Thursday, July 15, 2021 | Indiana Daily Student | idsnews.com
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Acacia Fraternity suspended for hazing By Cate Charron catcharr@iu.edu | @catecharron
The IU chapter of Acacia Fraternity was suspended effective July 1 and cannot return to campus any sooner than August 2024, IU spokesperson Chuck Carney said. Reasons listed include dishonest conduct, endangering others, hazing, destruction of property, alcohol and failure to comply with Office of Sorority and Fraternity Life and COVID-19 Policies, according to IU’s list of organizations on disciplinary status. Carney said the university received and investigated multiple complaints during the 2020-21 academic year regarding the fraternity allegedly having social events and hazing, causing health and safety concerns as well as violating the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities and Conduct. The International Council of Acacia Fraternity and Dave O’Guinn, vice provost for student affairs and dean of students, mutually agreed the IU chapter must close immediately, Carney said. Carney said the International Council of Acacia Fraternity suspended the charter of the Indiana Chapter and is pending investigation and revocation. To return to campus in August 2024, Carney said the chapter must meet the Office of Sorority and Fraternity Life’s extension requirements. “IU is looking forward to working with the Acacia fraternity to help create a strong, safe and healthy organization upon their return,” Carney said in an email. Acacia had previously been put on cease-and-desist April 15.
Jeremy Morris wins election By Agness Lungu slungu@iu.edu
Jeremy Morris won the IU Board of Trustees election on July 30th, 2021. Morris is the first Black male to be elected into the board of trustees and youngest elected trustee on the board. He plans to make IU more affordable for students, decrease student loan debt for IU graduates through the development of student loan forgiveness plans and redeveloping IU’s strategy and approach to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion. “I was very clear and unapologetic about what I was standing for in my candidate statement. I spent a lot of time carving it out. I already knew what I wanted to do and it was pressing for students but I was trying to make sure I made the best statement that exemplified me,” Morris said. Morris describes his campaign process for the election as interesting. “With COVID in place, it was challenging for all the candidates to find ways to interact with people, but what I had to my advantage was I know social media,” Morris said. “So I wanted to use that to communicate with more people but also to meet Alumni where they are.” Morris used the second part of his campaign to provide more background about himself. “I wanted people to know that I am funny, I am serious, a professional, a brother and a son,” Morris said. He is overjoyed about his election, and looks forward to working with the rest of the board. “I do not take it for granted because a lot of people put trust in me,” Morris said. “For me this is a very important step in IU’s history. We just had the first female president and I am the first Black male elected trustee. It is a lot of powerful things that are happening and I hope that current students and alumni can be encouraged that the university is moving in a direction that is advancing.” The board consists of nine trustees, six appointed by the governor and three elected by alumni, and will now have three Black members. Two were elected, Jeremy Morris and Donna Spears, and one, W. Quinn Buckner, was appointed. “There is still a lot of work to do but I am very grateful to be a part of distinguished individuals on the board of trustees who make the deSEE MORRIS, PAGE 5
ETHAN LEVY | IDS
Alejandrina Pani Marquez sits on a table along with her family as well as her mother, Maria A. Marquez. Eduardo filled in as a parental figure when Alejandrina was working, and spoiled his grandkids whenever he could.
'He needs to rest in peace at home' After a restaurant worker and immigrant died from COVID-19, his family seeks closure. By Lilly St. Angelo @lilly_st_ang
It had been three months since his last paycheck. Alejandro Eduardo Pani Tecuapetla, 64, was forced to stop working at Olive Garden in April 2020 when the pandemic caused the restaurant to close. He was itching to get back to work when a family member at Juannita’s Restaurant called him in late June last year. We need some extra help, they said. Can you come and work? He said yes. His daughter, Alejandrina Pani Marquez, was worried. People were being careless, not wearing masks, going to the lake and getting together. “Just make sure you guys use the masks and wash your hands,” she told her dad. Two weeks later, Eduardo was in the hospital with COVID-19. A month and a half after that, he was dead. Eduardo was one of more than 109,000 Hispanic people in the U.S. who have died of COVID-19 as of mid-July. Hispanic people have died at 2.3 times the rate of white, non-Hispanic people from the coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As vaccines bring normalcy back to everyday life in the U.S., Eduardo’s family is one of hundreds of thousands of families still grieving and seeking closure for their loved ones who died from COVID-19. Memories linger in the spaces he used to fill. “What if” scenarios flash through his daughter’s mind. His son, 30, was just getting to know him. His 21-year-old granddaughter misses his annoying calls. “This virus really changed our life,” Alejandrina said. “It was like a car accident — you see him one day and the next day he’s gone.” *** When he returned to work, Eduardo wore a mask like his daughter asked him to. But one day he served a woman who was visibly sick and coughing. He washed his hands afterwards, but Alejandrina will always wonder if this was how he was infected.
COURTESY PHOTO
Maria A. Marquez with her husband Alejandro Eduardo Pani Tecuapetla. Eduardo was well known in the Bloomington community, his daughter said.
After work on July 4, Eduardo stopped by Alejandrina’s 5-yearold son Alex’s small, outdoor birthday gathering. He told his family he was going to go lie down because he was feeling sick. Two days later, Alejandrina took him to the hospital, and doctors diagnosed him with pneumonia. The hospital tested him for COVID-19, but that early in the pandemic, tests took a few days, so the doctor sent him home. The same day, Alejandrina came down with a fever. Soon, her mom, Maria, was sick too. Her dad’s health declined quickly. After three more days, Eduardo began struggling to breathe, so Alejandrina took both her parents to the hospital. It was the last time she would see him alive. The next month was chaotic. Besides managing her own symptoms, Alejandrina checked in with the hospital every day about both of her parents. She worried about the language barrier for her dad, who knew English but wasn’t flu-
ent. For the first couple weeks, her dad’s doctor would call her often. He was improving and her mom was struggling. On Thursday, July 16, she talked to her dad on the phone. He asked her if she would pick him up the following Monday. But that weekend, Eduardo took a turn for the worse. He was put on a ventilator and given a new doctor. This doctor didn’t call Alejandrina at all, and instead Alejandrina called his nurses every day. After nearly a month in the hospital, her mom had improved enough to be sent home on Aug. 9. She still had the virus and had to be closely monitored in her fragile state. But Eduardo was still on a ventilator in the hospital. *** Practically everyone in the Bloomington Latino community knew Eduardo, Alejandrina said. A native of Puebla, Mexico, he grew up in a town of vibrantly colored buildings, a bustling outdoor
market and a volcano as its backdrop. Seeking better work opportunities than Puebla or the southwest U.S. could give him, Eduardo moved to Bloomington nearly 30 years ago to work in his friends’ restaurant. Eventually, he brought his wife and two kids to Bloomington and worked daily to establish a life. More than anything, though, Eduardo wanted to build a Latino community in Bloomington and asked the priests for a Spanish Mass at his church, St. Paul’s Catholic Church. St. Paul’s is now the only Catholic Church in Bloomington with a Spanish Mass. “He wanted to survive in this country and he wanted the Spanish community to be together and come to church, like don’t just work, work, work,” Alejandrina said. Customers and coworkers knew Eduardo for his happy and generous nature. Matt Mulligan was one of Eduardo’s customers at several of the restaurants he served at throughout the years, including La Charreada in Bloomington. On busy IU game days when the restaurant was packed, Eduardo already knew the Mulligans’ orders and put them in before the family even sat down. “He always made us feel like we were at his family’s table,” Mulligan said. “It was always good to be recognized.” On Fridays, Eduardo would bring beers for the whole restaurant staff to enjoy together after the hectic night was done. It was something to look forward to, a way to get through the grueling work of running a restaurant. He would sometimes have a beer on his days off with Alejandrina’s husband and tell him how important it was to stick around for his 5-year-old son, Alex. Eduardo helped raise his daughter’s first two children, whom she had with a previous partner. He filled in as a parental figure when Alejandrina was working and spoiled his grandkids whenever he could Content warning: This article discusses topics that may be disturbing to some readers, including issues surrounding suicide. SEE EDUARDO, PAGE 5
IU's Gaudreault, La Roche join Team Canada By Ara Cowper acowper@iu.edu | @aracowper5
Two IU alumni, Jessica Gaudreault and Shae La Roche, will play for Canada’s water polo team in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics. Gaudreault, from Ottawa, Ontario, was selected as an alternate for Team Canada. She spent two years playing for the Hoosiers from 2011-2013 before taking two years to train with the Canadian Women’s Senior National Team. Gaudreault graduated in 2018 after using her final two years of eligibility from 2016-2018. Gaudreault was a member of the Canadian national team in 2017. She finished her career at IU second all-time in saves with 995 and was a three-time Collegiate Water Polo Association All-Con-
IDS FILE PHOTO
Then-freshman attacker Shae La Roche throws the ball during a game against Michigan on March 26, 2011. La Roche will compete for Team Canada in the Tokyo Olympics.
ference First Team selection. La Roche, from Winnipeg, Manitoba, will join the team as an attacker. She played for the Hoosiers from 2011-14. La Roche holds the IU records for single-season goals with 95, and career goals with 305. She is one of only five players to record more than 300 goals in NCAA history and was named the CWPA Player of the Year in 2014. This is Canada’s first Olympic water polo tournament since playing in Athens 2004. The team secured their spot in the Tokyo Olympics after earning a silver medal in the Lima 2019 Pan Am Games. Both Gaudreault and La Roche were on the team. La Roche scored one goal in a 24-4 loss to Team USA. The 2020 Olympic Games begin July 23 in Tokyo, Japan.