The Office of Greek Life
received the messages in an
envelope
during
the
2018
winter semester and turned
over the documents to the
Ann Arbor Police Depart-
ment last March. The case
was closed because the AAPD
were unable to verify the stu-
dent was injured during the
fraternity pledging process
and because his parents were
uncooperative with investiga-
tors.
It was this “40-yard dash”
which prompted Blake Jones’s
statement to MLive, in which
she questioned the nation-
al
headquarters’
response
to the “heinous behavior”
and shared that hazing was
found to have taken place
at the chapter over multiple
decades.
Broekhuizen
said
the Fraternity & Sorority Life
office supports Blake Jones’
statements.
Blake Jones went on to say
Alpha Sigma Phi had an “utter
lack of consideration for the
well-being” of new members
and the evidence “confirms”
the
fraternity
leadership’s
knowledge of hazing-related
behavior.
The University and IFC
agreed on sanctions against
the chapter and remain com-
mitted to their original deci-
sion to close the chapter for
five years. However, their
position differs from that
of the fraternity’s national
headquarters and the AAIFC,
which say the chapter is in
good standing but is no longer
affiliated with the University
or IFC.
Gordy Heminger, president
and chief executive officer of
Alpha Sigma Phi, denied Blake
Jones’s allegations of inaction
from the national headquar-
ters in an email to The Daily.
He said within 24 hours of
being informed of the incident
national members were in
Ann Arbor to meet with chap-
ter members and investigate.
He also said Alpha Sigma Phi
national employees offered to
work with the Office of Greek
Life multiple times but weeks
went by without a returned
phone call.
Heminger
said
he
sees
these recent actions from
the University as retaliation
for the chapter’s disaffilia-
tion from the IFC, which he
said was primarily because of
the new zoning restrictions.
Heminger said it wasn’t until
six months after the national
headquarters concluded its
internal
investigation
and
after its decision to leave
the IFC when the University
decided to hold a hearing,
at which point the frater-
nity was no longer affiliated
with the University and was
advised by legal counsel not
to participate.
“I would strongly encour-
age the University to hold
its
students
accountable,
much like Alpha Sigma Phi
did, and not use a chapter of
150+ members as a scapegoat
or a mechanism to retaliate
against because the chap-
ter voluntarily surrendered
campus recognition because
of
zoning-related
issues,”
Heminger said. “We don’t dis-
pute that some former mem-
bers violated our Health and
Safety policy, but we strongly
dispute that the entire chap-
ter was involved or that the
headquarters turned a blind
eye to policy violations.”
Heminger noted the nation-
al headquarters’ investiga-
tion resulted in disciplinary
action against certain mem-
bers and officers, a new pro-
tocol, a live-in staff member
and other educational sanc-
tions and restrictions. He said
the fraternity is still open to
working with the University
in the future and believes the
mandatory changes have been
well-received by the chapter.
According
to
Heminger,
there were no health or safe-
ty violations at the chapter
in the fall semester, which
he sees as a sign of the effec-
tiveness of the national head-
quarters’
intervention.
He
also said there were no crimi-
nal or code of conduct charges
against any members of the
fraternity as a result of the
police investigation.
He also said there will be
no foreseeable changes in
the chapter’s rush process or
social calendar.
The disagreement between
the
University
and
Alpha
Sigma Phi regarding the “40-
yard dash,” the proceeding
investigations by the frater-
nity and University and the
chapter’s suspension persists
going into winter semester.
While the national headquar-
ters says it and the chapter
have been falsely character-
ized by the University and that
the chapter remains operat-
ing, the University and the
IFC uphold the sanction.
AAIFC President Michael
Salciccioli, a Business junior,
said in a statement to The
Daily the chapter is still
in good standing with the
AAIFC. He said the coun-
cil took the actions of Alpha
Sigma Phi national headquar-
ters into consideration and
sees no problems for the chap-
ter moving forward under the
AAIFC.
“Alpha Sigma Phi’s nation-
als already adjudicated the
issue
and
suspended
or
expelled members who were
involved in policy violations,”
Salciccioli said. “Because of
this and the fact that, to our
knowledge, Alpha Sigma Phi
has not violated any of our
policies since becoming mem-
bers, the Ann Arbor Interfra-
ternity Council believes no
further disciplinary action is
needed.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Thursday, January 10 2019 — 3A
ME/NA
From Page 1A
asked by Hobbs to resign
with the threat of being
fired if she did not comply.
As a result, the subject was
moved
to
a
disciplinary
review conference where
Wang was fired for “failing
to meet expectations” on
July 13.
However, the University
did not admit any liability
in
the
settlement,
and
claimed they had corrected
the
employee’s
visa
issue
without
Wang’s
involvement.
University
spokesman Rick Fitzgerald
responded
to
Wang’s
allegations.
“The
University
of
Michigan
categorically
denies the allegation that
Wang was ever asked to lie,”
Fitzgerald said in an email to
The Daily. “The university
also denies that Wang was
a ‘whistleblower’ because
the university, on its own,
discovered the visa issues
with another employee and
took action to correct that
situation
independent
of
Wang.”
Hobbs retired from the
University in late 2018.
The University offered
Wang
$219,000
in
lost
wages and damages and
$81,000 in legal fees. Wang
agreed to never work for
the University again and
eliminated any new claims
related to her termination.
According to the agreement,
the
University
also
agreed to to let Wang’s
record indicated she had
voluntarily resigned.
“U-M
agrees
to
characterize
Wang’s
termination as a resignation
and expunge the personnel
file
of
any
documents
reflecting she was fired.”
The
agreement
goes
on
to state, “Wang and U-M
agree that they will keep
this Agreement confidential
and will not disclose any
information to any third
party.”
Law
professor
J.J.
Prescott, whose research
interests
include
employment
law
and
settlement, discussed the
reasoning behind why the
University may have chosen
to agree to a settlement even
though they did not claim
any sort of liability for the
situation.
“Parties
often
settle
to reduce risk and lower
costs” Prescott said. “Going
to trail costs is expensive
and
time
consuming,
and there is always the
uncertainty about the trial
outcome. Even if you are
very confident you will win,
you can never be sure, so
settlement can make sense
for both parties.”
Wang and her lawyer from
Gasiorek, Morgan, Greco,
McCauley and Kotzian P.C.
could not be reached for
comment.
LAWSUIT
From Page 1A
HAZING
From Page 1A
FLE ET WOOD DINE R
RUCHITA IYER/Daily
Opened in 1949, the Fleetwood Diner continues to serve classic American fare, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
comment at a later date. At
the time of publication, The
Daily was unable to reach a
manager for comment.
Business
sophomore
Cameron Zurawlow lives in
University Towers. He said
he had not heard much from
his landlords in regards to the
notice.
“I don’t really know what
it’s for so I don’t know how
it will affect me, but I do
know that there has been no
email or any communication
in regards to this fine from
management, which reflects
on management as a whole,”
he said. “As a resident, it would
be nice to be on the same page
as
management
and
know
all things that are going on
with the apartment, but that
definitely hasn’t been met.”
He said he was disappointed
with
the
management
of
University Towers and was
willing to move elsewhere.
“Living here kinda has its
comment at a later date. At the
time of publication, The Daily
was unable to reach a manager
for comment.
Business
sophomore
Cameron Zurawlow lives in
University Towers. He said
he had not heard much from
his landlords in regards to the
notice.
“I don’t really know what
it’s for so I don’t know how
it will affect me, but I do
know that there has been no
email or any communication
in regards to this fine from
management, which reflects
on management as a whole,”
he said. “As a resident, it would
be nice to be on the same page
as
management
and
know
all things that are going on
with the apartment, but that
definitely hasn’t been met.”
He said he was disappointed
with
the
management
of
University Towers and was
willing to move elsewhere.
“Living here kinda has its
ups and downs,” he said. “So
to be honest, I don’t think
management does its best.
When looking into UT last year
as a freshman, I was promised
all new furniture when I would
move in my sophomore year. It
turns out that when I showed
up this year, I did not have new
furniture in my apartment, and
when I asked the front desk
about the situation, they told
me that they never said that
and that I was not promised
new
furniture,
which
was
completely wrong on their
part.”
LSA
sophomore
Areesha
Shahab also lives in University
Towers and felt similarly to
Zurawlow. She said she hoped
the
noncompliance
notice
would push management to
improve their performance.
“I think the fine will cause
many to rethink their stay in
UTowers for future semesters
and feel as though they can
detest management more than
they think since the city of Ann
Arbor pointed out their flaws as
well,” Shahab said.
Shahab
said
friends
of
hers who also rented units
in University Towers were
frustrated as well.
“Management isn’t all that
great either,” Shahab said.
“Some are very rude and
unwelcoming. I’ve had a friend
visit me in my apartment and
get yelled at by a woman at
the front desk for walking
in the building, (which is)
something that I hear other
apartment buildings don’t yell
at residents for as long as they
don’t seem like strangers or
pose a dangerous threat. I feel
like by doing so, management is
deterring future tenants.”
Howard Lazarus, Ann Arbor
city
administrator;
David
Kaiser, Ann Arbor city building
inspector; and the city’s Rental
Housing Services department
did not respond to requests for
comment.
This is a developing story.
Please check michigandaily.com
for updates.
TOWERS
From Page 1A
strategic plan could mean
for the Arab community.
However, they soon real-
ized the Middle Eastern/
North African community
was not included on any
University
of
Michigan
documents. Arab students
marked themselves as white
or other.
Kedra Ishop, vice provost
for
enrollment
manage-
ment, oversees key offices
within the University that
supervise
the
collection
and reporting of student
data. Ishop said input from
the Islamophobia Working
Group,
the
organization
in charge of the #WeExist
campaign, provoked con-
versations with Rackham,
which eventually led to an
inclusion of Middle Eastern
and North African identi-
ties.
“We made the change in
large part in response to
input from groups, such as
the Islamophobia Working
Group and student organi-
zations including CSG, that
sought better reflection of
MENA identities in Univer-
sity statistics,” Ishop wrote
in an email interview with
The Daily.
LSA junior Silan Fadlal-
lah, who is currently the
group coordinator for the
IWG, believes the inclusion
of a ME/NA identity helps
Arab
students
feel
they
belong.
“(Inclusion
of
ME/NA
identity)
is
important
because it gives an extreme-
ly large community a sense
of belonging on campus,”
Fadlallah wrote. “You con-
stantly see the “You belong
here” signs on campus and,
honestly, not even having
a box that represents your
racial group doesn’t give
me that sense. How can
you belong in a place that
doesn’t even recognize your
existence? And forget the
feelings aspect, giving us a
ME/NA checkbox opens the
doors to opportunities with
communities of color on
campus, scholarships, etc.”
Jad Elharake, program
lead at the Office of Diver-
sity, Equity, and Inclusion
and the Office for Health
Equity and Inclusion, said
that the lack of data on the
ME/NA community creates
problems with identifying
trends.
“The inability to collec-
tively identify ME/NA stu-
dents, faculty and staff is
problematic for several rea-
sons that we’ve stated in the
past when it comes to reten-
tion rates, academic dis-
parities, bias incidents, or
really any assessment, espe-
cially DEI focused assess-
ments,” Elharake said.
While
the
University
has started to account for
Middle Eastern and North
African identities, the U.S.
Census does not. According
to several people involved
with adjusting University
data, this has posed a logis-
tical challenge to including
ME/NA identities on Uni-
versity documents. In order
to adhere to federal report-
ing requirements, ME/NA
identities fall underneath
the white racial category
in some official documents.
Internal University docu-
ments, such as surveys and
admissions
applications,
are the exception.
“We concluded that the
application for admission
is the most reasonable and
efficient
mechanism
to
collect extended race and
ethnicity
information,”
Ishop wrote. “It is impor-
tant to understand that we
remain subject to reporting
requirements of the federal
government, the state of
Michigan, etc. that require
our use of and alignment
to the U.S. Census race and
ethnicity
categories
for
reports to them.”
However, many Arab stu-
dents feel including the
Middle Eastern and North
African identities under the
white racial category is sim-
ply inaccurate to their lived
experiences.
“The answer is extremely
simple:
Middle
Eastern/
North
Africans
are
not
white,” Fadlallah said. “We
are a beautifully diverse
racial group with sever-
al different cultures and
customs from the ME/NA
region. If you go by the Cen-
sus, yes it says we are white,
but try turning on the news
and listening to them talk
about any Arab and/or ME/
NA country because they
exoticize and villainize the
hell out of us. So why are we
only considered white when
it’s easier and more ben-
eficial, but considered to
be the enemy or an “other”
when society says so? We
are ME/NA, not white, not
other.”
Ethriam Brammer, assis-
tant dean and DEI imple-
mentation lead of Rackham
Graduate School, identifies
as an indigenous Latinx
person and sees similari-
ties between the Latinx and
Arab communities.
“The Latinx and Hispanic
category is very similar in
that you have racially Black
identifying Latinx individ-
uals, or racially white iden-
tifying, or my own identity
which is an indigenous or
native
Latinx
person,”
Brammer said. “The same
kinds of combinations obvi-
ously exist with under ME/
NA individuals as well. Ide-
ally (ME/NA) would be its
own separate ethnic identi-
fier.”
Brammer
empathized
with Middle Eastern and
North
African
students
who feel their identities are
not accurately represented
under a white racial cat-
egory.
“Where
the
complica-
tions come from and where
the similarities end is now
the Census Bureau has a
Hispanic
box,”
Brammer
said. “Since 2010 census,
there’s basically a question
of whether or not you’re
Latinx or Hispanic, and
then you move to racial
identifiers. You can iden-
tify yourself as Latineq-
uis and African American
and white, or like myself,
Latinequis
and
native.
However, that’s not possi-
ble with ME/NA right now.
To consistently report our
data, it has to be embedded
with white unfortunately,
because that’s the kind of
federal standard for data
reporting.”
Brammer
believes
the
University’s
divergence
from federal racial catego-
ries displays leadership.
“I
think
the
positive
thing is that we’re showing
leadership,” Brammer said.
“This
is
important
that
Middle Eastern and North
African individuals, be it
staff, faculty or students,
all have the opportunity
to more accurately iden-
tify their own identity. But
it’s not the standard way
of doing it. It means that
it’s a little bit more com-
plicated, and right now it’s
still embedded within the
white racial category, and
we know that there’s a lot
of complications that come
with that.”
I would strongly
encourage the
University to
hold its students
accountable.
Read more online at
michigandaily.com