ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Thursday, November 7, 2013
Ann Arbor, Michigan
michigandaily.com
FUNDRAISING
Campaign organizers want to hit 5M people Victors for Michigan development drive will kick off Friday By SAM GRINGLAS Daily Staff Reporter ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily
The University’s chapter of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity (house pictured above) is being investigated after multiple hazing allegations were brought to light.
AEPi frat accused of hazing President ousted, ‘U’ and national office investigating By YARDAIN AMRON Daily Staff Reporter
New hazing allegations have been lodged against the University’s chapter of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, the second claim in the past month.
In response, the AEPi national organization removed LSA sophomore Andrew Koffsky, the chapter’s president, from his leadership position and has opened a formal investigation into the matter. John Pierce, spokesman for the national AEPi organization, said Wednesday the latest allegations came forward in an anonymous e-mail. Pierce said he could not confirm or deny the veracity of the claims in the
e-mail or provide any details about the message’s content. “Sometimes reports like that are credible, and they are trying to protect themselves or trying to maintain some anonymity for fear of repercussions,” Pierce said. “In other cases, they’re competitive fraternities who are trying to get our fraternity in trouble.” The Indiana-based organization acted swiftly on the allegations Tuesday, sending Koffsky
a cease-and-desist letter that suspended his presidency that morning and dispatching Alex Mandel, a regional representative, to the University’s chapter house in the evening.” Mandel met with Music, Theatre & Dance sophomore Aaron Dombey, vice president of AEPi, and Kinesiology junior Carl Scheller, the fraternity’s treasurer, for more than three hours. Koffsky was not allowed See HAZING, Page 3A
Though the Victors for Michigan campaign won’t officially launch until Friday, the University’s Office of Development is aiming to reach five-million people regarding the fundraising effort. Development officials said Wednesday that Victors for Michigan is on track to garner five-million “touch points” for the period spanning from Monday to Friday’s kickoff party. Touch points measure instances of contact with members of the general public and University affiliates, which can include marketing activities and word of mouth. Tom Szczepanski, senior executive director for annual giving, marketing and student engage-
ment in the Office of Development, said connecting as many people as possible is crucial to meet the a bold fundraising target. The overall goal for the campaign will be announced at a press event Thursday. “This is going to be an audacious goal,” Szczepanski said. “It’s going to be the largest campaign goal in the history of higher public education.” The University’s last campaign, The Michigan Difference, ended in 2008 and raised $3.2 billion, passing its original $2.5-million goal. Victors for Michigan aims to shoot even higher. Szczepanski said receiving a host of small gifts is as important as snagging multi-million dollar leadership gifts like Rick and Susan Rogel’s $50-million donation to the Medical School and Chinese studies program announced Tuesday. “Those gifts rightly get a lot of publicity,” Szczepanski said. “But the reality is just as there See CAMPAIGN, Page 3A
POLITICS
STUDENT LIFE
PubPol student wins election in Trenton, Mich.
Speak Out event gives survivors a safe space
University senior’s elected to city council in hometown race By HILLARY CRAWFORD Daily Staff Reporter
As the dust settled from city council elections in Trenton, Mich., about 40 miles from Ann Arbor, another Michigan man became an elected policy maker. The twist: Steven Rzeppa is a current Public Policy senior. Rzeppa became interested in running for political office after working on the State House campaign of former Trenton Mayor Tom Dorigzki in 2012. Early on, Dorigzki encouraged him to consider running for elected office in the small city with close to 19,000 residents. “He brought the idea to me that there are people who want to see younger people get involved,” Rzeppa said. Four of the six current coun-
cil members were first elected to office before Rzeppa was born. When Dorigzki told Rzeppa that two of the council members were retiring, he also suggested Rzeppa run to replace them. Even before beginning his campaign, Rzeppa benefitted from a strong standing in the community. His mother worked for the city for almost 15 years, which allowed him to build connections with the city’s firefighters and police force. In addition to encouraging active participation in the community, Rzeppa also took into consideration the long-term challenges of cities across the state by talking to constituents about the drop in property values and declines in state share revenues. The majority of the campaigning took place during the summer, when he and his campaign volunteers knocked on more than 6,000 doors — at least half of which Rzeppa said he visited personally. Although the former mayor See TRENTON, Page 3A
At SAPAC event, students talk about sexual violence experiences By CAROLYN GEARIG
PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Sociology Professor Elizabeth Armstrong talks at the “Let’s Talk About Sex, a Conversation on Campus Hookup Culture” at Rakham Auditorium Wednesday.
Professor debunks myths about college hookups Armstrong speaks at TEDxUM salon on campus sex culture By AMABEL KAROUB For the Daily
On a dark, rainy Wednesday night, nearly 100 students gathered together in the fourth
floor of the Rackham Graduate School to talk about sex. Seats were filled well before the TEDx Salon event started at 7:30 p.m., and students crowded on the floor to listen with rapt attention to the speaker, Sociology Prof. Elizabeth Armstrong. TEDxUM, an independent TED student group, hosts a conference once a year along with smaller events like the salon. Armstrong, co-author of
“Paying for the Party,” discussed the positive and negative affiliations with “hookups,” which she defined as kissing, touching or full intercourse, on a college campus. Armstrong relied heavily on results from a Stanford University survey about sex on college campuses that compared average hookups, dates and relationships by college seniors. She dispelled the popSee HOOK-UPS, Page 3A
Daily Staff Reporter
The Michigan Union ballroom was filled with over 100 people Wednesday evening for the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center’s 27th annual Speak Out. As a part of the event, students who experienced intimate partner violence, sexual harassment, sexual assault and stalking were invited to speak openly about their experiences. LSA junior Kathryn Abercrombie and LSA senior Nicole Corrigan — co-coordinators for SAPAC’s Networking, Publicity & Activism Volunteer Program —organized the event. The program leads outreach and raises awareness on campus about sexual assault. See SURVIVORS, Page 3A
How UMS got its groove back How did the Univesity Musical Societybecame one of the University’s most diverse programs”
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INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 25 ©2013 The Michigan Daily michigandaily.com
NEWS......................... 2A OPINION.....................4A S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7A
SUDOKU..................... 3A CL ASSIFIEDS...............6A B-SIDE ....................1B