CMYK
THE OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF INDIANAPOLIS
VOL.
96
I S S UE 5
Library receives grant to purchase diverse titles, films By Maia Gibson NEWS EDITOR During former Library Director Matthew Shaw’s tenure at the University of Indianapolis, he applied for a grant from the Central Indiana Community Foundation to help the Krannert Memorial Library purchase diverse titles for students. In September of 2016, the library was awarded the grant and had $10,000 to put toward new books with diverse themes and authors, according to Library Director Marisa Albrecht. Shaw left UIndy by the time the grant was awarded, so the librarians interpreted the requirements of the grant in their own way. Cataloging and Acquisitions Librarian Lucy Fields began purchasing titles and films based on faculty suggestions and requests. However, when Albrecht took over the position of library director in January of 2017, there was still money leftover that needed to be spent by September. Albrecht said that she was going to have the librarians use the remainder of the money however they felt was appropriate. However, when the role of vice president and chief equity and inclusion officer was created and it was announced that Sean Huddleston would fill the position, Albrecht decided to reach out to him. “I heard that Sean Huddleston was coming aboard, and so I decided to wait for him and give him the money to spend, which he happily did,” Albrecht said. “We met really early after he got here and I said, ‘Hey, I have money for you to spend,’ which is kind of a surprising meeting. He was able to consult some of his colleagues and other lists of essential titles and he got us a nice, nice list. Again, some of them were things that we couldn’t get or we already owned, so I had to go back to him and say, ‘We still have more money, can you give me more titles?’” Huddleston’s input was helpful to the library staff. Having an expert opinion helped them to find the best titles, Albrecht said.
ALBRECHT “We have six librarians and so our areas of background—we don’t have very much to draw from,” Albrecht said. “I have a geology background, Lucy [Fields] has a theater background, we have English and history. But we didn’t have anything multicultural or anything like that, so just even our undergraduate backgrounds limited that... having Sean’s input, that was very, very helpful.” With suggestions from faculty members and Huddleston, the library was able to purchase a variety of both research and fiction titles that fit with the theme of diversity, including books with a focus on Native American studies and disability studies, according to Fields. “We tried to get titles in many diverse topics, not only the obvious race and color,” Fields said. “We also thought about gender—which is something you don’t automatically think about in diversity—and intercultural religion, freedom of religion.” The titles purchased ranged from “Hidden Figures” to “Native American Studies in Higher Education” to “A Puerto Rican in New York and Other Sketches,” and some faculty members requested books about teaching diverse populations, according to Albrecht and Fields. The library purchases new titles regularly, based on department, faculty and student requests. Most of the time, the
> See Library on page 10
NOVEMBER 21, 2017
A legacy continued Leadership program honors values of former faculty member Paul Washington-Lacey
Photo contributed by Todd Moore
The Paul Washington-Lacey Emerging Leader Program was announced by Vice President and Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer Sean Huddleston on field at halftime of the Nov. 4 football game. There was also a reception in Hines Room in Nicoson Hall for Washington-Lacey’s friends and family. The program will begin in January.
By Zoë Berg EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Unique, genuine, transformational, full of advice and a student advocate and mentor are just some of the many ways staff, faculty and alumni describe Paul Washington-Lacey. Washington-Lacey came to the University of Indianapolis in 1979 and stayed for 35 years. He worked as an admissions counselor and senior associate for career development and employee relations, but was mostly known for mentoring and student advocacy. “[Washington-Lacey was] unique and unlike anyone else I’ve ever known,” Director of University Events and 2000 UIndy graduate Jeffrey Barnes said. “He had a way of reading people and knowing what they needed and what they weren’t saying. He had a way of pulling that out of people. He used a lot of humor. He wasn’t shy about anything.” Washington-Lacey was both a mentor and colleague to Barnes. Clinton Sims, a 2004 UIndy graduate, also considered him a mentor. He said he first got to know Washington-Lacey when he was struggling to afford to attend UIndy. Sims said Washington-Lacey helped him to find scholarships for tuition and a way to pay for books, and even helped him to find his first job. “ Pe o p l e n e e d t o r e m e m b e r [Washington]-Lacey, and [Washington]Lacey was helpful, not just for AfricanAmerican students, but international students or anybody that needed help,” Sims said. “He was always there.” For these reasons, alumni affected by Washington-Lacey wanted to find a way to honor his legacy after he passed away in 2015. About a year and a half ago, a group of alumni from various graduation years came to Associate Vice President for Alumni Engagement Andy Kocher about starting a scholarship in Washington-Lacey’s name. “He [Washington-Lacey] was a transformational figure in their [the alumni’s] lives,” Kocher said. “And that started a series of conversations that eventually led to the Paul Washington-Lacey Emerging
Leader Program. Sean [Huddleston, vice president and chief equity and inclusion officer] coming on board and providing some of the guidance for what the program might look like was really the final capstone for what the project needed to be successful.” Soon after Huddleston began working at UIndy, he met with the alumni group to find a plan for creating the Paul Washington-Lacey Emerging Leader Program that would take into account Washington-Lacey’s legacy. “From where I worked before I was able to talk about some programs that we did that sounded like it could be very similar to something we could have here,” Huddleston said. “So we took that basic concept, and we customized it so that it captured Paul Washington-Lacey’s legacy. And so after those meetings with an external [alumni] group, we convened internal meetings with some of the resources on campus that would be needed to help make sure those pillars come into operation and become part of the equipment.”The Paul WashingtonLacey Emerging Leader Program will focus on mentorship and the areas that mattered the most to him . It will be spearheaded by Huddleston and the Office of Equity and Inclusion as one of the first campus-wide initiatives. Huddleston explained that the program will focus on four pillars: academic excellence, career readiness, leadership development and personal growth. The program will include a mentoring component and also involve various resources from across campus, including the Academic Success Center, Professional Edge Center, Student Affairs and Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning. “For me, the cool thing about this whole program is that it’s working to fill that space that Paul did when he would notice a student that needed help.… He
would help them and also push them to do their best and strive for excellence,…” Stephanie Hays-Mussoni, associate vice president for development, said. “It’s funny because. . . it’s looking like it’s going to take several different resources and people to do the work that one person did. It’s kind of a mark to how impressive and how transformational he was.” The first cohort of students in the Paul Washington-Lacey Emerging Leader Program will start in January of 2018, according to Huddleston, and have about five students. Huddleston plans to see the program grow each year, with each cohort getting larger. Students in the program t y pic al l y wil l star t in their sophomore year and stay in it until they graduate. Currently, faculty and staff are nominating students to be selected for the first cohort. “My absolute goal is that every single year we’re bringing in a new cohort of Paul Washington-Lacey Emerging Scholars, and that through the course of the experiences within each cohort, we see continuous growth and we ultimately see these leaders emerge,” Huddleston said. “When they graduate from the University of Indianapolis, my hope is that they have all of the skills, all of the connections, all of the social capital that they need to truly take that leader that has emerged and let the world see that leader.” Barnes and Sims were some of the members of the alumni group that approached UIndy. Sims said it was important to honor Washington-Lacey because of the impact he had on so many generations of students who attended UIndy. According to Sims, WashingtonLacey always was looking to keep an open dialogue about diversity and expand students’ cultural experiences. Huddleston said he hopes that funding for the program will allow the students in
needed for the buildings to be put up. Finishing the rest of the building, once the underground work is completed, is expected to take between nine months and a year. According to Vice President for Student and Campus Affairs and Dean of Students Kory Vitangeli, once the buildings are completed, the application process will be similar to that of Greyhound Village and will be available for students to sign up this upcoming spring semester. The university plans to allow students to sign up for one semester on campus and then move into the new apartments the second semester, Vitangeli said. “It’s an exciting option for upperclass students as they look to sign up for
housing, and students will be able to sign that six-month lease or an 18-month lease to allow them to stay all the way through the following year,” Vitangeli said. “We're excited about getting floor plans and having some models built so that students can see what this looks like. I think it will be very similar to Greyhound Village—one, two, and four bedroom apartments that look very similar to Greyhound Village—and so we’re really excited about the addition on campus.” The success of Greyhound Village is why the new apartments will function and look similar. The model for the new apartments will not consist of an actual model like Greyhound Village but will
“I think a lot of people didn’t realize the depth of work that he did...”
> See PWL on page 10
UIndy to build new apartments By Melvin Mendez EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Starting in December, the University of Indianapolis will begin the building process for the new campus apartments expected to be available to residents in January 2019. The new apartments will be in two buildings with around 300 beds and located on National Avenue to the west of the athletic practice field. According to University President Robert Manuel, the building process will begin with making sure the land is ready, starting with the removal of houses, setting up drainage, laying down concrete and finishing the underground work
> See Apartments on page 10
reflector.uindy.edu
Marine veteran shares perspective on mental health By Alexis Stella DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Students showed their support for United States veterans on Nov. 9 when the University of Indianapolis Psychology Club hosted “A Veteran’s Perspective on Supporting Our Troops.” The event featured a veteran speaker and an activity. According to MyUIndy, the club’s goal for the event was to provide background knowledge about issues veterans face when they return home, talk about how mental health factors in and provide tips for students and community members who want to get more involved. Marine veteran Ray Lay shared his personal struggles with mental health and severe substance abuse. Lay works as a volunteer peer support specialist and Indiana veteran recovery specialist through the National Alliance on Mental Illness and is now a board member for the organization. NAMI dedicates their time to improving individual, families and the community on mental illness. Lay said he has been sober for more than a decade and now devotes his time to helping other veterans, specifically those in recovery for substance abuse and veterans struggling with mental health issues. He said that devoting his time to others has helped him in his journey to sobriety and he feels honored to be a part of the organization. After years of being undiagnosed and uninformed, Lay said, he found himself addicted to drugs, homeless and serving jail time. Lay explained that, until 2009, he went through several psychiatrists until one finally sat down and properly diagnosed him with a mental health disorder. Now, on the proper medications, Lay strives to tell others about his life experience, hoping that it will one day help someone in the same situation. Lay said that despite the mistakes he made, becoming a Marine wasn’t one of them. “I am a formerly homeless, honorably discharged United States Marine,” he said. “I live with and in recovery of a dual diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder and a polysubstance abuse issue.” According to Lay, schizoaffective disorder is a severe mental illness, a mix of schizophrenia and a mood disorder, which he explained is bipolar disorder. With the help of his psychiatrist, who also acts as his psychologist, a doctor of psychopharmacology and his personal clinical psychologist, Lay said that it has been more than 13 years since he was hospitalized following his diagnosis. “Recovery is possible. I am a living, breathing example of that,” he said. “The average age for someone to be diagnosed with schizophrenia is between 15 and 30 years old. If you start to notice your friend acting strange, sit down and talk to them. Talk to your instructors. Treatment is effective. It really does work.” Freshman psychology major Kara O’Flynn came to the event to help show her support for veterans and help give back to community. “It is important for UIndy to have these events, not only for people to be aware of the issues but to not keep them behind closed doors,” she said. “Having events like these gives us an open discussion on ways to help them [veterans] but in a way where the veterans don’t feel like their feelings are invalid. As a community, we should help give support.” O’Flynn said that having an open discussion is important because people in the community may know about the struggles veterans face in regards to mental health and substance abuse, but may not know how to handle them or how to talk about them. “People may think it [mental health and substance abuse] is a delicate topic and they may think it is best to not talk about it. But that is exactly what we should be doing,” she said. “Addressing the problem, and having an open discussion, keeps people from shutting the issues away and forces people to talk about it without hurting someone’s feelings.” Veteran Health Indiana has volunteer and internship opportunities. Those interested in volunteering can call 317-9882734 or visit the medical center voluntary service office to schedule an appointment.