On Monday, The Michigan
Daily sat down for an interview
with E. Royster Harper, the
University of Michigan’s vice
president of Student Life. During
a time of national conversations
surrounding
many
important
and polarizing issues, we asked
Harper for her take on current
Greek
life
reforms,
sexual
assault and misconduct, and free
speech in the context of white
supremacist Richard Spencer’s
possible visit to campus next
semester.
Greek Life
In November, Greek life at
the
University
of
Michigan
experienced a social ban under
“claims of sexual misconduct
cases
involving
fraternity
brothers, six incidents of reported
hazing … multiple allegations of
drugging members in undisclosed
fraternity chapters and three
specific hazing allegations …
where
fraternity
members
were put in alleged near-death
situations,” according to fraternity
leaders at a closed meeting
attended by The Daily.
After the social ban was
lifted, an action-oriented model
for Greek life was established,
hoping to turn Greek life into
a less dangerous environment
for participants. According to E.
Royster Harper, vice president for
Student Life, the Dean of Students
Office, in partnership with the
Director of Greek life, has been
taking
measures
to
improve
community standards such as
providing
sexual
misconduct
training and implementing a
position between Greek life and
the Ginsberg Center.
“We’ve been trying through
education, through training, a
little bit of persuasion and then
some concrete structural changes
like adding positions, really trying
to get the community to really
rethink its culture and recommit
to a culture that reflects its value,”
Harper said.
More recently, members of
Greek life attended a weekend
retreat,
Harper
said,
where
topics of social responsibility
and community values were
discussed. She explained the
most important part of the Greek
life reform process has been to
establish a partnership with
students, rather than to regulate
or direct students.
“The challenge I face is
that none of us, including the
Greek community, want the
things that are unhealthy in the
community to continue … On
the other hand, we don’t want
to talk about the community as
though there’s nothing good in
the community,” Harper said.
“I am both encouraged by their
Monday, the University of
Michigan’s
Senate
Advisory
Committee on Undergraduate
Affairs took their weekly meeting
to the Medical School to talk
about academics at the Medical
School with Carol Bradford,
the Medical School’s executive
vice dean for Academic Affairs
and Michigan Medicine’s Chief
Academic Officer.
Bradford,
who
got
her
undergraduate,
master’s
and
medical degrees at the University,
began by talking to the body
about what she is doing in her role
as Vice Dean of Academic Affairs,
which she began in July 2016.
The previous chair of the
Otolaryngology
Department,
Bradford is one of three executive
vice deans at the Medical School
— she is in charge of the school’s
academic mission, while her
colleagues control the clinical
and research sectors of the
school.
“I view my role as oversight of
faculty and all learners, which
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Tuesday, January 30, 2018
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 65
©2018 The Michigan Daily
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
See SACUA, Page 2
Med dean
meets with
SACUA to
strategize
ACADEMICS
Medical School Vice Dean
of Academics sits down to
discuss new wellness plans
MAYA GOLDMAN &
MOLLY NORRIS
Daily News Editor &
Daily Staff Reporter
DARBY STIPE/Daily
E. Royster Harper, Vice President for Student Life, addresses Greek Life and the tensions surrounding the social ban,
hazing, and the treatment of students of color at the Fleming Administration Building Monday.
VP of Student Life focusing on Greek
Life, #MeToo and issues of free speech
E. Royster Harper discusses reforms, future of misconduct reporting process
JORDYN BAKER &
AMARA SHAIKH
Daily Staff Reporters
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
See HARPER, Page 3
In collaboration with Chicago
and Denver-based Peers Health,
an organization aiming to reform
workforce case management and
help workers get back to their
jobs after illness or injury, the
University of Michigan is currently
working on a two-year research
project with the goal of optimizing
health care plans and return-to-
work times for employees on injury
or sick leave.
Currently, organizations like
Peers Health are finding strong
relationships between a worker’s
ability to perform their job’s
duties and their overall well-being
and health. By improving this
healthcare
infrastructure,
the
University and Peers Health are
hoping to increase productivity in
hospitals, insurance companies,
offices and more.
According to Brian Denton,
an Industrial and Operations
Engineering professor, who is
one of the principal investigators
of the project along with Jenna
Wiens,
assistant
professor
of
computer
science
and
engineering, the research will
See INJURY, Page 3
‘U’ assists
with injury
healthcare
software
RESEARCH
Return-to-work times
stand to increase in collab
with health research center
ALON SAMUEL
Daily Staff Reporter
Through their Community
Grant Program initiated on
Jan. 24, rideshare company
Lyft is supplying $1000 in
ride credit to nonprofits and
student organizations in the
Ann Arbor and Detroit area.
Beginning in February, the
ride-share
company
will
choose one organization to
bestow this grant upon each
month. With this grant, Lyft
aims to support the work
of
these
organizations
by
helping with transportation
difficulties.
In a press statement shared
with The Daily, Lyft stated its
goal of building relationships
with groups with important
missions in the Ann Arbor
community.
“As an active member of the
greater Ann Arbor business
community, Lyft is excited
to
continue
strengthening
partnerships
with
local
organizations
that
are
doing important work in the
community,” it states.
Any nonprofit or student
group from the University of
Michigan, Eastern Michigan
University,
Concordia
University-Ann
Arbor
or
Washtenaw
Community
College is eligible to apply
for the grant. The application
process is competitive, and
will prompt organizations to
discuss their qualifications,
including
their
mission,
how they would utilize the
grant
and
how
they
use
transportation.
This is not the first time
Lyft has supported student
groups
at
the
University.
During November of 2017,
Lyft teamed up with the
Sexual Assault Prevention and
Awareness Center to promote
Better Bystander Month. Lyft
supplied coupons for $10 off
any ride between midnight
and
6
a.m.
and
SAPAC
hosted voluntary bystander
intervention workshops for
Lyft drivers.
Non-profits
at University
eligible for
Lyft grants
MIT professor talks preservation
of POC history, infrastructure
See LYFT, Page 3
MATT VAILLIENCOURT/Daily
Erica James, a professor of medical anthropology and urban studies at MIT, discusses hauntology and how race and class affect the spectral realm at Tisch Hall
Monday.
BUSINESS
Student orgs based in A2, Detroit eligible
for $1000 grants for transportation
ELIZABETH LAWRENCE
Daily Staff Reporter
Erica James grapples with personal Southern ties in monument conservation
Erica
Caple
James,
MIT
associate professor of medical
anthropology and urban studies,
discussed
the
importance
of
historical
preservation
of
monuments and sites and their
implications in modern society
in to more than 50 students and
faculty Monday afternoon in a talk
titled “The Matter of Black Lives:
Hauntology, Infrastructure, and
the Necropolitics of History in the
American South.”
James’s talk is part of a
larger series led by the Science,
Technology,
Medicine
and
Society Colloquium Series at the
University of Michigan.
Rackham
student
Vicky
Koski-Karell, an event facilitator,
introduced James as well as the
series and its mission for students.
“This
is
basically
an
opportunity
to
bring
faculty
from across the country and also
from within the University that
are doing work related to the
study of science, technology and
society and just highlight their
research, have a space to try out
new ideas, and really provide an
interdisciplinary space where we
can engage in the advancement of
knowledge,” Koski-Karell said.
James
began
her
talk
with a brief summary of the
theory
surrounding
historical
monuments and sites, discussing
interconnectedness of race, land
and infrastructure development.
She described the concept of
necropolitics
and
hauntology,
ideas that, according to James,
explain the power of death and its
impact on society.
James specifically cited the
example
of
the
Confederate
General
Robert
E.
Lee
monument
in
New
Orleans,
which was removed last year.
She said infrastructure in cities
convey values of a society, both
symbolically and materially.
“Infrastructure
projects,
whether public or private, often
reveal the social and political
values of a society, and are
addressed to the public in ways
that can manifest the power of the
KATHERINA SOURINE
Daily Staff Reporter
See MONUMENTS, Page 3