the 
initiative began in response to 
numerous students approaching 
CSG with concerns pertaining 
to the cost of off-campus living.

“I strongly believe that when 

students come and talk with 
us, their concerns should be 
top priority,” she said. “We 
wanted students to have a better 
understanding of off-campus 

housing 
dynamics 
in 
Ann 

Arbor because a lot of students 
expressed that the current 
rental prices were an issue.”

A major hurdle for CSG’s 

initiative will be limits on the 
city of Ann Arbor’s ability to 
exert control on housing prices, 
which includes rental costs 
for students. State law bars 
municipalities from setting rent 
controls on private landlords, 
and while housing subsidies 
and incentives are possible, they 
cannot be made exclusive for a 
specific demographic, such as 
students.

Schafer acknowledged these 

challenges and that meaningful 
change may take well over a 
year to take effect. Nonetheless, 
he said he hopes to see greater 
student involvement in City 
Council decisions, especially 
ones about housing.

“I think students would be 

well served to know their innate 
powers as a state constituency,” 
said Schafer. “Making their 
voices heard is so important 
because when students come 
together, 
when 
students 

mobilize, when they make their 
voices heard — that can lead to 
tangible, positive results for the 
general constituency.”

CSG is planning to initiate 

public 
dialogue 
between 

students and officials at a panel 
Oct. 13 in the Union, with 
speakers from City Council, 
the University of Michigan 
and other officials. Executive 
members 
of 
the 
housing 

The average Central Student 

Government member is most 
likely to be a wealthy, white, 
heterosexual 
male, 
according 

to results of a comprehensive 
demographic 
self-survey 

released Wednesday morning.

The report, which breaks 

down the assembly by a number 
of factors including race, gender, 
sexuality and family income, 
comes after campaign promises 
from 
CSG 
President 
David 

Schaefer, an LSA senior, to bolster 
diversity 
efforts 
in 
student 

government. CSG assessed the 
makeup of its membership in 
comparison 
to 
Engineering 

Student 
Government, 
LSA 

Student Government and the 
University as a whole.

In 
the 
breakdown 
of 

demographics 
presented 
in 

the report, 69.8 percent of CSG 
self-identify as white. This is 
compared to 64.7 percent of LSA 
student government, 47.6 percent 
of Engineering representatives 
and 56.2 percent of the entire 
student body that claim the same 
identity, according to the report.

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Thursday, September 22, 2016

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

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Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
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INDEX
Vol. CXXV, No. 139
©2016 The Michigan Daily

NEWS......................... 2A

OPINION.....................4A

CL ASSIFIEDS............... 5A

SUDOKU..................... 2A

SP O RTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5A

B S I D E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 B

See LAWSUIT, Page 3A

GRANT HARDY/Daily

LSA sophomore Chanelle Miles discusses how the recent events at EMU’s campus have impacted her at a speakout on the Diag Wednesday.

About 150 students gathered on 

the Diag Wednesday night for a 
speakout held in response to recent 
incidents of police brutality and 
racism both across the nation and 
locally.

The event was hosted by the 

University of Michigan chapter of 
the National Association for the 
Advancement of Colored People 
and the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

The speak out, emceed by 

University 
NAACP 
chapter 

president Travis Jones III, an LSA 
senior, began with a crowd reprisal 
of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” 

referred to by event organizers as 
the Black national anthem.

“In this past week, we have 

witnessed on our campus, within 
this community, and in the country, 
that racism is alive and well,” Jones 
said. “This isn’t our first one, and it 
won’t be our last one.”

Organizers said they planned 

the speakout to commemorate the 

fatal shootings of three black males 
and recent incidents of racism 
at Eastern Michigan University, 
located in Ypsilanti.

The event specifically aimed to 

remember 40-year old Terrence 
Crutcher in Tulsa and 43-year old 
Keith Lamont Scott, who were 
killed by police officers this week, 

See DIVERSITY, Page 3A

What the Sound

The BSide explores the work 

of a student who created a 
website to promote a wide 

range of musical talent

» Page 1B

michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

See HOUSING, Page 3A

See NAACP, Page 3A

Many 
environment-focused 

organizations 
from 
the 

University of Michigan and the 
broader Ann Arbor area set up on 
the Diag for the annual EarthFest 
Wednesday. 

EarthFest began under the 

name “Energy Fest” in 1996 and 
has since evolved, taking on its 
current name in 2010 with the 
establishment of the Planet Blue 
Initiative, an initiative from the 
University that aims to promote 
sustainibility. 

The 
University 
recently 

identified 
four 
campus 

sustainability 
goals 
around 

climate action, waste prevention, 
healthy 
environments 
and 

community awareness. These 
goals are both guiding principles 
for the University, as well as 
concrete objectives to be fully 
implemented by 2025.

For 
example, 
the 
Health 

Environments 
goal 
mandates 

that the University must protect 
Huron River water quality by 
working to minimize runoff.

Ken 
Keeler, 
senior 

sustainability 
representative 

See EARTH, Page 3A

Two lawsuits 
filed over ‘U’
recent sexual
assault case

NAACP holds Diag speakout on 
police shootings and EMU protests

CRIME

Former student sues for readmission 
to University after voluntarily separating

KATIE PENROD & ALLANA 

AKHTAR

Daily News Editors

Event aims to show solidarity with families, students impacted by both incidents

RIYAH BASHA
Daily Staff Reporter

CSG reps. 
generally 
white, male, 
study finds

CAMPUS LIFE

Body releases self-
survey Wednesday 
morning

RIYAH BASHA
Daily Staff Reporter

Student government aims to decrease 
average housing costs in Ann Arbor

Median rent has been increasing since 2010, to $1,075 per month in 2016 

NISA KHAN & BRIAN 

KUANG

Daily Staff Reporters

Earthfest 
highlights 
UM green 
initiatives

SUSTAINABILITY

Diag event includes 
several environment-
focused student groups

ALI SAFWI
For the Daily

