News

By Emma Loenicker Since May 2022, a council of Tacoma Art Museum employees has been making efforts to unionize. They are organizing for livable wages and benefits, no further staff reduction, accessible grievance procedures to create accountability, transparency from leadership, standardized hiring and training procedures and influence in decision-making processes to improve their work conditions. This effort would make the TAM Washington’s first major art institution with unionized workers. On Oct. 17, TAM’s board of trustees received the workers’ letter requesting union representation. In the letter that TAM Workers United...

By Albert Chang-Yoo On Oct. 28, the Board of Trustees voted to affirm a plan created by President Isiaah Crawford aiming to avoid an estimated $10.5 million structural deficit by 2025. The vote was held at an open session following a week of deliberation. The recommendations include much of what the Academic, Administrative, and Auxiliary Program Review (AAAPR) report had advocated for; however, there were also important differences between the proposals. the proposals. President Crawford presented his plan in a less-thanprecise bullet-pointed slideshow entitled “A Sound Future: Recovery and Renewal.”...

By Albert Chang-Yoo   On Sept. 26, 2022 the Comprehensive Academic, Administrative and Auxiliary Program Review (AAAPR) submitted a lengthy list of recommendations to combat the University’s financial woes. The review found that in order to avoid an expected $10 million deficit by 2025, the University must make significant changes, including faculty downsizing and program consolidation. President Crawford will submit a preliminary report to the Board of Trustees today and final recommendations will be voted on in February.   The Comprehensive Academic, Administrative, & Auxiliary Program Review was created by...

By Audrey Davis, Contributing Editor   On Tuesday, Oct. 18, President Crawford emailed the campus community announcing the commitment of $10 million dollars toward the University’s endowment from the Tom and Meg Names Family Foundation. The donation is intended to aid the college’s endowment for athletic programming.   The gift will be divided, with $8 million establishing the Tom and Meg Names Family Foundation Endowed Fund for Athletics Programming and $2 million going towards the already established Tom and Meg Names Family Endowed Fund for Athletics. The $2 million commitment...

By Sara Orozco, KUPS Correspondent   Those with a job working for any of the media organizations on campus probably are asking the same thing: where are our paychecks? Since the beginning of this semester, almost all staff members in KUPS, Crosscurrents, Wetlands, Elements, Photo Services, and The Trail have been missing their pay. There’s one thing we can say for sure: It’s no longer in ASUPS’ hands. ASUPS approves budgets and student stipends through a lengthy bureaucratic process of senate meetings, but as of right now, only two positions...

By Albert Chang-Yoo The following story discusses themes of sexual violence and abuse. If you are someone you know needs resources, please refer to the end of this piece. Peer Allies, the University of Puget Sound’s student support group for victims of sexual violence, has historically relied on voluntary, unpaid student labor. Now, that standard is set to change. Starting this semester, the University has authorized the creation of three paid Peer Ally positions with more extensive training, with the hope of reducing student burnout and fostering a healthier environment...

By Hannah Lee    For the first time since the spring of 2020, the University of Puget Sound is having a mask-optional semester. According to the CDC, 616,172,308 doses of vaccines have been administered, and the number of cases is down from 1,272,899 new cases per day at its peak this January to now 12,852 new cases per day as of Sept. 26. Many people believe that we can finally put the past behind us, and finally get on with our lives, while others still live in fear.   But...