Expectant parents left scrambling after Heartland Women’s Healthcare leaves SIH
Jaycee Davison, 19, stands for a portrait Feb. 7, 2025 at Herrin City Park in Herrin, Illinois. Davison, pregnant with her second child, was prepared to give birth at the end of February the same way she delivered her first -- in Carbondale with Heartland Women’s Healthcare. Following the withdrawal of Heartland’s labor and delivery services from SIH Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, she had to find a new plan with her due date just weeks away. Lylee Gibbs | @lyleegibbsphoto
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Just weeks away from the birth of her second child, 19-year-old Jaycee Davison was set to deliver her second baby the way she did her first – in Carbondale with Heartland Women’s Healthcare. She received a notification from Facebook that a friend had tagged her in a post saying Heartland Women’s Healthcare is no longer offering labor and delivery services in Carbondale, Illinois. Now, so close to her due date, she had to find a new plan.
“I was very scared,” Davison said. “I was nervous about being in a different environment other than Carbondale because Carbondale was so good to me… That still makes me nervous, but I think it should be all right.”
On Jan. 21, Heartland Women’s Healthcare posted on their Facebook page that they would no longer be offering obstetrical and gynecological care at the SIH Memorial Hospital of Carbondale effective Jan. 31, just 10 days after their announcement.
“It raised my issue, where is this going to happen? I don’t know what other hospitals take my insurance,” Davison said.
She was planning to deliver with Dr. Elisabeth Nolan, who delivered her 2-year-old daughter, Zara. But following Heartland’s announcement,
‘The care that you provided saved my child’s life’: Illinois continues to protect youth transgender care
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Editor’s note: This story includes content related to suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline is available by calling or texting 988 or visiting the online chat at 988lifeline.org.
Connie Kathary is no stranger to road trips.
It’s the first week of October 2024 when she makes the threehour drive from Indianapolis to Evansville, Indiana with her mother. Her family owns a business there, so they visit quite often. Plus, it’s fall festival week,
which she can’t miss. Two hundred thousand people are gathering on the west side’s Franklin Street for food, games and carnival rides. But for now, Connie settles into a booth at a quiet coffee shop on the east side, compliments the outfit of the woman sitting next to her, and
Davison said she will stick with her provider but change her initial plans by delivering with Dr. Catherine Wikoff in Mt. Vernon, where Heartland Women’s Healthcare has referred patients, and she won’t meet her doctor until days before the delivery. Now the closest option for Davison, Mt. Vernon is about a 45-minute drive from where she lives in Herrin.
For many in Carbondale, the announcement came as a surprise. But Dr. Michael Schifano, the director of Heartland Women’s Healthcare, said, “This is something that we knew was coming along for a period of time.”
Southern Illinois Healthcare received a letter on Dec. 4, 2024, from Heartland Women’s Healthcare informing SIH of their intentions to withdraw their labor and delivery privileges from the Carbondale hospital. SIH proposed an extension of a few more months, but discovered on Jan. 21 through Facebook that the extension was off the table, SIH Director of Women and Children Services Terri Pursell said.
Patients like Davison found out through social media just over a week before service would no longer be offered. To Davison, an email would have eased the burden and stress she said, but if they sent one, she said that she didn’t receive it.
“I think maybe emailing their patients individually before they
SIU board remains committed to DEI, hints at Carbondale’s imminent R1 status
JaCkson brandhorst Jbrandhorst@daiLyEGyptian Com
The Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees met on Thursday, Feb. 6 for its regularly scheduled meeting to discuss the status of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on its campuses, SIU Carbondale becoming a top tier research institution, increasing enrollment numbers and the expansion of the SIU School of Medicine.
On the agenda were many things, including presentations from different chancellors and deans, but perhaps the most notable takeaway from Thursday’s meeting was Chancellor Austin Lane’s hesitant, off-thecuff remark about SIU Carbondale transcending into the “upper echelon of universities” by being categorized by the Carnegie Foundation as a Research 1 (R1) University.
“Jeff, is it okay to say it?” Lane asked before being prompted by the board to “spill the beans.”
“Well, I think there are only 146 Research 1 universities,” said Lane. “In the state of Illinois there are only two public R1’s: the University of Illinois Champaign and the University of Illinois Chicago. We’ll become the
about her day of school Jan. 31, 2025 at a marketplace in Indianapolis, Indiana. Carly
Julia Kathary (right) listens to her daughter, Connie Kathary (left), tell her
actually decided to put it on social media. It may have been a better approach for relationships with doctors,” Davison said.
Although Heartland Women’s Healthcare will continue labor and delivery in Shiloh and Mt. Vernon, people who had been going to SIH Memorial Hospital in Carbondale will have the options to travel outside of Carbondale, transfer to another provider or see an Ob. Hospitalist at SIH in Carbondale.
Carbondale is still delivering babies –a common misinterpretation that swept the community following Heartland’s announcement. Chastity Mays, a birth doula with the Little Resource Center in Carbondale, found herself easing fears and combating misinformation for people outside of her client list after the announcement.
“Carbondale still delivers babies,” Mays said. “Also just explaining that no matter where you are, if you have a labor and delivery floor in the hospital, there’s going to be somebody there to deliver your baby. That’s the one thing I had to let people know.”
Shawnee Health and Southern Illinois Ob/Gyn, two active groups that continue to deliver through Carbondale, have stepped up and filled the coverage needed.
“We wanted to make sure all patients felt like this was still a safe place to deliver and that we were going to care for them,” Pursell said.
Those who choose to continue to seek care in Carbondale may now have to see a doctor that they don’t know or haven’t met before, which, according to Schifano, is not ideal. For those who choose to stick to their provider and doctor, they can expect to drive to another office where Heartland Women’s Healthcare still offers care.
“Over half the patients we deliver in Carbondale travel to Carbondale,” Schifano said. “So (for) well over half our patients, there’ll be a mild inconvenience to have to drive a little further to go to Mt. Vernon, but we still feel that we can adequately take care of them.”
Schifano said that two years ago he approached the administration to bring the difficulty of hiring new doctors to their attention. He told the Daily Egyptian that Heartland Women’s Healthcare was experiencing difficulty hiring new doctors due to SIH’s administration not offering funding to Heartland Women’s Healthcare, which they would have allocated to hiring new doctors in Carbondale.
But the difficulty with hiring new doctors in Carbondale is not only due to SIH’s funding, but also due to changes in the medical industry, Schifano said.
“In obstetrics the traditional fulltime practice with call is not desirable anymore as the physicians can work shift work and make just as much money working many less hours,” Schifano said. “And they can make as much as our doctors make doing six or seven shifts a month and then have all the rest of the time off to spend with their family.”
Heartland Women’s Healthcare chose to no longer offer care in Carbondale because of issues with hiring and plans for retirement. They didn’t have the manpower to cover labor and delivery 24 hours a day, seven days a week Schifano said.
Schifano moved from El Paso, Texas
to southern Illinois to start Heartland Women’s Healthcare in Marion in 2001, making the practice almost 25 years old. Since then, Schifano has expanded his practice to locations around southern Illinois and the Heartland region. Now, Schifano said that several of Heartland Women’s Healthcare’s doctors were hoping to retire or to work fewer hours.
“The concern is you know our doctors are getting older, and some are coming towards retirement,” Schifano said.
“The ideal situation would have been to get more doctors, to work closer with the administration, to have them subsidize the recruitment of our physicians so that we could offer a more competitive salary to get people to work in the rural community,” Schifano said.
Schifano told the Daily Egyptian that his organization would be willing to reenter the SIH Memorial Hospital if the hospital offers to help Heartland recruit new physicians.
Because of the appeal of living in a city rather than rural areas, Schifano also said that it has become more difficult to hire new physicians in areas like southern Illinois. “So, unless the doctor’s actually grown up or (is) raised in the area, it’s very difficult to recruit to these areas,” he said.
Heartland’s departure from SIH left other practices with an overflow of new patients, including Shawnee Health.
“Within the first, roughly, day of Heartland announcing that they were withdrawing their services from Carbondale, I mean we had I think it was like 17 phone calls from pregnant patients who hope to transfer in,” Dr. Jeff Ripperda, a family practitioner from Shawnee Health in Murphysboro, said.
According to Ripperda, Heartland Women’s Healthcare was one of the few local Ob/Gyn practices that accepted patients with Medicaid, which he said constitute a large number of patients who deliver locally.
“Heartland was a big part of the obstetrical practice locally here,” Ripperda said. “There’re really only three different groups who are delivering babies regionally, and losing one of those leaves a pretty big hole.”
A large concern for patients is if practices will accept Medicaid.
“With their dropping out of delivering babies at Carbondale,” Ripperda said, “if a woman locally with a medical card wants to deliver in Carbondale, she pretty well only has one choice, and that’s Shawnee Health.”
Without Heartland Women’s Healthcare, many patients are even more limited in terms of options for care, especially those who rely on Medicaid, Ripperda said. “A good chunk of my patients have an hour to get to the hospital when they go into labor and roughly 40 to 45 minutes to get in to see me, but they don’t necessarily have a closer option,” he said.
For many, going out of state is not an option because many practices outside of Illinois don’t accept Illinois Medicaid, according to Ripperda. “If a woman is pregnant in southern Illinois with a medical card, she’s not going to have a lot of options for where she can seek care, unfortunately,” he said.
One of the reasons that there are so few options for labor and delivery in southern Illinois for those with Medicaid is that doctors earn less money through statefunded insurance than through private insurance, according to Ripperda.
In 2022, SIH Memorial Hospital in
Carbondale estimated that 75% of their patients rely on Medicare or Medicaid.
“If a practice accepts a high portion of patients with the medical card, that’s losing out on some income essentially,” Ripperda said. “I always hate reducing medical care to dollars and cents, but the lights’ve got to be kept on. Nurses have to be paid.”
Like Schifano, Ripperda also said that he anticipates some patients who like their doctors at Heartland Women’s Healthcare will travel to Mt. Vernon for care but some will transfer care to local providers if travel is an issue.
“This is a big deal,” Ripperda said, “because there’s all sorts of research out there that shows that the farther a woman lives from the hospital, the higher the likelihood of having a complication or having something go poorly.”
The National Institute of Health wrote in a 2022 article by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, “Longer distances to the delivery hospital were associated with greater risk of adverse maternal outcomes and NICU admission,” although further study is required to determine the exact cause of this correlation.
Ripperda gave an example of a woman having her fourth child, who would be more likely to have a fast labor and to not make it to the hospital before having the baby. In this case, Ripperda said that this presents a higher chance that she would deliver outside of the hospital and can increase the rate of complications.
“If something goes wrong, say a woman starts bleeding, she goes into premature labor, something happens like that, every minute that you have to spend traveling can make a huge difference in terms of whether things are going to be okay for the pregnancy or not,” Ripperda said.
SIH brought in three locum physicians, short-term agency physicians, that were able to help alleviate some of the call burden from Shawnee Health and SI Ob/Gyn following Heartland’s departure. SIH is also in the process of hiring an Ob. Hospitalist to be on staff at the birthing center 24/7 in addition to their current two providers, according to Pursell. Currently, Rice said that SIH has hired one of the four to five hospitalists that they plan to by the spring.
Southern Illinois residents who are pregnant share the same concern with Davison about last-minute changes to their plans, especially those with upcoming due dates. Chastity Mays was met with questions from three of her clients following the announcement who all discovered the
news the same way the community did – through Facebook.
“They found out on social media just like we all did,” Mays said. “They all three called me and was like ‘Chastity oh my gosh, my provider’s closing.’”
Now the only place accepting Medicaid, Shawnee had to adapt with the influx. A client of Mays cannot travel outside of Carbondale to receive care: She doesn’t have transportation. A week later, Mays transferred the client to Shawnee, scheduling an appointment for the following week.
Another client came in to speak with Mays about switching to Shawnee Health, as many others did following the announcement, and while on the phone with Shawnee, their computer system shut down.
The impact of the announcement reached patients and providers all over southern Illinois leaving many fearful and with questions – as well as disappointed by the news.
Ripperda said that the dwindling number of specialized doctors in rural communities presents challenges by necessitating new doctors to offer care in areas outside of their specialties. Also, treating patients outside one’s specialty brings higher risks to patients and doctors because of lawsuits, according to Ripperda.
“It is just kind of easier to practice in an area where you have every specialty available to you,” he said.
But the lack of Ob/Gyn care was still an issue for people in southern Illinois, even before Heartland Women’s
Healthcare left SIH in Carbondale.
“Even when Heartland was here, we probably really didn’t have enough obstetrical providers locally to provide care for what’s needed,” Ripperda said. According to Ripperda, the dwindling number of doctors willing to work in rural areas put more weight onto the shoulders of local doctors. He said that obstetrics is a demanding profession that often entails late nights, sleep deprivation and time away from one’s family.
“We’re human beings, too,” Ripperda said. “The health care system can seem very impersonal sometimes, but I think it kind of behooves everybody to remember that there are human beings providing the medical care –human beings with families and other responsibilities and human beings who like to get some sleep sometimes.”
In addition to this, Ripperda said that the many local providers are from southern Illinois and feel a connection and a commitment to their community.
“It’s not just our patients: it’s our community, our neighbors, our family, our friends, people who we know from outside of the office, too,” Ripperda said. “So, I mean, I think we all feel some sense of responsibility to try to provide good obstetrical care, again, because it’s our community.”
Editor-in-chief Lylee Gibbs can be reached at lgibbs@dailyegyptian.com or @lyleegibbsphoto on instagram. Photo editor Enan Chediak can be reached at echediak@dailyegyptian.com or @enanchediak on instagram.
Jaycee Davison, 19, laughs with her daughter Zara Feb. 7, 2025 at Herrin City Park in Herrin, Illinois.
Lylee Gibbs | @lyleegibbsphoto
Family practitioner Jeff Ripperda poses for a portrait at his office Feb. 2, 2025 in Murphysboro, Illinois. Enan Chediak | @enanchediak
starts from the beginning.
“I should probably start talking about the transition part of it; that’s the whole word – that’s the first part of the word. Trans,” she says, earning a chuckle from her mother.
Three-and-a-half years ago, at age 14, Connie, who was assigned male at birth, realized she was a girl. Her parents, fully supportive of her decision to transition, took her to her primary doctor for gender-affirming care. But due to the hospital’s religious-based policies, she was unable to obtain it there. The pediatrician referred Connie to a clinic in Indianapolis, where she had to wait a year to start her treatment. Finally, she began feminizing hormone therapy – spironolactone and estrogen.
But suddenly, three months into treatment, Indiana passed Senate Bill 480, a law prohibiting gender transition procedures and treatments for minors, even with parental permission.
Connie and her family tried to fight the bill. They rallied at the Statehouse and anxiously watched for updates in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU of Indiana seeking to overturn the law. In June 2023, a judge issued a temporary injunction that blocked the law taking effect, giving them a brief sense of relief. But in February 2024, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the injunction, a decision that sent the Katharys scrambling to find a way to continue Connie’s care.
Like many others, Connie and her family crossed state lines into Illinois — a shield state that passed a law in 2023 protecting practitioners providing, and patients seeking, gender-affirming care for minors, even those coming from states that prohibit it. Still, it hasn’t been easy. They’ve had to drive six-plus hours roundtrip for doctors’ appointments and rely on a network of friends and family to pick up her prescriptions from Illinois pharmacies.
“A majority of my family is accepting and they love me,” Connie, then 17, said, recounting her difficult journey. “But not all people have that. And the way that this law is made, there’s going to be blood on their hands. There’s probably already — and I think…they’re evil for that.”
A tale of two states Indiana is among 26 states that have outlawed youth gender-affirming care statewide since 2021. Illinois, surrounded by states where minors can’t receive that care, has become a critical refuge for those seeking treatment.
Mallory Klocke, director of genderaffirming hormone therapy at Planned Parenthood of Illinois, a reproductive health care provider, said the organization has seen an increase of transgender youth traveling from out of state. “As a program director, I review all the records of people who have already initiated care and are transferring their care to us,” Klocke said. “So I’ve definitely seen lots of people coming in from Indiana (and) people as far as Texas or Florida.”
A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood said around 6% of their gender-affirming patients comes from out of state, seeking estrogen and testosterone therapy, a treatment for gender dysphoria. As defined by Mayo Clinic, gender dysphoria is “a feeling of distress that can happen when a person’s gender identity differs from the sex assigned at birth.” A diagnosis does not come from avoiding typical gender roles, but rather it focuses on “feelings of distress due to a strong, lasting desire to be another gender.”
From 2017 through 2021, 121,882 children ages 6 to 17 in the U.S. were diagnosed with gender dysphoria, according to a research analysis by
affirming care to transgender people ages 16 and up, opened in Memphis, Tennessee in 1974 and expanded to Carbondale, Illinois in 2022. For older adolescents, the Carbondale clinic is now their only option. Tennessee banned health care workers from providing hormones, puberty blockers and other treatments to trans youth in 2023 with the passage of Senate Bill 1, which is currently being challenged in the Supreme Court.
“For whatever reason, places like Tennessee, it’s like their top agenda is to shut down gender-affirming care,” Kolesar said. “I mean, it’s a bizarre fixation, but yeah, I think it’s critical for places like Illinois to have the access so people can receive the care they need.”
Similar to Tennessee, Indiana prohibits medical practitioners from providing gender-affirming health care to minors and referring minors to other practitioners.
Nadine McSpadden, director of advocacy and general counsel at IYG, a nonprofit organization that serves LGBTQ+ youth and young adults in Indiana, said the way the bill passed was “really unfortunate.” Initially, a grandfather clause left those receiving treatment with six months
“Ultimately, I have never had a lawmaker question whether I needed my two heart surgeries... Those are all life-saving medications. It’s really that simple.”
- Kelly Cassidy Illinois state representative, 14th District
Reuters Investigates and Komodo Health Inc. That’s less than 0.1% of the nation’s total population, yet over half of Midwestern states have passed bans on medical practice for transgender youth in recent years, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an independent, nonprofit think tank. Of the five states that have not, Illinois and Minnesota are the only states to offer a “shield law” protecting access to care. This makes Illinois the safest option for most Midwesterners, and for transgender youth living in the south — where care is banned in all but Virginia — the closest.
To Charles Kolesar, a clinical director at CHOICES Center for Reproductive Health, open access in Illinois is crucial. CHOICES, which offers gender-
Julia Kathary rests her hand on the wrist of her daughter, Connie Kathary Jan. 31, 2025 at a marketplace in Indianapolis, Indiana. In October, while recounting her medical journey, Connie praised Julia for all her help. “Well, I’m your mom,” Julia said. “When a kid needs something medically…that’s what parents do, right? They’re supposed to.”
4664, also known as the Patient and Provider Protection Act (PAPPA). Edwin Yohnka, director of communications and public policy at ACLU of Illinois, said it was “designed to ensure that no one who is providing lawful health care in Illinois is subject to punishment as a result of having provided that care.”
“As we see, other states not only implement these bans but then also try to enforce their bans from their state in Illinois,” Yohnka said.
PAPPA was sponsored by 18 Senate members and 44 House Representatives, including 14th District Rep. Kelly Cassidy.
decisions impacting bodily autonomy are made without governmental interference. “Ultimately, I have never had a lawmaker question whether I needed my two heart surgeries,” she said. “They saved my life, and so did my abortion, but I’ve had to justify that.” She added, “I just left the swearing-in of the first trans countywide elected official. Her medication saved her life. Those are all life-saving medications. It’s really that simple.”
to continue treatment, but when the injunction was lifted, so was the clause.
“Overnight, all of the families were suddenly without any medical provider in the state of Indiana able to either offer them any care or refer them to anyone in another state,” McSpadden said. “So it actually left everyone in a worse position than they would have been under the original law. And because the law not only prevents families from receiving this treatment, it also prevents doctors in Indiana referring patients and their families to other out of state providers. So the families kind of have to figure this out on their own.”
Since January 2023, Illinois has protected those seeking or providing reproductive health care with House Bill
“What it does, fundamentally, is ensure, in multiple ways, that patients and providers have as many protections as we can craft from overreach by states with bans,” Cassidy said in an interview in December. “So making sure that no ban state can affect providers’ licensure here in Illinois. We’ve made very clear that abortion care and gender-affirming care are lawful health care in the state of Illinois, and that that will be respected, making sure that people are protected when they come here to seek care.”
Cassidy is a long-term advocate for LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights. Her mother had to cross state lines to give birth to her. Her partner is nonbinary. She’s the only openly gay member of her chamber. These experiences made supporting the bill a no-brainer, she said.
“That was a fight that I was not going to back away from,” she said.
Cassidy said the law ensures there is Medicaid coverage of gender-affirming care; prevents Illinois from participating in investigations when other states seek to penalize those who are traveling to access health care; and protects the Illinois licensure of medical professionals who are dually licensed.
Cassidy feels it’s important that
In the small, rural college town of Carbondale, Illinois, a bodily autonomy ordinance protects autonomous medical decisions, including gender-affirming care. “It’s expressly written…that anyone in the city of Carbondale who is caught working with some law enforcement agency attempting to extradite someone for coming here to exercise their right to health care, they’ll be held liable,” said Carbondale City Councilmember Clare Killman. “The individual who is cooperating with an outside law enforcement agency will be held liable. And no member of Carbondale City staff, Carbondale Police Department included, is authorized to comply with, say, an extradition order.”
Killman is the first openly transgender person to be elected to a city council in Illinois. Having lived in Carbondale ever since fleeing a dire situation in Missouri at 17 years old, she considers herself an “interstate refugee.”
“It’s not like I can come here and be declared a refugee and seek asylum, but Carbondale essentially did that for me, where they opened their arms and they integrated me, and I was able to build a life here,” she said.
Like Cassidy, Killman questions whether state and federal authorities should be able to override an individual’s medical care decisions. She praises Illinois
Connie Kathary, 18, types on her computer Jan. 31, 2025 at a marketplace in Indianapolis, Indiana. Connie, who loves to write stories, plans to study creative writing when she goes off to college next year. Carly Gist | @gistofthestory
third R1 that’s public in our state.”
R1 universities are institutions that have been classified by the Carnegie Foundation as having “the highest level of research activity.”
SIU currently resides in the R2 category, meaning that it emanates “high research activity,” but, according to Lane, on Thursday, Feb. 13, SIU will move into the “very high research activity” category and will officially join 146 other schools across the country in being labeled an R1 institution.
Apparently joining SIU in becoming an R1 institution on Feb. 13 will be Howard University, making it the first Historically Black College to do so.
“I think Howard University may become the first R1 HBCU. That’s gonna be announced as well,” Lane said to the panel of chuckling board members. “I just spilled the beans for them too.”
SIU will become the fifth university in Illinois to earn R1 status, joining the two the universities in the U of I system and the private University of Chicago and Northwestern University in Evanston.
SIU will host a reception on Feb. 17 to celebrate the achievement.
DEI Discussion:
“No plans to make changes at this time” Concerns have risen across the country regarding the status of DEI initiatives in light of orders executed by newly inaugurated President Donald Trump.
To address those concerns and to touch on the principles being upheld within the systems of SIU, the board heard from Sheila Caldwell, SIU’s vice president of anti-racism and DEI, who spoke to the changing legal landscape and the system’s commitment to combating racism and remaining diverse, equitable and inclusive.
“In light of recent executive orders dismissing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts as wasteful and useless, I want to reiterate the impact that DEI initiatives have had across SIU campuses and communities,” said Caldwell. “Under equity initiatives, we have observed measurable improvements and retention rates of Pell eligible, first generation, African American, Latino, Hispanic and white students at SIU Carbondale and SIU Edwardsville.
“Furthermore, the equity and inclusion efforts within the school of medicine have had lifesaving results by educating clinicians, staff and learners on the social determinants of health and ensuring that diverse populations have access to quality and equitable healthcare,” said Caldwell.
In recent statements, Trump has strongly criticized DEI initiatives, particularly in the context of government agencies and university systems.
Following an airplane collision at Washington’s Reagan National Airport that resulted in 67 fatalities, Trump attributed the incident to DEI policies within the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). He suggested that these initiatives have led to the hiring of unqualified personnel, thereby compromising safety standards.
As reported by the Associated Press, no evidence has emerged indicating that initiatives seeking to diversify the FAA played any role in the collision.
Trump’s executive orders that shut down DEI efforts in federal agencies and that ban those same efforts in companies with federal contracts have not only sparked discussion among board meetings in higher education, but have forced universities to adjust to new restrictions, leaving many federal and university employees on leave and in limbo.
Additionally reported by the AP, dozens of federal employees involved in DEI roles have been placed on paid administrative leave, with plans to eliminate these positions entirely. In response, some universities are closing DEI offices, halting related research projects and canceling conferences to comply with the new directives to avoid losing essential federal funding.
Opponents of DEI initiatives and those that support Trump’s executive orders argue that programs that practice DEI undermine meritocracy by prioritizing identity over qualifications, claiming that it leads to less competent hires, like insinuated by Trump, and that DEI encourages things like reverse discrimination and unfair disadvantages.
Proponents of DEI initiatives, like Caldwell, would argue that these programs do not undermine meritocracy but rather expand opportunities for
historically marginalized groups who have faced systemic barriers, ensuring a fairer playing field for the future.
“Despite our success, the data reveal persistent challenges across SIU campuses,” said Caldwell, referencing SIU’s claim that although DEI initiatives have made an impact, the programs have yet to achieve complete equity.
“We just had an opportunity to hear the reports from the chancellors, and we see that those gaps are narrowing, but still, we have gaps with Pell eligible students, Native Americans, Latino Hispanics and African Americans,” said Caldwell. “They continue to graduate at a lower rate compared to their white peers. This disparity is not a coincidence. It stems from systemic inequities such as underfunded elementary and high schools, limited access to technology and high teacher turnover. These obstacles disproportionately affect underrepresented students and racialized ethnic minorities.”
According to both Caldwell and the data, there is still work to be done.
“The work of advancing diversity, equity and inclusion requires long-term commitment and intentional action to break down barriers and to ensure equal opportunities for all of our work,” said Caldwell. “We are deeply committed to promoting equity in hiring and retention practices, equitable pay, addressing and resolving employee grievances and creating programming that celebrates and honors diverse communities.
“We work to cultivate a dignified, inclusive and excellent work and learning environment, implementing strategies to ensure that all faculty, staff and students have equal opportunities to thrive.
“While the terms diversity, equity and inclusion are rarely used directly in political discourse, the principles they represent are positive. It is difficult to argue that having diverse perspectives, backgrounds and voices represented is a negative thing.”
SIU System President Daniel F. Mahoney, Chairman J. Phil Gilbert and Vice Chairman Ed Hightower all shared Caldwell’s sentiment.
“You know our goal is really to support all of our students,” said Mahoney. “We recognize though that the support may be different depending on their different situations.
“We have student veteran support services, we have support services for students with various disabilities –our goal is to make sure that every student has what they need to be successful.
“What we also find is that if we raise the success of any group, everybody’s success seems to go up. It does not take away from anybody else’s success when one group succeeds, and we certainly have data here and data from other places,” said Mahoney, who continued addressing the claims that oppose DEI initiatives and further elaborated on the SIU data.
“What is interesting is that we’re hearing a lot about how we’ve gone too far,” said Mahoney, referring to those that claim that DEI is no longer needed because it has accomplished what it set out to do.
“If you look at the last U.S. census, about 41% of the U.S. population was underrepresented racialized minorities,” said Mahoney. “If we’d gone too far, you would think our number would be somewhere north of 41%, but that’s just not true nationally in higher education. It is well below that.
“If you look at the SIU data, there is only one category where we’re above 20%, and that is faculty, and that’s barely above 20%, so the idea that we’ve gone too far just does not match the data in any way, shape or form. It’s completely inconsistent.”
“As someone who has come up through the struggles, I share the many experiences that Dr. Caldwell alluded to today,” said Hightower. “What we have to do is continue to tell the positive stories and successes that we are experiencing here at SIU. If we do that, we are dispelling a lot of the misinformation about DEI that’s out there.”
“I told President Mahoney yesterday – as a university, we need to stay the course,” said Gilbert. “I can’t think of an institution more important to diversity, equity and inclusion than an educational institution, because education is the bridge to tomorrow for everyone – no matter their race, color creed or national origin. So I think that we are committed to staying the course.”
“As chair Gilbert said, we have no plans to make
2025 Saluki Con brings celebrity guests, interactive workshops and games to SIU
AnnAlise schmidt Aschmidt@dAilyegyptiAn com
Saluki Con, SIU’s annual pop culture convention, is set to return to SIU this weekend, bringing fans of comics, gaming, sci-fi and anime together for two days of panels, vendors and cosplay.
The convention, hosted at the SIU Student Center on Feb. 10-11, will feature special guests, gaming tournaments and a cosplay contest. Attendees can browse artist booths, shop for collectibles and participate in interactive workshops.
Nathan Bonner, co-chair of the Saluki Con Committee, said, “It started in 2017 with Eclipse Con. It was decided that the university should put on a comic con in relation to the other festivities going on during the 2017 eclipse.”
Given the event’s success, the committee decided to establish it as an annual tradition.
“We renamed it Saluki Con because eclipses are very expensive to have every year, so we could only afford two. We continued on until last year, when we had the second Eclipse Con, and now we are kind of moving beyond that with Saluki Con again,” Bonner said.
This year’s guest lineup includes
voice actors, comic book artists and industry professionals. Among them is Sean Astin, best known for his roles in “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Goonies.”
“Sean Astin is obviously our headliner, as he’s our special Saturday night speaker,” Bonner said. “He’ll only be speaking at Trike Auditorium at 5, and he won’t be on the con floor, but we do have other guests who will be on the con floor on Saturday and Sunday.”
Other notable guests include EG Daily, the voice of Tommy from “Rugrats” and Buttercup from “Powerpuff Girls,” as well as Dan Payne, known for roles in “Watchmen,” “Battlestar Galactica,” “Stargate” and several Hallmark movies. WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Hart and comic creator Kyle Starks, who has worked on the “Rick and Morty” comics, will also be in attendance.
Regional artists such as Zach Atkinson, a comic artist and colorist for “Devil’s Due” and “Dynamite,” and Carbondale native Brad Moore, a death metal cover artist, will also be present.
In addition to celebrity appearances, Saluki Con offers a variety of panels covering topics such as character design, storytelling
in video games and the latest trends in anime. Gaming enthusiasts can compete in tabletop and video game tournaments, while families can enjoy kid-friendly activities and crafts.
The cosplay contest is also a highlight of the event, inviting attendees to showcase their costumes for a chance to win prizes. Contestants will be judged on craftsmanship, creativity and presentation.
Jeffrey Punske, an associate professor in the School of Languages, Linguistics, and a member of the Saluki Con Committee, said, “We have our costume contest, we have a competitive D&D contest. We have open gaming and play-to-win, where folks can play games, get their names added to a raffle, and at the end of the event, they can win games.”
One of the special panels this year will feature Chris Stantis, an assistant professor of biological anthropology at SIU.
“She’s going to be giving a talk about the type of archaeology that I think will be of high interest to folks that are into role-playing games or that kind of media,” Punske said. “She’ll be discussing some of her favorite and least favorite archaeologists from different media sources.”
Punske also highlighted SIU’s
historical involvement in gaming.
“SIU has a long history of being involved in the development of roleplaying games and tabletop games. Throughout the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s, it was a hotbed for these games when they were much more underground,” he said. “Rumor is that the first place D&D was played outside of Lake Geneva, where it was developed, was on the campus of SIU. The first video game that had players go up in levels was developed by SIU students.”
Bonner added that Saluki Con
continues to evolve each year.
“We always try to mix it up a little bit and come up with fresh new ideas each time…we always try to have at least some new workshops or panels that we’ve not had before,” he said.
Tickets for Saluki Con are available online and at the door, with discounts for students and children. For more information, including a full schedule of events, visit https://salukicon.siu.edu/
Staff reporter Annalise Schmidt can be reached at aschmidt@dailyegyptian.com
Day Starr-Fleming | dstarrfleming@dailyegyptian.com
Heather Hammers from West Frankfort records her song “Train to Chicago” with the Brand Advocacy Group and River to River to River Community Records in preparation to enter the National Public Radio’s Tiny Desk Concert series Feb. 8, 2025 at Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center in Carbondale, Illinois. Called ‘Tiny Desk Crashers,’ BAG and RRCR host free studio slots for local musical acts to come and record a video to submit to the NPR contest. Lylee Gibbs @lyleegibbsphoto
Volunteers band together to help local musicans crash NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest
Mylee Walker lylee Gibbs
@MyleeWalkerWrites
@lyleeGibbsphoto
Different genres of music blare from the second floor of the Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center and instrument cases scatter the recording studio.
Musicians from all around the southern Illinois area set up in the Brand Advocacy Group studio behind a tiny, brown desk in hopes to share their music with the world.
The brown desk resembles that of the well-known white desk at the National Public Radio’s Tiny Desk Concert series –
Considered host Bob Boilen. From Chappell Roan to the cast of “Sesame Street,” the series has a variety of artists in their catalog.
Each year they run a contest for unsigned artists to get an opportunity to have their own episode in the series.
Calling themselves the Tiny Desk Crashers, southern Illinois-based groups Band Advocacy Group and the River to River Community Records collaborated to offer local musical acts free and open studio slots to produce a high-quality video to submit for NPR’s contest. The idea is to help southern Illinois bands get their name out there and advance their chances of being
This year, the Tiny Desk Crashers made the decision to scale back from last year’s 150-plus recordings, but still aimed to help at least 50 artists submit an entry with a priority of those who didn’t get an opportunity last year. Each weekend starting mid-January leading up to the contest’s deadline on Feb. 11, Nathan Colombo, Max Senteney, Mike Arthur and Rob Rindfuss with Brand Advocacy Group and River to River Community Records were in the studio. From rock music to the soft strum of a guitar — and even a warlock — the doors of Band Advocacy Group’s studio opened to a wide variety of acts looking for the same outcome. The recording catalog they’ve
created is also a testament to the range of artists who call southern Illinois home.
“What is kind of exciting about this process is that the diversity of the acts that we have that come up here,” Senteney said.
“Which is what makes this music scene in southern Illinois so special.”
On Saturday, Feb. 8, in the occasional light rain and overcast skies, several bands filed into the studio to record. In the mid-afternoon, local rock group JC and the Family Band wheeled in their guitars and amplifiers to record their song “Red Carpet Walk” for the contest.
The five-person band consisting of singer Jeannie Armstrong, lead guitarist John Carvell, drummer JC Caraway, bass guitarist Zak Kagy and rhythm guitarist Austin Lee all originate from Carbondale, Du Quoin and Murphysboro. The band was started by Carvell, Caraway and Kagy when Caraway discovered they played guitar and mentioned he had past experience in playing drums. Armstrong and Lee later joined to complete the group after Caraway brought them in with his personal connections.
“This is my family and we’re tight,” Caraway, the drummer and band’s namesake, said. “That’s my favorite part of it.”
The biggest attraction for many rural artists, including JC and the Family Band, is exposure through the contest.
“Doing a video like this that we could put it out to get people, they might not know us or if they heard our name, they might not know what we play, like how we sound,” Kagy said. “So this is a good representation of what we play, we play rock ‘n’ roll… This is how we do it. This is more of an extension of ourselves in a way.”
Heather Hammers visited the studio
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Matthew Evans, Josiah Evans and Lara Ashby — took interest in the contest last year but made the decision they weren’t prepared to throw their hat in the ring. This year round, the band narrowed down their song choices and began practicing.
“We played the same song probably a hundred times,” Matthew Evans said.
The brown desk in the studio was covered in rocks originating from southern Illinois and a deer skull while the Swamp Boys performed their song “Brother’s Soul” written by Evans about a brother who spent time in the hospital.
“I wrote the song, he was in the hospital for a while,” Evans said. “It was pretty weird, that’s what brought the song to fruition.”
Their rocks and skull were accompanied by a painting and mandolin for the band’s friend, Fast Molasses, who died last year. He had written the last verse of the song, which was performed by Josiah Evans.
The goal of all of this is to project southern Illinois’ music scene into a national audience. They provide this service for free for bands in the area. Everyone who works on this project are volunteers, who take time out of their day to help their fellow musicians.
“I myself am a musician,” Arthur said. “I grew up playing music around here and I’ve just always been kind of inspired and motivated by this sort of do-it-yourself mentality that always keeps this music scene afloat.”
on Saturday afternoon to record her song “Train to Chicago,” a soft song accompanied by her guitar. The song, written a year ago, is inspired by just that — a trip she took on the train up to Chicago and the relationship with the person she traveled with.
Hammers, a local musician from West Frankfort, has been a musician for a long time. She’s sung her whole life and picked up guitar at the age of 15 and started writing songs. Now, she uploads her songs on YouTube and the experience of recording for the contest will help her in the future with her own videos, she said.
“I make YouTube videos like this by myself at home,” Hammers said. “But, to have a team there helping you and making sure it looks good, it’s just a fun experience and you learn a little bit more about how to make the stuff you do yourself better.”
Dressed in a long, black robe and warlock hat, Kevin Hensold also performed on Saturday. Hensold said he feels as though he was incarnated here but isn’t sure if that is the true origin of his existence, but primarily resides in Makanda, Illinois.
He sang his song “The Master Illusionist Death-Defying Paradoxical Verse,” a spell that is supposed to grant him eternal life.
“Hopefully the spell will have its intended effect,” Hensold said. “ It’s always a gamble with trying to do magic.”
Hensold said his inspiration for his song was his dealings with beings on other planes of existence.
“I died several times and returned to life,” Hensold said. “(I) met a lot of characters and entities along the way to bring me where I am today.”
The Swamp Boys — consisting of
Reporter Mylee Walker can be reached by email at mwalker@dailyegyptian.com or on Instagram @myleewalkerwrites. Editor-inchief Lylee Gibbs can be reached by email at lgibbs@dailyegyptian.com or on Instagram @lyleegibbsphoto.
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changes at this time,” said Mahoney.
“There’s nothing that’s been issued/ released that would suggest that we have to. We’ll continue to monitor.
There is clarity and clarification coming. There also may be legal challenges for that clarification, so we’ll take that as it comes.”
Enrollment numbers and an emphasis on online learning
“Historically, our springs have been pretty bad,” Lane said of Carbondale enrollment.
But this year, that’s not the case.
SIU’s spring enrollment numbers are up 3.27% from last year, meaning that Lane and staff recruited 344 more Salukis this time around.
In Lane’s enrollment presentation, he broke down the SIU student body into six separate categories: new students, new undergraduates, new graduates/professionals, new online students, new transfers and new Saluki Step Ahead members.
Each category saw an increase in enrollment, but none saw as much of an increase in enrollment as the online category.
SIU added 165 online students this semester, yielding a whopping 61.76% increase from last year.
“We think online for us is going to be the future,” said Lane.
“We do have some partnerships
with Risepoint,” Lane said, referring to the online education technology company that provides software services to universities that aim to help them grow their online programs.
“There’s lots of strategic work that’s happening there to really increase the online enrollment for our students,” said Lane, providing further emphasis on SIU’s commitment to exploring the rapidly developing world of digital education.
Other notable enrollment data points detailed by Chancellor Lane were:
• All colleges increased students
• Undergraduate transfers increased by 0.66%
• Graduate readmits increased by 28.95%
• 9% more students were retained than last year
• The fall-to-spring retention rate remained at 84%
Lane spoke to SIU’s Say “Yes” Campaign as being a key factor in the positive enrollment report.
The Say “Yes” Campaign essentially streamlines the application process for high schoolers – specifically southern Illinois high schoolers.
Lane said that the Say “Yes” strategy takes the work out of the high school counselors’ hands by removing some of the steps prospective students would typically take when applying to SIU.
“There’s no essays and all these
other things that can really slow that (application process) down,” said Lane. “We want them to say ‘yes’ to us even when they don’t have to apply.”
For Lane, growth is both the focal point and the bottom line for the SIU administration.
“We’ve got to grow,” he said. An expanding SIU School of Medicine
The SIU School of Medicine is currently in the process of adding multiple new buildings to its growing campus, and the SIU board on Thursday approved the addition of two more.
Attending the meeting to provide insight into the status of the school’s expansion was SIU School of Medicine
Dean Dr. Jerry Kruse.
“The SIU School of Medicine has taken the lead, in the world, on various aspects of medical education,” said Kruse. “Our facilities are old and outdated and the facilities need to be updated to keep us at that top of the world presence.”
Kruse told the board that a Medical Education Building will be necessary if enrollment were to increase, which, as reflected in both the data and the board’s approval, is what they expect.
“We’ve seen dramatic growth in the clinical practice,” said Kruse. “Any measurement that you could use would show growth by 40-60%. Yet, we all know that there is a lack of health care
professionals in the actual practice.”
The School of Medicine has now purchased land for two new buildings on the Springfield campus: A Neuroscience Institute Ambulatory Instructional Facility, which is expected to be 72,000 square feet and cost SIU $52,292,300, and the aforementioned Medical Education Building, which is expected to be 97,111 square feet and will cost $72,569,100.
However, Kruse said that they are still trying to determine how exactly the buildings will be funded.
“We’re still looking for developmental funds,” said Kruse. “Donations and other opportunities – even capital money from the state of Illinois.”
Already funded, the audiology building on 720 N. Bond St. in Springfield has been turned into the otolaryngology building, better known as the ENT building, and will serve as a hub for head and neck surgery upstate.
The board had previously approved the purchase of a Walgreens building on 1310 S. Fifth St. and will look to repurpose it as a new Family Medicine Clinic. The building is 13,900 square feet and the renovation will cost SIU approximately $5,650,000.
The board had also previously approved the purchase of two more properties – an SOM Family Medicine center on 520 N. Fourth St. and an SOM Administration building on
201 E. Madison St. One is expected to be 61,000 square feet and the other is 88,900. The deal to purchase that land is still being negotiated.
In total, the SIU School of Medicine is slated to add roughly 332,911 square feet to its Springfield campus within the next five years, dishing out hundreds of millions of dollars to do so. Updates to the Carbondale Campus The school of medicine isn’t the only SIU campus getting much needed upgrades.
Although not nearly as expensive, Schneider Hall in Carbondale will be getting a new fire alarm system this summer – which will cost a total of $2 million – and will be funded through the university housing repair and replacement reserve.
“Originally constructed in 1968, Schneider Hall has been an integral part of our campus residential life,” said Chancellor Lane. “The existing fire alarm system was installed during the summer of 2006, and it is anticipated that the project to replace that fire alarm system will begin in May 2025.”
The board voted to approve the commencement of that project unanimously.
Staff reporter Jackson Brandhorst can be reached at jbrandhorst@dailyegyptian.com or through instagram @jacksondothtml
Drummer JC Caraway tightens a knob on the drumset as JC and the Family Band prepares to record an entry for the Tiny Desk Concert contest
The Swamp Boys perform their entry to submit to NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series contest. Their song, Brother’s Soul, was based on a brother of band member Matthew Evans who spent time in the hospital.
Giant City Lodge prepares for spring season
Emily Fulk EFulk@dailyEgyptian com
Since the 2024 winter graduation on Dec. 14, the Giant City Lodge has been shut down for the season in order to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the year prior, as well as time to to spend the holiday season with family and repair the odds and ends around the lodge.
The Kelley family has run the lodge since 1981, leading this year to be their 45th year leasing from the state. Over these years, the many generations of Kelleys have adjusted and formed a fixed schedule in running the dining room and cabins.
On Friday Feb. 7, the lodge reopens for the new season, and in order to prepare for this big day, the Kelley family and lodge crew work to prepare for service.
While on their approximate twomonth break, the repairs started with a plumbing issue that had eliminated the use of their second set of restrooms. While a big undertaking, the services lasted a week and were able to be resolved by this season’s opening.
“I wouldn’t say it’s major, because it wasn’t, you know, it’s been a nice
size plumbing repair that shut down our secondary restrooms,” Mikey Kelley said.
Within the rest of the break, both the Kelley family and crew took time to share the holidays with family and friends.
“We are here for other people to enjoy, that’s kind of the point of the service industry,” Kelley said. “We’re here so other people can enjoy their families, so it’s nice to have that time with our family whether that’s going on vacation as family or just being around each other.”
SIU student and lodge server Eli Ratcliff said he’s excited to get back to work.
“Being away from work was nice, since I was able to go home and relax, but recently I’ve been really looking forward to get back to work,” he said. “I miss all the people I get to meet and be around at the lodge.”
As time got closer to opening, the prep to start a new season began. Three weeks before opening, the lodge and cabins underwent a deep clean and update.
“Every single season, we always do a deep cleaning and touch ups,”
The deep clean goes from top to bottom: shining, sweeping and scrubbing anything and everything. The carpets are shampooed and tables move from one room to another to accommodate the cleaning.
The week prior to opening the dining rooms are organized, and staff prepare for the new season at hand. Feb. 6, New hire Wyatt Horn completed his training.
“My first day at the lodge started with firm handshakes and warm hugs from people I haven’t seen in years,” Horn said. “But, being lifelong friends with the Kelleys did not stop them from training me the same way as other servers. On my first day, I was taught about the history of Giant City, the business’ traditional values and of course the extensive menu. My biggest takeaway from day one is to prioritize customer service and hospitality.”
Mikey Kelley said. “Of course, the lodge itself was built in the thirties by the (Civilian Conservation Corps). So being an old building, there’s always something breaking that David (lodge cook) usually gets to fix.”
Staff reporter Emily Fulk can be reached at efulk@dailyegyptian
Illinoisans have the chance to vote on a new flag
Elias WEss EWEss@dailyEgyptian com
Currently, an exploratory vote is being held to determine whether Illinois should get a new flag. There are 10 options, and until Friday, voting is available online. One vote can be submitted each day for the selected options, and a different design can be voted for each day.
With the current state flag having been adopted in 1969, it has been 55 years since Illinois got a new flag. The current flag displays the state seal on a white background, and it has eight colors and many small details, such as tufts of grass and feathers on an eagle. According to a booklet published by the North American Vexillological Association, a flag should be distinctive, simple and have high contrast. Vexillology is the study of flags, their design and their usage. According to the booklet, flags should have two to three colors, with distinct and representative symbology. The current flag of Illinois does not match up to these standards.
“Sometimes you need a fresh coat of paint on things,” Serisen Bardsley, a new Illinois resident and SIU undergraduate student, said.
An Illinois flag design commission was put together with members ranging from average Illinois citizens to Sen. Terri Bryant, who represents the state’s 58th Senate District, which includes Carbondale. When asked how the flag selection process has gone, Bryant stated that it has gone well, and after voting closes on Feb. 14, the commission will have one more meeting to tally the votes, gather the data and prepare it for submission to the general assembly, who will vote on whether to select the winning finalist as the new flag, select a different design, or simply keep the current flag as it is.
The General Assembly could also decide to use the sesquicentennial flag or the centennial flag, both of which are options on the vote. These flags have already been used for anniversaries of the state’s establishment, and both have meaning behind their designs.
Aesthetics play a role in selecting a new flag, as do ease of recognizability and printing. Another thing to consider is what the flag’s design represents.
“I think that part of what would be really wonderful to see in a flag design for Illinois is some show to its Midwestern roots,” Juniper Oxford, an Illinois resident and head of the
LGBT resource center at SIU, said. “Minnesota changed their flag to have that light blue-dark blue. That was symbolic, I think, of its waterways. To have some stuff like that, to have something about our fields, something about our production, something about the waterways… those feel quintessentially Illinoisan.”
“I like the present flag. I’ve made no bones about that,” Bryant said. “I hope we keep the flag that we already have. There’s not anything wrong with the flag.”
Bardsley, who is a geography student, said that a simpler flag design would allow for more versatility in use for labelling charts, graphs and maps.
“The simpler a flag is, the easier you’re able to stretch its use case,” Bardsley said. “So like, graphic design on a website… it’s going to be an easier eye-catch, and people are going to be able to understand it much quicker.”
To vote, go to https://apps.ilsos. gov/stateflag/. Voting closes on Friday Feb. 14, but a vote can be submitted every day until the polls close.
Staff reporter Elias Wess can be reached at ewess@dailyegyptian.com
Jennie Stein and Millie Holtschult clean the doorway at the side entrance of Giant City Lodge Feb 3, 2025 in Makanda, Illinois. Emily Fulk | @emilyfulkphotography
Saluki women hold off Evansville, win first home game in two months
Ryan GRieseR RGReseR@dailyeGyptian com
Viewers of the showdown between the SIU women’s basketball team and Evansville were surely biting their nails in the waning minutes as the Salukis held off the Evansville Purple Aces with a final score of 72-69 on Friday, Feb. 7.
Evansville, who had trailed by as many as 17, had come nearly all the way back, and the Salukis found themselves protecting a slim 68-63 lead.
The Purple Aces came as close as a single point to overtaking the Salukis; a layup with 1:37 left had the score at 6867, and a feeling of dread was seeming to take over the arena.
But the Saluki defense held strong, and their star, Gift Uchenna, showed up in the clutch. In the final minute alone, Uchenna made a layup, had a block on the following possession and eventually iced the game with a free throw with five seconds left.
“Defensively, in that first half, to hold them to 24 points, showed our young ladies we’re capable,” head coach Kelly Bond-White said.
The win marked the first at home since Dec. 2.
“I’m happy for our kids, I’m happy for our coaching staff that remains resilient, that just keeps grinding, and that does it with a little joy. They’re not letting the weight of the season get to them,” Bond-White said.
“There’s no better place for us to win the game than a home game. We had to win it at home,” Uchenna said.
Uchenna was unstoppable on the night, torching Evansville for 20 points while also grabbing 19 rebounds and recording four blocks. She even was doing damage outside the paint, as she also made her second three of the season.
The Salukis also had one of their better shooting games of the year; they shot 33.3% from 3-point range, and 39% from the floor as opposed to their season averages of 26.9% from 3 and 35.2% from the floor.
The defensive effort also showed up in the box score. The Dawgs had 12 steals and seven blocks, both of which vastly outperformed their season averages.
Tkiyah Nelson, who finished with eight points, four assists and four steals but also five turnovers, including four in the last three minutes of the game, redeemed herself, as she made a free throw to put the Dawgs up 71-67.
After ending the first quarter with the score tied at 12, the Salukis took the lead for good off a 3 pointer from Tyranny Brown with 7:29 in the second quarter. Isabella Palmqvist also had a big second quarter, scoring 9 of her 14 points in the frame, including 7 in the last five minutes to help the Salukis carry a 9-point lead into halftime.
Alice Curman, who finished with 10 points, including 2-3 from beyond the arc, started the third quarter with a three, and an Uchenna layup helped to stop a mini Evansville run before it
Freshman guard Alice Curman (20) goes on offense against Evansville freshman guard Logan Luebbers Palmer (33) during a match Feb. 7, 2024 at Banterra Center in Carbondale, Illinois. Jason Isele | @iselephotography
really got started.
Uchenna’s three with 6:34 left in the third pushed the Saluki lead to 12 and with 2:32 in the third, after a Palmqvist three, three total points by Kayla Cooper, and a Nelson layup, the Dawgs found themselves up 16.
Evansville (5-17, 1-10) managed to claw their way back into the game late in the fourth, but it didn’t prove to be enough, as the Salukis overtook them in
the Missouri Valley Conference standings. SIU (4-16, 2-9 MVC) will have a quick turnaround to a Feb. 9 matchup with Indiana State, who sits in cellar of the MVC at 3-19, including 1-10 in conference play. The game will tip off at noon on ESPN+.
Sports reporter Ryan Grieser can be reached at rgrieser@dailyegyptian.com
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Salukis blow out Flames, defeat UIC
Ryan GRieseR RGRieseR@dailyeGyptian com
For the second straight game, the SIU men’s basketball team was lights-out from 3-point range enroute to extinguishing the Flames of UIC 79-67 on Feb. 8, 2025.
Drew Steffe led the charge for the Dawgs from three, converting on 4-of-5 3-pointers on his way to 20 points.
Kennard Davis Jr. continued his hot streak from beyond the arc, going 4-for-6 and finishing with a team-high 23 points.
“Our guys are starting to settle down. We’re shooting the ball better… and it’s making a difference,” head coach Scott Nagy said. “Much more confidence.”
The Salukis were quiet to start the game, and UIC played them close through the first 13 minutes. Neither team could get much going on offense; with seven left in the half, the score was 12-9 Dawgs.
“We were very bad offensively the first 10, 12 minutes a game. It was a rock fight,” Nagy said.
Rolyns Aligbe broke a three-minute scoreless streak with a layup, and Davis Jr. hit his first 3-pointer of the game. While UIC was starting to score too, Davis Jr. answered with another 3 at the 4:32 mark.
The Salukis continued to pour it on via buckets from Damien Mayo Jr., Davis Jr.
and threes by Steffe and Jarrett Hensley to finish the half, taking an 8-point lead into halftime.
“When we’re playing bad offensively, and we’re winning, there’s part of me that just loves… you go into half and we’re not even at 1 point per possession. We were 34 possessions, we had 30 points, they had 22,” Nagy said.
The Salukis saw some defensive lapses in the second half that allowed the Flames to get back into the game, though.
“We started messing around ‘cause the game got a little bit outta hand. And that’s when I lost my mind, turn the ball over, they end up shooting 52% in the second half,” Nagy said.
The Dawgs put on an offensive show in the second half; they scored 49 points in the half, led by Steffe’s 17 in the period. Steffe was a big part of the Salukis shooting 75% from 3-point range, and he also hit six free throws.
The Salukis (12-13, 7-7 MVC) were able to start another winning streak, and are the winners of seven of their last nine. They face off with Bradley on the road on Feb. 12 at 6 p.m.
Sports reporter Ryan Grieser can be reached at rgrieser@dailyegyptian.com.
Hangar 9’s closure: The shift in Carbondale nightlife and what’s next
Joslyn cole Jcole@dailyeGyptian com
The sudden closure of Hangar 9 – a beloved staple on the Carbondale Strip, has left a noticeable void in the local bar scene. As one of the most popular venues for college students and locals alike, its absence has been felt both by patrons and bar owners in the area.
Several bar owners shared their thoughts on Hangar 9’s closure. PK’s owner Walter Wit gave some insight.
“More businesses on The Strip is better for The Strip,” Wit said. “People want to come to a Downtown Central location. Just bar hop, eat food, hang out and be entertained. No one wants to go to just two bars, that’s boring. That’s not walking up and down a strip. That doesn’t feel like bar hopping,” he said.
Although Hangar 9’s closure has left an undeniable gap, many of the local bar owners are adapting to the changes. Some have seen a slight increase in traffic as people look for new places to gather.
“We’ve definitely seen some new faces recently, but it hasn’t had a huge direct impact on us,” Traxx owner Brian Woodruff said.
His venue, which already had a strong following, has maintained its regular crowd but is starting to experiment with new ideas to attract more people.
“I’m considering adopting some of Hangar 9’s popular events, like themed nights, into their programming,” Woodruff said.
One of the most noticeable shifts has been the relocation of Hangar 9’s popular Thursday karaoke night.
“There’s been a slight increase in business on Thursdays since we started doing karaoke at Booby’s,” said Booby’s owner
Abe Traverso.
While this has brought some new business, he was quick to note that it’s not a major game-changer.
“It’s more of a small adjustment than anything that’s outrageously measurable, but it’s been a fun change for us,” he said.
For many bar owners, the closing of Hangar 9 feels like the end of an era. Hangar 9 owner Sally Carter’s decision to retire was understandable, but still bittersweet.
“A lot of us know Sally, and she’s like family to us. It’s hard to imagine The Strip without her venue,” Traverso said.
Even with the closure, there’s optimism that Hangar 9 may eventually reopen.
“I don’t think it’ll be very long before it’s bought and reopened. It would be a tragic loss, to lose a venue of that capacity and caliber in the town, it would be detrimental,” Wit said. “I think it’s bad for The Strip. I think it’s bad for the college. I think it’s bad for the town. A bad look.”
Despite the challenges, the bar community in Carbondale is committed to keeping the strip alive. Many owners, like Traverso, are doubling down on their community involvement.
“We’re very active with arts and music, and we’re going to keep that going. We have local artists and bands showcasing their work, and we’re proud to support them in any way we can,” Traverso said.
As for the future of Hangar 9 itself, it remains to be seen. But for now, the local bar scene seems united in its mission to keep the energy alive and to ensure that Carbondale’s Strip continues to be a place where people can gather and socialize for years to come.
Jarrett Hensley (32) and Davion Sykes (4) shoulder bump as the Salukis face the Flames of UIC Feb. 8, 2025 at Banterra Center in Carbondale, Illinois. Photo provided by Saluki Athletics.
Bartender Rian Graft takes a customer’s order at Traxx Bar Feb. 8, 2025 in Carbondale, Illinois Deangelo Handley | @_deevisuals4
for deferring that right to the individual, regardless of what is being done at a national level.
“Illinois affirms your right to own your body, and so instead of kicking something back to the states, instead of the federal government mandating one way or the other, Illinois is giving people the choice,” she said. “They’re not sending it back to themselves to regulate. They’re giving a choice to people.”
While Connie was able to continue her care in Illinois, she knows not every young person in Indiana comes from a family that is supportive of their desire to transition, or has the means to travel out of state. She worries about what it means for them.
“If I didn’t transition, I’m not even sure I would still be here,” Connie said. “There is probably a universe out there where I didn’t transition, which, I don’t want to think about it, but that’s the thing — you have to.”
A lengthy process
Following the passage of Indiana’s State Bill 480, primary sponsor Sen. Tyler Johnson issued the following statement: “Since these procedures have irreversible and life-altering effects, it is appropriate and necessary for our state to make sure these procedures are performed only on adults who can make the decisions on their own behalf.” But McSpadden, who works with transgender youth at IYG, said these decisions don’t just happen overnight.
“There’s always a team in place,” she said. “So there’s parents or caregivers, there’s medical providers, and there’s almost always also a therapist who are working together in conjunction, usually over the course of years before you get to a point of these medical interventions…There is a team in place that makes these decisions very carefully and thoughtfully.”
Additionally, research shows that just a small percentage of patients regret gender-affirming care. A longitudinal study published in the American Academy of Pediatrics’ journal found that around 94% of participants remained consistent in their
gender identity five years after their initial social transitions. For gender-affirming surgery — a procedure that is much more intensive than hormone therapy and is not permitted to minors in any states except in some severe cases of gender dysphoria, according to the Human Rights Campaign — the rates are even lower. A study published in the JAMA Network found that less than 1% of transgender minors underwent gender-affirming surgical procedures. A 2022 survey of over 90,000 trans people found that just 2% of respondents ages 18 and above were less satisfied after surgery, while 94% were more satisfied.
Kolesar said that at CHOICES, young clients are reviewed for gender dysphoria and asked for a letter of support from a mental health provider. “That was mostly just to help ensure that people are going to get adequate support in what they need as adolescents,” he said.
For Connie, the process of receiving care was tedious. “To be honest, I don’t even remember a lot of the details, because in my mind, it’s like — this is the past,” she said. “I don’t know. Part of me doesn’t really like to think about the before times, really. Part of me just views that as, like, a separate entity sometimes.”
What Connie does remember, however, is the unwavering support of her family. “I was taken to pride parades all the time…We had a lot of gay friends in our family, and I knew it was very accepting, so there wasn’t really much fear of coming out,” she said. “It was a pretty typical coming out story of an accepting family.”
The “typical story,” she said, was taking her mother on a walk. It was June 2021 — she laughs at the irony of the month she chose — and she was nervous, despite being certain that her mother would accept her. It took her 20 minutes to work up the courage, but she eventually found the words.
“I walked her outside. We were just talking about stuff, and I told her, ‘Yep, I’m a girl.’ And she was very accepting.” With a laugh, Connie added, “At
first, I was a bit upset, because she didn’t give me, like, the fanfare, because I’ve always been a real attention whore.”
With her mom, Julia, and her dad, Greg, in her corner, Connie took the first step in her transition journey: changing her name and gender in the legal system. While Julia was able to help get the information changed at Connie’s school district quickly, it took over a year for everything to be legally changed.
In the months before the hearing, Connie elected to start attending therapy. Julia noted that this was not required, but helped make the legal process run smoother. “Sometimes a county that may not be as accepting as (our) county is, the judge might ask for a letter from a therapist,” she said. “Kind of like, ‘Prove to me that you’re not just changing anything for the heck of it’ or whatever. People do think that. They think…that you just get on a whim.”
It was after her name was changed in the legal system that Connie decided to pursue genderaffirming hormone therapy. She recalls facing a lot of skepticism during this time.
“You have to go through a few different doctors, where they can be like, ‘Are you sure?’ ‘Are you sure you’re sure?’ ‘Are you sure?’ ‘You sure?’” she said.
While a statewide ban was not in place at the time, Connie still faced limited options, as discretion of care was left to the health systems. Julia said that Connie’s pediatrician – albeit supportive – could not prescribe medications due to the hospital’s Catholic policies.
“I never felt judged by her. I don’t think Connie felt judged by her. But the system she works in wouldn’t allow her even before it was illegal to do that, and so she referred us. That’s how we ended up with Riley (Children’s Hospital),” she said.
Connie received treatment from Riley Children’s Hospital’s Gender Health Program based at Indiana University Health. Because few hospitals offered this care at the time, Connie waited a year to get an appointment with the program. When the time finally came, she was able to receive medication the same day.
“It’s really about the bureaucratic hoops you have to jump through, because it could really be so easy,” Connie said. “I’m not saying it should be say it and then immediately get a prescription…I’m just saying it shouldn’t be that hard.”
Connie spent a year receiving gender-affirming hormone therapy, while the fight against transgender care in Indiana continued to unfold.
A long haul
In March 2024, Julia and Greg called out of work, signed Connie out of school, and drove from Indianapolis to Flossmoor, Illinois, a town just 30 minutes south of Chicago. Connie spent the car ride watching a season of “Invisible” and wishing for a visit to Six Flags. The real purpose of the trip, however, was a stop at Planned Parenthood to meet with a gender-affirming care specialist.
On Feb. 28, the Katharys received a heartbreaking email from a member of the ACLU of Indiana: “You may have heard that we argued the case in the Seventh Circuit on February 16 and yesterday the Court issued the attached order which stays the preliminary injunction. This means that even though the Court has not yet issued an opinion, the law is back in effect today and the care can no longer be provided in Indiana.”
The ACLU sent a motion asking the court to reconsider the stay and vacate it, but according to the email, the organization was not hopeful. Julia said she signed Connie up with Planned Parenthood of Illinois’ online patient portal that very day. She was running low on medication and would need a refill soon. The turnaround was faster this time, thanks to records from Riley being available to transfer. Her appointment — the soonest they could get her in — was March 14.
“I think the thing that makes me mad about the whole thing is, like, as a taxpayer in Indiana — me and Greg both — we pay our taxes here in Indiana, we work here in Indiana,” Julia said. “We had to take time off of work, we had to take our child out of school, we were told we can’t parent our child and make health care decisions for her without driving outside the state.”
Still, they made sure to enjoy themselves on the trip.
“Besides the fact that I really should not have had to do that, it was a really fun day in my mind,” Connie said. “The part of me that has to think about this stuff, is like, ‘I shouldn’t have had to do that.’ Then the part of me that just wants to be a kid is like, ‘Yeah, no school, driving up to Chicago, all right!’” For many families, traveling out of state is no easy feat. McSpadden said it can be very expensive. “You have to have a working vehicle. You have to be able to pay the gas money. You have to be able to take time off of work. You have to be able to take your child out of school. You might have to drive far enough that you have to pay for a hotel overnight, and then, of course, there’s potentially an insurance issue. Are you insured at all? If you are insured, is your insurance going to cover this out-of-state provider and whatever treatment it is you’re going to be receiving…So it’s becoming a very cost-prohibitive exercise for a lot of these families to provide what is truly life-saving care for their kids,” she said.
Klocke said Planned Parenthood offers resources to help those who are traveling to its clinics. “We have a program — a practical support or logistical support program — to help people with those barriers. So we — if people qualify — can help support with, like, a hotel to stay in, with gas or flight money, food for while people are traveling.”
The visits can also be frequent. Kolesar said patients at CHOICES come in around every three months when they first start receiving care. “When you initiate hormone therapy, people have to have lab work,” he said. “They have to be monitored typically for liver, kidney function, that kind of stuff…We have to monitor their levels of their hormones. So it’s a big commitment for parents to have to follow through and support their child that way, especially when they’re having to travel and all the expense of traveling and taking time off work and that kind of thing.”
McSpadden said IYG is partnered with the Trans Youth Emergency Project, a national organization that is working to provide resources such as travel grants to families of transgender youth. She also noted these bans have much more than just a financial impact.
“It’s hard to even describe how emotionally taxing it is for these youth and their families to feel like your own state government has such low value and esteem for your well-being that they would make it this hard for you to get the basic medical care that you need to just live your life,” McSpadden said. “Youth feel scared and isolated and stigmatized, and their parents feel, I think, a little bit panicked about how they’re going to be able to continue caring for their kids in the way that they feel like they need to as parents, because it’s becoming so challenging in so many ways.”
A list of risks
Many people consider gender-affirming care to be life-saving care. Kolesar said he was representing CHOICES at a health fair when a woman approached him and gave him a hug.
“She said, ‘the care that you provided my child saved their life.’ They are now functioning, they’re comfortable, they’re happy,” he said. “And they felt like if they didn’t receive that gender-affirming care, that they would have more mental health issues, and even, you know, risk of suicide. So I think the care that we provide really does help to save lives, it really does.”
A recent study published in Nature Human Behavior found that anti-transgender state laws led to an increase of suicide attempts among transgender and nonbinary youth. The study, which surveyed 61,000 transgender and nonbinary youth and controlled variables such as state differences, race and age, found that suicide attempt rates increased by up to 72% among those aged 13 to 17 living in states with anti-trans bans compared to those without.
“Gender-affirming care is simply care that’s provided in a sensitive and empathetic way that recognizes a person’s gender identity,” Yohnka of the Illinois ACLU said. Klocke, who works in both administration and clinics at Planned Parenthood, said denying this care can impact one’s overall wellbeing.
“For a lot of trans and nonbinary people, being on hormone therapy is part of how they’re able to feel good in life,” they said. “Sometimes, if people
have, like, medical conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes or things like that, if people feel more at home in their bodies, they’re able to manage their other medical conditions more easily and with more confidence than they might otherwise. And so stopping those hormones for young people risks people’s well being, and oftentimes, it can risk their lives. And that’s something that we have seen time and time again.”
According to The Trevor Project National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health 2021, over half of trans and nonbinary youth considered attempting suicide in 2021. This could be due to a lack of treatment and support for gender dysphoria, which according to Mayo Clinic, places those affected “at higher risk of thinking about or attempting suicide.”
Connie received gender-affirming hormone therapy for around a year before Indiana outlawed it. Klocke said if patients abruptly stop receiving treatment, it can be “really, really rough.”
“When you change your hormone levels, that can be challenging,” they said. “Ask anybody who has gone through puberty if hormonal shifts affect their mood, and they will probably tell you yes. And when that’s not an active choice by a person, that can be even harder.”
Hormone therapy can also benefit underlying conditions, thus posing physical risks when halted. Klocke said, “If somebody has a history of anemia and getting rid of really heavy periods, for example, (and) using testosterone was part of like managing their anemia, that can be a risk, or their anemia returning and needing to use other ways to address that.”
Indiana’s law, which “prohibits a physician or other practitioner from…aiding or abetting another physician or practitioner in the provision of gender transition procedures to a minor” prevents parents such as Beth and Nathaniel Clawson – plaintiffs in the lawsuit ACLU of Indiana filed against the state of Indiana – from communicating effectively with all medical professionals involved in their child’s care.
Their daughter, a minor child referred to as K.C. in the lawsuit, has Type 1 diabetes. In a December press conference with the ACLU of Indiana, Beth Clawson discussed how the ambiguous language has created a fear of repercussions and a threat to their daughter’s health.
“Puberty plays a huge role in the way your body receives and reacts to insulin,” she said. “And I am terrified to tell the doctors that my daughter is on estrogen even though…I can see how resistant she’s becoming to her insulin, and I really need the doctors help to help me figure out the best way to combat that resistance in her body and it’s impossible really for me to figure it out by myself but I don’t want to get my doctors in trouble. I don’t know. Is it gender-affirming care knowing that she is just on the medicine? Is it aiding and abetting if they just ignore it and let her be on it? Like, is there a place that they’re supposed to note this? And if they don’t note this are they gonna get in trouble? My fear is now not only taking care of my child but keeping her medical providers who are very important to us safe.”
A nationwide fight
Indiana Rep. Chris Campbell is challenging the broad language of Senate Bill 480. At the ACLU Indiana press conference, Campbell proposed repealing the “aid and abet” language in Indiana’s ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth.
“The language in our law is so broad that it prohibits doctors from all of the following: referring patients out of state to other providers, communicating with patients about the care they are receiving out of state or even communicating with the out-of-state doctor providing them with the services,” Campbell said. “The outcome is reduced level of care for the patient being seen by multiple providers who can’t communicate with each other about the care that they’re providing.”
Campbell said she disapproves of the law as a whole, but since the Supreme Court is considering whether a similar Tennessee law is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause, the bill she will offer “is only going to address that ‘aid and abet’ language.” A decision for
the case, Skrmetti v. U.S., which will set a foundation for how transgender issues are viewed under the Constitution, is expected in June 2025.
“We know many families are accessing this necessary care out of state,” Campbell said. “The ‘aid and abet’ provisions puts health at risk in a way that undercuts basic medical practice when multiple providers are involved.”
Beth Clawson said in order to find medication and providers for her daughter, they’ve had to rely on “word of mouth” from other Indiana families with trans youth. “We have a child that transitioned eight years ago socially and this is a new journey for us,” she said. “And even though we’ve been doing it for a long time, we have lots of questions. The questions don’t stop. And the people that I would like to ask questions to are (her) pediatrician and her endocrinologist here in Indiana and we just can’t do that.”
Nathaniel Clawson said they have to take their daughter “all the way to Boston” for care. “Our genderaffirming health care provider in Boston can’t talk to my daughter’s pediatrician, and with that, it has been so difficult to go through and just figure out what are all the next steps,” he said.
When asked if any of K.C.’s medical providers in Indiana have tried to avoid the topic of genderaffirming health care, Beth Clawson said “it’s as if it doesn’t exist.” She attends her appointments as usual, but “that part of her care is just completely off the chopping block.”
“It’s not even acknowledged,” she said. “It’s not talked about by the doctor, by us, by the nurses – like my child doesn’t want to, you know, mention anything because she doesn’t want to get her doctors in trouble; she doesn’t want to get in trouble.”
To Campbell, communication regarding a child’s medical care is “critical to making sure that child is healthy.” Repealing the “aid and abet” language would “remove that barrier” set by the current law and prevent “any sort of other restrictions for when a doctor is communicating about their patient,” she said.
Connie turned 18 in December, so the days of traveling to Illinois are in the rear-view mirror now. But she’s not entirely out of the woods. With a new administration in office, the future for transgender care is more uncertain than ever.
On Inauguration Day, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that the federal government will recognize only two sexes — male and female — citing that gender identity “does not provide a meaningful basis for identification.” On Jan. 27, he signed an executive order directing a revision of the Pentagon’s policy on transgender troops, writing that the “troop readiness” policy “is inconsistent with the medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals with gender dysphoria.” And on Jan. 28, he signed an executive order to defund youth genderaffirming care in the federal government.
The order, titled “Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” will only further restrict minors, which the bill identifies as under 19, from receiving care. The order directs the government to “not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another” as well as “rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.”
In a Jan. 31 interview, Rep. Cassidy said that this order has not brought about any current changes in Illinois. “I think that’s the most important thing people need to know. His signature on that paper changed nothing (in) regard to access to care in Illinois today or tomorrow,” she said.
Trump’s promises to roll back transgender health care were a central focus in his presidential campaign, which is why the ACLU of Illinois was preparing for the restrictions even before he was in office.
“The first strategy will be to enforce the law in Illinois,” Yohnka said in November. “And you know, for us and our colleagues around the country and at national, (we) will look at other litigation strategies, other advocacy strategies to challenge that. The idea that a president, by some sort of executive order or fiat, can deny large swaths of people health care, legitimate health care, for no reason other than it’s politically expedient…I think it’s not something that we’re going to sit by and just accept, you know, we’re going to continue to challenge that.”
Cassidy said the state is currently working to determine what Trump’s order entails. “We have to interpret these executive orders and determine exactly where they’re going to hit, and that will then tell us what we need to protect,” she said. “Ultimately, Illinois law – it’s about as strong as it can be nationwide, and it’s also not been tested. So we’re bracing for that, but we’re bracing for it with a solid litigation strategy and the belief that we can slow the harms, we can minimize the harms.”
One week later, Trump signed an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” The order, which prohibits transgender women from participating in women’s sports, is his fourth and latest order targeting the transgender community.
A glimpse forward
Connie calls in from her home in Indianapolis. It’s a snowy January morning, two weeks after her birthday and the last day before the spring semester begins. “I mean I’m glad I don’t have to go to Illinois anymore for my meds,” she says when asked how it feels to be 18. “But – I don’t know – I mean, yeah. It’s fine.”
For now, Connie is focusing on her senior year of high school. Senioritis isn’t easy, but she said she’s looking forward to finishing it out and choosing from her long list of college offers. She’s proud to be open and give her voice to this cause, but she longs for a day that she’ll be interviewed for more than just her gender identity – perhaps for her creative writing skills, which she plans to study.
“I’m thinking…maybe get a degree for my writing, and try to go from there,” she said. “Maybe I’ll work at my parents’ place, or maybe I’ll try to get out and do something creatively.”
It’s been four months, but her words from that day in the coffee shop remain consistent.
“I really don’t think I should have to be a model or like a symbol. I don’t want to be that. I just want to, you know, live my life.”
This story was produced for Capitol News Illinois through the Saluki Local Reporting Lab, supported by grant funding from the Pulitzer Center and the Illinois Press Foundation. News editor Carly Gist can be reached at cgist@dailyegyptian.com
