YOU MATCHED!
EIU community members across campus speak on experiences with love, atypical sexualities
Lucy Ade, student
Page 4 away
EIU student body president shares journey to finding her identity.
Cayleigh Rath, student
Page 5 away
EIU student shares hardships of identifying as queer
Cameron Craig, professor
Page 5 away
EIU professor and husband share sexuality struggles and community acceptance.
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EIU Pride gives students safe place
Student body president, vice president of EIU Pride finds identity in EIU Pride
By Chandler Smith Campus Reporter | @DEN_newsLucy Ade expressed her gratitude towards EIU Pride explaining the importance the Registered Student Organization, RSO, brought to her since Ade is a part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Ade explains how EIU Pride has helped her gather her identity as a transgender person.
“It’s probably one of the organizations that helped me gather my identity, and mostly it helped me find a place to start exploring my identity that I would feel comfortable enough to come out and start expressing my identity outside of pride,” Ade said.
Ade also explains that she was not the first transgender person to take on the role of vice president of EIU Pride.
The RSO has been a support system for her and others on campus.
“I hope that it brought more LGBTQ+ students into student government and other leadership positions,” Ade said. “Just every community needs their voice and I’m happy that me being in these positions has helped gain the voices.”
Ade also explained that many people have gone to EIU Pride and have become great friends, and many have created those connections in Pride
“There’s a lot of people that met at pride, and then they went on to be really great friends afterwards, and I think that’s one of the best ways I think any student organization, especially one that based on an affinity group, is really great at is bringing students out who are part of that
affinity group together and making those connections.” Ade said. “I also know that just like any [registered student organization] leadership position we have had new members join our executive board and those students gain new leadership positions and get to share their voice.”
Ade also talked about what events are coming up and that are hosted by EIU Pride.
Pride has hosted some events that any Eastern student can get involved in.
“A lot of the funds that pride has used for their members come from the drag show, use it very much at the fundraiser event, and in the past, I’ve also donated a lot of money from the drag show to different organizations.”
Ade said. “I think one of the other ones that I’m happy I got to help with and I’m happy that I’m continuing to help with is our second chance prom.”
The LGBTQ+ community has changed overtime according to Ade.
“I’m happy to see how much the EIU community has gained in acceptance,” Ade said. “I think that’s something that we should all be proud of. There’s still work to be done. Just like in the rest of the country and the rest of the world, there’s still work to be done. But the EIU community has gotten a lot more accepting of more than just the LGBTQ+ community of other communities.”
To get involved in EIU Pride or EIU’s LGBTQ+ community contact lgbtqa@ eiu.edu.
Chandler Smith can be reached at 581-2812 or at cbsmith5@eiu. edu.
EIU Pride allows President Pilar Barrio, other students to feel safe, comfortable
By Cam’ron Hardy News Editor | @DEN_newsEIU Pride’s purpose is to allow students to feel comfortable and to provide a safe space.
Members of the Registered Student organization, RSO, host activities for students throughout the year. One of the events that the group is currently planning is a prom.
This is going to be the second promthemed event that the RSO is hosting.
Barrio said EIU Pride wants to give people a chance to just go to prom in case they never got the chance to because of COVID-19, or to just go again.
As president, Barrio helps orchestrate events. She also has to coordinate the RSO’s meetings.
She does not pay attention to titles though. Since everyone helps each other out, she does not think that the titles are not as important as getting the work done.
Barrio said she originally joined EIU Pride so she could be included in other activities.
She was a player on the women’s soccer team, but currently helps manage the team.
Athletes tend to spend a lot of time together and Barrio said she wanted to go out and meet other people.
“Usually, I just hang out with athletes, and that’s something that I didn’t like in the sense of wanting to explore more things and kind of see what I’ve been missing on campus,” Barrio said.
Barrio also said the people made her feel comfortable when she first joined, and the comfortability increased the longer she was in EIU Pride.
“Slowly I could tell that [there were] people that I could relate [with] in so many different things,” Barrio said. “It helped me get out of that routine. They treat me great and I’m super thankful that I [joined] and got out of my comfort zone.”
Barrio said she was very busy when she first joined the RSO.
While having to manage soccer and her job as the clinical assistant at the Center for Gender and Sexual Diversity, which each require 20 hours a week of work, and school work, she said she was very stressful.
She said her teammates and new friends in EIU Pride allowed her to feel comfortable. Members in Pride allowed her to feel welcomed.
She said when she originally joined the RSO she was scared because she had never met any of the people that were already members and did not know what to expect.
When she first came to Eastern she did not have to try to make friends since her teammates were already her friends.
Barrio is from Cobena, Spain and when
she first came to Eastern, she said the transition was hard for her.
“At first, I was really lost; I was in another country, I didn’t know how things worked and stuff like that , and I was exposed to so many different people.”
Barrio also said that joining EIU Pride allowed her to find herself.
“It led me [to] kind of find myself and be myself [and] feel more comfortable with who I was,” Barrio said.
Barrio said that she did not know how people would feel when she told them that she planned on joining Pride.
Barrio said she understand when someone first comes to a school that they might try to fit in and figure everything out and make friends but knows that part is hard.
She thinks that it would be great for people to be more open minded and try out different RSOs.
“Getting involved and meeting new people is [going to] really enhance your experience at EIU, so I welcome everyone to come to pride meets or the GSD Center every day,” Barrio said.
How EIU professor overcame sexuality struggles
By Chandler Smith Campus Reporter | @DEN_newsGeology instructor, Cameron Craig, and his husband Joshua Craig, an Eastern hospitality and tourism student, will be celebrating the fourth anniversary of their wedding, and plan to throw a dinner party with friends and family.
“Last year we hosted an anniversary get-together, we had 20 people, and we had a recital, bringing musical talents in and we just had a wonderful meal with family and friends,” Joshua Craig said. “It’s creating memories between ourselves but then with others that share the love and continue to support.”
Joshua describes himself as the rock in the relationship and also how both Cameron and Joshua benefit from each other in the relationship.
“I think I’m like an owl, I’m a very recluse introvert.” Joshua Craig said. “I analyze people and a lot of people say that I’m a strong individual and I gather my thoughts before I speak. So, I think I’m your rock, I think at times I’m there to comfort I know when something’s bothering [him], and when I try to, unfortunately, pry maybe he resists at times when it’s time to like vent and talk through things and vice versa.”
Joshua also talks about his time in grade school and how he did cheerleading tryouts and how that started a conversation between the couple.
“So, in sixth grade, discovering myself a little bit more, and I was involved in tumbling lessons, and I gained more skills and more confidence, and I said, why don’t I try cheerleading tryouts?,”
Joshua Craig said.
Cameron Craig said that they watch a lot of gymnastics together. Cameron said that he is learning a lot of things about the sport such as the wolf spin and the peach basket.
The couple said they have been through the issue of sexuality and feel
it’s important for people to move past that in life.
“Growing up from the 70’s and 80’s, I didn’t realize who I was until late high school, and then I’m like, ‘Okay, well, this is very interesting,’” Cameron Craig said. “And so, in the late 80’s, and into the 90’s, it was very difficult to be a gay man because it was [like], you don’t say anything, you hide. I was bullied and called names and so it just took a lot
of luck. A lot of strong thinking [and a] strong attitude to continue in that respect, and for some, it’s very difficult to do that.”
Cameron Craig also suggested reaching out to professors in any situation and to talk to people about situations that someone might be in.
“If you are struggling, talk to someone,” Cameron Craig said. “We have plenty of safe zone professors and staff
here on campus that are open to individuals that are unsure. You know, I’ve been approached by some students that have questions. I think that’s important too. If you feel that there’s a toxic situation, then you need to find a way out of it.”
Chandler Smith can be reached at 581-2812 or at cbsmith5@eiu. edu.
EIU student opens up about hardships of being queer
By Adriana Hernandez-Santana Features Junior editor | @DEN_newsSelf-identity is a way of knowing who you are as a person and who you are meant to be. For some, they know exactly who that is. And for others, they have to do a little bit more soul searching to find out who they really are.
But that’s why having good relationships to help you find your way is so important. Cayleigh Rath, the Social Chair member of EIU Pride here on campus, says that she does everything she can to help ensure that all members have a safe space to find those connections, and make some friends along the way.
Rath does admit that growing up, she did not have the best LGBTQ+ friendly environment. Growing up in Southern Illinois, she felt like she had to repress the way she felt at times.
“Everybody there would be like, marry a man, settle down, you know, very housewife energy which is so weird because, like, when you go to Chicago or Champaign, they’re very much not like that,” Rath said. Anything other than the “norm” was con-
sidered taboo. The experience that really stuck out to her was when her cousin had come out to their family as transgender.
The family was not accepting.
“They continued to bully him continuously, even though, like, he would say his preferred name, pronouns, like identity, and like it got to the point where the rest of the family would ostracize him,” Rath said. Things like consistent bullying and lack of acceptance are just some of the few prob-
lems members of the LGBTQ+ community struggle with. For some members, it gets better.
For others…they don’t always get to see the good side. Rath does say that her dad’s side was not very supportive of her cousin, which does make her nervous to say her truth. Her mother, she believes, would be supportive of her.
“Yeah, she’s very, you know, you can be whoever you want to be and sometimes
like, I can tell what she means,” Rath said. “Like you do whatever you want to do, honey.”
Rath realizes that although she may want to come out to her family as queer, the road to acceptance isn’t going to be easy.
That being said, she does want to extend her help to anyone that is struggling with a similar situation or coming out. What’s helped her a ton is finding a safe community of friends to talk with and grow.
She wants to offer the same things to anyone interested in joining EIU Pride.
“If I were to come out to [my parents], or when I would come out to them, I would honestly bring Pride up,” Rath said. “This is an organization that I’m proud to say that I’ve been a part of, and it’s made me feel that people like my cousin and people like me have a place to at least, talk to people about their experiences... I wouldn’t want any other job because I like the aspect of having fun with the people you share your community with.”
Adriana Hernandez-Santana can be reached at 581-2812 or at aihernandez@eiu.edu.
Charleston needs to be more accepting
While parts of Charleston are known places for students in the LGBTQ+ community to hang out at, there are still parts of town that are recommended to be avoided.
With Eastern being based in Charleston,it has led to more progressive events and hangout places near the campus.
On Eastern’s campus there are several pride and LGBTQ+ events throughout the year. However, there are less off-campus and unrelated to campus.
Eastern provides a safe space for those who identify as part of the LGBTQ+, but when students move into “townie” areas of Charleston it is more of a risk.
Townies is a term used by Eastern students to describe Charleston residents who reflect the negative views of those residing in rural central Illinois areas.
Townies can describe Charleston residents who are racist, homophobic, transphobic, demeaning towards young adults and the classic “those college kids ruin everything in this town” complainers.
While there are definitely accepting and unbothered Charleston residents, the townies tend to be louder. We at The News feel that Charleston still has a ways to go before
being a fully or mostly accepting community for others. Be kind, learn to be less hate-
ful, so the future Charleston can be as accepting as Eastern’s community.
COLUMN
Queer media: take notes on atypical relationships
I’m not afraid to admit I sobbed uncontrollably at the third episode of “The Last of Us” “Long Long Time” on HBO, at one in the morning. Even a week or so later, I am still constantly thinking about how much this episode impacted me.
The first character we are introduced to is Bill (Nick Offerman) who is well-known for his appearance as Ron Swanson in Parks and Recreation.
Bill is your stereotypical “the government are all Nazis” and survivalist who has fleshed out a plan for when the world would inevitably end. He hid in the bunker below his basement while the military evacuated his town.
After everyone is gone, Bill starts to set up a safe zone. After living in his comfortably lonely lifestyle for around 4 years, he stumbles across someone who fell into one of his pit traps outside his perimeter.
Enter Frank (Murray Bartlett) known for his performance in “White Lotus.” After Bill ensures Frank is not infected, he helps him out of the trap and reluctantly invites Frank for a meal.
Editorial Board Rob Le CatesAfter eating, Frank is taken in by a vintage piano and starts to play “Long Long Time” by Linda Ronstadt and I can confidently say this will be 2023’s “Running up That Hill” by Kate Bush featured in “Stranger Things” season four.
After Bill gets annoyed with Frank’s playing he takes the song from a softer, more sensitive tone, and not long after, the two share an intimate moment in light of the years of trauma
Madelyn Kidd Ellen Dooley Kate Stevensand grief they have experienced.
The most touching point is at the end of the episode, Frank decides he has one day left. Frank tells Bill he wants to spend the whole day appreciating each other, get married, have one final good dinner together, and then to have his lover put pills in his wine so he will die. Bill is reluctant and tries to fight Frank on his plan but is convinced after the most heartwarming, sentimental quote I have ever heard.
“Let me love you the way I want to.” Hearing this, Bill abides and does everything Frank asks him to, and at the end of the day, drinks the same wine as his husband because he doesn’t want to live without him.
I have never, ever watched gay media and felt such a connection to gay media. As a young, gay man, I have struggled with understanding love and this episode gave me hope that love is something you will ultimately find no matter the circumstance or age.
Several videos I watched, talked about how since the tragedy started in 2003, all laws which benefited
LGBTQ+ individuals, like same-sex marriage, didn’t take hold.
But despite prior-world legal restraints, Bill and Frank found their own love in the worst possible setting, and they didn’t need a piece of paper to ratify their feelings toward each other.
The two are not young, ripped, or slim-bodied it is different and that’s why I like it. Other queer media needs to take notes on how to not only showcase socially-desired slim-bodied, muscular, young gay men.
The two appear to be in their mid-thirties at the start of the show and we see them develop into middle-aged men. The two aren’t the “ideal” physique, unlike others in popular gay romance media like “Call Me By Your Name,” “Heartstopper,” and “Love, Simon” and are able to drive such a powerful narrative on love.
Rob Le Cates is a sophomore journalism major. He can be reached at 581-2812 or at rllecates@eiu.edu.
Davies gives back to community through soccer
By Autumn Schulz Sports Editor | @autschulzIt all started in third grade for Eastern’s women’s redshirt senior goalkeeper Faith Davies.
Davies’ granny and nana and other members of her family set the precedent of giving back to the community around them and Davies followed directly in their footsteps.
The Lombard, Ill native began volunteering at a church near her childhood home and her love for giving back really took off during her junior year of high school at Glenbard East.
However, injury struck, and Davies went through a very hard time in her life.
“I had a season ending injury, I tore my MCL, and I couldn’t play anymore,” Davies said. “I got so, like, depressed because all I had known up to that point was soccer. I play soccer, I love playing soccer, and that’s all I had.”
Davies said that after her injury, she left all her team group chats and quit soccer because her love for soccer had diminished at that point in her career.
However, a new sense of hope was felt by Davies after getting involved with a program called Buddy’s Helpers.
Buddy’s Helpers helped Davies get involved with hundreds of high school student athletes and make an impact on their lives.
According to buddyshelpers.org, the program “engages and educates student athletes through the #PowerOFSport. It’s the vehicle to get future leaders on the road to make a difference today and create #LifeLONGMemories to impact future decision-making tomorrow with their families, in their communities and future places of employment.”
“It helped me to learn to love soccer for the power of the sport, for the connections it gave me, the relationships it gave me,” Davies said. “The platform and the ability it gave me to help other people.”
Brad Guzan, the former goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club Atlanta United FC, reached out to Davies through an email and told her to get involved with soccer in different ways other than just playing the sport.
That email pushed her to get involved with Buddy’s Helpers.
“Realistically I think that it plants a seed in these kids,” Davies said. “Like, we are working with all these high school kids, we’re helping them do work in their communities and giving them the opportunity to volunteer and make a difference.”
Buddy’s Helpers works in partnership with the Body Armor Sports Series and the student athletes involved with the Tournament.
Most of the volunteer work that Davies does takes place in the Chicago, Ill. area.
Most recently, Davies went home and volunteered at Dulles School of Excellence, an elementary school in Chicago, Ill.
She rewarded the students for a reading incentive program they par -
ticipated in after student athletes built them a library.
Davies was able to come back to soccer for her senior year of high school and re-injured her knee but was able to finish the season. Davies then committed to play soccer for the Panthers after transferring from UIC and has been with the team since 2019.
At first, there were some frustrations with not being able to continue volunteering around the Chicago, Ill area after coming to Charleston, but coming here offered different opportunities for Davies.
“Coming here has given me the opportunity to expand into more and to share my experiences and stories and all the knowledge I have picked up from volunteering with new people,” Davies said.
A new way that Davie started giv -
ing back while being here in Charleston was calling a first grader from Chicago each week and talking to her about school, life, soccer Davies said that one of the coolest things to happen to her as a result of her volunteer work was that CNN did a feature story on her, while she was in high school, and how she embodied what it meant to be a positive athlete.
A couple months later, the feature aired and a bunch of schools around the country played the video for their students and Davies started to receive personal messages from younger kids and kids her age telling her that because of her, they want to become more involved in their communities.
Injuries struck Davies once again when she began her time with the Panthers.
She suffered a hamstring injury during her junior season and then in what was supposed to be her senior season this year, Davies instead underwent hip surgery.
“I want to be known as a good person and I want to know I did everything I could to help others.”
- Faith Davies
Joe Trost, who runs Buddy’s Helpers, was a big mentor to Davies during the hard times that her injuries brought her.
“I look at him as like a mentor and I have relied on a lot of the advice from him,” Davies said. “Just about
using this year to become a better leader, better teammate, and really like build more relationships outside of my friend group within the team.”
Just like her injuries in high school did not stop her from giving back, Davies once again recently used her injuries and turned it into something positive.
On Feb. 6, Davies and fellow teammate Ava Hensley, traveled to Philadelphia, PA, to participate in the Uplifting Athletes Leadership Conference.
Uplifting Athletes is a nonprofit organization of current student athletes that participate in events such as “Lift for Life” in order raise money for rare diseases.
The Eastern football team has participated in “Lift for Life” and last year, another fellow teammate of Davies, Kenzie Balcerak, started a women’s teams’ chapter for the campus.
The conference had a panel of those who have been affected by rare diseases that spoke about their experiences.
The ‘finale’ of the conference was the sixth annual “Young Investigator Draft” that was held in the Philadelphia Eagles’ stadium in order to simulate the experience of an NFL draft.
Ten researchers submitted to receive grants to continue their research for rare diseases and each of them received $20,000 dollars. Davies was able to select Dr. Zain Awamleh.
Through injuries and balancing life as a student-athlete, Davies said that she finds strength to continue to give back by remembering her ‘why.’
“I want to be remembered as a good person,” Davies said. Like yeah, I want to win, but in 40 years if someone asks about soccer, I don’t care if they remember that. I want to be known as a good person and I want to know that I did everything I could to help others.”
Autumn Schulz can be reached at 581-2812 or acschulz@eiu.edu.
Swanson breaks 44 year-long mile record time
By Kate Stevens Assistant Sports Editor |@katestevens25Junior track and field distance runner Adam Swanson broke a record that no one has been able to touch in the last 44 years.
He officially has run the fastest mile in EIU history. At the Iowa State Classic on Feb. 4, he ran a mile of 4:03.56, which was just .4 seconds faster than Reo Rorem who set the record in 1979 with a mile of 4:03.6.
Swanson said he was excited when his coach Erin Howarth told him that he had broken the record.
“When I asked my coach, she was telling me and in the moment I’m kind of like ‘oh, stop playing. Did I really?’ and she was like ‘yeah, you did by four 100ths of a second,’” Swanson said, “That was a really good feeling, especially with how old that record was, 44 years, it’s just really awesome and I felt really happy doing that.”
Howarth said Swanson is another example of what hard work paying off looks like.
Swanson’s record comes after two long-awaited distance records were broken in the fall of 2021 by Dustin Hatfield and Jaime Marcos.
“It’s an amazing feeling to see their hard work pay off, as cliche as that sounds,” Swanson said. “It’s been a great year in that regard, with Dustin breaking a long standing 8k record last fall and then Jaime breaking the indoor 5k record that stood nearly as long as Reo’s mile record from 1979. And now Adam breaks the mile record. And from three different guys breaking those records. It just shows you that these guys have made each other better every day, that they have created a culture of success and hard work and set the expectations of each and every team member higher with their work ethic. It’s so fun to be a part of it”
Howarth said Swanson’s abilities as an athlete are like no other and he is very dedicated to what he does.
“In terms of an athlete, I’ve never seen anyone with the raw speed that Adam has,” Howarth said. “I’ve also never seen anyone with the range Adam has; he can split 47 on a 4x4 leg and race near 24:00 for an 8k and compete at a very high level at any event in between. He’s a very unique young man in that sense.”
Swanson said he grew up running and the pain and mental toughness it has taught him has brought him a long way.
“Opening up the season with that mile time was really awesome. Just showing what I can do going forward.””
- Adam Swanson
“If you’re not mentally strong, you just can’t push past any significant barriers,” Swanson said. “The pain that teaches you mentally, you know, that’s what makes or breaks you, that’s what makes or breaks your race.”
He said a runner needs to keep up that mentally throughout the race, but even more so at the end of the race.
“I like to tell myself ‘you know what, when it gets harder I get faster, especially toward the end because that’s when everyone’s hurt,’” Swanson said. “And yeah, that’s where I turn on the jets.”
Howarth said Swanson trains hard
and that’s what ultimately led him to breaking this record.
“Adam is very smart in the way he trains,” Howarth said. “When he’s supposed to go hard, he goes hard. When it’s an easy day and a day to recover, he does his run at a nice easy pace. He definitely has bought into the philosophy and the training and knows that to continue to grow, he needs to stay consistent and not overdo anything that he does.”
As Swanson is in his third year as a distance runner for track and field and cross country, he has won several accolades and has been one of the top distance runners EIU has had alongside Hatfield and Marcos, as well as others.
After winning both the OVC Male Freshman of the Year and OVC Male Track Athlete of the Year in 2021, he has not let off the breaks and has continued to get better as time goes on.
Swanson said he was a walk-on as he did not receive any scholarships or offers for his running abilities in high school, but he reached out to Howarth to see about running for Eastern.
He said as a walk-on he wanted to do his best and try to earn scholarships for college if at all possible.
He also said training in college is much different as there are different types of workouts that they have to do.
He said he enjoys it and that working hard in training and on the track and course has paid off.
He said his ultimate goal as a runner is to run a mile in under four minutes.
“Going into the season, [I’m] definitely trying to run under the four minute barrier, that’s a big thing in the sport of running to be able to get under that four minute mark,” Swanson said. “That’s been my goal all year and falling short at 4:03, which is still nothing to be mad about, because I
got the school record, but that was the goal.”
Swanson said although he has not reached his ultimate goal as a runner yet, getting down to 4:03 was a big deal for him. He also noted that he had not run a mile competitively in quite a while.
“Opening up the season with that mile was really awesome,” Swanson said. “Just showing what I can do going forward.”
Howarth also said that Swanson was a bit down that he did not quite hit the four minute mark, but it showed that progression throughout the season is something they are looking forward to.
“Honestly, although Adam was very excited about breaking the school record, he was a bit let down as well because he knew it wasn’t his best race,” Howarth said. “It was a great race for sure, but he still had a lot more there to give. Not only had it been a long time since he’d raced the mile, but he had never been in a competitive mile race like that where it was being paced to a sub four minute mile. We are both excited about his next opportunity to be in a big race like that.”
The track team has a few more indoor meets and races before the outdoor season opens up at the end of March.
Both Howarth and Swanson expressed their excitement to compete as they finish up the indoor and start outdoor meets and races.
Eastern’s track and field and cross country teams have been doing consistently well the last few years and have produced some of the best runners that EIU has had in a long time. As Howarth and Swanson mentioned, this season will be one to look out for as the success is sure to continue.
Kate Stevens can be reached at 5812812 or kestevens2@eiu.edu.