Open the fridge and check out the food. Yeah, it’s the

by BRIGID FLAHERTY staff writer It was not so much a question of “if ” as “when” Loras would take preventative measures in an effort to lessen the spread of COVID-19. Last week, many colleges moved to online classes while others told students to pack their belongings and go home, Loras classes continued as scheduled and in-person. As President Trump called for an EU travel ban on Mar. 11, and students abroad were recalled to the United States, continuing classes at Loras became a bit of a joke. Memes were shared and students still went out over the weekend. However, the imminent email from President Collins arrived late Sunday afternoon.

Shortly after President Collins’ email arrived, the governor of Iowa, Kim Reynolds, announced new COVID-19 cases and recommended closing schools. By Sunday evening, various school districts in the Dubuque area had announced that they would close for some time. The next day, it was announced that Catholic Masses in the Archdiocese of Dubuque would be suspended. The measures were put into place to prevent the spread of COVID-19, in hopes of protecting health and stopping a flood of cases in American hospitals and clinics.

“I have conflicted emotions. Like it’s good that we are taking precautions to keep people safe, but it still sucks,” said junior Alyssa Corkery.

Questions began pouring into the Duhawk RA’s and CA’s on Sunday, who were also taken aback. Worried students who were in a field placement, those who lived in distant states, student-teachers, and students studying abroad through Loras were shocked and wondered what would happen to them. Some students at Loras began packing their belongings immediately, while others thought about what they would be missing in the coming weeks.

“This is not how I envisioned my senior year,” said Sydney Reilly. “I’m afraid of losing the opportunity of walking across the stage for graduation. But at the same time, I think it’s important to be preventative because if we aren’t, we open ourselves up to the possibility of devastating circumstances.” “Having to move out has been a little frightening, but mostly just sad,” junior Dalton Oberfoell reflected on the changes he and his roommates were facing. “It’s setting in little by little that we won’t be able to live together for the rest of the semester and that we are losing a lot of time together.”

These past few days have been filled with confusion, relief, sadness, and even some anger; fond farewells, however, are shared by all. Duhawks hope that familiar and favorite places can be their home once again shortly after Easter.

photo by MARK MEDERSON Nina Ortegon, from Chicago, Illinois is a neighbor of first year, Josh Gardner. She is picured helping Gardner load up to return to Chicago, “Because that’s what friends do,” she says.

Commencement in question

by CONNOR TUOHY staff writer Loras College Senior Graduation is being questioned as the school deals with the COVID-19 pandemic. The college will be closing as of Friday, and students will not be able to return to campus until Apr. 20 which was recently ordered by President Jim Collins. Now, this brings up the question whether or not commencement will take place for the seniors that are graduating this year. Jim Collins

They are hoping that they will be able to graduate on time, but that could be pushed back due to Coronavirus concerns.

The school is also concerned about large crowds after the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) announced that they’d prefer not to have more than 50 people all in one area. “I think the big thing is having those relationships that you built up for the past four years with professors and suddenly you’re not able to see those people again,” senior CJ Ponton said. “Having that one final sendoff together is a joyous occasion of thinking back on all those fond memories you’ve had.”

However, President Collins believes that

Commencement will still take place at the end of the school year.

“Right now I see folks attending, but we are still a long way out, and it’s hard to predict anything,” Collins stated. “Even if the situation has deterred across the country, our thought wouldn’t be so much canceling it, but postponing it.”

Commencement as of right now is scheduled for May 23, 2020. Christopher Ponton

Sunrise Movement makes an endorsement

by CONOR KELLY opinion editor Last Monday, the Sunrise Movement on campus met to discuss their strategies for electing progressives and how best to address the issue of climate change, an issue that has claimed a major priority. The Sunrise Movement has become a force for environmental policy on campus and in Dubuque at large, organizing a march on campus in Sept. of 2019, as well as a strike outside Rep. Abby Finkenauer’s office within the same month. The organization supports the Green New Deal, community outreach and youth activism. Recently, the Sunrise Movement’s Loras chapter has endorsed Kimberly Graham for the United States Senate.

Graham, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Senate, spent an hour speaking to students, answering questions and addressing their concerns on anything from climate change to healthcare, disability rights to school vouchers. Many students, such as Loras sophomore and organizer for the Bernie Sanders campaign, Addison Aronson, found Graham to be an exciting and important break from the traditional candidates.

“Not only has Ms. Graham demonstrated her understanding and undivided attention on a number of important issues such as environmental justice, universal healthcare, workers’ rights, civil rights, etc.,” said Aronson, “but she has also shown willingness to stand toe-to-toe to opposition from outside as well as within the Democratic party itself. She doesn’t take a nickel of corporate PAC money.”

Graham’s campaign supports the view that a traditional approach to politics is not working, and that if we are to have a truly beneficial society, the government has to work for the people. Her website reiterates Aronson’s statements, emphasizing the need for grassroots donations and public support.

Graham is not new to the political world, as she was a participant in the 2019 Women’s March in Des Moines, IA. She also has experience as a Child Welfare

Kimberly Graham

attorney and has spent her time working to help abused children and parents in the court system, which plays a large role in her activism, compassion and change – the core tenants of her campaign.

Along with three other candidates, Graham fights for the win, but the recent endorsement has set her ahead of the game, and political aficionados will have to wait and see just what impact she and the Sunrise Movement will make.

Labour Club gives insight on Socialism

by EDDIE SMITH staff writer The Loras College Labour Club seeks to organize Loras students around both the theory and practice of socialism, including antifascism, anti-imperialism, and an intersectional analysis of race, class, and gender. The purpose of our organization is to create political awareness among the student body and Dubuque community by providing an open venue for sharing socialist ideas. Each event has been well attended and each brings new members with questions and opinions for discussion. We provide a safe place to share alternate perspectives, as well as explore socialism contrary to what is usually portrayed by U.S. media. As a club, we hope to clarify false information about socialism portrayed by the U.S. media and educate

those who feel left behind by the current economic system. We seek to inspire others to educate themselves and to be confident in standing in solidarity against our oppressors.

The club was founded by 2017 Loras graduate Alex Kruse as a branch of the Young Democratic Socialists organization. Since then, the name has been changed to the Loras Labour Club, and our membership has grown to a dozen active voting members. We actively look to work with every club on campus who share the goal of liberating all people from oppression.

Over the past year, the main goal of the club has been to educate the public on socialism. Labour club hosts weekly events, switching between movie showings and Socialist Night Schools every other week. The first event of the semester was Socialist Night School: Bernie 101, an educational session detailing all of the policies being proposed by Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders.

In honor of Black History Month, we addressed the intersection between racial justice and socialism with a showing of “13th”, a documentary that focuses on the Prison Industrial Complex’s effect on the black community. Following the movie was a Black Socialist Night School, which explained the history of black socialist leaders such as Malcolm X, Langston Hughes, Angela Davis, and Martin Luther King. To conclude Black History Month we showed the film “Black Power Mixtape”, a documentary focusing on the evolution of the Black Power movement in the 1960s-70s.

This month, events have included a movie showing of “Cuba and the Cameraman”, which follows three Cuban Farmers for 45 years and their struggles that resulted from the Cuban Revolution and U.S. economic embargo. Senior Carlos Garrido, Labour Club member and philosophy major, kicked off the most recent event with “Marxism 101: the philosophy of Karl Marx,” and Loras Graduate Alex Kruse followed with his economic theory.