students 
that 
deviating 

from this policy has adverse 
consequences for some of our 
students,” Martin continued 
in the email. “This a special 
emphasis of the dean’s office 
this year, making clear that it is 
our expectation that exams are 
administered during the times 
established by the Registrar’s 
Office.”

LSA junior Meghan Clark 

said she is concerned whether 
the new emphasis on changing 
exam times will affect travel 

plans for returning home over 
Winter Break.

“Typically, the only exams 

I 
had 
before 
finals 
were 

scheduled that way because 
they were late in the week,” 
she said. “Being from across 

the country, I’m worried this 
new rule could make it more 
difficult for me to travel home 
for breaks.”

LSA junior Ellie Wilson 

echoed this concern, stating 
it is easier to plan for breaks 
knowing exams can be held in 
the final week of class. Yet, she 
noted that professors adhering 
to 
the 
LSA 
code 
prevent 

multiple exams on the same 
day.

“On one hand, it’s nice to 

plan ahead knowing that exams 
are during the last week,” 
she said. “However, it can be 
very difficult when finals for 
various classes overlap.”

signed by E. Royster Harper, 
the University’s vice president 
for 
student 
life, 
Dean 
of 

Students Laura Blake Jones 
and Greek Life Director Mary 
Beth Seiler.

“We 
were 
deeply 

disappointed to learn that 
members 
of 
a 
university 

fraternity had planned an 
offensive 
themed 
party 

for 
November,” 
the 
letter 

stated. “The language of the 
invitation and theme of the 
party denigrated all women 
and African American/black 
identified 
people 
through 

racial stereotypes and cultural 
appropriation.”

The 
hashtag 
#BBUM 
— 

Being Black at the University 
of Michigan — was started by 
the Black Student Union as a 
reaction to the party theme.

The 
hashtag 
has 
grown 

into a movement that has 
sparked national conversation 
about diversity and inclusion 
on campus. When the Theta 
Xi party theme broke to the 
public, 
the 
Black 
Student 

Union twitter account posted 
a screenshot of what appears 
to be an email, denouncing the 
party’s theme.

Cultural appropriation from 

frats is an often heard tale: 
In May, the Baylor University 
chapter of Kappa Sigma frat 
was 
suspended 
for 
their 

“Cinco de Drinko” party in 
which students came dressed 
in sombreros, some in brown 
face. In 2016, Bowdoin College, 
in Maine, had a similar party. 

For Afifi, the issue of white 

people appropriating minority 
cultures spans wider than 
Greek Life at the University. 
She wrote on Facebook she 
believed 
these 
fraternities, 

made up of predominately 
white males, need to step back 
and recognize their place in 
society as a majority group. 
Considering 
throughout 

history white people have 
oppressed minority groups, 
Afifi 
wrote 
she 
found 
it 

inappropriate 
for 
these 

fraternities 
to 
comfortably 

craft these themed parties. 

“This is much larger than 

just a party; it is the privilege 

that led this frat to think 
this was remotely okay that 
needs to be analyzed. White 
people need to cognizant of 
their identity and their role 
throughout history,” she wrote 
on her public Facebook post.

Safety

At the bottom of many 

events on Facebook, hosts 
include a warning message.

Debs 
Cooperative 
House 

has 
previously 
included 

the statement: “No racism, 
homophobia, sexism or any 
other forms of being a dick is 
allowed here. Don’t be that 
person.”

A former social fraternity— 

known as a metal frat — 
hosted a “300 Underwater 
New Year’s Party” on Sept. 2. 
The Facebook invite page read: 
“ABSOLUTELY NO SEXIST, 
RACIST, 
HOMOPHOBIC, 

TRANSPHOBIC, 
ABLEIST, 

ETC 
BEHAVIOR 
OR 

LANGUAGE 
WILL 
BE 

TOLERATED. THOSE WHO 
VIOLATE 
OTHERS 
AND 

CREATE 
DISCOMFORT 

WILL BE REMOVED FROM 
THE 
PARTY 
AT 
THE 

HOUSE’S 
DISCRETION. 

DON’T BE THE WORST.”

In some cases, fraternities 

have 
made 
it 
clear 
that 

behavior deemed culturally 
inappropriate 
will 
not 
be 

tolerated, 
but 
there 
still 

remains a question if this 
warning 
to 
partygoers 
is 

enough. 
One 
University 

student, who is in a fraternity, 
said although his organization 
never 
puts 
out 
a 
direct 

disclaimer, good behavior at 
their parties is expected. 

“It 
is 
understood 
and 

assumed that that type of 
behavior 
is 
unacceptable. 

Honestly, we tend to stay 
away from any kind of parties 
with a theme that’s a country/
religion/etc.” he said.

Members 
of 
Greek 
Life 

claim 
these 
incidents 
of 

inappropriate behavior have 
occurred rarely in previous 
years. Yet, it still remains an 
issue fraternities and hosts 
must be consciously aware of 
when throwing a party. 

“It’s just important to be 

upfront about our inclusive 
policy,” LSA junior Summer 
Stern, “300 Underwater New 
Year’s Party” co-host, said. 
“It’s important to us that 
people feel OK in the house.”

One 
LSA 
junior, 
who 

requested 
to 
remain 

anonymous, said they find 
Greek Life to be “inherently 
sexist.” 
They 
went 
on 
to 

explain fraternities are free 
to 
plan 
parties; 
however, 

sororities would be punished 
and/or banned if they did the 
same.

“In regard to each party, 

I think it is no different than 
a regular house party or bar 
scene, excluding the every-
so-often case of inappropriate 
sexual 
behavior 
that 
is 

sometimes 
reported 
and 

sometimes not,” they said.

An LSA senior, who is in 

Greek 
Life, 
believes 
these 

types of written statements 

are 
“a 
step 
in 
the 
right 

direction.” The student said 
though the statements have 
good intentions behind them, 
they often fall short of solving 
the 
issue 
of 
inappropriate 

behavior.

“I 
think 
ultimately 

individuals are going to make 
mistakes, whether it be a 
simple slip up or purposefully, 
and it is always hard to 
control people who are not 
initiated members of your 
organization,” 
the 
student 

said. 
“Nobody 
can 
force 

another how to act or speak, 
but we can all encourage one 
another to make good choices.”

An LSA junior in Greek 

Life who requested to remain 
anonymous, does not think the 
written statements accomplish 
much. While the statements 
are 
meant 
to 
eliminate 

negative behavior, they may 
not do enough to stop the issue 
from happening.

“Despite the disclaimer, it 

does not ensure that people 
don’t show up to the party 
degrading 
a 
racial/ethnic 

group,” 
this 
student 
said. 

“However, I believe it is a good 
effort from the frat and shows 
a good intention that they are 
putting the disclaimer out 
there.”

Nevertheless, 
the 
issue 

of 
cultural 
appropriation 

across the campus, to some, 
is growing. The University 
recently 
created 
a 
new 

position: 
a 
“bias 
incident 

prevention 
and 
response 

coordinator.”

“The core work of the 

Dean 
of 
Students 
Office 

includes promoting a safe, 

respectful, 
healthy, 
and 

inclusive campus community, 
enhancing students’ Michigan 
experience, providing support 
services 
and 
managing 

critical incidents impacting 
students 
and 
the 
campus 

community, and recognizing 
and responding to emerging 
needs 
within 
the 
student 

population,” 
the 
University 

of Michigan’s website stated, 
according to the article. 

The Daily reached out to 

multiple 
official 
chapters 

on campus, who in return 
declined to comment.

sell political gear was purely a 
business experiment, based on 
current nationwide cultural 
trends.

“It’s 
just 
something 
we 

were kind of messing around 
with on Amazon,” Narayan 
said. “We’re not making a 
political statement in any way. 
… It’s just what’s out there in 
Americana. Like, there are cat 
T-shirts, too. Sometimes we 
just try to follow some of those 
trends.”

As a custom shirt company, 

Narayan said giving customers 
ways to express themselves 
is their primary goal, and 
wearing political merchandise 
is an important way to do 
that for people of all political 
parties. Furthermore, Narayan 
added the company initially 
felt it was important to create 
merchandise for both sides 
of the aisle to stay politically 
neutral.

“Ultimately, our customers 

are just expressing their ideas 
and opinions,” he said. “We do 
sell a variety of different types 
of shirts on Amazon and other 
platforms … but our position 
is that we’re going to help our 
customers express themselves 
and we should always take 
a neutral standpoint so that 
we’re helping our customers 
express whatever their ideas 
are.”

However, 
this 
August, 

Underground Printing decided 
to halt its sales of political 
clothing for the time being. 
While there was no outright 

backlash to its merchandise, 
Narayan said the company 
worried it would make some 
customers feel uncomfortable 
coming to UGP with their 
apparel orders.

“There hasn’t been (any 

backlash),” he said. “We have 
decided due to recent events 
that we feel like the best 
way to remain nonpartisan 
is to remove ourselves from 
any kind of political shirt on 
Amazon. For us, it’s super 
important that someone who 
is 
conservative 
or 
liberal, 

Republican or Democrat, to 
feel comfortable coming to us 
and printing their shirt.”

Narayan 
emphasized 

Underground 
Printing 
does 

not tolerate apparel orders that 
promote hate or violence, but it 
also wants to protect the role 
clothing plays in freedom of 
expression.

“So as long as it fits within 

our content requirements, we 
feel like it’s not our position 
to make commentary on what 
someone is saying, and we 
felt like with the emotion 
tied around it, we felt like the 
best way to handle it was to 
step away from that arena,” 
Narayan said.

Members of the University 

community 
felt 
mostly 

ambivalent about Underground 
Printing’s foray into political 
merchandise. 
LSA 
senior 

Enrique Zalamea, president of 
University’s chapter of College 
Republicans, applauded UGP’s 
business acumen in all parts of 
the experiment.

“Kudos to them for taking 

the opportunity to make some 
more money and expand into 

more markets,” Zalamea said. 
“(But the fact that they’ve 
stopped selling the shirts) 
doesn’t come as a surprise 
given that a good business 
would stop selling irrelevant 
merchandise … the elections 
were a year ago, I don’t think 
many people would buy Hillary 
or Trump campaign shirts 
anymore.”

Public Policy senior Rowan 

Conybeare, 
chair 
of 
the 

University’s chapter of College 
Democrats, 
agreed 
with 

Zalamea 
that 
Underground 

Printing was just making a 
good 
business 
decision 
by 

moving 
into 
the 
political 

sphere. She said she feels 
the whole process is pretty 
noncontroversial.

“I don’t think that it sends 

that strong of a message,” 
Conybeare said. “If they were 
selling both Democrat and 
Republican gear and they only 
pulled one of them, that would 
have sent a stronger message. 
This is just showing they 
don’t want to get involved in 
politics.”

When asked if Underground 

Printing would ever venture 
into the world of political 
merchandise again, Narayan 
said the company wouldn’t 
cross it off the list, but he 
doesn’t see it returning to it 
any time soon.

“I don’t want to say no, we’d 

never sell it again, but I think 
that right now we feel like it’s 
not a good area to be in if you’re 
trying to stay nonpartisan,” 
Narayan said. “It’s easy to 
seem like you’re supporting 
one or the other.”

which, for me at least, seems 
like a small sacrifice to make 
throughout our daily lives.”

The 
2016 
annual 
report 

from the University’s Planet 
Blue stated that, compared 
to 2006 levels, the University 
has reduced greenhouse gas 
emissions by 5 percent and has 
achieved a 10-percent reduction 
in 
energy 
consumption 
in 

general fund buildings. Faber, 
however, believes more can be 
done.

Faber 
suggested 

implementing 
a 
power 

purchase agreement, otherwise 
known as a PPA. A PPA is a 
contract between a producer of 
energy and a buyer. Faber cited 
Michigan 
State 
University’s 

current PPA, which provides 

5 percent of its electricity 
through solar power and could 
save the university $10 million 
over the next 25 years.

“Our society must shift to 

using primarily clean energy 
for 
a 
myriad 
of 
reasons, 

including but not limited to 
economic 
competitiveness, 

national 
security, 
grid 

reliability 
and 
resiliency, 

reduction of pollution, fuel 
independence and mitigation of 
climate change,” Faber said. “I 
firmly believe that UM has the 
power to be a leader in ending 
the fossil fuel era and to claim 
all of the benefits from doing 
so.”

Toweh shared the future 

achievements he would like 
to see due to the impact of the 
solar-powered pavilions.

“I’d like to see more rooftop 

solar panels,” Toweh said. “I’d 
like to see more buildings, like 

the libraries, dorms or Angell 
Hall to have these.”

Kang said she believed it is 

important to emphasize clean 
energy practices within the 
University.

“Having a platform to speak 

out from is always a blessing 
to have, and the University has 
an extremely large platform 
itself,” Kang said. “Distributing 
these ideas through a well-
known name will help to 
spread the lifestyle and attain 
the ultimate goal of a better 
earth.”

The 
two 
pavilions 
will 

provide students with a new 
space to study and relax, while 
providing an easy, clean way to 
power their devices.

When asked whether she 

planned on using the pavilions, 
Kang responded confidently:

“I think it goes without a 

doubt that I would.”

News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Thursday, September 7, 2017 — 3

SOLAR
From Page 1

PRINTING
From Page 1

aircraft. The M-Air facility 
will technically be considered 
indoors, therefore test flights 
taking place within it do not 
require any such approval.

“The FAA regulations don’t 

guarantee 
safety. 
They’re 

intended 
for 
responsible, 

experienced 
pilots, 
and 
on 

more tested systems,” Atkins 
said. 
“Our 
students 
aren’t 

experienced 
pilots. 
They, 

and our faculty members, are 
building new hardware that’s 
not necessarily going to work 
the first, second, third or even 
the fourth time.”

And mere yards away, the 

University and Ford Motor 
Company will be partnering 
to 
begin 
construction 
of 

the $75 million, four-story, 
140,000-square-foot 
Ford 

Motor 
Company 
Robotics 

Building later this fall, which 

will house a three-story, indoor 
drone “fly zone” with a more 
interactive environment than 
M-Air.

Together with Mcity, the 

expansive, 
state-of-the-art 

autonomous 
vehicle-testing 

facility just down the road, 
the 
Marine 
Hydrodynamics 

Lab, M-Air and the Ford Motor 
Company 
Robotics 
Building 

will 
provide 
students 
and 

faculty unfettered access to 
the full spectrum of robotics 
testing.

Alec Gallimore, the Robert 

J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering, 
said the addition gave the 
University 
unique 
national 

standing in engineering.

“When 
M-Air 
opens, 

Michigan Engineering will be 
the only engineering school in 
the country — perhaps in the 
world — with access to cutting-
edge robotic test facilities for 
air, sea and land,” he said. “This 
is a key piece in our long-term 
plan to give our faculty and 

students best-in-class resources 
as they work to solve society’s 
greatest challenges and most 
exciting opportunities.”

Atkins said the possibilities 

for the facility are endless.

“We have a need for a safe 

flight area to try out anything 
students want to fly in a way 
that doesn’t place at risk people, 
other aircraft, cars, et cetera, 
so having this netted facility 
allows that to happen, whether 
it’s a freshman bringing a 
gadget with them from home 
and they want to try it out, or 
whether it’s a student team or 
a class or a Ph.D. student trying 
to do some elaborate research,” 
she said.

She added it won’t be just 

for students and faculty to use 
–– the College of Engineering 
is hoping to use the facility 
to host outreach events for 
the community, from races 
to design contests, “or just 
supporting 
robotics 
in 
the 

community in general.”

TESTING
From Page 1

HALEY MCLAUGHLIN/Daily

CSG President Anushka Sarkar discusses reactions to acts of racial discrimination on campus at the first CSG meet-
ing in the Union on Tuesday.

PARTIES
From Page 2

RE ACT

EXAMS
From Page 1

It can be very 
difficult when 

finals for various 
classes overlap

We were deeply 

disappointed 
to learn that 
members of 
a university 
fraternity had 

planned an 

offensive themed 

party 

It is the privilege 
that led this frat 
to think that this 
was remotely okay 

that needs to be 
analyzed. White 
people need to be 
cognizant of their 

identity