M THE MANEATER The student voice of MU since 1955
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Vol. 84, Issue 28
April 25, 2018
TAP DAY
Tap Day tradition welcomes over 80 new honor society members MU’s six secret societies welcomed 65 student members and 17 honor taps. CHRISTINA LONG
Reporter
One of the few times a year the Switzler Hall bell tolls is to signal the a2rrival of Tap Day, when dozens of MU students in hooded robes gather in Jesse Auditorium, their identities hidden until their hoods are removed onstage, revealing them as members of one of six secret societies. LSV, Mortar Board, Mystical Seven, Omicron Delta Kappa, QEBH and the Rollins Society uncovered the identities of their new initiates at the 91st annual Tap Day on Friday. Each year, a select group of students are chosen by peers to be inducted into one of the six societies based on achievement in leadership, involvement, academics and service. Formerly known as “Senior Day,” Tap Day was started by Dr. Albert K. Heckel in the early 20th century. Since then, it has grown to include six societies, each of which
Inductees to the Mystical Seven line the stage during Tap Day on April 20, 2018. PHOTO BY JACOB MOSCOVITCH | SENIOR STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
works behind the scenes and in secret to better campus and the community. The purpose and operation of each society are known only to their members, with some even keeping the meaning of their acronyms a secret. In his opening remarks at his first Tap Day as chancellor, Alexander Cartwright spoke of the importance of MU’s secret societies.
“The six honorary societies have played a significant role in our university’s culture for well over a century,” Cartwright said. “They honor academic success, leadership, service and a commitment to Mizzou.” Being “tapped” into a society is considered an honor, in large part because of the long-standing tradition of the event. For Omicron Delta
Kappa tap Mackinlee Rogers, Tap Day runs in the family. “It’s a tradition, and obviously we love tradition here,” Rogers said. “One of my family members was in a secret society, and it was kind of a tradition my family passed down.” Some of the societies, including the all-female LSV, reveal the identities of their members after they have
performed a year of service, while others, like Mystical Seven, initiate members ahead of their service work. “I’m really excited for the year to come and what all we’ll be able to do as a community and independently with each other’s support,” Mystical Seven tap Mikaela O’Barr said. For O’Barr, membership in Mystical Seven is about more than recognizing her achievements. “I think it’s a family that I needed but didn’t know how to find at Mizzou, and that’s really what I found in the past couple of weeks leading up to Tap Day,” she said. In her opening statement ahead of the reveal of Mystical Seven’s initiates, speaker Simona Gupta expressed her society’s desire to help MU grow and hold administrators accountable for enacting change. “Tap Day is a day to reflect on where we are, where we need to be and the students and faculty who can get us there,” she said. In addition to tapping students, each society also names “honor taps,” faculty and staff members who
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LITERATURE WORKSHOP
Children’s literature workshop furthers discussion on diversity “Picture books are art,” Angie Zapata, an assistant professor with the College of Education, said. STEPHI SMITH
University News Editor Angie Zapata, an assistant professor who teaches and researches literacy education at the College of Education, hosted a children’s literature workshop Tuesday in Townsend Hall. The workshop, titled “Decolonizing Your Children’s Literature Bookshelf,” focused on books from marginalized writers and illustrators and had themes of equality and empowerment. “I hope you leave with new
authors, new illustrators, new book titles for you to integrate into your lives, whether you are a future educator and are thinking about diversifying your collection of books or whether you are a nursing student and thinking about opening up new spaces in your own life for the rich diversity that’s in our world today,” Zapata said at the workshop. Zapata said that one of the first steps in ensuring that children feel open and comfortable in their environment is having literature including characters and written by people who look and act like them. She said that incorporating both a physical and cultural similarity is beneficial to children. “Issues of representation and the depictions of loving
and looking and talking continues to be an issue in children’s literature today,” Zapata said. “Our bookshelves need to look like the future.” Junior Mya White, an elementary education major, read from “I Am Enough” by Grace Byers. She said that she enjoyed the simplistic background design paired with the detailed illustration of the characters. White said she also appreciated the representation featured in the book. “I was reading it and I related to it because I felt like she looks like me,” she said, pointing to the main character, a brown-skinned girl. “Like, exactly like me.” Zapata said that to understand what it means to have diversity in bookshelves, an educator must first understand diversity as a
Tuesday’s children’s literature workshop focused on equality and empowerment, both through the content of the books and the authors themselves. PHOTO BY STEPHI SMITH | UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR
whole, beyond literature. “So what does it mean to reshape the literacy landscape in your home, in your classroom?” she asked the room. “Where our youngest children can begin to see themselves as
those potential authors and illustrators where they write their own story, the stories that are missing as well.” Zapata also highlighted the work of Junot Díaz and
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