News

Graphic Courtesy Michelle Leatherby Eight years after Abigail Fisher’s rejection from the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), the Supreme Court is primed to render a decision as to whether or not her denial from the University was due to affirmative action policies that excluded her, and whether or not that choice was unconstitutional. Any admissions policy that uses race as a basis to admit students could end, according to SCOTUS blog. Affirmative action at UT Austin has a long and complicated history. After a lower court struck down...

Photo Courtesy/Peter Davidson By Tyler Randazzo After a long search process, the Center for Intercultural and Civic Engagement (CICE) has hired a new Director of Intercultural Engagement, former DePauw University Director of Cultural Resource Centers and Coordinator of LGBT services Vivie Nguyen. Nguyen will begin her work at the University on March 31. She will serve as a co-director, along with Dave Wright, the Director of Spiritual Life and Civic Engagement. Nguyen will fill a position that has been open since Sept. 22, 2015, when former Director of Intercultural Engagement,...

By Ashley Malin Following interviews with all Sigma Chi chapter members by the Dean of Students Staff and Sigma Chi Fraternity International Headquarters staff, the two bodies have concluded investigations into the incident of bias hate that was reported on January 26. “There are a number of these guys who had three interviews, two with Sigma Chi and one with us,” Dean Mike Segawa said. “ have done all of what has turned out to be twenty four interviews altogether. We interviewed some students going in who we knew going...

  The Budget Task Force has sent their annual  budget proposal for the 2016-17 fiscal year to President Ron Thomas. The group is charged with hearing from various University constituents and compiling a budget for the President’s consideration, which he can then amend before submitting to the Board of Trustees for final approval. “The Budget Task Force process includes, essentially, representatives from all of the areas of the University come to speak to us,” Academic Vice President Kris Bartanen said. “They present written materials that provide history, context and comparison...

Photo Courtesy Makaylaa Clancy By Tyler Randazzo The new area of the fitness center, renovated as part of the broader Memorial Fieldhouse renovations, opened on Monday, Feb. 8. The new room adds more area to the existing fitness center and features new cardio equipment. “Once the remodel of the existing fitness area is finished, the two spaces will connect and substantially more new equipment will be added,” Director of Athletics Amy Hackett said. Hackett added that once both parts of the fitness center are open, the room will have a...

ASUPS Vice President Alissa Hartnig resigned at formal Senate on Thursday, Feb. 4, citing personal reasons. According to the ASUPS constitution, the Senate will elect a Senator to become Vice President for the remainder of the term. The person will be selected by a vote at ASUPS formal senate Feb. 11, according to Senate chair Lydia Bauer and  an email sent out by ASUPS president Nakisha Renee Jones announcing the change.  Spring elections to determine the 2016-2017 ASUPS President and Vice President will occur in March, following spring break, according...

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...