GREEK WEEK-END
PANTHER WIN 2 GAMES
Greek Week festivities ended with the final round of Tugs and Pyramids.
The softball team won two games against Morehead State.
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“TELL THE TRUTH AND DON’T BE AFRAID” Monday , April 10, 2017 C E L E BRATI NG A CE NT UR Y OF COVE RA GE E S T . 1 915
VOL. 101 | NO. 133 W W W . D A I L YE A S TE R N N E W S . C O M
CUPB discusses athletics budget By Cassie Buchman News Editor | @cjbuchman
JUSTIN BROWN | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
President Glassman and diversity committee member, Samara Abdoulaye Pedila discussed issues affecting minority groups on campus of Eastern Saturday in the Charleston/Mattoon room of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.
Glassman talks diversity with students By Chrissy Miller Administration Reporter | @DEN_News Students expressed concerns about discrimination students face from police, in campus housing and the Greek community during a forum with Eastern President David Glassman. Glassman said making all students feel welcome and that diverse groups felt they had a voice in the community was important. “We want to do our very best to be proactive and to do the things that are necessary in order for respect and inclusion to take place for everybody on this campus,” Glassman said. Glassman said he wants students to know there is a presidential task force on
diversity whose goal is to make the campus as inclusive as possible. Maya Lee, a sophomore sociology major, said one issue she sees on campus is that housing arrangements seem to be based on race. Lee said one example would be the differences between Thomas Hall and Taylor Hall. When Lee saw that Taylor houses predominantly minority students and Thomas houses mostly white students, she said, it discouraged her. “Having that division automatically eliminates opportunities for real diversity,” Lee said. “When you do that, it limits the chance for exposure to people of different backgrounds so you’re automatically setting people up to stay closed into one group.”
JUSTIN BROWN | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Catherine Polydore, professor of counseling and student development spoke to students during the Help Me, Help You session Saturday.
Lee said besides Thomas Hall having nicer furniture and equipment, having the Honors floor housed there also seems discriminatory. “I just feel like that sends a very wrong message to have the predominantly white hall being the one that has the Honors floor, because when you look deeper what does that really say?” Lee asked. Glassman responded that housing was based not on race, but rather on seniority. He said Taylor Hall was already scheduled to have its lobby remodeled this summer. “We don’t have the money to do all of (the halls) at the same time, so we stagger them,” Glassman said. “But that’s been approved for over the summer, so if you’re living in Taylor and you come back next fall, you’re going see a beautiful lobby.” Dameon Cooks, a junior Africana Studies major, said even if unintentional, this grouping of minority students is detrimental to their growth. “If you’ve got everybody from these same neighborhoods and you bunch them all together, it’s like we’re still in the same neighborhood,” Cooks said. “For these incoming freshmen that come to college to get this diverse type of feel, it’s not fair to them when we’re living in the dorm room we’re still like the South Side of Chicago.” Cooks also brought up discrimination by the University Police Department against minority students. Cooks said officers seemed to fine and ticket minority students more for things of little significance, like having a chair out on their porch in University Court. Cooks said he has tried going to the director of his residence hall with these issues, but he was dismissed. Catherine Polydore, a professor in counseling and student development, said she has witnessed some of this discrimination by University Police officers. One graduate student told her police followed him one day for no reason and questioned why he was going so many different plac-
es.
“It is within his right to go wherever as long as he wasn’t doing anything illegal,” Polydore said. “So, it happened multiple times.” Hillary Fuller, a member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority, said discrimination is prominent in the Greek community as well. Fuller said her sorority recently learned they were being called “Little Africa.” “The (National Pan-Hellenic Council) building is where we live, it’s our home,” Fuller said. “It’s really insulting because I have to walk past these two-story, grand Greek houses and they come into my one-story Greek house, which I have a lot of pride in and call us ‘Little Africa’ for just living.” Fuller said using this is a slur because it is meant to imply savagery. “It’s not like I’m embracing my culture,” Fuller said. “It’s more like you spit on mine.” Glassman said he needs to look into the inclusivity of Greek Week because African-American sororities and fraternities did not participate in it. “If there are reasons as to why the Black fraternities are not participating in Greek Week… I’d like to know about it,” Glassman said. “I’d like to see it be holistic.” Glassman said it will take time to address all these issues and create a truly inclusive university but he will do everything in his power to make the campus experience a positive one for all students. “Inclusion isn’t a light switch that you can turn on and all of a sudden everybody accepts it, everybody embraces it and everybody moves towards it,” Glassman said. “It’s something that takes steps to move forward and bring people together.” Chrissy Miller can be reached at 581-2812 or clmiller9@eiu.edu.
A possible athletics deficit and steps the department is taking to fix it were brought up at a meeting of the Council on University Planning and Budgeting Friday. As of March 31, when the budget report for athletics came out, the ending fund balance showed a deficit of $838,440. There are currently $523,170 in expenses that still need to be paid out, but these encumbrances could still be reduced, Paul McCann, interim vice president for business affairs, said. The athletics department also expects to receive about $1 million from the NCAA in the summer and to make a transfer from the Panther Club for $250,000. There is also $68,000 of unencumbered money in the appropriated budget and other encumbrances that the athletics department is looking at for possible reductions, Athletics Director Tom Michael said. Michael said at this point in time, when working with these encumbrances, there is a potential deficit of less than $50,000. “In general, we anticipate being very close to breaking even,” McCann said. “There is a possibility we might be have a deficit of the year of about $50,000, (but we’re) still working to try to eliminate that.” CUPB chair Kathlene Shank, chair of the department of special education, asked what the department has that it could cut in light of the possible $50,000 deficit. Michael said this is what the athletics department is looking at. Along with looking at how to reduce encumbrances, he said, it is also hoping to raise money at fundraisers such as the Spring Fling. “We’re trying to look at every possible way to reduce and raise more money,” Michael said. McCann said the way these encumbrances works is that at the beginning of the year, there is an estimate set of what each expense is going to be. The university might say it is going to spend a certain amount during the year on some expenses but it might not get there, he said, meaning there will be dollars left on some encumbrance contracts. “We will have some extra money in those line items (on the budget),” McCann said. Michael said as everyone takes on more duties and responsibilities across the university, intercollegiate athletics is no different.
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