NBA AT EASTERN
ANOTHER CHALLENGE
NBA champion Adrian Branch spoke to students about making the right choices in life.
The Eastern football team prepares to take on the 5-0 Eastern Kentucky Colonels this weekend in Richmond, Ky.
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Dai ly Eastern News
THE
W W W .D A I L YE A S TE R N N E W S. C O M
Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2014
Faculty Senate reviews enrollment initiatives
“TELL THE TRUTH AND DON’T BE AFRAID”
VOL. 99 | NO. 32
By Debby Hernandez Administration Editor | @DEN_News Eastern administrators presented their Root Cause Analysis to the faculty senate, explaining the different causes for the 23 percent enrollment decrease and possible ways to target and solve the problem. Chris Dearth, the director of admissions, said a recruitment plan is being created, and he has reached out to institutions as part of the process. Part of the strategy includes reaching out to perspective students prior to their senior year in high school. “It is very important we start the communication with students much earlier in the process,” Dearth said. “We are communicating with juniors in high school, some of our honors program communications may go out towards the end of their sophomore year.” Dearth said while he received good feedback about Eastern from school counselors, some noted the lack of communication Eastern has with schools. He said a communications plan is part of year one of the enrollment plan. “We are already in the recruitment cycle; we have over 480 programs already assigned to counselors who are out there recruiting,” Dearth said. “We have over 600 freshmen admitted already.” He said applications are now unpredictable with many students having access to researching schools online without communicating with admissions. “When I started admissions 15 years ago, it was very predictable. We would go to college fairs, kids will show up and fill out a form and that’s how they found out about college,” Dearth said. Mary Herrington-Perry, the assistant vice president for academic affairs, addressed other root causes for low enrollment. These causes included students attending college out of state, and the large number of competition with 300 higher education institutions and 200 accredited online institutions in Illinois. FACULTY, page 6
STE VEN PROC TOR | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
John Musser, a graduate of University of Illinois, also known as "Veronica Bleaus" performs a drag routine during The Journey of the Two Poets in the auditorium of the Doudna Fine Arts Center.
‘Poets of Color’ address race, sexuality By Roberto Hodge Multicultural Editor | @BertoHodge Sliding up and down the stage wearing a silver jumpsuit, a blonde disco wig and rhinestone-studded heels while lip-syncing was a drag queen opening the performance to “A Journey of Two Poets of Color” Tuesday evening. John Musser, a graduate student of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, p o r t r a y e d h i s d r a g p e r s o n a “ Ve r o n i c a Bleaus,” the self-proclaimed “Worst drag queen in the Midwest,” and introduced the two poets of color. The event was hosted by the department of English, Stories & Queer, Latin American Studies and EIU Pride. The two poets, Marcello Hernandez and Derrick Austin, were both students at the University of Michigan when it repealed affirmative action laws this past April. The poets said students protested the repeal because it further segregated the institution, showing how privileged its white students were. “It’s a very white town and very privileged; they don’t want to recognize their minority students,” Hernandez said. The poets said they have been considered the “token” minorities within their graduate programs. Austin, who is African-American and also openly gay, said when he was in his
STE VEN PROC TOR | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
John Musser, a graduate of University of Illinois, also known as "Veronica Bleaus" hosts The Journey of the Two Poets in the auditorium of the Doudna Fine Arts Center.
undergraduate program, he felt a little alienated, which is why his experience being a part of both worlds comes through in his graduate work. Austin said he first began to write poetry in high school as a side hobby and his work was well received.
“It was the first safe space for me, a black queer man, to exist on page,” Austin said. Much of Austin’s writing comes with themes laced in sexual and racial identity, and he said he is lucky because their current graduate program is more accepting. POETS, page 6
Nev Schulman to speak on ‘Catfish,’ bullying By Samantha Middendorf Entertainment Editor | @Samantha_EE A lecture on bullying will be presented at 7 p.m. Oct. 16 at McAfee Gym. Nev Schulman, best known for his work with the “Catfish” documentary and series on MTV, will be presenting his experiences with working and dealing with cyberbullying. Melanie Kaderabek, vice chairwoman of the University Board, said Schulman will discuss his personal experiences with online dating and safety. UB was encouraged to host Schulman’s talk following the success of Maci Bookout’s, popular for her appearance on MTV’s “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom,” lec-
ture last year. “The Teen Mom star brought out approximately 600 students and at the time she was off air for almost three years,” Kaderabek said. “Because Nev’s show is still ongoing, as well as his book releasing in September, we thought he would be the perfect speaker to bring to EIU’s campus.” Schulman, in particular, was chosen to appear at Eastern because of the success of his show. “After doing some research, we had found out that MTV ’s ‘Catfish’ was one of the most popular shows among young people in the United States, getting millions of views each airing, which was definitely a huge push to bring Nev,” Kaderabek said. Kaderabek also said the turnout of stu-
dents at Schulman’s event will directly affect whether or not UB will continue to bring more speakers to Eastern. UB requested an increase in their budget to make up for the cost of Schulman. They said they expected to make up the cost in ticket sales. Tickets for the lecture are $5 for students and $8 for the general public. Special tickets that include meet-and-greet passes and special seating are $10. Tickets can be purchased at the University Union Box Office. “UB brought Maci Bookout last year and the immense success of the event motivated us to take it up a notch and bring a speaker even more well known,” she said. “If this event is as successful as we are expecting it to be, then we may try and keep this trend of bringing more well known speakers to EIU
to help educate and entertain the students annually.” UB Movies will be showing the Catfish documentary at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday in preparation for Schulman’s lecture on Oct. 16. Kaderabek said she encouraged all students to attend the lecture. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to hear a professional in the field of online safety speak and gain great tips from someone who has personal experiences first hand,” she said. “Nev is highly entertaining and a very engaging speaker, so everyone will be entertained during his talk.” Samantha Middendorf can be reached at 581-2812 or semiddendorf@eiu.edu