Jan 20, 2021 by MediaOCU

THE CAMPUS

January 20, 2021 – Volume 114 Issue 6

New year, new semester, same pandemic Page 2: Stink, Stank, Stunk

Columnist Francesca Iacovacci reviews the newest adaptation of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

Page 3: Athletics

Student athletes reflect on how the pandemic has impacted their lives since March.

Page 4: Get involved

Read about how student organizations are preparing safe activities and events this spring.

SGA inaugurates new president, vice president Paul Dower

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Newly inaugurated SGA executives plan to continue the work of last semester’s SGA administration. SGA inaugurated President Reid Powell, political science junior, and Vice President Brittany Wyatt, political science/ philosophy sophomore, after former SGA President Abby Banks resigned. Banks said she submitted her resignation on Nov. 5. Powell and Wyatt were sworn in the following Monday, Nov. 9. Banks said she is happy for Powell and Wyatt and is excited to see what they will do in their new positions. “I’m extremely proud of both of them for taking on this role despite, obviously, it coming a little bit faster than I think both of them might have expected,” she said. “At the end of the day, I know they are going to do a great job, and I just cannot express how appreciative I am of them for displaying their leadership skills in a time that this university needed it.” Powell said he, Wyatt and Caleb Evans, SGA secretary of policies and initiatives, will be continuing and expanding the initiatives that were being worked on by Banks, such as the Pads and Tampons initiative, an initiative to make menstrual products available in bathrooms at OCU, and the Let’s Talk initiative, which will discuss mental health with students and ways to connect students to the proper channels if they are experiencing difficulties with their mental

health and well-being. Powell said the initiatives will hopefully be launched during the first week of classes in January. Powell said he is also working with Patricia Ashford, SGA secretary of diversity and inclusion, to start a diversity roundtable with representation from different organizations and students with various backgrounds across campus. “That’s going to be a really exciting initiative to see, so that we can make sure that we are representing and advocating for all students on our campus and that we are addressing the needs and concerns there,” he said. Ashford said the purpose of the roundtable is to amplify and collect voices from across the campus populace into one place to discuss issues around campus. “As we are having these conversations, there would be someone taking notes,” Ashford said. “And it would be something that we could report back to SGA, so kind of like a ‘state of the campus.’” Ashford said they are still in the planning phases of the roundtable, but they are hoping to start the roundtable in February before the next SGA election. Powell also said he and Wyatt are working with Loren Matrone, SGA secretary of public relations, and Anna Gordon, SGA social media coordinator, to rebrand and improve SGA’s outreach on their social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, especially after experiencing how the COVID-19 pandemic affected students’

ability to access the campus and SGA. “Our biggest change in this rebrand is really to increase accessibility, so to get what we are trying to do, our initiatives, our mission, to those students that we might not be reaching because of the pandemic,” Matrone said. Wyatt said one of her focuses for this semester was to continue the initiative started last semester by Powell to create student caucuses on various subjects that students are passionate about, such as dining, housing services and disability services. Wyatt said she also wants to increase SGA transparency for students and student organizations so students understand who their representatives are and SGA’s role in serving students. “This means giving them information on bill funding requests and resolutions and things like that: who their senators are and who to reach out to,” Wyatt said. Wyatt said she is excited to get started as the new SGA vice president. “Coming from a senate position to vice president is a really awesome and cool transition for me, and it has just really grown me as a person and my love for OCU,” Wyatt said. For more information on SGA and other student organizations, visit okcu.campuslabs. com/engage. Powell and Wyatt can be contacted at SGAPresident@okcu.edu and SGAVP@ okcu.edu respectively for any questions.

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Sou�ce: okcu.edu

There’s snow place like being back on campus! A mysterious snowman visited campus over winter break to enjoy the snow day in front of the Gold Star Memorial Building. The snowman's identity is not confirmed, but inside sources say it could have been Frosty.

OCU hires Kevan Buck as new chief financial officer Paul Dower

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Oklahoma City University hired a new chief financial officer. Kevan Buck became OCU’s CFO on Nov. 2 last year, which OCU announced on their website two days after he was hired. Buck replaced former interim CFO David E. McConnell. “We are excited to welcome Kevan to Oklahoma City University and look forward to his impact on our institution,” President Martha Burger said on the website. “Kevan has an outstanding reputation and a wealth of experience in private higher education, and we are thrilled to have him join OCU’s executive leadership team.” McConnell said Buck is well suited for the position and will bring a lot to the institution. “I think he is an extremely wellqualified individual with tremendous experience and background. As I tell some people, I would like to have his level of experience,” McConnell said. “He’s a very competent, qualified individual, and OCU should be very

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pleased to have him.” Buck has over 36 years of experience working in finances for higher education at various private universities. His most recent position was at the University of Tulsa as executive vice president for finance, operations & administration, corporate secretary & treasurer. During his time at TU, Buck oversaw the campus’s shift to a residential university, navigated the university through the 2008 financial crisis and helped the campus become more energy-efficient and environmentally conscious, the latter of which Buck said he is particularly proud of. “It’s near and dear to my heart. Universities have the opportunity to do a lot with renewable resources and with recycling in particular. The volume of paper, things coming through universities, is enormous,” Buck said. During Buck’s time at TU in early 2019, the administrators on TU’s Provost Program Review Committee announced the “True Commitment” plan, a plan that would be rolling out large scale cuts and reductions to programs across campus in an effort to restructure and reduce the expendi-

For me, in a new position, my first 90 days are all about listening, and just listening to what their needs are, and their desires.

Kevan Buck

chief financial officer

ture of the university. Some programs that were planned to be cut were B.A. Musical Theatre, B.A. Vocal Music Performance, B.A. Theatre, B.A. Religion and B.A. Philosophy. Buck was on the PPRC as a senior administrator ex officio. Buck said the news coverage of the True Commitment plan was blown out of proportion. “What you read in the papers is not necessarily the whole story. So, the idea that TU is decimating or eliminating liberal arts is just so far from the truth it’s ridiculous. That being said, some programs were reduced, not eliminated actually, but reduced,” Buck said. “Ultimately, very little change actually occurred through all that press we got.”

Buck left his position at TU during the summer of 2020 and applied for the CFO position at OCU. He said he received the job offer from President Burger soon after and accepted it. Buck said Burger convinced him to take the job, and after touring OCU, he was thoroughly impressed by the campus community. “The thing that I was most blown away by, and my wife commented on it before I did, was that every person-faculty member, student, administrator-every person I saw walking on campus, whether they were by themselves or a group of two or three, they all had masks on,” he said. “And let me tell you, that’s not

the norm.” Buck said he didn’t have any plans for OCU at press time, but he will take a couple months to listen to students, staff, faculty and administration about the functions of the university and what he can do to help. “I’ve not been at OCU long enough to really know what is in place, what’s happening right now. For me, in a new position, my first 90 days are all about listening, and just listening to what their needs are, and their desires are,” he said. Abby Banks, political science/ philosophy/economics junior, said she has complete faith in whoever President Burger picked for the position, although she was unaware the university hired a new CFO. “I’m confident in our president’s pick and her ability to choose the leadership of our university, so I’m excited to see how this person works in that capacity,” Banks said.

He’s the rat of all our dreams

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Read columnist Troy Freeman’s review of “Ratatouille: the TikTok Musical,” an online production that streamed Jan. 1 - Jan. 4, raising money for The Actors Fund of America.

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opinion

Students should review new COVID guidelines As we prepare for another semester of classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, students may also be readying for emotional turmoil as our social practices are restricted, whether in student organizations, dorm hangouts or just eating in the Caf together. Because following these guidelines is the best and easiest way to keep our community safe, we urge the student body and all members of the campus community to review the updated policies for our current high alert level and follow them as best as possible. While these policies may seem strict, the only way for them to loosen is by bringing our campus back to a safer, moderate COVID-19 alert level. By following them, we’ll hopefully ease some restrictions on social life and allow students to interact in a way closer to “normal.” Last semester, we proved we can maintain a relatively stable campus environment by limiting our off-campus activities and keeping each other in mind when on campus and in public spaces. Ice storm aside, the students, staff and faculty worked to keep this campus safe. Doing so again may be a struggle. Last semester, students experienced increased burnout, mental health issues and stress from

the lack of breaks during the semester. We hope faculty members have taken this into account, planning for a condensed semester and working to provide support for students who may struggle. Students looking to interact with friends can find safe ways to do so. Whether by using a digital medium like Zoom, or by meeting in small groups outdoors while being safe, we can find a way to claim 2021 as our own and not let COVID-19 compromise us or our college experience. Though these rules may be difficult to live with, breaking procedure could end the semester entirely, cutting off our chances of having some form of normalcy completely. We are the Stars, and we can prove again that we have what it takes to weather these circumstances and emerge on the other side, while other institutions falter. So, go outside! Find some games you can play with friends over Zoom! Keep your masks on when studying in groups! And maybe, just maybe, we’ll begin to see the end of the effects of 2020 and the beginnings of a freer and more open 2021.

Talk Back “Where did you go during winter break?”

Darius Deon | acting senior (above)

Darius celebrated his birthday in Oklahoma City while enjoying the snow. He also led worship services at Life.Church South OKC. April Hill | psychology junior (above left)

April went home to Petersfield, England for the holidays where she was able to rekindle family relationships after not seeing her mom (middle) and twin sister (right) for a year. Sofia Carvajal | economics junior (bottom left)

Sofia went home to Bogotá, Columbia for the winter holidays and got to visit Huila, which is the biggest producer of coffee in all of Columbia.

Why we shouldn't criticize Twitter for banning Trump Editors’ note: Student Publications wants to make it clear we understand the following: the election was not stolen, Donald Trump lost the 2020 election through due democratic process and Joe Biden won the election. On Jan. 6, rioters stormed our nation’s Capitol, trying to stop Congress from processing the results of a fair election. The riot was incited by Donald Trump and his rally outside of the White House. The events that occurred on Jan. 6 are a direct result of Donald Trump’s misinformation campaign about the results of the election and the incendiary language he used to urge his supporters to “Save America.” Four rioters and one Capitol Police officer died from the injuries they sustained during the conflict. In the aftermath of the riot, Trump has been banned from various social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and Twitch, and some people are outraged that social media companies have the power to censor the government offices like the president. In a blog post, Twitter released a statement that they decided to ban Trump due to his Jan. 8 tweets about the riots, which Twitter deemed as glorifying

Paul Dower is a film junior from Tulsa, Oklahoma. He likes squishy toys, Superman comics and Stanley Kubrick.

violence, something which violates Twitter’s terms of service. Now that Trump’s banned, these social media sites, a lot of people are upset about how much social media companies like Twitter and Facebook control online discourse. I am a big believer in freedom of speech (as it is a big part of this job), but freedom of speech is not so simple. One might immediately think the more freedom of speech a society has, the more it will be able to discuss a wide range of topics with everyone on an equal playing field. However, there are some forms of speech that are not allowed. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled some forms of free speech indefensible, such as slander, libel and so on, so that people are incentivized to tell the truth. And, more specific to this case, using language based on false information to incite violence has been ruled as indefensible under the

Constitution, like the classic example of not being able to yell fire in a theater where there is none. These rulings restrict freedom of speech so free speech can be protected. These rulings are meant to create a space where lies and false information are punished and not tolerated, so speech can, hopefully, be centered around truth. Therefore, some moderation on freedom of speech is necessary to promote the truth. The first question to follow this idea is then, how do we responsibly moderate the conversation? Trump has gotten away with breaking Twitter TOS for a while now because, as he was president, they did not want to limit access to the things that he tweeted out. They tried to compromise when they started to fact check his tweets, but it was considered by most Trump supporters to be liberal bias in these

social media companies trying to censor Trump and people who support him and/or agree with his ideology. That is where these social media websites’ terms of service comes in. Terms of service tend to follow these court rulings, but they also make decisions on what to let on the website. Under our current system, a private company is allowed to enforce its own TOS on its own website. Trump and anyone who holds the position of president are not above of the TOS of any private company when they are using their service. Trump accepted the rules for engaging on the platform, and he broke them. Therefore, they are allowed to kick him off. It is possible to think both Trump being kicked off of his social media platform is a preferable thing, and social media companies like Twitter and Facebook having a stranglehold on online discourse, especially political discourse, is a non-preferable thing. These issues are not necessarily tied together. Social media platforms using their control of the conversation to enforce free speech laws and their own TOS by removing Trump from Twitter is a net good. They are using

their power in a good way. This idea is not antithetical to thinking social media companies have too much power over the conversation. Acknowledging the good of these social media companies’ actions is not the same as thinking the overall power structure is a good thing. Which leads me to my final point. There is a time and place to criticize the power social media companies hold in online discourse, but these companies wielding their powers to uphold democracy and freedom of speech is not the time to do it. These companies should be recognized for the good thing they did, so that in the future they will be incentivized to continue to do good things. If we criticize the power structure of social media now, they might see moves similar to this as too risky and avoid it, as they have for most of the Trump presidency. The social media structure is a problem that won’t be fixed immediately, but the problem of people in power using social media to spread lies and propaganda is something that can be fought against now. Focusing on one problem at a time, while not forgetting the other issues we have, will eventually lead us to real change in online discourse.

‘The Grinch Musical Live’ is odd, unnecessary, had cute moments Twas the night before Christmas, and all were snug in their beds, while nightmares of synthetic Who noses danced in their head. “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch Musical Live” premiered Dec. 9 on NBC. The new adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” was heavily critiqued before it aired and received even further backlash after its premiere. While I think it was odd and probably unnecessary in the first place, there were some cute moments. The story was narrated by “Old Max,” the Grinch’s dog, played by Denis O’Hare. I thought it was an interesting choice to have the dog narrate, but I didn’t actually enjoy the material they wrote for O’Hare. I’m sure he’s a great actor, but fully grown men should not have to crawl on the floor in a dog costume. Personally, I’m still mentally recovering from the last time I had to watch people crawl around in furry suits in the latest “Cats” movie, and frankly, I find it a little insensitive “The Grinch” would do this to us

Francesca Iacovacci is a music theater senior from Clearwater, Fl. She loves zoodles, “Jeopardy!” and a good poop joke.

in another year. The fact that Old Max narrates the story is also where the plot gets a little confusing. The song “This Time of Year” takes you through a sequence where you meet Max in different stages of his life from being a puppy, to a teenage dog and an adult dog. The sequence ends at the adult dog, “Young Max” played by Booboo Stewart, which is the Max that’s by the Grinch’s side for the remainder of the musical. However, the older dog (Old Max), is narrating the story the whole time. Giving the dog a backstory is all fun and games, but this particular telling has inconsistencies. Throughout the musical, characters make little jokes about social distancing

and other allusions to 2020 that lead the audience to believe it’s set in the present day amidst the pandemic. But since “Old Max” is looking back and reflecting on his younger years as “Young Max” and appears in many scenes at the same time as the younger adult version of himself, it means that the old narrator version of Max is…from the future?! And if he is, that’s a major plot point that went unacknowledged! Furthermore, if time travel becomes possible in the future, why would anyone in their right mind choose to relive 2020?! Another thing I thought was weird was that the makeup designer only used the pointy synthetic Who noses for the adults. This choice implies the pointy noses are not

THE CAMPUS

found the opening number and all of the ensemble numbers extremely charming. Even more charming was “Cindy Lou,” played by Amelia Minto. In “Santa for a Day,” Cindy Lou sings to the Grinch dressed up as Santa about how he must be lonely being by himself on Christmas. The lyrics “Sometimes when you’re all alone / Christmas and there’s no one home” rang true for many this holiday season who didn’t attend regular family gatherings. The song continues, “Even when we’re far apart / You’ve done something to my heart.” The song is sweet and poignant and reminds us that we’re loved, even if we may feel lonely at times. So overall, the Grinch didn’t end up stealing Christmas, but the musical did steal two hours of our time we’ll never get back. Haha, I kid! Mostly. I did think the adaptation was cute. It definitely deserved the criticism it received, but at the end of the day, it was nice to watch a live musical, and for that I am thankful.

The Campus has served the Oklahoma City University community since 1907. It is published Wednesdays during the academic year, with the exception of holidays and exam periods.

January 20, 2021, Volume 114, Issue 6

Editor-in-chief: Paul Dower Associate Editor: Luke Barrett Photo Editor: Stephen Jackson News Editor: Francesca Iacovacci Lifestyle Editor: Jessica Vanek Arts & Entertainment Editor: Troy Freeman Sports Editor: MaKayla Baxter

something Who babies are born with, rather, something they develop in puberty. I don’t know where I’m going with this, I just thought I should point that out. The third and biggest believability issue I noticed is that all of the couples were wearing matching outfits AND appeared to be extremely happy while doing so. I don’t know about the Whos, but in my experience with my boyfriend, those two things are mutually exclusive. I suppose we must talk about the elephant—I mean…Grinch in the room: Matthew Morrison. If there’s one thing 2020 doesn’t need, it’s a Grinch with sex appeal. Morrison portrayed “The Grinch” as if he were a rock star, making the character his own with lots of hip thrusting and weird moaning. I get he hates the Whos, but he apparently loves Elvis, imitating his persona and not realizing his target audience is children. All jokes aside, it was heartwarming and surreal to watch large group musical numbers performed without masks after so long. I

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Staff Writers: Anette Barrios-Torres, Tyler Robbins

Columnists: Luke Barrett Paul Dower Troy Freeman Francesca Iacovacci

Photographers: Annie Bragg, Jessica Casebeer, Stephen Jackson, Mackenzie Shaw

The Student Publications staff welcomes unsolicited material and letters to the editor. All letters must be signed and include the writer’s phone number, address, major, and classification. The staff reserves the right to edit all letters. The staff also reserves the right to refuse letters without explanation. Letters can be sent online at mediaocu.com, emailed to stupub@okcu.edu or dropped off at the Newsroom in Suite 112 of Walker Center for Arts and Sciences. Submitted items may appear on MediaOCU and in the print edition. The first issue of The Campus is free. Each additional issue costs 25 cents. Contents copyright © Student Publications 2021. All rights reserved.

January 20, 2021

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sports

OCU Athletics to compete in spring semester MaKayla Baxter

SPORTS EDITOR

OCU Athletics will allow certain sports to compete for the spring semester. Following a delayed start to the 2020-2021 athletic season, OCU Athletics announced that fans and spectators will be prohibited from attending on-campus sports competitions, activities and events until further notice. Coaches, team members, game day personnel and essential staff who comply with the athletic department’s COVID-19 policies will be allowed to attend and participate. All competitions will be livestreamed through BlueFrame’s OCU Sports Network. Jim Abbott, OCU athletics director, said all student athletes and faculty involved in high-contact sports, including basketball, wrestling and cheerleading, will likely now receive weekly COVID19 tests, along with wearing masks during practices and passing temperature checks. “Our intention here is to resume practices when we return,” Abbott

said. “Good Lord willing, we’ll have most of our sports attempting to compete this semester.” Abbott said current competition schedules are subject to change due to the pandemic’s unpredictability. “I wish I knew exactly what the future held, but I just know the primary thing is that we’re going to be thoughtful and careful about everything we do, and everything our student-athletes and coaches are involved in,” Abbott said. “Still, we do know that despite that thoughtful and carefulness, things happen. We expect that there will be some scheduled games we can’t play due to circumstances involving our team or our opponents.” Abbott said all decisions were made in coordination with the OCU Emergency Operations Committee. “There was a meeting over the holidays to look over where we are and what we’re planning to do on campus this spring,” Abbott said. “That was, I guess, the finalization of our plans for protocol, but we have been talking about it since March, really.”

Our priority here isn’t to focus on if we win or lose games. Really, I don’t think it’s ever been that. We just want to do whatever we can to give our students the opportunity to do what they love to do.

Jim Abbott

athletics director OCU Athletics

Abbott said hundreds of hours went into planning and developing safety guidelines for the 2020-2021 season. “The fact is, when all this started, we thought we would probably be fine by the fall, but guess what? We weren’t,” Abbott said. “We’ve spent a lot of time thinking this through. Our priority here isn’t to focus on if we win or lose games. Really, I don’t think it’s ever been that. We just want to do whatever we can to give our students the opportunity to do what they love to do.” Abbott said OCU Athletics will always prioritize the health and safety of student athletes, coaches and faculty.

“We know, despite all our efforts, that we will still face some challenges in the future,” Abbott said. “I would just like to say that everything we do is always going to be based on what’s best for our university, and for our students.” Caleb Evans, political science senior and baseball pitcher, said he commends OCU’s student-athletes and coaches for their resilience and adaptability. “It’s been an adjustment period for sure,” Evans said. “My coaches, for example, Denney Crabaugh and Keith Lytle, have been here for over 30 years. They’ve been doing this for a long time, and they have gone above and beyond concerning protocols and making

sure that we’re always in compliance, so tip of the cap to them for adjusting and changing so quickly. It’s been hard enough for us 20-something-year-olds, much less 60-something-year-olds.” Evans said he admires the department’s continued dedication to student athletes during the pandemic. “This situation sucks, and it’s really hard, especially now knowing that our parents and fans can’t watch us play,” Evans said. “This has been a practice of discipline, but we’re just really grateful to our school for letting us even have the shot. There’s been a lot of times recently where we didn’t think we would have a shot.” Athletic practices and activities resumed Jan. 15. For sports news updates, visit OCUSports.com

Student athletes prepare for socially-distant season MaKayla Baxter

SPORTS EDITOR

OCU student athletes are doing their best to face the COVID-19 pandemic head-on. Health and safety orders due to COVID-19 have heavily disrupted the athletic seasons of academic institutions throughout the country, and OCU is no exception. OCU student-athletes were sent home in the middle of the spring semester portion of the 2019-2020 season with no true knowledge of what was yet to come. Then, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics released a statement Mar. 16, 2020, canceling the entirety of its spring 2020 sports season due to COVID-19 concerns. Israel Andres Villa, economics senior and wrestler, said before the season was canceled, he initially looked forward to what he thought was going to be a bit more recovery time after undergoing shoulder surgery. “I was kind of excited,

actually,” Villa said. “I was like, ‘cool, I get a couple extra weeks off, and then we’ll get back to it,’ or whatever. But then a couple weeks turned into eight weeks, which turned into 12 weeks, and then all of a sudden it’s time to have classes scheduled for the semester, and I was like, ‘oh, things are a little bit different now.’” Villa said he then hoped the situation would start to get better by December; he said he didn’t imagine having the same difficulties a year later. Caleb Evans, political science senior and baseball pitcher, said he and his team were headed to a game in Texas when they noticed the situation was getting more and more severe. Evans said looking back, the situation’s continued severity and escalation is not that surprising. “In Oklahoma, we’ve been pretty lax. Governor Stitt hasn’t issued a mask mandate or anything,” Evans said. “Our culture and things kind of attribute to us being less restrictive, and I think

this is a situation that probably required more restriction. So, I kind of saw this coming pretty early.” The NAIA had already announced the postponement of most fall 2020 championships to spring 2021 by the time the OCU fall 2020 semester began. OCU Athletics postponed the university’s 2020-21 season in a Sept. 20, 2020 announcement. They then delayed the starting date of 2020-21 athletic competitions and practices to Jan. 15, 2021. Villa said learning to wrestle while following COVID-19 protocols was a major learning adjustment. “Trying to wrestle while standing six feet away from everyone is the strangest thing,” Villa said. “Trying to wrestle with a mask on is also strange. I never thought I would have to do that. I never thought I would have to cover my mouth before I went out and tried to tackle somebody to the ground. It’s hard to wrestle like that.” Villa said the lack of team-oriented athletic rou-

tine made self-motivation difficult. “It’s hard to get myself up to go out running in the mornings on my own,” Villa said. “It’s a lot easier when you have teammates right there who normally do those things with you. You just have to push yourself when no one else is looking, and you have to get yourself up and work for it, which is hard, because sometimes it doesn’t seem like there’s anything to work for right now.” Villa said he values his sport a lot more now due to his experience as a student athlete during the pandemic. He said he will never take wrestling for granted after this experience. Villa said future college athletes should stay on the course. “Eventually, things will be normal, or we’ll find a new normal,” Villa said. “Maybe competitions won’t be the same, but it will be something, and you should take advantage of that. Don’t be afraid to adapt, change, and do stuff other people will call you crazy for.”

Evans said he views his current situation as a balancing act. “You have to be adept to change. You can’t get too comfortable in any situation right now, and that’s the case for everyone. Things are changing on a dime every day. I’ve just had to let go of needing a lot of structure and am learning to roll with punches and adapt and overcome,” Evans said. Evans said baseball practices with COVID-19 regulations have been limiting to the team’s chemistry, and protocols like sanitizing equipment after use have made the environment very different from previous years. “In baseball, we usually have access to the clubhouse and locker room, which plays a big role in basic chemistry and team building,” Evans said. “Now, we’re limited to a certain number of people who can even be in there at one time. I think the limit is 10 people, and on a 32-man team, that really limits team chemistry.” Evans said he now has a deeper appreciation for his

sport. “It’s one of those situations where you’re pulled off the field, like we were back in March, and all you want to do is just get back out there and play,” Evans said. Evans said he has an immense amount of respect for all students navigating their way through the pandemic. “I’ve talked to my teammates about how I can’t even imagine being an acting major or dance major and trying to get all your stuff on film to send out,” Evans said. “I can’t even imagine what it’s like to miss out on an entire year of performances. We hear you, and we feel you. We’re right there with you, and we empathize with you. We’re not all that different in this situation, you know? We’re praying for you guys, and we hope you’re praying for us, too. We’re all in this together.”

Professors reflect on classes last semester Francesca Iacovacci

NEWS EDITOR

Mackenzie Shaw Student Publications

Giving back to the community (Top) Rebecca Hargrove-Santos, first year law student, works diligently on a kit for the unsheltered at OCU’s MLK Day of Service. (Bottom) Menstruation hygiene kits made by OCU students on the MLK Day of Service.

January 20, 2021

Professors and students are preparing for a second semester of learning integrated with online class procedures. The “OCU Practices” section of the “Responding to COVID at OCU” document states while the OCU COVID-19 alert level is on high, lecture halls should only be used in-person for classes of fewer than 25 students, and an increased health safety protocol is in place for other classroom spaces. Bob Greve, associate dean of Meinders School of Business, said he thinks faculty are becoming more comfortable teaching virtually and students are more comfortable receiving online content. “We know interaction is the key to a successful course, so when we can’t interact face to face, we want to find other ways to interact, whether it’s reaching out to students via email or office hours on Zoom. We’ve also started to do breakout rooms more so students can interact with each other in small groups,” he said. Greve said he was pleased by how quickly faculty and students adapted and feels optimistic about the spring semester. “Maybe I’m optimistic, but I feel the biggest challenge is mainly behind us. For me, the big challenge was having to adapt so rapidly, and I would optimistically suggest the biggest challenges are behind us in

terms of technology,” he said. Dr. Lisa Wolfe, professor of Hebrew Bible, said she faced challenges last semester coordinating small group discussion in class. She said she tried to have large group discussions to keep conversation flowing and socially distant, but it left out some students who were less vocal. “I think what I’m going to do this semester is put students in small online discussion groups to discuss things outside of class, and then they can share what they spoke about in class, and they’ve already formed their thoughts,” she said. Wolfe said other challenges included confusion around who has permission to be on Zoom and trying to make tests fair for all students when some were in-class and others were online. Her solution was to make all quizzes and tests online or take-home to provide an equitable experience. Wolfe said she thinks the last semester was difficult for everyone, but she was impressed with all community members’ handling of the situation. “Yeah, it was tough, and I think it’s going to continue to be tough for a while. It really made me appreciate in-person class,” Wolfe said. Wolfe also said she hopes this semester will be smoother since everyone has experience with socially distanced and online learning, but these are stressful circumstances. “Not only do we have experience

with the practical challenges of being in class both in-person and on Zoom, and it changes from day to day and class to class, but we also have experience with living with unpredictability. I think that’s really stressful for everyone. I’m someone who likes to plan a year out, so knowing things will change day to day is stressful. I think in a way we’re getting used to that; we just don’t know for sure,” she said. Carolina Garcia, business marketing junior, said last semester was challenging because it was a new experience for everyone. “While I don’t blame everyone, no one really knew what they were doing,” she said. “It was a major struggle for me. I never realized how much physically attending classes affected my focus until I couldn’t anymore. I feel like I did the best I could, but it definitely took a lot.” Garcia said she thinks, overall, everyone has done a good job adapting. She also said she would like more engaging ways to participate in class. “I wish we could go back to ‘normal,’ but realistically speaking, I would love more engagement or enticing ideas,” Garcia said. “The hardest part for me was being motivated. It was hard to learn and stay focused.”

lifestyles

Deck the streets

Left: The exterior of the iMagnet building on Broadway Avenue in Automobile Alley was decorated with red and blue Christmas lights. The lights were on display Nov. 21, 2020 through Jan. 10, 2021.

Above: A Christmas lights display sponsored by Netflix decorated the streets of downtown Norman over the holidays. Norman was one of six cities chosen for a main street makeover by the streaming giant. Stephen Jackson Student Publications

Student organizations prepare safe events for spring Jessica Vanek

LIFESTYLES EDITOR

Student organizations are providing connections in digital and COVID-19 policy compliant ways during the spring semester. The COVID-19 pandemic made student organizations restructure the way they function and reach the student population. At press time, the campus alert level is at high. The COVID-19 Events Policy and Protocol dictates in-person activities have a maximum of 10 attendees. The policy requires a plan for events to be submitted to the Emergency Operations Committee four weeks before the event and encourages organizations to host events outdoors and offer a synchronous or asynchronous digital option for online attendees when possible. Reid Powell, Student Government Association president, said he wants SGA to be visible to the campus population. “A big thing that we do is engage the student population and be advocates for them, so the goal for this semester is that we will utilize social media more,” Powell said. Powell said students can follow @OCUSGA on Facebook and Instagram to stay updated with campus news. Powell said no spring SGA events are set in stone yet. “Events will be difficult to do, but hopefully we are able to implement some program-

“

Submitted Reid Powell, Student Government Association president (left), and Brittany Wyatt, SGA vice president (right), pose for a photo after their recent inauguration. Powell said SGA plans to utilize social media more in the spring semester. Students can follow SGA news on Instagram and Facebook @OCUSGA.

ming to help interact with the student body in the safest way possible,” he said. “Last semester, student organizations learned how to operate from a virtual platform. All of our meetings are virtual, so we’ve been utilizing Zoom for our student senate meetings and our executive cabinet meetings.” Powell said working from

an online platform can be difficult, but students have adapted to their circumstances. “My best advice is to make sure your meetings are meaningful and engaging and that your members can still contribute,” he said. “Try to find ways to host virtual programming and use the office of student engagement as a resource.”

Katelyn Curtin, acting senior, is the executive director of OCU Miracle Marathon. Curtin said Miracle Marathon will have their two normal events: the “OCU’s Got Talent” event in February and the dance marathon April 17. “It will be held primarily virtually. We learned a lot from programs that did a

virtual dance marathon last year. There will also be some in-person events, like tabling, where people can come pick up prizes,” Curtin said. “It will look very similar to last semester; we just got better with technology over the pandemic.” Curtin said the student organization raises money year-round for their local Children’s Miracle Network hospital. “They work in conjunction with OU Children’s to provide care and research for children there. They make sure that no child ever gets turned away due to the ability to pay,” Curtin said. “They also provide care to all counties in Oklahoma.” Curtin said she hopes students will participate in the fundraiser. “I think the biggest thing is that there is no running involved,” she said. “It’s not an actual marathon, so if there’s some concern about having to exercise a lot, I promise you don’t have to do that.” Curtin said she wants the event to be participant-focused. “Miracle Marathon is for everyone. It’s not for sorority and fraternity life exclusively. If you and your best friend want to be a team for Miracle Marathon, you can” she said. “Miracle Marathon is meant to be a way for the student body to work together for a cause that everyone can get behind.”

Amanda Boozer, music education sophomore, is the president of the Hispanic Student Association. Boozer said HSA has been doing as many in-person activities as possible while adhering to the COVID-19 university protocols. “Our goal is create something just as interesting for our in-person audience as our online audience,” Boozer said. “Our meetings are on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. both in-person and online, and we reserve two rooms for each week, 10 people per room.” Boozer said the organization will be hosting a Lotería game night during the second week of school as their first event of the semester. Boozer said to check their Facebook and Instagram @OCUHSA. “It’s basically Mexican bingo, and we are super excited about it,” she said. “It’s going to be a recruitment event for HSA as well as a way for people to win prizes.” Boozer said all students are encouraged to attend meetings. “HSA is open to all students on campus. You don’t have to be Hispanic to join HSA, and many of our members are not,” she said. “We work to educate Hispanic and non-Hispanic students about our culture and the ways of Hispanic people.”

OCU alumnus hired as interim production coordinator Troy Freeman ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

An OCU grad will serve as interim production coordinator for the School of Theatre for the spring 2021 semester. Andrew Tompkins Lewis, OCU alumnus, made his transition from student to faculty member a month after graduating in fall to temporarily fill a role previously occupied by Angela Polk, his former boss. “Angela Polk helped create and flagship this position by taking on a variety of responsibilities, including acquiring rights for School of Theatre and Out of the Box productions, organizing senior showcases and managing various social media programs,” Lewis said. Lewis said he was given a rare opportunity to directly assist Polk for three and a half years with the School of Theatre work study program. He said the work study students were 4

given various responsibilities, many of which aligned with Polk’s work. After Polk’s departure from the School of Theatre in the fall of 2020, Lewis said he decided to reach out to the deans of the School of Theatre and the Wanda L. Bass School of Music about the possibility of fulfilling Polk’s position temporarily after his graduation in December. “I had to go through the formal hiring process: filling out an application and provide references. It was a several month-long process to officially earn the position,” Lewis said. Lewis said he believes his greatest asset in his pitch for filling the position was his close relationship with the way Polk worked during his time as one of her assistants. “One of the things I knew I was going to be able to offer the school in this job was continuity. I knew I could mimic her work style and help the school build upon what Angela has already created. What I didn’t

Going from work study my freshman year to now having this opportunity is beyond anything I ever imagined. Andrew Tompkins Lewis

interim production coordinator School of Theatre

want to do was start from scratch,” Lewis said. Lewis said his interim role as production coordinator is currently set to end after the spring semester. He said he still plans to pursue a career in acting after his contract with the School of Theatre, but he is thankful to have continuity and stability right out of college during a turbulent time for artists. He said he can’t be sure where his career will take him, but he is looking forward to the behind-the-scenes experience the position will provide.

“I could not imagine a better step for me into this industry during the COVID-19 pandemic. Going from work study my freshman year to now having this opportunity is beyond anything I ever imagined,” Lewis said. Zachary Prall, acting senior, was one of Polk’s work study assistants and assistant showcase coordinator along with Lewis. He said Polk was in charge of many logistical facets within the School of Theatre, making her work-study students uniquely qualified to fill her shoes.

“Andrew specifically worked with her, last year especially, and really followed in her footsteps. Honestly, there’s no one else that could fill the job as well as him because he knows all the ins and outs of Angela’s job and the way she works,” Prall said. Prall said Lewis will buy the university the time it needs to find the right person to take over the job when Lewis’s contract ends. “Obviously, Andrew isn’t Angela, and he isn’t trying to be her, but I think he has done a great job already filling her shoes. You know, if he runs into any problem, he is always going to have people like me to fall back on, and as a result I think it’s going to be a solid semester with him,” Prall said. Prall said he will be assistant showcase coordinator, and he looks forward to continuing to work with his colleague and friend.

January 20, 2021