News

New transgender/non-binary on-campus housing options are being offered in the fall of 2016 from Residence Life. The program will be two-tiered. The first is a “public” theme house option, where students can facilitate programs for the trans community on campus and be representatives and student leaders for other non-cisgender students. The second option is  confidential  with no public presence, and the location of the residence undisclosed to the campus at large, to protect students who may not be out or have other circumstances that would cause them to need a...

  By Emily Schuelein The presidential search is coming to an end with two finalists for the position and the hope that the new president will begin work July 1 2016, according to the Presidential Search Profile. President Ronald Thomas hopes to end his 13-year tenure as the University’s 13th president in the coming months as it is a “right and natural time for a leadership transition,” according to a campus-wide email from his office. “The committee has completed its work because their job isn’t to choose the president but to...

The Race and Pedagogy Initiative (RPI) is on track to become the Race and Pedagogy Institute. The Race and Pedagogy Planning Summit, which took place Dec. 4-5, launched the Institute and sought to develop a strategic plan for its future, taking into account what students want from RPI. The transformation into a Race and Pedagogy Institute would allow the Institute to have a permanent budget. In the past, their resources have come from fundraising. “We’ve been funded through community grassroots fundraising... there’s a common sense of ownership,” Director of the...

By Ella Frazer and Casey O'brien Organizers estimated that over 450 Puget Sound students and faculty walked out of their classes on Thursday, Nov. 19, to stand in protest and advocate for improving treatment of marginalized identities at the university and nationwide. The rally took place on the steps of Jones Hall and was organized by the Advocates for Institutional Change (AIC), a coalition of groups on campus calling for an array of  diversity- and inclusivity-related institutional changes. The walkout was held in solidarity with marginalized students at universities across...

By Olivia Langen Three years after the Black Lives Matter movement began in Florida, after George Zimmerman fatally shot black teenager Trayvon Martin, the movement remains prominent as various cases of racial violence prompt protests nationwide. University of Missouri (Mizzou), UCLA, Yale, Arizona State University, University of Oklahoma and Lewis & Clark College are among the many campuses which have recently been sites of racial tension and student protests. The Mizzou student group Concerned Student 1950, named after the year the first black student was admitted to the university, stopped...

The article printed in the November 6, 2015 issue entitled “Students march, boycott ​Sakuma Bros. Farms” inaccurately stated that Sakuma Bros. had declined to interview. While the writer did make efforts to contact Sakuma Bros. representatives, The Trail recognizes that a greater effort to contact the company should have been made. We plan to address this with a more thorough version of the story, with remarks from Sakuma included, in one of our Spring 2016 issues....

By Emily Schuelein On the heels of ASUPS’ funding for extended hours at Counseling, Health, and Wellness Services (CHWS), the office of the Dean of Students has committed additional funds to extend counseling hours by 8-12 hours a week. Four extra hours on Friday afternoon and four hours on Tuesday afternoon are already in effect through the new psychologist Thomas Roe. When another psychologist is hired there will be an additional 4 hours a week. According to Mike Segawa, the Dean of Students, the funding for these new psychologists is...

Photo Courtesy Presley Reed Student athletes have taken the initiative to speak with their coaches in order to advocate for athletic teams to undertake Green Dot education. While all students at the University go through the Green Dot program as part of orientation, it is only a one and a half hour long training session. In contrast, the program that student athletes are seeking is a six-hour training program, which is more comprehensive. “We feel this is a very important issue for the campus community, and all the students I’ve...

In light of pressure outside and within the Greek community, the National Panhellenic Council (NPC) and the National Interfraternity Council (NIC) have withdrawn their support for the Safe Campus Act, but remain in favor of the Fair Campus Act. According to congressional records, the NIC and the NPC have spent at least $210,000 lobbying for both the Fair and Safe Campus Acts. If implemented, these acts would change the process through which cases of sexual misconduct on campuses are reported, adjudicated, and resolved, limiting universities’ ability to act unilaterally to...

Photo Courtesy Makaylaa Clancy   When he heard the shots beginning to fire, the security officer took cover behind a nearby house a block away from the shooting. He immediately reported the danger to a student security dispatcher, who then related the incident to authorities. Soon after, assistance arrived on the scene to help take care of the situation. South Sound 911, the agency that handles 911 calls for Pierce County, praised the student security workers on duty for how they handled themselves in the midst of a dangerous situation....

Written by the members of the Advocates for Institutional Change. 1. We demand that the University of Puget Sound build a Cultural Center in the space that will be available where Warner Gym currently resides. The current space given to students in the SDC is insufficient and limited. It is unable to meet the needs of marginalized students on campus as over 30 clubs battle for time and space, it often is overcrowded and presents safety hazards, and the building itself is badly in need of repairs and additions. Student...