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SIUC announces restructuring plan RYAN VOYLES JACOB MAYER Daily Egyptian
Chancellor Rita Cheng announced more changes to the structure of the university Monday, including breaking up of the Division of Student Affairs. As part of the changes, Larry Dietz, who has served as vice chancellor of student affairs since 2000, will be reassigned to another
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position within the university, he said. Dietz said he understands Cheng was brought to SIUC to provide a fresh point of view about how the university is organized. “It’s a change in philosophy relative to the role that the student affairs division plays at a university,� he said. “(Cheng) has a different kind of philosophy about that, and that’s her prerogative.� SIUC Spokesman Rod Sievers said the changes would take place immediately.
“The provost starts next week. ... So yeah, this is a go,� he said. The restructuring will place New Student Programs, Center for Academic Success, Student Support Services, Supplemental Instruction, University 101, Residential Life, Career Services and Pre-Major Advisement under the control of Gary Minish. Please see RESTRUCTURING | 3
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FIR TREES AND FAMILY Evan Baker, left, holds his four-year-old brother Brayden on his shoulders while their brother, Tyler Byrnes, carries Brayden’s twin, Riley, and interacts with his girlfriend, Abby Clark, Thursday evening in the Hobby Lobby parking lot. The brothers’ mother, Tonya Baker, said this was the first year the family from Murphysboro bought a live Christmas tree. The Carbondale Community High School band boosters were selling trees as a fundraiser. GENNA ORD DAILY EGYPTIAN
Students concerned with holiday recognition
LEAH STOVER Daily Egyptian
Leah Rosenblat smiled as she led the Shabbat services at the Hillel House's annual Hanukkah party. As the Jewish student community recited the service prayers, the house filled with laughter and everyone read off-beat. “We like to have fun with everything,� said Rosenblat, a senior from Glencoe studying psychology. The Hillel House, a Registered Student Organization, brought together the Jewish student body to celebrate the “Festival of Lights.� However, Rosenblat said efforts made by the university to acknowledge the holiday are somewhat disappointing. “It’s a public university, and they have to make an effort to decorate for everyone or not dec-
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ur idea is to provide community and provide a place that is welcoming and comforting. We’re looking to give people a place to practice Judaism in the way that is best for them.
orate at all,� she said. Hanukkah, an annual Jewish festival, began Wednesday on the 25th day of Kislev, the ninth month of the Jewish calendar. The celebration lasts for eight days and is commemorated by lighting candles on the menorah, one for each night of Hanukkah. Ilana Sidorow, a freshman from Hinsdale studying communication disorders and sciences, said she walked into the holiday dinner at Lentz Hall on the first night of Hanukkah to find a lit-up Christmas tree and several people wearing Santa hats.
Hanukkah (Judaism) sunset Dec. 1 through sunset Dec. 9
Winter Solstice/Yule (Paganism) Dec. 21
Saint Nicholas Day (Germany) Dec. 6
Pancha Ganapati Festival (Hinduism) Dec. 21 through 25
Saint Lucy’s Day (Croatia) Dec. 13
Christmas (Christianity) Dec. 25
Day of Ashura (Islam) Dec. 16
Kwanzaa (Pan-African) Dec. 26 through Jan. 1
— Rachel Wides master’s student in social work and director of the Hillel House
“I understand that it was the first night of December, but it was also the first night of Hanukkah and they could have chosen another night to do it,� she said. “They said it was a holiday dinner, but the only holiday represented was Christmas.� Max Braun, a freshman from Champaign studying aviation flight, said issues within religious acknowledgment seem to be embedded within the southern culture. Many SIUC students are from northern regions where there is more diversity, but university administration might not be in the same boat, he said. Braun said he doesn’t believe the Jewish community is being discriminated against by the lack of acknowledgment, but it seems as if people haven’t experienced other religions so they don’t understand. “It’s not just about the Jews on campus, it’s about recognition of what else is out there,� Braun said. Susan Coriasco, deputy director of marketing and graphics at the Student Center, is in charge of the decorations within buildings and
said she sends out a letter in October to all RSOs to inform them that there are trees available for them to decorate. She said the trees are referred to as “holiday trees,� not Christmas trees, and are available to any RSO that wants to decorate them. “There’s a separation of church and state, so we don’t call our Christmas decorations, ‘Christmas decorations, ‘we call them ‘holiday decorations.’ ... We don’t promote any particular holiday with these,� Coriasco said. Rosenblat said the reason Hillel wasn’t interested in decorating a holiday tree was because most identify it with a Christmas tree. For the students who aren’t part of the Christian community, she said the concern is that they are being overlooked. For other organizations that aren’t interested in a tree, Coriasco said it’s not possible to reserve an enclosed case specifically for decoration. She said it’s possible to have a display, but there is no way to provide security for it.
For RSOs that look to have representation in the Student Center, Coriasco said they need to come up with the display, but she isn’t able to provide it. “In order to put up Hanukkah or Kwanzaa decorations, we would have to have some representation from those communities,� Coriasco said. “I wouldn’t want to misrepresent them or do it wrong.� Campus isn’t the only place lacking recognition for the holiday. Sidorow said she was upset when she wasn’t able to find decorations for the Jewish holiday anywhere in Carbondale. “We went to Walmart, and we asked if they had Hanukkah stuff and they said ‘No.’ We asked them if they had a menorah and they said ‘What’s that?’� Sidorow said. In Chicago, Rosenblat said it’s common to walk into a department store and on display is both a menorah and a tree. She said it’s rare to hear someone say ‘Merry Christmas,’ but the common saying is ‘Happy Holidays.’ In Carbondale, she said it seems as if people tend to assume everyone is Christian. “It’s always ‘church’, it’s never ‘your place of worship,’� Rosenblat said.
Please see HANUKKAH | 3