Dec. 15, 2021 | The Reflector

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DECEMBER 15, 2021

Encounters with racism at UIndy

Students recount instances of hate speech, faculty discuss code of conduct

By Kassandra Darnell NEWS EDITOR

Editor’s note: This story contains references to a racial slur. The AP Style Manual states to only include the “N-word” when it is crucial to the story or understanding of a news event. Staff felt it was important to include it here to allow students to recount their experiences as victims of racism and hate speech.

While entering Warren Hall on Nov. 14, four men walked past freshman communication major Amira Donahue as she opened the door for them. She said that as they walked away, she heard them yell a racial slur. That night, Donahue said she decided to create a post on the UIndy app that said, “Can we talk about the casual racism at UIndy?”

“I was just walking in. I heard one of them yell,‘Is that a N-word?’...”Donahue said. “At first, I thought I was hearing stuff. I just kind of continued about my day. And they actually showed me the CCTV footage, and you can see me with a handful of stuff open the door for them. And then all of them walk through and just leave me struggling with the door with my hands full. And then we keep walking. And then when they get to the boy’s side of the door, they yelled the N-word and then run up the stairs.”

Immediately after the incident occurred, Donahue said she went up to the resident assistant’s desk and asked if the person would do anything about it, but believed the person working did not hear exactly what was said. She said she had expected more help, and because of this, she posted about her experience on the UIndy app. Afterward, she received emails about the incident from the Residence Director and the Office of Inclusion and Equity, Donahue said.

“They're currently investigating what's been happening, and I feel like they've been doing a good job with the investigation,” Donahue said. “I don't have anything really to say about that.

I feel like they're handling everything accordingly. I'm not upset with the school, per se, but definitely, like the culture and just the fact that it even happened was very upsetting to me.”

The UIndy Student Handbook, under Standard IV, states that students must uphold the university’s mission by being responsible citizens. According to Senior Associate Dean of Students and Title IX Coordinator Jessica Ward, hate speech is covered under Section F of this standard, which states, “The University will consider as an aggravating factor in determining sanctions, any violation of law or of this code in which the accused student intentionally selected the person or target of the violation based on gender, race, religion, color, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, veteran’s status (as protected by law), or other basis of discrimination precluded by federal and state statues.”

An email from Vice President for Student and Campus Affairs and Dean of Students Kory Vitangeli that was sent out to students on Dec. 8 and titled “Brief on UIndy Hate Speech Policy”described what is considered hate speech, where hate speech is addressed in the student code of conduct and what happens if a student violates those policies.

In the email, hate speech is defined as the following: Hate speech is considered any speech, writing, or non verbal communication that is intended to insult, offend, or intimidate a person because of a particular group or trait, especially on the basis of: 1. Race

reflector.uindy.edu

Racist incident on campus addressed

By Kiara Conley ONLINE EDITOR

Graphic by Jazlyn Gomez

2. Ethnicity that happen. But technically, it doesn't 3. National origin have to be [targeted], because if it's 4. Religion hate speech, I don't have to say it just to 5. Gender and gender identity you. You could be in a group of people, 6. Sexual orientation, or and I could say it, and even though it 7. Disability was a widespread thing, there's a target According to Ward, hate speech is audience.” considered a bias incident and often Junior public health and promotion includes major trigger words. She said if major and President of Student someone experiences repeated bias and Organization of Latinx Giselle Avila believes it has to do with that person’s said she has experienced broad instances protected class in some way, that would of racism during her time at UIndy, also be considered a bias incident. ranging from students being openly “If I'm really nice to everybody racist to the fetishization of Latin culture. else, and you're the only female here, or Avila grew up in a predominantly Latin the only person that identifies as gay community, she said, and experienced or Black or whatever . . . and I'm really culture shock when she started attending rude to you and maybe I say things that UIndy because she was not used to a are really rude . . . if it's racial about hair; predominantly white campus. if it's about sexual orientation, about “And then not only is the campus people you're dating or things like that predominantly white, a lot of the kids, . . . then obviously, that's going to be a I'd say, are privileged and don't recognize bias incident,” Ward said. their privilege,” Avila said. “Which Students can report bias incidents makes them a little bit more entitled and in several ways, ignorant. Which according to Ward. ignorance doesn't Reports can be necessarily need to ... UIndy's job to make sure be a bad thing if sent to Student Affairs, the Office this is not a safe space for they're open to being of Inclusion and educated and having people to just be rude ..." conversations, but Equity or filed in a police report, which that's not the case Ward said is the that I feel like has most common way people report these been here.” incidents. There is a bias incident form Avila said that in September, she that students can fill out through the reported a bias incident after she Office of Inclusion and Equity, or if overheard a student making a racist students want their report to be seen comment that perpetuated stereotypes only by one person, she said, a Title about immigrants. While sitting in the IX report will be seen only by her.

Health Pavilion with her roommate, While racial incidents do not fall under Avila said, she heard a student asking Title IX, because it is meant for issues friends for help finding “an illegal concerning gender and sexuality, any immigrant.” report submitted by a student will be “That person turns to their friend and handled properly no matter what the goes, 'I need to find an illegal immigrant. subject matter, she said.

Do you, do you want to help me find an Hate speech is often targeted, but illegal immigrant?' Turns to the whole does not have to be, Ward said. Anyone other friend, 'I need to find an—do you within hearing range can be considered want to help me find an illegal immigrant a target of hate speech if the statements to clean my house?'” Avila said. “And are made in a public space and the I look at my roommate. I'm like, 'Did statements offend someone, she said, even you hear that?' And they're like, 'No,' if the person saying it has no knowledge because they had their AirPods in, [and] that anyone present identifies with a they're listening to stuff. And I was like, protected class.

'You didn't hear that?' [My] mouth just “A lot of times with hate speech, it is dropped. And I'm like, did no one hear targeted, though, especially with racial this?” hate speech,” Ward said. “And you'll see According to Avila, she emailed that a lot of times throughout incidents several faculty members in this student’s

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department on campus and was redirected several times before she was told to report the incident to the Office of Inclusion and Equity. She said she was informed that she could not be given details about the investigation, but that it was being handled.

During the investigation process, students cannot be told exact details, according to Ward, but students are kept as up-to-date as possible about the situation. Students who are direct victims of bias incidents are involved in the formal hearing process, she said.

Bias incidents, particularly regarding race, typically go through the conduct process, according to Ward. This process involves conduct investigators and a formal investigation occurs, she said.

Investigators collect any information about the incident that they can find, ranging from anonymous tips to random emails, and follow up with all parties involved,Ward said.These investigations, she said, often lead to formal hearings.

“That formal hearing has a conduct officer that's running the hearing,” Ward said. “. . . There can be a panel of people—usually with a hate speech case like this, we're going to have a panel of people for it.... Those people will make a decision based off [the] preponderance of the evidence. And then the sanctions will be handed down to the student, if they're found in violation. . . .”

Students who violate the Student Code of Conduct can face a wide range of consequences, depending on the severity of the violation, and the sanctions are described under Section X of the UIndy Student Handbook. According to the handbook, “The sanctions described in this policy are not exclusive of, and may be in addition to, other actions taken or sanctions imposed by outside authorities.”

Sanctions a student may face for violations can depend upon the severity of the violation, the student’s disciplinary history, previous allegations of similar conduct, the need for the sanctions to end or prevent the conduct from continuing or the impact on those involved, according to the UIndy Student Handbook.The handbook also states that the sanctions implemented can range from a warning, which is described as “an official written notice that the student > See Encounters on page 8

A student was confronted with racist language by a group of other students, according to an email sent on Nov. 15

by University of Indianapolis President Robert Manuel. In the email, Manuel said the incident created an unsafe and threatening environment on campus, and these behaviors were in direct violation of the UIndy Student Code of Conduct. The incident is being investigated by the professional staff in the Office of Student Affairs, and anyone found violating the code of conduct will be charged through the formal disciplinary process, according to Manuel’s email.

Vice President and Chief Inclusion and Equity Officer Amber Smith said that to the university’s knowledge, a young woman was entering Warren Hall and racial epithets were yelled at her, and that is what is known of the incident so far. As of The Reflector press time, the investigation is still ongoing.

Smith said that several different responses are being worked on that rely on the university’s ability to mitigate these occurrences in the future. She said that the focus is to ensure campus community safety and gather information on the incident. Manuel said that the university will make sure that the incident is investigated and managed.

“And if we find out who did this, my goal would be to have expulsion be the end result of that,” Manuel said. “It's not a place where we want to entertain [that] as a possible action of our students because that's not the environment we want to have on campus.”

Smith and Manuel said they have been having conversations with student groups. Smith said this is to gain insight into the culture to see what is happening that they are not seeing. There was a meeting with students in Warren Hall to become more knowledgeable of what was occurring, Smith said.

“So it's important for us to understand what our students are experiencing every day on a day-to-day basis,” Smith said. “And so we've had, for example, last week [the week of Nov. 14], we had lunch with student leaders of color, Dr. Manuel and I went to [have] conversations with them to gain more of an understanding of what's occurring.”

Smith said her role on campus is to positively impact culture and create a sense of belonging. To do that, she said, it is important to look at these incidents that occur, but also to create a culture where people know what to do when something happens. She said there are a series of things coming up, as well as things that have already been done.

“So as we're dealing with these individual cases, we're also working to understand what students are experiencing so we can create an environment where they're safe, and we're looking out for each other,” Smith said. “I want to be very clear with you that we don't look at this as just one problem, that what you're speaking about is something that reflects a need for students to be educated, for faculty and staff to be educated and aware and for us to come together to create a > See Incident on page 8

PARENTAL LEAVE IN THE U.S.

TRACK & FIELD BACK IN THE ARC

CHURCH & STATE PRODUCTION

The U.S. doesn't provide paid parental leave at the national level for its workers.

Why this needs to be mandated and how it would benefit families.

The Greyhounds are coming off a historic indoor season. Going into new season, the team is looking to keep the momentum going.

“Church & State” focuses on a Republican senator from North Carolina who questions God’s relevance following a school shooting.

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2

OPINION

THE REFLECTOR

DECEMBER 15, 2021

Safe driving on Indiana's icy roads this winter

By Alex Vela

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Graphic by Olivia Cameron

By Olivia Cameron OPINION EDITOR

Paid leave from work for new parents is not guaranteed in the United States.

At the national level, parents are only entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period through the Family and Medical Leave Act. According to a report from the BBC, only 21% of U.S. workers have access to paid family leave through their employer, even though research shows that paid parental leave is overwhelmingly beneficial for parents, children and society in general.

Business Insider attributes America’s lack of paid parental leave to the longheld notion of the “American Dream.”

Those in decision-making roles, like politicians and business owners, value hard work and labor over physical, emotional and mental needs. They are more interested in keeping money in their pockets by not paying workers that need to go on leave. As a result, policies to make paid parental leave a reality for all U.S. workers are not passed.

It’s time to let go of the idea of the American Dream and focus on fixing the American reality. For many Americans, life without paid time off to take care of their infants is anything but a dream.

In a report by Human Rights Watch, parents said that having little to no paid leave resulted in having to delay their

children’s immunizations, increased down to the remaining four. This is postpartum depression and additional not nearly enough change. At the very health problems. Many parents who have least, all 12 weeks of guaranteed leave had to take unpaid leave have gone into should become paid leave. I am, though, debt and had to seek public assistance encouraged to see at least a little bit of in order to care for themselves and progress being made. their families, according to the report.

Fathers also should get the same It’s wrong that parents are being forced amount of paid leave as mothers. If a to choose work ahead of their children. miracle happened, and mothers secured Instead of taking time to bond with six months of paid leave, fathers should their new child and begin to form those get the same and be encouraged to take important relationships, mothers and it. Pew Research found that on average fathers have to return to work so that American fathers take only a week off they can afford formula and diapers. when their child is born. According to Paid parental leave needs to be The New York Times, fathers who were mandatory across given more paid the nation. New time off only took America found or three days, Paid parental leave needs two that six months of most likely because paid leave would be to be mandatory across the taking paternity the most beneficial leave has been nation. for the health of shown to “damage mothers and their a man’s professional babies. While I do re p u t a t i o n a n d think that mothers should get the affect his future earning potential.” amount of time off that would be best In other words, men are discouraged for them and their babies, I understand from spending time with their newborns. that the standard for parental leave is Many assume that it’s more important for unlikely to go from 12 unpaid weeks to the mother to be with the baby, but this six paid months. Recently, the House is untrue.The United States Department of Representatives passed a bill that of Labor reported that longer paternity proposed only four weeks of paid family leaves lead to increased engagement leave for all U.S. workers, according to and bonding, and to improved health CNBC. Originally, the bill, called the and development of the children.

Build Back Better plan, had proposed 12 Additionally, longer paternity leaves weeks of paid leave, but it was negotiated resulted in more equal sharing of familial

labor between parents and increased employment and pay for mothers. As a society, we should be doing more to lift fathers up by giving them the tools to be more present in their families. Longer and paid paternity leave would greatly improve the lives of American fathers and their children.

LGBTQ couples also must be included in an improvement of parental leave in the U.S. Some 56% of LGBTQ people live in states that do not have laws allowing them to get paid parental leave to care for newborn or newly adopted children, according to the Movement Advancement Project. They are no different than heterosexual parents in their importance as parents and their need to bond with their children. In fact, a study published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that gay fathers’ brains adapt to parenthood in the same ways that heterosexual parents do, according to Time. This means that when LGBTQ couples adopt a child or have a baby in another way, such as surrogacy, they aren’t just becoming glorified caregivers. They are parents, and entitled to the same benefits that heterosexual parents may be afforded in the future.

The U.S. has been valuing work over family for far too long. Not only does paid parental leave need to become mandatory nationwide, it also needs to apply to mothers, fathers and LGBTQ parents.

Graphic by Jazlyn Gomez

'Squid Game' party controversy Are celebrity parties, re-creations based on the popular series in bad taste?

By Kayla Jennett STAFF WRITER

Model and television personality Chrissy Teigen is under fire for hosting a “‘Squid Game’ party.” She is being called “tone-deaf ” among other things by numerous Twitter users for her recent Instagram post in which she posted a string of pictures displaying herself and several of her famous friends dressed up as characters from the hit Netflix series and participating in the same “life or death” games. According to the caption on Teigen’s post, she enjoyed watching her friends “fight to the death.”

“Squid Game” is a series from South Korea that took Netflix and popular culture by storm when it became one of the most watched Netflix originals, according to an article from CNN. The show focuses on various characters in desperate need of money competing in a series of children's games for cash, at the risk of their lives, as entertainment for the rich. Delish.com describes the show as a commentary on the country’s complex relationship with gambling and other issues such as social inequality and financial disparity.

The current concern seems to be about whether people, especially rich people, should be throwing “Squid Game” parties. In my opinion, Teigen is missing the point of the show, but she is not the only person to do so. There are articles

on the internet that describe how to have the “Ultimate Squid Game Halloween Party,” as well as entire Pinterest boards dedicated to the trend.

I believe that the series’s messages of social inequality and financial disparity were overshadowed when it became part of popular culture. There have been countless memes and re-creations of the show since its release, with other participants in the trend facing far less backlash than Teigen.

Fa m o u s Yo u Tu b e r M r B e a s t recently re-created game scenes from the show on his YouTube channel in which people participate in the same children’s games with the intention of winning the cash prize of $456,000.

According to an article from Yahoo!

News, MrBeast, unlike Teigen, actually gained 9.2 million subscribers and praise for his re-creation of the show on his YouTube channel. MrBeast spent $3.5 million to make this production happen.

“Squid Game”parties and re-creations are missing the point of the show. I believe that Teigen and MrBeast missed the show’s point as well, but their party and re-creations were not in bad taste. I think that Teigen and MrBeast are celebrities trying to follow a trend and stay relevant, just like everyone else having “Squid Game” parties or participating in the memes and re-creations that have come from the show. I also believe that the underlying meaning of the hit show has

Bad weather and sloppy road conditions are a factor in nearly half a million crashes and more than 2,000 road deaths every winter, according to research by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. It is our duty as drivers to know the safety rules for dealing with these winter circumstances.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Indiana was a top state for winter car accidents from 2011-2015. The winter season is a special time for many people; it is a time for holiday cheer and celebration.

It is also the coldest season of the year, bringing new elements and conditions.

With the holidays approaching, many students will soon be traveling to visit family and friends over the winter break.

Here at the University of Indianapolis, there are many students that are not from the area or commute to school. Even for the people that are familiar with Indiana weather, it can be unpredictable. One day it will be sunny and 75 degrees, and the next day it could be snowing and 30 degrees. This is the reality that us Hoosiers have to deal with on a daily basis. For those students from outside of the state, this may be something difficult to comprehend.

Severe weather can be both frightening and dangerous for drivers. I personally drive a 2008 Hyundai Sonata and it is not the best car to drive in such weather.

My car is old and reliable, doing well in the cold, but when the roads are wet or covered in snow, it can only do so much.

I have noticed that if I drive too fast my rear tires tend to spin out of control as they don't have the same grip.

My advice in terms of safe driving in the winter is to be smart and reasonable. Like anything in this world, use your brain and be cautious of your surroundings. The slippery roads may be tempting for some of us to try some “Fast and Furious” type moves, but these conditions are an even bigger reason to not do such actions. I remember a time where I was in a rush to get home because the weather was getting bad. I was about 15 minutes away and the snow continued to come down.The roads were already icy, and as it was getting even more difficult to see out of my windshield window, I did everything in my power to get home as soon as possible. This attempt lasted for about five minutes before I almost drove off the road. When this happened, I pulled into the closest gas station and parked my car until the weather cleared up and I was confident enough to get back on the road.

While I was in a rush to get to my destination, I made the splitsecond decision to stop driving in that questionable weather altogether. This may not be an easy decision for some of us who may be traveling to jobs that require you to be punctual, meetings that you absolutely cannot miss or any things of this sort. However, we need to understand that our lives are more important than those jobs or meetings that we have been so blinded by that we put them ahead of our own well-being. Ever since this incident, any time it gets a little slick on the roads, I am fully aware that it will be a tough day behind the wheel. Being aware of how your car handles certain types of weather is extremely important.

Take your time on the roads this winter season. Your loved ones want to see you as soon as possible, but make sure that you are getting to them safe and sound. By following these tips we can all have a safe holiday break.

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 Nov. 23 Issue: On Pg. 7, in the headline: “UIndy Theatre celebrates age in song,” we mis-attributed the partnership to UIndy Theatre; we should have attributed it to Fonseca Theatre Company.

Youngkyu Park/Netflix/TNS

Lee Jung-jae (No. 456) is a man in a deadly competition in the Netflix drama "Squid Game."

been forgotten, usurped by popular culture. The series has been turned into a trend rather than what it should be

recognized as: a great representation of social inequality and financial disparity.

What do you think?

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

NEWS

3

THE REFLECTOR

DECEMBER 15, 2021

Richard Lugar Symposium held in person

By Logan Wong

DISTRIBUTION MANAGER The 45th annual Richard Lugar Symposium was held on Dec. 4 and was held in person for the first time since it was moved online last year due to COVID-19. The event gathers high school juniors from across Indiana to talk about key issues going on in the country and the world, Vice President of Enrollment Services and Executive Director of the Richard Lugar Symposium Lara Mann said.

They ask high schools to choose students who show leadership potential, she said.

“Normally, we've got 200 to 400 students from various high schools in Indiana,” Mann said. “... The main way that it will be different because of COVID[-19] is that we've limited numbers. Instead of the two to four [students per school], meaning we could have 600 people on campus, we really limited it to about 150 students, and then we'll probably have about 80 adults with us. We've really tried to contract the numbers a little bit so that we can social distance and make sure that we're doing this in a way that's respectful of COVID[-19] policies that we've created.”

With the passing of Senator Richard Lugar in 2019, the symposium had to find a way to go on without his presence.

Before he became a senator in 1976, Lugar was a professor at the University of Indianapolis.

“In his [Lugar’s] first year of Senate, he started this [the Lugar Symposium] with us because of this relationship that we had with him,” Mann said. “His idea

was to be able to talk about current events with future leaders, and to be able to model how to have conversations that are respectful and civil. It's a talk about current issues … ” This year, the symposium featured Steve Inskeep, a journalist for National Public Radio (NPR). According to Mann, Inskeep and Lugar moderated a panel together at UIndy and kept in touch. Mann said Inskeep took the place of Lugar in his talk about current events.

Inskeep said he was happy to stand in and deliver a keynote speech. “ … It's an honor to be associated with something that has to do with Senator Lugar because I admired him as a kid growing up,”Inskeep said.“I understood, regardless of anybody's politics, people were proud of him. People maybe didn't agree with him about every issue, but they knew that he was a national figure and a thoughtful guy. When I grew up and moved to Washington, I found out that that was true. He was a Republican who would work with Democrats, who would offer his best wisdom to whoever needed it, who thought about serious issues, whether they got him on television or not.”

Inskeep’s talk about current events focused on how the United States has influenced the world, particularly in the media. He said he got the idea from his teenage daughter who urged him to watch her favorite television shows.

“They [the television shows] have these deeper meanings in them… Maybe the clearest example is this program called ‘My Hero Academia,’” Isnkeep said. “…

The central superhero is this guy named All Might, who is basically an American superhero. He throws a punch, and it goes Texas Smash. But he's got this wound,

Photo contributed by Lara Mann

National Public Radio's Steve Inskeep speaks at the annual Richard Lugar Symposium on Dec. 4. This is the first time the symposium has been in person since Lugar's passing in 2019 and COVID-19 began and Inskeep took over as the keynote speaker in his absence.

and is slowly losing his power and has to find someone to help him take over. That to me becomes this gigantic metaphor for the world we're living in, and what America has done in the world and America figuring out what we do next.

I find several programs like that to be starting points for the discussion that I want to give.”

The symposium had many other panels covering various topics such as American politics, police reform, systemic racism, the Middle East and how sports communities responded to the pandemic, according to the Lugar

Symposium website.

Two panels brought in guest speakers.

According to the website, the police reform panel featured Lieutenant Brandon Pate of the University of Indianapolis Police Department. The sports panel brought in Sr. Vice President of Penske Entertainment Allison Melangton, President and CEO of Penske Sports and Entertainment Mark Miles and Executive Vice President for Corporation Communications, Community Engagement and Facilities Operations of Pacers Sports & Entertainment Mel Raines, according to

the website. Finally, students participated in a panel focused on college life where they could have their questions answered, Mann said.

“It's because these students will go to college soon,” Mann said. “The student panel is, ‘let's talk about university life while you're here on campus, like what does it mean to be a college student?

What does my day look like? If you're curious about college in general, how can we help answer questions about what it's like to be a college student?’

We get a lot of good feedback about them.”

New COVID variant, Omicron, found

CDC discovers new variant of COVID-19, experts urge continued use of masks and vaccination

By Jacob Walton

may be a rise in breakthrough cases with the new variant. The CDC continues EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & to encourage anyone over the age of 18 CO-BUSINESS MANAGER years or older to receive their booster shot at six months after their primary Another variant of the COVID-19 COVID-19 vaccination of Pfizer or virus has been discovered according Moderna and recommend two months to the Centers for Disease Control after for those that received the Johnson and Prevention (CDC), and has been & Johnson vaccine. classified as the Omicron variant by the For the University of Indianapolis World Health Organization (WHO) campus, there has been a drop in on Nov. 29. According to the WHO, cases overall, but with fall break and the first confirmed infection was from Thanksgiving break recently there has a specimen collected on Nov. 9, and the been a slight spike, but not comparable to CDC said specimens of this new variant the spike seen overall in Marion County, were found on Nov. 11 in Botswana and according to Lead Contact Tracer Kirsti then three days later on Nov. 14 in South Oswalt.

Africa. Since then, it has spread around “I think with us having our vaccination the globe with cases in the United States policy, and then our mandatory testing across 15 states. According to Professor for anyone that had an exemption, that and Director of the Public Health has been helpful for us keeping those Program Heidi Hancher-Rauch, the cases lower,” Oswalt said. “In terms main difference between Omicron and of just tracing in general, we've had the previous iterations of the virus is its a lot less exposures, more or less, we ability to reinfect have the positives, people. and thankfully, they “As of right now, don't have any close I'll be wearing a mask they have discovered contacts. So that's over 50 different tonight. I'll be one of the been good for us.” mutations on the W ith a long few who's there doing it." break coming up new version of the virus, over 30 of this winter, Oswalt them seem to be on said there is a higher the spike protein, which is what allows it level of concern with the new variant and to infect us and basically attach and then students returning back to campus for the infect the body,” Hancher-Rauch said. spring semester. She said despite these "... Now, we are seeing some data out concerns it will most likely be normal of South Africa, that shows that it does for the spring semester. seem to be able to reinfect people who “We still plan on having courses as have already had COVID[-19], more normal next semester. We still want easily than say the Delta variant or some to have everybody back on campus of the others could. They're [WHO] just like we did this semester and have saying this definitely is a reason that we those face to face classes and things should be really pushing people if you're like that,” Oswalt said. “... We're going not vaccinated to get vaccinated, even if to essentially want them [returning you think you have what they call natural students] to monitor those symptoms immunity because that doesn't seem to when they return. Keeping an eye on be working very well against this variant.” those exposures. Still following the According to the CDC, there is still guidelines the CDC states, if they're more data needed to answer questions around people that are unvaccinated, regarding severity of illness for Omicron making sure they're wearing their mask, compared to other variants, but the keeping up socially distance, and that sort current vaccines are still expected to of thing is going to be very important for work against Omicron. However, there us as we kind of leave for winter break.”

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Hancher-Rauch said that the timeline is set so that when Omicron reaches Marion County and starts to spread, students, faculty and staff will be heading out for winter break. She said that as a campus, UIndy has done very well due to the high vaccination rates and continued efforts, such as masking indoors and other enclosed locations. She said that this may be the time for those unvaccinated to do so.

“We just need to get that messaging out that if you're still not vaccinated, maybe now's the time that you finally want to do that,” Hancher-Rauch said.

“I’m seeing in a number of epi[demiology] circles, people saying you still should be

masking in public places, even if you're fully vaccinated, and you might want to get a KN95 [mask] now… the jury's still out on some of the specifics related to the new variant.”

Another concern amid the holiday season and Omicron is travel restrictions internationally and domestically. So far, the Biden Administration has only restricted travel to those countries in South Africa where the variant was originally found according to WKRN. Alongside that, all people traveling into the U.S. will have to show evidence of a negative COVID-19 test within one day of their flight.

According to Hancher-Rauch, there

is a larger risk of variants and further issues with COVID-19 if people do not take the pandemic seriously. She said she understands those who wish the pandemic would be over said that people need to take it seriously for it to end.

“What is really going to get us into trouble is if you know people just go about their daily lives and pretend like there is no COVID-19,” Hancher-Rauch. “We truly need people to continue to take it seriously. And I know we're over the masks. I get it. But you know what, I'm still masking out in public. At my son's high school basketball games, I'll be wearing a mask tonight. I'll be one of the few who's there doing it.”

Graphic by Kiara Conley

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4

SPORTS

THE REFLECTOR

DECEMBER 15, 2021

Look back: Women's soccer 2021 season

By Steven Pagel STAFF WRITER

The UIndy Women’s Soccer team closed their 2021 season out on Nov. 20, with a loss against No. 1 ranked Grand Valley State University with a score of 5-0, according to UIndy Athletics.

The team finished 11-4-3 on the season, similar to their previous season ending with an 11-4-1 record, according to UIndy Athletics. Head Coach Holly Cox said she was very proud of the team’s overall performance on the season and believes the final box score is not indicative of the team’s play.

“We went in with a game plan of how we want to play our soccer and I don’t think the result fully reflected the game,” Cox said. “Early on, I actually felt like we had a few more dangerous opportunities to go up early and even equalize when we went down.”

Cox said she appreciated the determination and will to continue fighting through the games when they were down. Each year the team loses and gains players, which means chemistry on the team is forever needed to be established, according to Cox. Now that the season is over, looking forward and preparing for next season is what’s on the table for the Greyhounds, Cox said. After the last game, the ladies were given two weeks off to decompress from the season and recover, according to Cox. Despite the season ending, the team is not satisfied and is eager to continue working towards more success for next season, senior midfielder Kiki Sauceda said. I“ A lot of the ladies have continued to lift over these past couple of weeks. They've still been working out, they've still been touching base with one another,” Cox said. “I think obviously the season ends. I think you go through a variety

of different emotions; you're upset, or annoyed or angry.”

Needing players to step up, the team saw Sauceda improve and record dominant goal numbers, as she finished with a team high of 33 goals made on the season, according to UIndy Athletics. Sauceda received a lot of accolades including the 2021 Midwest Region Player of the Year, D2CCA All-America First Team, USC AllRegion Second Team D2CCA AllMidwest Region First Team and

All-GLVC First Team, according to UIndy Athletics. Alongside graduate

I always appreciate the team and their ability to never give up." student and back Dana Youssef, the two garnered several rewards for their

spectacular play this season. Youssef played in 17 matches, recording 4 assists and also received many accolades as well, including the 2021-22 GLVC Defensive Player of the Year, D2CCA All-America Third Team, USC All-Region First Team, D2CCA All-Midwest Region First Team, 2X All-GLVC First Team and 2021 Academic All-American, according to UIndy Athletics. The team's focus now is on reflecting on each player's performance, identifying

Photo by Jacob Walton

Senior midfielder Kiki Sauceda carries the ball around a Missouri S&T defender on Oct. 22 in Key Stadium. According to UIndy Athletics, the Greyhounds would finish the game tied 0-0 in double overtime. UIndy would earn their third tie against Maryville Saints.

what they can do better individually and establishing a specific goal to achieve it, according to Cox. Winter is here, the time to begin these next steps is now, Cox said. When this process happened last year, Cox and Sauceda sat down and discussed what improvements Sauceda could make, according to Cox. Sauceda came back this year and scored 33 goals out of 48 shots, according to UIndy Athletics. ““We spoke about how impactful she [Sauceda] can be within the conference and for our team and how she can be dangerous in front and lead and score goals, create goals,” Cox said. “She did a fantastic job of that this year.”

Sauceda followed the advice given from Cox after last season and implemented the improvements in her game. Despite getting much recognition, Sauceda said she prefers to focus on the team and their desire to play for each other.

“I always appreciate this team and their ability to never give up. The heart to bounce back when we didn't end up getting the result that we wanted to play,” Sauceda said.

“Another thing that I would like to also work on as a team and individually within myself, definitely work on the fitness level.”

Looking forward, the team will be putting their heads down and focusing during the offseason until spring arrives, according to Cox. As a whole, the team is confident in each other and the chemistry is there, according to Sauceda. “ We all trust each other. If someone wants to speak up and feel like they can help in an area where we might need help, or something along those lines, our team was willing to listen and willing to take that advice,” Sauceda said. “That's also definitely something that I appreciate a lot. We do have a lot of leaders.”

Second consecutive Final Four Men's soccer reaches their second NCAA Final Four appearance in the previous three seasons

By Jacob Walton

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & CO-BUSINESS MANAGER After making their second consecutive NCAA Final Four appearance, the University of Indianapolis Men’s Soccer team fell to the University of Charleston on Dec. 9 in a double-overtime game that would be decided by penalties 5-3 in the Golden Eagles favor. The Hounds lone goal in the 1-1 double-overtime contest was by senior back Kendall Allen assisted by freshman back Felix Schuetz.

“I think this time around though, there's a much better mentality about us in terms of, [there’s] still a bit of a job to be done,” Higgins said. “I think in 2019, when we got here, we were kind of swept away with the emotion, and I think we were just happy being in the Final Four. I think throughout this whole NCAA tournament run, there's been an expectation that we win games, there's been an expectation that we get here, I think everybody almost expected to get back here. And I think there's a bit of a sense of unfinished business this time around.”

Higgins said that in the 2019 run they entered the tournament as a No. 9 seed, but this time around there was a positive sense of confidence around the entire team, the belief that they deserved to be where they were. He said the 2019 run was crucial for the success of this year’s team.

“We obviously lost in [20]19, we left for the winter break and we came back in the spring of [20]20, and it was the best UIndy team I've ever seen,” Higgins said.“Just from a pure mentality standpoint, we trained like we were one of the best teams in the nation. We acted like we were one of the best teams in the nation, and without making that run in 2019.”

On the way to the Final Four, the team took down Cedarville University, the University of Illinois Springfield and Fort Hayes State University all at Key Stadium.The entirety of the NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament was hosted at UIndy and because

of this UIndy had the ability to see their opponent’s matches prior. However, for the Fort Hayes match, Higgins said he did not allow them to watch because of what it had done to the team for the Cedarville match.

“I thought we were a little complacent against Cedarville [University] because we'd watched them,” Higgins said. “And because it's very, very high confidence in ourselves, we stopped the boys from watching Fort Hayes, it was just the staff.”

The team only gave up one goal across the regional tournament, according to UIndy Athletics, which continued the trend they had shown all season ending with a goals for and against ratio of 5516. According to Rasheed, the moment when they had defeated Fort Hayes and were heading back to the Final Four was special. “ N o t really a sense of relief,but just pure happiness, I felt like this group, we were a huge family,” Rasheed said. “ Experiencing that with their family is just different gravy, it’s different feeling that with the boys that you spent most of your days

with every day, and the amount of hard work we put in, and it paid off on Saturday. It's just a good feeling.”

Throughout the season, the team routinely had big second halves, with the match against Fort Hayes being another example with both of the Hounds’ goals coming in the second half.Throughout the season, the Hounds scored 32 of their 55 goals in the second half, according to UIndy Athletics.

According to Higgins, this is due to the expanded coaching staff that the team employs and also the numerous substitutions they do in the first half.

“We've got a really talented staff and I think that gives me much more opinions than potentially other Division 2 head coaches are getting a halftime so I think there's a tactical component to it where we've got an adjustment or two to make,” Higgins said. “I think the second thing is that we make subs in the first half that other teams are not willing to make so you'll see us, in the first half, we'll make anywhere from five to seven subs, which is really a lot, and it doesn't help us necessarily in the first half. But it helps us later in games. Fort Hayes was a great example of that.

We made all those subs in the first half, we actually lost a little bit of control of the game because we made the subs a n d they

kept their top line up out there. But it paid dividends in the second half because we were much fresher than they were.”

Higgins said that while the goal, of course, is a National Championship at the end of the year, he also wants UIndy Men’s Soccer to be one of the premier programs in the country. He said that he wants people to think of UIndy when they think about Division 2 men’s soccer.

He said that he wants to get to that point for those that he played with at UIndy and for those that have supported the team for the last ten years. He said that these playoff pushes are going to lead the team to where they want to be. “ That's really really where I want to be for UIndy, for the guys that I played with for the alums,for the guys that had spent the last 10 years with me trying to get to this point, and the players that have gone through it.

That's what it's all about, there's nothing better than being on these runs and hearing from the alums,” Higgins said.

“Because the standards are the same, the experience is the same.

We just simply got a bit of a better mentality now and a bit of an expectation that we go and do it. I wouldn't even at times say we're more talented than any of those teams have been,” Higgins said. “I think 2013 was maybe the most talented team I've ever had. But we did not have the level of expectation we did not have just the mentality that that took at that point to be national champs. I believe we've got that now, if it happens this year [then it's] great. If not, my belief is that the expectations will continue to get back to Final Fours and we'll get over the hump a t s om e point.”

SPORTS

5 DECEMBER 15, 2021

THE REFLECTOR

From Lithuania to the U.S. Milana Matias’s journey on becoming first female strength coach at UIndy

By Molly Church STAFF WRITER

In her second year at the University of Indianapolis as a Strength and Conditioning coach, Milana Matias has made quite the impact on UIndy Athletics, according to Strength and Conditioning Coach Steve Barrick. This year, Matias coaches women’s basketball, tennis, women’s soccer and swimming and diving teams, Barrick said.

“She [has a] first one in, last one out type of mentality to her work. She works extremely hard... She’s done a phenomenal job with swim team, tennis, women’s basketball, women’s soccer … and she’s also been a great help to the rest of us with our teams that we work directly with,” Barrick said. “She’s got good leadership skills, good programming, she knows how to run the room, but she’s also really good at taking the small groups, or taking our freshmen that are coming in and teaching them the basic foundational type program that we run and really builds them from the ground up.”

Matias said she is originally from Lithuania and came to the United States for college. She said she started her college education at Vincennes University to play basketball for two years before transferring to the University of Southern Indiana (USI). She said she always wanted to come to the United States for basketball and was able to by playing for Vincennes, where she graduated with her associate’s before getting her degree in exercise science.

“I dreamed to play in the United States either in college or [as a] professional.

I just knew since age ten I wanted to play basketball in the U.S.,” Matias said.

“When I graduated from high school, I looked into different options, I reached out to people, I emailed schools and eventually, I got recruited by Vincennes University.”

Matias spent time working at the New York Military Academy working with the cadets. She was a supervisor and a

By Keshon Griffin & Justus O’Neil

STAFF WRITER & MANAGING EDITOR & CO-BUSINESS MANAGER

Photo by Jacob Walton

Strength and Conditioning graduate assistant Milana Matias walks the field during warm-up of a UIndy football game. Matias said her favorite thing about working at UIndy is the opportunity to work with different sports, athletes and adapt to different team cultures.

sports coach for the kids at the military academy, whose ages were between 13 and 15. She said she was able to get this position because her coach from Vincennes helped her find a job after she graduated from USI. “Little things like being on time, respecting and listening to other opinions and manners, how you behave, those little things were taught in the military academy, and I think those little things really help later on when you get a job,” Matias said. “Just work ethic in general, that’s what I really liked in the military academy.”

Matias said she interned at West Point Military Academy in the Strength and Conditioning Department to help gain experience in her field. She said she had that internship for a year, and had to finish it online due to COVID-19. She said getting the internship was important because having those recommendations and that experience opened up more jobs for her in the future, including the

strength and conditioning coaching job at UIndy. She said she worked with women’s rugby, women’s soccer and swim and dive.

“I just tried to experience as many sports as possible … and be around as many coaches as I possibly could [to] try to learn their coaching style and different training methods that they were running with their teams because every coach is different in some sort of way,”Matias said.

Matias became passionate about strength and conditioning coaching her junior year of college, she said. She got the job offer at UIndy during COVID-19.

Matias said she is the first female strength and conditioning coach at UIndy. One of the things she said she likes about UIndy is that she can work with a variety of sports, especially football, because a lot of other schools would not have given her that opportunity.

“I enjoy working with athletes and being able to adapt to different cultures and different sports,” Matias said. “For example, I get to work with [the] tennis

team, which they are all international, and I’ve felt like I can connect with them in different ways than I could … with other sports.That was the way I connected with them, but women’s basketball is my other sport that I work with, and I’ve played basketball too... [so] I could really relate to them and how they were feeling.”

Barrick said working with Matias is great because of her work ethic and her good attitude. He said she has been a great addition to the athletic department and the fact that she cares so much about what she is doing is what makes her a great fit at UIndy.

“She fits in from a work ethic standpoint,” Barrick said. “She cares about the success of our teams, she works well with athletic training and sports medicine, she works well with the coaches, she’s a great communicator amongst the department and because of that she helps us all get better.”amongst the department and because of that she helps us all get better.”

and watch some high-class tennis,”Tabet university. said. “That is the main reason really to try “The main reason I wanted to put a bid to boost our exposure toward our tennis for this ITA national championship was community.” to actually get our tennis community in The recent fundraiser will be able to Indianapolis and the surrounding areas support the cost of the tournament in the to know about UIndy Tennis,”Tabet said. months to come as well as being able to “As much as we know some people know help the tennis team connect with the that we are nationally ranked, and we donors, according to Tabet. are one of the best teams in the country Senior tennis and the best team in player Maria the city.”

Solnyshkina was Ta b e t s a i d b e i n g a b l e t o ...it’s really cool that we can involved in the event, she said the host the Indoor have this opportunity to fundraiser will Championship for help our team...” benefit the tennis Division 2, with program. h e l p f ro m t h e “I think it’s really fundraisers, is huge cool that we can have this opportunity to for the university because it will let help our team to do better and achieve people know about the tennis program more stuff,” Solnyshkina said. and hopefully be able to bring more The advantages of hosting the exposure to them. tournament at the university will greatly “They still don’t know the level of promote how the university has its own tennis that we play, so I’m hoping that tennis facility that is open to the public, we will be able to bring those people over

according to Tabet. Junior tennis player Nikolaj Talimaa said he is excited to be able to host the tournament in Indianapolis because it is a familiar court to the UIndy Tennis Team. “... Last year we were in Oklahoma playing the National Championship and now I think being here is a huge advantage for us,”Talimaa said. “Playing at home, we know the courts, [and] hopefully a lot of people will show up and cheer for us.”

The tennis team is planning on hosting another ‘Doubles with Donors’ event in February with the same concept as the previous one in hopes of raising more money for the tournament, since the process was very simple, according to Tabet.

“It was just inviting the right people who love the club, love our team, and support our tennis program,” Tabet said. ”It’s people from the club faculties, friends from the tennis community, close friends.”

‘Doubles with Donors’ event

By Lindsey Wormuth STAFF WRITER

The University of Indianapolis Tennis Team hosted a fundraiser called ‘Doubles with Donors’ on Dec. 3 to help raise money for the Indoor National Championship in February, according to UIndy Athletics.The fundraiser will help the team lower the cost of hosting the tournament. Head Coach Malik Tabet said he had the idea behind ‘Doubles with Donors.’

“We pair them up, we have one donor and one tennis player, and they play against another pair of one tennis player and one donor,” Tabet said.

The University of Indianapolis will host the ITA DII Men’s Team Indoor Championship at the indoor tennis facility owned by the university from Feb.18-20 2022, according to UIndy Athletics. Tabet said he placed a bid to have the indoor championship at the

Track and Field breaks records

Photo by Jacob Walton

Photo by Jacob Walton

Senior tennis player Dominik Koenig participates in ‘Doubles with Donors’ fundraiser on Friday, Dec. 3 in the UIndy Tennis Center. Players were paired with donors in the event.

UIndy’s President Robert Manuel returns a serve from former UIndy tennis player Renato Lima. Manuel was just one of the many people from UIndy that participated in the event.

University of Indianapolis Track and Field is once again kicking off their season in historic fashion with multiple school records falling within the first two weeks of the season, according to UIndy Athletics. The team is already coming off of a great year, with senior Ben Nagel and graduate student Berenice Cleyet-Merle both having record years. Nagel came away with the Elite 90 Award while Cleyet-Merle captured a national championship in the 800-meter, according to UIndy Athletics. Already Cleyet-Merle has continued where she left off from last season with her taking down the 3000-meter record, according to UIndy Athletics.

Redshirt senior thrower Keeton Adams said the work the team put in will translate into the competitions. The team is looking forward to returning to the Athletics and Recreation Center (ARC) after not having many meets there last season.

Director of Track and Field Scott Fangman said the team is a good team that still has a ways to go.

Fangman praises the group’s fitness and conditioning coming into the season.

“We’re about as fit as we’ve been.

They [team] came that way, almost across the board, every group, because we’ve got about five different groups,” Fangman said. “That’s what I love about track. It’s a sport for everybody, tall, thin, short, I don’t care who you are.

We can, a lot of times, find a spot for you. Fitness-wise, they came in some pretty good shape.”

Adams, who battled with injuries last season, said he is looking at this as his redemption year. According to UIndy Athletics, Keeton placed third in the 2021 GLVC Outdoor Conference Championship for shot put.

According to Fangman, he foresees Adams and Cleyet-Merle having a big year. Cleyet-Merle started the season as a defending national champion in the 800-meter and alongside her newly acquired school record, she owns the 800-meter record at a time of 2:06.80 and is a part of the DMR record at 11:42:87. These accolades led CleyetMerle to be the first Greyhound GLVC Women’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Year becoming the first Greyhound to be selected for the award since Angelique McNeal in 2011, according to UIndy Athletics.

According to Cleyet-Merle, the national championship gave her more confidence and she looks to build on that coming into the season. CleyetMerle said she is excited to race after not racing since August and is very motivated to get back out there and build on her championship season.

“Now I have more confidence because last year I was careful, so this year I’m going to take more risks and I can’t wait to race,” Cleyet-Merle said.

According to Fangman, last year’s team had 17 athletes qualify for the nationals, compared to the usual average of five to seven athletes that qualify. Fangman said the team came back in better shape, stronger, rested or improved in some way. According to Fangman, the team is eager to see how good they really are this season.

“I think we’re ready. We’re definitely ready to fire a gun and see how fast we are,” Fangman said. “That’s what everybody wants. They want to see how fast we are, how far they can throw, how high they can jump, how far they can jump … you know, those kinds of things.”

According to Adams, the team looks good and has a lot of upsides overall.

Adams said he is excited about the new additions to the team and said the new transfers and freshmen are a great addition to the team.

Adams said the team is feeling great and looking forward to having a regular indoor season after not having many indoor meets last year due to COVID-19. Along with this, Adams said that he is hopeful to have a high achieving team and potentially win the conference title.

“COVID[-19] and everything last year was kind of a weird indoor season with only, I think we had three meets total or four meets total,” Adams said.

“Coming in and being able to actually have a normal indoor season, it’s going to be good.”

6

FEATURE

THE REFLECTOR

DECEMBER 15, 2021

'GlamourGals' battles senior isolation

By Jacob Walton

Photo by Logan Wong

GlamourGals members sophomore liberal arts major Mya Zunun and sophomore psychology and pre-OT major Vanessa Stiers created Thanksgiving cards to send to nursing homes on Nov. 18. The club has many other projects directed that are towards seniors.

Photo by Logan Wong

On Nov. 18, the GlamourGals Registered Student Organization created Thanksgiving cards to send to senior citizens in nursing homes. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic they were unable to enter the nursing homes as they normally do so they made cards instead.

high school.”

Currently, GlamourGals is working EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & with Five Star Residences of Banta CO-BUSINESS MANAGER Pointe, south of UIndy’s campus, but due to COVID-19 they have not gotten the chance to actually enter the retirement Senior isolation, which is the barriers community and do makeovers, according that isolate senior citizens from their to McGill. She said that instead, they peers and family, has grown within have been working on items such as nursing homes all around America due writing cards, care packages and other to the COVID-19 pandemic, according items. Brixey said that the challenges of to the CDC. The health risk includes operating and accomplishing their goals increased risk of dementia, depression, during COVID-19 has helped with anxiety and other factors, such as a 29% creativity and their ability to overcome increased risk of heart disease and a 32% obstacles. increased risk of stroke. GlamourGals, What sets GlamourGals apart from a University of Indianapolis Registered other service organizations on campus is Student Organization, was founded the type of service they do, Brixey said. in the fall of 2020 by senior human She said that the biology pre-physical majority of the time therapy major people assume that and GlamourGals ... sometimes when you service is working President Madison Brixey and don't see others, it can be i n a h o m e l e s s shelter or going s e n i o r e x e rc i s e hard to think positively..." on a mission trip science major and but GlamourGals GlamourGals is a unique spin Treasurer Deirdre on service because they are helping a McGill, among others, with the goal of normally overlooked cause. helping reduce senior isolation in the According to McGill,the organization Indianapolis community. currently consists of six board members According to Brixey, the RSO with there being roughly 25 members is a chapter of a national service outside of the board. McGill said these organization that features high schools projects mean a lot to those they are and colleges all around the country. helping.

Brixey said she was the main driving “Honestly, it might really mean force behind getting GlamourGals everything to them to know that they started at UIndy as she had started a really aren't alone,”McGill said.“Because GlamourGals organization in high sometimes when you don't see others, it school after finding out about the can be hard to think positively and think, organization at the Hugh O'Brian Youth ‘Oh, there's still people that care about me Leadership Conference. and still people that are thinking about “They had a GlamourGals chapter me.’ Having these little care packages come in, that you could volunteer with, sent to them or little blankets or things and one of my friends at the time like that, that we've done in the past.’” was super interested in volunteering Brixey said that students don't have with them just because you got to to have any special skills to work with give the elderly makeovers,” Brixey GlamourGals. She said that in the said. “That was all filled up, it was future she hopes that GlamourGals super popular, and my friend at the reaches the levels of Delight Ministries time looked into it and was like, and other RSO’s that people look ‘I want to start one of these.’ Our junior forward to joining when they come to year, she looked at starting one and just UIndy. never got it off the ground. And then Those that are interested in joining my senior year, I lost the class president the GlamourGals organization can election to my ex-boyfriend. I ended reach out to them via their Instagram up turning that around and getting into which is @UIndyGG or email them at service instead, so I had time to then glamourgals@uindy.edu. start the GlamourGals chapter in my

Etchings launches 34th issue

UIndy's literary magazine publishes variety of short stories, essays, other works by Greyhounds

By Sara Brummett STAFF WRITER

For the last 34 years, the University of Indianapolis’s literary magazine, Etchings, has published student, faculty and alumni inspired pieces, both online and in print. According to assistant English professor Liz Whiteacre, Etchings hosted its 34th issue launch party on Dec. 7. Whiteacre said that the launch party consisted of performances and readings of pieces that were published in the current issue, which was published on Dec. 7.

According to Whiteacre,the magazine consists of pieces made by anyone in the Greyhound community, including poems, short stories and essays, musical compositions and digital art. She said that there have also been scenes from movies and plays, as well as some spoken word.

“Sometimes you’ll see sheet music or you’ll see the lyrics for a piece published, along with the audio on the website,” Whiteacre said. “Then, [there’s] pretty much any kind of visual art that can be photographed and included in the magazine. Things that are 3-D, really big pieces, as long as we can get a nice

photograph to be able share with the community. Artists of all mediums are encouraged to participate.”

Etchings is a part of the ENG 379 course that’s offered in the fall and winter terms with no prior prerequisite classes required, according to Whiteacre.

Once enrolled in the course, a student becomes a part of the editorial team for the current issue and helps to create the magazine, Whiteacre stated. As part of the magazine’s policy, all submissions are anonymous and are selected by a single submissions editor, which for this semester, is senior English and secondary education major Danielle Shaw. In order for the magazine to get submissions, the Etchings staff posts through social media, class visits, fliers and other connections around campus, according to Whiteacre.

“This semester, I am the submissions editor, so basically, people would submit things through our website, etchings. submittable.com,” Shaw said. “I was in charge of collecting the submissions and putting them in folders and organizing the titles and the type for our other staff to read and vote on. I control pretty much all of the submissions and make sure that no identical information is in the documents that people submit, that

way we have a blind submission process.”

This was Shaw’s first in-person launch party in the three years that she had been on the Etchings staff, to which she said she felt excited and a little overwhelmed. She said that there were over 20 performers at this year’s launch party, so it made it hard for the staff to fit everyone in during their small time slot of an hour. For this current issue, the staff decided to try some new and exciting things, namely the inclusion of pieces of content that are accompanied by warnings, according to Shaw.

“I don’t think this is the first semester that we’ve had content warnings, but we have several pieces with content warnings and we basically, as a staff, decided that this was the direction that we wanted to take our magazine in,” Shaw said. “Because we do want to show [that] there are things that happen in people’s lives and that have happened to people on campus … that are actually impactful and could be traumatic and it’s nice… we can show students that they’re not alone. On top of that, we also have some musical compositions, which are great. We have a lot of digital art… It’s a fun magazine. It will provide something to anybody who reads it and

I’m really looking forward to people being able to read it and see what we have to offer.”

Whiteacre said she sees Etchings as a huge learning opportunity for everyone who reads it because of all of the content that the magazine provides. She also said that the magazine not only shows the creativity in the UIndy community, but it also provides some insight into the world of publication.

“I think Etchings magazine highlights

the creative work that UIndy is producing and engages students, alumni, faculty and staff in a meaningful community. In addition to that, it offers an opportunity for contributors and editors and readers to participate in meaningful professional development,” Whiteacre said. “…

The campus community produces a publication that’s shared, not just with UIndy, but [with] a much wider audience and people get to experience publication and they get to promote their work.”

Photo contributed by Liz Whiteacre

According to English professor Liz Whiteacre, around 105 people attended in person at the launch, while another 69 people attended via Zoom. The launch was held on Dec. 7.

ENTERTAINMENT

7 DECEMBER 15, 2021

THE REFLECTOR

Late artist’s works put on display

By Hallie Gallinat

FEATURE EDITOR & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR As visitors walk into the newest exhibition at the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center Gallery, they are greeted with works by late artist Terry Copen.

The exhibition, open from Nov. 15 to Dec. 17, showcases the various pieces created by Copen across a span of 40 years, according to UIndy Events.

Copen was born in Atlanta in 1950 and in the 1970s, he left the South and headed north to Canada, according to UIndy Events. However, his car broke down in Indianapolis and he stayed in Indianapolis until 1991, where he attended the Herron School of Art, according to UIndy Events. Copen then moved to Texas in 2003 and passed away in February 2021 of cancer, according to UIndy Events.

Gallery coordinator for the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center and adjunct faculty member Mark Ruschman said the gallery includes paintings, sketches and wall relief constructions from Copen, among other forms of art. According to Ruschman, there are no particular themes to the pieces on display, but his works express his feelings on topics such as societal class and race. Ruschman said that many of his pieces also are autobiographical and dealt with his life or observations of what was going on in the world around him.

“So the work, as the labels state, he was influenced by the Neo-expressionists of the day, the artists of the day,” Ruschman said.“And you can see that there in what’s been written, what that is, but like all artists, they’re influenced by the world around them in one form or another by the artists who come before them or who are their contemporaries. And in that regard, Terry was no different. Much of his work deals with his observations of the world around him and how they impact him and have impacted others.”

Ruschman said he became acquainted

with Copen in the 1980s when Copen was a student at Herron. He said that Copen was also one of the founding members of the 431 Gallery, a nonprofit and artist-run gallery that opened in 1984 on Massachusetts Avenue, according to UIndy Events.

According to Ruschman, he was contacted by Copen’s wife Katharine Ellis-Copen, who wanted his work to be returned to Indianapolis. Ruschman said that all of the pieces were in Houston so they had to be transported up to Indiana.

“Of course I was going to call on... my UIndy gallery studies students to help make all of that happen,”Ruschman said.

“But there were a lot of logistics involved in actually just physically getting the

Much of his work deals with his observations of the world around him...” work up here. And then it was up to me with the help of my students to select the work, prepare the gallery and install the work and open the exhibition, which we successfully did.”

Ellis-Copen, who was Copen’s partner for 35 years, said Copen was an artist above all else. She said that he spent a lot of time in his studio and his concern from every waking moment was his art.

“When we first got married, he used to really amuse me cause he carried little pads of paper to sketch ideas and things like that,” Ellis-Copen said. “And we’d be talking about where we’re going to go for “X” amount of time before we left and whenever we would pull out of the driveway, his mind would be on whatever he was working on. And if I didn’t stop him, he’d just drive to a grocery store no matter where we’re planning on going.”

According to Ellis-Copen, along with some of Copen’s works being inspired by the injustices of the Jim

Crow era that he grew up amid, some of his works included his interest in religion. She said he was interested in Revelations and other parts of the Bible, along with heaven and hell. She said that the ideas for his art came from the study of art and art history, as well as the themes he was interested in. She said Copen was interested in the actual technique and liked to do things manually, such as woodworking.

“He’s what I would call a son of the south, so he grew up during the Jim Crow era in Georgia, and as a little kid, he felt the injustice of it, but he couldn’t do anything about it,” Ellis-Copen said. “That heightened, big sense of right and wrong for him and a sense of injustice. And that was the majority of his artwork would be dealing with those themes. Not always necessarily the south and racial themes, but could be the government, could be the power systems, institutions, things like that.”

Ellis-Copen said she knew Ruschman and knew that he had seen Copen’s work before. She said she thought Copen’s work deserved to be seen by more people because Copen did not have an interest in exhibiting his work.

“I reached out to Mark Ruschman and Mark had seen some of Terry’s work really decades before,but still remembered some of it and had a sense of it and through Mark, who has a relationship with UIndy, the idea to go ahead and display there was really through Mark Ruschman and what I wanted to accomplish out of it is I wanted Terry’s work to go to some institutions, museums, so that it’s protected and can be taken care of and be see,” Ellis-Copen said.

Ruschman believes UIndy students, staff and faculty should see this exhibition because Copen’s art, along with his contemporaries, played a part in the Indianapolis art scene. He said that Copen’s art represents a time and place in Indiana art history. Ellis-Copen said she wants Copen’s work to be protected and to be inspiring to those who come and see the exhibition.

“I think about when I was a little kid, my mom took me to the Detroit Art Institute and I went through the Egyptian Wing and it was super impactful to me because I had no idea that that existed, that there were things that were that old, things that were that interesting,” Ellis-Copen said. “And it

really gave me an interest for the rest of my life, which I wouldn’t have had.

And on a selfish part, I want Terry’s work protected, but you also don’t know, his work is very good, you don’t know someone who may see it. It might be that same spark for them that I had when I went to the Detroit museum.”

Photo by MaKenna Maschino

On display in the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center Art Gallery is one of Terry Copen’s works titled “Dark Moon.” This work, created in 1992, is hand-carved and made of wood.

UIndy Underground Theatre Productions ‘Church and State’ play discusses gun violence ‘Gruesome Playground Injuries’ interlaces lives “It’s very much like, you love to hate him, but you hate to love him kind of thing, because he’s STAFF WRITER just so complex,” Craig said. “But overall, I think that Charles has a good heart and is a good person A back room at North Carolina State University regardless of what the reporters would say on is the setting of the production “Church and State,” Twitter.” directed by senior communication and theatre Tally said during the beginning of the production major Kyle Jeanor that ran on Dec. 3 and 4. The process, the playwright’s goal was mentioned for play is written by actor and playwright Jason the show. Playwrights often write shows to be Odell Williams and centers around relevant forever, she said. However, a North Carolina Republican U.S. Williams wrote the play to one day senator three days before his running be irrelevant in the hope that society for re-election. The primary focus is grows past school shootings, according on a comment the senator made to a to Tally. blogger questioning God’s relevance “I think that was one of the more in the aftermath of a school shooting important factors in choosing this at his children’s school, according to play, which was a good realization for UIndy Events. myself. Being able to kind of notate in The show starred junior public my mind that this shouldn’t be normal,” health major Randy Craig as Tally said. “ This shouldn’t be Senator Charles Whitmore, the an everyday thing that we deal with. conservative senator questioning Just seeing the Michigan shooting and his faith in the wake of his children’s being like, ‘another one,’ That shouldn’t JEANOR school shooting. Sarah Whitmore, be the reaction that we have. So this play Charles’ devout Christian wife who tries to kind of addresses that and how we shouldn’t be so steer the senator towards the direction of the desensitized from all of this because of how often faith he ran on in the previous election, was it happens.” played by senior theatre major Audrey Panyard According to Jeanor,the show ends with the senator and senior theatre and communication major getting shot after his re-election when he makes his Kielynn Tally played Alex Klein, the liberal Jewish acceptance speech. This leads his wife to assume his campaign manager for the senator who is focused position and get voted in as senator on getting him reelected after his comment where a proposed gun control amendment was put on Twitter. is made to Congress called According to Jeanor, the play the W hitmore Amendment. discusses the connection between At the end of the show, while the vote religion, gun violence and politics and is being shown in the background, the what should or should not be said. The senator is shown giving his speech that play begins with Senator Whitmore won him his re-election. breaking the news to his wife and his Jeanor said he dedicated this campaign manager of a comment he production to two students specifically; made to a blogger at the funeral of Nick Dworet, who had committed the victims of the shooting at his kids’ to swim at UIndy with the freshman school that killed 29 people. class of 2022 and passed away in the “It’s kind of a show about going Parkland mass shooting, and Koebe back and forth about what he Clopton, a UIndy student who passed should go out and say during the away due to gun violence earlier this TALLY speech three days before he’s going year. According to the program, to get elected. And eventually he goes out the play was also dedicated to victims of there,” Jeanor said. “… He rips up the original g u n v i o l e n c e f r o m V i r g i n i a Te c h , prepared statement, he gives a very impassioned Tucson, Newtown, Columbine, Aurora, Charleston, speech about what he thinks should happen. And Orlando, Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs, Parkland the people of North Carolina re-elect him, which and those who suffer namelessly every day. is really fantastic.”

Whitmore’s speech in the play included the names According to Craig, Jeanor had chosen of schools listed in the program dedication. the play for his senior capstone project and “I think it’s very important that we remember beforehand had the cast read over some other when you’re looking at this fictitious senator, options before everyone landed on “Church and fictitious senator’s wife, to remember that State.” Craig said his character creates a sort this is something that happens in our lives,” of love-hate dynamic with the audience, with Jeanor said. “And that was kind of I think, Whitmore displaying qualities of a good person the reminder of it for me, if I ever questioned what and at points creating frustration with his actions.

I was doing, I just thought about them.”

By Anika Yoder

By Frida Fonseca & Hallie Gallinat

STAFF WRITER & FEATURE & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Two people, over the course of 30 years, continue to intersect in bizarre ways, according to UIndy Events. This is the plot of the University of Indianapolis Underground production “Gruesome Playground Injuries,” created by playwright Rajiv Joseph, directed by senior theatre education major Kristen Newlin and performed on Dec. 10 and 11, according to UIndy Events.

According to Newlin, this production is about two friends named Kayleen and Doug who grow up together on a 30-year journey. Kayleen, played by junior theatre major Kathryn Rohlfing, and Doug, played by freshman history secondary education major Morgan Henry, continue to be brought together through tragedies or other accidents in their lives, according to Newlin.

“It [the play] kind of shows how friendships and relationships evolve through time … how the baggage people carry with them and the trauma that we carry, how that evolves us through time and what that brings to relationships,” Newlin said.

“It’s just really about these two friends’ lives through 30 years and how they change and how their life ended up really.”

The play jumps around through increments of time that show the two friends at different ages, such as one scene where the friends are 8-years-old and another featuring them as 23-year-olds, Newlin said. Rohlfing said that it is Doug who continues to bring the friends together through his injuries.

According to Rohlfing, she had to focus on developing the relationship between the two characters. She said that they had to focus on the

relationship first and foremost due to these characters knowing each other for 30 years.

Newlin said that along with directing, she was also in charge of designing the play. She said that she designed the costumes, set and lighting design for the play. According to Newlin, the play had a quick turnaround with around five weeks to rehearse.

“Overall, it’s been working out. I start[ed] tech week on Sunday [Dec. 5,] so that’s kind of getting into the show, preparing for the show next weekend.

So it’s just been a fun process to kind of get to do all that stuff on my own and see what’s in my head come to life,” Newlin said.

Rohlfing said that she auditioned for the play back in late September to early October. However, she said both she and Newlin had to wait on working with the play due to both of them participating in the “Taming of the Shrew” play in late October.

She said she was excited to perform it live as well as perform in her first dramatic role.

“This is my first lead dramatic role … There are a lot of comedic elements to the show but it is a drama at its base,” Rohlfing said. “I’m really excited to go out there and portray, because this character is very complex, nothing in this show is straightforward and as it seems. Everything has a complexity to it.”

Newlin said she was excited to perform this play for an audience, and because of COVID-19 last year, everything was live-streamed instead of being performed live. She said that this was also her first real production she has done.

“I’m just really excited for people to sit there and watch everything, so that is a big excitement for that part,” Newlin said. “But behind the scenes, I’m just ready to see everything become realized. It’s like a big machine, so when every part is perfectly put into place, that’s when you really see the show come together...”

Photo by Kiara Conley

Junior theatre major Kathryn Rohlfing and freshman history education major Morgan Henry play Kayleen and Doug in “Gruesome Playground Injuries” a play that tells the story of two friends who come together over years.

NEWS

8 THE REFLECTOR

Nursing introduces minor

Nursing program students finish courses in primary care minor for first time

By Justus O’Neil

MANAGING EDITOR & CO-BUSINESS MANAGER The nursing program at the University of Indianapolis introduced the first minor within nursing in the United States in 2019, the primary nursing care minor. UIndy received a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant in partnership with Community Health Network in 2018 which was to be spent towards primary care in some manner. A team of nursing faculty partnered with Community Health Network to create the minor. Among the faculty was Assistant Professor Julie Blazek, who was hired as a faculty member in 2018 after having previously been an adjunct professor.

“I was hired specifically to help create this minor,” Blazek said. “I was an adjunct at the time and I was the only faculty ... that had any experience in primary care or the outpatient side of things…”

Blazek said that the development of the minor began with a crosswalk process. These crosswalks include assessing objectives and topics within the pre-existing courses and comparing them with the objectives for the primary care minor and filling the gaps based on what is lacking, according to Blazek. The minor consists of four total courses, one pre-existing course and three courses created for the minor. The three courses include; NURE 300: Roles and Standards in Clinical and Professional Practice in

Ambulatory Care Settings, NURE Nursing Karen Elsea was also on the 310: Information Technology and team for the creation of the minor and Communication in Ambulatory Care said that when developing the minor, Settings, NURE 320: Coordination they used the American Association of Care in Ambulatory Settings and of Ambulatory Care nurses’ scope NURB 440: Transitional Care in Primary and standards to evaluate the current Population Health. curriculum and its gaps.

“The big reason behind this push “And we use their scope and standards is because everything in the nursing to completely structure the classes school is geared towards inpatient, that we have, three classes that we acute care, very little is talked about in came up with,” Elsea said. “So it kind the outpatient setting, or primary care. of mirrors what they say is important in And that's where most of the care actually their practice. We just use that as kind takes place, is outside of the hospital,” of the guide for the entire format of the Blazek said.“So forever the push has been minor.” to get nurses in hospitals, that's where Elsea said one of the things that we need them. Well, now with the cost students gain from the minor is the of custom medicine ability to understand rising, they're trying more about to get insurance chronic illness companies’ patients But also, at the clinics, we o u t s i d e o f t h e in and out as quickly acute environment. would get a lot of as they can. There Be that a diabetic is a big need now patient or a hands-on experience." for those nurses to patient with be on the outside, congestive heart now caring for failure, seeing them those patients that have come out of the in the outpatient setting is different, hospital to keep them from having to be Elsea said. readmitted for the same thing…” “ When they see them in this According to Blazek, each of environment, they start to see what in the three courses include 50 hours their home environment is impacting of clinical training, totaling 150 them,” Elsea said. “What resources do additional clinical hours on top of the they have or not have available to them in required major courses. She said that their community? What kinds of teaching each student is placed with a preceptor, do they really need long term? I mean, which is a registered nurse working in they're in hospital for such a short amount the primary care setting, with whom of time. But in this environment, this they shadow and work with throughout is where you really make the difference, their coursework. and keep someone out of the hospital Assistant Professor and Undergraduate or try to keep somebody as healthy as Program Director for the School of possible…”

Photo by Tim Mathioudakis

Nursing major and primary nursing care minor Payton Kumpf will complete the four courses required for the minor this semester and plans to graduate in May 2022. Kumpf said that this minor opens up an opportunity to experience different clinical settings as well as more one on one education through their preceptors.

“One big thing is that [the minor] shows me how many options there are in nursing. There’s more than just inpatient nursing jobs. But also, at the clinics, we would get a lot of hands-on experience,” Kumpf said. “A lot of the time, this semester especially, I was running around in the office, rooming patients, giving injections and taking vitals, just getting that extra hands-on practice.”

According to Kumpf, she has worked in five different settings including Stop 11 Clinic, Reach North, Internal Medicine North, an infusion clinic as well as a vaccine clinic. Kumpf said that she chose to go into the field of nursing because she ultimately wants to help people. She said that her experience in the outpatient setting has been different from the inpatient setting because she gets to form connections with her patients as opposed to trying to treat as many patients as possible.

“Primary care is so, so important.

We need people to go to their primary care visits so we can prevent them from having even worse illnesses where they end up in the hospital in the first place,” Kumpf said. “Primary care is very, very special, and important, and I think this minor is going to prove that as we continue forward.”

Photo by Tim Mathioudakis

Assistant Dean of Nursing Tia Bell speaks at a dinner held to honor nursing students in the primary care minor and their clinical partners from the Community Health Network.

Students and faculty in the nursing department attend a dinner to celebrate those who are the first to complete the UIndy primary care minor, the first of it's kind in the country.

Encounters from page 1

Incident from page 1

has violated University policies and/or rules and that more severe conduct action will result should the student be involved in other violations while the student is enrolled at the University,” to expulsion from the university.

While Donahue is satisfied with the way the university is handling the situation, she said the whole event has been unnerving and left her scared to be alone downstairs in Warren Hall. She said the incident is very telling in terms of the culture at UIndy if people feel they can openly speak like this, and she hopes the university works toward letting people know that it’s not OK. Donahue said she would recommend that the university implement presentations for freshmen about racism, similar to the mandatory Title IX presentations.

“I think definitely,with these situations happening, it's clear that people at UIndy feel like they're welcome or they're comfortable with saying stuff like this,” Donahue said. “I definitely think it's UIndy's job to just make sure this is not a safe space for people to just be rude to other people, especially regarding race.

That's messed up.”

Avila said that because of the experiences she has had with racism on campus, she often has felt unwelcome and unsupported at the university. She said this is not what it’s like at UIndy all of the time, and she has met many amazing people and does not want to discredit the good. However, she said, there are feelings that only people of color can understand and relate to, and there has not been enough appropriate support or actions when students speak up.

“It's not fair for me to have to come here, already not feel welcomed all the time, not feel supported, and then have to solve that. . .” Avila said. “But I just say, getting the staff to really take the time to understand our perspectives and to

really listen to our stories, because that's where you get our insight, and that's how you'd know how we feel is when we have people come and really talk to us and understand our stories . . . that's what matters.”

Ward said that if any student is experiencing an issue, she encourages that student to report it. Students do not have to come forward about these incidents if they don’t wish to, she said, but the university wants to support its students.

“Even if they don't want to do anything formally,” Ward said, “please, seek one of us out so that we can provide supportive services to you. [That] is really what we want, because we want our students to be taken care of. That's what we care about. We're not here because we're making millions of dollars. We're here because we love students and want to give them the experiences that we had as college students, too.”

Avila said diversity is important on college campuses because schools need to be an accurate representation of what the world really is. Students are going into various fields and need to be able to handle instances in which people do not look like them, and they should be able to work with others and stay functional, she said.

“If you're only taught one thing, then you'll only see things from one perspective. You're not going to be set up for success,” Avila said. “We'd be set up for failure. For people who aren't of color to come here and just see things from their [own] perspective, it's like, OK, then how would you deal with other instances when you go out, and you go into your career, and you don't see people who just look like you? It's the same thing for me, as like all my entire community was Latinx, and then I came here, and I was like, OK, it's not just that perspective.

I need to understand everyone else's.”

sense of belonging on our campus; that's something we have to do together.”

Following the news of the incident, several students shared their thoughts and concerns about other racist incidents on campus on the UIndy App, some posts arguing about the definition of racism and others calling out students for making comments about race. Manuel did not specify if the university was aware of these posts. “ … the [UIndy] App is one place where voices can talk about the realities on campus. Amber [Smith], Kory Vitangeli [and] I are out there, listening and talking to students all the time [and hearing] lots of feedback,” Manuel said. “And we act on that feedback at every moment that we are here on campus. And so if you're looking only at the app, you're seeing momentary spikes of concern. But Amber [Smith], for example, and I are out there talking with people all the time and have a good sense of where the concerns are, where the questions are and where the opportunities are.

And so while you may have seen a spike on the campus app, our ears are to the ground on a pretty regular basis to know where the concerns are.”

Manuel said that between Smith’s, Vice President for Student and Campus Affairs and Dean of Students Kory Vitangeli’s areas of work and his own connections, they all have been constantly talking with students to know where they need to address questions on anything that could potentially prevent campus from being a safe and opening community. He said that those issues will be addressed immediately.

“And that's why it was Amber [Smith] and me and Kory [Vitangeli] that put that email out,” Manuel said, “because anything that begins to

threaten the safety and the well-being of our community isn't going to be tolerated.”

Manuel said that resources have and always will be available on campus. A bias incident form was attached to his email about the incident. The email said to “report incidents in which behaviors (verbal or non-verbal), by an individual or group, are perceived to be malicious or discriminatory toward another individual or group.”

The web page for the form says that submissions will be sent to the Office of Inclusion and Equity email address and that all reports will be kept confidential to the greatest extent possible. Manuel’s email also provided a link to the Office of Inclusion and Equity homepage, which provides additional resources and information.

“But the things that you're going to look at are not because of this incident,” Manuel said. “They exist because we care about making an inclusive, open and culturally fluid environment. And Amber's work, and our work, to make sure that that's happening on campus is ongoing, and in perpetuity, [and] will be with us forever.”

Smith said that it is important for the campus community to come together and stick together at all times and that everyone to look out for one another.

“I would also like to add that there is hate speech, and there's kind speech.

And our goal is to increase kind speech, right? So let's be actively finding ways to show kindness in our words and our actions,” Smith said. “And so you're going to hear more from me later on as it relates to a campaign associated with random acts of kindness, kind words, kind deeds . . . we want to impact our culture or our campus in that way.”

DECEMBER 15, 2021

SLAB hosts UIndy's first winter formal

By Molly Church STAFF WRITER

University of Indianapolis hosted its first winter formal for students in the Egyptian Room at Old National Centre.

The dance took place on Dec. 4 and gave students an opportunity to have some fun before finals week, according to junior elementary education major and campus traditions chair Abi Postma.

Postma said the winter formal was partially decided upon this year because the Student Leadership and Activities Board (SLAB) wanted students to have something at the end of the semester.

With COVID-19, they were hoping guidelines would be less strict later in the semester.

“We wanted to have something to look forward to because everything is usually right at homecoming and then you have nothing except for midnight breakfast that's in December,” Postma said. “Having something at the very end, just for students to look forward to is something we were really programming for.”

Precautions against COVID-19 were still being taken at the event, according to Postma. She mentioned that students had to either have been tested negative 72 hours beforehand, or be fully vaccinated in order to attend the dance at this venue.

Assistant Director of Student Activities Sarah Beck said that the Egyptian Room being the venue for this event was one of the features that would make it fun. She said that the venue was secured a long time ago and that this event has been a big focus for the semester.

“Our staff has been working hard to select the catering items and there is a lot of amazing food going to be served, and the venue is so great, the Egyptian Room, that we don't need to do a lot to make it amazing because the venue is amazing,” Beck said. “We have a special balloon arch for a photo op, and the catering will really be the highlight. We also have secured a DJ, Iman [Tucker], he’s one of the favorites, he’s an alum.

Those three features will be a lot of fun.”

This is the first winter formal dance that UIndy has had in place of the homecoming dance, according to Postma.

She said that the winter formal was different from homecoming not just based on when it is, but with a variety of other things as well. She said the dance would have food such as cheeseburgers, vegetarian options and many different types of desserts.

“This is a little different from homecoming just because with homecoming we always announce it as just a homecoming dance, there's nothing super spectacular. This time, there's not necessarily a theme, but it's more of a winter aspect, so a lot of people I think are doing the blues and bringing out the winter colors,” Postma said. “We’re also offering a different array of food; usually we’ve only had like desserts and things at homecoming, this year we have different options as far as like actual food goes.”

SLAB is waiting to see whether or not the winter formal will become the new yearly dance at UIndy, Postma said. She said she personally would like to see the winter formal take the place of the homecoming dance, and keep homecoming as just the parade that UIndy had this year.

“It really depends on our venue, because it’s at the Old National Centre, it either may fluctuate between the homecoming and the winter formal just depending on what dates the venue has available,” Postma said.

Beck says that she expects students to have a good time together, and that students can expect great memories to be made while at this event.