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“Dancing with the Luther Stars” features ballroom dancers and college faculty
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MAY 11, 2017 • VOLUME 139, NO. 22
Community voices opinions in response to artificial blue turf field
A computer-generated mock-up of the artificial blue turf field. The design is still subject to change.
DANNY MAY NEWS EDITOR In light of the college’s plans to install a blue artificial turf football field, students, faculty, and staff members alike have voiced opinions both in favor of and in opposition to the new facility. Proponents say that the field will distinguish Luther from other schools, while critics point to it as a polarizing eyesore. According to Vice President for Development Jim Jermier, the blue coloring for the artificial turf field will cost more than the usual green coloring, which he said the college has budgeted for in its donor fundraising goal of $1.7 million. “Depending on [which installation
vendor] is selected, [the blue coloring] would be anywhere from the high teens to upper thirty thousand [dollar] range,” Jermier said. Other costs associated with the new field, including replacements for the surface and underlying pad and changes to the track and the surrounding landscaping, are also built into the fundraising goal. The fundraising goal will be met entirely through private donor gifts. Jermier explained that, as of May 8, the college was still working toward that goal and that the Luther Board of Regents will need to approve the project for this upcoming summer at its May 12-13 meeting. BLUE TURF | PAGE 4
Photo courtesy of Rob Larson and Eric Runestad
College administrators and President Paula Carlson (second from right) pose during a groundbreaking session for the new artificial turf football field. Kate Knepprath (‘17) | Photo Bureau
St. Olaf College students demonstrate against racial aggressions SHASA SARTIN STAFF WRITER Over 1,000 St. Olaf community members congregated on their campus on May 1 to protest a number of racist and threatening acts against students that have occurred since October 2016. Like Luther’s group Standing For Social Justice (SFSJ), St. Olaf student group A Collective for Change on the Hill presented their college’s administration with a list of demands — alternatively named ‘terms and conditions of negotiation’ — aimed at improving the St. Olaf student experience holistically in response to
these incidents. The latest incident at St. Olaf occurred when an unidentified subject(s) left a series of derogatory notes on the windshields of black students’ cars. “I am so glad that you are leaving soon,” the note read. “One less n****r that this school has to deal with. You have spoken up too much. You will change nothing. Shut up or I will shut you up.” Krysta Wetzel of St. Olaf, a leader in the protest movement, was frustrated by St. Olaf community members’ lack of action prior to the aggressive incidents. “People care about these [hate speech incidents], but a lot of things are
Religion department makes changes LILY KIME STAFF WRITER
going on that aren’t as visible that get ignored,” Wetzel said in an interview with the Manitou Messenger, the student newspaper at St. Olaf. Luther student Joshua Gonzalez (‘18) of SFSJ shares Wetzel’s sentiment and feels that Luther faces similar issues. “I think that the situation with St. Olaf got a lot more attention than a lot of the incidents that happen here,” Gonzalez said. “For whatever reason, people — and by people I mean administration [at Luther] — don’t feel like the things that students are expressing to them are as serious because they can’t see it or haven’t seen it.”
The religion department will require its students to take classes from four different categories starting in fall 2017, an expansion from its current two categories. The decision comes from reviews done by the department, assessments collected from graduating senior majors, and a growing realization by the department its major and minor were no longer meeting student needs. The major and minor formerly had two categories: two classes in one particular religious tradition and two in another tradition. Now, however, the major and minors will take classes from the following four categories instead of two: texts, traditions, issues, and interactions.
ST. OLAF | PAGE 4
RELIGION | PAGE 4