Athenaeum approved COM ET CO N '22

people are wearing cosplay, and the booths are popping, and I’m just outstanded.”

Tayisiya Chernenko

Jessica Hanson-Defusco, an EPPS assistant professor and former Peace Corps volunteer, is similarly concerned about a close friend living in Ukraine. She met Viktor in Liberia, where he was working with the United Nations Mission in Liberia to train the nation’s police force to function in peacetime. He served in a similar capacity in South Sudan, among other regions recovering from war, before retiring, returning to his wife and family in Ukraine. While he’s not currently in an area with

TYLER BURKHARDT Editor-in-Chief

After receiving approval from the University of Texas System Board of Regents, UTD is looking to move forward with construction on the Athenaeum project.

Projected to be built in three phases, the Atheneum is an expansive undertaking for the predominantly STEM-focused university, which University president Richard Benson said is much-needed to better integrate the arts into UTD’s campus culture. The finished complex will occupy the undeveloped space to the southeast of JSOM, and is highlighted by plans for the fourth-largest Asian art mu-

Curious Comets

Walking past ECS North’s courtyard, you might have noticed a new monument – one that seems to have shown up overnight. What is it and where did it come from?

This new structure, introduced on Feb. 11, 2022, belongs to UTD’s recently-created chapter of Tau Beta Pi, a prestigious national engineering honors society. Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Robert Hart and Associate Professor of Bioengineering

Todd Polk are the new chapter’s advisors, who worked to get this monument to commemorate the honor society’s entrance into UTD. The sculpture, referred to as “The Bent,” represents almost 140 years of tradition and honor that are associated with the organization.

Tau Beta Pi is the nation’s second oldest honor society and the only honor society that represents every engineering field. UTD’s chapter was established in 2020, when 41 individuals were inducted. There are currently 251 colleges with a chapter of Tau Beta Pi, and The Bent is a symbol that each of them showcase to represent the society.

“[This organization] is meant to provide opportunities to our students,” Hart said. “Almost every engineering school has a chapter, and as we grew the engineering school here, supporting a chapter here was just the logical thing to do. There are opportunities for leadership development, scholarships, seum in the US, a new performing arts center and an additional parking structure to increase access to those facilities. Benson said that construction on Phase I – a $56.8 million project, funded entirely by private philanthropy – will begin within the next month.

“We’ll walk through the doors (of Phase I) almost exactly two years from now: March 2024,” Benson said. “The first phase deals with the visual arts and the anchor piece is the Crow Museum of Asian Art. We'll have other display spaces, study spaces and the like, but that'll be