Indiana Daily Student eEdition - Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025

IDS

Jimmy John's Friday

One IU student's love for the famous sandwich chain

By Samantha Camire

scamire@iu.edu | @CamireSamantha

It’s Friday and for IU sophomore John Broadwell, that can only mean one thing: Jimmy John’s.

Jan. 17 marked week 77 in John’s quest to have a weekly Jimmy John’s sandwich. He gets the same thing every time.

“A No. 5, no onions.”

John’s love for Jimmy John’s is so deep-rooted it has become part of his weekly routine, a natural commitment he documents with a weekly selfie on his Instagram story. Not only does he

make weekly trips to the store for his go-to order, he often arrives dressed in Jimmy John’s-branded clothing. And in a digital art class freshman year, he made every one of his projects themed to his favorite sandwich shop.

“I always encourage them to consider having a consistent theme to work with; a lot of people might explore grief or something of that nature, or sustainability,” professor Dominick Rivers, who taught the course, said. “And he came in and was like, ‘Jimmy John’s it is.’”

At-large county councilor elected

Feitl

By Jack Forrest jhforres@iu.edu | @byjackforrest

The Monroe County Council has its newest atlarge councilor. Monroe County Democratic Central Committee Precinct representatives chose Liz Feitl to fill an empty seat at a vacancy caucus Jan. 19 at the courthouse. It’s been empty since longtime public servant Cheryl Munson’s death in December.

“I’m excited to be able to have the opportunity to further my knowledge to be used in a useful way for the county,” Feitl told the Indiana Daily Student after the caucus.

She joins Trent Deckard and David Henry, who, along with Munson, were elected in November as the council’s at-large members.

Feitl said she plans to continue to review what Munson stood for, since voters elected her and her platform in November.

“The voters in the whole county voted for her then, and it’s real important for me to carry that out because it should be done on the voter intent,” Feitl said.

Feitl was the AFL-CIO community liaison for the United Way of Monroe County from 2002-21 and was on the Monroe County Women’s Commission from 2013-21. She’s since retired, which she said gives her the time to do the work of councilor.

She previously told the IDS her priorities include

13 burglaries in 11 days: Here's what to know

By Brenna Polovina bpolovin@iu.edu

The IU Police Department received report of 13 burglaries from Forest Quad, Willkie South, Ashton Johnston Hall, as well as Greek houses Beta Sigma Psi and Phi Delta Theta between Jan. 4 and Jan. 15, according to an IU crime notice. Electronics, musical instruments, clothing and jewelry were among the stolen items. Of the 13 reported burglaries, seven were reported to have occurred at Beta Sigma Psi. IUPD crime and fire log labeled one report on Jan. 5, four reports on Jan. 12, four reports on Jan. 13 and four reports on Jan. 15. The log said twelve cases remain open for investigation and one case led to no

IUPD’s crime

having more union labor on boards and commissions, scrutinizing county tax abatements and seeing more affordable housing.

On Jan. 19, she also mentioned investigating the decline of the working age population in Monroe County and further supporting the tourism industry as topics she’s interested in. She said since the council decided on a location for the county’s new justice complex, it’s time to continue the project.

The nearly four-hour caucus required three rounds of voting to determine a winner. Under the caucus’s rules, a candidate needed a majority vote to be declared winner. Although Feitl received the most votes each round, she didn’t re-

ceive the required majority until the third.

Of the 68 representatives eligible to vote, 61 voted in the first round, 60 voted in the second round and 59 voted in the third round.

Eight people ran for the seat. A ninth candidate, Sarah Larson, withdrew Jan. 7 due to new obligations at her job. The vacancy caucus was originally scheduled for Jan. 5 but was delayed due to unsafe weather conditions.

Each candidate had four minutes to provide opening statements to the precinct representatives.

They then fielded questions for an hour on subjects like the county justice center expansion project, collaboration with the county board of commissioners and how they supported the Demo-

Advocates

By Marissa Meador marnmead@iu.edu

Three years ago, St. Thomas Lutheran Church in Bloomington welcomed a Syrian refugee family through Exodus Refugee Immigration, Susan Kinzer told the crowd of 60 at the “Supporting Immigrants on Inauguration Day” event Jan. 20. Since then, the father has received his commercial truck-driving license, the daughter is studying at IU and the son is pursuing a career as a mechanic, she said.

“Policies do not define our humanity. Our actions do.”

Mayor Kerry Thomson

The family’s siblings have been waiting in a refugee camp in Lebanon for 10 years, so the church applied to bring the sibling and their family through a federal program called Welcome Corps. But with President Donald Trump’s impend-

ing executive orders, it may already be too late.

“That application is pending, and we expect in the next 24 hours it will be shut down,” Kinzer said.

One by one, faith leaders, immigration lawyers and advocates at the event shared resources and tentative expressions of hope amid the uncertainty of Trump’s inauguration, which is expected to be followed by executive orders targeting immigration, including an attempt to end birthright citizenship.

During the event’s keynote, Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson stopped short of explicitly refusing to comply with Trump’s immigration orders but expressed support for the refugee and immigrant population, highlighting the difference between just and unjust laws in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”

“Policies do not define our humanity,” Thomson said. “Our actions do.”

While Bloomington does not have a particularly high foreign-born population,

cratic Party this past general election. Each candidate had two minutes for a closing statement, as well.

In the first round, four candidates did not receive the required votes to make it to the second: Richard Carter, Rob Council, Joe Davis and Andrew Guenther. After the second round of voting, Scott Shackelford did not receive enough votes to move on.

The remaining three candidates, Feitl, Matt Caldie and Ilana Stonebraker, then answered another round of questions.

In the final round of voting, Feitl received 30 votes, Stonebraker received 22 and Caldie received seven.

Feitl’s first meeting with the county council will be at 5 p.m. Jan. 28.

By Ella Curlin elcurlin@iu.edu

A country-wide cold front brought Bloomington into single-digit temperatures this week, and Michale Williams, 49, said he’s worried about frostbite.

“It’s one of the biggest things you have to worry about, being out here, is getting frostbitten,” Williams said. “That’s dangerous. That’s very, very dangerous.”

Williams said he moved to from Indianapolis to Bloomington three decades ago, after family circumstances left him homeless at 16. Of the 30 years he has lived in Bloomington, he has been without permanent housing for 25.

“It’s one of the biggest things you have to worry about, being out here, is getting frostbitten. That's dangerous. That's very, very dangerous.”

Michale Williams, unhoused Bloomington resident

Last weekend Williams was one of 30 overnight guests at the Bloomington Severe Emergency Winter Shelter, a year-old volunteer program that works with local churches to host overnight shelters on days with dangerous winter conditions.

That was on Jan. 18 night, when weather conditions were subfreezing. Those temperatures were expected to lower as the week went on. Bloomington hit wind chill values below -10 degrees on the early morning of Jan. 22. Cold-related injuries are

on the rise in the U.S., and people experiencing homelessness are especially vulnerable. For people without access to heat or shelter, severe winter conditions can be devastating. As this week’s cold front froze Bloomington and Monroe County, Williams is one of an increasing number of people in Bloomington and Monroe County experiencing homelessness in extreme temperatures.

A 2024 count by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority found 456 people experiencing homelessness in an area called Region 10, which is made up of Monroe, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Morgan and Owen counties. Of those 456, 350 were in Monroe County, and 142 were living entirely without shelter.

These numbers have been on the rise. Williams attributed that to Bloomington’s lack of affordable non-student housing, or to displacements after people leave jails or prisons.

“Most of the time when a person comes in and comes out, they lost their house, or they lost their apartment, and that puts them out here on the street,” Williams said.

Williams said these newly displaced are often the most vulnerable because they lack experience surviving weather extremes or knowledge of local resources and shelters.

“If you don’t know how to keep yourself out of the elements, or how to protect yourself, or how to just survive, you could die out here,” Williams said. “I lost a lot of people already out here.”

SEE HOUSING, PAGE 4

Refugee Immigration has served roughly 150 refugees in Bloomington per year since the city was federally approved in 2021 as Exodus’s second refugee resettlement site in Indiana.

and

These refugees come primarily from Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo

Afghanistan. Several Democratic local government leaders joined Thomson at the event, in-

cluding Bloomington City Councilmember Isabel Piedmont-Smith and newly

The Shalom Center is pictured on

MARISSA MEADOR

Approvals lined up for convention center expansion

The build could be completed as soon as 2027

By Jack Forrest jhforres@iu.edu | @byjackforrest

The design and name for the Monroe County Convention Center expansion project are lined up for several final approvals in the next two months.

If all goes as planned, the years-long process to build the expanded convention center may be completed as soon as January 2027.

At a meeting Jan. 15 of the Capital Improvement Board — the joint-city and county board formed to oversee the center expansion — Eddie

Layton, project manager at Schmidt Associates architecture and engineering firm, presented the latest timeline for the project.

In January and February, the CIB will present several variances to the city Board of Zoning Appeals and propose to the Board of Public Works its skywalk across College Avenue.

One item in the works is a bus pull-off lane along Third Street. CIB President John Whikehart said the board initially proposed a 300-foot cutout lane to the Bloomington Planning and Transportation Department, which was not receptive due to its impact on the sidewalk and trees.

Whikehart said some bus drop-off space is necessary because buses can’t open doors in traffic and so conference attendees can reach

David Henry won’t seek re-election

By Jack Forrest jhforres@iu.edu | @byjackforrest

David Henry won’t seek re-election as Monroe County Democratic Party chair, according to a press release Jan. 21.

“Let me be clear: I fully intended to run for another term, having enjoyed overwhelming support of the caucus and civic leaders in the community,” Henry said in the release. “But a good leader always has an eye toward sustaining the organization beyond their own desires, especially when family needs to come first.”

Henry was elected to the Monroe County Council as an at-large member in November and was sworn in Jan. 1. His party chair term ends March 1. Henry also decided to step aside due to new personal responsibilities with his family, according to the release.

Henry was elected chair in January 2022. Previously serving as vice chair, he took over the role in December 2021 when then-chair Jennifer Crossley won election to the county council District 4 seat. Henry led the party through three elections from 2022-24, during which Kerry Thomson became the third woman to serve as Bloom-

ington mayor, according to the release. Henry and State Senator Shelli Yoder also recruited Jessica McClellan, then-Monroe County treasurer, to run for state treasurer in 2022. She lost to Republican Daniel Elliott. He petitioned for two ultimately unsuccessful recounts for the 62nd District and Benton Township races in 2022. After the Indiana Daily Student reported in 2023 that City Council District 6 candidate David Wolfe Bender did not live at his listed address, Henry oversaw a vacancy caucus that led to Sydney Zulich being nominated for and winning the seat — becoming the youngest person to serve on the council. Henry oversaw another city council vacancy caucus in 2024, after Shruti Rana stepped down from the District 5 seat a little over a month after being sworn in. Henry cast the tie-breaking vote to select Courtney Daily to fill the seat.

In 2024, he challenged Republican Randy Cassady’s candidacy for the Monroe County Board of Commissioners District 2 seat based on residency requirements. Cassady later suspended his campaign.

Editor’s Note: David Wolfe Bender previously worked at the Indiana Daily Student.

their ride without crossing the street, among other reasons.

The CIB met with the department again this week, where it proposed a 100foot lane instead, which civil engineer Bill Riggert said would fit about two coaches. The department was more receptive to that idea, Whikehart said, but discussions are ongoing. It will then require approval from the city council.

According to the latest project schedule, the center design is on track to be finalized next month, with construction starting as early as June. The construction could be completed by January or February 2027.

Layton, the architecture and engineering firm’s project manager, said that since the CIB’s last meeting, designers reworked the layout

By Deshna Venkatachalam devankat@iu.edu

Indiana governor Mike Braun signed an executive order effectively dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion in all state agencies last week.

The move is just one droplet in a wider wave against DEI in Indiana and the United States.

This order states that these agencies must adhere to the decisions made in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, a Supreme Court case ruling that race-conscious admissions programs could not be based on stereotyped assumptions about minority applicants. Chief Justice John Roberts explained in the 2023 ruling that “eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.”

Under this new order, state government agencies cannot use state funds, property, or resources to support DEI initiatives that grant preferential treatment based on race, ethnicity or national origin. Additionally, the order prohibits mandates requiring individuals to disclose pronouns or submit diversity-related statements as part of employment.

Executive state agencies are to initiate a review of the DEI positions, departments, activities, procedures and

of an outdoor patio space to increase occupancy. They also moved the locations of some restrooms, redistributing them more evenly through the building, and created layout concepts for the center’s exhibit hall.

The CIB will also choose the name of the new center and has narrowed down considerations for the name.

CIB member Jim Silberstein said those considerations include the target audience, differentiation from other Bloomington building names and the suffix — if the venue will be a “civic,” “convention” or other sort of center.

They will consult a number of community groups that also gave design feedback on the center design last year. One new contributor will be the Monroe County History Center. Silberstein

said the group will present the feedback it gets at the next CIB meeting and ideally submit a final name for approval in March. Geoff McKim, who became the newest CIB member when he was sworn in Jan. 15, asked if further public input on the name would be during public comment. Silberstein said that opportunity would be at the board’s next meeting.

Whikehart said selling the rights to the convention center name, which would require mayoral and county commissioner approval, is out of the question.

“So, we are not looking to sell naming rights for the ‘Chick-fil-A Convention Center’ in Bloomington, Indiana,” Whikehart said as an example.

During public comment, Monroe County Democrat-

programs for compliance with the Supreme Court’s decision. This review will include any programs that were in existence at the date of the Executive Order, and which of those departments, positions and programs were eliminated or revised. This review will be completed by April 30.

State Sen. Shelli Yoder, who represents much of Monroe County, sees this as a regressive action that ignores benefits of DEI efforts.

“DEI initiatives add immense value to every corner of our state. They foster innovation, attract top talent and create opportunities that strengthen families, businesses and communities alike,” Yoder said in an Indiana Senate Democrats press release. “Eliminating these programs is more than a misstep; it’s a deliberate choice to ignore what makes Indiana stronger and more competitive.”

However, other government officials, such as Indi-

ana State Comptroller Elise Nieshalla, commended Braun for his action against DEI.

“Appreciate Governor Braun’s leadership in taking this important step to refocus and reground Indiana,” Nieshalla said in a Facebook post.

While this executive order does not directly affect higher education, the decision to eliminate DEI in state agencies could be the first step toward eliminating DEI outside of state government control.

Senate Bill 235, a bill introduced this legislative session, would place limitations on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts on state educational institutions.

In its current form, the bill would prohibit educational institutions from using general funds for DEI offices. It would establish requirements regarding standardized admissions tests and implement requirements altering academic standards. It also would ban state entities from promoting opinions on 16 concepts, including bias, allyship, social justice and others listed in the proposed bill.

This bill is being referred to the Senate Committee on Education and Career Development and is still in its early stages.

However, IU faculty are already voicing concerns

ic Party Chair and County Councilor David Henry asked about any union construction labor agreements discussed with the board.

Whikehart said they’ve met with union representatives about the construction but would likely have more to share at the CIB’s next meeting Feb. 19.

Henry and Whikehart both lamented the absence of Dave Askins, the Bloomington local government reporter who operated the independent news website BSquare Bulletin for over five years. Askins wrote on his site in December he would stop his coverage.

“It’s truly a loss, I think, in our community for this board and for all of our boards and commissions and elected bodies who will no longer have that coverage,” Whikehart said.

about SB 235. One came at the Bloomington Faculty Council’s most recent and first meeting of 2025.

“What is the administrative response to protecting IU faculty?” Beth Buggenhagen, professor of anthropology, asked IU Provost Rahul Shrivastav.

Shrivastav responded that there was “a long way to go” in the legislative process, as the bill was just filed in the previous weeks.

“Our state relations team is working with various entities to understand the impact of this and address it as best as we can to advocate for our position,” Shrivastav said.

Following his response, Alex Lichtenstein, a professor and chair for the Department of American Studies, asked Shrivastav what IU’s position on DEI is.

“We’ve always said diversity makes us stronger, but we also have to comply with the law of the state as it is,” Shrivastav said. “Let’s be solution focused on how we want our institution to succeed in the years ahead.” In relation to DEI on campus, IU created a new committee to represent all its campuses at the end of last year. This committee is responsible for recommending outcomes to pursue related to diversity, equity and inclusion.

The Indiana Daily Student attempted to do a story on the ad hoc committee, its initiatives and plans for the future earlier this month. It had scheduled an interview with William Ramos, associate professor and co-chair of the DEI committee. Ramos canceled the interview the day before, and asked the IDS to instead go through IU Executive Director of Media Relations Mark Bode. Bode referred the IDS to an IU Today article.

IU students in LA as parts of city burn

By Chloe Oden chloden@iu.edu | @chloeoden0

As parts of Los Angeles began to burn, IU Media School students participating in the Semester in Los Angeles program had just arrived in California to begin their internships in various areas of the entertainment industry.

The interns are safe from the fires and their housing in West Hollywood was unaffected. Their internships have begun with just a few delays.

IU junior Emma Gladstone is interning for a public relations consulting firm and for Hollywood Insider as a journalism major.

Gladstone said the cohort of interns this semester arrived in Los Angeles on Jan. 7, the same day that the fires began. Before going to California, Gladstone was aware that wildfires weren’t uncommon for the state, but said she didn’t realize how impactful they could be.

According to NBC, the fires, which have burned almost 40,000 acres in Southern California, do not yet have an official cause, but are believed to be the result of “drought-like conditions” and strong winds, creating an increased fire risk.

More than 25 people have died, and many have been left homeless.

Due to the poor air quality, Gladstone hasn’t seen much of the city she will live in for the next four months.

Gladstone and her peers watched as more fires popped up around West Hollywood before deciding it was time to evacuate to San Diego.

“At one point during the night, I checked outside where I was staying, and I saw the fire itself, the flames of it,” Gladstone said. “And so that’s when we decided to evacuate.” According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Eaton and Palisades fires are

among the top five most destructive in California's history.

“There was a lot of bumper-to-bumper traffic, of people trying to leave, and that part was scary,” Gladstone said.

Now, she said, the area she is staying in isn’t in a state of panic and emergency anymore, as the fires have burnt elsewhere.

Media School Career Services Specialist Jill Romack is assisting with the Semester in LA program and told the Indiana Daily Student in an email that IU staff and safety officials will continue to watch the situation closely to ensure the students’ safety. Romack said the program’s housing, office and classroom spaces in Hollywood are unaffected by the fire damage.

“I’m proud of our students for the flexibility and responsibility they’ve shown over the last week,” Romack said.

IU Public Safety Public Information Officer Han-

nah Skibba told the IDS in an email that the students were given emergency kits and N95 masks to help protect themselves from the harmful air quality caused by smoke.

In stores around Los Angeles, Gladstone said, the “number-one questions” people ask are to check on each other, making sure that they are okay, have family nearby and have somewhere to stay.

For her internship at Hollywood Insider, Gladstone is writing a story about the influencers and celebrities in Los Angeles who are volunteering and helping people recover from the damage. She said she and other interns plan to volunteer and help as parts of the city rebuild.

“Having (the fires) be the first thing that you see is definitely scary, but I think everyone's adjusting really well, and I think everyone's starting to get excited about the program,” Gladstone said.

Former IU student in Canadian custody

Vo fled the U.S. to avoid serving his nine-month prison sentence

By Madelyn Hanes mrhanes@iu.edu

A former IU student, Antony Vo, convicted for his involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, remains in immigration custody in Canada despite being one of the 1,500-plus people pardoned by President Donald Trump. Vo’s Canadian immigration lawyer Oluwadamilola Asuni told the IDS on Wednesday that Vo will most likely be escorted to

the U.S. border early next week.

Vo, a 32-year-old Indiana resident, fled the United States to avoid serving his nine-month prison sentence. Vo pursued a political asylum claim in Canada with the help of his attorney, Asuni. Canada accepted his basis of claim for his refugee application. He was captured and arrested in Whistler, British Columbia, on Jan. 6, 2025, after it was determined he entered the

country illegally. Vo received a ninemonth sentence in the U.S. on April 10, 2024, and was ordered to report to prison on June 14 by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan. The jury convicted Vo of four misdemeanors related to the incident. He was found guilty of entering the Capitol building through a non-public entrance and spending approximately 20 minutes taking photographs.

His mother Annie Vo

also participated in the riot and was charged but never had a trial.

Over the past four years, Vo frequently posted to social media about his case and conspiracy theories about Jan. 6, 2021. Vo said on X that he expected to be pardoned by President Trump once he took office.

According to the Associated Press, the federal Bureau of Prisons had released more than 200 people in custody for the attack.

Indiana Senate environmental bills to watch

The bills could impact the city’s environmental protocols

By Nadia Suben nadsuben@iu.edu

The Indiana General Assembly met its deadline for filing Senate bills Jan. 9.

Nearly 500 bills have been introduced for the 2025 legislative session, seeking to address issues that include crime, education, food security, government protocols and more. Among these focus areas is the environment.

Three particular pieces of legislation were introduced that, if passed, would shape how Indiana citizens respond to and are affected by environmental concerns.

Senate Bill 18

Introduced by Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago, Senate Bill 18 aims to restructure how localities address air pollution. The bill would enable local governments to establish or designate their own air pollution control agencies separate from their environmental management departments.

To ensure the success of these agencies, the bill requires that a given locality’s EMD will cooperate with them and provide financial and technical support, such as funding de-pollution projects or lending technologies designed to clean up air.

According to a recent air quality study conducted by the city, Bloomington (especially in warmer-weather months) regularly sees levels of particulate matter — minuscule chemical-laden air particles produced by fossil fuel combustion and other chemical processes — in a high enough range to pose health risks to those sensitive to air pollution. Even low exposure to particulate matter can threaten respiratory and cardiovascular health, regardless of general sensitivity to air pollution.

There is currently no dedicated air pollution control agency for the Bloomington area, although two general environmental health specialists do work for the city.

Senate Bill 134

Introduced by J.D. Ford, D-Indianapolis, Senate Bill 134 would establish a state-

wide, centralized water management authority, with separate, more localized water management councils being formed for each of Indiana’s nine hydrologic regions. Additionally, the bill would require Gov. Mike Braun to appoint a statewide water management administrator and to create a statewide water management plan. Although Bloomington’s drinking water meets federal safety standards, the city’s 2024 drinking water quality report found 14 contaminants in its drinking water, disinfectant byproducts among them. Lake Monroe, Bloomington’s sole water source, faces extensive pollution that could interfere with water availability. There is currently no dedicated water management authority operated by the local government, although the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the City of Bloomington Utilities Department both monitor Lake Monroe’s integrity.

Senate Bill 212

Introduced by Susan Glick, R-LaGrange, Senate Bill 212 would restructure citizens’ involvement in natural gas or electric utility projects. Under the bill, citizens applying for natural gas or electric utility projects on their property — such as installing solar panels on their homes or installing electric vehicle charging stations — would have the right to request and participate in a meeting with any utilities serving the project site. These “technical advisory” meetings would provide information on how applicants could prepare for the project and what would be required of both the utilities and the applicants. Bloomington applicants for utility projects can request to discuss their project questions with city-staff engineers. However, project designs, details, requirements and plans are ultimately decided by utility teams alone. A full list of the Indiana State Senate’s bills for the 2025 session is available on the Indiana General Assembly website.

Who has Braun appointed to head state agencies so far?

By Madelyn Hanes mrhanes@iu.edu

Gov. Mike Braun was sworn into office Jan. 13 and has appointed over 20 individuals to lead various state agencies and departments. Thirteen individuals are either remaining in their jobs from Gov. Eric Holcomb’s administration or were promoted from senior positions in their agencies.

In November, Braun announced an executive branch plan with eight policy focuses. Other positions in his cabinet include adjutant general, the superintendent of Indiana State Police and the lieutenant governor. Braun’s transition team said the new cabinet model will “drive efficiency, accountability and communication in state government.” His appointees will oversee agencies related to their policy areas such as education, business affairs, commerce and management and budget. Holcomb had two dozen individuals in his cabinet.

In December, Gov. Braun finished filling out his restructured governor’s cabinet. According to Gov. Braun’s transition team’s press release, he appointed the following cabinet members:

Lisa Hershman, secretary of Managment and Budget Hersman is from Lafayette and most recently served as the chief management officer for the U.S. Department of Defense from 2018 to 2021. During her term, she was the third highest-ranking Pentagon official. She will serve as the chief financial officer and oversee the state’s budget.

Matthew Ubelhor, secretary of Transportation and Infrastructure

Ubelhor is from Bloomfield and served in the general assembly for three terms. He most recently served as senior vice president of operations at the permanently closed White Stallion Energy, an Evansville-based energy company that owned coal mines in southwest Indiana.

David Adams, secretary of Commerce

Adams most recently served as the state’s commissioner of workforce development under former Gov. Holcomb. He currently serves on the Purdue Research Foundation board and is a Forbes contributing writer. Adams will lead the state’s job creation and business growth initiatives.

Katie Jenner, secretary of Education

Jenner served as the most recent state secretary of education and is continuing to serve in that role. Jenner was appointed as Indiana’s first secretary of education four years ago by Gov. Holcomb after the Indiana General Assembly decided to remove the Superintendent of Public Instruction as an elected position in 2021. In November, the Indiana State Legislature referred a constitutional amendment to the 2024 ballot that passed and removed the superintendent of public instruction from the gubernatorial line of succession.

Mike Speedy, secretary of Business Affairs Speedy is a former state

representative and former Indianapolis city-councilor. As a Republican, he represented District 90 – which covers part of southeastern Marion County – in the Indiana House of Representatives for 14 years beginning in 2010. He operates American Village Properties, a multi-state real estate development company headquartered in Indianapolis. Before being appointed, Speedy was a member of the Indiana General Assembly and worked on the Judiciary, Labor and Pensions, Employment and Utilites, Energy and Telecommunications committees.

Jennifer-Ruth Green, secretary of Public Safety Green is a combat veteran and the current deputy commander of the 11th Operations Group at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington D.C. She previously served as the commander of the 122nd Cyber Operations Flight in Fort Wayne. Green will oversee law enforcement, emergency preparedness and public safety policy development.

Suzanne Ryder Jaworowski, secretary of Energy and Natural Resources Jaworowski most recently was the executive director of stakeholder services at MISO Energy, an electric utility company in Carmel and previously served as chief of staff and senior advisor for policy and communications in the U.S. Department of Energy’s office of nuclear energy during President Donald Trump’s first term. Jaworowski will help navigate

the state’s energy challenges and improve accessibility in this position.

Gloria Sachdev, secretary of Health and Family Services Sachdev is currently the president and CEO of the Employers’ Forum of Indiana. Sachdev will be responsible for coordinating constituent-facing health and well-being services statewide.

Anthony Scott, Superintendent of State Police

Scott has served with the Indiana State Police for 28 years and has held many supervisory positions with ISP. He has been a trooper, a detective, an investigative commander and a lieutenant. Scott became a captain in 2014 and was the Versailles and Sellersburg district commander.

Lawerence Muennich, Adjutant General Muennich is currently the division director of strategic initiatives for the Indiana National Guard. He has more than 32 years of military experience and will lead more than 12,000 soldiers in the Indiana National Guard.

In December, Braun announced 20 key leadership appointments according to his transitions team press release. The appointments included:

• Steve Russo, executive director of the Indiana Public Retirement System • Holly Lambert, Department of Insurance com-

missioner Lindsay Hyer, executive director of the Professional Licensing Agency

• Thomas Fite, director of the Department of Financial Institutions

• James Michaels, superintendent of the Indiana School for the Blind

• Dr. David Geeslin, superintendent of the Indiana School for the Deaf

• Dr. Lindsay Weaver, commissioner of the Indiana State Department of Health Steve Cox, director of the Indiana Broadband Office

• Dan Huge, chairman of the Indiana Finance Authority

• Don Lamb, director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture

• Lloyd Arnold, commissioner of the Department of Corrections Alan Morrison, director of the Department of Natural Resources

• Kevin Garvey, commissioner of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles

• Mitch Roob, secretary of the Family and Social Services Administration

• Jake Adams, director of Department of Veterans Affairs Fred Glynn, executive director of the Office of Community and Rural Affairs Brandon Clifton, Indiana Department of Administration commissioner

• Pete Miller, executive director of the Indiana Management Performance Hub

• Kent Abernathy, In-

diana Department of Transportation commissioner

• Adam Krupp, director of the Department of Child Services

Braun also appointed three senior staff positions including:

• Jason Johnson, deputy chief of staff, legislative affairs

Jessica Wedgewood, deputy chief of staff, operations

• Patrick Price, Governor’s legal counsel

Right before his inauguration on Monday, he appointed eight more individuals according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle. He appointed the following:

• Jon Ford, executive director of the Office of Energy Development.

• Stacy Hughes, executive director of the Education Employment Relations Board Jake Speer, Indiana State librarian

• Clint Woods, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Enviornmental Management.

• Terry Seitz, executive director of White River State Park

• Matt Brown, director of Indiana State Personnel Department Joe Hoage, executive director of the Indiana Gaming Commission.

Braun has not yet appointed an individual to the Department of Workforce Development and the Department of Revenue.

COURTESY PHOTO

Smoke from the wildfires is seen billowing in the distance Jan. 7, 2025, in Los Angeles. IU Media School students participating in the Semester in Los Angeles program arrived during the fires in Los Angeles.

Christie Popp, a Bloomington immigration lawyer, didn’t mince words on the effects of Trump’s proposed immigration policy, which includes suspending refugee resettlement and carrying out mass deportations.

“There’s no question that horrible things are going to happen,” Popp said.

Trump’s “border czar”

Tom Homan told Fox News last Friday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement would launch large-scale raids in Chicago and other U.S. cities as early as Jan. 21. Homan later said the administration is reconsidering the raids after details were leaked to the media.

Popp emphasized the importance of local advocacy, particularly when

it comes to the Indiana General Assembly. Republicans in the state legislature have filed several bills to crack down on illegal immigration, including one that would make being undocumented in Indiana a Class A misdemeanor and punishable by up to a year in jail. The legislative session officially begins Tuesday.

“There’s no question that horrible things are going to happen.”

Christie Popp, immigration lawyer

Toward the end of a stream of speeches from faith leaders, Pastor John Nyota from First United Methodist Church, whose congregation includes refugees from Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, recited Amos 5:21-24 from the Bible to a hushed crowd.

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“I can’t stand your religious meetings. I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions. I want nothing to do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans and goals. I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes, your public relations and image making. I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music,” Nyota read. “When was the last time you sang to me? Do you know what I want? I want justice — oceans of it. I want fairness — rivers of it. That’s what I want. That’s all I want.”

After adding a special emphasis on the last sentence, Nyota concluded with his own line.

“I hope our words, that we sound and talk all the time, will be transitioned into justice and fairness for all,” he said.

More information on resources available to refugees is available at bloomingtonrefugees.org.

» HOUSING

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

During the winter months, many recently displaced rely on local organizations and charities for safety from severe conditions. Increased demand can strain those organizations’ resources.

Allie Jewell is a senior studying social work at IU and one of three volunteer coordinators at the emergency winter shelter. She said recent weeks of cold weather have strained the shelter’s resources and the availability of volunteers, who are in increasingly limited supply.

The emergency winter shelter accepts volunteers through their online signup form.

Jewell said people will often line up at the shelter doors hours before opening, looking for a spot. Often, those lining up outnumber the shelter’s capacity. They have to turn

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away those left in line. Forrest Gilmore, the executive director of Bloomington-based antipoverty organization Beacon, said that those unable to access shelters during periods of extreme weather face risk of injury. The elderly or those with mobility issues, who might not be able to get to a shelter across icy and often un-shoveled Bloomington sidewalks, are especially at risk.

Beacon is accepting donations of coats, hats, clothes or other warm winter gear at Shalom Center, which is open 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at 620 S. Walnut St.

“Anybody in a wheelchair or some other kind of mobility device, walker or scooter or anything, definitely it's tough for them,” Gilmore said. “They generally can't navigate the storm and the snowpack everywhere.”

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Joey Sills (he/him)

is a senior studying English, comparative literature and political science.

This past year, Donald Trump became the first Republican to win the popular vote in 20 years. It hadn’t happened since George W. Bush was reelected in 2004. This is not an insignificant fact.

While we’re on the topic, let’s go ahead and get some of the other facts out of the way. Trump narrowly beat his opponent, Kamala Harris, by about 2.2 million votes: she received just over 75 million votes, compared to his 77.3 million. It’s worth comparing this to the 2020 election, of which Trump was also a part — then, he received around 74.2 million votes, while his opponent, Joe Biden, won in a landslide with roughly 81.2 million votes.

The general feeling on election night, and the days after, was that the country was shifting to the right. But, as Sarah Longwell, a Republican political strategist, told NPR, it’s not necessarily that the electorate as a whole is becoming more conservative. Rather, it’s the fact of the economy’s preeminence among this election’s hot button issues, and voters were, and are, rightfully frustrated. For all intents and purposes, our economy is technically strong right now: job growth is rapid, inflation is at the Federal Reserve’s desired target, manufacturing decline is slowing, and so on and so forth. But this doesn’t paint the whole picture.

Working-class voters, a bloc Trump performed well with, are frustrated with the economy despite its

Working-class Trump voters are not your enemy

strength, despite the very real, material numbers indicating its success. Here are some more facts: the current minimum wage in the U.S. is $7.25 an hour; at 40 hours per week, for 52 weeks in a year, that’s a $15,080 gross income — still under the federal poverty line of $15,650 for a one-person household. The U.S. is still the only developed country in the world that doesn’t guarantee health care as an intrinsic human right by providing a universal health care service. As such, according to the Kraiser Family Foundation, as of last year approximately 14 million people here owe more than $1,000 in medical debt. In fact, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported last year that the total household debt in America

is something around $17.94 trillion.

Fantastic numbers on the global stage mean little when the working class still struggles in its day-to-day realities. It’s true that Trump is hardly the appropriate solution to these maladies, and, most likely, will make them worse. His focus on deregulation, his attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and his predilection toward corporate tax cuts and tariffs were, ultimately, harmful to workers during his first term, and there’s little reason to believe his second will look much different.

But it’s also true that Americans saw little desire for progress from the Democratic Party, and, whether because of short-term memory loss or some other rea-

GUEST COLUMN JOEY’S JIBBER-JABBER

son, they turned toward a demagogue promising truly radical change.

Like any good demagogue, Trump has preyed on voters’ fears and concerns in a way that distracts them from the real problem. He has shifted their focus toward immigrants, queer and transgender people, and, ultimately, themselves. Despite his veneer of economic populism, he has inhabited his White House, predictably, with useful political cronies and wealthy benefactors like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Linda McMahon and Elon Musk, among others. It’s easy, then, to laugh in the face of his supporters. What did they expect, really? Isn’t this exactly who they voted for? They got what they asked, there’s

little room to complain now.

This anger, this bitterness, is understandable. But it’s much more important — if much more complicated — to attempt to understand exactly why they chose to vote for this demagogue in the first place. And it’s from this analytical process that everything else must move forward. People do not bring fascism upon themselves, no matter who they voted for: they are victims of a fascist manipulating them, using their material conditions for his own political benefit. The left does not win an election, nor any political victories for that matter, by assuming that every person who voted for Trump is a soulless, irredeemable demon for being taken advantage of by a political

opportunist. Nobody’s decisions, nobody’s political ideologies, exist in a vacuum independent of their social realities. We shouldn’t tolerate, under any circumstances, the hatred and vitriol spewed by Trump and his supporters toward those marginalized groups they so desperately want to blame for their anger. But it’s total idealism and defeatism to assume that half of the country is unrecoverable. Transforming a fight against the ruling class into a fight against millions of workingclass people achieves nothing. Everyone, ultimately, is a victim of oligarchy and everyone, ultimately, is a victim of fascism. Trump supporters are right in being angry at the establishment political rule that has done nothing to change their material existence. But they are wrong in believing a capitalist like Trump — or, for that matter, any of the capitalists in Silicon Valley who’ve placed themselves at the forefront of his campaign — will alter their conditions any differently. But it’s on the collective, not the individual, to craft a political alternative that demonstrates to them their misjudgment. The Democratic Party, as it currently stands, is not this alternative. As it demonstrated in the 2024 election, it has failed to garner the sort of support needed to quell what its candidate called an “existential threat.” For the left to defeat the radical right, it must be equally as radical in its fight for equality and liberty. Simply put, to conquer fascism, one must begin to construct a world where it’s less desirable.

sillsj@iu.edu

Elon Musk’s disinformation and suppression campaign fuels Islamophobia, xenophobia

Omeed Mehrzad (he/him)

is a sophomore on the pre-med track studying Political Science/Economics.

On Dec. 20, German officials’ worst fears were realized. Each year, crowded Christmas markets, bustling with holiday cheer, are anything but jolly for German officials, as they are faced with the daunting tasks of markets’ security and crowd control. Unfortunately, the markets’ popularity also makes them prime targets for attacks aimed at causing mass casualties. This tragic reality unfolded when a man drove his car into an extraordinarily crowded Christmas market, leaving at least five dead and over 200 injured — 41 critically. The attack marked Dec. 20 as the date of the deadliest attack Germany has suffered in years.

German police soon identified the driver: a doctor from Saudi Arabia by the name of Taleb al-Abdulmohsen.

And, as they always do, Islamophobes pounced on this tragic moment to push their bigoted agenda. Except this time, they had a powerful ally— Elon Musk.

As the richest man on Earth, owner of the mammoth social media platform X, and a right-hand man to President Donald Trump, all eyes have been on Musk recently, with many even declaring him “President Musk” and an oligarch due to his recent controversial involvement in Congress’ votes on spending plans. Musk originally positioned himself as a centrist, claiming to transcend the partisan lines that enabled radical ideologies on both the left and the right to gridlock our political system. Slowly but surely, however, as all who claim to be neither left nor right do, we have seen the centibillionaire shift from his brief attempts of nonpartisanship, to his right-wing dog whistles, and ultimately, to blowing hundreds of millions of dollars to tip the scales toward Trump in the 2024 election and boosting bigoted and neo-Nazi affiliated content — such as

“transphobic misinformation” and pseudo race science — to his 212 million followers on X.

Hours before the deadly Christmas market attack on Dec. 20, Musk endorsed the insurgent far-right German political party, Alternative for Germany (AfD) — which has risen to second place in the national polls ahead of the 2025 federal election — as the only party who “can save Germany.” The AfD strongly opposes immigration, particularly Muslim immigration, campaigning on “zero immigration” policy. Many AfD leaders and chapter groups have been classified as extremist by the German government and have been accused of sympathizing with and spouting phrases associated with Nazism, with some calling to end the country’s culture of remembrance of the Holocaust. The driver in the market attack, Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, is also an avid supporter of the AfD, once declaring that he and the “AfD are fighting the same enemy to protect Germany” on the topic of Muslim immigrants. While he was born a Muslim and in Saudi Arabia, he was radicalized against Islam, abhorring Muslims and Islamic societies. In 2006, he immigrated to Germany and was officially granted political asylum 10 years later. Germany also rejected extradition requests from Saudi Arabia, with German officials “citing concerns for the man’s safety should he return,” according to CNN. Al-Abdulmohsen aligns himself with not only the AfD, but also anti-Islam, far-right personalities such as Tommy Robinson, Alex Jones and Geert Wilders, following and reposting their content on the social media platform X. Additionally, he is staunchly pro-Israel, often reposting pro-Israeli content and even posting on X, “We call on the Arabs to take to the streets in demonstrations to demand that Israel annex the West Bank and Gaza, and if they so wish, annex Lebanon as well.” Finally, he follows, re-

posts and even replies supportively to Musk on X.

In a series of audio clips posted hours before the deadly attack, al-Abdulmohsen confessed grievances with the German government, seemingly explaining why he would go on to drive into a crowded Christmas market, killing five and injuring hundreds. In the audio clips he expressed his utmost anger with Germany “actively, criminally chasing Islam critics to ruin their lives” and facilitating the complete Islamization of Germany. He also vented frustrations regarding a charity for atheist refugees by accusing them of corruption and taking advantage of Saudi women refugees. With all of his rancor, he directed all of the blame toward German society as a whole.

However, in the early aftermath of the attack and no information on the driver except visual appearance, Musk and other Islamophobes jumped at the chance to paint Muslim immigrants in broad strokes as fundamental Islamists and a danger to the western society, with Musk immediately reposting a post on X displaying the first picture disseminated of alAbdulmohsen asking, “Notice anything?” clearly referencing his Arab appearance, and claiming, “This is a DIRECT RESULT of mass unchecked immigration,” oversimplifying the complex issue of immigration and fueling xenophobic narratives.

Musk also reposted a post by the leader of the UK’s far-right Reform party, Nigel Farage, that exclaimed, “We have allowed people who hate us and our values into Europe. Christmas is their target. Any guesses why?”

In the midst of stoking the anger and fear in those susceptible to such hatred against Muslims and immigrants, Musk’s X took down al-Abdulmohsen’s account, restricting users from viewing his profile and discovering he was, in fact, not a West-hating Muslim ter-

rorist as many were claiming him to be. The account was reactivated a few hours later, but with noticeable changes.

Al-Abdulmohsen’s posts were no longer searchable, and because X only displays the last 3,200 posts on one’s profile page, all posts from before Nov. 12 were essentially lost. Hours later, alAbdulmohsen’s post count dropped from 121.5k to 121.3k. (For these reasons, many sources of al-Abdulmohsen’s posts shared on X and used in articles are in the form of screenshots.) Proof of his antiIslam activism reaching back for years and years was erased besides the handful of posts screenshotted, which played perfectly into Musk’s fantasy that al-Abdulmohsen was in fact not an ex-Muslim atheist, but rather a radical Islamist who practices “Taqqiye, an Islamic doctrine that permits lying and deception to advance Islamic objectives,” according to a video post Musk quote reposted. In the quote repost, he added, “Wtf is the German press saying? Most people in Europe still think the legacy press is real, when it is pure propaganda. Please send them links to X, so they know what’s actually going on.”

Taqiyya is the “precautionary denial of religious belief in the face of potential persecution” typically practiced to conceal religious beliefs to avoid putting one’s life or property at risk. It is neither a widely used nor a mainstream concept in Islam today.

Main points peddled in the video latched onto alAbdulmohsen’s name as evidence of his “identity as a radical shia Muslim,” a handful of other ex-Muslim activists questioning if al-Abdulmohsen ever left Islam and a screenshot of direct messages — with no context — between an unknown user and al-Abdulmohsen where he threatens them with the “Saudi Military Opposition.” The narrator of the video attempts to lead the audience to believe that al-Abdulmohsen had

admitted his true intentions in these direct messages — that he is loyal to Saudi Arabia — when, if you check his account’s bio information, he describes himself as “Saudi Military Opposition” to the public.

At the mere mention of Taqiyya, these few pieces of cherry-picked and misrepresented evidence serve to replace the years and years of al-Abdulmohsen’s advocacy against Islam, the vast majority of which have been conveniently restricted. The accusation of Taqiyya is a typical tactic employed by Islamophobes seeking to discredit as well as exacerbate fear and distrust toward Muslims.

Venturing beyond social media, al-Abdulmohsen was an interviewee in a 2019 BBC interview. It was in this interview that alAbdulmohsen stated he is not only an ex-Muslim but facilitates ex-Muslims’ journeys to flee their countries. Because of this, it should be undeniable that he is an ex-Muslim. As what Muslim — so dedicated to Islam that he would carry out a mass killing — would spend over a decade helping ex-Muslims escape their countries?

Also in 2019, he was interviewed by the German FAZ newspaper and said, “I am history’s most aggressive critic of Islam. If you don’t believe me, ask the Arabs.”

Despite the mountains of evidence provided by the attacker’s social media accounts going back over a decade and outside media evidence dating back years, Musk continued to double down on his claims of alAbdulmohsen’s practice of Taqiyya and hidden agenda by reposting threads such as, “Raw Facts You Won’t Hear from the German Media Echo Chambers About the Latest Horrendous Terror Attack in Germany,” and adding “Important thread to understand the magnitude of failure by the German government.”. This thread asserted — with no evidence — al-Abdulmohsen “(reinvented) himself as a dissident” of Saudi Arabia as a “strategic” move

to secure asylum.

Still with no tangible proof, Musk continued to post, “The atheist angle was a scam to avoid extradition,” and, “Legacy media lies again,” in response to multiple media outlets reporting al-Abdulmohsen as a selfdescribed Islamophobe. In reality, Musk and other Islamophobes have no evidence that al-Abdulmohsen was indeed a Muslim. But if they really think they do, they should at least know it is shaky and unverified evidence at best. So why accuse and participate in the spreading of mass, shaky at absolute best, but most likely erroneous, information? Because the more that they believe the driver to be a Muslim, the more powerful their following and fear mongering grows, not only in Germany ahead of the country’s February elections, but worldwide where issues of Islamophobia and xenophobia are lightning rod political issues.

Divisive accusations, such as these, have already bred Islamophobia and accelerated violence and hate crimes in the past, with a 114% rise in Germany in 2023, all the while nine in 10 German Muslims did not complain to police about the hate crimes they experienced.

Rather than spewing hateful disinformation and launching suppression campaigns, the tender moments after tragedies should be time for a society to come together as a collective and heal, not turn against one another to further exacerbate social tensions as Musk and the AfD have — with the firebrand AfD leader Alice Weidel ironically condemning al-Abdulmohsen as “an Islamist full of hatred” in an emotional speech. The solution to radicalized violence will never lie in the demonization of a minority — fear only works to divide us and push the marginalized to the brink — but rather, within the tranquil unity of society in the solidaric quest for a peaceful, just world.

TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Donald Trump dances while leaving the stage at his rally Nov. 2, 2024, in Gastonia, North Carolina. Trump won the 2024 election by roughly 2.2 million votes.

John’s first project was a Photoshop piece of the discovery of the No. 5 sandwich — with no onions, of course.

After it was finished, his professor encouraged him to print it out and give it to the employees of his go-to Jimmy John’s.

“We got it framed, it was in the store right above their ice cube machine for a few months,” John said.

Next was a 3D virtual reality world with a Jimmy John’s temple and a website that laid out a conspiracy theory surrounding the creation of Jimmy John’s.

John printed out all the projects he created that semester and compiled them on a bulletin board that hangs directly across from the front door of his apartment.

“My conspiracy board, yeah,” he said, explaining his fictional Jimmy John’s lore.

John’s fictionalized version of history begins in 1450 with the discovery of the No. 5 by Spanish conquistadors, who then disappeared.

In the 1960s, John imagined, the CIA began to work with a Jimmy John’s competitor, Anthony Bolognavich, to replicate the magical lifegiving properties of the sandwiches.

“And they don’t want

you to know this,” John said. “But Jimmy John is that original conquistador. He’s lived for hundreds of years, sustaining himself on the power of his magical sandwich.”

John’s own Jimmy John’s story began during his senior year of high school. He was a wrestler and with every win, he would head to his favorite sandwich shop with his friends to celebrate. When he made it to Indiana state wrestling finals in the spring, his family made custom shirts with his name, school mascot and — of course — a Jimmy John’s sandwich. So, it was only natural for him to turn to a familiar favorite once he came to IU. Each Friday, John crossed the street from his Eigenmann dorm to the tiny 10th Street Jimmy John’s for a sandwich to celebrate the end of the week. On Aug. 11, 2023, he posted a selfie of himself at the black plastic table outside the store, holding a wrapped sandwich with the caption “first official Jimmy John’s Friday went swimmingly.”

“I think I said it almost ironically,” John said. He certainly didn’t think it would become a weekly tradition. But for 77 weeks, he has kept up the gig. He almost always goes on a Friday and always gets that famous No. 5 sandwich, the Vito.

“That’s what I’ve always gotten. When I was a lad, when I was like eight, my mom picked it out for me, and I like it,” John said. “That’s what I’ve just been doing ever since.”

He often invites friends to eat with him, but none have remained as devoted as he has. He admits his girlfriend, while “supportive,” doesn’t particularly like Jimmy John’s.

“Personally, I like Subway,”

Roessler, his girlfriend of a year and a half, said. And even a sandwich superfan like John doesn’t always crave his favorites.

“I won’t lie, sometimes it’s tough,” he admitted. “But for the most part, my love of Jimmy John’s has stayed pretty consistent.”

On one sunny Friday in December, John arrives at Jimmy John’s around 1:05 p.m. He’s not wearing his signature red Jimmy John’s shirt or even his branded

Christmas sweater, but he is still dressed for the occasion in a red zip-up and black shorts. He orders his regular, paying $6.47 before sitting down at the high top with his sandwich.

He unwraps the paper to reveal salami, capocollo and provolone, topped with lettuce, tomato, oil, vinegar and oregano-basil, on freshly baked French bread.

“I think that’s the biggest thing that separates them from other competitors,” John says. “Beautiful, beautiful bread.”

He speaks with wisdom, nodding as he expounds on topics from the Jimmy John’s rewards program to the controversial Picklewich. Soon enough, he finishes his sandwich and heads back out to his car.

But he’ll be back; John doesn’t plan to stop his weekly Jimmy John’s trips anytime soon. After all, he even shares a name with the store. His take on the matching names?

“I think it was destiny.”

COURTESY PHOTO

John Broadwell poses with a Jimmy John’s sandwich bag. He went to Jimmy John’s weekly for 77 weeks straight.

COURTESY PHOTO

Jonathan Broadwell (left) and Marshelle Broadwell (right), John’s parents, wear custom shirts to support John for the state wrestling finals during his senior year. Each shirt had the quote “#5 No Onions,” in reference to John’s regular Jimmy John’s order.

COURTESY PHOTO

John’s “Conspiracy Board,” which holds all of his projects from design class, is seen. John hung the board directly across from the front door of his apartment.

IU experts make predictions for new Trump term

By Andrew Miller ami3@iu.edu | @andrew_mmiller

Editor’s note: The opinions reflected by each professor in this article reflect the views of the individual writer and not necessarily those of the IDS or its staffers. The emails were edited for style only.

President Donald Trump painted a dark portrait of the United States in his inaugural address Jan. 20, a picture that resulted from a “decline” he said he would reverse.

The transition from Joe Biden’s administration to Trump’s can only be known as the country experiences it day by day. Still, political scientists trying to predict what the next four years could look like have the advantage of analyzing his first term.

The Indiana Daily Student emailed every faculty member in IU’s Department of Political Science. Here’s what they responded to one question: What predictions do you have for Donald Trump’s second term as president?

Michael Weinman, Senior Lecturer of Political Science and Jewish Studies:

While I think any positive predictions are a fool’s errand in politics, one can sometimes succeed in saying something that “ages well” in predicting what won’t happen. In that light, I am willing to venture to list a few things that won’t happen over the second Trump administration, in order of greatest to least confidence.

With great confidence, I would say that we will not see any of the following out-

comes that have been sometimes predicted by those who are most troubled by Trump’s reelection: the end of American democracy; the abandonment of the separation of powers, for instance through a systemic override of the Senate’s “advise and consent” role in cabinetlevel presidential appointments; the failure to carry out free and fair elections in the 2026 midterms; the persecution (or for that matter, prosecution) of “the President’s enemies” such as Liz Cheney, Jack Smith, or Merrick Garland (Note: President Joe Biden issued a preemptive pardon for Liz Cheney, among others, on Jan. 20. He did not pardon Jack Smith or Merrick Garland) among others for their “weaponization” of the powers of congressional oversight and Justice Department investigations. With the same degree of confidence, I think we can safely predict that, as Trump himself has taken to admitting, we will not see inflation reduced drastically and “easily” in the coming 18 months at least.

With moderate confidence, I would say that we will also not see many of the other central promises of the Trump-Vance campaign come to pass. That is, we will not see a wall (beautiful or otherwise) built all along the U.S.-Mexico border; we will not see the mass deportation of undocumented migrants, measured in multiples of millions, let alone the 10+ million, sometimes 15 million figure often mentioned in campaign events. (That said, to be clear, according to a December 2024 ICE report, President Biden’s administration “removed 271,484 noncitizens with final orders of removal to 192 different countries” in 2024 alone and there is no reason to think the number will be lower during Trump’s Presidency.)

With somewhat lower (but still a fair degree of) confidence, but with no joy at all, I would finally say that we will not see either the degree of persistent and dogged op-

position (or “resistance”) to this Trump Administration along the lines his first Presidency faced leading into the 2018 midterm elections. And, for the same reasons, I would say that we will not see the sort of “blue wave” midterm in 2026 that we saw in 2018, where Democrats gained a whopping 41 seats in the House of Representatives and nearly balanced the split of Governor’s offices (27 R/23 D after the 2018 elections; 33 R/16 D/1 I before the elections).

“I think any positive predictions are a fool’s errand in politics”

Michael Weinman

Bill Scheuerman, professor of international studies and political science:

I have no crystal ball. However, based on Trump’s extreme far-right political campaign, and the fact that his cabinet members now look to be extreme ideologues and/or selfish billionaires, it seems pretty clear what we should expect: a presidency that feeds xenophobia to working people to distract them from its frontal attack on government programs that rein in the superrich and (occasionally) keep them from sticking it to the rest of us. In other words, the most pro-billionaire presidency in history, wrapped up in “populist” rhetoric that demonizes immigrants and other easy targets — for example, trans teenagers or, for that matter, “woke” college professors. Trump’s ongoing love-in fest with Elon Musk, a billionaire and ally of neo-

fascists around the world, encapsulates that dangerous political mix perfectly.

“Our democracy will face existential threats.”

Bill Scheuerman Back in 2016, I still hoped that responsible conservatives would check Trump’s extremism. Those voices have since been driven out of the GOP, which is presently little more than a Trump cult. (Unfortunately, Indiana’s GOP — including our two U.S. Senators — are among the cult’s charter members. What an embarrassment.)

(Note: Sen. Todd Young said in March he wouldn’t endorse Trump’s candidacy in the primaries. He congratulated Trump on Jan. 20).

In the next few years, our democracy will face existential threats. I am not sure it will survive intact, at least if the rest of us sit on our rears and let Trump and Musk get away with doing whatever they want. I do hope that people who thought they were voting for Trump because he promised to reduce inflation figure out that it was just his latest con. Whatever you might say about Trump, one thing is certain: he is America’s greatest con artist ever.

Jeffrey Isaac, political science professor: I predict that Trump will continue the assault on constitutional democracy that he has pursued ever since 2016. He will continue to red-bait all who criticize him, and under Attorney Generaldesignee Pam Bondi and

FBI Director-designee Kash Patel, his Justice Department will harass opponents, give a free rein to police brutality, and stop enforcing civil rights and civil liberties law. His homeland security team will vigorously pursue the detention and deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants. His Department of Education will crack down hard on academic freedom. And his Energy Department will unleash the petroleum industry in defiance of concerns about global warming. The rich will get richer, the Trump family will get much richer, and the poor will get poorer. These things are certain, and all of them will be accomplished via executive action.

“The rich will get richer, the Trump family will get much richer, and the poor will get poorer.”

Jeffrey Isaac Trump will not get everything he wants. There will be chaos in his administration, there will be political opposition, and some of his measures will be limited or overturned by courts — a process that can take years, during which much damage can be done. The next four years are going to be a very dark time for democracy.

Dina Spechler, associate professor of political science:

I’m always reluctant to make predictions, especially at the start of a new presidential term, and Donald Trump is harder to predict than

most.  The key question is, will he do everything he has threatened or promised to do? In part, that depends on the reactions or pushback he receives from other governments. But it also depends on just how committed Mr. Trump is to follow through on everything he has recently said he will do. If he does everything he has announced, he will force Ukraine and Russia to reach a settlement of some sort; he will deport millions of undocumented immigrants; he will either annex Canada or impose on it a very high set of tariffs; and he will occupy Greenland and seize the Panama Canal.  He will also intensify economic sanctions on Iran, impose up to 80% tariffs on all goods imported from China (Note: Trump has proposed tariffs “60% or higher” on Chinese goods) and raise tariffs substantially on goods from Mexico and some goods from the EU.  Reviving threats he made during his previous term, he will withdraw the U.S. from NATO. He will also withdraw from the Paris Climate Accords. (Note: Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Accords Jan. 20)

“Donald Trump is harder to predict than most.”

Dina Spechler

However, I don’t actually expect him to do all of these things.  He will probably reach a trade agreement with Canada and leave its sovereignty intact.  Likewise, he will probably reach some sort of accord with Greenland and Panama and focus on pressuring our NATO allies to contribute more to their collective defense. I also expect a substantial push to reach an agreement with Saudi Arabia that will lead to major new U.S. security commitments and assistance in constructing a nuclear reactor in return for recognition of the state of Israel.  If Hamas violates the terms of the ceasefire, he will support renewed Israeli hostilities in Gaza.

Bloomington celebrates MLK Day with free breakfast

By Ethan Roberts ethrobe@iu.edu | @usaEthanRoberts

About 10 volunteers scattered across the Banneker Community Center’s compact gymnasium at 9 a.m. Jan. 20 as visitors arrived to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. They were greeted by a buffet line of pancakes, orange juice and Mark Trotter, one of the event’s main volunteers.

“We’re remembering a great American being.”

“We’re remembering a great American being,” said Trotter, associate director of IU’s Robert F. Byrnes Russian and East European Institute. “Somebody who dedicated himself in a really exemplary way.”

Trotter continued to offer pancakes to the visitors as more people arrived.

“I am more than disturbed by the turn that our political system has taken,” Trotter said. “I want to do something in a very modest way and push back.”

President Donald Trump was inaugurated the 47th President of the United States on Jan. 20, just an hour after the breakfast ended.

The room fell silent as Kenneth Wilson Jr., the keynote speaker, began his speech about Martin Luther King Jr. and how African American leaders affected

his life. Wilson Jr., a mechanical engineer, said he was thankful for the people in his life that helped guide him and that the day should be a celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. as well as family, friends and mentors. After the speech was over,

visitors made their way to an IU Health booth that was stationed adjacent to the buffet. The volunteers at the stand offered free blood pressure checks to visitors.

“Some of the stuff I do in health equity is see how African Americans and different

populations are disproportionately affected,” IU graduate student Adrian Tanase said. “I think Martin Luther King Jr. Day for me specifically about being here and trying to reach out and educate.” Tanase, who was volunteering with two registered

nurses, is studying health inequality in underrepresented minority groups. It’s not his first time volunteering at an event like that of Jan. 20, either.  He volunteered in December at the Indian Cultural Center for an outreach event. Tanase said the Indian popu-

lation similarly suffers from health inequality.

“I try to attend as many of these events as possible,” Tanase said. “Given this is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, it is a very special day, and I wanted to come here and help the community.”

Speakers advocate political, community involvement at MLK Birthday

By Ella Curlin elcurlin@iu.edu

Bloomington’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration was held at 6 p.m. Jan. 20 evening at the Buskirk Chumley Theater and featured multiple speeches encouraging activism and community involvement. This yearly event commemorates King’s legacy and is one of multiple events hosted year-round by the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration Commission as part of its goal to “promote justice, racial equality, and equal opportunity” in Bloomington.

This year’s theme, “A Necessary Rennaissance in Social Justice: Telling the Stories to Ignite Change,” focused on storytelling and the creative arts as part of the ongoing fight for justice, according to the chair of the commission, Gloria Howell.

Howell, who is also the director of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center at IUBloomington, said the theme reflects King’s support for the arts, as well as providing an opportunity to highlight black artists in the Bloomington community.

Howell said this year’s theme emphasized the work of their keynote speaker, ac-

tivist and investigative journalist Keith A. Beauchamp.

Beauchamp was the filmmaker and producer of the 2005 film “The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till,” a documentary which included previously unheard witness testimony that prompted the Justice Department to reopen the case.

“Those types of things are still happening, particularly to black folks in marginalized communities,” Howell said. “So, we thought, let’s shed light on that. Let’s tell stories. Let’s also celebrate the creativity of black artists like Keith as a filmmaker.”

“We’re at a pivotal moment in our history, and we have the opportunity to carry Dr. King’s dream into the future”

Keith A. Beauchamp

In his speech, Beauchamp honored the work of civil rights activists like King, Rosa Parks, George W. Lee and Lamar Smith, and he encouraged attendees to find paths for political or community involvement.

“We’re at a pivotal moment in our history, and we have the opportunity to carry Dr. King’s dream into

the future,” Beauchamp said in his speech. “But to do so, we must commit ourselves to action.”

The event also featured performances from three IU alumni, with Tyra Anderson and Jasmine Dennie as vocalists and Peyton Womock playing the saxophone.

Howell said the commission chose performers with connections to Bloomington ensembles, like the African American Choral Ensemble or the IU Soul Revue.

“We wanted to highlight them, because they’re amazing,” Howell said.

Deputy Mayor Gretchen Knapp also presented the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Legacy Award to its 2025 recipient, Beverly Calender-Anderson, formerly the Safe and Civil City Director and Community and Family Resources Department Director for the City of Bloomington.

For nine years, CalenderAnderson worked in Bloomington government, with the Bloomington Chamber of Commerce describing her work as spanning “the Farmers’ Market, race relations, Seminary Park, human rights and many more.”

While presenting the award, Knapp said Calender-Anderson’s work reflects a “dedication to fostering equity and inclusion”

that leaves “a lasting legacy of hope, unity and progress” in the Bloomington community.

In her speech, CalenderAnderson said that the audience should prioritize active community or political involvement.

“If you’re not able to get out of your house and march or protest, make a phone call,

write a letter, write a check supporting a local nonprofit or you can volunteer,” Calender-Anderson said.

The commission also invited all attendees to participate in its Season of Service, which spans from Martin Luther King Jr.

and encourages community members to involve themselves in volunteer work.

Representatives from the Commission on the Status of Black Males and the Commission on the Status of Women also took to the stage to invite nominations for the 2025 Outstanding Black Leaders of Tomorrow Award and the 2025 Women’s Achievement Awards, which close on Feb. 11 and Jan. 31, respectively.

JIMMY RUSH | IDS

Volunteer Mark Trotter puts a pancake on a plate during a community pancake breakfast

2025, at Banneker Community Center in Bloomington. The Martin Luther King Jr. Day

community pancake breakfast began at 9 a.m.

Day to Feb. 28

Mark Trotter

PHOTO COURTESY OF WFIU/WTIU NEWS

Keith A. Beauchamp speaks at Bloomington’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Celebration on Jan. 20, 2024 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater in Bloomington. Beauchamp was the filmmaker and producer of the 2005 film “The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till,” which included previously unheard witness testimony that prompted the Justice Department to reopen Till’s case.

Indiana falters in final quarter to No. 4 USC

By Dalton James jamesdm@iu.edu | @daltonmjames

Indiana women’s basketball had just worked its way back from a 9-point deficit, and it could have opted to slow its offense down in hopes of holding for the final shot of the third quarter.

But the Hoosiers didn’t.

JuJu Watkins made them pay.

The USC sophomore guard received the ball with just over four seconds on the clock and took two dribbles before setting her feet to hoist a 3-pointer from the left wing. Watkins drained the buzzer-beating long ball and, as she walked toward the Trojans’ bench, shushed the Hoosier faithful inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall on Jan. 19.

“Indiana went on a run, so it was just a matter of stopping it before and going into the next quarter with a lot of energy,” Watkins said postgame. “I think that gave us a lot of energy in our timeout.”

No. 4 USC’s energy translated to the hardwood as it outscored Indiana by 6 in the final quarter, thanks in large part to a 12-0 run, en route to a 73-66 victory over Indiana.

“Great crowd,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said postgame. “Really grateful that our fans came out and supported not just us, women’s basketball, today.”

With the “white out” crowd of 12,534 fans behind them, the Hoosiers showed early signs of yet another

MEN’S SOCCER

Weiss joins FC Naples

By Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer matfuent@iu.edu | @mateo_frohwer

Indiana men’s soccer’s Justin Weiss signed with FC Naples in the United Soccer League, according to the team’s X post Jan. 18. Weiss played one season for Indiana, scoring seven goals and helping the Hoosiers win a share of the Big Ten regular season title.

The Syosset, New York, native began his career with Colgate University, starting in four of his six appearances and contributing a goal and an assist. Weiss then transferred to Northwestern, where he spent the next three seasons.

As a Wildcat, Weiss made 42 starts in 45 appearances, scoring 18 goals and 10 assists. His 2023 senior season with seven goals and seven assists culminated in a selection to the first-team All-Big Ten. Weiss also achieved that honor in his sophomore season, during which he scored eight goals and had two assists.

“Justin has had an excellent college career,” FC Naples head coach Matt Poland said in a press release. “Playing at one of the top programs in the country. He has shown his ability to score goals and be a threat in the box. We are excited for him to start his professional career with us.”

Weiss joins FC Naples prior to its inaugural season in the USL League One. Naples is one of 14 teams in the league, with its first game set to kick off March 8.

victory against one of the nation’s best as they led by 11 points early in the second quarter.

Although Indiana trailed by 1 after Watkins’ 3-pointer to end the third quarter, it regained the lead almost immediately. Graduate student guard Sydney Parrish hit a 3-pointer of her own just 16 seconds into the final quarter before she hit a midrange jumper a minute and a half later.

With a 4-point lead in hand and the Hoosier faithful growing raucous, Indiana appeared to have gained control of the contest. All it had to do was hold off the Trojans’ potent offense, which is easier said than done, and continue to execute offensively.

But the Hoosiers failed to do the latter as they went on a field goal drought that lasted nearly six and half minutes in the fourth quarter. Although Indiana knocked down six free throws during the dry spell, USC scored 19 points, which allowed it to build an insurmountable gap.

“I feel like at times we were getting great looks, and then I think at times we went away from what got us those great looks,” graduate student guard Chloe Moore-McNeil said. “And I think that was really important, especially when you’re playing a great team like USC, you can’t have that slippage.”

The Hoosiers went 4 for 13 from the field in the fourth quarter and went just 2 for 11 after beginning

the period with a pair of makes.

Coming off a performance in which she scored 3 points and played just four minutes in the second half, Yarden Garzon again struggled Jan. 19. The junior guard went 3 for 17 from the field and 2 for 11 from beyond the arc.

“We need her to score for us,” Moren said. “And so, we just kind of keep doing what we’re doing, pouring into her, encouraging her and just being her biggest cheerleaders right now that she’s a great shooter.”

Garzon wasn’t alone in her shooting woes. As a squad, the Hoosiers shot 37.5% from the field and 27.6% from 3-point range.

“We look back and we’re like, ‘We hit a couple more shots and we win this game,’” Moren said. “So they’re battling and they’re trying after such a poor performance the other night against Illinois, it was good to see them come back.”

After Moren called out her squad for their lack of energy at practice the day before losing to Illinois, she gave the Hoosiers a “hard message” in the postgame locker room Jan. 16, according to Moore-McNeil.

It was a message that spoke to some more than others, Moore-McNeil said, because it hit home what Moren was preaching. But it led every Hoosier to be mentally focused and possess the energy required for Jan. 19.

“But they can’t just get up for the big ones,” Moren

said. “We got to be up for all of them, because they’re all so hard to win and they know that. And the end of the day, you look back, and we’re going to watch it, talk about some of the things we did well and some of the things we got to clean up.”

While Watkins, who is arguably the best player in the nation, finished the contest with 22 points on 6 for 16 from the field and 2 for 4 from long range, the Hoosiers defense frustrated her in the early going.

Whether it was MooreMcNeil or junior guard Lexus Bargesser defending Watkins, she had to work “extremely hard” for her points, according to Moren. Watkins said she “got used to it” in terms of the Hoosiers’ defensive strategy, which included double teams at times.

“I don’t know how she got used to it because we kept changing up the defense on her,” Moren said. “We didn’t play all man. We went to a little bit of box and one. So that’s what you do, you try to — we corralled a little bit, we shaded a little bit more throughout, so there’s nothing that we would have done differently.”

The Hoosiers now have five days off before facing off with Oregon at 9 p.m. Friday inside Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon.

Indiana now sits at 12-6 and 4-3 in conference play after suffering its second consecutive loss and fourth at home this season. Unlike

recent seasons, the Hoosiers are more of a bubble NCAA Tournament team. In ESPN’s latest March Madness projections, the Hoosiers are in line to be a No. 9 seed, which would be their lowest since being a No. 10 seed in 2018-19, after earning a top four seed in each of the last four NCAA Tournaments.

The Hoosiers, who have four ranked wins so far this season, still have four games against currently

ranked opponents out of their 11 remaining regular season contests. However, Moren doesn’t want her squad to be at their best against only the best teams.

“Every game is really important to what we want to be able to do, and that’s to play in March,” Moren said. “We just got to keep focusing on the things that we have to keep improving on and getting better, and I think we will. We got a lot of faith in these guys.”

Indiana routes Purdue at ‘Mackey Mania’ night

Pollitt

By Aidan

adpollit@iu.edu | @pollitt_52

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Indiana wrestling trekked north for its annual in-state rivalry dual against Purdue this weekend. The meet, held in Mackey Arena, was advertised as “Mackey Mania” and had a strong crowd of both Indiana and Purdue fans in attendance. Indiana spoiled Purdue’s night, blanking the Boilermakers in the last five weights to secure the 25-11 victory Jan. 17 in West Lafayette.

Indiana’s head coach Angel Escobedo has delivered three straight dual meet victories over Purdue. Escobedo now boasts a 5-2 record this season and is 1-2 in the Big Ten. Like last season, Indiana took seven of 10 matches in the dual, including two victories by technical fall. The Hoosiers also notched four ranked victories over their Purdue opponents with significant upsets at 141 lbs. and 174 lbs.

Graduate students Donnell Washington and Angelo Rini won matches by technical fall to add crucial bonus points to the team score. Additionally, No. 23 redshirt sophomore Gabe Sollars avenged last season’s loss to Purdue’s No. 29 redshirt junior Ben Vanadia.

“I thought they wrestled really hard, made adjustments from our match against Rutgers and responded the right way,” Escobedo said after the win.

“They showed that they are able to respond from a loss and come out here and fix their mistakes, which is all you can ask for as a coach.”

One of those wrestlers was No. 12 redshirt sophomore Tyler Lillard, who reversed a nagging loss from last season. Lillard had fallen twice to No. 33 Purdue redshirt junior Stoney Buell last season, including in their previous dual meet. Lillard made the most of this third opportunity and reversed those prior results, posting a 5-2 decision over Buell.

“Compared from last year to this year, I made more effort into making attacks,” Lillard said. “Even if I miss them, it’s okay, I know that I’m making attempts ... I may not get the first one or the second one but I’m still working towards it.”

Lillard’s victory was

WOMEN’S

the first after intermission, when IU trailed Purdue 11-8. His victory sparked the Hoosiers’ five-match win streak in the back half of the dual.

“My brother,” Lillard said when asked about his motivations. “I lost my brother in September, so you know that’s always something that gives me light. Like, ‘Hey if he were still here, he would want to see me chasing my dreams,’ so I just keep that in my mind that I got to keep going for him.”

Just after Lillard’s victory, redshirt senior Derek Gilcher pulled off the upset of the dual when he defeated No. 25 redshirt sophomore Brody Baumann in the 174 lbs. match. Gilcher, in just

his second match at 174 lbs., snatched a close 2-1 decision in enemy territory. After the match, a roar of Purdue boos brought a smile to Gilcher’s face as he walked off the mat.

“I mean this is a rivalry right here,” Gilcher said. “Just the atmosphere, it’s crazy. I love it, this is what makes it fun.”

In a tense bout, Gilcher secured a late stall call to put him up 2-1 in the final 20 seconds of the bout. The Hoosiers’ persistent offense and attacks were enough to give him the late point and left just enough energy to fend off Baumann’s final attempts at an attack. In another standout per-

“All those guys, I’m proud of the way they competed,” Escobedo said. “They were able to overturn losses that they had or even upset guys that were higher ranked than they were.”

Makalusky, Caffey earn McDonald’s All-American nominations

By Dalton James jamesdm@iu.edu | @daltonmjames

Indiana women’s basketball’s incoming freshmen Maya Makalusky and Neveah Caffey were named McDonald’s All-American nominees, according to McDonald’s All-American Games’ Instagram post Jan. 15. Makalusky and Caffey will learn if they are McDonald’s All-Americans when

the final roster with 24 players is released in late January. Makalusky, a 6-foot-3 forward at Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers, Indiana, is ranked as the No. 1 recruit in Indiana and No. 47 recruit in the country, according to On3. The Royals are 18-0 so far this season as Makalusky is averaging 21 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. She’s shooting 49% from the field

and 43% from beyond the arc. Through her first three seasons at HSE, Makalusky averaged 18.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per contest as the Royals went 56-15. In 2024, the four-star was named an Indiana Junior All-Star and earned ICGSA First-Team All-State honors.

Caffey, who attends Incarnate Word Academy in St. Louis, is ranked as the No. 2 recruit in Missouri and

No. 61 in the country. The 5-foot-10 four-star guard has yet to lose in her high school career as she’s won all 101 games she’s played in so far. Caffey is in the midst of her senior season after winning state titles in each of her first three seasons. The Red Knights are currently 9-0 this season while Caffey is averaging 17.6 points and 2.6 assists per game. She’s shooting 49.6% from the

field while she’s gone 15 for 24 from 3-point range.

“We are always going to try to continue to find those four-year kids, those high schoolers,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said during her Inside Indiana Basketball radio show Jan. 20 about her recruiting approach. “Maya Makalusky and Neveah (are) going to be joining us here next year — four-year kids that we’re super excited about.”

Malalusky verbally committed to the Hoosiers on June 25, 2023, while Caffey did so March 2, 2024. Both officially signed with Indiana on Nov. 13, 2024. With two signees ranked in the top 100 and earning national recognition, Moren and her coaching staff are still looking to add to their 2025 class. “We’re not done yet with recruiting in this class,” Moren said.

LAUREN MCKINNEY | IDS

Indiana women’s basketball’s starting lineup huddles during a game against USC on Jan. 19, 2025, at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. The Hoosiers fell to the Trojans by 7 points.

formance, redshirt sophomore Henry Porter, at 141 lbs., upset No. 27 Boilermakers sophomore Greyson Clark. Porter hit a slick ankle pick takedown in the first period and scored a riding time point to win the match. Porter held on late in the third period to gain his first ranked win of the season.

Indiana will return to action against Michigan State at 7 p.m. Jan. 24 at Jenison Field House in East Lansing, Michigan.

GISELLE MARSTELLER | IDS

Redshirt junior Roman Rogotzke twists with graduate student Nick South on the mat during the annual wrestle-offs on Oct. 25, 2024, at Simon

Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. The Hoosiers defeated Purdue 25-11.

Mackenzie Mgbako still ‘big piece’ for Indiana

By Daniel Flick danflick@iu.edu | @bydanielflick

EVANSTON, Ill. — For 54

seconds, Mackenzie Mgbako was virtually unguardable.

Indiana men’s basketball’s sophomore forward went on his own 8-0 run, giving the Hoosiers a 37-29 lead early in the second half in a Jan. 5 victory over Penn State at The Palestra.

Mgbako finished the game with 20 points, and he left Philadelphia averaging 14.1 points per game while shooting 49% from the field and 42.4% on 3-pointers.

But times have changed dramatically for Mgbako, who’s only 4-for-29 shooting from the floor and 0-for-15 shooting from beyond the arc across Indiana’s past four games. He totaled 16 points and 15 rebounds during that span.

Mgbako’s sudden slump has put a damper on his once-promising sophomore season entering the Hoosiers’ 7 p.m. tipoff Jan. 22 against Northwestern inside Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois.

Still, Indiana head coach Mike Woodson doesn’t want Mgbako to stop shooting.

“He’s got to keep working through it,” Woodson said in a Zoom press conference Tuesday. “He’s taken some good shots, and he just hasn’t made them. I’m not going to throw him to the curb, because he’s a big piece to what we do.”

Mgbako’s season averages have dropped to 11.9 points per game on 43.5% shooting on field goals, and his 3-point percentage has dropped nearly eight percentage points to 34.6%.

His scoring and shooting stats aren’t his only numbers dropping — Mgbako’s playing time has fallen, too.

The 6-foot-8, 217-pound Mgbako was on the court for only 15 minutes against USC on Jan. 8 and 16 minutes against Iowa on Jan. 11, marking the second and

third-fewest minutes he’s played this season, respectively. He played 25 minutes against Illinois on Jan. 14, his 12th-highest total in 19 appearances this season. In the Hoosiers’ 77-76 overtime victory against Ohio State on Jan. 17, Mgbako played 22 minutes, tied for his fourth-fewest tally this season. He didn’t play the final 14 minutes and 40 seconds of regulation and didn’t appear in overtime after scoring just 6 points on 1-for5 shooting. In full, three of Indiana’s

past four games rank among Mgbako’s five shortest outings this season. Woodson noted Mgbako has battled foul trouble at times, but his elongated absence against Ohio State strictly came down to performance.

“Hell, listen man: I’m trying to win basketball games, and it ain’t always the player,” Woodson said. “The player’s got to adjust to how you’re coaching in the game. We had a group in there that was pretty solid. So, if you’re about team, it shouldn’t matter.”

Mgbako, the 2024 Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year, has battled a rollercoaster sophomore campaign. He’s scored at least 13 points in 10 games this season, including five games of 17 or more points — but four of those came in November, and he’s been limited to 9 or fewer points in the Hoosiers’ other nine contests.

Five of Mgbako’s six games with 6 or fewer points have come in Big Ten play, which includes his currentfour game drought. Woodson said practice

scored just 16 points over

is the only way to get out of such a funk.

“When you’re struggling to make shots, you’ve got to come in and put the time in and keep shooting and keep working on it,” Woodson said. Indiana is one of the Big Ten’s worst 3-point shooting teams. It ranks 17th in 3-point percentage at 31.4%, 15th in 3-point makes with 116 and 14th in attempts at 370. Mgbako averages 4.3 shots from deep per game, second on the team behind senior forward Luke Goode, who takes 4.5 triples per contest. The Hoosiers shot 25% or worse from 3-point range in four of their five losses. Indiana, which appears firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble with 12 Big Ten games remaining in the regular season, needs Mgbako to rediscover his stroke. Woodson thinks he could find it as soon as Wednesday night.

“We’ll keep working with him,” Woodson said. “We’ve got to get him back going because he is a big piece to what we do.”

GISELLE MARSTELLER | IDS

Sophomore forward Mackenzie Mgbako attempts a layup against Illinois on Jan. 14, 2025, at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. Mgbako has

the last four games.

Photos by Lauren McKinney

4TH aNNUAL sTUDIO gHIBLI fILM fESTIVAL

Celebrate the Wondrous Films of Hayao Miyazaki in a 4-Film Series

Spirited Away - 1/17

Howl’s Moving Castle - 1/24

Kiki’s Delivery Service - 1/31

Porco Rosso - 2/7

Sleeping Trees & David Woodruff’s moonscreen: Live at Buskirk-Chumley Theater - 1/29

Presented by 91.3 WFHB

LAUREN

LAUREN

LAUREN

1 2 3

Kinsey (2004) - 1/30

A Science on Screen® Initiative

Ani difranco documentary: 1-800-on-her-own - 2/1

Documentary Following the Groundbreaking Indie

Musician/Feminist Ani DiFranco

Magic of Motown - 2/2

A Journey Through Motown’s Best

Moms Unhinged standup comedy show (18+) - 2/4

Featuring Janae Burris, Andrea Marie, Jan Slavin, and Lindsay Porter

The String Queens - 2/6

Authentic and Soulful String Trio Based in Washington D C.

La La Land (2016) - 2/14

A Valentine’s Day Special

Bloomington Winter Blues Festival - 2/15

Featuring King Bee & The Stingers, Mike Milligan and Steam Shovel, and the Gordon Bonham Blues Band

Born Innocent: The Redd Kross Story - 2/16

Redd Kross Documentary Presented by 91.3 WFHB

Billy Fortune, Prairie Scout, & Brick Lancaster: Live at Buskirk-Chumley Theater - 2/19

Presented by 91.3 WFHB

Music for mushrooms (2024) - 2/20

A Science on Screen® Initiative

IU Sing A cappella - 2/22

Student Showcase Presented by the IU Student Foundation

Live! On stage: Jonathan Richman (16+) - 2/26 Featuring Tommy Larkins on the Drums

kEVIN jAMES tHORNTON - 3/1

Comedy Show Featuring Mat Alano-Martin

The Legendary life of tom Petty - 3/8

Featuring Juno Award Winning Artist Clayton Bellamy

American Voices for all Times - 3/9

Bloomington Symphony Orchestra Spring Performance

On The Lash - 3/14

In Celebration of St. Patrick’s Day - Honoring Irish

Traditional Music

I Laugh at myself: an evening with justin Furstenfeld of blue october (16+) - 3/20

Featuring Furstenfeld’s One-Man Show: “An Open Book”

Hoosier Country jam: Collin Raye - 3/23

Presented by Camp Broadcast

Bruce Cockburn - 5/12

Presented by Bloomington Roots

Past, Present, and Future - 5/18

Bloomington Symphony Orchestra’s 55th Season Finale

Full Frontal Comedy at The Comedy Attic

By Ursula Stickelmaier ustickel@iu.edu

John Mulaney. Tiffany Haddish. Michael Longfellow. Comedians have been performing at The Comedy Attic for years. And, as of Jan. 16, IUs own Full Frontal Comedy has joined the ranks of those popular entertainers.

The Comedy Attic in downtown Bloomington is very different from State Room East at the Indiana Memorial Union where the comedy group typically performs. Senior Kyle Rassel has been performing with Full Frontal Comedy since his freshman year but it’s not his first time performing at The Comedy Attic. Thanks to the open mic nights hosted every Wednesday, Rassel has performed stand-up on that stage multiple times and is aware of the differences the space brings compared to performing at the IMU.

“It is different, it’s not necessarily just college kids, you know, sometimes it’s older people since you have townies and stuff like that. And so, they have this whole different perspective that they’re coming to it with. They might not get all the references so you kind of have to make yourself more widely comically available,” Rassel said. “This is a little bit out of our comfort zone. But we’re improv, we’re kind of the king of coming out of the comfort zone.”

No member seemed uncomfortable when the show got started. Starting with a short sketch about the IU football team and then

jumping into their typical improv performance, Full Frontal Comedy had the audience laughing from the moment they stepped on stage.

For Full Frontal members, performing at the Comedy Attic is a chance like no other.

“I mean, it just shows that people are interested in what we have to offer. You know, enough that a business is willing to invite us in and let us perform for them. It’s just the fact that they see us and are like ‘Hey, you guys can make people laugh.’ It’s validating,” Rassel said. “And it also gives us the ability to share that with more people which is another great thing.”

Audience participation was the name of the game for this performance, as it is with any improv show.

Sophomore Katherine Stalmah, who’s been performing with Full Frontal Comedy since the start of her freshman year, knows that when it comes to improv, it’s all about working with what the audience gives you.

“Although we have played the games we will play on stage before, the content is totally new every time and inspired by audience suggestions. So, in essence, audiences will decide for us what they will see with their suggestions,” Stalmah said.

And nobody gave more suggestions than Tom Gutzwiller. Gutzwiller, who attended his first Full Frontal performance on Jan. 16, was a favorite in the audience after being called

on so many times it felt like he too was a performer.

Performers asked Gutzwiller specifically for suggestions and would often encourage the audience to cheer for him between improv games.

“It was fun,” Gutzwiller said.

Musical improv was a main part of the show.

Occasionally accompanied by Full Frontal Comedy member Marcus Pennisi on the piano, performers sang everything from drinking songs about cheese to musical ballads about how

great it is to have a job that pays you.

Full Frontal Comedy brought a little bit of everything to their performance, which is exactly the kind of comedy that Jonas Schrodt, comedian and employee at The Comedy Attic, likes to see coming through the space.

“It’s bringing new people in. It’s something other than just a regular stand up. And it’s involving students,” Schrodt said. “It’s just a

variety, which I think is important. And involving more of the kind of comedy culture in Bloomington, instead of just the stand up, we’re getting more integrated.”

Though the Comedy Attic has a wide selection of popular comedians to fill its event calendar this year, Schrodt it hopeful that this isn’t the last time IU comedy fans see a studentrun comedy group grace that stage.

To watch future Full

Editor’s note:

IU student to compete in Freezefest’s Chilly Cook-Off

By Sydney Weber syaweber@iu.edu

Edwin Shipp has a few more things to do before he leaves to study abroad in New Zealand on Feb. 4, including trying to win a chili cook-off.

The IU junior is a volunteer with Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, a Bloomington organization that works to expand community members’ access to fresh food through programs like its food pantry, cooking workshops and community gardens.

Shipp heard the organization would be hosting the 2025 Chilly Cook-Off at Bloomington’s annual Freezefest. From 5-7 p.m. Jan. 23 at The Mill, 18 contestants will serve samples of their chili, vying for one of four different accolades: best overall, best vegetarian, most creative and People’s Choice.

Shipp and Makice are vegetarians, so their chili will be meat-free. It will, however, contain beer.

“It is a bit ironic considering I don’t drink, and Archie doesn’t like beer, but we have some friends who really know their stuff when it comes to beer so we consulted them about which beer we should use,” Shipp said.

They eventually chose a hometown brew. He and Makice started their beer selection process at Big Woods, a local restaurant, which is fitting since Shipp is a Bloomington native. They picked Busted Knuckle from Quaff On, a brewery founded in Brown County. Proceeds from all ticket sales to the Chilly Cook-Off will go to benefit Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard.

“The money we get from this event helps us fulfill our mission,” Liz Barnhart,

“I first saw the email about the competition and wanted to attend as an observer, but when I told my friend Archie Makice about it, he suggested we compete,” Shipp said. “I have most definitely never participated in a cooking competition before, but I have always loved to cook.”

By Lily Saylor saylorl@iu.edu

Over one hundred people took to the dance floor Jan. 17 at the Harmony School in Bloomington to celebrate “the 10th anniversary of “Soul Kitchen” on the air. The upbeat event offered funky soul music deejayed by William Morris and a dance class taught by Charles Sykes. Morris, also known as Brother William, is the host of “Soul Kitchen,” a radio show on WFIU Public Radio. Along with playing music at the celebration, Morris said he also brought “Soul Kitchen energy” to the event.

“Soul Kitchen energy is an appreciation of the gifts that we get,” Morris said. “It’s a little bit of gratitude with a beat.”

On “Soul Kitchen,” Morris curates playlists of blues, soul, rock ‘n’ roll, jazz and more. The 10th anniversary celebration was no different. Front and center at the podium,

Morris seamlessly switched between a variety of tunes, playing Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” one moment and “Uptown Funk” by Bruno Mars the next.

As more attendees trickled in, Sykes was at the front of the floor, leading a step-by-step dance class for the enthusiastic audience. Sykes, historian for the African American Arts Institute at IU Bloomington, guided the crowd through each move before setting the dance to music.

“[Music] is part of my soul. I grew up with music all the time,” Sykes said. “We would have dance parties in my house, so I had no choice but to love music and to love dancing.”

Sykes explained that, contrary to popular belief, music and dancing were not two separate entities, but one united.

“It’s all together,” he said. “You listen to the music, but you move; your body reacts to it.”

community outreach coordinator at Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, said. “A lot of the money goes toward purchasing food.”

Buying a ticket grants access to chili samples as well as free portions of ice cream from The Chocolate Moose and cinnamon rolls from Two Sticks Bakery. All ticketholders will be able to vote in the People’s Choice award.

A panel of three judges will evaluate the chili to decide the winners of the other three prizes. Two are winners from last year’s competition — Clard Davidson, winner of best overall chili and Robert Gutierrez, winner of the People’s Choice award. The third judge will be a representative from Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard.

Gutierrez charmed the crowd last year with a TexMex chili reminiscent of his roots.

“As a Texas transplant, I enjoyed sharing with Hoosiers what I grew up eating: authentic TexMex chili, inspired by my

After half an hour of group dance, Sykes ended his instruction, and the crowd began to free dance, grooving to the tracks Morris selected.

Elderly couples embraced one another as they danced, a mother taught her daughter how to do the “Mashed Potato” dance and attendees lined up to get their photos taken at the photo booth with a WFIU backdrop.

Attendee Alan Blankstein, a regular listener of “Soul Kitchen,” was drawn to the event due to the focus on family and fun. Most of the night, Blankstein was dancing alongside his wife and a young child in a green dinosaur onesie.

“The first couple of songs when we walked in, we just walked in and started dancing,” Blankstein said. “It was a great time.”

As guests mingled in groups and grooved to the beat, Morris got on the microphone to introduce his wife, Sarah Phillips,

grandma, Maria Jimenez, and other ‘chili queens’ in San Antonio,” Gutierrez said.

In addition to Shipp and Makice, chili cooks include members of the Bloomington community, as well as local and chain restaurants. Barnhart said that Culver’s is entering; she

and thanked her for her support. Morris beamed as the crowd gave his wife a round of applause.

“When I think of William, I just think of him as such a great unifier,” Phillips said. “He brings so many different kinds of people together with the music and with his personality. Tonight, there’s people of all shapes and sizes, all ages, all ethnic backgrounds, and they’ve all come to listen to the music.”

Uniting people through music and connecting to music is a central part of Morris’ life.

“Music is like therapy. I’m a lawyer full time, so when I get to come in [to the studio] and put the headphones on and it’s quiet, it’s like I am talking to my therapist,” Morris said. “The musicians are talking to me and I’m just sitting here listening to that music.”

“Soul

imagines that cheese curds will be involved. Barnhart will also make chili, but for a different kind of contest. Attendees have the option to compete to see who can eat the greatest amount of spicy chili without crying “uncle.”

“I am going to be making the spiciest chili I can possibly make without killing anybody,” Barnhart said. Gutierrez offered a word of advice for chili cooks in general: “If you want to make really good chili, ditch the powders and canned vegetables, and start with real dried chilis.”

radio show

tunes with a groove and music with a message,” Morris said, “then listen to the ‘Soul Kitchen.’”

COURTESY PHOTO

A sample of chili from the 2024 Chilly Cookoff is seen. IU junior Edwin Shipp said he will compete in the cook-off on Jan. 23.

Q&A with IU alumna Julie Ryan McGue

By Arnaav Anand arnanand@iu.edu

Julie Ryan McGue, an award-winning American author and IU alumna, is both an identical twin and a domestic adoptee.

Her first book, “Twice a Daughter: A Search for Identity, Family, and Belonging,” released in May 2021. She maintains a weekly blog and a monthly column for The Beacher, delving into themes of selfdiscovery, finding your place and making sense of it all.

McGue sat down with the IDS to discuss her upcoming third book, “Twice the Family: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Sisterhood.” The coming-ofage memoir is a prequel to her first book and tells the story of adopted twins in Chicago’s western suburbs from the 1960s to ‘80s as they seek independence and belonging amid family challenges.

IDS: How did growing up as a twin shape your perception of identity and individuality, especially within a blended family?

McGue: I was lucky to be adopted with my twin sister, which was something the Catholic Charities firmly believed. Most adoptees don’t get to grow up with a full sibling like I did, and I guess I always took that for granted until I started meeting other adoptees. She really is a strong part of who I am, and I can’t even imagine who I’d be without her. We were the oldest and my parents kept adding kids

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Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)Today is an 8 — Collaborate for shared gain, despite financial challenges. Hold your temper. Impulsive actions backfire. Ignore rumors and gossip. Clarify objectives and coordinate. Patiently advance.

to the family, and finding individuality among that was difficult. I was always trying to figure out whether I belonged in this family, and it wasn’t until I found my birth relatives that I felt like I belong to both families and they’re both a part of my identity, making me the person I am. It’s something that takes us a long time to figure out but when we reflect and write our stories, we figure out a lot of things about ourselves.

IDS: What role did your community play in shaping your childhood experiences and family dynamics?

McGue: Back in the ‘60s and ‘70s, families weren’t driving their kids around to organized activities. My mom basically opened the door and said, “Go on out and play. Make sure you come home before the street lights come on.” While our friend group was important, family was everything. We were expected to drop any kind of activity if my mom needed us to babysit for some reason. I had a younger sibling who was visually impaired, and that really changed our family dynamics a lot. We all had to pitch in and make sure she was always safe. The story that I wrote is a bit of nostalgia going back to that time, but also a reckoning with a family story that wasn’t perfect. My parents weren’t perfect. We weren’t perfect kids. But somehow it worked because of strong family values and the belief that our parents loved us, and they were

trying to do the best they could for us.

IDS: In your memoir, you explore the idea of belonging. How did your search for your biological family challenge or reinforce your understanding of home?

McGue: I was almost 50 years old when I started that process because of a breast biopsy and the need to know my medical history. I always had a curiosity about my birth relatives. I was from a closed adoption, which meant no information about who they were or why we were placed for adoption, or any medical history or background. I accepted that for five decades and when the state laws in Illinois changed, I got access to a lot of information. It was a slow process but assimilating that into who I was at the time was difficult. I found out things like I’m part Native American. I had no idea. I had no access to that culture. I still struggle a little bit with trying to understand what I’m going to do with that. I think we’re always figuring out who we are.

IDS: Were there moments during your search for your genetic history that you felt conflicted?

McGue: There were people judging me saying, “How can you do this to your parents?” And I didn’t want it to be a loyalty issue. I couldn’t help that I medically needed information, and I didn’t feel that it was fair that I should have to choose between knowing the right to know versus my parents’ right to privacy or the right to be our

parents. Anybody who grows up in a blended family should be able to say, “This is my family, but that’s my family too.” Both families make up who I am. Do we have to be a 100% in on both? No, I think we pick our own balance.

IDS: How would you describe your experience at IU?

McGue: IU was a fascinating place to both of us (McGue and her twin sister) because it was this big world where there were not rules, and we grew up in this household of so many rules. My sister and I went to different sororities. We had different experiences, but we were still there together. IU has a beautiful campus, great educational programs, opportunities galore for people to get involved in, and

I really cherish the times I spent there. I’m still close to so many sorority sisters. Even though we were only together for a short time, I think that connection was important. It was important to me to write about it in this book because I feel like it was a formative chapter in my life.

IDS: What advice would you give adoptees seeking answers about their origins?

McGue: First, I’d say read a lot of good books, and there are a lot of them out there.

Ann Fessler’s “The Girls Who Went Away” gave a me a lot of context about what it was like to be a birth mother back in the day and the choices society forced them into.

Nancy Verrier’s “The Primal Wound” explains to adoptees that the first rejection in their life is the parents that place

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them in another family. There are also great online support systems. I’m involved in a support group through Catholic Charities in Chicago made up of adoptees, birth parents and adoptive parents, and it’s a good forum to be able to share thoughts and ideas and understand those opposing perspectives.

I think that that gives you a lot of grace in realizing that there’s so much loss in the adoption equation. Everybody loses something, whether it’s the right to parent a child or their right to identity, but we gain a sense of self and resiliency if we can triumph over something that was not our fault and become better people for it.

“Twice the Family: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Sisterhood” is set to

COURTESY PHOTO

Author Julie Ryan McGue is pictured. McGue’s newest book, “Twice

By Ellie Adam ehadam@iu.edu

It’s that time of year again where IU students prepare for yet another semester in Bloomington. There’s so much to be excited about when arriving back in your college town. You’re probably itching to re-visit your favorite restaurants and coffee shops, or if you’re anything like me, you may be anticipating the Bloomington bar scene. Bloomington offers a variety of bars that guarantee a good time. Before you celebrate the start to your semester, check out the bars I note below. Each offer a different vibe while presenting a college bar atmosphere in their own ways.

Best bars for drink deals

Brothers Bar & Grill:

215 N. Walnut St.

Brothers Bar & Grill has

COLUMN: Guide to the bars in Bloomington

more to offer than a wide selection of big TVs. Its cozy environment makes it the best place to enjoy a well-priced drink and meal combination. From 4-10 p.m. every Tuesday, it serves cheeseburgers for only $3. Take advantage of the drink specials next Tuesday by enjoying a meal with a $2 domestic draft. You can even enjoy your meal while participating in trivia night from 9-10:30 p.m. every Tuesday. Wednesday night is another great time to stop by Brothers. Starting at 9 p.m., you can order wings for just 25 cents. The wings special ends when the kitchen runs out, so I suggest getting to Brothers close to 9 p.m. or even a little earlier. When I first tried the food at Brothers, I was impressed with the quality of the meal. Take a look at Brothers’ website to see what other specials are going on throughout the week. Not only will your

wallet thank you, but your tummy will too!

The Alley Bar: 210 W. Kirkwood Ave. Located just off the square on Kirkwood Avenue is The Alley Bar. It’s open day from 4 p.m. to 3 a.m. every Monday through Saturday and 1 p.m. to 1 a.m. every Sunday. This charming little bar offers a stunning list of specials. My favorites are the $3 Michelob Ultra, Budweiser and Bud light pints on Mondays, along with $5 Bloody Marys and mimosas on Sundays. If these don’t get your attention, its website lists different specials for every day of the week. I think it’s important to know which spots in town have the coldest beers, and I’m here to say that The Alley Bar is one of them. Not only does The Alley Bar have eyecatching drink deals, it’s also a great spot to watch sports on TV. The bar opens

Emmanuel Church

1503 W. That Rd. 812-824-2768 Emmanuelbloom.com

Instagram & Facebook: @EmmanuelBloomington

Sunday: 9:15 a.m., Fellowship Sunday: 10 a.m., Worship Groups: Various times

Emmanuel is a multigenerational church of all types of people. Whether you are questioning faith or have followed Jesus for years, we exist to help fuel a passion for following Jesus as we gather together, grow in community, and go make disciples.

John Winders - Lead Pastor

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Bloomington Young Single Adult Branch

2411 E. Second St.

To Contact: Send message from website maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/ wards/237973

Sunday: 12:30 p.m.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has four congregations in Bloomington—Three family wards and our young single adult branch for college students. This info is for the YSA Branch. Weekday religious classes at 333 S. Highland Ave, Bloomington IN 47401, next to campus. More info at churchofjesuschrist.org.

Lutheran - Missouri Synod

University Lutheran Church and LCMS U Student Center

607 E. Seventh St. 812-336-5387 indianalutheran.com facebook.com/ULutheranIU instagram.com/uluindiana

Sunday: 9:15 a.m.: Sunday Bible Class

10:30 a.m.: Sunday Divine Service

Wednesday:

7 p.m.: Wednesday Evening Service

Student Center open daily:

9 a.m. - 10 p.m.

The LCMS home of campus ministry at IU, our mission is to serve all college students with the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ, located across from Dunn Meadow and the IMU. The Student Center is open daily for study, recreation, and prayer. For full schedule, visit our website.

Rev. Timothy Winterstein - Campus Pastor

early on Hoosier game days that start earlier in the day to let customers watch every minute of the action. Next time you’re craving a delicious craft beer, make your way to The Alley Bar. Best bars to catch up with friends:

The Video Saloon: 105 W. Seventh St. Established in 1980, The Video Saloon stands as my favorite bar in Bloomington. My two favorite things about The Video Saloon are the games and the retro feel of it all. If I wanted to experience what a night out in the ‘80s would look like, I’d go to The Video Saloon. Every time I step in there, I feel like I’m going back in time. Everything about The Video Saloon is just simple: the setup, the menu and the games. It’s never too crowded to the point where you can’t have a normal conversation. Anytime I’m

there I notice how everyone keeps to themselves, which makes for the perfect casual night out. Another great attraction is the variety of games the bar offers. The Video Saloon has pool tables and dart boards throughout the entire bar. Rather than waiting in line for just one pool table at a typical dive bar, The Video Saloon gives you multiple tables to choose from. My favorite game to play at The Video Saloon is darts. I like how it’s closer to the main area of the bar so I can socialize with a bigger crowd while I play. Even if you’re not a professional at playing pool or darts, I still recommend checking it out.

United Methodist

Jubilee

219 E. Fourth St. 812-332-6396 jubileebloomington.org

Facebook: First United Methodist Church of Bloomington, IN Instagram: @jubileebloomington

Sunday: 9:30 a.m., Classic Worship 11:45 a.m., Contemporary Worship Wednesday: 7:30 p.m., College & Young Adult Dinner

Jubilee is a Christ-centered community open and affirming to all. We gather on Wednesdays at First United Methodist (219 E. 4th St.) for free food, honest discussion, worship, and hanging out. Small groups, service projects, social events (bonfires, game nights, book clubs, etc.), outreach retreats, and leadership opportunities all play a significant role in our rhythm of doing life together.

Markus Dickinson - jubilee@fumcb.org

Inter-Denominational

Redeemer Community Church

111 S. Kimble Dr. 812-269-8975 redeemerbloomington.org facebook.com/RedeemerBtown

Instagram & Twitter: @RedeemerBtown

Sunday: 9 a.m., 11 a.m.

Redeemer is a gospel-centered community on mission. Our vision is to see the gospel of Jesus Christ transform everything: our lives, our church, our city, and our world. We want to be instruments of gospel change in Bloomington and beyond.

Chris Jones - Lead Pastor

Best bars with quality beers and cocktails

The Tap: 101 N. College Ave. While I love The Tap for its prime location, my favorite thing about this bar is its generous selection

Nick’s English Hut: 423 E. Kirkwood Ave. This Bloomington staple has been a Hoosier fan favorite ever since 1927. I can still feel the history through Nick’s rustic booths and walls. This spot has two floors filled with different seating options to choose from. Whenever I’m out with just one or two friends, I usually grab a booth on the main floor. It’s a nice and cozy environment where you can talk with your friends without any interruptions. For bigger groups, I recommend finding a table upstairs in the Hoosier Room. Its lively atmosphere and efficient service make it a great place to catch up with friends. Next time you end up at Nick’s, make sure to start the night off strong with a classic game of sink the biz.

American Restoration Movement

North Central Church of Christ 2121 N. Dunn St. 812-332-2248 nc3family.org Facebook.com/nc3family

Sunday: 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., College Class

Come learn about historic Christian teaching on theology, ethics, and culture. We offer an alternative to the post-modern ideologies and teachings you often see in your lives today.

Shane Himes, PHD - Senior Minister

Christian Science

Christian Science Church 2425 E. Third St. 812-332-0536

Interested in spirituality and healing? We welcome you to our church to explore how you can address issues spiritually and experience healing. Knowing God loves, guides and cares for each one gives a sense of peace and joy. We appreciate the Christian Science Monitor news magazine for its integrity, fairness and compassion.

(Christian Science Monitor) csmonitor.com

Orthodox All Saints Orthodox Christian Church

6004 S. Fairfax Rd. 812-824-3600 allsaintsbloomington.org webbrk1@gmail.com Youtube video of services on website

Sunday: 9 a.m.: Sunday Matins 10 a.m.: Sunday Divine Liturgy Monday: 9

Father Peter Jon Gillquist Thomas Przybyla - Pastoral Assistant

Bahá'í Faith

Bloomington Bahá'í Community and Bahá’í IU Association

424 S. College Mall Rd. 812-331-1863

bloomingtoninbahais.org facebook.com/Baháí-Community-ofBloomington-Indiana-146343332130574

Founder, Bahá'u'lláh, that promote the "Oneness of Mankind" and the Peace and Harmony of the Planet through advancing the "security, prosperity, wealth and tranquility of all peoples."

Karen Pollock Dan Enslow

of drafts. There are about 53 drafts to choose from at The Tap, with 13 of them being its own brand. Some of the drafts change with the season but my usual favorites are Guinness and Big Jam Cider. Sometimes if I’m craving The Tap’s environment but don’t want to drink alcohol, I just order a Sprecher’s Root Beer. Sprecher’s is one of my favorite root beer brands and it tastes even better on tap.

Currently, it has original and cranberry flavored Angry Orchard and “Strawberry Magic” from Cider Boys. These are great options for those who don’t like to drink beer. One of my favorite things to do in my free time is to drink a pint with a couple of friends at The Tap. If you’re itching to check out the list of draft beers right now, go to The Tap’s website.

The Dunkirk Library

430 E. Kirkwood Ave.

I like to save this spot for

special occasions because it’s truly an experience like no other. This classy speakeasy is tucked away in the back of Bloomington’s own Upstairs Pub. The Dunkirk Library’s intimate atmosphere is perfect for a romantic date night or a memorable girls’ night out. The best part about this spot is their extensive list of remarkable cocktails. I usually order the East 8 Hold Up or a Lychee martini. While the martini is not on their normal menu, the bartenders always make me a good one if I ask. The menu offers different specialty drinks during each season. For those who love Guiness, try out their ripple machine, which scans a picture of your choice onto the foam of a Guiness. Every time I leave The Dunkirk Library, I find myself counting down the days until I get to go back. I always have a great experience at this bar and the bartenders are always kind and welcoming. Take a look at its online menu to see what other cocktails catch your eye.

Society of Friends (Quaker)

Bloomington Friends Meeting

3820 E. Moores Pike 812-336-4581

bloomingtonfriendsmeeting.org

Facebook: Bloomington Friends Meeting

Sunday (in person & Zoom) :

9:45 a.m., Hymn singing

10:30 a.m., Meeting for Worship

10:45 a.m., Sunday School

(Children join worship 10:30-10:45)

11:30 a.m., Refreshments and Fellowship

12:30 p.m., Events (see website)

Wednesday (Zoom Only) :

7 p.m., Meeting for worship for Peace

Friday (Zoom Only) :

9 a.m., Meeting for worship

We practice traditional Quaker worship, gathering in silence with occasional Spirit-led vocal ministry by fellow worshipers. We are an inclusive community with a rich variety of belief and no prescribed creed. We are actively involved in peace action, social justice causes, and environmental concerns.

Peter Burkholder - Clerk burkhold@indiana.edu

Non-Denominational

Christ Community Church

503 S. High St. 812-332-0502 cccbloomington.org

facebook.com/christcommunitybtown

Instagram: @christcommunitybtown

Sunday: 9:15 a.m., Educational Hour

10:30 a.m., Worship Service

We are a diverse community of Christ-followers, including many IU students, faculty and staff. Together we are committed to sharing the redeeming grace and transforming truth of Jesus Christ in this college town.

Bob Whitaker - Senior Pastor Adam deWeber - Worship Pastor Dan Waugh - Adult Ministry Pastor

Christian Student Fellowship

1968 N. David Baker Ave. 812-332-8972 csfindiana.org

Instagram: @csfindiana

Monday - Friday: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Christian Student Fellowship (CSF) exists as a Christ-centered community focused on helping students truly know Jesus Christ. Our ministry operates from an on-campus house where students can live. Reach out to schedule a tour of the house or a visit to our Thursday night worship service!

Ben Geiger - Lead Campus Minister

Stephanie Michael - Campus Minister

Joe Durnil - Associate Campus Minister

Hailee Lutz - Office Manager

City Church

1200 N. Russell Rd.

812-336-5958

citychurchbloomington.org

tiktok: @citychurchbtown

Instagram: @citychurchbtown

Sunday Service: 8:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 11:45 a.m.

City Church is a multicultural church on the east side of Bloomington. We provide transportation from campus. Our college and young adult ministry meets on Tuesday nights.

David Norris - Pastor

Sacred Heart Church

615 N. Fairview St. 812-345-5239 sacredheartbloomington.org facebook.com/sacredheartbloomington

Sunday: 10:30 a.m.: Refreshments and Fellowship

10:45 a.m.: Worship Service Tue., Wed., Thu.: Midweek Meals (Check Facebook)

Sacred Heart is a nondenominational church that seeks to follow Jesus by acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with God. We strive to be a safe, inclusive community where you can bring your doubts, questions, struggles, and joys before a loving God and find true belonging. All are welcome!

Dan Caldwell

Episcopal (Anglican)

Canterbury Mission

719 E. Seventh St. 812-822-1335 IUCanterbury.org facebook.com/ECMatIU

Instagram & Twitter: @ECMatIU Youtube: @canterburyhouseatiu9094

Sunday: 3 p.m. - 7 p.m. Mon., Wed., Thu.: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Tuesday: Noon - 8 p.m. Fri., Sat.: By Appointment

Canterbury: Assertively open & affirming; unapologetically Christian, we proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ by promoting justice, equality, peace, love and striving to be the change God wants to see in our world.

Ed Bird - Chaplain/Priest

Independent Baptist

Lifeway Baptist Church

7821 W. State Road 46 812-876-6072 lifewaybaptistchurch.org facebook.com/lifewayellettsville

Sunday: 9 a.m., Bible Study Classes

10 a.m., Morning Service

5 p.m., Evening Service

*Free transportation provided. Please call if you need a ride to church.

Student Ministry: Meeting for Bible study throughout the month. Contact Rosh Dhanawade at bluhenrosh@gmail.com for more information.

Steven VonBokern - Senior Pastor Rosh Dhanawade - IU Coordinator 302-561-0108 bluhenrosh@gmail.com

United Church of Christ and American Baptist Churches-USA First United Church 2420 E. Third St. 812-332-4439 firstuc.org facebook.com/firstuc

Sunday: 10:30 a.m., Worship

Monday: 10 a.m. via Zoom, Bible Study

We are an Open, Welcoming, and Affirming community of love and acceptance dedicated to welcoming the diversity of God’s beloved. We exist to empower, challenge, and encourage one another to live out Jesus’ ways (compassion, truth, and justice) authentically as human beings in community to create a better world.

Rev. Jessica Petersen-Mutai Senior Minister

Baptist

Emmanuel Church

1503 W. That Rd. 812-824-2768 Emmanuelbloom.com Instagram & Facebook: @EmmanuelBloomington

Sunday: 9:15 a.m., Fellowship

Sunday: 10 a.m., Worship Groups: Various times

Emmanuel is a multigenerational church of all types of people. Whether you are questioning faith or have followed Jesus for years, we exist to help fuel a passion for following Jesus as we gather together, grow in community, and go make disciples.

John Winders - Lead Pastor

Second Baptist Church

321 N. Rogers St. 812-327-1467 sbcbloomington.org facebook.com/2ndbaptistbloomington youtube.com/@secondbaptist churchbloomington

Sunday Service: 10 a.m., In house and on Facebook/YouTube Sunday School: 8:45 - 9:45 a.m. Bible Study: Available In House and on Zoom Wednesdays, 6:30 p.m., Thursdays, Noon

Please come and worship with us. We are in training for reigning with Christ! Need a ride? Call our Church bus at 812-3271467 before 8 a.m. on Sunday

Rev. Dr. Bruce R. Rose - Pastor Tallie Schroeder - Secretary

Unitarian Universalist Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington 2120 N. Fee Ln. 812-332-3695 uubloomington.org facebook.com/uubloomington Sunday: 10:15 a.m., via

person or livestream We’re

working towards a more just and loving world. We draw inspiration from world religions and diverse spiritual traditions. Our vision is “Seeking the Spirit, Building Community, Changing the World.” A LGBTQA+, Dementia Friendly, Welcoming Congregation to all ages and groups and a Certified Green Sanctuary. Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Rose House LuMin & St. Thomas Lutheran Church

3800 E. Third St. 812-332-5252 Stlconline.org lcmiu.net

Instagram: @hoosierlumin facebook.com/LCMIU facebook.com/StThomasBloomington

Sunday: 8:30 a.m.

with us. We are an inclusive Christian community who values the faith, gifts, and ministry of all God’s people. We seek justice, serve our neighbors, and love boldly. Rev. Adrianne Meier Rev. Lecia Beck Rev. Amanda Ghaffarian - Campus Pastor

Unity Worldwide

Unity of Bloomington

A Center for Spiritual Growth

4001 S. Rogers St. text/call: 812-333-2484 unityofbloomington.org

IG: @unityofbloomington facebook@UnityofBloomington

Sunday Celebration: 10:30 a.m.

Discover a vibrant, welcoming community at Unity of Bloomington – “a positive path for spiritual living”. Our center offers a space for spiritual growth; embracing all with open arms. We proudly affirm and welcome the LGBTQ+ community, fostering love, acceptance, and inclusion. Join our loving congregation, where everyone is valued and encouraged to explore their spiritual journey. At Unity of Bloomington, all are welcome and together we thrive!

Minnassa Gabon - Spiritual Leader

Phyllis Wickliff - Music Director

Reformed Protestant

Trinity Reformed Church 2401 S. Endwright Rd. 812-825-2684 trinityreformed.org lucas@trinityreformed.org facebook.com/trinitychurchbloom

Sunday: 10:30 a.m., Sunday Morning Services 7 p.m., Bible Study at the IMU

Jody Killingsworth - Senior Pastor Lucas Weeks - College Pastor

BRIANA PACE | IDS

Customers of The Upstairs Pub are photographed April 8, 2024. The Upstairs Pub was established in 1984.