On 
a 
Thursday 
night 
in 

September, 
a 
LSA 
freshman 

named Hannah — who asked 
that only her first name be 
used because she is discussing 
underage drinking — had a few 
mixed drinks with her friends in 
her dorm room before going out. It 
was an 18+ night at BTB Cantina — 
a bar located on South University 
Avenue. At the time, Hannah was 
just old enough to get through the 
door. She was careful not drink at 
the bar — the bouncers had drawn 
X’s on her hands in Sharpie, 
indicating she was a minor and 
would not be served.

Hannah left BTB Cantina at 

about midnight but came back for 
her friend so she could walk her 
home. When she arrived back at 
the bar, her friend was speaking to 
a man in a T-shirt who appeared 
to be in his late 20s. Another man 
wearing a jersey approached her 
as well.

It took several minutes for 

Hannah to realize they were cops.

“(He) was like, ‘Have you been 

drinking?’ ” Hannah said in an 
interview last week. “And I had 
no idea who this guy was — I was 
extremely caught off guard; he 
didn’t have a badge or anything. I 
had no idea he was an undercover 
cop.”

She admitted to the man that 

she had been drinking, but only a 
little.

The 
Sexual 
Assault 

Prevention 
and 
Awareness 

Center’s 
Bystander 

Intervention and Community 
Engagement program, which 
hosts workshops to equip 
bystanders with the necessary 
skills to intervene, held a 
panel discussion about racism 
and safety at the University 
of Michigan Thursday night. 
The event aimed to serve 
as an open space to discuss 
the experience of students 
with marginalized identities 
following the divisive results 
of 
the 
2016 
election 
on 

campus.

The panel, which was open 

to all faculty, students and 
staff, as well as those not 
affiliated with the University, 
was attended by roughly 50 
students.

SAPAC 
volunteers 
and 

LSA 
seniors 
Nick 
Suarez 

and 
Jasmine 
Rubio, 
who 

organized the event, said 
they wanted to address the 
political issues unfolding on 
campus and educate students 
on possible constructive roles 
they can take moving forward.

“I’m hoping we get some 

solid ideas of how to be a 
proactive bystander and how 
to be a good ally,” Rubio said.

 Suarez agreed, adding, 

“I hope more than anything 
that 
this 
an 
educational 

experience.”

 The organizers pointed 

to a divided climate both on 
campus and across the nation 
as a catalyst for the event. 

 “It came because tensions 

have been so much higher, 
not necessarily because of a 
political outcome but because 
of a recent climate,” Suarez 
said. “We’ve been demanding 
a conversation and demanding 
people listen to our voices, 
but we haven’t had a place for 

students to speak unfiltered.”

The 
panel’s 
time 
was 

divided into a discussion about 
the experiences of minority 
students and their feelings 
toward the current campus 
climate, 
a 
conversation 

about the changes minority 
students would like to see and 
a segment allowing audience 
members to pose questions to 
the panel.

Six 
panelists, 
including 

undergraduates, 
graduate 

students and a recent graduate 
from different marginalized 
identities, spoke at the event. 
Panelists were first asked 
whether or not they feel safe 
on campus because of their 
respective identities.

“There’s 
different 
types 

of safety,” said LSA senior 
Alyssa Brandon, who is also 
a Michigan in Color editor 

Students, faculty, staff and the 

general public were invited to the 
University of Michigan College 
of Engineering Design Expo 
to hear students discuss their 
multidisciplinary design projects 
Thursday. 
Through 
these 

projects, students aim to develop 
solutions to real-life problems 
using collaborative, integrative 
approaches.

Organized 
by 
the 

Multidisciplinary 
Design 

Program, the biannual event, 
which 
spreads 
throughout 

several 
buildings 
on 
North 

Campus, includes a series of 
hands-on student presentation.

The MDP, which operates out 

of the College of Engineering, 
offers 
team-based 
projects 

to 
students 
University-wide. 

Several of the projects were 
part of the senior design project 
courses, and a handful were 
nonprofit or industry sponsored.

Payal 
Agarwal, 
MDP 

administrative 
assistant 
and 

expo organizer, said the event 
offers students an opportunity 
to present in front of an audience 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, December 9, 2016

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N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

CL A SSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

See DRINKING, Page 2

ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily

University President Mark Schlissel oversees the Board of Regents meeting in the Michigan Union Thursday. 

In their last meeting of the 

calendar year, the University 
of Michigan Board of Regents 
discussed 
issues 
including 

construction, honorary degrees 

and campus climate in front 
of more than 50 attendees in 
the Michigan Union Thursday 
afternoon.

 
Renovations 
and 

construction projects

The 
Board 
of 
Regents 

unanimously approved multiple 
infrastructure projects at the 
meeting, 
including 
an 
$150 

million overhaul of the Ruthven 
Museums Building. As part of 
the renovations, the University’s 
central 
administration 

officials will move from their 
current offices in the Fleming 
Administration Building to the 
Ruthven Building. The Fleming 
Building — first opened in the 
1960s to popular student rumors 

about its “riot-proof” design — 
will eventually be demolished.

 Kevin Hegarty, chief financial 

officer 
and 
executive 
vice 

president 
of 
the 
University, 

announced the changes.

 “The project presents an 

exciting opportunity to preserve 
and reuse a landmark campus 

See ENGINEERING, Page 3

ELIZABETH XIONG/Daily

University of Michigan alum Jonté Jones speaks about racism and safety at the University following the 2016 
election in Angell Hall Thursday.

michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

See PANEL, Page 3

See REGENTS, Page 3

The University of Michigan 

Board of Regents unanimously 
approved 
a 
new 
School 
of 

Environment and Sustainability, 
which will take the place of 
the current School of Natural 
Resources 
and 
Environment, 

at 
their 
December 
meeting 

Thursday afternoon. The new 
school is set to open on July 1, 
2017, and will be the first new 
school at the University in two 
decades. 

 In September, a research 

committee 
to 
examine 
the 

strengths and weaknesses of 
sustainability 
programs 
at 

the 
University 
recommended 

creating a new school to address 
pressing global challenges to 
the environment in their report. 
The committee consisted of 14 
different University faculty from 
10 different units and looked 
at the possibilities for growth 
within 
the 
SNRE, 
Graham 

Sustainability Institute and the 
Program in the Environment.

 Feedback was also gathered 

through meetings, town halls, 

See SCHOOL, Page 3

INDEX
Vol. CXXVI, No. 44
©2016 The Michigan Daily

Undercover 
cops prompt 

student 

complaints

Regents approve infrastructure 
projects, schematic for Trotter

CRIME

Individuals who have received MIPs 
say officers were overly aggressive

ALEXA ST. JOHN
Daily Staff Reporter

Body also approves 6.2 million in renovations for Law Quadrangle

RIYAH BASHA & 

KATHERINE CURRAN

Daily Staff Reporters

Design expo 
showcases 
engineering 
initiatives

SCIENCE

Multidisciplinary program 
hosts biannual event 
featuring student work

JENNIFER MEER
Daily Staff Reporter

SAPAC holds panel about racism 
and safety on the University’s campus

Panelists highlight concerns with DEI plan, current political climate 

REBECCA LERNER

Daily Staff Reporter

First new 
‘U’ school 
in decades to 
open in July

ADMINISTRATION

New environment and 
sustainability college 
will replace SNRE

RIYAH BASHA & 

KATHERINE CURRAN

Daily Staff Reporters

Go West, young men

The Michigan men’s 

basketball team will go up 
against one of the nation’s 
best offenses this weekend 
when it travels to take on 
UCLA at Pauley Pavilion.

» Page 8

