Looking back on the
2021-22
school year University of Iowa students protested and experienced a new president in the 2021-22 school year. A NEW PRESIDENT
New UI president Barbara Wilson began her tenure in July 2021. As president, she oversees more than 30,000 students and 25,000 employees of the university. In her first year, she focused on building relationships across campus, as well as prioritizing increasing mental health resources for students. Going forward, Wilson said she wants to continue to further free speech on campus. She has also worked on the next strategic plan based on the five core values of the university: community, creativity, excellence, inclusion, and integrity. The plan will set the vision for the university over the next five years.
Grace Smith/The Daily Iowan
Fans celebrate during a football game between Iowa and Kent State at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. The Hawkeyes defeated the Golden Flashes, 30-7.
.FANS BACK IN THE STANDS After playing the 2020 season in front of cardboard cutouts, fans returned to Kinnick Stadium to watch Hawkeye football. Fans also packed the stands at Carver-Hawkeye Arena for men’s and women’s basketball. Iowa football vaulted to a number two ranking in the AP poll following an epic showdown with Penn State ended with many of the 70,000 Hawkeye faithful on the field at Kinnick. The Iowa women’s basketball team sold out Carver-Hawkeye for their regular-season finale, as well as their first and second round March Madness games. The Iowa men’s team also sold out a few of its final home games.
A RETURN TO IN-PERSON LEARNING
Across the UI campus, events and classes returned to a heavily in-person format without any COVID-19 restrictions. The UI was the lone Big Ten school to open the fall semester without a mask mandate. Students were free to choose whether they would wear masks both semesters. After two years, Hancher Auditorium returned to a consistent schedule hosting in-person events, overcoming budget cuts and a shutdown. The auditorium hosted events including dance exhibitions, lectures from TV personality Bill Nye and others, musicals, plays, and concerts.
CALLS FOR JUSTICE ON CAMPUS
Members of the Iowa City community rallied around one another throughout the academic year, beginning with protests over an alleged sexual assault at the Phi Gamma Delta house. Over three nights of protests, hundreds of community members marched through Iowa City and protested in front of the fraternity house in search of justice. At other moments throughout the year, hundreds of residents came together to protest issues, Grace Smith/The Daily Iowan including a video showing an Iowa City Community School District student using racial slurs, the bill Protesters march away from the Pentacrest toward downtown Iowa City during the third night of protests following sexual assault allegations against prohibiting transgender students from playing school-sanctioned sports, and the conflict in Ukraine. the University of Iowa’s chapter of Phi Gamma Delta on Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021. 6 | THE DAILY IOWAN HAWKEYE VIEW | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15, 2022 | DAILYIOWAN.COM
