April 5, 2023 | The Reflector

UIndy appoints new president

Presidential Search Committee, Board of Trustees name Tanuja Singh president-elect for UIndy

By Kassandra Darnell EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

It was announced on March 21 that the Board of Trustees unanimously chose Tanuja Singh as the University of Indianapolis’ 10th president after a global search, according to a press release from Associate Vice President for Communications Garrison Carr. Singh, who will assume the role on July 1, made public appearances on campus the day her presidency was announced. This included a live-streamed event that featured an armchair conversation with Chair of the Board of Trustees David Resnick and meet-and-greet receptions in the Schwitzer Student Center.

Singh is currently the Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs at Loyola University New Orleans, according to the press release. She has also held positions at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas, and Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. While working at Loyola University New Orleans, Singh implemented strategic plans within academic affairs, worked to improve curriculum for the relevance of today’s students and strengthened the Office of the Provost to better benefit the campus community, according to the press release. She has worked in higher education and academics for almost 30 years.

“A hallmark of Dr. Singh’s career is aligning talent and priority,” Resnick said in the press release. “She has been forward-looking in ensuring that her institutions are meeting the expectations of today’s learners and employers. As higher education is rapidly changing, and with it the demands of our students and community partners, this makes

her the right leader at the right time for UIndy, and we are so excited to welcome her to Indianapolis.”

Singh is a self-proclaimed believer in higher education and said it is the one thing that changes people’s lives. She thinks there is quite possibly no other profession that impacts lives as much as higher education does. This led her to leadership positions, keeping in mind how she could help students with their accomplishments.

“It [leadership] has involved working very closely with faculty, with industry, with government organizations, to create those kinds of opportunities for our students so that when they graduate, or even when they are going to school, they are doing experiential learning…, they're doing international [things], they're doing high impact practices,” Singh said. “And when I was a provost, I was doing similar things, but a little more of creating more alliances with industry, starting new programs, creating opportunities for us to engage much more intentionally with, say, hospital systems, etc. And then, of course, this opportunity came along and I said, ‘Well, this is a perfect fit.’”

There are many characteristics that Singh said she brings to the table, including what she calls boundary spanning, where she can convey the serious concepts of academia to people in industry and the government and establish links between academia and the real world. To Singh, she said academia is the real world, so it is important to establish these connections.

Additionally, Singh considers herself a “future of work” expert. She said she looks not only at the world today but where it will be years from now and what talents and skill sets students will need to thrive in the future, allowing her

> See President on Page 3

Student government returning to campus

By Anika Yoder FEATURE EDITOR

The University of Indianapolis Office of Student Affairs is introducing the Student Government Association for the 2023-2024 academic year to create a more traditional form of student representation by instituting student government by way of the Student Government Association for the 2023-24 academic year, according to an email sent by Senior Associate Dean of Student Life and Leadership Steven Freck on March 1. The email said SGA will aim to represent the voice of UIndy students and work with administration to enact meaningful change on behalf of the student campus community.

According to Freck, SGA used to exist as Indianapolis Student Government, but over time was restructured to combine different student leadership organizations into the Student Leadership and Activities Board. Students, faculty and staff—as well as executive leadership—voiced a desire to see a more formalized student government, according to Freck, and the idea is that the SGA

will provide a service for students to voice their needs.

“So that's kind of the hope is that this formalized body will serve to really look at what students would like to see in their unique experience, what they're really enjoying and things that could be improved upon,” Freck said.

According to Vice President for Student Experience, Success and Belonging Amber Smith, the relaunch of SGA does not mean the dissolution of SLAB, but that the two separate groups will continue to work on campus. SGA will function as a student government and SLAB will operate as a university programming council. Smith said typically in a university structure there is a group of students that work together to bring ideas for programming and engagement, and then another group which is student government that exists as a body to voice concerns to help impact change to work with administration.

Smith said the student

government is important to participating students because it provides clarity for them moving forward within their careers when seeking employment or further education.

understand the roles a student took on during their academic careers, according to Smith.

“Whenever a student writes a resume and they take it to graduate school, or they take it to their job, I need it to be clear what you did,” Smith said. “And if I put [that] you're in student government, and you served as vice president, everybody knows what that is… We have to be definitive because it impacts the way the students journey in the future is.”

Junior international relations and political science major Bryce Logan is running for SGA President alongside his running mate and vice presidential candidate junior political science major Harley Avery, according to Freck. Logan said he decided to run with Avery based on both of their shared political science disciplines and his international relations training, as SGA would allow them to implement what they have learned in coursework through the leadership positions.

lackadaisical with getting back into the swing of things socially and as well academically,” Logan said. “So being able to speak up about what certain changes are being made to UIndy [is what we want to do].”

Students will vote for a presidentvice president ticket, according to the SGA Overview document from Student Affairs. The ticket with the most votes will win. According to Freck, there are four pairs of students running:

• Stephano Ibarra Shishido and Erick Cavazos

Bryce Logan and Harley Avery

Abigail Wittenmyer and Kelli

Thomas

Marliss Winfrey and Cesar

Rivera

The Office of Student Affairs will hold the inaugural SGA election from April 17-20, according to Freck. The winning presidential team will be able to choose their cabinet, Freck said.

Providing clear and wellrecognized titles and definitions of an organization helps employers better

“We wanted to ensure that the students have a voice. We've noticed, especially coming off of COVID[-19], a lot of people are a little bit

“I think more than ever, [students should view it as an opportunity for their input on campus matters to be heard,” Freck said. “So the students elected into these positions really are here to work with students at every level to hear what they want to see on campus.”

Members of the UIndy community celebrate the ninth month of the Islamic calendar with fasting and reflection. Take a deeper look into one of Islam’s faith traditions on Page 6.

Photo contributed by the University of Indianapolis

Tanuja Singh stands in front of Esch Hall on the University of Indianapolis campus. It was announced on March 21 that Singh will serve as the university's tenth president. Singh will assume her official role as UIndy's president on July 1, according to a UIndy press release.

...This opportunity came along and I said, ’Well, this is a perfect fit.'

University of Indianapolis’ men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams competed in the NCAA DII Championships recently. Check out Sports Page 5 to

Graphic by Hannah Hadley

IN Senate bill 12 does not protect children

Bill to establish parental complaint system, takes marginalized communities off school shelves

By Mia Lehmkuhl OPINION EDITOR

I loved my school library growing up. I was first in the checkout line when the new “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” books hit the shelves, and I still find comfort in libraries today. Something I have always found endearing about rooms filled with books is that I am surrounded by opportunities to learn more about the world. Now, with the introduction of Indiana State Senate Bill 12, which would be effective on July 1, 2023,children may not have the same access to information about the world as I did.

According to the bill's text, SB 12 partially aims to establish a complaint system for parents to submit to librarians about the content available in school libraries. The bill also states that schools may not make books or materials available in school libraries if they are defined

as containing obscene or inappropriate matters that are harmful to minors.

Now, I am not going to say that there is no inappropriate content that could be found in a school library if there are no regulations or guidelines. And, of course, there will be parents who disagree with the content their children consume at school; they should have a system in place to voice their concerns. However, what is concerning about this bill is the vagueness with which harmful content is defined.This makes it easy to target certain topics that may not necessarily harm children outside the perceptions of conservative politics.

The bill cites Indiana Code § 35-49-2-2, which defines what is harmful to minors. Included are the obvious guidelines that content depicting things such as nudity, sexual conduct and abuse is not appropriate for minors to consume. I agree, especially for younger children who cannot grasp concepts that, for example, a high school

student would be capable of. What is concerning is the last part of the law, which states that a topic or performance is harmful if it is considered to lack “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.”I think this is incredibly subjective and flimsy.Anybody could make a case that something lacks value for children.It opens the door for targeted attacks on children’s ability to understand the growing, more accepting world around them.

According to Humanium, “... Representation in literature and media plays a significant role in child development and growth because it helps children to understand the reality they live in or to discover other cultures, giving them the opportunity to develop empathy and respect for cultural differences.”As a society, we should strive to foster acceptance, love, kindness and integrity in our children. Banning literature is counterintuitive to that cause because it says to these children:

this is wrong, you should not be exposed to this because there is something wrong with it. With this in mind, it is no coincidence that the books being pulled off shelves typically contain content pertaining to race, gender and sexuality, with PEN America reporting that, out of the 1,648 titles in their banned book index (including books banned in libraries and classrooms across the US), 41% contains content that “explicitly address LGBTQ+ themes or have protagonists or prominent secondary characters who are LGBTQ+.” PEN America also reported that 40% of those titles “contain protagonists or prominent secondary characters of color.”

In terms of LGBTQ matters, which have clearly been placed at the forefront of culture-war politics, I do not think a child has to be exposed to sexual content to learn about the LGBTQ community in a nourishing way. The fact is: these communities exist and deserve

to have their stories told. It is time we abandon values that are a detriment to the growth of this country. Why should children, who may have two fathers or two mothers, not be able to see their family dynamic reflected in the stories they read? What does the banning of this content communicate to these children? Why are non-heterosexual relationships reduced only to sex? To those who may not understand the hypocrisy of the matter at hand, imagine if children were learning about a nuclear family dynamic through literature and that content was deemed to no longer have value, and, as a consequence of this, every book deemed as displaying this inappropriate content were to be taken off shelves. Imagine if librarians could be arrested and prosecuted for distributing such heinous content to children. With this in mind, it seems as if conservatives rely more on a moral high ground than on protecting children.

AI's potential impact on journalism is a double-edged sword

By Kassandra Darnell EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Artificial intelligence has become more prevalent now than ever before. I see articles in my social media and news feeds every day about the developments of AI,ranging from AI art to stories and school papers written by ChatGPT. But with the rise of AI comes concerns about

how to use it properly and ethically, especially when it comes to using it professionally.

Recently, AI has been popping up in the journalism industry. In January, it was found that CNET had been publishing stories written by AI without clearly specifying if the articles had been written by human reporters, according to an article from The Verge. This caused controversy among both readers and employees of the publication and it begs the question: How will the growth of AI affect journalists? While I sometimes use an auto-transcription AI, called Otter.ai, to help transcribe interviews, I personally would not consider using AI programs to write articles. But not every journalist may be averse to using these kinds of programs.

IntheSpring2023editionoftheJournalism

&MassCommunicationEducator,JohnPavlik

wrote an article titled: “Collaboration with ChatGPT: Considering the Implications of GenerativeArtificialIntelligenceforJournalism and Media Education,” which looks at how AI can be used in the industry. Pavlik explains that ChatGPT is a natural language processing (NLP) platform that allows users to enter text prompts and then generate responses through

machine learning engaging with the internet. Essentially,you can ask the AI a question and it will create a response based on the information available to it. Furthermore, AI is already regularly used in many media operations, including the Associated Press, primarily to aid in the reporting process,according to Pavlik. Pavlik’s article is unique in that he submitted prompts to ChatGPT to test its knowledge of the media and what it thinks about using AI in thejournalismindustry.Theresponsesgenerated included statements about how AI cannot be creative in the same way we consider humans to be creative and that AI can be used as a tool for reporters, allowing journalists to focus on other aspects of their work while the generator does the writing or information processing for them. Although the AI stated some may “argue that AI is not yet advanced enough to fully replace human journalists and media professionals”and that“it is likely to complement and enhance their workratherthanreplaceit,”Ithinkitisimportant to consider the implications of introducing this tool into the industry.

Using AI as a tool to help aid in the reporting process can be greatly beneficial to journalists. In a time when newsrooms are shrinking and

March Madness brackets

By Olivia Pastrick ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

The NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament has been around since 1939 and became the current field of 68 teams in 2011 and the women’s tournament started in 1982, according to the NCAA. For basketball fans and those who could not care less alike, filling out brackets to predict the winners of the 63 total games played after the ‘First Four’ games is a common competition during March Madness, with over 20 million brackets being filled out for the men’s tournament this year, according to ESPN.

In the history of March Madness, there has never been a verified bracket that has been 100% correct throughout the entire tournament.If there has never been a perfect bracket,is there still a point to filling out one? I think that a lot of the fun from making brackets and competing with friends,family and even celebrities is fueled by the fact that nobody will be perfect.According to ESPN, brackets can earn a maximum of 320 points per round,earning points for each game that is predicted correctly.Because early incorrect guesses can lead to automatic losses down the line,upsets in which a lower-seeded team

Corrections

The Reflector acknowledges its mistakes. When a mistake occurs, we will print corrections here on the Opinion page. If you catch a mistake, please contact us at reflector@uindy.edu.

beats a higher-seeded team can ruin brackets only a short time into the tournament. The NCAA’s seed system, which ultimately decides teams’ placement in the bracket, is determined by the Selection Committee, according to the NCAA. The possibility of upsets—whether correctly or incorrectly guessed—makes filling out brackets and competing with others fun.

There is a dark side of the competitiveness that comes as a result of brackets.According to The Sports Notebook, players such as Royce White,who played for the Iowa State Cyclones from 2011-2012, received death threats after his team lost to the Montana Grizzlies in the 2012 NCAA tournament. The pressure that is placed upon these athletes is already immense throughout their regular season games; they are playing at a high level, and fans often expect players to always perform their best, which is not reasonable. This pressure is increased dramatically during March Madness when people are betting large amounts of money on the success of these young players. In this year’s tournament, 1-seed Purdue lost to 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson, becoming the second ever 1-seeded team to lose in the first round to a 16-seed, according to PBS. Following the loss, fans were furious, calling them “frauds” on Twitter, according

to Bleacher Report. While this loss busted my bracket as well, I think it is unfair to bash student-athletes on social media for losing a game.

A more positive aspect of the widespread influence of people making brackets is the increased coverage of March Madness games, especially for the women’s tournament. Although there is a dramatic difference in the number of brackets made for the men’s and women’s tournaments—over 20 million and over 2 million, respectively, according to the NCAA—I think that the excitement surrounding brackets is one of the reasons for increased ratings for women’s basketball games.According to Front Office Sports, the 2022 women’s championship game peaked at 5.91 million viewers, an 18% increase from the championship game from the year before.

Overall, I think creating brackets and putting them up against others’ is a fun way to compete and enjoy basketball. Although according to the NCAA, the likelihood of someone creating a perfect bracket for someone who knows nothing about basketball is 1 in 9.2 quintillion, but there is still a thrill in trying to get as close to perfect as possible and watching as your bracket is either broken or strengthened with every game played.

reporters have to cover more and more stories to make up for those gaps, AI could be the answer tomeetingdeadlinesandgeneratingmorestories. But this could also mean the downfall of the industry. In the case of CNET, there could be whole articles written by AI, which introduce issues of accuracy and ethics. ChatGPT itself states in Pavlik’s article that AI can increase the risk of bias and errors in reporting, any articles written using AI require careful oversight and editingofcontentandthegeneratordoesnothave any copyright or legal restrictions.In short,AI in journalismisadouble-edgedsword.Thistoolcan improve the reporting process if used correctly, but it also takes a seasoned reporter/editor to handle any issues that may be introduced by AI. On top of these issues, there is a certain human aspect to journalistic writing that I think cannot be replicated using AI, regardless of whether or not the program passes the Turing Test (a test developed by Alan Turing to see if a human can tell if something is either human or machine,accordingtoPavlik).Partofjournalism is giving a voice to people and communities, whichcanincludesourcesrangingfromexperts tofirst-handaccountsofanevent,andjournalists often incorporate their own observations or

even write stories in a more narrative format to help paint a picture for their readers. To me, good journalism—while objective and informative—is about the human nature of storytelling and everything that comes with that. It should read like a person is telling and narrating that story, and all of the experiences a reporter has creates that sense of humanity. I do not think that it is something that can be achieved with AI.

The future of print journalism as technology advances is something that has been up for debate for the past couple of decades. Personally, I think print journalism will continue to prosper and evolve, just like it always has. But in order to do so, we must incorporate these new technologies into the reporting process without losing a grasp on the craft itself. AI can be a helpful tool for journalists, but it must be used with caution and expertise. Journalism is about reporting the news fairly and accurately and we cannot always count on computers to understand that. I dread the thought of a future where all news is written by computers,but until then,we must learn how to work with new technology to preserve the future of this industry.

By Lindsey Wormuth DISTRIBUTION MANAGER

Many colleges surrounding the University of Indianapolis have Greek life, but the question is: Should UIndy have it? All around the United States, there are colleges that offer Greek life for students to get an opportunity to make friends and build connections. Greek life consists of fraternities and sororities. A fraternity or sorority is a brotherhood or sisterhood formed around common goals and aspirations, according to Ball State University. According to Campus Explorer, “As any Greek life devotee will tell you, the friends you make at your house are strong, lifelong connections. The words ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ are not taken lightly, and fellow Greeks take care of each other whenever possible, whether socially or professionally.”

The University of Indianapolis has a current student population of 5,600, according to the university’s website. Having such a small student population and trying to have Greek life does not make sense because there are not that many people.

history of Greek life on campus, “... Greek life has not been a physical part of UIndy’s campus. He said that at UIndy’s campus, there has not been strong enthusiasm or opposition to having fraternities and sororities in the past.” I do not see UIndy entertaining the idea of Greek life because we are a small university.

With the university offering many Registered Student Organizations, Division II sports and intramurals for their student population to get involved, I think that if they added Greek life there would not be enough people for it to feel like an actual sorority or fraternity. Although we do not have traditional Greek life, there are two chapters you can join. According to UIndy’s website, Alpha Psi Omega, a chapter that works with the theater department.

If the university ever decided to establish Greek life, students would pay a fee to be in a sorority and fraternity.

Those fees are for annual dues, social events and possibly housing.

What do you think?

Send your letters to the editor or other correspondence to: reflector@uindy.edu

According to The Albion Pleiad, smaller schools have less chapters and raise less money for their philanthropies, unlike big schools. Do not get me wrong, I think it would be fun to be able to have the opportunity to join a sorority or fraternity here at UIndy, but there is no space on campus for housing them and no way of knowing how many people would even be interested.

According to an article written by The Reflector Business Manager Michael Harrington about the

According to Edmit, experts estimate that the fees are between three to five figures at some chapters. UIndy has already increased tuition a few times in the past couple years and, on top of that, having to pay to be a part of Greek life seems like a lot to me.

Overall, I think that the university is not equipped to have Greek life. The campus is small and located within 10 minutes of the city with nowhere to put houses for the Greek life. With the campus size being under 6,000 students, and there being many RSOs to join as well as other extracurricular activities, I think that adding Greek life would do more harm than good.

... The university is not equipped or built to have Greek life.

Graphic by Hannah Hadley

Editorial Cartoon by Breanna Emmett

Graphic by Arrianna Gupton

Dining hall upgrading

Schwitzer dining hall to be reinvented in Summer 2023

By Olivia Pastrick ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

The University of Indianapolis Office of Student Affairs sent out an email to all students on March 9 announcing facility upgrades coming to the dining hall in Fall 2023. According to the email, the redesign will fully remodel the current kitchen, serving stations and dining areas. The email said that the upgrades are meant to emphasize a few key areas: increased offerings, sustainability and making the dining hall a more community-oriented experience.

First year environmental science major Evan Probst said that he hopes the upgrades will provide the dining staff with the opportunity to serve a wider variety of options, which is also something the email from Student Affairs emphasized.

“Hopefully [the dining hall] will have more options for different foods and stuff like that rather than having them make just large batches of whatever,” Probst said. “It could be more individualized.”

According to the March 9 email, having a variety of customizable options along with a hot and cold bar will allow for more variety in diet, as well as flexibility for people with specific dietary needs. Vice President for Student Experience, Success and Belonging Amber Smith said

there are lots of students on campus who have various dietary needs ranging from vegetarian, vegan, religious restrictions and even those who are simply picky eaters. Smith said that it is important to make the options that are available apparent to the students who need them. She said with the upgrades, students will be able to see their food as it is prepared, giving students more insight into what is going on behind the scenes.

“So they [students] get to see way more of what is happening behind the scenes with food preparation and cooking,” Smith said. “You’ll get to see a lot of food from the time that they start cooking it to the time that it’s delivered to you.”

According to Smith, the upgrades will make the dining hall a more modern facility. She said that since UIndy is 102 years old, it is important for students to continue to have facilities that reflect current trends and technology.

“It’s really important to the university to see things like this come to fruition,” Smith said. “And we want

Faith calendar

By Seth Wall STAFF WRITER

communities together with the interfaith calendar was rewarding, “realizing that all of religion was being represented.”

Put

your Greyhound spirit into action!

UIndy Day is a day to unite and show the world your Greyhound pride! On APRIL 18, join students, alumni, parents, faculty and staff for our eighth annual #UIndyDay as we celebrate and support all the things we love about UIndy.

When you promote #UIndyDay, you help inspire gifts that will fund scholarships, student-success programs, and the resources you need to succeed!

FOLLOW ALONG

@uindy

uindy.edu/uindyday

to do more of this as we progress, right? [We] want to stay current and on top of things.”

One of the goals of making the dining hall a more open, communityoriented space is to help students create relationships on campus, according to Smith. She said that building relationships over good food, in a good space, is important to her.

“We’re hoping that openness, like some of the elimination of some of the doors and walls will create more connectedness and more social opportunities,” Smith said. “It’s really important that we build relationships on this campus.”

Probst said that it means a lot to him and the UIndy community that the dining staff is willing to make these upgrades and that it shows the staff cares about the students.

“To me it shows that they actually kind of care,” Probst said “Because, logistically, they don’t have to.”

The dining hall is scheduled to close during this summer after graduation to undergo construction, according to the March 9 email. The email said the dining hall will operate in the basement of Schwitzer for students who have meal plans for spring and summer terms. Specific information regarding UIndy Dining’s operations during the summer will be released later, according to Student Affairs.

Wear crimson and grey all day!

Share what you LOVE about UIndy on social media using #UIndyDay

Make a gift of any amount to support UIndy students (Venmo accepted when you visit uindy.edu/uindyday on April 18)

Celebrate #UIndyDay together at the UIndy Day Headquarters located in Schwitzer Student Center first-floor engagement space!

The Office of Ecumenical and Interfaith Programs launched an all-inclusive calendar of religious observations in February. The Interfaith Calendar serves as a comprehensive resource providing dates of religious and spiritual significance to many different faith traditions.

University of Indianapolis Chaplain and Director of the Lantz Center Rev. Arionne Lynch said the intention is to update the calendar by July of each year in reflection of the academic year and overlapping dates of religious observation.

“We see it as a living document that’s owned by the community,” Lynch said.

Lynch said the idea behind the calendar was initiated by the Interfaith Scholars. This program brings together a select group of students representing each graduating class and of various religions, according to the Interfaith Programs website. The program looks to promote mutual efforts and dialogue between disparate ideologies.

“But this gave more information about Ramadan and some accommodations students might need,” Lynch said. “We also had notices this year that went out, for example, about Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, about Diwali, about Hanukkah, about Ash Wednesday and Lent.”

Members of the program discussed what it was like to piece together the new calendar. Senior psychology and communication major Bhumibol Shakya is currently an Interfaith Scholar. Shakya said the process of linking so many

President from Page 1 to adjust programs to fit those requirements.

Alongside her background in physics and business, which she said helps her understand how the sciences and business can fit together, Singh said she has a comprehensive and global view that will benefit UIndy. On top of that, she said she has plenty of experience in fundraising.

“Fundraising, in my mind, is not just asking people for money, but really having people invest in your vision,” Singh said. “So the way I look at it, fundraising is really developing friendships and deep alliances with individuals, with industries, with organizations, because if they see that what we are doing is impactful for the lives of students and that it helps the university really contribute to the city, they support you. So I have done a significant amount of fundraising as a dean. And then I built a lot of alliances with other organizations in my role as a provost.”

Interim President Phil Terry said the candidate pool was narrowed down from over 100 candidates. While all of them looked very qualified on paper, he said he is confident Singh was the best choice. She is perfect for the role, Terry said, and her being the university’s first president that is a woman of color is only a plus, showing how open, welcoming and diverse the campus community is.

And while Singh has not served as a university president before, Terry said he personally does not mind if the person hired has not held a presidential position before. What matters to him is the innate characteristics of a person, such as intelligence, integrity and ambition. And based on her experience, Terry believes she is ready and prepared to take on this role.

“It was tough, but I think Dr. Singh was the best of the group,” Terry said. “And she brings so much to the university in terms of her experience, her intelligence, her ambition, her integrity, her vision. I just can't imagine there is a better person out there for this position than Dr. Singh.”

During his time as the interim president, Terry has helped reorganize the university’s administration and has begun conversations about doing the same to academics. He said education is changing, and while UIndy has great assets and potential, that must constantly be reexamined in order to remain

Sophia Murray, another Interfaith Scholar and senior studying biology, talked about her experience in building the calendar and how it brought together members of the Greyhound and broader community.

“I had an opportunity to meet people I otherwise probably wouldn’t meet,” Murray said.

Lynch, who assumed her role in January began her time with UIndy as Associate Chaplain in 2016, said she has heard feedback from students of the calendar’s importance. Lynch also said various faculty and administration were “championing this project.”

There are other resources available to campus members for religious exercise, such as McCleary Chapel, which serves as a bastion for peaceful reflection and is available to all faiths, according to its website. The Chapel and Meditation Room are both located on the second floor of the Schwitzer Student Center. Both provide a safe space for fellowship and devotional activities.

While UIndy is affiliated with the United Methodist Church, the policy of the Office of Ecunemical and Interfaith Programs is dedicated to providing hospitality by which common facilities and good will are protected on campus, according to its website.

“Oftentimes, we don’t get the chance to have deep meaningful conversations with people we’ve never met before,” Murray said. “Interfaith breaks those superficial barriers, making it easier to create meaningful connections with people.”

relevant. And with that, despite the challenges Singh may face coming into this position, Terry feels the university had laid the foundations necessary for her to make the changes needed.

“The university has a great foundation, financially, reputationally, in terms of relationships,” Terry said. “So it is poised for whatever challenges the future provides. But it's gonna be up to Dr. Singh to figure out the solution. The long-term solution is for our next long-term leader.”

As she comes into the position, Singh said one of her main priorities is enrollment. Terry has acknowledged that enrollment at UIndy has been low following the COVID-19 pandemic and Singh said many universities are struggling with this particular aspect of higher education. Singh plans to address this by looking into old and new markets and building enrollment at the undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as nationally and internationally.

“If we bring more students to Indianapolis, in this great city, we want them to come and contribute to the growth of the city,” Singh said. “We have a great university with great programs, but enrollment is going to be one of the things I'll focus on greatly. The other one is, I believe that our university is a very strong university. We need to tell our story a lot more. We need to tell people about how good we are. And I believe that we have the talent and the ability to tell our story and, and really market ourselves much better.”

Singh said she is most looking forward to working with the community at UIndy and in Indianapolis. One of her larger goals is to ensure the university is fully engaged with the city. As the University of Indianapolis, Singh said she believes the community should be fully participating in the city, whether that is through economic growth or working with industries.

“I'm hoping for growth for the university, I see a very bright future ahead,” Singh said. “And it's a lot of work; there are a lot of challenges here. But I also see opportunities that exist for the university. And that's going to be my goal: to focus on growth, to have this vision of making sure that our students get good jobs, but also we develop them as good citizens that ask the bigger questions, that actually change the world. And that is the goal for the university.”

... [Students] get to see way more of what is happening behind the scenes..."

UIndy hosts basketball tournament

By Olivia Pastrick ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

The University of Indianapolis hosted the Special Olympics Indiana basketball tournament on March 25, marking the 11th year this event has been held at UIndy and the 51st year of the tournament, according to WTHR . Hite said the event is put together by the Kinesiology 481 class at UIndy. The goal of the class is to plan and execute the Special Olympics tournament every year, he said.

The tournament hosted around 150 athletes competing in 14 teams, according to Hite. The teams are also put into divisions based on skill level. According to WTHR, there were 5-on5 games as well as 3-on-3 games.

Hite said that putting together the tournament has been a great experience and opportunity to learn about everything that goes into building a program at a larger scale. Junior sports management major Carter Drake said it is a great opportunity to build these skills.

“It’s a great opportunity for experience and it’s with a great organization like Special Olympics,” Drake said. According to Hite, there are six other departments involved in the event other than kinesiology. He said that physical therapy assistants, education, music therapy, nursing, public health and occupational therapy departments will have booths at the tournament that will provide the athletes with something to do in their downtime between games.

In addition to the games and activities, Hite said there are opening ceremonies at the beginning of the tournament. Hite said that the opening ceremonies feature UIndy swimmer Liam Price, a Special Olympics athlete who will be competing at the world games for Team USA this summer.

“It’s a really big honor for [Price], and we’re having him out to celebrate him as well during our opening ceremonies,” Hite said.

According to Hite, the KINS 481 class is a great opportunity to gain a better understanding of the Special Olympics athletes. Additionally, it allows for students to get to know these athletes.

Drake said he hopes the tournament will bring the UIndy community together since there are so many volunteers from campus pitching in to help make the event happen. He said that it is a great opportunity for the campus to give back to the community.

“Hopefully, it just brings everyone together,” Drake said. “It’s a great opportunity because we have about 200 volunteers from the campus from cheer teams, to people helping with score tables. So, hopefully just a great opportunity for people to give back to the community.”

Softball starts conference

UIndy softball begins their season strong while GLVC games take the stand

By Connor Mahoney SPORTS EDITOR

Competing in 34 games to start the season, the University of Indianapolis softball team is 31-3 with multiple wins coming from across the country, as of The Reflector’s print time, according to UIndy Athletics. According to Softball

Head Coach Melissa Frost, the team has faced competitive opponents with little rainouts resulting in a longer preseason leading up to conference play. Frost said the team will have to continue what they are doing to start conference because it is a long season.

“[The team] has to execute the same way we’ve been executing up to this point, and I think that’s the biggest thing is we take every game as it’s the most pivotal, most important game that we’re gonna play all season…,” Frost said. “Our big goal [is] getting back to the national tournament,and I think that’s something that we take one game at a time. We played some really quality competition previously. I think it’s really going to set us up, hopefully for the tough competition that we’re going to play here coming up in conference.”

The Greyhounds started off conference play on March 25 against the University of Illinois Springfield, when UIndy defeated the Prairie Stars in a double header, according to

UIndy Athletics. Frost said the team is constantly improving each and every day and that the team’s mentality is something she is proud to have.

“We’re improving each game, and I think that’s something with this team it seems we’re taking a lot of steps forward [of] improvement even on the games that we’re winning…,” Frost said. “We’re still finding something that we can hone in on that maybe we can do just a tiny bit better, but I also do think that we take some time to celebrate the stuff that we’ve been doing right. So I think that’s big, but I think that this team’s a little bit different [from a] standpoint of, we’re in it, we’re fighting every pitch…. I think that the thing I’ve learned about this team is that we might be down, [but] we’re never out. And that’s something that I love about this team. It’s just a fun aspect of them.”

Senior infielder Emily O’Connor said the team communication has been an outlier for the Greyhounds this year. Additionally, O’Connor said the repetition in practices can lead to improvements on the field and build confidence.

“Confidence comes from repetition…, and I think the players around me and

myself…[are] gaining that confidence and getting those reps,” O’Connor said, “When we don’t play, we obviously practice [then] when we don’t practice, we’re coming in here and getting our swings in. So, making sure we’re up in that shape and seeing that with other players [too] you get that confidence because they’re doing like what they’re supposed to. For the love of the game, they’re putting everything [in] they can for the team…. The confidence piece comes from knowing that my teammates are doing their part.”

Looking to improve off the field to where it can translate to on the field, the softball team participates in a book club where the team is currently reading The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon, according to O’Connor. The book is a self-help book that the team has benefited from, she said.

“I have a special place in my heart for [the] book club, [and] I think just the environment of gathering around [is really valuable],” O’Connor said. “I was reading in general, just self help, and having to talk about that and seeing other people’s point of views on what we read [is unique]. And they’re so different than mine, and they’re also so true and

valid that I’m learning as an individual, just personally, through things that aren’t even related to softball.”

Frost said that the actions of the team off-the-field has proven to be important such as the work done by the team in the classroom. Additionally, the closeness of the group has been crucial for this team.

“The camaraderie amongst these young ladies, the thing I love about this team is they have a good time, but once the cleats are on, it’s go time,” Frost said. “And they put their head down and they work. And I just can’t say enough good things about the work ethic of this team. I can’t say enough good things about the things they do in the classroom. I just think the way they love each other, and I think that the way that they rally round each other [is important….] We just talked about it yesterday, it’s one through 21, and I think that’s big for this team.”

With home games on the horizon, Frost and O’Connor said that they are hoping to encourage the UIndy community to come out to Baumgartner Field this season.

“We’d love to see the crowd that we’ve had before,” Frost said. “[We] always enjoy seeing the students out and faculty and staff out. We would love to see everyone at a game because I think we’re an exciting team to watch.”

Drew Billig sets men’s lacrosse record

By Grace Lichty ONLINE EDITOR

University of Indianapolis men’s lacrosse senior attacker Drew Billig is now the leader in points for a career in program history as a Greyhound, according to UIndy Athletics. Having the opportunity to break this record, he credits his teammates and support system at UIndy.

“Right away when I was a freshman, the older guys were telling me some of the things that they thought I could do. At the time, I was like, ‘Yeah, right. No way I can be an All-American…,’” Billig said. “But I think honestly, the seniors my freshman year, some of the older guys, put into my eyes about what I could accomplish. Obviously, my teammates over the years have driven me to be where I am today. A lot of the credit goes to them.”

According to Head Coach Greg Stocks, the team had high hopes for Billig from the beginning of his career. Billig can into the team and made an instant impact, Stocks said.

“He came in and started immediately as a freshman on the team that went to the [NCAA] Final Four. It was pretty baffling, he was the second leading scorer as a freshman,” Stocks said. “He scored an overtime winner in the NCAA tournament as a freshman. So, the trajectory of him being able to do this was definitely there.”

According to Billig, he was in a game when they announced he had broken the

points record, but he knew he was close to breaking it. Billig said the team was looking to mount a comeback when it was announced. “I knew I was close. But then I scored against Lemoine [University], and they said it over the [public address] system. The crowd cheered, and [I] got a couple fist bumps from my teammates, which is really awesome…,” Billig said. “It was kind of bittersweet, because we were down big in the game and we were trying to make a comeback.”

According to Stocks, Billig is a quiet

leader for his team. Stocks said that up until his senior year he was more of the quiet one of the group, but as captain he took on a more vocal role.

“He’s one of those guys that does everything right,” Stocks said. “He kind of leads by his actions with the effort that he puts in and always doing the right thing. The rest of the guys fall in line and follow his leadership.”

Billig said that growing up and throughout his career playing lacrosse, he never thought he would be in the record books in college. He said he was

just hoping to see the field.

“[Breaking a record] did not really cross my mind growing up, I wanted to go somewhere and play college lacrosse where I thought I had a chance of playing right away,” Billig said. “My big motivator has just been always hopefully seeing the field and contributing wherever I can whether it’s on the field or whether I’m on the end of the bench rooting on the guys. I did not see this coming at all.”

According to UIndy Athletics, Billig has other accomplishments to his name, such as two time AllGLVC first team, three time Academic All-GLVC and 2022 United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA)/Nike All-America Third Team. According to Billig, this record shows that all the hard work has paid off for him and his teammates.

“Over the years doing extra practice outside of just our scheduled time, extra film with the coaches or with the older guys, whatever it may be, it’s really cool to see it all pay off…,” Billig said. “I don’t think I deserve all the credit because a lot of it is my teammates doing the dirty work behind the scenes during games getting ground balls, finishing off goals, setting me up for goals. I get the spotlight, which I’m not always comfortable with, but a lot of the credit does go to my teammates and my coaches as well.”

According to Stocks, it has been a pleasure to coach Billig, and he expects a successful season and future for him. Stocks said that Billig is a great person on and off-the-field, he works hard and he has earned it. Billig said that what he has most enjoyed during his time here at UIndy is his teammates.

“Just being around all the guys, this is cliche, but these guys are my brothers,” Billig said. “I love these guys to death. I would do anything for them. And they would do anything for me and I know that.”

They have a good time, but once the cleats are on it’s go time.”

Photo contributed by Jacob Walton/UIndy Athletics

Senior University of Indianapolis infielder Emily O’Connor celebrates the out made by the Greyhounds on Baumgartner Field at UIndy. The Greyhounds are currently 27-3 on the season so far. Their next home game is a GLVC battle against the McKendree University Bearcats. This series will be in the middle of the Greyhounds’ home-stand in this time period.

Photo contributed by Jacob Walton/UIndy Athletics

University of Indianapolis men’s lacrosse attacker Drew Billig looks to pass or shoot at Key Stadium. The Greyhounds are currently 8-1 on the season with wins over ranked teams. UIndy lacrosse’s next game is a match-up at home against Maryville University on April 8.

Bringing home their trophies

UIndy men’s and women’s swimming and diving wins national championships in many events

By Connor Mahoney SPORTS EDITOR

Stepping up to the podium at the NCAA DII National Championships, the University of Indianapolis men’s swimming and diving team claimed first as champions and the women’s team took runner-up, according to UIndy Athletics. UIndy Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Head Coach Brent Noble said he was pleased with the team’s success this season.

“We’re really happy with the way the season went for both the men and for the women,” Noble said. “We came into the year knowing that we were capable of a lot; we just had to stay the course. It’s definitely a season where we grew and did some things that we hadn’t done before. But ultimately, we had built a team with really capable people. And they worked pretty hard to accomplish their goals individually, and got closer and closer to their potential.”

Noble said that at the start of the season they knew that both teams had the potential to impress this season.

The University of Indianapolis men’s swimming and diving team holds up

the season with multiple wins against ranked DII opponents. The championship trophy was

According to UIndy Athletics, the men’s national championship win is the first in the program’s history. Sophomore diver Julio Osuna said that the moment of holding the trophy was an amazing feeling.

“We went to the podium…they gave the trophies and everything and I was in the middle, and they handed me a trophy,” Osuna said. “I don’t think I [was] the right person to hold this trophy because I’m a sophomore and a senior would typically hold the trophy. I do want to have a responsibility to hold the trophy. But at the same time, I don’t, but it felt amazing to have it in my hand for a couple of seconds… It was just really cool. It was one of the best moments of my life.”

In addition to winning the team championship, Osuna won multiple individual championships such as the three-meter dive and the one-meter dive, according to UIndy Athletics. In the 1-meter dive, the Greyhounds finished first, second and third for this event. Additionally, sophomore swimmer Cedric Buessing claimed multiple school records while winning the 1000-meter freestyle national championship. The men’s team also had a relay team take home a national championship, according to UIndy Athletics.

The UIndy women’s swimming and diving team celebrates with the NCAA DII National Championship

This was

second trophy the team gathered this season after their GLVC Championship. The team’s national meet was between March 7-11.

that definitely was a big responsibility…I wanted those men to just have that experience.”

The women’s team added to their trophy case this season after winning the GLVC they came in as runner-up for the second year in a row in the national championship, according to UIndy Athletics. Fifth-year swimmer Kaitlyn McCoy said that even though the team came up short in nationals, they made improvements from last year.

“We knew that Nova Southeastern [University] was going to be a bit of a struggle, but we also knew that we were better than we were last year,” McCoy said. “We had high hopes. And so even though we just came up short, we did better this year than we did last year. And the gap between the teams was closer.”

McCoy was also an individual national champion winning the 100-meter backstroke to add to her other individual national championship, according to UIndy Athletics. Along with McCoy’s individual championship, graduate student swimmer Johanna Buys broke the DII National record for the 50-meter freestyle, claiming an individual national championship. Noble said the men’s and women’s teams standards have continued to grow every year they step into the pool.

“We have a really big team, and so I think that lends itself to us [that], it’s really important that everyone plays their role, whether they’re in the pool at nationals or not,” Noble said. “It’s important that everyone on our team has a positive impact towards the greater good. But at the meet, we had the most people scoring points, the most people getting second swims and the most people kind of pushing the needle compared to the rest. That has become our calling card is that we’re deep. And we have people winning events, but we also have a lot of people in all of the events and so that’s a big deal for us.”

Osuna said that his teammates played a large role in his success this season, and he said he was pushed when practicing, especially by his teammate senior diver Jason Lenzo.

“I wanted to do my part to help the members of either team experience something like that, obviously being on a team that wins the national championship [along with] winning the first national championship,” Noble said. “That’s something pretty special to be a part of. And so knowing going into the season that we had the opportunity to do

“[Lenzo] is the one that keeps me in my zone the most,” Osuna said. “He knows how to talk to me and approaches me when I’m stressed or not having a good day. And thanks to him I can say I won my two national championships. He was the one that helped me [keep] going through the whole year.”

McCoy said that her teammates all played a vital role in their success. She said she wouldn’t change anything about the season.

“It’s been a fantastic ride, and I wouldn’t change it for anything,” McCoy said. “And I am so proud of the people next to me and the rest of my team too.”

Men’s basketball has historic season

By MaKenna Maschino PHOTO EDITOR

The University of Indianapolis men’s basketball team is raking in the accolades after finishing their season 26-5 following their fall to eightseeded McKendree University in the quarter-final of the Midwest Divisional round of the NCAA Tournament. The tournament was hosted at the University of Indianapolis, according to UIndy Athletics.

Redshirt sophomore guard Jesse Bingham was named to the All-Great Lakes Valley Conference First Team and received All-America status from the National Association of Basketball Coaches, according to UIndy Athletics.

Bingham also made the GLVC AllDefensive team alongside senior forward Jakobie Robinson. Junior forward Kendrick Tchoua also received recognition in the postseason, being named both the GLVC Player of the Year and Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association (D2CCA) Midwest Region Player of the Year. Greyhound’s Men’s Basketball Head Coach and UIndy alum Paul Corsaro brought in his own accolade as the Midwest Coach of the Year, according to UIndy Athletics.

After a standout season for him, Tchoua was at the top of all NCAA divisions for field goal percentage shooting 72.6% from the field. according to UIndy Athletics. He said he did not even expect to collect any of the awards,

he just wanted his team to win.

“I never really expected them,”Tchoua said. “Yeah, they’re cool, but I just move on.”

Corsaro, in his third year as head coach, led the Hounds to the top spot in GLVC regular season for only the second time in program history, according to UIndy Athletics. He said that the individual accolades come as a result of the success of the team as a whole.

“I think it goes back to the team,” Corsaro said. “Awards and individual success come as a result of team success.

So, no one’s individual accolades would be possible without the help of the other teammates and coaches. This program is truly about the word team, and it’s a total effort.”

It is the team effort that allowed the Greyhounds to attain success that they have not necessarily seen in recent seasons, according to Corsaro. The team tied program records for most wins in a season with 26, and the program win streak grabbing 18 consecutive wins within the 2022-2023 season, according to UIndy Athletics.

The success in the team’s regular season allowed them to achieve something that has only been done twice in program history, according to UIndy Athletics.

This was the first time the program has hosted a NCAA regional since 1997, according to UIndy Athletics,

“It showed everyone in DII that UIndy’s a powerhouse,” Tchoua said.

“And that we’re ready to play.”

Corsaro said he was proud of his team

for achieving the opportunity to host that had only been done twice before.

“That was really neat from the standpoint of it’s only been done twice in school history prior, it also gave us a shot to have home court advantage,” Corsaro said. “It put us in a position to compete at the highest level for the ultimate prize. We fell short, but nothing to hang our heads on.”

Motivation is exactly what the experience brought the Hounds who wasted no time getting right back onto the court, according to Tchoua. Hard work has been key for this team from

the start, he said.

“We just lost a week ago and we had guys coming in every day, still putting the work in,” Tchoua said. “We don’t start playing again for another eight months, it just shows a lot.”

Even though the team fell short of winning the Midwest Regional Championship, they learned valuable lessons that will help them bounce back for the next time the team steps on the national stage, according to Corsaro.

“Understanding that even when you position yourself to be the number

one seed in the postseason that job’s not finished,” Corsaro said. “Winning is incredibly hard, regardless of what position you’re in, there’s still work remaining.”

Corsaro is pleased with all that the team has accomplished this season and the way that the group continues to support each other as a tight-knit group.

“I’m really proud of our guys. They accomplish history on numerous fronts, and it’s a really fun group to be around,” Corsaro said. “We won a regular season championship [and] tied a lot of school records, and I’m really proud of the year

Photo contributed by Ryan Thorpe/UIndy Athletics

runner-up trophy.

the

Photo contributed by Ryan Thorpe/UIndy Athletics

the NCAA DII National Championship trophy. They finished

lifted at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.

It put us in a position to compete at the highest level for the ultimate prize.”

Photo by MaKenna Maschino University of Indianapolis junior forward Kendrick Tchoua and his teammates celebrate the basket the Greyhounds made in Nicoson Hall at UIndy. The Greyhounds were 13-2 whenever they were on their home court, while they were 12-2 when playing on the road.

Women's Empowerment Boot Camp ends

By Michael Harrington BUSINESS MANAGER

In a collaboration with the University of Indianapolis Student Counseling Center and the Office of Inclusive Excellence, the Women’s Empowerment Boot Camp focused on empowering students who faced a conditioning for womanhood, according to Assistant Director of the Office of Inclusive Excellence CariAnn Freed. The final meeting took place on March 29, Freed said, it was the first time an event like this was held on campus. The event was a way for students to take a more critical look at societal conditioning of womanhood.

“Not everyone who participates might identify as a woman, but we all share this conditioning of womanhood. We're conditioned in this state of what it means to be a woman [as well as] the obstacles you might come up against, the conflicting messages, the double standards that exist and how sometimes that can be disempowering for someone identifying as a woman,” Freed said. “[Also] the ways in which we try to break it down to things that you can do to re-empower yourself, regain your own power back and to move forth in the world, building healthier relationships and making decisions that align with your values.”

According to Freed, the event’s goal is to show women that they can make impactful change in their lives and the world around them. Freed said that women should know that they can take up space in society in an empowering way.

Graduate student in anatomical science Tesh-Lanea Galloway said she learned techniques for empowering herself and others along with other topics. According to Galloway, learning more about self love and conflict resolution helped her learn more about empowering women. Freed said that the events discuss many topics that any attendant can apply

to their life, regardless of experiences of womanhood. According to Freed, the events can help attendees better understand their place in the world, while also helping them achieve better outcomes with their relationships with themselves and others.

Galloway said her favorite experience from the event was learning more about self love. According to Galloway, it was

important to discuss the relationship between self love and shame.

“One that stood out to me was the self love [workshop] where we wrote on plates [to] let go of shame and things that make us shameful for loving ourselves. I felt like that really helped me out,” Galloway said.

Freed said she wants the event to become something larger in the future, rather than a four part series. According

UIndy celebrates Ramadan

By Hannah Biedess EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Ramadan is a celebration where people of Islamic faith refrain from eating and drinking during daylight hours as a fast, according to Assistant Professor of Practice of Philosophy and Religion James Willis. It is also a time for introspection, Willis said, and it is one of the core tenants of the religion.

According to an article written by Afghanaid, a British humanitarian organization, Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and starts and ends with the new moon. The ending, according to the article, is celebrated with Eid-al-Fitr, or the festival of the breaking of the fast.

“It’s a time for introspection; it’s a time for enhanced spirituality in getting to know God, of spending time with one’s community and thinking about one’s place in the world,” Willis said.

Junior psychology major and President of the Muslim Student Association Aamina Dillard said is a time to avoid temptation, not just food and drink. She said that the holiday is used to strengthen their connection with God.

“It is a time of spiritual cleansing, spiritual growth. To strengthen our connection with God,” Dillard said.

An article written from Muslim Aid explains the rules of the whole month of Ramadan as such: there should be no swearing, lying, fighting and arguing or sexual activity. For eating and drinking, the article said not even water is allowed to be consumed during the daylight hours.

“Ramadan is observed in order to fulfill the fourth pillar of Islam, Sawm. This means it is not permissible for Muslims to eat or drink during daylight hours throughout the Holy month,” the article said. Willis said that many people who are not Muslim see this as a time of sacrifice, but for Muslims it is a time of celebration. This is when they reexamine and recommit to God, Willis said— they recommit to their communities. Ramadan is a time of difficulty and celebration, and is a metaphor for life, a period of celebration and difficulty all wrapped together. Willis said that it is easier to have Ramadan in the winter

months because the days are shorter rather than during the summer when the days are longer.

“It’s a time when they set aside a particular time for reading the Quran and for spending time with their family members,” Willis said. “And particularly in the evenings after dark, when they break fast, it’s a time of great celebration. It’s a time when they are with their families, with their friends and with their community.”

There is a good community of Muslim students on campus and they are a fairly tight knit group, Willis said. Willis said it is important for UIndy students to have an appreciation for the various religious holidays and for the Muslim students engaging in Ramadan. It is important to remember that this is a celebratory time for Muslims, he said.

“I think it’s important for the UIndy community to sort of rally around this special time of year to celebrate the Islamic community, whether you’re a member of it or not,” Willis said.

Krista Latham runs HIC

Professor Krista Latham formed Identify Indiana Initiative

By Hannah Biedess EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Professor of Biology and Anthropology and Director of the University of Indianapolis’ Human Identification Center Krista Latham leads the Identify Indiana Initiative, according to UIndy360. Latham said in about 2016, she and a coroner started talking about how many people volunteer their time to solve cold cases.

According to UIndy360, the Human Identification Center works with law enforcement to provide DNA profiles and forensic anthropology for free. UIndy students are often on the scene with last responders to provide help with forensic anthropology, according to the article. When Latham took over the HIC, the article said, she realized there were a lot of cold cases, and that is how the Identify Indiana Initiative started.

“I talked about how we had a large number of cold cases in our laboratory and we thought that it would be good to formalize those efforts into an organization. So we essentially came up with the Identify Indiana Initiative,” Latham said.

According to Latham, the team is made up of scientists, coroners and law enforcement agents who want to investigate these cases with new

technology. She said it deals with bodies that were discovered before the new scientific technology was made.

“We’re just revisiting those cases and making sure that we are reanalyzing them with all the different tools and resources that are available,” Latham said.

Latham said the first step to any case is to get coroner permission. All funding, tests and decisions have to go through the coroner’s office. The second step is to see if they have a DNA profile

article, the purpose is to build a DNA profile for every unidentified person across the state.

“When I took over directorship of the Human Identification Center, half my evidence room was full of cold cases. So my goal is to be able to identify all those individuals and repatriate them to their families,” Latham said.

According to the Fox59 article, there are more than 600 unidentified bodies in evidence boxes across Indiana. The Identify Indiana Initiative is trying to get that number to zero, according to the article. The end goal is to get people back to their rightful place according to Fox59.

to Freed, everyone needs help with understanding their own values and that the Women’s Empowerment Boot Camp opens discussion for this.

“I definitely think that the women's empowerment camp will [still] happen, but I'm hoping that it scales up. It's something that can spread across the university no matter how you identify,” said Freed.

Redlining webinar

By Anika Yoder FEATURE EDITOR

The University of Indianapolis

Aspiring Educators registered student organization hosted a webinar titled “Redlining and Sundown Towns.” The webinar featured guest speaker and U.S. History and Ethnic Studies teacher at Fishers High School Matt Bockenfeld, according to senior English and secondary education major Ali Viewegh. The webinar included Bockenfeld discussing how redlining affects school districts and students, according to Viewegh, and how sundown towns are effects of segregation like redlining. Redlining, according to Cornell University, is defined as a discriminatory practice that consists of the systematic denial of services such as mortgages, insurance loans and other financial services to residents of certain areas based on their race or ethnicity. The history of redlining begins with the U.S.’s response to the Great Depression in the 1930s, according to Department of History & Political Science Chair, Professor of History and Director of the Institute of Civic Leadership and Mayoral Archives Ted Frantz. It was harder for people of color to get loans because of the New Deal, a program aimed at creating lending standards for economic reform, according to Frantz.

“American race and American class are deeply tied together. And so most of those redlined areas and American urban cities happen to be in neighborhoods where people of color were predominantly living,” Frantz said.

“And people of color, where you saw the most severe discrimination, would be African Americans.”

According to an article published last year by the Washington Post, Bockenfeld addressed Indiana Republican Sen. Scott Baldwin at a Senate committee hearing about Senate Bill 167, a bill that aimed to prohibit public K-12 schools from teaching students that “any sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, national origin, or political affiliation” is inherently superior, inferior, racist, sexist or oppressive, according to the Indianapolis Star.

Viewegh said Bockenfeld was chosen as speaker for the webinar after a UIndy AE board member suggested he speak after he gave a lecture in one of her classes where he also discussed redlining and sundown towns. Bockenfeld also gives lectures at other universities where he discusses race in America and has published writings that have been incorporated into undergraduate education courses.

According to Viewegh, sundown towns are a kind of product of redlining due to the segregation in districts and communities. Viewegh said Bockenfeld was talking about Indianapolis as well and where certain groups of people can and can not live based on class level, background and whether someone is a person of color.

“I think those terms just go handin-hand; like you can't talk about one without the other,” Viewegh said.

The webinar is part of a three part series the UIndy AE are facilitating, according to Viewegh. The first part was a panel featuring three UIndy professors discussing microaggressions and the second part was the Redlining and Sundown Towns webinar. The third and last part of the series will be a discussion about the Deferred Action for Childhood, according to Viewegh.

in the Combined DNA Index System, according to Latham, and obstacles arise when there is no DNA profile. CODIS is free through the coroner’s office, Latham said, but genetic genealogy can cost up to $10,000. CODIS is a national database, and it allows comparison of different samples and allows an unidentified body to be compared to any reference samples.

The goal of the Identify Indiana Initiative is to identify these individuals and send them back to their families, Latham said. According to a Fox59

UIndy consults with every county coroner in Indiana, Latham said, because the campus has the only forensic anthropology lab in the state of Indiana and they average about 100 cases per year. She said there is also a DNA laboratory on campus that advanced undergraduates or graduate students in the human biology program get handson case experience.

According to UIndy360, by starting the Identify Indiana Initiative, Latham began working with local medicolegal agencies to reinvestigate these cold cases using new technology and she saw an opportunity to help her community and help families get closure which she did not hesitate to begin.

Photo by Erin Rostron

The Office of Inclusive Excellence and the Student Counseling Center hosts the last of a four part series titled "Women's Empowerment Boot Camp" in Schwitzer Student Center Room 203 on March 29. The series consisted of discussions surrounding self love and worth, boundaries and conflict resolution. This is the first year the event has taken place.

Cold cases often get forgotten, they're ignored by the system."

Graphic by Breanna Emmett

Graphic by Breanna Emmett

UIndy Theatre hosts ‘Evil Dead: The Musical’

By Logan McInnes STAFF WRITER

The University of Indianapolis Theatre Department will be putting on “Evil Dead: The Musical” in Ransburg Auditorium on April 13-16 and April 20-22 at 8 p.m. each night. According to Assistant

Theatre Professor James Leagre, the goal of the musical is to pay homage to the films and the fans.

“As soon as word got out there, all these groups of ‘Evil Dead’ fanatics were already getting tickets. This may be one of the bigger shows we have because it’s ‘Evil Dead,’’ said Leagre.

According to Leagre, the musical

was initially planned to debut around Halloween time last year, but he said that due to a lack of technical resources, it had to be pushed to April. At the beginning of the school year a new technical director was hired that has enhanced the technical resources behind the camera, he said.

“One of the things I’m doing

with this, that’s a little different than what they normally do with this stage production, is I’m actually trying to kind of marry the concept of the film with live action,” Leagre said. “So there’s going to be a huge screen upstage of the set of the cabin. And when we’re in the cabin, that screen will just have a projection that is the wall of the cabin. But in other parts, it is going to be projected scenery, so when [Cheryl Williams] gets attacked by the trees, not only is the background going to be the trees, but she’s going to get sucked into the video.”

Freshman theatre major RaeLynn Cook is on the design team for the play and said that she is excited about the creativity of the filming process.

“There are going to be spots where actors are coming out of the projections in film and then getting sucked into the projections in film, and seeing that process is mind-blowing,” said Cook.

According to senior public health major Randy (RJ) Craig who portrays Ash, the main character, the audience should know what to expect if they have ever seen the “Evil Dead” films. He said the musical is a spectacle of a very campy show.

“It’s the characters of the first movie, the story of the second movie and the blood and spectacle of all of it,” Craig said. “It’s really fun and over the top. It’s a little raunchy because we do have a lot of swearing in

there, but that just comes with it being ‘Evil Dead.’ It’s just a lot of fun, honestly.”

Craig said his normal personality differs quite a bit from Ash’s, but he has had a lot of fun portraying this character. He said that a lot of his research on Ash has been done watching the “Evil Dead” films and watching the TV show “Ash vs. Evil Dead.”

“There’s a lot of media to go off of in terms of how Ash acts, but there’s also a certain level of ‘Where do I get to put my own spin on the character?’” Craig said. “It’s really interesting too because you can tell in the old movies, it was written in the ‘70s and ‘80s for sure, based on the way that he acts, but it is very different from how I am in real life. I’m a little more soft-spoken, I feel, but he’s just like, big overthe-top energy everywhere all the time. Not to say that I don’t have energy, but sometimes I try to be a little more reserved. It is very interesting having to be this big and boastful like, ‘I’m the main hero, who’s going to mess with me?’”

According to Craig, he hopes that the musical will have a great turnout because it is a really fun show.

“I just want people to get to experience it,” Craig said. “Especially with the integration of all the different technical techniques that we’re doing. Between the blood and the projection, it’s just a very different show than I think anybody will have ever seen before.”

Solo, duo student concerts through April

By Grace Lichty ONLINE EDITOR

The University of Indianapolis will be hosting solo, duo and ensemble performances in the Ruth Lilly Performance Hall throughout April.

According to senior music therapy major Danni Horn, the entire semester is used as preparation for these performances. A few of the performances featured include senior recitals, the African drum ensemble, the handbell ensemble, the wind ensemble, choir and more, according to Horn. Horn said the reason for participating in a performance differs for each student.

“We have a mixture of both [music majors and non-music majors] it really depends on the ensemble,”Horn said.“So for the recitals, that is all music majors. For most of them it is a requirement to do a recital or two. For the ensembles, we have a healthy mix of non-majors

and majors. So they do it for their own enjoyment, and some have scholarships to be in ensembles. So it is partially a requirement to keep their scholarship intact. But some others just like to be a part of it.”

Jazz studies and music technology major Landen Howell said he will be performing in a jazz recital playing the saxophone. According to Howell, the performance features some music not typically heard in jazz and also some music he wrote himself. He said he will be accompanied with bass, drums and piano.

“Jazz studies is basically like a performance degree, so by your senior year you have to have an hour long recital,” Howell said. “You can really take full advantage of that opportunity.”

According to Horn, every performance will vary from each other and what to expect differs depending on which one you attend.

“For my recital, it is just singing and being accompanied by a pianist. For handbells we will use the handbells, and

...It’s pretty important to me and showcases all the growth I’ve gone through...”

then for the African drum portion they have a plethora of African instruments that they use,” Horn said. “Then for the respective Latin, Jazz and Symphonic Wind Ensemble they have all their wind and brass instruments and percussion and things. For the Composers Forum it’s pretty much whatever students have composed that would be what the instrumentation is. So for me, it’s just an acapella duet, but others do piano or their primary instrument, whatever that might be. It is expected that it’ll be a lot of different things.”

According to Howell, the UIndy music department will be featuring

chamber ensembles, which has not been done since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Howell said he is looking forward to the Composers Forum.

“What I hope to gain is, because I’ve been able to get some really good musicians, I want it to be a really big milestone in my performing career,” said Howell. “It’ll be my last recital. So probably one of my last concerts of my entire college career. It really means it’s pretty important to me, and showcases all the growth I’ve gone through since coming here … I think it’s a big deal and I’m really excited.”

Horn said that she hopes these concerts will bring the university community together and encourage support towards UIndy musicians. She said the music department has felt unrecognized by the community.

“I hope it brings a little bit of diversity to the campus, I think as the music department has altered over the years that we’ve all felt that the university as

a whole, not just administration, but just as a community, don’t really care about us or set us on the sidelines,” Horn said.

“So I really hope that as a community, we start to recognize the music makers through campus, and hopefully, that will come with a greater appreciation for what we do.”

Similarly, Howell said that he hopes the concerts give the university music program more recognition and bring in a larger audience. She said she thinks people are not aware of the music events happening.

“Coming from someone whose life really revolves around music right now, I feel like music in general at UIndy deserves more recognition and more support,” said Howell. “We’ve definitely had ups and downs, but I think the concerts are always really great experiences. It’s less about the concerts because the concerts have always been great ... I think [the goal is] getting a lot more recognition.”

UIndy Pride’s annual drag show returns

A campus tradition since 2005 returns after being canceled in 2020 and 2022 due to COVID-19

By Olivia Cameron MANAGING EDITOR

The annual drag show hosted by UIndy Pride, a registered student organization at the University of Indianapolis, made its comeback on March 24 in Ender’s Engagement Center in Schwitzer Student Center. The drag show has been an annual spring event on campus since its start in 2005, according to The Reflector. After cancellations in 2020 and 2022, senior anthropology major and UIndy Pride co-president Theo Saxe said this year was about rebuilding the event.

“I know, in previous years, the drag show was like the biggest event on campus, and a lot of people looked forward to it,” Saxe said. “But the show hasn’t been able to be put on in the past couple of years due to COVID[-19], and so this was a year of us trying to rebuild an event that used to be so popular. And we really feel like this was an amazing stepping stone towards making it the event that it used to be.”

According to Saxe, he and junior human biology major and UIndy Pride event organizer Allie Deines were the most involved with planning the event. Saxe took care of the paperwork and booking an event space while Deines recruited performers. The biggest obstacles they faced in the

planning were booking a space for the event and finding performers, Saxe said.

“We were able to book a space back in, I believe it was either August, or anywhere from August to October, around that area,” Saxe said. “And then we ended up getting kicked out of that space in February, and then we got kicked out of the secondary space two days before the show. So that was a huge thing that we sort of really struggled with, was trying to find a last minute place to hold the event.”

While they had originally hoped the show would include mostly student performers, there were not any students that performed at this year’s show, Saxe said. According to Deines, they had reached out to people that performed in the past but they were unavailable. The show ended up having three professional drag performers who Deines contacted through social media: Ava Morningstar, Nexus Queen and Universe DeLa Crusis.

“Honestly, [the best part of the planning was] interacting with the artists,” Deines said. “All of them have been so nice and so accommodating. We don’t have a high budget for the show, and we’re taking the tips and donating to charity.

So you’d think that performers wouldn’t be on board to do this if they weren’t getting paid a lot of money, but every single one I’ve talked to was either already booked and said keep me in mind for next year, or has been willing to do it for about next to nothing, just because they care about the community.”

Deines said the drag show is special because it exposes people to drag in a safe and accessible environment.

She said that drag artists have confidence, which helps others to feel confident

in themselves. People going to the show and showing their support for drag artists is really important, according to Deines.

“I think that attending drag shows and supporting drag artists is more important than ever, especially [with] what’s going on in the world because drag is under attack for being some sort of perverse thing, when it’s very much not,” Deines said. “It’s actually a pillar of the LGBTQ community.”

Prior to planning the show, Saxe did not know anything about drag, he said. He said there was a large learning curve while putting on the show, but that drag is important because it is about being yourself and having a community to identify with.

“I think that it’s such an important thing, especially for this campus because it’s all about individuality and being prideful in who you are,” Saxe said. “And that’s not just being prideful as a queer person, which definitely that is a large factor, but learning to not feel that you have to put on a certain way of your personality or take things away from who you actually are. Just to sort of fit in. I feel like having an event like drag on this campus really allows for students to see that it’s okay to express yourself in any way that you want to. And that there is a community out there for you no matter what.”

Photo by Erin Rostron

The cast of UIndy theatre department’s “Evil Dead: The Musical” singing for a rehearsal in front of the stage at Ransburg Auditorium. On the left is RJ Craig, who plays Ash, the main character in the musical. The goal of the musical is to bring the “Evil Dead” films to stage.

Graphic by Olivia Cameron

UIndy's student government

A deep dive into the long history

of UIndy

student government from its inception to its rebirth

By Hannah Hadley NEWS EDITOR

The March 8, 2006 Reflector front page features a story about the Indianapolis Student Government (then called the student government for the University of Indianapolis) raising student fees by $25. Although ISG is not a presence at the university anymore, UIndy has had student governments in many forms since the 1940s.

According to the 1947 edition of the Oracle, UIndy’s former yearbook, student government began on Indiana Central College’s (now UIndy) campus during September 1946. The Oracle states the Student Council replaced the “StudentFaculty Council.”

However, according to the 1950 edition of the Oracle, student government began in October 1944. The 1948 Oracle supports the 1950 edition’s claims. The editors of the Oracle dedicated the 1950 edition to the young campus student government.

“With sincere pride and appreciation we dedicate the 1950 Oracle to the work of the Student Council in the six years since its initiation in October, 1944, and to the future progress of this instrumental and democratic body,” the dedication states. “Encouraged by the cooperation of the faculty and administration, particularly by the confidence in which President Esch has shown in it, the Student Council has grown into a mature governing body aware of its opportunities and responsibilities. As the sounding board for all students' griefs, the Student Council acts as [an] effective go-between for the administration and student body. Some of its actions in the past include:

scheduling organization meetings, scheduling of activities, obtaining equal representation on the chapel planning committee, and setting rules for the freshmen initiation. Its present project— the provision for a student recreation lounge is now under way. ”

The May 31, 1957 issue of The Reflector contains a front-page story detailing the year’s student council election results. Evolving from its previous individual election process, students split into two parties to run. Students would then vote for a slate of officers using a straightparty ticket, according to the article. According to the 1951 student handbook, a president, vice-president, two at-large representatives and a secretary (the addition of a secretarial position was a change from the original 1944 and early 50s format) were elected.

Then-student-president-elect John Todd said in the article: “We want to do for the student body what the student body wants to be done. I feel it’s a big responsibility and I would like for the students to feel their responsibility and let us know what they want done.”

The 1961 Oracle outlines the campus student council and student court’s purposes.

“The Student Council works behind the scenes to create more efficient cooperation between the students and the administration,” the Oracle’s description of Student Council states. “It sponsors such events as homecoming, Brown County day, the formal reception, and a number of chapel programs. Furnishing the recreation room and the lounges have been projects of the council. Within the Student Council is the Student Court which consists of a chief justice and five justices. The purpose of the court is to deal with student disciplinary problems.”

A year later, ICC’s student handbook for the 1962-1963 school year places the college’s student government under the clubs and activities section.

“The Student Council is the student government organization of Indiana Central College, meetings of which are open to all students,” the 1962-1963 student handbook states.“Each spring an election is held in which the student body chooses the president, vice-president, secretary, and two representatives at large. In addition, each campus organization selects one of its members to serve on the council.”

The handbook details how the student council allows students to voice their opinions, and how the Student Supreme Court serves as the judicial body for students. It ends with campaign and election requirements and states that students had to vote straight-party in primaries but could vote a split ticket in the general election.

The June 1, 1962 issue of The Reflector mentions class officers serving on the student council in addition to executive council members.

In 1972, a student claimed that the “Central Council” student government election was “unconstitutional” and demanded a revote, according to the April 10, 1972 issue of The Reflector. The Student Supreme Court agreed 7-0 with the student and the Administrative Disciplinary Committee agreed with the court. However, the administration upheld the election despite its unconstitutionality. Both the court and the administration censured the new elects and demanded that the student constitution be followed.

“...The administration is sincerely concerned that the student government

be a viable organization,”the ADC said in the article. “It appears that such viability is accessible only if due respect is given to the constitution and also if effective use is made of projecting the voice of student government through every available means of communication for providing information regarding student concerns and for enlisting their participation in campus activities and programs.”

In 1976, ICC’s name changed to Indiana Central University, according to UIndy’s website. However, the university’s name change did not affect the name of Central Council. The 1977 Oracle describes the Central Council as “student government on a limited scale.”

In 1985, student body voter participation in Central Council elections was at an all-time high, with a need to print more ballots for the first time due to increased turnout, according to the 1985 Oracle

In 1986, ICU changed its name to the University of Indianapolis, according to UIndy’s website. This posed an issue with the campus student government’s name “Central Council.” However, the June 1986 issue of The Central Idea, which acknowledges the university’s name change, features the names of newly elected Central Council members. The August and September issue of U of I Alumni News (UIndy’s old publication for alumni) introduced the Resident Hall Association student government body, along with Central Council.

The terms “Central Council,” “student council” and “student government” are all missing from the 1989 Oracle . Residence halls and the RHA seem to have briefly overtaken the role of a traditional student government in 1989.

Indianapolis Student Government at UIndy was first mentioned in 1991 by

the 1991 Oracle and the Oct.1, 1991 issue of The Reflector. It is consistently present in UIndy records throughout the 1990s, 1980s, 2000s and 2010s.

Jumping to 2014, ISG created the Student Senate to “give students [a] louder voice,” according to a February 2014 article from The Reflector. The Student Senate consisted of “the ISG Executive Board, the planning committee, a representative from each of the 52 registered student organizations, undergraduate students appointed by deans and representation from the largest areas of graduate school programs.”

In 2020, ISG was disbanded and the Student Leadership and Activities Board became the student government at UIndy, according to an August 2020 article from The Reflector. SLAB is the current student government organization at UIndy. According to UIndy’s website, SLAB is “...a comprehensive organization that encompasses the missions from the previous Campus Program Board (CPB), Indianapolis Student Government (ISG), and Residence Hall Association (RHA).”The webpage lists nine different administrative positions within SLAB that students can apply for. Officers are interviewed and hired by the Office of Student Affairs, according to the August 2020 article. SLAB’s webpage states that the student body can be involved with SLAB through SLAB Council, a voluntary council.

The Office of Student Affairs announced on March 1 that a more traditional and formal student government will be reinstated for the 2023-2024 school year. This organization is titled “Student Government Association,” and officers will be elected by popular student vote. (Go to the News section of this issue to learn more about SGA.)

Consistent tuition rise

By Hannah Biedess EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Tuition at the University of Indianapolis has risen over $9,000 over the past decade. There are various reasons for tuition increases at colleges and universities. An article written by University of Massachusetts Global said that residency status may have a part in tuition increases at universities. Additionally, UIndy’s enrollment has been slowly declining since 2019, according to an article written by College Tuition Compare.

According to an article by former Reflector Editor-in-Chief James Figy, for the 2014-2015 academic year, tuition rose 3%, making the total cost $25,155. For this year, room and board also increased 2.5% making the total $9,010, according to the article. The reason for the increase was due to the higher costs for maintenance, heating and cooling and healthcare for the staff and faculty. According to former President Robert Manuel in the article, the tuition needed to rise in order to keep the university competitive. Financial aid was funded by the $2 million generated by the increase.

For the 2015-2016 academic year, tuition rose another 3%, making the total $25,910, according to an article by former Reflector Editorial Assistant Emanuel Cela. For a standard room, the price rose from $4,570 to $4,730 and the 14-meal plan ros from $4,440 to $4,594.The reason for the increase was maintenance, heating and cooling and salary price increases, according to the article. Another $2 million was added to financial aid.

In an article by former Reflector Editorin-Chief Kylee Crane, tuition for the 2016-2017 academic year increased 3.9%, making the total $26,920. The price of a standard room rose from $4,730 to $4,928

and the 14-meal plan rose from $4,594 to $4,720, the article said. According to former Executive Vice President for Campus Affairs and Enrollment Services Mark Weigand, the main reason for the increase was faculty and staff salaries.

UIndy had a 11:1 student-faculty ratio and needed to raise salaries in order to keep faculty, Weigand said.

Tuition for the 2018-2019 academic year had a 3.5% increase, making the total $28,836, according to an article by former Reflector Editor-in-Chief Zoë Berg. A standard double room rose from $4,928 to $5,280 and the 14-meal plan rose from $4,720 to $5,008.These funds were meant to be allocated to electricity, heating and cooling, snow removal, bandwidth and insurance price increases, the article said. Additionally, there was a $4 million increase for financial aid. At this time, UIndy was still the third-lowest priced private university in Indiana.

For the 2019-2020 academic year, tuition rose 3.5%, making the total $29,844, according to an article by former Reflector Managing Editor Maia Gibson.The standard room rate rose from $5,280 to $5,464 and the 14-meal plan rose from $5,008 to $5,136, the article said This was due to increased salaries, electricity, heating and cooling and other maintenance costs,according to the article. A $3 million increase was allocated for financial aid. According to the article, UIndy was the sixth-lowest costing private university in Indiana at the time.

In the 2020-21 academic year, UIndy surpassed $30,000 for tuition, making the total $30,888, according to an article by former Reflector Editor-in-Chief Noah Crenshaw. The standard room rate rose from $5,464 to $5,656, and the 14-meal plan rose from $5,136 to $5,316. According to the article, UIndy was ranked 18th in Indiana, second-lowest, right above Huntington University. Many of these funds went to improving technology capabilities for UIndy’s network and classes, enhancing academic programs, creating a new student recreation center in Schwitzer Student Center and more.

According to an article by former Reflector Editor-in-Chief Jacob Walton, tuition rose to $33,252 for the 20222023 academic year, marking the largest tuition increase over the past four years. Manuel said that the conversations for this increase were difficult because of the COVID-19 pandemic but needed to be done in order to “provide the desired level of education.” The article said that overall student fees, meal plans and room and board increased $600.The reasons for the increase, according to the article, were COVID-19 responses, security expansion and more.

Tuition will be $34,416 for the 202324 academic year, according to an article written by current Reflector Editor-inChief Kassandra Darnell. For a standard room there will be an increase of $304 and for the 14-meal plan there will be an increase of $284, according to the article. Funds from the increase will go toward payroll expenses, utilities, vendors, updates to the Cory Bretz residence hall, initiatives to improve safety on campus and looking into dining experience, the article said. This is the highest tuition has ever been, with an almost $10 thousand increase in less than a decade.

In honor of The Reflector's 100 year anniversary, each issue this year has one page dedicated to looking back on past front pages and the history within them. This issue features the front page from March 8, 2006, which can be read on Issuu.com.

Graphic by Hannah Hadley

... Tuition will be $34,416 for the 2023-2024 academic year."