Apr. 6, 2022 | The Reflector

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THE OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF INDIANAPOLIS

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Updated safety plan released I S S UE 1 0

reflector.uindy.edu

APRIL 6, 2022

By Hallie Gallinat FEATURE EDITOR

Former Indianapolis Public Safety Officer Troy Riggs was hired by the University of Indianapolis in November of 2021, according to UIndy’s website, to review the Public Safety Model of the university. As part of this safety plan, several new features and programs have been added to the university.

According to UIndy’s website, Riggs conducted almost 60 interviews with various members of the campus community. The university found a few initiatives that were deemed to be critical, according to the website, and these were implemented immediately.

One of the initiatives was Grady’s Safety Walk, a 24-hour phone line that allows students, faculty and staff to call a volunteer escort for traveling across campus. Vice President for Student and Campus Affairs and Dean of Students Kory Vitangeli said this program was implemented as a result of the feedback heard from the community. “ … One of the sources of feedback we heard is that individuals wanted it to be easier to have direct contact with the police to get an escort if they wanted to be escorted somewhere across campus, without having to go through dispatch,” Vitangeli said. “So we [created] Grady's S afet y Walk program. And we hired a group of students who are working with the campus police.They'll eventually become police cadets to serve in those roles.

So we are excited to have that kick off.”

Vitangeli said that the traffic stop program was also a result of feedback university police heard from student groups. In addition, the self-defense classes were expanded as a result of the feedback received, Vitangeli said.

Graphic by Blanca Osorio-Ortega

University President Robert Manuel said some aspects of the safety plan were enhancements to existing programs, while others were implemented due to community feedback.

“Part of them were added because the students, the faculty and the staff expressed interest in them being additions to the public safety efforts that we have at the university,” Manuel said. “And part of them were pieces of the public safety strategy that we identified as being necessary for … expansion of campus that we've been having…. And as we've welcomed people back post the relative isolation of COVID[-19], we recognize it as being necessary to a re-engagement of the campus on being back together on campus.”

Fixtures that were deemed to be critical have also been added to campus, according to Manuel. New lighting has been put into areas around campus, including around residence halls and 57 new cameras have been installed

around campus, Manuel said. The university also reduced campus traffic by closing the street between the Sease Wing of Krannert Memorial Library and Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center and has approved the addition of a gate on a parking lot behind East Hall to reduce late-night access off of National

It's not a thing that we would create, put on a shelf and then we're done" Ave., according to UIndy’s website. This gate will be added in late April of this year, according to the website.

According to Manuel, they are currently in the progress of redesigning the Public Safety Office. He said that in addition to this redesign, the search for a new Director of Public Safety will begin in the future.

“… The idea now is we'll work with [UIndy Police] Chief [David] Selby, with student affairs, with [Vice President and Chief Inclusion and Equity Officer] Amber Smith, out of the Equity [and] Inclusion Office, to put together a team of people to start thinking about how we put the notification out that we would be looking for that kind of a person and figure out how we run the search,” Manuel said. “That likely takes about a couple months to welcome people to campus, interview them, figure out what the fit is and then hire that person.

So I'm imagining that would take place between now, graduation, now and a little bit past graduation.”

The goals of the new Division of Public Safety include reviewing the communication capabilities of the University Police Department, reviewing the infrastructure of the university and creating educational training programs for the university, according to UIndy’s website. Manuel

said that once the new division has been put together, the new Director of Public Safety would be responsible for creating the next set of goals and Public Safety Plan for the university.

Manuel said he hopes that the new Director of Public Safety will help engage the students, faculty and staff of UIndy. He said that the plan is organic and will continue to change as the environment changes.

“It's not a thing that we would create, put on a shelf and then we're done. Much like the curriculum or the student life of the place or everything we do at the university is very organic. It's meant to kind of live and as the environment changes, we make sure that we're aware of how the environment reacts and how we make our changes to fit that,” Manuel said. “So the concept of public safety will change over time. And what we've done is create a new organizational reality for public safety, that we'll be able to adapt to the changes in our environment as we see them coming.”

Police bridge safety gaps UIndy App becomes Campus police keep UIndy safe amid increases in crime

By Justus O’Neil

MANAGING EDITOR Crime is a universal and ongoing issue across the globe, but solving and preventing crimes f rom occurring functions similarly. While the University of Indianapolis is not an exception when it comes to criminals targeting locations to commit crimes, according to a public safety announcement issued by University President Robert Manuel via email, UIndy continues to focus leadership work on developing a robust and complete set of public safety measures for its community.

The UIndy Police Department (PD) oversees campus security through daily interaction with students, faculty and staff, according to their website. UIndy PD also provides safety escort services, motorist assistance and courses and informational sessions to bolster campus safety.

Although these courses are offered, UIndy ’s campus still experiences criminal activity. UIndy Police Chief David Selby said that UIndy PD has seen success when it comes to solving major crimes.

“We’re a community and there’s 16 of us [UIndy police officers],” Selby said.

“So we’re looking after all of you guys the best we can.”

UIndy Police Lt. Brandon Pate

said within his 16 years on the UIndy police force, there have been less than 10 unsolved cases. He said UIndy PD believes that most crime deterring is done through seeing officers in their vehicles or in buildings. When responding to calls that dispatch UIndy police officers, the average response time is approximately five to seven minutes, according to Pate. After responding, Pate said officers solve basic questions regarding the call including who, what, where, when, why and how.

“What I usually do, first thing, I ask for the person’s ID, just so I can read off their address, date of birth, all the information that they have,” Pate said.

“And I’ll just start asking a question of, ‘Tell me from start to now exactly what happened. What’s your side of the story?’ And that allows us to listen and get a good idea of what the call is about.”

The initial interview helps UIndy police officers determine where they take the call and what call type it becomes, according to Pate. Based on the interview, calls can change from thefts to burglaries, or batteries to arguments which can differentiate between an investigation and an incident that can be resolved immediately, Pate said.

“There’s a process to it [investigating], and from someone on the outside looking in, if you did a deep dive, you would realize,‘Wow, every question actually has

an intention to it,’” Pate said.

It is important for students to do their part in keeping campus safe by being aware of who is brought onto campus to avoid putting themselves and others at risk for criminal activity, according to Selby. Pate said UIndy PD’s main focus is to keep criminal activity out of campus.

In an effort to increase campus safety, Selby said that UIndy PD tries to put a barrier around UIndy.

“What we’re trying to do is develop that bubble or that barrier between our campus and whoever is doing the various acts out there,” Selby said. “They’re [UIndy police officers] out doing some of that, making traffic stops, they go in and walk in buildings [and] we try to talk to students.”

Selby said that UIndy PD has continued to engage with students and student-run organizations, including the Black Student Association.

UIndy PD conducted a traffic stop training seminar following conversations with students that sparked interest, according to Selby. Along with the traffic stop training, Pate said UIndy PD holds self-defense training classes and disaster simulation training with the nursing classes. They also work with the Depar tment of Criminal Justice to teach courses and are currently working with the Department of Engineering to develop various projects.

more user-friendly

By Lily Fischer STAFF WRITER

The UIndy App recently changed f rom multiple channels to one channel in order to make the app more user-friendly, according to an email from Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students Kory Vitangeli.

Before the change was made, there was a lost and found channel, marketplace channel, news and politics channel and the campus feed, according to Senior Director of Information Technology Amber Weishaar. People were mostly posting in the campus feed, leaving other channels practically unused, Associate Dean of Students in the Office of Student Affairs Steven Freck said.

“When we first launched the app, we had the general campus feed, and then we tried to introduce a couple of additional channels…,” Freck said.

“When we looked at the usage of those other channels—not the campus feeds, so the marketplace and lost and found—there was very little traction in those channels.”

Weishaar said confusion and lack of usage of the multiple channels is what led to the change on the app to one channel. This concept makes the app more user-friendly because it is easier to figure out where to post and not be a

part of a conversation you do not want to be included in, she said.

“There was a little bit of confusion between ‘Where should I post my message,’ for those that noticed and paid attention that there were several channels. ‘Do I put my lost and found item in the main feed where I could see there's a lot more activity, or do I put it in the lost and found channel where it feels like I'm probably supposed to put it because it's labeled that?’”

Weishaar said. “We've taken away that indecision and I think that is more user-friendly to streamline it all into one place because it's clear if you want to post something that's where you do it.”

Before the app was changed, users were able to turn off notifications, Weishaar said, but now if users do not accept the invite to the channel, users will not receive several messages they do not want to see.

“People who don't want to be part of the conversation don't have to be, and I think this invite-only concept makes that more obvious,” Weishaar said.

“That’s some feedback we’d heard from students in the past because ‘I don't want to see that conversation, I don't want to be interrupted with it.’”

Another change that will be coming to the app is more native content, Weishaar said. This means that people > See App on page 8

OPINION

2 THE REFLECTOR

APRIL 6, 2022

The Academy Awards' relevance

After 94 years, the awards ceremony is not appealing to general audiences

By Anika Yoder

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT The 94th annual Academy Awards took place on March 27, and as with every year, spectators tune in to see which nominees won arguably some of the most prestigious awards in film. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Academy Awards first ceremony began in 1929 and within a 94 year span, media, technology and opportunities for those in the film industry has expanded beyond just the silver screen. The Academy, officially known as The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is a professional organization for those engaged in the production of motion pictures in the United States according to the Encyclopedia Britannica and membership, by invitation only, is based on distinctive achievements in one or more of 24 categories including best picture, actor, actress, supporting actor, supporting actress, directing, original screenplay. According to Encyclopedia, the Academy Awards are given to those who have been nominated and won in the 24 categories and the physical award given to the winners is known as an Oscar for which the Academy Awards is also known.

The relevance of the awards and what the Academy stands for in the past couple of years has been discussed among actors on social media and critics, according to an article by the Washington Post. The article discusses the Oscars and why they matter as well as the argument of careers being launched or curbed depending on the wins or losses of nominees. Halle Berry was one of the actresses mentioned in the piece and her 2002 best actress win for “Monster’s Ball,” according to the article, made it harder to book roles

as there still were not spaces made for Black actresses in the industry despite Berry being an Oscar winner. She remains the only Black best actress winner in the almost century long Academy history.

The conversation surrounding race and the Oscars gained viral traction in 2015 with the hashtag #OscarssoWhite, according to an article in the New York Times. The hashtag, coined by media strategist April Reign according to the article, came in behind the Black Lives Matter movement and led to the 2019 wins for 13 winners of color. However for 2020, one person of color was nominated for the best actress in a leading role category.

I think when discussing the Academy Awards and the relevance it has to the entertainment industry, the long history of exclusion must be discussed in order to compare past award outcomes and the Oscars now. It can be said that the awards have allowed for history making moments like Halle Berry winning best actress, but that was 20 years ago. The names I see as Oscar winning and associated with prestige as well as the overall winners are largely white men. Big names in film like Scorsese, Pacino, Speilberg and Tarantino are synonymous with the Academy Awards and continue to be nominated even with the expansion of diversity in cinema and the entertainment industry. According to a 2018 article from the Boston Globe, from 2000 to 2018, 72 actors and actresses had won Oscars and 60 of them were white and in the top categories, (best picture, best director, best actor, best actress, and best screenplay) 89% of nominations went to white people and 71.1% of nominations went to men according to a 2021 analysis from Insider.

I think awards that are viewed as prestigious or career changing in the

film industry should reflect the industry itself. This makes me think about the discussion of streaming services and filmmakers creating movies for the small screen as well. With so many movies with different art styles being available across multiple platforms that are not just movie theaters, great directors and talented actors from all over the world are able to produce stories for more people than ever to watch. I see this as a positive aspect of the industry and something that the Oscars don’t currently reflect in their nominations and awards. The awards have the potential to allow people to open doors for the next great filmmakers and actors, like with “Parasite'' in 2020 when it won best picture, best director, best original screenplay and best international feature film according to the Oscars website.

The film became the first non-English language film to win best picture and the awards should be recognizing more non-English language films as a whole.

W hat I see for the future of prestige in the awards culture, is a lack of relevance because of the inevitability of racial and gender bias.

If the Academy Awards would want to expand its horizons as well as continue to include people of color and women into the equation, I think a way to do it would be to listen to audiences and diversify nomination committees.

The 2020-2021 awards committee included 15 members and out of the 15 three were people of color according to the Oscars website. Criticism and hashtags like #OscarssoWhite comes from legitimate and valid observations.

Understanding that what is seen on screens when it comes to representation impacts not just actors and film crews, but those who look to the screens as a way to see themselves mirrored in a way

hosting the Oscars in 2019 after old tweets resurfaced, and he lost many supporters.

While this is important information to consider when evaluating a person, it should not be the deciding factor in determining whether someone is a good person or the person's work is important or beautiful.

I am an avid sports fan and have favorite teams in many different sports.

I have favorite players on these teams as well and support them on and off the field. I study my teams and the individual players to know them better.

When I support an athlete on one of my favorite teams, and news comes out about what he or she did off the field, it's unfortunate that may prevent the athlete from doing what I love watching him or her do on the field. It can be devastating when someone I support is dealing with his or her own demons.

While I never support someone because of or for the bad deeds he or she has committed in life, I am a pretty forgiving person. So when something like this happens, I’m not too quick to completely write that individual off.

I am a huge Chicago Cubs fan, and when they went on their run to the World Series in 2016, they made a trade and acquired one of the most prolific closing pitchers in the league, Aroldis Chapman. After the trade was completed,

the responses from fans mixed.

Caitlin Swieca, one of the most avid Cubs fans, according to Sports Illustrated, loves the Cubs irrationally and loyally. When Chapman, who served a suspension for domestic violence earlier that season, was traded to the Cubs, Swieca started donating money to a group that helps victims of domestic violence. According to the Sports Illustrated article, when Chicago acquired Chapman, the Cubs already had the best record in the league and were on the path to win the franchise’s first World Series title since 1908. “Multiple members of the Cubs' front office felt deep concern over actively trying to acquire a player who had been accused of domestic violence,” according to Sports Illustrated.

“In the aftermath of the trade, Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein told the media that he and team Chairman Tom Ricketts had a conversation with Chapman about his past prior to making the move,”according to Sports Illustrated. Chapman, Epstein said, was heartfelt in his answers, which satisfied them enough to make the move.

As someone who is against any person who would do any wrongdoing to a woman, or any human being, I was faced with a predicament as well. Even as a Cubs fan my whole life, I did not want Chapman to be the one to record

By Blanca Osorio Ortega STAFF WRITER

Myung Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Ariana DeBose accepts the award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the 94th Academy Awards.

that is associated with accomplishment and talent is incredibly important for future filmmakers and actors. The Oscars displaying what is shown as the best of the best in the industry I think allows for kids and aspiring filmmakers and actors to believe they can accomplish something as distinguished as an Oscar. I don't, however, think this train of thought is realistic for a historically white and male run industry that values works of white men over anyone else that is qualified for esteemed nominations.

The awards will lose their standing with the general public eventually and will no longer matter when talent and value can be shown to them from the comfort of their homes and judged for themselves.

Separating art from the artist

By Alex Vela

BUSINESS MANAGER The debate about whether it is possible to separate the art from the artist is widely discussed, and seemingly anytime there is a new scandal involving a famous actor, popular singer, artist or even a professional athlete, the individual is canceled. When someone gets canceled, that is exactly what it sounds like. According to Merriam Webster, it can be defined as the practice of withdrawing support for someone as a way of expressing disapproval.

“Cancel culture is very real, pervasive and powerful,” according to an article from Forbes.com, and focuses on issues of race, gender, sexuality and other related topics. Furthermore, according to the Forbes article, transgressions must be punished no matter how long ago they occurred, and that a person is no better than their worst moment no matter how young they were when the event occurred.

C a n c e l c u l t u re h a s b e c om e commonplace, and many people are quick to stop supporting an artist whose name is in the headlines for negative reasons. Famous comedians and actors are not immune to this, such as Kevin Hart, who believes he has been canceled several times in his career, according to Newsmax. Hart stepped down from

Advancing A.I. is potentially dangerous

the final out of the 2016 World Series for my favorite team. I supported my team, as I do every day, and appreciated Chapman for his baseball talents during his tenure with the Cubs and even now with him being on an opposing team, but I will always look at him differently because of the accusations made against him.

The stance I have taken with individuals who have said and done some pretty awful things in this world is that I will treat them with respect but educate myself about what type of person I take interest in and support.

To answer the question, yes, I do believe that we can separate the art from the artist. While it is difficult to look at the art in the same way when we know about the wrongdoings of the artist, we must do exactly that. We must attempt to separate the art from the artist, because good art is good art because of its quality, not the quality of the artist. Just as good art does not magically make the artist a good human being, a good person does not magically make art that is good. The art should be separate from the artist.

Everybody makes mistakes, so I am not going to pretend that I am a perfect person. However, I do think the best approach is to surround ourselves with good energy, and people who promote and exude positivity in the world, including the music we listen to and the celebrities we idolize.

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.

In our March 9 Issue: On Page 3, the photos in the 18 Collective discusses Black art article were duplicated.

What do you think?

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

Graphic by Jazlyn Gomez

The technology industry is changing the way that people go about their day.

Amazon is popular among those who desire to get products delivered as soon as possible through the help of an app on their phone. Ring is appealing to homeowners who want to keep an extra pair of eyes when no one is home and stores are slowly getting rid of their cashiers to replace them with selfcheckout lanes. Through sensors and cameras, humans are getting a glimpse of the future with artificial intelligence (A.I.).

According to builtin.com, a website that gives tech professionals insights into hiring tech companies nationwide, A.I. is a sect of computer science involved with building smart machines that are able to perform tasks in need of human understanding. In other words, A.I. is used to accomplish tasks connected with human beings, created by human beings.

The future of A.I. is something to be worried about, as no one knows what its capabilities and limitations are since it is not a human but merely something digitally controlled.

Car companies are constantly releasing their latest models with upto-date technology and self-driving cars easily draw attention to car buyers.

According to the United Nations online news, A.I. will be able to help lessen car crashes by the year 2030 by taking out the reaction speed issues that come with human drivers. When someone is involved in a car accident, they have a split second to decide what to do. Will the driver have enough time to try to get off the road and avoid oncoming traffic? Or choose between hitting an elderly woman crossing the street instead of a school bus carrying children? A.I. will be used to identify road solutions, and regardless of what the outcome is, people will have to pay the price of the aftermath. A.I. will not feel the emotions of the sight of seeing someone getting injured or be held responsible for the accident, meaning that we cannot trust to have people's lives in its control.

While A.I. will soon take over how cars solve tough road scenarios, it is also making its way into the medical world. At first, it may seem like a wonderful idea for medical professionals to have someone else take care of their continuous tasks.

If A.I. is used, it is also likely that it will be exposed to private medical records as stated by the National Library of Medicine. Will the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) not apply to computer robots?

Afterall, a human is in charge of coding for the A.I. to do what it needs to do.

It seems to me that HIPAA would also need to be updated and expanded to include A.I. dos and don’ts.

Not only is A.I. going to make an appearance in the medical world but it will also be more visible to those that grocery shop in-store. On Sept. 28 2021, Loss Prevention Media described how A.I. would be beneficial in self-checkout lanes as it would keep track of items that are stolen. The Observer stated that one of the reasons for what has led to selfcheckout lanes having cameras equipped with facial recognition technology is due to shoplifters. The Observer says that check-out lanes are able to audit shoppers for unscanned items in places like Walmart. While it may make sense for security measures to be in place for stores that are losing revenue due to shoplifters, it also opens up opportunities for fraud to occur. Identification and passports include images of one’s face and those documents are to retrieve personal information, which is how the government is able to identify people.

ITPro states that facial recognition technology includes imagery and video that is stored in a database, but who has access to the database? Are there other security measures that will be implemented within the database? It seems to me that hackers could test the limits and not only break into a retail company’s database, but also get their hands on private records or even personal bank accounts.

At the end of the day, the future of A.I. brings more questions than answers. Not only will cars, the medical world or retail stores be affected by A.I., but humans may one day be replaced. A.I. can make decisions in a split second compared to humans, who take time to decide. It seems like A.I. is slowly and carefully heading in a direction where human intelligence is going to be challenged.

HOOSIER NEWS

3

THE REFLECTOR

APRIL 6, 2022

Women's rights rally at Statehouse

Organizations across central Indiana gather at steps of Statehouse in a rally for women's rights

By Kassandra Darnell Youth from across Indiana stands in front of the Statehouse in Indianapolis on March 27 watching a variety of speakers take to the steps and give their own stories, ranging from their experiences as women or calls to action for women’s rights in the state. Music blasts as participants draw on sidewalks and paint banners.

Booths are set up along the sidewalk representing Planned Parenthood and several high school clubs, including Youth Empower Indiana and Student Coalition for Consent, providing informational pamphlets and opportunities to donate.

Carmel High School senior and CoPresident of Youth Empower Indiana Erin Gordon leads the charge as one of the event's main organizers.

Gordon said a lot of preparation went into this event, including gathering at coffee shops, contacting organizations and legislators and flyer drops around Carmel and central Indianapolis.

Ultimately, there is not a specific focus for the event except for the celebration of women, she said, and they wanted to include aspects of women’s history, women’s rights and women’s issues.

“Indiana is not great when it comes to women's issues; we're ranked horribly when it comes to health, education, political representation, especially when it comes to women of color, it's even worse,” Gordon said. “We just wanted to kind of pull in a lot of different aspects.

We could kind of expose weaknesses within Indiana, lack of representation and kind of highlight organizations that are helped building that up.”

City-County Counselor for District Five Ali Brown was one of several speakers at the rally, focusing on her support for the activism of Generation Z. She said anytime there are going to be young people trying to change the world for the better, she wants to be there to support it.

“I started my activist days in high school, and it's shaped the way I've gone, and where I've gotten to go today has come from the people who I met then and who held my hand and introduced me to the world,” Brown said. “And if I can do that, and help and support, I'll definitely be there. But the ideas and the plans for this event, whether it's talking about reproductive justice, or climate change, consent, those are all things that are incredibly important to me, as both a woman and as a mom and as a leader in the city that, we just need people to have education and access and we need to plan for a better future, and look not

just four years from now, but 40.”

There are six women on the CityCounty Council currently, a historically large amount, Brown said, out of the 25 total seats, and there were fewer before she ran for her seat. She said she ran for the council to help properly represent the community.

“I was running because I didn't think there was anybody representing young families, representing working mothers who could be a voice out there,” Brown said. “I'm very lucky to have a lot of support in my life. But I know there's a lot of people struggling to get by, to make the best for their kids, to make the best life for their families that face a lot of challenges.”

Senior at Carmel High School and cofounder of Student Coalition for Consent Lisa Venckus ran the club’s booth at the rally and said the club’s main initiatives are to advocate for comprehensive sex education in Indiana and legislature that properly defines consent. Venckus said women’s rights are still important because people should not tell women what to do with their bodies, and it is important to bring women’s issues to light because the conversation has been fading.

Coming to events like this rally, she said, is important because of connecting with organizations.

“It's good to obviously connect with other organizations and people who will support causes like this, but at the same time, I feel like issues like sexual assault and consent have a long history of silencing women because they were 'being dramatic’, or ‘They were making up stories,'”Venckus said.“And it's just to empower women to be able to tell these stories and share out the experiences that they've had is really the end goal with all of it. So I think that's a good reason to connect with other organizations like this.”

Gordon said the main message of organizing the rally is to show people that women are here and they are ready to fight because a lot of rallies and protests like this get pushed down. She said this is often seen as complaining, but these groups are working hard to create change. “ ... We're in a state that does not necessarily always work towards progress …,” Gordon said. “A lot of times when you're on social media, and you're feeling like you're the only person either posting something or supporting an idea, it helps people kind of like, group together …

And especially when a lot of the ideas kind of brought here today are Minority ideas within Indiana, it's nice to kind of see that representation and kind of feel like, ‘Oh, we're not alone in this fight for women's rights.’”

come in and talk to our students. And every time I interact with someone in a recruiting capacity, I [ask] them a lot of questions … and I get very, very positive feedback about our graduates as candidates for full-time jobs.”

Bryans and Kendall-Deitz said they highly encourage all students to get connected with ProEdge. They

recommend seniors to take the “first destination” survey to tell them what students are doing after college and if they need help with employment.

Bryans and Kendall-Deitz agree that the job market in Indiana is stronger than it has been and will continue to grow in demand in the coming years.

NEWS EDITOR

Photo by MaKenna Maschino

Women's Rally attendees stand at a booth sponsored by Planned Parenthood and fill out contact information forms for summer volunteer opportunities. The booth provided a variety of informational pamphlets, merchandise and a posterboard on sex education.

Photo by MaKenna Maschino

Members of Youth Empower Indiana and Student Coalition for Consent watch as another organizer shouts in a megaphone to enourage people across the street to join the rally. Booths at the event offered snacks and activities as encourgament to join the rally.

State unemployment hits record low

By Logan Wong

and internship positions, according to Bryans.

DISTRIBUTION MANAGER “Our motto [at ProEdge] is to help our students be confident, competitive, career ready and then connected,” Fo r t h e m o n t h o f M a r c h , Bryans said. “I think that there is unemployment in Indiana reached competition out there, but we're able a record low of 2.3%, according to to connect our students in a way that hoosierdata.in.gov. Director of the a lot of universities cannot. So we University of Indianapolis Professional have employers coming in that are Edge Center Kirk Bryans said some of offering jobs, they want to connect with the workforce quit their jobs and students. They participate in things are actively looking for a new job, so like mock inter views or panel there is always some percentage of discussions.” unemployment.

With COVID-19 on the sharp “Some would say it's really a zero decline in Indiana, according to unemployment rate,” Bryans said. coronavirus.in.gov, the statewide “But I think that if you really are in economy has also recovered. However, the need of a role, there are jobs out there demand for healthcare workers remains for you.” high, according According to t o D i re c t o r o f Bryans, there are Careers over 2,000 full... we're able to connect our Healthcare for the ProEdge time jobs posted on Handshake, an students in a way that a lot Center Stephanie Kendall-Deitz. online platform of universities cannot." “ W h e n for employers and schools weren't students to connect. in session, there Because these jobs wasn't as much need for occupational are posted on Handshake, they are therapy in schools and things like targeted toward students, meaning that,” Kendall-Deitz said. “Nursing employers are looking for students to fill has always been strong, but some of roles across the state, he said. the other healthcare fields were a little “Of those 2,000 jobs, 1,200 of them had been posted in the last 30 days,” more muted during COVID[-19].

But now that things are starting to Bryans said. pick back up, most outpatient centers “There's about 700 internships that are open, most schools are open. are currently posted throughout Indiana Healthcare jobs across the board, [on Handshake]. And I think a little bit v e r y, v e r y g o o d e m p l o y m e n t more than half, 400 have been posted in prospects.” the last 30 days.”

According to Kendall-Deitz, the Bryans said the ProEdge Center nursing program at UIndy has a very had a career fair at Primo Banquet Hall high reputation and graduates are where they welcomed 88 employers highly sought after. She said the and about 120 students. There are program’s good reputation is part of the employers out there looking for reason why. students across all majors for full-time

“I think that a lot of that, it's our faculty across all the health professions is well known in the industry. . . . They [students] are going to be well trained, disciplined, ready, career ready, coming out of our program,” Kendall-Deitz said. “And the way I know that is that I talked to a lot of recruiters and so I attend job fairs. I invite recruiters to

Graphic by Kiara Conley

SPORTS

4 THE REFLECTOR

APRIL 6, 2022

Photo Contributed by Vanessa Richardson

During her time at the University of Indianapolis, Richardson spent her time in both UIndyTV and WICR. She said that led her opportunities with the Indiana Pacers, Indianapolis Colts, Indians and The Bob and Tom Show.

Photo Contributed by Vanessa Richardson

After college, Richardson said she went to work for an NBC station in Cincinnati, Ohio as a reporter. After two years, she transitioned to NBC Houston serving as a sports reporter. She now hosts for ESPN Radio in Houston.

From UIndyTV, WICR to ESPN Radio

UIndy Alum Vanessa Richardson makes a huge leap in sports broadcasting industry with ESPN

By Giselle Valentin & Kiara Conley

SPORTS EDITOR & ONLINE EDITOR University of Indianapolis Alum Vanessa Richardson makes a cup of coffee and grabs her notebook before tuning in to ESPN television each morning to take notes and select audio clips as she prepares for her ESPN Houston morning radio program, “Vanessa and Gallant.” Richardson and Paul Gallant’s show airs Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Richardson said she needed a challenge following her time as a sports reporter in Houston, and that is when ESPN Radio reached out to her.

“It just became an opportunity for me to be more versatile and for me to grow,” Richardson said. “I could have stayed in local news for 10 more years and done two-minute reports every night. But I needed to grow more, and I needed a challenge.”

Even with her primary job being radio, Richardson said she continues to showcase her talents with multimedia, such as being on camera, producing podcasts and social media. Alongside being a radio host, Richardson serves

as an NFL reporter. She said she is thankful that she still gets to do freelance work by remaining on television and working with NBC in their motorsports division.

Richardson said her love of sports started at an early age, as it was something she and her father bonded over. She said the Indianapolis Colts trained less than a mile from her house in Terre Haute, Ind., and they would frequently attend Colts training camp. At that moment, Richardson realized she wanted to pursue a career in sports reporting, which led her to UIndy.

Richardson said she visited UIndy for a college visit in 2012 and fell in love with the city and the thought of going to college at UIndy. One of her favorite aspects about UIndy, Richardson said, was the unique dynamic of it being a small school where students can get hands-on experience early and be in a city full of opportunities.

“I immediately started covering the Indianapolis Colts and the Indy 500 for WICR Radio; that led to me getting an opportunity to be the host for the Indiana Pacers and the host for the Indianapolis Indians,” Richardson said. “Those things led me to being the sports correspondent for The Bob and Tom Show. And all the while I was doing those things, I was still

very involved in UIndy, both the radio and the TV side. So one opportunity led to another.”

UIndy Communication Faculty Member and General Manager of WICR Scott Uecker said Richardson made the most of her opportunities while at UIndy. He said that because of her hard work at UIndy, she was able to grow and continued to have great success in her professional life.

“She has been a true professional in the way she's managed her career. I

It just became an opportunity for me to be more versatile and grow ..." hope that students look at her not so much for motivation, but as a model of how it's done,” Uecker said.

During her time at UIndy, Richardson held management positions at WICR and UIndyTV. Uecker said that having her as Digital Media Manager at WICR, she took the social media presence and website to another level. Richardson, according to Uecker, was one of the finest students in terms

Track & Field Indoor track & field is over and it ended with a bang as the women's side of the team took seventh at indoor NCAA DII Indoor Championships. That was on the back of senior runner Berenice Cleyet-Merle who captured her second career national championship, this time in the mile while also helping lead the DMR team to second place.

The team opened up their outdoor schedule finally on Saturday April 2 with the Knights Open at Marian University and the Oliver Nikoloff Invitational at the University of Cincinnati. The top performers were senior distance runner Ben Nagel in the 1500 and senior pole vaulter Brittney Clark, both of which hitting NCAA Provisional Marks.

Baseball / Softball The quintessential spring sports in baseball and softball are both off in full swing. Softball it out to yet another dominant start yet again with a 28-4 record and a spot in the nations top five sitting at No. 5. For the baseball team they opened slower sitting at 9-14 on the season.

The softball squad is anchored offensively by senior first baseman Gianni Iannatone who carries a batting average of .427 and a slugging percentage of .548. Junior infielder Lexi Rees is dominating at the plate as well with nine home runs so far and a team high 40 RBI's.

Both squads are seeing dominant pitching with baseball's sophomore Xavier Rivas and Softball's sophomore Kenzee Smith both starting the year off well.

of networking. He said every person who had an encounter with Richardson, was a positive one.

After her time at UIndy, Richardson started her career as a reporter for an NBC station in Cincinnati, Ohio. According to Richardson, her job allowed her to cover news, traffic and sports. She said after two years, it was time for her to work in a bigger market. She transitioned to NBC Houston, where she served as a sports reporter.

“Each opportunity builds off of itself, and it's important to capitalize on every opportunity, no matter where you start,” Richardson said. “If you start in a small market, if you start with multiple jobs, capitalize on it, meet the right people, work hard.

And I've just been really fortunate and feel super lucky.”

Richardson advises those interested in pursuing a career in sports media to dream big and keep working hard to achieve their goals. She said it is important to be adaptable in all elements of media, including writing, editing and appearances on television and radio.

“It was great that I was working for the [Indiana] Pacers and the Indianapolis Indians. And it was wonderful that I was covering the

Indianapolis Colts and the Indianapolis 500, ” Richardson said. “ But I was still doing radio shifts. I was still shooting and editing at the University of Indianapolis, I was still behind the scenes producing. So nothing is too big and nothing is too small for you when you start out.”

Uecker said he is very proud of Richardson’s success. He said his role is to teach the best practices and provide opportunities for his students. And Richardson learned the practices and said yes to opportunities, he said.

“I know she’s not done,” Uecker said. “She is so young, so talented. This is just the next step for her and a great career and I'm gonna have a lot of fun watching her and can't wait to see what happens next after she masters this and makes a difference.”

Looking back at her career,Richardson said she is at a job right now where she is growing and is happy. She said in 10 years, she hopes to still feel satisfied where she is at.

“So in 10 years, hopefully, I [will be] working at a network,” Richardson said. “But hopefully, I still get to go home to Indiana often. And hopefully, I can look back on my career and be proud of how far I've come.”

Tennis Holding steady in the top ten for both sides tennis is keeping the same pace they set last year. The women's team, currently sitting with a 10-2 record, finds themselves at No. 7 in the country and the men are not far behind at No. 8 with a 11-3 record.

Both teams entered their GLVC slates with wins over Lewis University on April 2 and make the push with only five matches left before conference and eventual tournament play.

Lacrosse Both men's and women's lacrosse sit at 9-1 on the season up to this point with the women being ranked at No. 2 in the country, just second to undefeated Queens University, while the men are lower in the top ten landing at No. 8. The men had reached No. 3 but an overtime thriller of a loss to GLVC rival and No. 12 Lindenwood University staunched their rise to the top.

Senior attack Drew Billig has been the pilot for the men's side leading with 35 points off of 13 goals and 22 assists. The women's side has senior attacker Abigail Lagos dominating the score box with 48 goals on the season, having scored nearly a third of the Hounds goals so far this year.

Graphic by Jazlyn Gomez

Sports Update Box by Jacob Walton

SPORTS

5

THE REFLECTOR

Swim and Dive succeed Men’s and Women’s team competed at NCAA Division II Championships

By Kassandra Darnell NEWS EDITOR

The University of Indianapolis Men’s and Women’s Swim and Dive team stole the show at the NCAA Division II Championships on March 12, with the men’s team placing third and the women’s team placing second, the highest finish in program history, according to UIndy Athletics.

Interim Head Coach Brent Noble said the team had high expectations going into the championship, but the overriding emotion is motivation to continue to do more. It was going to take a good meet to do better than fourth on either side, he said, and second and third were good finishes the team had to earn.

“We have a lot of third-place trophies,” Noble said. “The men had been third three times already before this year. The women were third last year. So I think that’s a stepping stone goal, to break the string of thirds. So that was good.

We had a lot of talent, a lot of good performances performed well. But it’s a stepping stone.”

Noble said there were many moments f rom the weekend that stood out, including relay wins and dominating on the diving boards, but there was a top to bottom aspect during the weekend.

“I think the difference this year is we had very, very few athletes who went and didn’t score at all, which, qualifying is one step, but getting there and making a final heat and scoring is another good top to bottom,” Noble said. “And a lot of people … like Isabella Revstedt is one that didn’t score last year individually. And she ended up pulling out a 200[-meter] backstroke that we didn’t expect. And so there was a lot of that up and down, that helped us.”

Senior Marizel Van Jaarsveld was one of the most successful swimmers on the women’s team at the championship, capturing titles in both her 200 and 400-meter individual medleys (IM), second in the 100-meter breaststroke and third in the 200-meter breaststroke, according to SwimCloud. Jaarsveld said it felt amazing to score so well, especially because it is her last year of college swimming. These achievements were something she was aiming for, she said, and she is happy to go out with a bang.

The event that stood out the most for Jaarsveld at the championship was the 400 IM, she said.

“In that race, my goggles actually filled up with water. So I couldn’t see the race,”

OPINION EDITOR

The University of Indianapolis Cheerleading Squad can be seen cheering on the sidelines at home games for men’s basketball and women’s basketball and football. According to Head Coach Tessa Wolsiffer, the squad is able to bring a great game day atmosphere.

“We [the squad] always laugh when I talk to

Golf teams prepare for postseason competition

By Arrianna Gupton STAFF WRITER

Photo Contributed by UIndy Athletics

According to UIndy Athletics, the Women’s Swim and dive team finished as the runner-up team with 423 total points. The Men’s Swim and Dive team finished in third place for the third straight year as they earned a total of 413 points, according to UIndy Athletics.

Jaarsveld said. “And I just raced with was a major contributor to his success, my heart and did a time that I’ve never in addition to his teammates, friends and done before and broke the school record. his girlfriend. For Hammond, he said And I was so happy with that race, just winning the national title was a major because I could put all of the things that accomplishment, but the three-meter gone wrong aside and still perform. And dives were more difficult because he had that showed me that not done some of [it] was a really good them since before race to be able to do COVID-19, but it We had a lot of talent, a lot was still a personal that.”

Junior Cade of good performances ... it victory.

H a m m o n d “I was watching dominated as well, the scoreboard. And was a stepping stone.” placing first place I just remember, for the one-meter seeing that freaking dive and fourth place for the three-meter out and just kind of like, falling to my dive, according to SwimCloud. Overall, knees real quick, because I didn’t believe Hammond said he had a tough season it, and just kind of a blur from there,” mentally, and having Diving Coach Hammond said. “And then three-meter, Dave McKown be understanding but I was just really surprised to even make also push Hammond beyond himself it to finals, let alone to be a point or two

away from getting a podium. I set my expectations very low on three-meter and really surprised myself, I think, so that was cool.”

Noble said the teams are a group of very talented people in order to build a group with principles that are held in high regard. They all care about each other, work hard together and are determined to accomplish big goals individually and as a group, he said.

“Swimming is a sport where you put your face in the water, and you go, and you work hard,” Noble said. “And diving is a sport where you stand on the board, and you stare down something pretty daunting. And so they come every day, and they do it. And your coaches and athletes, we just have worked hard at it with these goals that we were confident we could attain.”

the basketball coaches, because we don’t cheer over Christmas [winter] break, and they will have maybe one or two games at home over Christmas [winter] break,” Wolsiffer said. “They’re like, ‘It’s just so different when you guys are here.’ I think it’s just a combination of the cheerleaders and the pep band and the dance team and just really making that fun, lively, excited atmosphere.”

Wolsiffer, an alum of the UIndy cheer squad, has been coaching the team since 2006 after finishing both undergraduate and graduate school at the university. Cheerleading at UIndy was special because the squad felt like a family, and she said she made good f riends that she still speaks to today.

and there needs to be someone that takes the lead of it, then I’m willing to make that step.”

Wolsiffer said she loves to see the girls grow as people during their time on the squad. She said she likes having the opportunity to help them become mature adults with skills that will help them throughout their lives.

“I really feel like part of our job is helping them to become productive citizens and to have good job skills and social communication skills, and all the things needed to leave the university and have a job and be productive and just represent our university well,” Wolsiffer said.

Maschino said the squad deals with others talking negativel y about cheerleading. Women’s sports getting more recognition has helped cheerleading as well, she said. However, people will make a distinction between competition cheerleading and sideline cheerleading and what counts as a sport, according to Maschino.

“I think that cheerleading in all forms is a sport because … we do lift each other.

We have tumbling requirements that we have to meet. We do a lot of jumping and jump back handsprings, there’s a lot of physical activity that goes into our sport,” Maschino said.

Wolsiffer loves that a cheer squad is a specific group of people who can promote your school, she said. The squad takes a lot of pride in being the face of the university at events, according to Wolsiffer.

“I think that’s [cheerleading] so important,” Wolsiffer said. “I think it’s important for athletes to have an opportunity to continue on at a collegiate level and support their teams.”

Cheerleading at UIndy

By Olivia Cameron

APRIL 6, 2022

According to junior cheerleader Laremie Maschino, the current squad has a good friendship.

They have fun and do team bonding activities t o ge t h e r, she said.

At the beginning of each year, Wolsiffer said she tells the girls that their squad does not participate in the drama that cheerleading can be known for. The

girls grow to appreciate and respect each other, she said.

“I always tell the girls ‘I don’t care if you’re friends outside of cheerleading, but when we’re here, we’re a team.’ We really push that team atmosphere,” Wolsiffer said.

Part of the squad’s closeness is due to COVID-19 making it smaller, according to Maschino. In her freshman year, the team was made up of 22 girls, now there are 14, she said. In 2020, the squad did not cheer at all and this has been their first competitive year since COVID-19 started, according to Wolsiffer. They are hoping to add to next year’s squad with tryouts being held on April 24, she said.

“I know that some of the girls had to do video tryouts for their tryouts instead of doing it in person like I did my freshman year,” Maschino said. “And then it’s been different for me because I’ve been a returner, so they haven’t been making returners try out again, whereas this year, I will have to re-tryout because they’re going back to how they used to do it pre-COVID[-19].”

As the only remaining cheerleader from her freshman year, Maschino had to take on a lot of leadership responsibilities, she said. She gets practices started if the coaches are running late, leads stretches and decides what uniform they will wear, and she said learning leadership through cheerleading has helped her in her classes.

“I think that I have always felt like I’m not really the leadership personality,” Maschino said. “So it’s forced me to really step out of my comfort zone …

I think it’s boosted my confidence a little bit, and it’s helped me be able to be a little bit more outgoing, and to be able to ask questions. Like if there’s something happening in a group project,

Graphic by Olivia Cameron

The University of Indianapolis Men’s and Women’s golf teams are in full swing for their spring slate. Both teams have been off to a great start with the men’s team placing fourth in the Findley Spring Invitational and the women’s team placing eighth in The BarryU Women’s Invitational, according to the UIndy Athletics.

Fifth-year student CJ Jones is currently competing for the first time this year with the UIndy men’s golf team after transferring from Ball State University, according to the UIndy Athletics. He said the way the season has been going so far, he believes that the team is currently building momentum toward the postseason.

“We’ve had our ups and downs. We won at Findlay and then we’ve had a pretty good start to the year so far,” Jones said. “We just finished fourth at Findley Spring Event this past weekend, and compared to where we were at like midway through the first or second round, compared to where we finish, I would say that we finished the tournament well.”

According to Head Coach Brent Nicoson, both teams are excited and looking forward to continuing their seasons and have positive outlooks on this year’s competition season. He said he is enjoying the leadership and responsibility from the men’s team this year. He said the men’s team has several veteran players who have stepped up to help their younger teammates.

“I’d say, on the men’s side, that leadership has been really, really good.

And I don’t know if that surprises me so much because it’s a veteran team,” Nicoson said. “But I’m surprised at how much ownership they’ve taken on the program. They’ve been great leading these younger kids.”

According to Nicoson, the women’s team, on the other hand, is dealing with the absence of teammate Anna Kramer.

The team is handling the loss well and is coming together to offset it, Nicoson said.

“I think the thing that surprised me the most is how the girls really rallied around that and came together as a group,” Nicoson said. “Trying to fill her void by committee. Everybody’s doing everything they possibly can to help offset our best player.”

Junior Katelyn Skinner has been playing for the UIndy golf team since her freshman year. Skinner said she is really enjoying the community the women’s golf team has made this year, along with how close they have all become.

“I think we have really created a really good bond with each other; we have really great girls. This is a really, really close team. We’re really good friends.

And I think that just creates a really good culture,” Skinner said. “I definitely think that we have really hard-working girls, we have girls that want to be there and want to do well; there’s a lot of drive and motivation behind each and every one of us.”

Skinner said her goals this year are to take things shot by shot while recognizing her teammate’s individualities and values and how they can be invested into the team. She said she believes that even though golf is an individual sport, everyone carries their own abilities, values and importance.

Both teams are preparing for the postseason and looking forward to the competitions that are yet to come.

According to Nicoson, he wants both teams to be more relevant at nationals than they were last year.

Jones said he believes the men’s team has a great shot at nationals this year.

He said he is proud of all of the work he has seen from everyone on the team in all aspects.

“I would just say I think one of the main things that I’ve been proud about with our team is how hard we are working this season.Whether it’s in the classroom, the weight room, or on the golf course, I think we’ve all put in as much possible effort as we have. I have a good feeling about this next week, and then in our postseason run. I think people will be able to see the fruits of our effort, these next few weeks,” Jones said.

According to UIndy Athletics, the women’s team has placed in the top three, three times this season, while the men’s team has placed top three four times this season. The men’s next tournament is scheduled to take place on April 15, as they will be competing in the GLVC Championships in Indianapolis. The women’s team will be in Columbus, Ohio taking on Lady Buckeye.

6

FEATURE

THE REFLECTOR

APRIL 6, 2022

Learning through comedy Improv comedian Jon Colby teaches professional communication to UIndy

By Jacob Walton EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Improved communication is the goal when it comes to improvisation comedian and former educator Jon Colby, who ran a workshop at the University of Indianapolis on March 30. The session, called “How to Survive Dinner with the Boss,” is one of the many events that Colby said he has run at UIndy over the past eight years.

Colby uses his background in improvisational comedy as a tool to educate companies, schools and other organizations about how to become better communicators. He said the event at UIndy focused primarily on how to interact when you are in a professional situation, such as a dinner with your boss. “ ... Now you are sitting at an event

with a bunch of business people, after work, you're all going out,” Colby said.

“Whether you're an intern, or you're new to the company, you're all going out to dinner, how do you kind of present yourself in those moments, so you don't look or feel like the kid. We'll talk about a little bit of etiquette, but really, what we're gonna do is talk about how to have conversations with anybody.”

Prior to working as a professional speaker, Colby worked in education as a theater, speech and video production teacher, but before that he had been doing improv starting in college. He said it was when he started to fill in as a teacher at corporate speaking arrangements that he found a passion for what he is doing today full-time.

“I call it my side hustle; I did a side hustle for 17 years or something like that, while I was teaching and it just became

more and more of a passion and more and more of a realization that I could do it full time,” Colby said. “I worked with some pretty successful companies where they're like, everybody needs this, everybody should do this. And so I finally, in summer 2019, quit my job and started doing it full time.”

The event was held through the UIndy Professional Edge Center, and Director of ProEdge Kirk Bryans was the leader of the event for the ProEdge side. Bryans said for years, the center has been doing events surrounding things such as dining etiquette, but this year it was time for a refresh.

“What we found in the past is that we can teach everybody what fork to use, but it's really about communication,” Bryans said. “It's about body language, it's about ‘what do you do at the table once you do know which glass of water

Photo by Jacob Walton

Improvisational Comedian Jon Colby poses for a photo with one of the students who attended his seminar, "How to Survive Dinner with your Boss." Throughout the dinner, Professional Edge members were at each table teaching the traditional dinner etiquette.

to use?’ And so that's where Jon [Colby] comes in. Jon [Colby] has done this event with other corporate corporations. He's done some events with us in the past.

So that's what he's really going to focus on. We'll all be at the table and we'll talk about etiquette. But at the same time, Jon [Colby], also will mix in sort of the body language and communication skills and what to talk about.”

Colby said the keynotes that he does at UIndy are the exact same presentations that he gives to high level corporations. He said his event sets UIndy students up for success by giving them these skills earlier than most learn them. Colby said that experience of working with rooms of CEOs and other professionals and having them play games and have fun like they are in recess in elementary school are some of the best parts of what he does. “... Imagine a kindergarten recess, like you have a certain visual, and then I say imagine a group of college students and you have your visual and I say, imagine a ballroom of 2,000 business executives, you have a picture in your mind, but I have those 2,000 business executives doing what you imagine the kindergartners doing at recess literally, they're climbing on chairs, even though they're not supposed to for safety reasons, they're running around playing basically what looks kind of like tag. I mean, you're just laughing and having fun, not taking themselves too seriously,” Colby said. “And just learning while having fun and I think it's something that we as adults often forget about and if I can help reintroduce how to be playful and learn from it, it's magic.”

Colby’s ability to be funny while also educational is what sets him apart and has UIndy continuing to bring him back in for events, Bryans said. He said those that participate come away with a learned experience and many items that they did not know prior. “[The] exit poll with students who have gone through an event with Jon [Colby] before is fantastic,” Bryans said.

“He really relates, I'm doing things that I didn't realize and when he explains that it makes complete sense.”

Charbel Harb wins title

By Justus O’Neil

spot, something that he attributes to Suryadevara’s coaching.

MANAGING EDITOR “My coach is a very big part,” Harb said. “He is leaving at the end of the The International Public Debate semester and I’m really stressed about Association (IPDA) includes four getting my new coach…. [The new divisions: Novice, Junior Varsity, Varsity coach is] an international med student, and Professional, according to their which is the same as [what I will be in website. Each year, the website states that the future.] So we have this connection tournaments are held and each division that we understand each other very fully.” crowns a national champion. This year, Suryadevara said he was a previous the University of Indianapolis Forensics student of Assistant Professor and Speech and Debate team competed Director of Forensics Speech and Debate in the IPDA tournament, where Program Stephanie Wideman at Wayne freshman human biology major Charbel State University, who asked him to help Harb was awarded Novice IPDA start the program at UIndy and coach Champion. According to the IPDA, the team in their first year. He said the Novice division that coaching this allows individuals to team was his first learn and compete experience coaching Just give it [speech and in debate with speech and debate opponents who and it posed a debate] a try as I gave have little or no unique learning prior experience in curve for him. In it a try ..." the field of debate. the case of Harb, Harb, having no Suryadevara said he experience in formal debate competitions, had limited experience with constructing said the biggest obstacle he had to structured and formal arguments in overcome was not that he had no English. When he arrived in the United experience, but that English was his States, the formal English training he had third language. was through taking dictation courses in “I used to get very much blocked on Lebanon, but he was at the conversational specific words because you need to try level, according to Suryadevara. to find the exact word that would land “ ... He [could] talk about a lot of what you need to say,” Harb said. “And things, but a lot of definitions and English being my third language is not words like we know, he needed to be your best friend here. So it took me some taught everything all over again when time to adapt to flowing fast in a very he came here. He didn’t really have an small time manner in English.” understanding of how our government’s According to Harb, good training process works because he’s from a and constant support from his coach, different country,” Suryadevara said. “So Raviteja Suryadevara, paired with critical working him through the whole process improvements made throughout his of how laws are made, how courts work, debate season was what secured him the all that stuff was kind of a steep climb win. Harb said that he is now capable of for him more so than me … He was a changing the flow of his debate on the really smart kid. He had a lot of great

Photo Contributed by Stephanie Wideman

Freshman human biology major Charbel Harb prepares for an upcoming debate. Harb worked with his coach Raviteja Suryadevara to prepare throughout the debate season.

ideas about different ways of delivering arguments, but it’s already pretty nervewracking on a stage, giving an argument and debating someone and it’s even more difficult to do that when you can’t find the words to say what you want to say, and that was what we were working on initially.”

Throughout Harb’s and Suryadevara’s time working together, Suryadevara said the two settled on a common goal: winning a tournament, or even a single debate, by the end of the year would be a success in their book. Suryadevara said that they were unable to accomplish their goal until they got to the national tournament where the first tournament win for Harb just so happened to be his championship title. Harb’s progression, in terms of wins and losses, could be illustrated by a long horizontal line and then a straight line up at the end of the year, which is seemingly inexplicable,

according to Suryadevara.

“I think at the end of the day, it is a learning experience for everyone,” Suryadevara said. “As much as we like to brag about winning a national championship, I think the focus really here is making sure students develop the skills to critically look at arguments, moving forward into their careers, wherever they may end up and being able to construct and deliver a structured argument.”

Harb said he learned about Speech and Debate through happenstance when he was sifting through UIndy’s various websites. When Harb joined the team, he said he was welcomed by a constructively competitive team and that pushed and helped each other to get better. “... Just give it [speech and debate] a try as I gave it a try …,” Harb said. “You might not start very well–I didn't. It’s just about one thing to improve.”

Delight Ministries offers space for women

By Lindsey Wormuth EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Reading from the book of Genesis, explaining stories written by college women and reading other scripture are just a few of the many things that go on during Delight Ministries meetings.

The organization provides a space on college campuses for women to show and explain how Christ has been at work in their lives, according to the Delight Ministries website. They also have five core values: invitational, vulnerable community, effective innovation, spirit led and equipping, according to their website.

Delight’s first official meeting was in Aug. 2012 and was founded at Belmont University, according to their website.

Delight Ministries has over 14,000 college women who are a part of the organization, according to their website.

After the first year of Delight in 2012, the women decided they wanted to expand the accessibility of the ministry, and now there are 205 Delight chapters across the country, according to their website.

Senior nursing major and Team Director of Delight Ministries Samantha Gossett said she joined Delight because she wanted a community to join that was centered around Christ. She said she wanted to feel like the people around her were interested in the same thing. “ ... I think it’s really important to have people around you who are also kind of striving and working toward the same thing, so just being kind of grounded in other people who want the same thing as you do and just working towards that,” Gossett said.

While in Delight, Gossett said she has learned a lot about the lives of other college women, as well as being able to reflect on her own life through the ministry.Within Delight, she said she has also been able to relate to other women with their struggles, as well.

Their mission is to invite college women into Christ-centered communities that foster vulnerability and transform stories, Gossett said. Their weekly meetings are in the Health Pavilion at 7 p.m. where, this semester, they are going through the book of Genesis, according to Gossett.

“It’s a really wonderful community and it's just a really great way to get to know other college women who are also striving to be more like Christ and to learn how to love like Christ and love others and just build really great friendships,” Gossett said.

Sophomore nursing major and CoLeader Mallory Barnes joined Delight her freshman year because she wanted to find a community where girls could uplift her. She said she attended the kick-off event and fell in love with the concept of Delight.

“I’ve kind of grown up in a Christan family and going to college, I was scared about losing my faith … or focusing on partying and stuff and I didn’t want to do that so I wanted to find a community …,” Barnes said.

According to Barnes, since joining Delight, she has learned that church is not one place, but rather church is wherever a community can worship and can show their thankfulness. They create a loving environment where people can be free to share the faith they have, Barnes said.

“I’ve also learned that superficial friends aren’t what I need, I need more closer relationships and I’ve been able to grow those and have those relationships now being in Delight because I know what a meaningful relationship looks like,” Barnes said.

In Delight, they also talk about hard topics that are going on around campus as well as around Indianapolis, and according to Barnes, they cover topics such as racism and sexism. They are very open and want to help and create environments where the members feel comfortable sharing things, according to Barnes. “ ... We are very open with helping people through those [topics] and creating an environment where everyone feels welcome and so I think that's how we help the campus, we’re just wanting to help everybody,” Barnes said.

ENTERTAINMENT

7 APRIL 6, 2022

THE REFLECTOR

Annual UIndy Pride Drag Show canceled

By Connor Mahoney Graphic by Jazlyn Gomez

By Molly Church

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Women composers were celebrated

by Chair of the Department of Music and Department of Theatre Elisabeth Hoegberg and Assistant Professor of Music Mitzi Westra with a concert on March 28 in the Ruth Lilly Performance Hall. Hoegberg was featured as the pianist for the concert and Westra was featured as the singer, in her role of mezzo-soprano.

Westra and Hoegberg said they have been planning this concert since the last concert of the previous year. Westra said this is the first time they have held a concert with a theme dedicated to women composers.

“There’s a lot of music out there that music history has not covered, and primarily because of the bias against female composers,” Westra said. “When we think about female composers, a lot of people were associated [with male composers] in some way—married to or are sisters of male composers—but they were kind of pushed aside to make room for their male counterparts. So we know about those people, but we don’t realize that there are so many people out there. We’re trying to explore some more corners of the female composers that don’t get highlighted as often.”

This concert is a part of the Faculty Artists Concert series. Westra and Hoegberg put on a concert every year together around early spring time, according to Westra.

“It ’s ver y, ver y important for the students to see their professors performing. Most of us are performing artists as well as teaching in front of a class …. So doing what we do, [it] gives them an example of what we expect them to be doing [on] a professional level,” Westra said. “They can see us perform, and they can model their own performances after what they see us doing.”

This concert showcased work from the 10th-century to pieces by 20thcentury composers, according to Westra.

She said that the songs were done in a chronological order, starting with music from the 1100s by composer Hildegard Von Bingen. Hoegberg said there were five sets of music, with a total of 15 or 16 songs. As a deviation from already performed pieces, they used a piece that Hoegberg herself wrote, called “A Birthday,” using this, Westra said, because they could not find a good piece to end the concert with.

“I wrote it thinking of Dr. Westra, and she and I worked together a lot. I had originally intended to write several pieces … but I didn’t have time to do that, so I just revised this one,” Hoegberg said.

“When we started working on it together,

we realized that there were just some bits of it that needed to be refined a little bit, so I was able to tweak some of the things that didn’t work very well.”

These concerts are not just an opportunity for faculty to perform, but for students to see their professors perform and gain more educational experience, Hoegberg said. She said that she hopes the students will get to hear some new kinds of music while at the concert.

“I hope they’ll take away how much Dr. Westra and I love to perform together …. A lot of not just students, [but] a lot of performers have anxiety,” Hoegberg said. “One of the things that’s great for me about working with Dr. Westra is [that] I feel so comfortable with her and enjoy it so much that it makes it easy to get up on stage. I want students to see the enjoyment of performance, not just that it’s something that you have to do if you’re a musician.”

Photo by MaKenna Maschino

Chair of the Department of Music and Theatre Elisabeth Hoegberg and Assistant Professor of Music Mitzi Westra smile at each other at the end of one of their pieces.

Students perform pieces Student composers have opportunity to showcase their best compositions

By Connor Mahoney STAFF WRITER

Performing at the Ruth Lilly Performance Hall, student composers will share their recent work at a composers’ forum on April 7 at 7:30 p.m., according to Professor of Music John Berners. Music therapy major Chloe Crockett said the forum will also be available to view via Twitch. Berners said the forum will have students at the University of Indianapolis sharing their best work, including multiple types of unique genres of music.

“Music in all styles, genres and media are welcome; classical music, rock, pop, hip hop, electronica, everything because universities are about creative diversity, certainly,” Berners said. “We just try to get better at whatever kind of music we’re writing, crossing all style boundaries.”

According to Berners, participation in the event was open to students who submitted their work to him in order to have a chance to perform their pieces in front of an audience. Berners said he would then go through the pieces to see how he would want to incorporate the work into the show.

“I’ll put up what we call a call for

scores, and then there’s like an invitation them in the right order so that took a lot for people to submit their music to be on of work,” Dawson said. “The pop song the composers forum …. I’m trying to was more of an intuitive process; it just get composers from all over the music kind of came to me.” department, or even people who are not Likewise, Crockett said she is music majors, to just send me their music,” looking to perform and compose many Berners said. different pieces for Crockett said the show. Berners t h e p ro c e s s o f said the show offers We just try to get better submitting her work an opportunity for is like adding to a at whatever kind of music students to showcase blank piece of paper. their work, which we’re writing ... ” From here, she said could be beneficial she would add to for them in the the page with her future. work.

“It’s [the performance] also where “At the beginning, [it] is just a blank your portfolio comes from, that you’re page with the lines, so I have to insert going to use for graduate school the clefs, the key signatures, the time application or future work as a composer signatures and then the notes, the or creative person,” Berners said. rhythms, everything,” Crockett said. “I Similarly, Dawson said she will look have to insert it and that’s called notating, to provide her work in the future to and this is a score .… It’s like a playbook; those interested. Therefore, she said she it has all of our plays in it.” is excited for the show to see the possible Music therapy major Heather Dawson feedback she will receive. said she will be performing rag and pop “[A positive is] being able to perform piano songs at the forum. She said something you’ve worked hard on and the piano rag piece took some time to receiving good feedback—or even bad develop; however, the pop song came feedback—and learning and growing naturally to her. from that, knowing how to improve “The piano rag was a lot more work your work in the future,” Dawson involved, writing and then editing and said. finding things that worked, and putting Berners said seeing the work of his

students is an exciting moment for him as a professor.Therefore, he said he enjoys the opportunity to see his students’ work displayed in front of an audience, and how the students interact with others is important.

“Part of this for the students is learning to communicate with performers, and be able to tell them in a very nice way, but a very constructive way…,” Berners said.

“The composers who are responsible for all of that—and that’s exciting to watch them play that role and take on—it’s kind of like a leadership role or teaching role or collaborative role with the performers.”

According to Crockett, the show provides an opportunity for students to showcase new music rather than old music many associate with composing.

Additionally, she said she is excited to share her work in a welcoming environment on campus.

“What’s exciting about the composer’s forum to me is that you get to hear new music, there’s no pressure to have to sell tickets, like we’re just playing our music for each other, and who knows who could be in the audience, too,” Crockett said.

“I think for me, it’s exciting to just be able to perform new music in a space that is accepting of it and supportive.”

life; he passed away in 2020. But what’s so remarkable is here in Indianapolis, he has probably the world’s largest metal type collection because this was no longer industry standard,” Fries said. “A lot of print shops got rid of their type, it [has] become increasingly rare. He collected over 4,000 unique Victorian type bases right here in Indianapolis. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of print history and printmaking. When I got to know him, I started bringing him in to speak to our art classes.”

Fries said that unfortunately, because of Peat’s age, he had diminished eyesight, and he was not able to print or catalog his letterpress collection the way he wanted.

Regardless, Fries said he would go and tell UIndy art students stories and share his knowledge that eventually led them to attending his shop to see more of his works. Fries said from 2017 to 2020, she asked printmaking students to join them on the project. Sometimes, Dailey said, students joined for just a semester, and other times, such as herself, they joined for several years. When the project was first starting up, it was just Dailey and graduate student Anna Winters.

“We really focused on bringing in

a database where we could refer back to where he got the type from.This is paying homage to those old type books that were so prominent back when Dave [Peat] first started, but then adding our own little modern twist to it by making it more of a narrative of the actual project itself.”

Dailey said the Peat Project is a new wave of trying to educate others since it is a lost art. The Peat Project is a great way to introduce people to the world of letterpress and all the fun that it can have, Dailey said. She also said the Peat Project is combined as a book that is a story based and tied to the history of letterpress. Now, Fries said the time has come for UIndy to see the final project.

“We’re excited to finally share the project with our UIndy community.

We’ve shared pieces and parts, but we’ve never shared the whole thing before,” Fries said. “It’ll be the first time that we are getting to officially share it in its final state with our UIndy friends and colleagues. The most important thing of all of this was providing the students the experience and getting them to connect with other printers and especially with Dave [Peat].”

Letterpress preserved through Peat Project

By Blanca Osorio Ortega STAFF WRITER

The University of Indianapolis Department of Art & Design is on a mission to revive an art that has been forgotten, according to graduate student Kaila Dailey. The Peat Project, an artwork project that has been in the making for four years,consisted of Dailey, Director of Hullabaloo Press Art & Design Katherine Fries and other art students who had shown interest in the project. This project allowed students to collaborate with Dave Peat, an Indianapolis printmaker and collector, to work with his collection of the 19th century hot metal handset type, according to UIndy Events. Peat mentored the students in return for their help in documenting his collection, according to UIndy Events. Dailey said that the Peat Project was started by Fries and former Professor Aaron Beckoff at Miami University, and they came together with UIndy art students to get involved with Peat.

“He’s [Peat] been involved in letterpress for the last 60 years of his

people who were part of load, press and printmaking classes and who had shown interest in type setting and those who really showed interest in the community itself,” Dailey said. “There were a handful of students that we pulled from the printmaking courses. Some of them were in letterpress courses, some of them were in basic printmaking, but both had shown overlapping interest in the letterpress itself. As the project went on, the more people were introduced to print.”

Dailey said she went through a lengthy process of getting the Peat Project started. Dailey said she, along with other students on the project, experienced the process of getting together and laying out how they would go about doing the project. There were various steps that were a part of the process, Dailey said, and it all came down to making Peat’s dream come true.

“The project has been in the works for a long time, it really has been one of Dave’s [Peat] dreams that he wanted for a while. We were able to come together to make at least a part of it happen and that he got to see,” Dailey said. “Our biggest task was categorizing the print type and the second big part of it was making it

STAFF WRITER

For many years, University of Indianapolis has had a drag show, produced by UIndy Pride; however, the event has been canceled for the second time in the last three years.The drag show was scheduled for March 25 on UIndy’s campus, according to history major and UIndy Pride Co-Chair Mackenzie Deppe. In previous years, the Ransburg Auditorium would sell out, providing some of the proceeds to charity, according to Deppe.

Pre-art therapy major and UIndy Pride Co-Chair Emma Warner said the event had to be canceled due to many reasons, such as the lengthy process and many steps to put on the show. She said they have to go through many different channels to put on an event like this, working with a lot of the faculty, students and the community.

“Under the circumstances that we had, we didn’t have enough time to get information out,” Warner said. “We didn’t get enough performers, and that just kind of culminated in us not being able to put [on] the kind of show that we wanted to put together.”

The drag show provided opportunities for people outside of UIndy to join the performance, according to Deppe.

Last year, Deppe said they did the performance in a hybrid format; however, they wanted to avoid doing that again this year. They said this is a large part of why Pride decided to cancel this year.

“A lot of it goes back to coming out of COVID[-19], and people trying to step back into these events that we used to be used to …,” Deppe said. “We were struggling to get community performers; a lot of community performers are adults with jobs. But that was the biggest thing.”

According to Warner, the drag show brought together the LGBTQ community in the Indianapolis area, UIndy’s campus and UIndy Pride.

Therefore, Warner said the event provided an opportunity for people to express themselves.

“There are some musical theater acts, versus there are some that have edited music to where they have pop culture references in there, some that will just do a … song, or others that will do a very intense ballad,” Warner said. “I think really seeing people’s individuality and what they do with the medium, I think it’s the most exciting thing for people.”

In the future, Deppe said the plan is to continue to produce a drag show.

Deppe said with this being their last year at UIndy, they hope to leave behind a way to make it easier for the club to put on the event next year.

“We are trying to set up things to make it easier in the future …,” Deppe said. “[The goal is] to just try to give them as best of a chance as possible, to do our part to ensure that it exists, it succeeds, even if we aren’t going to be here next year.”

Warner said the club is looking to implement a question and answer event for the community. According to Warner, the event will allow for anyone in the community to ask a panel of people who are LGBTQ. “We answer them, no judgment, because there’s some things that you don’t know, but you can’t really Google them necessarily,” Warner said. “That’s a great way to really humanize both parties.”

Photo by Jacob Walton

Senior communication major Thomas Gismondi during the 2021 Drag Show.

NEWS

8 THE REFLECTOR

App from page 1

can create links within the mobile app that stay within the mobile app, so you don't necessarily have to click out onto a separate webpage, she said.

“They [Office of Student Affairs] are always working on new features …,” Weishaar said. “Something in the recent past is that they introduced a way for us to present more mobile-native content, so we can create links within the mobile app that stay within the mobile app, and we don't have to necessarily click out to a separate webpage.”

So far, there have been about 1,100 people who have accepted the invite to the new changes in the app, according to Weishaar. With the new changes in the app being well-received, this proves that the data was correct and people are finding the new changes to be more user-friendly, she said.

“We've been pleased with that response, especially given that we've only sent emails and posted things within the mobile app to let people know about the change, and so I think that drives home the information we have about usage, [which] seems to be showing that people, but especially students, are using the mobile app and are finding the mobile app useful,” Weishaar said.

APRIL 6, 2022

Online nursing program

By Molly Church

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR The University of Indianapolis Department of Nursing will be expanding by adding an online and accelerated second degree program, the first of its kind in Indiana, according to Dean for the School of Nursing Norma Hall. She said this program will begin in the fall semester of the 2022-23 school year and puts the current classes that they have in-person into an online format.

Moving the program to an online program was a lot of work due to them needing to reach out to different hospitals than usual that don’t normally work with students due to them being in different areas, Hall said. She said they will also have to change how classes are taught.

“This is a great way for them to literally recruit and train their own,” Hall said. “We may find that there's individuals who are already working in some of these systems, who would like to be a nurse who didn't have the ability or the desire to do that relocation piece to go to a traditional nursing school. So this opens opportunities for them.”

Undergraduate Program Director and Assistant Professor of Nursing Karen Elsea said this program will provide more opportunities for students who live in rural areas and don’t have as much access to a nursing school near them. She said allowing these students to get their education in the community where they may end up working will help them transfer into that setting after graduation.

“It's really catered to a different student than the population we see probably on campus,” Elsea said.

“So with the healthcare shortage of workers, particularly nurses—it's been even worsened in the COVID[-19] pandemic—we want to be able to do everything we can to provide opportunities for individuals that are interested in being a nurse, and help to supply and meet the demands that our hospital partners and facilities have for

Photo Illustration by Arrianna Gupton

nurses.” honestly a great way to get education,” The online program also allows for Hall said. “It is dependent on the these students to have more flexibility preceptor being qualified, so there will with their time, Hall said. Instead of be a huge piece on our end to make sure a traditional, inthat the preceptors person model where that students are there is one faculty working with have This is a great way for them the right educational member and eight students that work that to literally recruit and train background, in a hospital during they're working in a set period of time, the right settings their own." she said the student [and] that they will work with a h a ve t h e r i g h t preceptor in a hospital in their area and experience to be able to provide an work within their preceptor’s schedule. appropriate experience for the student “It will mostly allow for that for each course.” flexibility piece, and it is working Hall said that with this program, with a preceptor model, which is quite they expect to double their enrollment

within the next two or three years, and they have already started to see applications coming through for the fall semester. Elsea said it is exciting to have a part in expanding the field of nursing.

“I think it's an exciting opportunity to increase the number of students in the field of nursing that maybe would not have an opportunity because of other lifestyle, life commitments and those kinds of things,” Elsea said. “If this can help, even in a small way, to offset some of the shortages we have in healthcare with students that have an interest in the field, I think that's great for the university and great for the profession of nursing.”

Galer hosts 'Magic Behind the Music'

Former UIndy staff member Sara Galer returns to host PRSSA event to discuss her new ISO job

By Alex Vela

BUSINESS MANAGER Former Associate Vice President of Communications for the University of Indianapolis Sara Galer will be returning on April 6 from 6:00 p.m.7:00 p.m. to do a talk called “Magic Behind the Music” in the Schwitzer Student Center Trustees Dining Room.

Galer recently began a new job with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO).

Galer said she is going to discuss some of the differences in her new position versus what she was doing at UIndy. Her current position with the ISO is Vice President of Marketing Communications, and she said the position is much more focused on marketing compared to her role at the UIndy, in which her focus was more on communications, public relations and media relations content strategy side.

“I do all of that at the ISO, but I also manage their marketing and branding as well …,” Galer said. “I’ll be talking about what it means to work for the lecture-performance arts organization in Indianapolis and what that means to work for marketing as well.”

Fir m Director of Top Dog Communication and President for Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) and senior communic ation major Thomas

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Gismondi is in charge of various meetings and lectures on campus.

These meetings include topics such as public relations and communication.

Gismondi said that on the PRSSA side of things, they want to let Galer share a little bit about what she does with everyone. “The Magic Behind the Music” is a behind-the-scenes look at something that people may not think about when it comes to the symphony, instead of just the music, the players and what you see and hear on stage, Gismondi said.

“That’s the marketing side of it, how they get the word out there and how they connect with the community,” Gismondi said. “So this is really just a chance to pull the curtain back a little bit and have Sara [Galer] talk about how the Symphony Orchestra is, of course how they keep that up and going, but what puts the Indianapolis part of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra into effect.”

Galer said she came from broadcast news and that she worked in television news for 17 years before joining UIndy.

According to Galer, it was a really big transition to go from journalism to the public relations and communications side.

“A lot of people make that journey, I’d say it’s a fairly common path when people want to change careers out of journalism, and you certainly have a lot of skills that you bring with you so it was a smooth transition, but also a big learning curve and I think I like number, which will be verified. Letters are subject to condensation and editing to remove profanity.

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to always challenge myself and find ways to maybe get out of my comfort zone a little bit in my career,” Galer said. “As you go on, you obviously gain more and more skills and get

GALER more comfortable, but I think to really stretch yourself and grow sometimes it ’s worthwhile to consider new opportunities, and certainly working for the Symphony, it ’s a great organization.

According to Gismondi, Galer went from being the associate vice president of communications at UIndy to being the vice president of marketing and communications for the Symphony Orchestra. The Symphony Orchestra and UIndy both want to make sure they are part of our community, Gismondi said.

“In my mind, that transition totally makes sense because you’re going from, of course, there’s internal and other types of communication, but really these are two really prominent figures in the Indianapolis community,” Gismondi said. “I’m imagining a lot of the skills she got to practice at UIndy, she is implementing really well with the Symphony Orchestra.”

Galer said she found out about the Symphony position from a former colleague at UIndy, and she was really intrigued. She said she has always been interested in theater and music, so she was very excited when she was in the interview process.

“The more people I met at the Symphony, the more interested I became in the position because I saw how passionate and committed everybody is to making the organization the best it can be, and that really excited me to be a part of something like that …,” Galer said. “I’m learning a lot and I think it’s a real privilege to be in a position like this where you have the opportunity to continue to grow at different points in your career.”

Gismondi said he thinks this is accessible for everyone to learn about the marketing side of things and what goes into putting on these types of concerts. He said he thinks this is something that is really interesting for everyone, in terms of not just the work itself, but really the community work that goes into it.

“I know that she was definitely a big part of the communications team and I feel like her presence was still really well felt, even among the student body, so I think it’s just really nice for her to continue to give back to our UIndy community here,”Gismondi said.

“Even though it’s the first time I’ve been really personally connected with her, it’s just great to see her back and it drives the point home that UIndy really is like a family.”

Galer said she got so much experience doing all aspects of public relations, media relations, all sorts of communications and content strategy at UIndy. According to Galer, she was able to build all of those skills because the people on the marketing side of the team were well integrated with each other.

“I would say it’s really exciting for me professionally and personally to be involved in the Symphony, and certainly I miss UIndy too because I loved working with faculty and the academic side of things …,” Galer said. “I enjoyed my time at UIndy thoroughly, and I’m just really excited to have this new chapter in my career.”

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