The Daily Iowan - 05.11.2020

2020

The Daily Iowan G RA D UATION ED ITION 2020 Monday, May 11, 2020 | dailyiowan.com

Visions

2020 Hawkeye graduates are ending their college careers during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. While much remains uncertain about the present, their eyes are set on brighter futures.

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VOLUME 151 | ISSUE 115

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5 “It was 20 years ___ today …” (Beatles lyric) 8 Separately 13 Minnesota’s “crazy” state bird 14 Roosters’ mates 16 New ___, India’s capital 17 Another name for [see shaded squares] 19 Souped-up engine sound 20 “19,” “21” and “25” singer 21 Rod and ___ (fishing equipment) 23 The “M” of MSG 24 Give a quick greeting 26 Another name for [see shaded squares] 28 Refrigerated 30 Praiseful poem 32 Rug rat 33 Fawn’s mother 34 “u r 2 funny!”

35 Macho guy 38 “We were just talking about you!”

43 What a radar gun measures 44 Rowing tool 45 Blackjack card worth one or 11 points 46 Homophone of 44-Across 47 Org. with the Suns and the Heat 48 Competed 49 Another name for [see shaded

squares] 53 Nature photographer Adams 55 “And … it’s gone!”

56 City about 280 miles NW of München 58 Pass, as a law 61 French place of education 63 Another name for [see shaded squares] 65 Incurred, as expenses 66 Distinguishing features of Mr. Spock 67 Place of banishment for Napoleon 68 “___, what is the meaning of life?” (modern query) 69 Holder of peas 70 Derrière

Down 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

___ mater Thick string Toss and turn, say Naked “Gotcha!”

Throw in the trash First word in a fairy tale Word often ending in -ly: Abbr.

“If I may …”

Emotionally detached French wine valley East ___ (U.N. member since 2002) 15 Silverstein who wrote and

illustrated “The Giving Tree” 18 King: Sp. 22 Certain Protestant 25 Virtual reality chamber in the “Star Trek” universe 27 Like many intramural sports 28 Successors to LPs 29 Klutz’s cry 31 John who sang “Candle in the Wind” 36 Single and ready to mingle 37 “Good going!”

39 2005 sci-fi movie starring Charlize Theron 40 Actress Russell of “Felicity” and “The Americans” 41 Hot pepper 42 Played the first card 48 Thin wood finish 49 “Madama Butterfly,” for one 50 Train that makes every stop 51 Lorna ___ (Nabisco cookie) 52 Late Lakers great Bryant 54 “Oh yeah? ___ who!”

57 Long jump 59 Havana’s home 60 Skier’s way up a mountain 62 Org. that cleans up oil spills 64 Drug to trip on

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2 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

Flying out of the Hawks’ nest virtually Although COVID-19 altered the final semester for graduating Hawkeyes, the University of Iowa is finding ways to celebrate their accomplishments virtually with video messages and an unprecedented online commencement.

BY LAUREN WHITE lauren-white@uiowa.edu Around 5,400 University of Iowa graduates won’t walk across a stage to be handed a diploma in front of hundreds of graduates’ friends and family members this weekend. Instead, more than 3,100 Hawkeyes will tune in online to watch unprecedented virtual commencement ceremonies.

“Students who opted in to participate in the virtual ceremony will have their names and credentials displayed,” Sullivan said. “Some students will also have a photo if they chose to supply one or their college supplied one for them.”

The ceremonies will include recorded video messages from 17 faculty, alumni, and administrators, including one from UI President Bruce Harreld, as well as so-

Ben Smith/The Daily Iowan Graduation Herky with a “PHIL Was Here” sash stands on the Pentacrest on April 24, 2017.

After the UI on March 18 moved commencement ceremonies online to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, each college organized their own virtual ceremonies to celebrate their graduating Hawkeyes, like traditional commencement.

Along with the streamed ceremonies, Hawkeyes also have the option to return for in-person recognition in the future.

Each ceremony will stream at the same time it was scheduled for when the UI planned for spring 2020 graduation to be in-person, UI Associate Registrar Sara Sullivan said. The ceremonies will be streamed via YouTube Premiere, a platform where multiple viewers can watch the same video together.

cial-media messages from parents, UI media-relations Director Anne Bassett said. The Office of Strategic Communication also worked with collegiate partners to solicit college-specific student, faculty, and alumni speakers, she said.

Many areas of campus collaborated to bring students a spring commencement that provides a much-needed end-of-semester celebration, while also protecting the health and safety of the Hawkeye community, Bassett added.

Communication with students and between campus departments was completely digital, Sullivan said of commencement-planning efforts. The university sent emails to students updating them on the

situation and used different platforms such as its commencement website, the graduation app, social-media outlets, and various strategic-communication partners.

“UI leadership made the difficult decision to go virtual,” Sullivan said. “Safety of our campus community was at the forefront of the decision and subsequent planning.”

Former Undergraduate Student Government President Noel Mills said she was part of the advocacy effort for a virtual ceremony. She encouraged students to participate in online commencement in addition to the fall 2020 or spring 2021 on-campus ceremonies.

“My biggest concern about having a virtual ceremony was the same as most folks in that, it’s not a real thing, but the cancellation of a physical 2020 graduation ceremony had to be done,” Mills said.

Former Graduate and Professional Student Government President Dexter Golinghorst said graduate and professional commencement functions similarly to undergraduate ceremonies — divided by college with a message from the president, provost, and dean, and a service reading off students’ names with their picture.

Golinghorst said early in the

planning process, the student governments surveyed students asking for suggestions on what they think the university should do about the 2020 ceremonies. Students favored the option to have

commencement,” Bassett said.

“However, everyone is looking forward to celebrating the wonderful achievements of every graduate in the best way possible under the circumstances.”

UI 2020 GRADUATION BY THE NUMBERS • About 5,400 Hawkeyes are set to graduate this spring • Graduates represent 40 U.S. states and 68 countries • More than 3,100 students opted into virtual ceremonies • Ceremonies will include recorded video messages from 17 faculty, alumni, and administrators

in-person commencement as well, he said.

“People really wanted to have that final moment of walking across the stage and getting their diploma,” Golinghorst said. “The UI has offered that opportunity as well as virtual and having the option to come back is really important.”

Bassett said all viewers of any college or program graduation are encouraged to use #UIowaGrad20 to participate in the celebration live.

“The university was extremely disappointed to cancel spring

3 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

Identity-based graduations honor Hawkeyes Students who identify within a marginalized community may have faced added barriers to earning their degrees.

Multicultural and diversity centers across campus have found new ways to celebrate their graduation.

Katie Goodale/The Daily Iowan

All graduating seniors who participated in the Rainbow Graduation pose after the event in the Old Capitol Senate Chamber on May 8, 2018.

BY MARY HARTEL mary-hartel@uiowa.edu Campus coordinators are using social-media spotlights, mailed gifts, and video celebrations to highlight 2020 graduates among various identity-based University of Iowa communities after the UI canceled in-person commencement ceremonies and events.

Celebrating accomplishment is essential in the Latinx community, said Thomas Arce, coordinator for the Latino Native American Cultural Center, which facilitates cultural awareness and operates as a “home away from home” for UI students.

“That’s really the epitome of the Latinx graduation is that we’re sharing the diversity of latinidades through storytelling,” Arce said.

Arce, who chairs the Latinx graduation committee, said this academic year marks the UI’s 26th annual celebration of Latinx graduates in a formal capacity. More than 120 graduates participated in the event in spring 2019, which Arce said was the largest it’s ever been.

Because COVID-19 mitigation measures nixed an in-person Latinx graduation celebration, Arce said three different options were available to graduating seniors.

“What we decided to do is to celebrate graduates on a kind of a ‘choose your adventure,’ and the graduate can decide how they want to be recognized,” Arce said.

Students could partake in one, two, or all three of the opportunities, which include registration to receive the free gifts they would normally receive, recognition in a

social-media spotlight, or announcement of their names in a congratulatory support video from the UI Latinx faculty and staff.

“Giving that recognition is important to Latinx students, and then specifically during this time of doing the remote learning in classes where students cannot share in community with each other physically, having to at least do that in some capacity virtually,” Arce said.

Arce said the celebration for Native and Indigenous graduating seniors normally occurs at the annual UI Powwow event at the Field House, and the Native American Council is currently working to engage in a celebration online as well.

Emma Welch, coordinator of the UI Pride Alliance Center, which serves the LGBTQIA+ campus com-

munity, said COVID-19 has thrown a wrench into many forms of student engagement, including the center’s Rainbow Graduation ceremony.

Welch said the ceremony normally occurs on the Tuesday of finals week in the Old Capitol Senate Chambers.

Keynote speakers, alumni, and staff members partake in the ceremony and the reception that follows, Welch said.

“It’s just a great opportunity for students in the LGBTQIA+ community to be acknowledged and celebrated on a more intimate and personal level in addition to the wonderful UI larger commencement opportunities,” Welch said.

The number of graduates who participate in Rainbow Graduation has increased recently, Welch said. Last spring, around 30 students participated in the event, the highest tally yet.

Welch, who has spearheaded the event amid COVID-19 mitigation measures, said graduating students could submit a video with information about them that would have otherwise been shared at the ceremony, submit a picture of themselves and a short bio for a social-media highlight to be shared during finals week, be included in a written program online, and/or be privately recognized.

“They sort of have the freedom to decide how they are celebrated,” Welch said.

“We want to make sure that the students this year feel as celebrated and as appreciat-

ed as they would any other year, and we recognize that’s a grand feat and we may not accomplish that because they don’t have the opportunity to walk or travel across the stage but we’re aiming to celebrate them as much as we can.”

The center will send its graduates a graduation package containing either a rainbow cord or cord with the trans flag, a certificate, and a small gift, Welch said.

“Students — and especially students with marginalized identities — they work hard to get through school, and they’re given extra barriers to overcome whether that’s overt or covert barriers,” Welch said. “I strongly believe that every University of Iowa student deserves to be celebrated and deserves the spotlight and I believe that it’s vital that our affinity graduations are continuing, even if virtually.”

Stephanie Yazell, student success coach in TRIO Student Support Services, said TRIO’s annual end-of-theyear celebration was canceled.

The service is a subunit of the UI Center for Diversity and Enrichment that often operates independently with grant funding to serve students who identify as first-generation, low-income, or have a documented disability.

Yazell, who has been in charge of planning the service’s end-of-year-celebration for the last two years, said graduating seniors are traditionally recognized at an event with student speeches and

4 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

slideshow.

The Center for Diversity and Enrichment will hold a virtual graduation watch party, available to all center-eligible students who register for the event, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

May 13.

Many of the students TRIO Student Support Services serves will participate in the Center for Diversity and Enrichment virtual graduation, Yazell said, so the service’s team will mail out letters and gifts to its graduating students instead of having a separate ceremony as a form of congratulations.

“We want to do our best to make sure that we recognize students and show that we know that this is such a big deal for you and we want to be able to still celebrate that, even though we know it won’t be in person this year,” Yazell said.

Yazell said the federal grant that the service operates underneath allows it to serve 350 students every year. Forty-eight graduates registered to participate in its form of celebration as of April 17. “... Knowing that the majority of students that we serve identify as first-generation, or income-eligible, we recognize that they have faced additional barriers in life in terms of just getting to this point in life anyway,” Yazell said. “Being a first-gen student, they’re likely the first in their family to attend college, they are now the first in their family to be graduating from college, and that really is something that should be celebrated no matter what.”

Shaky economy greets job-searching grads Graduating students are searching for employment while facing an economy that’s been upended by COVID-19 business closures.

BY ANNIE FITZPATRICK & LAUREN WHITE daily-iowan@uiowa.edu COVID-19 has changed the job search for several University of Iowa seniors as they enter the workforce while facing the greatest low point for the U.S. economy since the Great Depression.

UI senior Isabella Penniston said she is “lucky” to have accepted a job as a cardiovascular nurse at University of Wisconsin Health in Madison for fall 2020. Penniston said the start date of this position has left her in need of a summer job, however.

“I’ve tried applying to so many different jobs,” Penniston said. “I go to the call for positions and they say, ‘Sorry, we aren’t hiring at this time.’ ” The scarcity of both full-time and part-time jobs is incredibly frustrating, Penniston said. The financial stress of needing a general job to cover expenses until she starts her full-time position at UW Health

is difficult, she said.

“Right now, I feel irritated honestly… but I totally understand why places aren’t hiring because they are under extreme financial stress right now,” she said.

Anne Villamil, an economics professor in the Tippie College of Business, said spring 2020 graduates are entering a difficult and uncertain job market.

“The U.S. economy is in a recession, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic,” Villamil said. “The recession has not yet been officially ‘declared’ by the National Bureau of Economic Research because this typically requires two consecutive quarters of adverse economic performance. There is no doubt, however, that a recession will be declared.”

The current economic downturn has been dubbed the “Great Cessation,” Villamil said, because it was caused by government mandates to shelter in place and reduce spread of the novel coronavirus. State-ordered business closures have re-

duced demand for goods and services and, in some cases, the supply of goods and services, she said.

“The current job market is already worse than the job market in the Great Recession in 2007-2009, and some economists expect it to approach the 25 percent unemployment rate during the Great Depression,” Villamil said. “The main question is how long this will last.”

Iowa Workforce Development has 181,358 ongoing claims for unemployment benefits, according to a statistics report from the last week of April, a nearly 13-fold increase from May 2019.

Some U.S. states, including Iowa, are attempting to reopen the economy, she added, but many may be forced to close again in safety of its residents if the virus surges. Gov. Kim Reynolds announced dentists’ offices, malls, certain retail stores, campgrounds, and other select facilities could begin reopening at 50 percent capacity and with additional health precautions in place starting May 8. In 77 of Iowa’s 99 counties, restaurants are also allowed to reopen at half capacity.

Villamil said the coronavirus outbreak is a serious, novel, and highly contagious pandemic, resulting in economic problems. The country needs to do the basic science and implement public-health

said. Some employers may be delaying start dates or moving the job online, but the majority are still finding ways to offer opportunities, she said.

Burden said that to best prepare students, the career center reached out to employers to see how they have ad-

measures to get the economy back on track, she said.

Sara Burden, senior associate director of employer engagement at the UI Pomerantz Career Center, said many employers have transitioned from conducting in-person to phone interviews, and the center is holding mock phone interviews to help students prepare.

“We tried to connect as quickly as we could with students to make sure that they knew we still existed, Burden said. “We just transitioned all of our advising online and we offer a large list of resources on our website for students to navigate COVID-19.”

There are still several job and internship posts on Handshake, an online recruiting system used by UI students and employers, Burden

5 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

justed amid COVID-19.

Employers understand that many students have lost work experience because of the virus, she said. Students should be open and communicate with employers, because they are learning how to work differently, just like everyone else.

“We have made changes to the way we communicate. It’s no longer face-to-face, and we use all the resources we have to reach out and communicate as clearly and effectively as possible,” Burden said. “We know we can do more, so we are working to continue that. We are reaching out to all seniors to make sure they are getting the help they need and being more specific and pointed because of COVID-19.”

Reaching across the aisle, Hawkeye style No matter the political party, students graduating in the UI’s Class of 2020 had the opportunity to get involved on campus with the 2016 election and 2020 first-in-the-nation caucuses.

BY JULIA SHANAHAN AND CALEB MCCULLOUGH daily-iowan@uiowa.edu Graduating Hawkeyes have benefited from a frontrow view of the nation’s presidential-nomination process, as many came onto campus months before the 2016 election and are leaving not long after the 2020 first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses.

University of Iowa senior Alex Byrnes served as the state of Iowa’s College Republican Chair for the past year and was involved with the UI College Republicans during her four years on campus.

After traveling the country and parts of the world with other state College Republican and Democratic chairs, Byrnes said her biggest takeaway is learning that in politics, nothing can be done without listening to those with whom you disagree.

“We’re going to disagree, and also it’s OK to disagree

with your own party,” Byrnes said. “I mean, that’s how the party modifies and changes for the better over the years…

Sitting back and pointing a finger at the other side is never going to accomplish anything.”

Byrnes helped canvass for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign in 2016 leading up the Iowa caucuses. Byrnes, a resident of Osage, Iowa — a town with a population of 3,500 — said she loves to see presidential candidates visit rural towns in Iowa and met 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at a fire station in her hometown.

“It was really remarkable that she, of all people, would come to the small town of Osage, Iowa,” she said. “Rural Iowa is the backbone of our Iowa economy and it’s so important that people are paying attention … and clearly our presidential candidates are seeing that.”

Byrnes will graduate with a degree in finance and has a job lined up at a firm where she will work her way up to be a financial adviser. She hopes to work with women in rural areas to help manage their finances, because she said sometimes, women may get divorced or become widowed and have never managed their own money.

Byrnes’ aunt died from ALS last year, and said that while her aunt was sick, she trusted a financial adviser to make financial arrangements for her daughters.

“Her financial adviser drove from Des Moines to Osage, which is about a twoand-a-half hour drive, to talk over her finances and really reassure her that her girls will be taken care of, financially,” Byrnes said. “He ended up being more of a friend rather than a financial adviser, and I guess that really inspired me to get into financial advising.”

Byrnes’ father Josh Byrnes

Jordan Gale/The Daily Iowan Then-presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to a crowd at the UI Field House on Jan 26, 2016.

Hannah Kinson/The Daily Iowan An attendee looks up at the stage during then-presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders’ College Campus Tailgate Tour on Sept. 8, 2019 at the Old Capitol. represented her home district in the Iowa House for six years before retiring in 2016.

Byrnes hopes to one day run for a seat in the state Legislature to represent rural Iowa.

Political events on campus also motivated UI senior Maya Mahajan to get involved.

She found herself inspired to work in immigration law after the election of President Trump and the implementation of his 2017 executive order banning travel to the U.S. by foreign nationals from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

Mahajan will graduate with degrees in philosophy, political science, and ethics and public policy, saying she took an average of 21 class hours each semester. Because Mahajan will apply to law schools, she said she did not want to disclose her political-party affiliation.

Mahajan was interning in

Washington with the ACLU National Prison Project when COVID-19 cut her internship a couple of months short and forced her to move home to continue her work remotely. She said she was working to better mental- and medical-health care in prisons.

“In the middle of my internship, COVID hit, and that of course totally exacerbated all of the already terrible conditions,” said Mahajan, adding that she was also working alongside attorneys who were filing lawsuits to release immigrant detainees from immigration detention centers.

Among her credentials during her time at the UI, Mahajan also worked at the UI Center for Human Rights, and spent a summer working at a community legal center in East Palo Alto, California, where she worked with individuals covered under Deferred Action for Childhood

6 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

Arrivals and preschoolers learning English as a Second Language.

In the fall, Mahajan will travel to the Canary Islands in Spain as a Fulbright scholar to teach English to elementary-school kids.

“One of the reasons I want to do law is to work at an organization like the ACLU or like these nonprofits that work … outside of Washington politics, because I feel like sometimes that’s very restrictive,” she said.

Jenna Nelson, a graduating political-science major with a minor in rhetoric and persuasion, found similar inspiration to pursue immigration law after Trump’s election, but channeled that motivation through her work with the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign during her last year on campus.

SEE POLITICS, 7

From the classroom to COVID-19 response The first spring class of University of Iowa undergraduate public-health students will soon enter the workforce to serve a world in which public health is now central to daily life.

BY RIN SWANN corinne-swann@uiowa.edu The irony of graduating with a public-health degree during the COVID-19 public-health crisis isn’t lost on University of Iowa senior Olivia Teach — and that’s especially the case for the undergraduate program’s first spring public-health cohort.

Teach is one of 42 students who will graduate with a UI undergraduate degree in public health, second only to the first five public-health students who graduated in December 2019.

“But I think it has made me feel more calm about the situation,” Teach said. “Because I can go back to what I’ve learned in public health and what I’ve learned about pandemics and apply that to what’s happening now, and I can have a better worldview.”

The UI College of Public Health began offering the undergraduate program to students four years ago. Since the Fundamentals of Public Health course was first offered on campus in 2013, over 1,500 students have enrolled, Margaret Chorazy, UI College of Public Health director of undergraduate programs, said in an email to The Daily Iowan.

Teach said she has seen her classwork in action seeing the Federal

POLITICS CONTINUED FROM 6

Nelson said the Vermont senator has inspired her since his 2016 presidential run, when she caucused for him at age 17. When he announced his candidacy for the second time, she knew she had to

class, she’s creating a public service announcement about how people at high risk for contracting the coronavirus can grocery shop safely. “[Students] are in a unique position to understand the local and global dynamics of this pandemic,

friends and family, helping to interpret what we’re hearing in the news day-to-day. Our graduates are also finding public-health jobs created in response to this pandemic.”

UI senior and public-health major Austin Wu said public-health ser-

they came in contact with.

Those kinds of field-based workers were cut from the public-health workforce as a result of the 2008 recession and never fully restored, Wu said. After COVID-19, however, Wu said he wonders if that will change.

Nationwide, local health departments have lost nearly 25 percent of their workforce since 2008, according to the National Association of City and County Health Officials.

“So that might be an interesting shift in what happens,” Wu said.

“Are we going to see increased funding for public health? And if that does happen, how long is that going to last?”

Another senior, Leighton Hill, will enter a workforce on the frontlines of pandemic response to the global outbreak of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

“It’s been very interesting,” Hill said of studying public health during this pandemic. “And I think it’s hard because you learn about this stuff in class and how diseases spread — what could happen and how bad it could get. But to see it actually happen is frustrating.”

Hill said she is grateful for her graduating class and expressed her excitement to see what everyone does in the future. Hill said she and her classmates are all passionate about public health.

“I don’t think any of us ever expected this to happen when we came in,” Hill said. “The work that we want to do is to prevent situations like this, so it’s hard to watch what is happening throughout the world and see how much it is affecting people.”

get involved.

“I remember specifically thinking when he announced that he was going to run for president in this election that I just couldn’t let this campaign cycle go by without doing something for the campaign,” she said.

That led Nelson to the Hawks for Bernie student group in No-

vember, one of many student groups that organized for various candidates ahead of the February presidential precinct caucuses.

A campaign organizer then suggested Nelson apply for a campaign internship. She did, and in December 2019, she was hired as a canvassing intern where she was campus, knock-

ing doors, and phone banking 15 hours a week.

After graduating, Nelson will attend the UI College of Law with hopes of becoming an immigration lawyer, a longtime goal of Nelson’s since experiencing the 2016 election on campus.

Nelson said working on the Sanders campaign gave her more

confidence in voicing her opinions, which she thinks prepared her for a career in law.

“Overall, working for the campaign just made me comfortable talking about what I believe in and fighting for what I believe in, even when I know maybe I’m approaching someone who’s going to disagree with me,” she said.

Emergency Management Agency respond to the COVID-19 crisis, as well as disease transmission as the virus can spread quickly through respiratory droplets.

For Teach’s last assignment in her Field Experiences and Public Health

including the public-health efforts to decrease the transmission of the virus,” Chorazy said. “They are seeing many of the lessons learned in the classroom play out in real life.

Many students have become important sources of information for their

The College of Public Health Building is seen on March 11, 2019.

vices in his experience do not receive much funding.

Wu pointed to examples of contact tracing, which requires field workers to go out and track the transmission of a disease from those infected to places visited and people

Katie Goodale/The Daily Iowan

7 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

Looneys know both sides of classroom experience As nontraditional students, Angela and Tim Looney have both served as University of Iowa staff and instructors for nearly a decade and worked toward their degrees for more than four years.

BY MARY HARTEL mary-hartel@uiowa.edu Married couple Angela and Tim Looney have seen both sides of the Hawkeye classroom experience — the quick turnaround for instructors to finalize grades at the semester’s end, and the rush of cramming for finals as students.

The two have worked as staff members while also enrolled in University of Iowa online master of arts and bachelor of applied studies programs for the past few years. While the pair won’t walk across the stage with their cap and gowns because of canceled commencement ceremonies amid the spread of COVID-19, they will celebrate their accomplishments for graduating as nontraditional students.

Adjunct Professor Angela Looney, UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences production-unit department instructional-service manager, finished her master’s in strategic communication this semester.

Angela has worked as a UI staff member since 2009 and enrolled in her degree program four years ago.

Angela graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a bachelor’s

in communications: radio and TV, and said she fell in love with journalism during her first job as a teleprompter operator at a Houston TV news station.

“I just felt like somebody needed me, I was doing an important job, and it was really exciting, and I loved being in the news,” she said.

She’s worked mostly in television ever since — in TV news, as a commercial producer, and a promotion manager — before coming to the UI. Angela said she chose to pursue her master’s after she compiled videos for the School of Journalism and Mass Communication about the program in which she is now enrolled. “... It took me a couple of years to really fully figure out how I would do it — why I would do it,” Angela said of her decision to pursue a master’s.

Angela said she wished she had the degree 20 years ago, noting the unconventional style of working in the industry and then learning about it. “... I’m kind of doing it backward to what a lot of people have done,” Angela said.

Tim Looney, lecturer for TV production courses for

UI communication studies, began running the UI’s multimedia equipment checkout in 2012. He became an adjunct staff member about three years ago and is now a full-time instructor. This semester, Tim is finishing up his UI bachelor’s of applied studies, which he began work-

Rapids. “... I never had time to finish,” Tim said. “I had my career going and then I had a family and, you know, all of that stuff.”

Tim said he always intended to finish his bachelor’s, and started by taking one class a semester, gradually increasing it to two

Angela Looney

Tim Looney

ing on eight years ago.

A Solon, Iowa native, Tim said he first enrolled in college in 1984, earning

as he grew more eager to finish. The past few years he’s worked full time, taught one night class a

I think it’s really given me an insight to know what they’re going through, and I can better help them navigate.’

—Angela Looney, adjunct professor, on being a student an associate of arts degree from Kirkwood in the late ‘80s. By then, Tim said he was already well into his career of TV production, working at KCRG in Cedar

week, and enrolled in two online courses.

“The last couple years it’s been nothing but school,” Tim said.

Both Angela and Tim

said being students themselves has helped them be better teachers and allowed them to understand the pressures their own students face.

Angela said the experience made her more flexible with deadlines for her students.

“I think it’s really given me an insight to know what they’re going through, and I can better help them navigate,” Angela said.

Tim said the experience has allowed him to relate to his students better.

“I totally get the struggles. I get what a bad course is like,” Tim said.

“Like some of these courses, you [just] don’t understand.”

Both the Looneys said they had been looking forward to walking across the stage at commencement, but because of the novel-coronavirus pandemic will participate instead in the virtual graduation ceremony.

Nonetheless, they both said they are thrilled to complete their degrees.

“I’m so excited, and I’m so looking forward to not having homework,” Angela said.

Tim added that he’ll be eager to get back to in-person classes and be with his

8 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

students.

“I think students are pretty awesome, sure there are some that are jerks, but that’s life,” Tim said. “Most of all, I just respect students because [they’re] trying to figure out where to live and how to do all that grown-up stuff that I’ve already done.”

UI journalism lecturer Charles Munro works with the Looneys in his role as Daily Iowan TV coach.

He said the Looneys are a huge asset to the UI. “The measure of their value to the University of Iowa has been that they have greatly improved their jobs from the beginning,” Munro said. “They took these jobs and really improved things across the board in terms of organization, decision-making, and responding as best they can to student needs.”

Munro, who was on the selection committee that hired Tim and Angela, noted they are both extremely dedicated to their students. “...

They improved things primarily for students,” Munro said. “They made producing stories easier and better, and I think that made for better students.”

Breaking barriers for students with disabilities University of Iowa master’s student Andrea Courtney leaves campus with a legacy of her efforts to provide an inclusive environment and to improve accessibility for those with disabilities.

BY RACHEL SCHILKE

something that [those with disabilities] should be super thankful for rachel-schilke@uiowa.edu receiving.”

Courtney said she plans to become When University of Iowa master’s a counselor with a specialization in student Andrea Courtney stepped those with disabilities and chronic onto campus as a transfer from the pain.

University of Northern Iowa in 2012 “There are lots of intersections as a sophomore, she said she had with disabilities that are not always found a home where she could exrecognized,” Courtney said. “Disabilipress confidence in her identity and ty impacts my life and my experience, find support to break the barriers but I don’t know anything different. I that she and her peers experienced got so involved with [UI Students for on a daily basis.

Disability Advocacy and Awareness] Graduating in May from the clinbecause I wanted to hear from other ical mental-health master’s program students, I wanted to hear why barin the UI College of Education, Courtriers were so significant and how we ney was instrumental in raising the can change that for the better.” standard of disability accommodaUI graduating senior Ecker, who tions for students on campus. served as president of the student Courtney co-found and led as organization in 2019, said Courtney’s vice president of the UI chapter of best attribute is taking an issue and To Write Love On Her Arms, a mendeciding to pursue it, even if it had tal-health awareness organization, never been done before. for two years.

“My favorite conversation with When her partner, Kaydee Ecker, Andrea was when we were discussmentioned that Hawkeyes Accessiing the problems with Student Disbility Ambassadors, a budding stuability Services,” Ecker said. “She was dent organization, was looking for expressing how frustrating it was for leaders, Courtney said she applied. her and would question if she could Although she was uncertain if she do [something]. Finally, she said, ‘I was fit to run the organization, she can’t let this go on anymore.’ ” was happily surprised when she was Ecker said Courtney inspired chosen as president. them by taking a stand in front of “When I went to the Council on UI students, faculty, and staff with Disability Awareness, I noticed how passion when she many staff and disabilfaculty members I learned how to ask for what I wanted and fight discussed ity-related issues. were present, but “Andrea honnot that many stu- for what I needed.' estly and earnestdents,” Courtney — Andrea Courtney, UI master’s student ly expresses her said. “We decided to change the name of our group to for a year and presently serving as opinions,” Ecker said. “In situations the UI Students for Disability Advo- the organization’s treasurer, she has where it would be easier to say nothlearned so much more than she ever ing at all, she had a way of saying cacy and Awareness.” what needs to be said, even if it is not Another accomplishment of hoped.

“I learned how to ask for what I the most comfortable.”

Courtney’s UI career includes organizing a petition to move UI Student wanted and fight for what I needEcker said Courtney has worked to Disability Services from the base- ed,” Courtney said. “I learned to stop create a disability graduation ceremoment of Burge Hall to its own more apologizing for what I needed — that ny, communicated with four differaccessible facility — an experience accommodations are a standard, not ent University Student Government she said she will treasure having seen through from the end of her undergraduate education to the end of her graduate program.

UI Provost Montserrat Fuentes previously told The Daily Iowan that the temporary office will cost around $50,000 to relocate to the first floor of the University Capitol Center. This will be a three- to five-year solution while the university works on a permanent location.

Student Disability Services Accommodations Coordinator Vickie Houser, who was Courtney’s accommodations adviser, said Courtney was involved in changing lives for those with disabilities before the student organization was an active group on campus.

“She worked hard, attending meetings and reaching out to various faculty and staff members with the same thoughts that she had,” Houser said.

“She met with the UI vice president for Student Life and eventually ended with a town-hall meeting where people could share their experiences. It was very impressive to see.”

Courtney said she had never considered herself a member of the disability community, though she had a visual-impairment disability for many years. In retrospect, after serving as the organization’s president

Contributed administrations to develop a more accessible method for students and professors seeking to determine accommodations, and overall empowered students and celebrated in all aspects of their time at the university.

Houser said it was amazing to see how far Courtney has come since she walked into Houser’s office in spring 2015, asking for accommodations that she had not received in her time at UNI. “She has worked on self-advocacy and then spun her experiences into the advocacy she has worked on for others,” Houser said. “It’s a passion of hers, that everyone can have the ability to advocate for themselves.”

Courtney said working at the Wesley Center in Iowa City, a campus ministry organization, gave her a sense of purpose, because she was able to communicate and share experiences with others who belonged to the LGBTQ community and also grew up in faith communities.

She said the experience of talking

9 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

to others who were in worse situations than herself propelled her into advocacy and awareness for those who could not speak for themselves.

“I learned how hard it [is] to advocate and get your voice heard, especially as a white woman,” Courtney said. “I am queer, but people do not identify me as that. Discussing things as a member of a minority group gave me a lot of confidence being OK with asking for what I needed.”

Courtney added that her time at the UI has taught her how to be an advocate for herself in all identities.

She came out as an LBGTQ community member in March 2013.

Ecker said they were proud of Courtney and said she deserves to feel so much pride and love from the entire campus.

“Her time here at the university was not just for her to get a degree,” Ecker said. “She will make an impact that will last far beyond her years here. To me, she is the representation of what a good Hawkeye is.”

SETH TORCHIA

Congratulations

We are so proud of you and all of your great accomplishments!

on your graduation with a Masters of Public Health Policy.

You make us so proud!

proud of our Hawkeye!!!!

Love, Mom, Dad, Kiera, Kendra & Caden

and Dad

Congratulations!

Love, Your Family

WILLIAM Courtney COGHLAN Klopfenstein We are so Love, Mom

KARLY LENT CONGRATULATIONS RACHEL MARIE KASZYNSKI

Your ENTIRE Family is beyond proud of you and all your accomplishments!!

LOVE, ALL OF US!!!

TARA Congratulations!

It has been a joy to watch you grow and achieve these past four years!

Congratulations also on your graduate assistantship and upcoming wedding!

Oh the places you will go!

We are so proud of you!

Love, Your Family

on your graduation from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

We are very proud of you!

Love, Mom, Dad and family

JULIA MILLER

Congratulations

Madeline Womack

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey.

You'll never know dear how much I love you.

Please don't take my sunshine away! We are so very proud of you and your accomplishments! Keep shining bright my darling!

Love, Mom & Dad

CONGRATULATIONS

LAURYN SCHNACK!

I am so proud of my Honors Biomedical Science Graduate! Keep On, Keepin' On! Love, Mama

DERIK RUSH Congratulations!

We are all so proud of you.

You made IOWA your own and became a proud HAWKEYE! Love, Dad, Mom, Meg and the "guys"

You worked hard and made a difference in the world.

We are so proud of you!

The Fam

10 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

11 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

DANA WINKOWITSCH STAFFORD We are so proud of you Dana! Your determination, drive, persistence and hard work paid off!

You set your mind to achieve your B.A., did, and graduated with Distinction. We love you more that you’ll ever know. Mom and Dad

Congratulations

ISAIAH KLEMP

KAYLEE RAE KROGMAN Congratulations on your Masters Degree Kaylee!

on all your hard work and accomplishments the last 4 years.

Love, Mom, Dad and Morgan

RYAN BENSON & JARED BENSON Yesterday preschool, today 3rd generation UI college graduates.

We knew you could do it and you were made for great things. All that you and your family (Matthew & Vaeya) sacrificed has paid off. Those late nights filled with homework and tests after working 12 hour days are behind you now. Plus you survived your Economics class! Lol. We are so very proud of you. Put your future in good hands - your own!

Congratulations

RYAN BENSON (BA Chemistry)

and

JARED BENSON (BS Biochemistry).

We love you so much.

Mom & Dad

Your hard work and dedication has made us so proud! We love you!

KATIE CRISMAN Congratulations Katie,

Your family is very proud of you!!

Congratulations

RHIANA JOHNSON

LAUREN SPENCER! Congratulations MELISSA Congrats... You did it!

Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Carol, Zach, Kristyn, Josh, Mason, Christian, Josey, Lucy, and Noah

SCHERER

We are so proud of you and all you've achieved.

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR GRADUATION! We wish you continued success as you begin your professional career in the Twin Cities.

GO HAWKS! Love, Mom, Dad, Jordan, Rebecca, Grandma, Puff and Marsha

We all are so proud of you!

Love, Your Family

May your future be filled with love and laughter, health and happiness, fulfillment and adventure!

We're so proud of you!

Love, Your Family

Congratulations

AMALIA GRACE HELMKAMP

on earning highest distinction from BOTH the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and the College of Nursing, earning your B.M. (Violin Performance) and your B.S.N. Wow! Love, Daddy and Mama

TYLER DERR!

There are not enough words to express how so very proud we all are of you. We love you so much.

Now it's time to take on the world!!

Love, Mom, Dad, Christian, Adrianna, Ryleigh, Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, Kasey, Uncle Eric, Aunt Lisa, cousins, Aunt Leslie and Clifton

12 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

s

KATINA ZENTZ

Congratulations Katina!

We are so proud of all your accomplishments!

Be bold enough to use your voice.

Brave enough to listen to your heart and strong enough to live the life you always imagined.

Love, your family

Congratulations

CASSANDRA We are so proud of you.

And a Fulbright Scholarship too.

Can’t wait to visit you in Germany again.

Love Mom & Dad

CAITLIN BRAAFHART You worked hard for this and now the adventure begins! We are so proud of you and what you have accomplished!

Way to go B!

Love, Your Family

Kai Le Ren Becker Congratulations Kai Le! We are so proud of you.

Can't wait to see what we do next.

Love, Mom, Dad, Carrie and Maja

BLAKE WILSHIRE I’m so proud of you and all you’ve accomplished!

Keep working hard and following your passion.

Love you!

Mom

ERIN CALLAHAN CONGRATULATIONS

NICK SELIGA

Congratulations on years of hard work! We love you and are so very proud of you. All our love and support as you continue on to your Master's Program and we know your future will be as bright and wonderful as you are Erin!

You have made us so proud.

All our love, Mom, Dad & Shannon

Brandy VanVoorst

on your graduation from the College of Engineering.

We are all so proud of you!

Love, Mom, Dad, and Jake

We are so proud of you! Watch out world here she comes!

- Love Mom, Kaylee, and Tory

ADDIE BUSHNELL

The girl who was never afraid to get dirty is now the young woman who is ready to take on the world!

Congratulations to our Hawkeye daughter. We love you so much, Mom and Dad

Congratulations

NATALIE!

We are so proud of you & excited to hear about your adventures at Harvard Graduate School.

Love, Mom, Dad, Sam & Penny

13 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

DANIELLE HAVEL

KATINA ZENTZ

Congratulations on your Graduation and The camera may have changed, but your new job! We are the dream still remains! so proud of you, as Congratulations to our graduate you and Liska begin and award-winning photojournalist, the next steps of your Katina Zentz! journey! It's an We can’t wait to see how you exciting time. Embrace capture the world! the changes and take Love, Your Family time to celebrate your accomplishments!

E L KALEIGH

Love, Mom, Dave, Grandma Barb, Nicole, Morgan, and Caleb

EMILY ANN JESTER Congratulations!!

We are so very proud of your hard work and accomplishments!!

Congratulations AUSTIN SCHMIDT on your graduation from the College of Dentistry.

You make us so proud!

We love you, Mom, Dad, and the Fam Bam

Love, your family

Asya LeAnna AMBER ARENS Meriweather (Cosima) on your graduation from the College of Business. You make us so proud!

Congratulations Love, Mom and Dad Congratulations I’m Sweetheart! so happy & proud of you!

CONGRATULATIONS

WRIGHT SCHREINER Congratulations to our graduate! You’ve been a Hawkeye your whole life, and now you’re closing this chapter of your life by receiving a degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Iowa. We are so very proud of you, and can’t wait to see you excel in your next adventure!

- Love, your biggest supporters

SEAN RUECKER Congratulations on your graduation from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. We're so proud of you!

Love, Mom, Dad and Dylan

MEGAN DILLIVAN

CHRISTOPHER FRANKE Congratulations!

on your 2020 graduation from the University of Iowa.

We are so proud of you and your accomplishments in achieving your degree in Biomedical Engineering!

Best wishes for a bright future in your career!

GO HAWKS!!

Love, Mom, Grandpa and Grandma

14 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

Wishing you the best in all life has to offer you! "You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think" -Winnie the Pooh Love, Mom, Dad, and Elizabeth

RUDEN ELLIS PETE Congratulations, Pete!

FONTANA

We are so very proud of you and your accomplishments!

As you strike out on your own, remember that there is nothing more fulfilling than finding your own course in life. Good luck as you travel along the path you choose.

We love you, Mama and Papa

MICHAEL A. BOCK

Congratulations University of Iowa graduate! We are so proud of you and your accomplishments!

Love, Mom, Dad, Alex, Natalie

DYLAN CAVANAUGH Congratulations on earning your Bachelor of Arts Degree in both Cinema and Communications!

It has been fun watching you navigate the path that excites and inspires you! Well Done!

You continue to make us proud!

Love you Lots, Your Family

We’re so sorry that your college career got cut short, but WOW, what a journey you’ve had! The experiences you’ve had the last 3 1/2 years are what people dream of. Your hard work and determination has paid off, and we couldn’t be more proud of you and all your accomplishments. You’re gonna do great things!

Love, Mom and Dad

Congratulations on getting your Masters in Social Work and passing your state exam to become an LMSW! You have worked so hard for this, we are so proud of you!

Love, Mom, Mike and your boys (Kyson & Easton)

DYLAN JONES Congratulations on your Mechanical Engineering degree!

Love, Mom, Dad & Tucker

AUDREY

CONGRATULATIONS

DANIEL HARRISON TSIMOURIS HEYDE

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Wishing you all the best on your continued journey. Godspeed!

Love, Mom, Dad, & Christiana

BROOKE WALKER-WOODS

We love you!

You have a bright future ahead!

We are so proud of you!

Love, Mom & Dad

CONGRATULATIONS! We're so proud of you.

We're looking forward to seeing you embark on the next leg of your life's adventure!

Go confidently toward your dreams.

Love Mom & Dad

15 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

Grad leads way for Latinx, first-gen students University of Iowa senior Alexia Sánchez is reflecting on her experience navigating campus and embracing her identities as a Latinx and first-generation Hawkeye.

BY LAUREN WHITE lauren-white@uiowa.edu Latina. First-generation.

Hawkeye. In her four years pursuing her undergraduate degree at the University of Iowa, senior Alexia Sánchez has learned to accept and embrace her different identities.

Sánchez will graduate with majors in political science and social justice, and minors in Latinx studies and philosophy.

She said she came to the UI as an open major with no idea what she wanted to do.

“As a first-generation student, I never expected to get more than one degree, but the more time I invested in my education, the more I realized what I was capable of,” Sánchez said.

In her time at the UI, Sánchez served in what is now Undergraduate Student Government for three years.

In 2018, she directed the UI Homecoming parade and ran for student-body president, making her the first Latina student in UI history to do either. Although she did not win the presidency, Sánchez said she hopes that one day a Latina can break the glass ceiling by doing so.

She spearheaded the creation of the Unidos Living Learning Community, a designated residence hall floor for Latinx students to be emerged in and educated on their culture while surrounded by people who share their Latinx identity. It will open to students in fall 2020.

“Gearing up toward my final year on campus, there were a lot of things I wanted

to cross off my college bucket list before walking across the stage,” Sánchez said. “They were things I always had the mentality of completing, but unfortunately there were a

sity.

Rivera said Sánchez got involved in so many ways on campus, and it was great to know her personally and professionally.

Tippie Undergraduate Programs Associate Dean Ken Brown said Sánchez is generous and caring by nature, and that she was a blessing to have at the UI.

resulted in lasting change to policies here on campus that will help thousands of students.”

Sánchez said she hopes to work in immigration, whether

Contributed/Alexia Sánchez lot of things I wasn’t able to do.”

But there’s a lot the first-generation student did accomplish, said Gabriela Rivera, assistant director of Diversity, Inclusion, and Student Success at the Tippie College of Business. Rivera added that she has been asked to write letters of recommendation for Sánchez before, and that it’s not hard to write a letter of support for someone who has done so much for the univer-

“I’m excited that she’s taken the opportunity to say ‘yes’ to great experiences and it’s

“At Iowa, Alexia has been a tireless champion for marginalized and at-risk students,”

The symbolism of walking across the stage is very important. I see it as though my family crossed the border so that I could cross the stage.’

— Alexia Sánchez, UI senior great that she can balance a lot in her busy schedule,” Rivera said.

Brown said. “Her advocacy for first-generation and Latinx students, in particular, have

through a nonprofit or law career. To improve circumstances for American immigrants and immigrants around the world is a pursuit she’s been passionate about for many years.

She said she will continue to carry with her the advice she received to “remember her roots.” Sánchez said she recognizes that she experiences privileges which her family that came before her never had.

16 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

Patrick Dolan, an academic adviser for the social-justice major, said Sánchez has dedicated herself to combatting the oppressions associated with her identity and is open to hearing other perspectives when she’s in a diverse group.

Dolan said the social-justice program attracts students who want to make life better for people who have been marginalized, stigmatized, and put down. Sánchez is proof that those who take control of the opportunities they have can accomplish an enormous amount, he said, even as an undergraduate.

“I’ve been teaching at Iowa for 40 years,” Dolan said. “In my experience very, very few Iowa students have worked as hard, and have had as much success as Alexia. It makes me glad to be here.”

Sánchez said she is disappointed that she will miss out on the final farewells and moments of appreciation with the various campus community members who were part of her UI journey. She wanted to celebrate them, Sánchez said, just as they are celebrating her.

When Sánchez graduates, she said, it’s like her family is graduating with her. She will most likely return next academic year to participate in an in-person commencement ceremony in addition to participating in the spring 2020 virtual graduation.

“The symbolism of walking across the stage is very important,” Sánchez said. “I see it as though my family crossed the border so that I could cross the stage.”

Winding path leads to studying STEM fields Miming improved University of Iowa senior Olivia Sandvold’s connection to the STEM fields she studies. After exploring a winding path to STEM, she’s headed to the University of Pennsylvania.

BY RIN SWANN corinne-swann@uiowa.edu Oliva Sandvold performed onstage as a mime in high school, creating a comedy sketch about incompetent superheroes.

Now, as Sandvold graduates from the University of Iowa with highest distinction, a degree in biomedical engineering, and minors in mathematics and computer science, she recalls her time as a mime — and how that experience changed her life.

What began as a joke between Sandvold and her friends grew into a deep appreciation for creativity and communication that she said supported her as she entered engineering fields.

“I think miming and storytelling in general really connects with engineering and the problem-solving process,” Sandvold said. “And also, the communication of what you are trying to do, because I think that communication in engineering is vital — because you need to be able to say why you are doing something in order for people to be interested.”

While Sandvold did not return to the miming stratosphere in college, her performing experience serves as a reminder of the inherent self-expression and creativity involved in engineering.

Sandvold is a major voice among the 2020 graduating class in STEM fields, and her involvement on campus over the past four years is extensive. An Honors Society

member, Sandvold is also the co-founder of Hack Iowa, a student organization that promotes participation in Hackathons.

As a freshman, Sandvold volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House, participated in Dance Marathon, joined the Biomedical Engineering Student Society and the UI President’s Leadership Society, was a research assistant, and an Honors Summer Ambassador.

As she continued college, other key acclaims included working as a teaching assistant, studying abroad in Scotland her junior year, and involvement in the national engineering honor society, Tau Beta Pi, as a corresponding secretary, and various other internships and accolades. “[Sandvold] has a lot of things going for her,” said Addison Woll, UI Honors Program assessment manager and admissions coordinator.

“She’s very smart, she’s very driven, and she’s very kind and compassionate, but I think it’s her compassion and her desire to give back that is her greatest strength. It’s what motivates her. In my interactions with her, she always has a smile and she’s always willing to help. And that’s demonstrated through her engagement on campus.”

Sandvold began volunteering in the inpatient child and adolescent psychiatric unit at UI Hospitals and Clinics during her freshman year.

J.P. Claussen, a clinical educator in the unit, said

Sandvold primarily assists children with homework and developing a therapeutic rapport with those who had gone through difficult times in their lives.

“She is someone who would jump in with both feet and really work to engage all kinds of kids,” Claussen said.

The work at the psychiatric center was rewarding and enjoyable, Sandvold said, and she loved helping the kids work through problems and feel accomplished.

“I really enjoyed that because I think that many students don’t necessarily get the individualized attention or just someone sitting and listening to the problems that they are having in class or reasons why they are not understanding the material,” Sandvold said.

For someone with such an extensive résumé, however, Sandvold said her biggest challenge on campus was narrowing down what she wanted to do for a career.

“I think honestly, my biggest challenge at Iowa was figuring out what I wanted to do in my future,” Sandvold said.

“And I think that is something that a lot of people struggle with.”

Sandvold has been fascinated with medical-device design and bioimaging, but there are several paths she could take at the UI, so a large portion of her experiences was exploratory to help her gain a better understanding of what she wanted to do.

“There were times where I was just really uncertain

Contributed/Olivia Sandvold about where I was going to go next and what I wanted to do, and if I was going to find something that was going to help me get into an area where I wanted to be,” Sandvold said.

As a woman in a STEM field, Sandvold said she has faced incidents where she felt she was not being respected because of her gender or that it affected how professionals perceived her. She said she was passionate about working toward more female representation in STEM. In 2015, more than half of bachelor’s degrees in biological and agricultural sciences were earned by women, but

that share shrunk in physics, computer science and engineering bachelor’s degrees, according to the National Science Board.

“It is my hope that there are many more women leaders in STEM, because I think that having a face and having an icon to look up to that looks like you is incredibly important,” Sandvold said.

While Sandvold says her road to discovery was long and winding, she feels now that she is on a good trajectory.

Sandvold will attend graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania in fall 2020 on a Ph.D. track in bioengineering in the interfaces program,

17 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

which allows her to take a year and a half of medical-school classes while working on one of her key interests — bioimaging research.

Although the global outbreak of COVID-19 created a major interruption in Sandvold’s education and she is disappointed she will not have an in-person commencement, she knows she will always love the campus community and her time at the UI. “With COVID-19, it doesn’t feel like things are tied up neatly with a bow,” Sandvold said. “But it does shed a lot of light on what the people around me have meant to me.”

NICOLE KLOSTERMANN

CONGRATSALY MALONEY

KAYLI REESE

on your graduation from the College of Business and your HR journey.

So proud of you!

Congratulations! We are very proud of your hard work and dedication! We can't wait to "read" about the all amazing things you will "write".

Live the life you have imagined!

LOVE you more, your FAMILY!

Congratulations Nicole!

You have had many adventures, but the best is yet to come.

Your family is very proud of you and your accomplishments.

Love, Mom & Jeff and Dad & Natalie

CONGRATULATIONS! We're so proud of you!

Love, Dad & Suzanne

KATE! CONGRATULATIONS Lots of blood, sweat and tears got you to this point. We’re excited to see what your future has in store!

We love you and are so proud.

Love, Mom, Dad, Alexa, Emma and Tess

BAILEY PETERSEN Congratulations Bailey!

You had an amazing college experience!

It is a sweet ending to a new beginning!

We are so proud of all your accomplishments!

EMILY ANDERSON

ZOE SWINTON We Love You - Mom and Dad

IRVIN WILMER

RODRIGUEZ

Congratulations! Time has flown by and we are incredibly proud of your accomplishments! We can't wait to see what's next. Be Happy! ¡Felicidades por lo que has logrado! No podemos esperar para mirar que es lo próximo. ¡Qué seas feliz!

- Love The Rodriguez Family

Love, Your Fan Club

CONGRATULATIONS

RACHEL ERIKSEN! We are so proud of your accomplishments.

Your confidence and work ethic assures a bright future.

Once a Hawk, always a Hawk!

Love, Mom and Dad

The bar is never too high for you!

We're very proud of you and love you very much! Your Family

NED TURNER Congratulations, Ned! We are so proud of you and the young man that you have become! May God's blessings be upon you as you begin an exciting new chapter in your life!

With love and hugs!

Go Hawks!

Your Family

CHARLOTTE GUDE Charlotte, you have really made the most of your college experience as a Hawkeye.

We are so very proud of you and we know you will go out and change the world!

18 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

I E

CONGRATULATIONS

ELIANNA

on 4 amazing years at Iowa! We are proud of you and everything you have accomplished. It seems like it was just yesterday we came for parent’s weekend your freshman year. Now you are graduating with honors! You have so much talent, drive, intelligence, and will find success in the future. We are here to support you and look forward to seeing what you accomplish next! God bless you with wisdom, success, and happiness!

Love, Mama and Daddy

ALECS IGNATIUS MICKUNAS

Congratulations on your MA in Library & Information Science!

Your loving parents, Mark and Marisa, as well as Andy, Erik, Reid and Maura, all wish you the best of luck in your new career and in all your future endeavors!

Caitlin Purpi

on your graduation!

Watch out Grad School here she comes!!

on your University of Iowa graduation! The 2020 first graduating class of the College of Public Health will be a hard act to follow!

Your profession is needed more than ever, and your passion for public health will help change the world!

Love Mom & Dad

Megan DeDecker Congratulations on

Love, Mom, Dad Mitchell and Lincoln

your graduation! We are so proud of you!

Keep up the hard work - you have such a bright future ahead!

JACOB! We are so proud of you

Bri Lantrip on all your accomplishments!

The proudest moment for me is telling others you're my daughter.

Never doubt you were born to do great things!

Madison Snitker

Congratulations

CONGRATULATIONS

• MA & BS in Sport and Recreation Management • D1 Athlete • Hawkeye

Congratulations CONGRATULATIONS

and can't wait to see what your future holds!

Love, Mom & Dad

We love you!

Mom, Dad, Matt, Michael, and Tank

Congratulations,

Brenna Robinson,

Congrats, you did it! I am so proud of you

ANAK.

on your graduation from the School of Pharmacy.

We love you. Mom, Monica and Elizabeth

MADDIE KEMP

We are so proud of your accomplishments at Iowa! We are excited for what your future holds!

Congratulations, Madeline Elizabeth!

We love you!

Mom & Dad, Hannah & Ella, Grandma, Nana & Papa

Your motto has always been, "Dream big, plan well, work hard, smile always and good things will happen." It worked! We are so proud of you.

GO HAWKS! Love, Your Family

19 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

LIAM WALSH Congratulations on your Graduation!

We are so proud of you and all you have accomplished. We have always known that you could do whatever you set your mind to.

We know you will be a wonderful teacher.

Good luck on your next adventure! Congratulations!

Love, Dad, Mom, Ryan, Sean and Buddy

MARISSA PAYNE We can’t believe how fast these four years have gone by from moving you into your dorm to your last day of classes.

We are so proud of you.

CONGRATULATIONS

CONNOR NEALON Your college years have come to an end. We are very proud of you and all that you have accomplished. We're so excited to see what the future has in store for you. Go Hawks!

Love - Dad and Mom

MEGAN NAGORZANSKI

CONGRATULATIONS on all of your hard work!!!!

We Love You! Mom and Dad

Congratulations Takayla Al-Amin

Alex Chasteen

Congratulations Takayla!!!

You did it!!! I’m so proud of my amazing niece. on graduating with Highest Distinction in English! I wish you much success. Love Aunt Cynthia

We are very proud and can't wait to read your next work, even if it is in French.

- Love Mom, Dad and Zack

Takayla Al-Amin Takayla, always believe in the beauty of your dreams and your future will be bright.

Congratulations, Sonya Reed

CONGRATULATIONS

ALYSE!

We couldn't be happier for you.

You worked so hard and accomplished so much - now it's time to celebrate.

You've earned it! Your future is shining with possibilities, and we all can't wait to see what's ahead for you as you begin your next adventure!

You make us SO proud!!!

Love, Mom & Dad

MEGAN,

Congratulations on all your accomplishments at Iowa! I am so proud of the wonderful young woman you've become, and your dad would be too. He was one of your biggest fans, and would be cheering you on.

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams!

With much love, Mom

Takayla Brianna Al-Amin

Takayla, you did it! Congratulations on graduating with your Bachelor Degree in Sport & Recreation Management.

It's all because of your hard work and strong determination. Your path does not end here, it's just starting. You are an amazing young lady and continue to use the gifts God gave you. We are so proud of you!

Much Love, Mom and Dad

20 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

Congratulations

CONGRATULATIONS TARYN TATE!!

Cassi O'Leary!

We're extremely proud of you and what you've accomplished. You have a very bright future in front of you! You're loved by many.

Dad, Mom, Connor and Bethany and the Kids, Sean and Shannon

We are very proud of you with all of your hard work and dedication.

Good luck on your next adventure in life.

Love, Mom, Dad and Tommy

SYDNEY FLECK

Congratulations!! We are so proud of you! #hawkeyeforever Love you more, Your Family XOXO

CONNOR STANTON

Congratulations, Riley Villhauer! Congratulations!

We’re so proud of you for taking advantage of the many inspiring experiences being a Hawkeye has provided, #IrelandandDR! You have such a bright future and so much to offer this world!

Sláinte!

Love, The Fam!

a a n

We’re very proud of you & all of your hard work!

Can’t wait for you to get out there & see what this crazy world has to offer!

We love you!

Love, Mom, Blake, & Family

We are so proud of you for all your hard work and achievements. May your talent, determination, and triple major take you far!

CONGRATULATIONS

David J. Dabrowski

We are so proud of you!

Love, Dad & Mom, John, Emily, and Matthew

Melanie Olson CONGRATULATIONS MELANIE!

We are so proud of your accomplishments!

You have a bright and promising future ahead.

We know you will fulfill all of your goals and go after your dreams. You make us proud every day!

Love you to pieces!

Love, Mom and Dad

Chetti Milavetz Chetti, Congratulations on a job well done!

We are so proud of you!

Mom, Dad, Marisa, Bambi, Destiny and Cinnamon

Congratulations,

ANDREA COURTNEY, Wishing you continued great success as you enter law school!

- Love Dad, Mom and Odin

on receiving your Master's of Clinical Mental Health Counseling, as well as the Center for Diversity and Enrichment Student Leadership award!

Your hard work, perseverance, and positivity are inspiring.

Wishing you the best in your future endeavors!

21 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

DONTE NESBITT DONTE NESBITT DALTON

DONALD CONGRATULATIONS!

We are so proud of all you have accomplished and who you have become!

Welcome to the next chapter in your life! Continue striving to be your best at all you do.

Love, Dad & Mom & Chauna

DONTE NESBITT Donte, My wish for you is that this life becomes all that you want it to. We’re so happy that you’ve achieved this great milestone. Wishing you great success with your dreams and career! -Nikki and Natisha

DONTE NESBITT

Son, I wish you more ups than downs I wish you more give than take I wish you more tippy toes than deep I wish you more Hugs than Ughs I wish you more WooHoo than Whoa I wish you more will than hill I wish you more can than not I wish you more snowflakes than tongue I wish you more pause than fast-forward I wish you more umbrella than rain I wish you more bubbles than bath I wish you more treasures than pockets I wish you more stories than stars I wish all of this for you because you are everything I could wish for…

And MORE! So proud of everything you are.

Love, Mom

I love my brother so much and am so lucky to be related to a GOD. The present I received of his life is the best gift anyone could ask for without a doubt. How much you ask? Priceless. Do I know any such form of human closer to the form of raw diamonds besides Donte?

Simply, no. It is with honor I am even ALLOWED to be related to him. As always, proud of you!

-Teya

“……it is you, the young and fearless at heart, the most diverse and educated generation in our history, who the nation is waiting to follow.”

– Barack Obama

Donte, you are the epitome of this quote. Love, Ed, Paula and Anna

DONTE NESBITT

You went from cheering on the Hawkeyes to 8 years later we’re cheering for you Dr. Donte Nesbitt. You have the proudest grandma ever!! Can’t wait for the next part of your journey.

Love you the most always!

-Grandma Pat

DONTE NESBITT

Donte, you are the hardest working, determined young man I have ever met. There hasn’t been any obstacle you couldn’t overcome. No one deserves this more than you!!

Congratulations Dr. Nesbitt! -Sam

DONTE NESBITT DONTE NESBITT

Never without a doubt I always knew you would accomplish great things. Congratulations on your hard work, commitment and constant determination Donte!

Love you so much! -Aunt Tasha

Donte Nesbitt

Words cannot describe how proud we are of you.

Congratulations on graduating from the College of Dentistry.

Congratulations Donte!

All your hard work has almost paid off.

I’m so proud of you.

-Love, Nathan

DONTE NESBITT Congratulations Dr. Nesbitt.

Enjoy your life making one smile at a time.

-Grandpa Mickey and Grandma Corina

CONGRATULATIONS DONTE NESBITT! We are extremely proud of all that you have accomplished.

Love, Uncle Mony & Aunt Michelle

We love you.

-Adi

CONGRATULATIONS DONTE NESBITT DR. DONTE NESBITT. Congratulations on your Graduation. Take pride in how We couldn’t be more proud of you.

-Uncle David & Aunt Jannette

far you’ve come, and have faith in how far you’ll go.

We are so proud of you Donte!

Love Jason, Amy, Marisa & Vanessa

22 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

The Daily Iowan

• Marissa Payne • Katina Zentz congratulates our graduating students! • Aadit Tambe • Kayli Reese Thank you for your hard work and • Marina Jaimes congratulations on all your • Charlie Peckman accomplishments.

• Annie Fitzpatrick • Pete Ruden • Cassie Buchholz • Andy Mitchell • Jake Nemmers • Naomi Hofferber Congratulations on your graduation from Pharmacy School!

• Addie Bushnell We are very proud of you and your accomplishments.

• Sarah Stortz • Becca Bright Best of luck at UIHC! • Emily Creery Love, Mom, Dad, Kyle and Chelsea • Wyatt Dlouhy • Lily Smith • Megan Congratulations Caroline on your Nagorzanski graduation from the College of • Kimberly Bates Engineering!

• Ayotoluwafunmi We are incredibly Ogunwusi proud of your hard work and • Charles Rietz achievements as a • Thomas Hawkeye! We are Christopher blessed to have you • Dylan as our daughter!

Cavanaugh Love you more • Dallas Jones than you can know, • Melissa Meeder Mom and Dad

Best of luck!

Kelsey Coffman

CAROLINE TANK

23 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

Marching toward a UI dream UI senior Jack Emptage is the first student in the UI REACH program to become a proud Hawkeye Marching Band member.

BY RILEY DAVIS riley-davis@uiowa.edu While music is for many people a form of entertainment, to University of Iowa senior Jack Emptage — who plays the piano, baritone, harmonica, steel drums, mandolin, ukulele, and guitar — it’s a passion deeply ingrained in his daily life.

That passion carried him through college, where he eventually achieved his goal to bring his love for music onto the Emptage Kinnick Stadium field with the Hawkeye Marching Band.

After enrolling in the UI Realizing Education and Career Hopes program, a two- to fouryear comprehensive transition program in the College of Education for students ages 18 to 25 with intellectual, cognitive, and learning disabilities, Emptage said he immediately wanted to join as many musical organizations as he could on campus.

Emptage joined the guitar club his freshman year, hoping to connect with others who had a similar passion, he said.

Emptage loved that the student organization performed for seniors at the local rehabilitation center and played on open-mic nights at The Mill in downtown Iowa City.

Emptage said he later got involved in the university and pep bands, but still wished that he could join the Hawkeye March-

ing Band.

“I did [marching band] when I was in high school and I loved that very much — so much that I wanted to do it again in college,” he said. “I was originally going to audition during my freshman year, but unfortunately it wouldn’t work with REACH’s mandatory schedules.”

Although he was unable to join the marching band, Emptage said he filled his schedule with classes from the UI School of Music, where he learned to play steel drums, and continued to be involved with clubs across campus.

In the second semester of his junior year, Emptage learned that his schedule was flexible enough to allow for an opportunity to audition for the marching band.

Hawkeye Marching Band Director Eric Bush said he first met Emptage in the lobby of the Voxman Music Building after a UI Symphony Band and Concert Band performance that Bush had conducted. Over time, the pair became better acquainted through the music school and Bush said he quickly learned about Emptage’s goal to join the marching band.

After his audition in late April of that year, Emptage was required to prepare a threeto five-minute musical piece from his repertoire that would showcase both his technical and lyrical abilities. He also had to prove his ability to sight read and demonstrate mark time

24 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

— a marching technique that involves raising heels in time to the music.

Emptage also had to sit down for an interview with Bush to discuss his prior experience, his aspirations, and why he wanted to join the marching band. It took nearly two-and-a-half months, Bush said, but Emptage finally received the news he had been waiting for.

“It was the longest wait. I remember checking my email every day for the next two months. Then, the week after the Fourth of July I got an email from Dr. Bush, saying that I was chosen to play in the marching band,” Emptage said. “I was so excited when I got the email, I couldn’t wait to tell my folks. I was jumping up and down like, ‘Yes, yes, yes.’”

During his time at the UI, he interned with the Mariott Conference Center in Coralville. After graduating, he hopes to get a job in the hospitality industry in Minnesota, following his career focus.

At the UI, the Hawkeye Marching Band was always his dream, Bush said.

“He’s one of the most enthusiastic young men that I know,” Bush said. “He loves everything about the Hawkeye Marching Band — he loves the activity itself, he loves the preparation, he loves knowing about how the shows were designed. He’s just a natural lover of music, which is what makes him a joy to work with.”

Opinions EDITORIAL

Resiliency, unity connect Class of 2020 The University of Iowa Class of 2020 has experienced several hardships together. With unity, we’ll bounce back from the pandemic, too.

BY DI EDITORIAL BOARD daily-iowan@uiowa.edu To the Class of 2020: This time of year for University of Iowa graduates is normally filled with moments to soak up our lasts: Our last time in the classroom. Our last time cramming for finals in the Main Library. Our last time venturing downtown Iowa City with our friends.

This May, we’re having to say goodbye to our fellow Hawkeyes from a distance without all the usual fanfare because of COVID-19.

The Daily Iowan Editorial Board congratulates our graduating peers who’ve overcome division that is both tangible and invisible while earning degrees. We’ve learned throughout our UI journeys that together, we can bounce back stronger from any hardship we face.

Most of us first stepped foot on this campus four years ago amid extreme ideological division as we approached the 2016 general election.

For some, Donald Trump’s rise to the U.S. presidency was a welcome change of pace from business-as-usual in Washington politics. Others attended classes the next day shell shocked that a man who some feel espouses racism and xenophobia, who has been accused of sexual misconduct, and who fear-mongers could secure the nation’s highest office.

Still, we have found ways to coexist and to challenge each other to grow despite the division. We’ve stepped up to look out for one another and to ensure that future Hawkeyes, regardless of identity, are embraced on this campus.

Together, this graduating class has also coped with tragedies. We unexpectedly lost two members of our own class not long before our freshman years ended. Our peers, UI freshmen Sean Wu and Kamil Jackowski, died in April 2017 — Wu in Daum Hall, Jackowski at an out-of-town fraternity formal — and will only graduate with us in spirit this week.

But Hawkeyes united to honor their lives. Two scholarships were created in Wu’s honor and are presented to students who share his passion: participation in Bijou, FilmScence, and the KRUI radio station. Jackowski’s death prompted members of the UI greek community to make drastic changes to out-of-state formals and to tackle a culture of high-risk drinking to ensure such a tragedy never happens again.

Finally, although not a member of their graduating class, the death of student Mollie Tibbetts shook the nation, along with Hawkeyes everywhere, just as we began the second half of our UI journeys. Tibbetts, an incoming UI sophomore, was found dead a month after her disappearance in August 2018 in rural Poweshiek County. While all eyes of the country were on the UI in hopes of making a political statement, Hawkeyes stood together and honored Tibbetts’ life while refusing to politicize her death.

Our graduating class has dealt with as many hardships as celebrations.

We witnessed the opening of Voxman Music Building and Hancher Auditorium during our first year, which marked the last major milestone of the UI’s 2008 flood recovery.

2020 Hawkeyes pushed for key

changes to make the university more accessible — Andrea Courtney created a petition that led to moving the UI Student Disability Services from the basement of Burge Hall and Alexia Sánchez’s efforts led to the creation of a Latinx-based living learning community in residence halls.

These are just two of countless examples of Hawkeyes striving to make their community better.

We will not get the commencement ceremony we imagined as we worked toward our degrees. Instead, more than 3,100 of us 5,400 or so graduates will tune in online to be recognized virtually for our achievement. Combined with the loss of “lasts” and many goodbyes, it’s natural to feel deprived.

It’s been more than two months since novel coronavirus mitigation efforts abruptly halted our lives. For graduating seniors, that meant unsaid goodbyes to the campus community.

Our classrooms may look different now, but we’ll complete our finals and know we accomplished a large feat amid this unprecedented pandemic.

Hopefully many of us have a chance to meet again soon when we can return to campus for in-person commencement ceremonies, as the university has offered. Our Hawkeye hearts will swell when we return once more to the nest where we learned how to spread our wings and soar toward bright futures.

It’s difficult to leave this campus without the proper closure and celebration we deserve. There’s so much we don’t know, but we’re certain of this: Once a Hawkeye, always a Hawkeye.

Congratulations, Class of 2020.

Jordan Gale/The Daily Iowan Yellow tassels were handed out to incoming students at Convocation on Aug. 21, 2016.

EDITORIAL POLICY THE DAILY IOWAN which has been serving the University of Iowa, Johnson County, and state of Iowa communities for over 150 years, is committed to fair and accurate coverage of events and issues concerning these areas. In an ever-changing media landscape, the DI realizes that an often contentious political climate – paired with the widespread dissemination of news – can cause contentious discussions over some stories.

Although these discussions are essential to democracy – and reiterate the importance of the freedom of expression – the DI takes great lengths to ensure that our social media presence is free of discriminatory remarks, and inaccurate representations of the communities we ardently serve.

READER COMMENTS that may appear were originally posted on dailyiowan. com or on the DI’s social media platforms in response to published material. Comments will be chosen for print publication when they are deemed to forward public discussion. They may be edited for length and style.

25 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

GUEST OPINIONS must be arranged with the Opinions Editor at least three days prior to the desired date of publication. Guest opinions are selected and edited in accordance with length, subject relevance, and space considerations. The DI will only publish one letter per author per month. No advertisements or mass mailings, please.

COLUMNS, CARTOONS, and OTHER OPINIONS CONTENT reflect the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Editorial Board, The Daily Iowan, or other organizations in which the author may be involved.

EDITORIALS reflect the majority opinion of the DI Editorial Board and not the opinion of the publisher, Student Publications Inc., or the University of Iowa.

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Marissa Payne, Brooklyn Draisey, Marina Jaimes, Elijah Helton, Jason O’Day, Becca Bright

SENIOR COLUMN

The DI has prepared me to change the world The University of Iowa tells us we’ll be ready to change the world when we leave. After four years at The Daily Iowan, I’m ready to do just that.

BY MARISSA PAYNE

tractor amid costly legal disputes with the company. marissa-payne@uiowa.edu I’ll always remember the moment at this year’s February Iowa NewspaIt sunk in that my time reporting per Association convention when I on the University of Iowa was up the realized that I had received the state’s morning of May 6 as my last President top investigative reporting award.

Bruce Harreld interview wrapped up.

As organizers handed out awards, to Indulging in my request for sappy my surprise, I began to hear them desenior talk, he said of Hawkeye gradscribe that scoop. I truly didn’t expect uates and our emotional impending it, always believing in the power of my flights out of the Hawks’ nest, “You team more than my power individuin one way or the other, particularally, and only thinking when I wrote ly those that engage in high-impact it that it was a public service to shed practices, have made our commulight on this for our readers. nity stronger, better, different.” He Chasing stories here has been exhappily shared that students who get hilarating, challenging, stressful, reinvolved earn higher grades and are warding — an opportunity that has more likely to graduate in four years. made the DI such a strong training For the last time, I’ll break down the ground for me and hundreds of other jargon: Students are better off for havjournalists since 1868. But it’s because ing done something meaningful to of the people we meet in this newscomplement their college education, room and on the UI campus that I’ll and such activities enrich the campus have a hard time moving on. community, too.

My college journey started with How lucky am I to have chosen Kaylee Hasek in Stanley Hall 336.

The Daily Iowan as my high-impact When I picked my room, I searched practice. her on Facebook to make sure I wasn’t choosing to live with a serial killer.

Seeing she also listened to Coldplay and Bon Iver, I had a hunch she could be a lifelong friend.

I’m blessed that she remains my one non-newsroom best friend here. (We’re only allowed one.)

Of course, there are the folks who’ve been in the newsroom from the start.

The young Metro team made the DI Katie Goodale/The Daily Iowan feel like a family. I Marissa Payne poses outside Jessup Hall, where the UI central administration works, with her investididn’t know then gative reporting award on May 9. She earned the Iowa Newspaper Association’s honor for her Modern that my fellow quiet Piping scoop mentioned above and thought this photo summed up her relationship with the UI. I came in as a scared freshman and was thrown onto the higher-education beat. My editors let 18-yearold me ask questions of a member of the President’s Cabinet in week one (thank you for taking my faculty salary questions, Rod Lehnertz).

Just weeks later, I covered my first state Board of Regents meeting and attempted to write about tuition for the first time, not yet grasping its ties to state funding. It felt overwhelming — the meeting agenda packed with potential stories, high-ranking officials moving about the room with purpose, the presence of seasoned local journalists driving me to compete.

With help from the DI team, I quickly honed my nose for news and found my passion for following the money trail. By junior year, I delivered a scoop after requesting records that showed the UI had paid nearly $4 million for a change order on the Pharmacy Building project to avoid working with Cedar Rapids construction firm Modern Piping as a subcon-

reporter Kayli Reese would eventually be my roommate, here to share in the ups and downs of our UI journeys.

And I can’t forget Gage Miskimen, who took me under his wing and still picks on me from time to time as a sibling might. A year ago, I wasn’t sure if I could build upon the foundation our team laid for excellence here in 201819. Now, us 20-somethings are Iowa Newspaper of the Year winners. I’m confident I’m leaving the next group with something great, just as he did for me and my team.

There are more than 100 Hawkeyes who made me a proud “Newsroom Mom” these last two years as managing editor and editor-in-chief. I’d do anything for these dedicated, talented, insanely hard-working, powerhouse journalists, and I’ll deeply miss mentoring them.

Kat Zentz is like my missing journalistic puzzle piece — her artistic flair and eye for strong visuals complements my focused fact-gathering.

Not to mention, she’s the best dance partner, whether it’s downtown at Brothers or on spring break (2019) at Whiskey Row in Nashville.

Aadit Tambe inspires me with the power of his passion for digital journalism. I’ll miss the spark in his eyes and his wide smile after finding a new way to use dailyiowan.com as its own unique storytelling space, but I know our friendship will last a lifetime.

I have the utmost confidence that Sarah Watson and the 2020-21 team will continue this news organization’s tradition of excellence. She’s one of my best friends, always pushing me and lifting my spirits when needed.

We’re cut from the same cloth, but I consider her my better half — certainly the half that makes me whole.

Someday, we’ll watch Julia Shanahan win a Pulitzer Prize and won’t be surprised. She’s a winner, and she’s always there to back me up and keep

26 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

people in line with her fiery spirit.

It’s been a joy to see Brooklyn Draisey come into her own through beautifully written narrative stories and strong leadership. I love her a lot and miss her being able to let me randomly hug her for too long, and I’m grateful to have her to scold me into taking care of myself as a human.

It’s been a privilege not only to mentor the young journalists around me, but to be mentored by wonderful role models.

The DI has the most supportive coaches imaginable. I will miss politics coach Lyle Muller’s nitpicks and the extra pride that comes with his praise, knowing that means we’ve truly nailed something after hard work. (He can confirm we knocked coverage of the Iowa caucuses out of the park.) Writing coach Jenn Wagner has been the school mom I needed here, always checking in on me and building us up as storytellers.

There simply aren’t enough words to convey gratitude for Publisher Jason Brummond, who has given me so much. He looks out for my success and makes sure I have the opportunities I deserve for my hard work. Anytime I’d express self-doubt, he would seem to believe in me so strongly that I’d pause to wonder why I was so unsure in the first place. I wouldn’t be who I am today as a person, journalist, and leader without his mentorship, and I’m assured knowing his support will last long after my DI career.

I will do anything I can to pay it forward for this institution that’s given me everything. COVID-19 upended the last portion of my year, but thanks to the DI, I figured out how to redefine it, as photo coach Danny Wilcox Frazier advised me to do.

This was the DI’s time to step up to keep Hawkeyes connected when we SEE PAYNE, 27

SENIOR COLUMN

A walk down a photographic memory lane Though I’m a writer by nature, I find myself grateful for the photos that illustrate a wonderful Daily Iowan-filled life as I prepare to graduate.

BY KAYLI REESE kayli-reese@uiowa.edu I’ve never really been a picture person, preferring not to miss memories as they happen in real time. However, as I struggled to try to find a way to sum up my experience at The Daily Iowan, I turned to my camera roll.

I have an embarrassing amount of photos of my byline, including my first piece published in the DI. It meant a lot to freshman-Kayli — a shy person who would soon come into her own — to have her voice shared with the world. It means a lot to me now as an imminent graduate looking back on how far I’ve come as a writer.

Pictures in the university police precinct are probably something unique to me at the DI. Through the crime and court beat, I fell in love with the feeling that comes from breaking news first (which usually comes right after the very stressful feeling of typing at superhuman speeds). Crime reporting became a niche that I couldn’t give up no matter what job title I had.

I’m so grateful to the beat that gave me confidence in my abilities as a re-

PAYNE

CONTINUED FROM 26

porter that will not ever leave me, even after I leave the DI. I’ve got lots of football game pictures, which led me to thinking of the sports boys who let me into their group this past year. Thanks to Robert, Austin, and Pete for answering all of my (probably dumb) questions about how sports even work and, more importantly, for all of the laughs. I would also like to specifically thank Robert for letting me bother him every single day to talk about movies.

I’ve got a picture of Shivansh after I gave him a $5 thesaurus for Christmas. He’s looking at it like it’s the best thing in the world. I’m thankful for Panda Express runs and our secret language where we only have to look at each other to have a conversation.

I sometimes forget Aadit hasn’t been at the DI as long as I have until I look at photos of freshman year and wonder why he’s missing. He’s my sunshine personified (even when we’re bickering), and writing about him now makes me wish I could run to Iowa City to give him the fiercest hug.

There’s a picture of Marissa and I

needed it most. Covering something so unprecedented and widely impactful will be among the greatest forms of

Jake Maish/The Daily Iowan Marissa Payne shows UI President Bruce Harreld and his wife Mary the rather large 2020 Newspaper of the Year trophy at a reception in the DI newsroom on Feb. 11.

wearing what’s almost the exact same blue sundress, because we had molded together as coworkers and roommates. What I wish I had a picture of, though, is the long hug we had after winning the 2020 Newspaper of the Year award, crying into each other’s shoulders after making the journey from two quiet news reporters to lady leaders. I cannot wait to see all the things she’s about to do.

I orchestrated multiple group photos of the reporters on Brooklyn and I’s news staff last year. Working as their editor was one of the most rewarding parts of my life thus far. Not only did I find my own voice as a leader, but I had the privilege of watching them all grow as reporters and people.

I speak for Brooklyn and myself when I say that the two of us cannot be more proud of them all, look forward to seeing all the great things they will do, and will avenge them if anyone ever dares wrong them (me with a magic wand, Brooklyn with a sword).

And speaking of Brooklyn — how do you sum up your experience meeting your other half in a paragraph?

She’s the Mulder to my Scully, the

public service I provide in my career.

Thinking about how this all began, I remember walking around campus with my mom on a spring 2016 visit when I knew for certain I’d be a Hawkeye. I nudged her when we walked by President Harreld on the Pentacrest: That’s the university president and I think I’ll report on him, I said.

And that, I sure did, the numbers show. According to my rough count, around 35 percent of the 350 or so articles I’ve written for the DI quote or reference Harreld. Each story empowered me as a first-generation student to navigate higher education, learning the system from the ground up through tenacious reporting.

Stiles to my Scott, and the Louise to my Thelma if I ever need one. She’s the best part of my day, every day. I thank whatever force exists out there in the universe we were put together as editors, not only because she’s my best friend but because we take really cute photos together, as the true best DI bromance duo should.

I remember peeking into the DI

newsroom at my college orientation with my mom, not yet knowing that I would spend what feels like a majority of my college career inside. I didn’t know then that I would work really hard with the best group of people every day to make an absolutely amazing paper. Sometimes I can’t believe it all happened and that I was part of it.

But I have the pictures to prove it.

Contributed Kayli Reese is seen in the newsroom after the DI end-of-year banquet on April 26, 2019.

When I arrived, Harreld was a story unto himself after the circumstances of his 2015 hiring. Covering him has taught me how to report on public officials. He’s played a role in me learning the importance of searching deeply for and communicating the truth.

Here’s the scoop on him: The Big Bad Businessman picture painted of him doesn’t match the person I know.

The first thing I saw on my phone screen the morning after the DI won Newspaper of the Year was an email notification from him saying how proud he was of our success and congratulating me for the honor — and for my individual award, earned for the previously mentioned story that wasn’t

27 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

exactly flattering for his university.

To Harreld and the Hawkeye community, I’m forever grateful you’ve trusted me to tell this campus’ stories and for teaching me that the best journalists keep the community they serve at the forefront of their work. As long as my relationships are founded on trust and respect, I’ll be able to produce the impactful accountability journalism that’s so critical to our democracy.

In our last interview, Harreld said he almost didn’t believe in goodbyes.

The head Hawkeye assured me that the university that’s prepared me, challenged me, and changed me will always be part of my life. Now, I’m more than ready to change the world.

SENIOR COLUMN

How the DI served as a home away from home Coming to Iowa from India, I was a little anxious about how I would fit in. I was able to find my family at The Daily Iowan.

Contributed/Aadit Tambe Aadit Tambe poses for a photograph on the rooftop terrace of the Newseum during the National College Media Convention in Washington on Nov. 3, 2019. The DI website was recognized as an Associated Collegiate Press Online Pacemaker Finalist.

BY AADIT TAMBE aadit-tambe@uiowa.edu Two days before my deadline, I was struggling to pen this narrative.

I decided to take a break and go on a stroll to clear the clutter of thoughts in my head. As I stepped outside my building, I felt the wind blow off my cheek on an exceedingly gray Iowa City Monday.

I took my usual late afternoon walk route: North Side, downtown, and back home. I plugged my earbuds in and blasted Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk” — my favorite mood booster. I walked down Bloomington Street until I found myself at the crossing of Clinton Street.

As I stood in front of Burge Hall, I remembered standing in the same spot four years ago. A rather anx-

ious 17-year-old Aadit was dropped off by an airport shuttle after a long flight from Mumbai. I had two pieces of luggage stuffed with essentials, a face with a confused look, and a heart fired with ambition. I realized how much I’ve grown since then.

I continued walking down Market Street until I reached Artifacts — my favorite Iowa City store — and perhaps my first non-newsroom Daily Iowan memory. It was sophomore year and I had just begun working as a reporter when I had expressed my interest in antiques to then-News Editor (and now best friend) Charlie Peckman.

I cannot pass Artifacts without thinking of my antiquing dates with him and my friend Maddie. Charlie, along with co-News Editor Naomi Hofferber, had a crucial role in mak-

ing a sophomore Aadit — a rather reserved person — feel confident about himself.

I walked down Gilbert Street and turned right on Iowa Avenue. I saw the Old Capitol and remembered Google Image-searching “Iowa City” from my parents’ apartment in India after being accepted. I decided to sit on the steps for some time before heading home.

As I passed Joe’s Place, I couldn’t help but be reminded of Editor-in-Chief Marissa Payne. I remembered the countless late-night Joe’s visits after sending pages to the printer. Marissa has an unwavering commitment to serving the community through storytelling. Perhaps the most dedicated journalist I know, I’m so proud to call Marissa one of my closest friends.

I continued walking. As I sat on the Old Capitol steps facing Madison Street, I looked at the journalism building, and my gut sensed a whereit-all-started feeling. I remembered the first time I ran into journalism internship coordinator Paul Jensen while I was working at the Food for Thought café in the library. His oncea-week order of hot chocolate is still stuck in my memory. I remembered how he recruited me to work as a student ambassador and give tours of the journalism building to prospective students.

I remembered spending hours one evening with Professor Daniel Lathrop programming my first-ever JavaScript project. Daniel helped me find my passion for coding and doing fun things on the interwebs. He taught me the importance of learning by doing.

I cannot thank Katelyn Weisbrod enough for helping me find my niche and teaching me everything she knew about the DI’s website operations. She taught me how to interpret analytics, use WordPress, analyze data — and above all — to believe in myself.

DI writing coach Jenn Wagner taught me to advocate for myself. After meeting her for the first time, she gave me her phone number. “You’re alone in the U.S.,” she said. “Call me anytime if you need anything. I’m here for you.” I cannot thank her enough for everything she has done for me.

Publisher Jason Brummond has been a wonderful mentor, and for me, acting digital coach, essentially.

Always willing to listen to ideas, Jason truly believed in me, gave me the freedom to experiment, pitch digital projects, make mistakes, and was

there to say, “It’s OK, we’ll try again.”

Upon realizing that I had homework due that night, I decided to head back home. On my walk, I remembered I could still feel the warmth when my mom hugged me at the airport when I left India. I would not have been half the person I am if it weren’t for the confidence and values my parents instilled in me. They’ve always encouraged me to be myself and chase my dream.

I thought about the first time I walked into the DI newsroom with a puzzled face and a dream to become a TV anchor. It’s here that I discovered my true passion and fell in love with digital journalism and coding.

There’s no doubt this is an uncertain time. More so as an international student, my life in the U.S. is dictated by visa restrictions and immigration laws set by leaders in power. Even in these tough times, I’ve been able to create a place for myself at the DI. My work has received recognition — the DI has challenged me to aspire and encouraged me to live my dream.

Here, I found people who love me for who I am and make me feel like I belong. As a foreign national, this sense of belonging is important — now more than ever. Coming from a country thousands of miles away, I’ve been able to call the DI my home.

I entered my apartment and shut the bedroom window that I had left open. It had gotten quite chilly. I sat down on my saucer-shaped folding chair. I looked at the two pieces of luggage under my bed that I had brought with me from India — stuffed with essentials. They’re going to have an awful lot of memories to carry with them, wherever they go next. As I put a closing “div” tag to my Iowa chapter, thank you, DI.

Coming from a country thousands of miles away, I’ve been able to call the DI my home.'

28 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

SENIOR COLUMN

Putting the lens cap on my college career There aren’t even words to describe my gratitude for The Daily Iowan. Without this news organization, I don’t know where I would be.

BY KATINA ZENTZ katina-zentz@uiowa.edu I remember standing on the football field in San Diego with the cheers of celebration ringing through the stadium. The players held up their trophy in celebration of the 2019 Holiday Bowl win. Banners hung on the railings, saying “win it for Hayden.” I put my lens cap on the 300mm lens and exited through the tunnel, knowing it would be my last time covering Hawkeye football.

I remember driving back to Iowa City through the snow on Interstate 80 after a full day of covering the Iowa caucuses. Everyone in the car was exhausted, but we still played old-school tunes to keep us awake. I came back to the newsroom and went into production, checking that the lens caps were on properly. I put away the camera kits, knowing it would be my last time photographing Iowa politics for The Daily Iowan.

I remember stepping off the court of this year’s Big Ten women’s basketball tournament in Indianapolis. I held onto the camera bodies and placed the lens caps back on the camera in the media room, not knowing this would be the last photo assignment I would cover for the DI. The semester brought unexpected turns for the class of 2020.

I was unaware that the last assignment I covered for the DI would truly be the last assignment I would ever cover for the news organization. Through the last couple of months, I started to think back to how I started at this publication.

The DI gave me everything.

Even through late nights, multiple assignments, and times of stress,

I owe this newspaper everything.

It took me a while to find journalism at the University of Iowa. I transferred across the country in 2016 from an art school in Florida where I studied filmmaking. My passion truly lied with filmmaking and nothing could stand in the way of that dream — until I found photojournalism.

Immediately following the 2016 presidential election results, I repeatedly ventured out into downtown Sarasota, Florida with my camera. I interviewed protesters and created my first documentary photo essay. Soon after, I met with my adviser, showed her the photographs, and said, “I want to do this with my life.” Her response was, “Well, that’s photojournalism.”

Attending a small art school without a journalism program meant I had to transfer. I ended up choosing the UI, but it was uncharted territory without a certain path. I received pushback from advisers wanting me to stay in the cinema program. For a long time, I felt lost. To make matters worse, I did not touch my camera for months.

My first semester at the UI had gone by and I demanded to study photography and journalism. Ultimately, I ended up in the majors I wanted, but still felt a piece missing.

Late in the fall semester of 2017, I received an email from internship coordinator Paul Jensen, indicating the DI needed photojournalists. I felt like this could be my chance. A few days before the spring semester began, I was hired.

From then on, I experienced more creative growth than I ever could imagine. I worked my hardest that semester to take any as-

signment. I met continuously with photo coach Danny Wilcox Frazier, participated in the critiques, and worked my way to becoming photo editor the next semester.

As the year progressed, I decided to extend my abilities and apply for my current position as the creative director. This past year, I experienced the greatest artistic growth in both photography and design.

The DI provided me with a sense of place. It is difficult to know where to start with thanking a paper that gave you everything.

Perhaps a senior column is a good place to begin.

Thank you, DI, for all of the memories. Had I never sent that application sophomore year, I never would have discovered my true passion. Thank you for giving me new friends, new goals, and new opportunities.

This semester gave all of us a lot of lasts — the last time covering sports for the DI, the last time getting an 11 p.m. coffee to help us power through the last hour of work, the last time we would see our co-workers who became family.

But even though there were many unexpected lasts, I’ll always think of the firsts. Those are the memories I will cling to.

I remember the first time when I felt like I finally made it as a photojournalist. I felt pure exhilaration after getting a winning shot of the women’s basketball team at the 2019 Big Ten Championships, with legendary Hawkeye Megan Gustafson holding up the trophy near head coach Lisa Bluder.

I remember all of the team members embracing each other and crying tears of joy after winning Newspaper of the Year at the

2020 Iowa Newspaper Association convention.

I remember walking in the newsroom one day and seeing one of my photos hung on the wall, which was a goal of mine ever since I started years ago.

I remember times when we all sat around in the chairs in the newsroom, laughing uncontrollably after hearing a funny joke from one of our co-workers.

I remember us having an editors’ meeting outside and sitting

by the IMU with those random nice February Sunday evenings.

I remember hugging my best newsroom friend and editor-in chief Marissa Payne after sending the caucus guide to the printer and knowing the DI had done something great.

Overall, I’ll remember everyone and every opportunity. I’ll put the lens cap on senior year and know that no matter what, all of us will move forward to the next assignment.

Contributed/Katina Zentz Katina Zentz holds up her camera at the San Diego Community Credit Union Stadium while on assignment covering the Hawkeyes against the University of Southern California Trojans at the Holiday Bowl in December 2019.

29 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

Kerst leads on and off tennis court Iowa senior Jason Kerst may not have always made the starting tennis lineup, but he left his mark as a student leader both on and off the court.

BY CHRIS WERNER christopher-werner@uiowa.edu On the tennis court, senior Jason Kerst plays long rallies with momentum shifts and ups and downs — not unlike his career as a Hawkeye.

Kerst, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, has been on the Iowa tennis team for four seasons but was in and out of Kerst the lineup for his first two and a half years.

He began to turn it around on the court during the second half of his junior season and hasn’t looked back since.

A big part of his turnaround

has come through his newfound faith., he said.

“It was my junior year that a couple of friends of mine who were student-athletes in Athletes in Action started inviting me to go to their meetings,” Kerst said. “I was able to go and start meeting other student-athletes who found their identity in Christ and their faith. I didn’t really know what that meant, but I knew that was something I wanted for myself. It’s given me an awesome new perspective on why I play tennis and why I do the things I do, why I live my life.”

In addition to his improved athletic performance, Kerst has also excelled beyond the tennis court. A two-time Iowa Stu-

BASEBALL CONTINUED FROM 32

Schuck is most interested in pitching and his ideal landing spot would be as a college or professional pitching coach. He has previously worked with the St. Louis Cardinals’ Class A affiliate, the Peoria Chiefs of the Midwest League. Last summer, he was a quality control coach with the short season affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.

“I sent a lot of emails,” Schuck said. “I made this project on one of our pitchers where I analyzed one of his pitches and what he could do to make it better. It got into the hands of the right people... It just kind of took off from there.”

Schuck said going into this season, a majority of the student manager staff had jobs or internships set up over the summer, all of which have now been canceled or pushed back.

Bornstein was set to work within the Chicago White Sox organization following the season.

dent-Athlete Advisory Committee representative, according to hawkeyesports.com, Kerst was elected president of the committee for 2019-20.

Kerst received one of the 2020 Robert F. Ray Faculty Representative Awards and earned the Presidential Committee on Athletics Medallion three times.

He was a five-time Dean’s List honoree, a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, an International Tennis Association Scholar-Athlete, and was the Male Hawkeye of the Year recipient at the 2018 Golden Herkys.

He has also been awarded one of two Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarships available for Iowa

“I was going to work with one of the White Sox affiliates in Great Falls, Montana, as well as their spring training complex in Phoenix, Arizona, but given the circumstances that won’t be happening this year,” Bornstein said. “It potentially could happen in future years — so I’m kind of in limbo right now.”

The season may have stopped for Schuck and Bornstein, but the work hasn’t.

In the months following the premature end to Iowa’s year, Schuck said he’s been working on some personal development that he had been neglecting during the season — including learning more about coding and how the human body works.

Bornstein has been focused on polishing HawkDashboard, an app he created for the team last summer and has been adding to ever since. The app encompasses player profiles, post-action reports, statistics, and several other features that have allowed the program to dive into analytics even more.

HawkDashboard turned what was hours of data entry work after a weekend series into a process that only takes rough-

student-athletes. Claire Graves of the Iowa soccer team earned the other scholarship.

“I had a tough time in different areas of my life my first couple of years here,” Kerst said.

“I think the biggest thing is just resiliency. I’m not sure exactly how, but I managed to believe in a vision that didn’t really match my circumstances… I’ve just been grateful to be surrounded by such an awesome team such amazing support staff that invested in me and believed in me, great friends and community.”

The senior served as a University of Iowa Student Government senator and as the president of the ISAAC at the same time and said it was awesome to hold those two roles simulta-

ly 10 seconds. The app is only one example of what Bronstein said he could bring to a professional team.

“I want to end up in a front office working in an analytics department,” Bornstein said. “I’ve had a couple glimpses the past two years of interviews for that. I think I’m close, but hopefully in this down time I can really sharpen up my skills and get closer to that dream of mine.”

Bornstein knew when he was a senior in high school that he wanted to work in professional baseball after college. For Schuck, it was as a sophomore at Iowa that he figured out there was a future for himself in baseball.

Those pursuits are on hold for now.

However, for Schuck and Bornstein, this time may lead to even greater success once baseball is back.

“If you don’t come out of this situation with a new skill set of some sort, you’re probably just wasting your time and not being honest with yourself,” Schuck said.

“This is a great opportunity for everybody that’s actually willing to take it.”

neously.

“I think that’s something I’m really passionate about, making sure that student-athletes have the most well-rounded experience that they possibly can at Iowa,” Kerst said. “Holding those two roles allowed me to kind of bridge that gap from both sides and kind of expand the opportunities that student-athletes had.”

Head men’s tennis coach Ross Wilson also credits Kerst for getting his team more involved in student government.

“I think Jason’s done a really good job bringing awareness to that group,” Wilson said. “Our team has three people that are on ISAAC. You only usually get two, but we have an at-large

spot. He has brought awareness to that with the guys on our team and motivated them to get involved, which I think is a really good thing.”

Kerst was set up to earn his M.B.A. at the University of South Carolina after graduation this month. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he will be back in Iowa City for one more athletic season because the NCAA granted eligibility relief to those competing in spring sports.

“I’ve just been able to develop and blossom in different areas across athletics, academics, and leadership at Iowa,” Kerst said.

“I’m just grateful for this experience, and I’m excited it’s not over yet.”

Sam Bornstein (left) and Adam Schuck (center)

30 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

Contributed

31 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

Sports

Senior baseball managers fight through uncertainty Michael Guhin/The Daily Iowan

Fans watch the action during a baseball game between Iowa and UC Irvine at Duane Banks Field on May 5, 2019.

Adam Schuck and Sam Bornstein, University of Iowa seniors with the Iowa baseball program, are graduating into an uncertain athletics job market as COVID-19 has paused sporting events.

BY ROBERT READ robert-read@uiowa.edu Adam Schuck and Sam Bornstein, both University of Iowa seniors and student managers for the Iowa baseball team, are making the best of a bad situation.

Baseball is shut down at every level in the U.S. amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The people working in baseball — more specifically, the people entering the baseball job market — face uncertainty.

Dating back to their freshman years, Schuck and Bornstein have worked within the

Iowa baseball program. As seniors, Schuck has taken over as the head student manager, while Bornstein now directs the analytics, tech, and scout team as the lead data analyst. “[Shuck and Bornstein] have really grown and matured into young professionals who are going to go out into professional baseball, and I think make an impact for professional teams,” Iowa head baseball coach Rick Heller said. “They’re both incredibly smart, incredibly motivated. They are unselfish team players that have really helped our program grow.

Those two have really set the

tone on what it means to be a manager in our program.”

Along with the other student managers and baseball operations staff, Schuck and Bornstein enable the program’s success from behind the scenes.

Schuck and the other onfield managers arrive at the field hours before first pitch during the season to set up batting practice, finalize scouting reports, and complete other game-day tasks.

On the days Iowa doesn’t have a game, the managers set up practice and help prepare for upcoming opponents.

Bornstein and the other data analysts are responsible for all of Iowa’s player development data, which is geared toward reports for the coaching staff or any other projects that may be going on within the program.

Fifteen games into the 2020 regular season, Iowa stood at 10-5 with victories over No. 18 Arizona, No. 20 North Carolina, and No. 14 Duke.

By March 12, the team had just swept Kansas in a twogame series at Duane Banks Field and was set to travel to California for a weekend series against Cal-State

Northridge. Roughly an hour before the team was set to begin its travel, Schuck said Heller called a team meeting to announce the trip had been canceled and that the team would be scrimmaging over the next couple days.

An hour later, Heller called another team meeting. This time, he told them the season was over because of the novel coronavirus.

“I was devastated,” Bornstein said. “I actually wasn’t at the team meeting. Someone FaceTimed me into the meeting so I could hear what was going on. It was awful news,

32 | DAILYIOWAN.COM | 2020 GRADUATION EDITION | MONDAY, MAY 11, 2020

but obviously it was the right decision.”

The Big Ten canceled all sports for the remainder of the academic year on March 12, including spring sports that played past that time. The next day, the conference put a hold on all organized team activities and Major League Baseball suspended spring training.

Beyond their responsibilities with the Iowa program, Schuck and Bornstein were set to hit the job market in professional baseball following this season.

SEE BASEBALL, 30