Roy Kapeniak is a former classmate of Michael Kern at Williams College, which they attended during the late 1970s. In January 2013, once the House Majority Whip Frank Underwood's chief of staff Doug Stamper discovered Kapeniak's connection with Kern and informed his boss about it, the two decided to use Kapeniak to take down already scrambling Kern who was awaiting confirmation after being tapped for the Secretary of State post by the newly elected President Garrett Walker.