For
the
last
time
before
her
retirement in January, The Michigan
Daily sat down for an interview with
E. Royster Harper, the University’s
vice president for Student Life. In the
interview on Friday afternoon, Harper
discussed
IFC-affiliated
fraternities
recruiting freshmen against University
policy, controversy surrounding the
senior honor society Order of Angell,
protests against the University’s sexual
misconduct policy and reflections on her
20-year career at the University.
The Michigan Daily: A Michigan
Daily
investigation
found
some
IFC-affiliated fraternities recruited
freshmen students against University
policy. In addition, the investigation
found that at least one IFC-affiliated
fraternity used freshmen pledges as
sober monitors for at least one party
without these students completing the
required University training. What
are potential negative consequences
of students participating in unofficial
rush and pledging processes? What
are potential negative consequences
of students serving as sober monitors
without proper training? What does
University administration plan to do to
address these issues?
E. Royster Harper: The whole
point of having the new policy in place
is to really give first-year students a
chance to get anchored academically
and socially. In part because we know
that when students have more of an
opportunity to get settled into college,
they’re less likely to be susceptible
to behavior that puts them in harm’s
way. So, I’m deeply disappointed if
that is actually going on, and we have
reason to believe that it is going on.
You can imagine also how ineffective
and concerning it would be to have
first-year students acting as sober
monitors, not likely to approach an
upperclassman and insist on the kind
of behavior that causes students to be
safe, and they’re certainly not likely
to confront an upperclassmen in a
fraternity that they want to be a part of.
So, what we’re trying to do and
are having conversations about now,
because we believe in self-governance,
because we’ve tried to do this work
with IFC, because we believe that
they are acting in good faith and
with integrity. … We are looking at
and working also with the Nationals
and with the police about what the
consequences of this kind of behavior
will be. There is a process that the
Greek community uses when there are
violations of policies and procedures.
So of course, we will be taking a look
at that. What the Office of Fraternity
and Sorority Life is certainly looking
at is following up on reports that come
through the hazing hotline. … But I
want to be careful that I don’t accuse
them of doing something that they’ve
not done. So, now the issue is trying to
figure out, where is the truth?
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Vice President Harper reflects on legacy at
University, considers future of Student Life
Executive officer talks fraternity and sorority life, Title IX interim policy while looking back on career
ALEC COHEN/Daily
E. Royster Harper, Vice President of Student Life, shares her thoughts on the IFC recruitment process in an interview with The Daily in Fleming Administration Building Friday afternoon.
ALEX HARRING
Daily Staff Reporter
See FELLOWSHIP, Page 2B
GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.
INDEX
Vol. CXXIX, No. 35
©2019 The Michigan Daily
N E W S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O P I N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
Follow The Daily
on Instagram,
@michigandaily
CAMPUS LIFE
Fast food chain Taco Bell
will be added to the University
of Michigan’s newly renovated
Michigan Union, among other
food and service partners.
The Union is slated to reopen
its doors this coming January.
The University announced
the other business included in
the space about a month ago,
some of which include Barnes
and
Noble,
Sweetwaters
Coffee and Tea and Panera
Bread.
Fast food chain to be
added to new lineup
SAYALI AMIN
Daily News Editor
Taco Bell
joins Union
restaurants
Wallace House expands fellowship
Program to add 2 positions for journalists from news outlets across the Midwest
The Knight-Wallace Fellowship
— a program for accomplished
journalists to study at the University
of Michigan — has expanded to
include two fellowship positions
for leadership of beginning news
operations in the Midwest.
Wallace House Director Lynette
Clemetson said the opportunity,
housed
within
the
current
fellowship
framework
and
its
benefits, will allow project leaders to
develop outlets focused on bringing
news to the Midwest. Fellows in the
new program will work with faculty
in the University’s Business School
and Law School and can continue
to work for their operation from
Ann Arbor, a responsibility fellows
normally must forgo during their
eight months in the program.
“When you look at the Midwest,
in these areas where things have
been closing, there hasn’t been
a rush to to address those voids
and there hasn’t been a rush in
funding or attention,” Clemetson
said. “The repercussions of local
news disappearing in the Midwest
are striking and quite serious, and
things that I think we’ve all been
feeling socially and politically for
the past several years.”
Clemetson said the new addition
to the fellowship program was
inspired by a report from the Knight
Center and the University of North
Carolina, which found growing
news deserts in the Midwest. The
report found around one in four
newspapers in the U.S. have shut
down or merged since 2004, and
approximately half of newspaper
jobs have been terminated in the
same period.
Ann Arbor became the first city
of any size to lose its professional
daily newspaper in 2009 when the
Ann Arbor News shut down and
then merged with the media group
MLive. The new Ann Arbor News
now publishes a paper twice-weekly
and online daily.
Clemetson said Ann Arbor has
felt the effects of losing one of its
main sources of news. She said
she hopes the fellowship allows
participants
to
build
outlets
to fill voids left by shuttered
publications.
See UNION, Page 2B
PARNIA MAZHAR
& CLAIRE HAO
Daily Staff Reporters
K n i g h t - Wa l l a c e
Fellowship Expansion
$70,000
stipend
Subsidized classes, seminars,
workshops and travel
Six months of consulting support
after the conclusion of the fellowship
One out of four newspapers in
the U.S. have been shut down or
merged since 2004
Approximately half of reporting jobs
have been terminated since 2004
Two spots
for fellows
See WALLACE, Page 2B