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THE OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF INDIANAPOLIS
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DECEMBER 16, 2015
reflector.uindy.edu
Students consider graduation possibilities
December grads have differing opinions about whether they should get their own winter ceremony By Madison Hays STAFF WRITER About 330 students will graduate from the University of Indianapolis on Dec. 18, according to the Registrar’s Office website. While these students will be released from the university, they will not receive their diplomas until they walk in the commencement ceremony on May 7, 2016. Senior information systems major Jacob Fisher is one of the students who will not be walking in a December commencement ceremony. “I am all right with it, considering I have the ability to walk in May,” Fisher said. “If I could not walk in May, I would be very upset.” Fisher is graduating this winter because during his college career, he changed his major twice and joined the military in the middle of his sopho-
more year. Fisher said that he was originally scheduled to graduate a year and a half ago.
“I feel like it [graduating] is definitely past overdue,” he said. Fisher said he would rather walk in the spring ceremony because the number of graduates is greater, which helps create a greater sense of accomplishment, rather than celebrating in a room of 330 graduates. He also pointed out that the weather is much better in the spring than it usually is at the end of the fall term, and the ceremony is usually outside on
the football field. The weather probably would not permit an outdoor graduation in the winter. Senior exercise science major Maya Vance also did not mind having to walk in the spring ceremony but could understand why others might care. “I don’t really care [about not having a winter ceremony],” she said.
“I can see how others might want to have one, though, if they do not live in town or nearby.” Vance said a student might want a winter commencement ceremony if he or she lives
Toys for Tots Foundation gives to the less fortunate By Tony Lain STAFF WRITER
The University of Indianapolis police department is running a toy drive in conjunction with the Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots Foundation to give back to the less fortunate in the community during the holiday season. This will be the third year the campus police department has participated in the charity drive. According to the website Toysfortots. org, “The mission of the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to less fortunate children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.” UIndy Police Chief David Selby takes special pride in the program, which gives toys to hundreds of children each year. “Christmas is a very special time,”Selby said. “[Toys for Tots is] a nice way for our
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community to give back to those who are less fortunate.” The Toys for Tots website says that giving to children in need and putting an end to poverty are the essence of the program. Toys for Tots believes that children are one of the world’s most valuable resources, and that children are the future and tomorrow’s leaders and decision-makers. According to the website, there are about 13 million children who live in poverty in America. Toysfortots.org said studies have shown that if a child grows up in poverty, it may have an adverse psychological impact on the child. The website said, “One of the adverse impacts is low self-esteem—a by-product of little or no hope for the future.” Donations of new and unwrapped toys began in October and can be accepted at the university police station or any other donation site through Dec. 17. Monetary donations are also accepted at any donation site.
After Dec. 17, the toys from all the donation sites will be picked up by the Marine Corps or other program affiliates and taken to a donation warehouse. There they will be sorted by age and gender qualities and then distributed to the children of the community. “Last year, there was a room full of toys,” Selby said. “I would guess it was probably around $3,000 to $5,000 worth of toys. They had to come get them with a truck.” The UIndy police department hopes to have even more toys for the Marine Corps this year and plans to run the drive for many years to come. According to the Toys for Tots website, “Local campaigns are conducted annually in over 700 communities covering all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.” Local businesses can sign up at toysfortots.org to become a toy drop location in the future. People in the community also can sign up online to volunteer for the program. People can sign up online to have their child put on a list to receive a toy on or around Christmas from the foundation.
By Zoë Berg FEATURE EDITOR
Grossnickle and Associates to gauge how much money they would be able to raise. “We identified approximately 60 donors—some alumni, some community members and some just community leaders who weren’t donors—to be interviewed to get their feedback about the university and the concept of our campaign,” Molloy said. “And then they [ Johnson, Grossnickle and Associates] came back and talked to us about, based on that, what they thought we could raise.” Although Johnson, Grossnickle and Associates reported how much it thought the universit y would be able to raise, Molloy felt the organization was a little too low in its estimate and said the estimate already has been surpassed. “I think the reason they were a little low was ... between the time they did the study and the time we started the quiet phase of the campaign, people got a chance to know the university and know the president better, and there was a lot of enthusiasm around that,” he said. The quiet phase of a campaign is when the campaign has not yet been announced publicly. Molloy said that during the quiet phase, the university contacted its best supporters and asked them to donate to the campaign. When the quiet phase of
a long distance away and would have to travel home and then back to Indianapolis five months later to walk at graduation, but she said that she would rather walk and celebrate in the spring with her friends. Vance is choosing to graduate early for educational reasons. She wants to save as much money as possible and get a head start on her graduate degree. Senior communication major Rachel Taller said she is graduating in December not because she needed to—in fact, she could have graduated an entire year early—but because she was not ready for her time at the university to end. Instead, she took a semester of easier classes and focused on enjoying college. Taller suggests that other students do the same. “I recommend [that] everyone have at least one semester where it’s a little slower-paced and have some fun classes in it to really just enjoy the college experience,” she said. Taller’s love for the university is why
she was so disappointed that there was not a December commencement ceremony. “I’m actually really hurt that there’s no winter commencement ceremony because I worked so hard to graduate early, and it’s almost as if my university isn’t acknowledging my hard work,” she said. “It feels like December grads are put on a lower pedestal than May grads.” Taller said there is no senior week for December graduates while an entire week is planned for May graduates and it makes her feel like “December grads are kind of pushed into a corner.” Taller said that a lot needs to change about the way December graduates are treated. She said the first step would be to is add a December commencement ceremony, then a senior week for December graduates. She said that December graduates also should be able to decide whether they want to walk in a December commencement ceremony or the May commencement ceremony.
Getting the Toys to the Children
4. Sort gifts 2. Have gifts 3. Take gifts by gender picked up by to a wareand age Marine Corps or 1. Have gifts house other program donated to officials 5. Distribute gifts to sites children
Graphic by Melvin Mendez
UIndy campaign plans to raise millions
The UIndy Starts with You campaign is a comprehensive campaign to raise $50 million by June 2021. The money will be used to help fund the Vision 2030 plan, which seeks to improve the University of Indianapolis. The campaign revolves around four themes. “One is students’ success and access, one is faculty and academic excellence, one is ... campus and community and the other theme or pillar is transformational opportunities,” said Vice President for University Advancement Chris Molloy. President Robert Manuel said that in Oct. 2012 they began to discuss ideas for improving the university. Although a lot of ideas were presented, the main ideas were what has become the four themes of the UIndy Starts with You campaign. “So we take these things and start making the master plan, 2030, which includes all of these things that we have to do,” Manuel said. “These are initiatives that—if we complete it [the campaign]—allows [us] to successfully hold to the strategic plan.” After the Vision 2030 plan was created, the university had to look at how best to raise money to fund the different parts of the plan. This is where UIndy Starts with You began. Molloy said they did a philanthropic study with Johnson,
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the campaign began, the goal was to raise $40 million, but that increased to $45 million and then $50 million as the university saw the success it was having during the quiet phase. The UIndy Starts with You campaign was announced publicly in October 2015. Molloy said that when the campaign was announced, it was at about 70 percent of the total funds. Now they are working to receive more donations and achieve the goal of raising $50 million. Both Manuel and Molloy are traveling around the United States to talk to more potential donors. “It entails collecting groups of people or individuals who have an interest in the university and talking with them about the importance of the work we’re doing, the need for the hope that they would support the programs that we’ve put on play,” Manuel said, “and then introducing them to the people who are being affected by their philanthropy in positive ways. So [they can] meet the students or talk to the students, and see a performance or come up to campus, and understand what is happening at the university that makes it so terrific and warrants their philanthropic support.” Campaigns tend to get their larg-
“I’m proud of the number of faculty and staff that have given. I’m proud of the community involvement in us.”
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est donations during the quiet phase, but between July 1 and Nov. 30, 2015, $4,553,300 was raised. Currently about $35 million of the $50 million has been raised. Many people have donated various amounts to help improve UIndy. “We have had truly unique gifts coming through,” Manuel said, “gifts that probably would not have come if we weren’t organized in such a way and connected [to] people in such a way and began to articulate to them how their work could impact the work that we do. I’m proud of the number of alumni that are giving. I’m proud of the number of faculty and staff that have given. I’m proud of the community involvement in us.” One of the major gifts was the $1 million endowment given by Ron and Laura Strain that went toward the Honors College. Campaign Chair Yvonne Shaheen is also giving a major gift. She made a $5 million pledge to the College of Arts and Sciences and is matching the amount of money people are donating right now, up to $1 million. Molloy said the university appreciates all of the donors and the gifts that have been given during the campaign. “The president and the board of trustees appreciate every gift, no matter how large or small,” he said. “And really, the campaign is about showing their affection and care for the university in whatever way is appropriate and whatever level of gift they can give.”
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