DePaulia
The
2017 Pacemaker Award Winner
Volume #103 | Issue #1 | Sept. 10, 2018 | depauliaonline.com
Students blast changes to meal plans By Emma Oxnevad Asst. News Editor
DePaul’s Dining Services has undergone a drastic transformation as part of larger updates for the school year, much to the chagrin of students. The changes to Dining Services were approved and instituted by Chartwells, DePaul’s food provider in partnership with Facility Operations. All of the updates to DePaul were detailed in an email from Facility Operations. The email states that research for the updates was conducted during the
2017-18 school year. Students have described the changes as confusing and inconvenient. “Honestly, I do not think DePaul students were given proper information regarding the changes,” DePaul junior Thomas Claxton said. “It is quite a big change, but everything that I read about it didn’t really give a great description of the changes.” “Chartwells has worked closely with the Department of Housing and Student Services in creating this new dining program at DePaul and we are excited to introduce this to our students, faculty,
staff and guests this year,” said James Lee, the resident district manager of Compass Group North America, which operates Chartwells. One of the most drastic updates to Dining Services concerns the meal plans for students living on the Lincoln Park campus. In years past, students would pay specific rates for different meal plans and money would be removed depending on the monetary value of items purchased, similar to a debit card. For this year, however, students with meal plans will be allowed a specific number of meals per quarter, depending on the meal plan they
purchase. The new meal plan also grants students with Flex dollars, which are available to be used at campus cafes or other student areas to eat outside of the main dining hall, according to DePaul’s website. Flex dollars may also be used during school breaks and any unused Flex dollars will be removed at the end of the academic year. The changes to the meal plan have not been entirely well-received by DePaul students, with many criticizing the meal swipe initiative in DePaul Facebook groups.
See FOOD FIGHT, page 6
A long summer at Sullivan Athletic Center By Shane Rene Managing Editor
COMMENTARY
“Commit to a respectful and inclusive workplace environment, welcoming of all staff and supportive of their career development, retention, and success,” reads another. “Increase diversity within the ranks of administrative and management leadership,” a subsection of that goal reads. “You can come out with a strategic plan and you can work on it for a year, but if you’re not living it and you don’t mean it, and people are signing off on this activity, it doesn’t count for anything,” an employee said. One new hire is Dan
If you followed the DePaul Blue Demons athletic department over the summer, you probably spent some time scratching your head. From recruiting drama to sudden, high-profile retirements, to text messages from Rick Pitino, the Sullivan Athletic Center was a place where mystery abounded. It was a high school standout from New Haven, Michigan who gave the Blue Demons athletic department a hot start to the summer. In a live-streamed press conference from his high school gym, the 6-foot-7-inch Romeo Weems stunned everyone when he picked up the blue DePaul hat, stood and placed it comfortably on his head. “I know everybody is going to ask, why DePaul?” Weems said. “But why not DePaul? They asked me when I came to New Haven, why New Haven? I’ve always been different. I feel DePaul is rebuilding, but when I get there we are going to be successful.” It’s a fair question, given that he chose a basement-dweller over programs like Michigan and Michigan State — and everybody outside Lincoln Park seemed to be asking it. Tyger Campbell received similar inquiries after his verbal commitment in May 2017, but that actually made a little bit of sense. The Blue Demon coaching staff has a history of targeting and recruiting players from Campbell’s high school, La Lumiere in La Porte, Indiana, and Dave Leitao even hired Campbell’s former coach, Shane Heirman, in an effort to cement his La Lumiere pipeline. Weems simply defied our conventional wisdom about recruiting in NCAA basketball, and he may be the player to set the
See FUNDRAISING, page 8
See SPORTS, page 26
XAVIER ORTEGA | THE DEPAULIA
DePaul’s new gate less than golden
The recently-completed School of Music has created a new entrance to campus on the southwest corner of Fullerton Avenue and Halsted Street. The gate itself is a welcome touch, but the Chicago Tribune’s architecture critic Blair Kamin blasted the addition of an LED screen, which he says “belongs at a used-car dealership.” Kamin reports the architects of the School of Music convinced DePaul not to go with an even bigger screen.
Fundraising staff lodges complaints with HR By Benjamin Conboy & Carina Smith Editor-in-Chief & News Editor
DePaul’s Office of Advancement, the department responsible for fundraising and alumni relations, is facing accusations by current employees of improper hiring and firing practices and being tasked with unattainable goals by President A. Gabriel Esteban, according to employees. Several employees in the Office of Advancement, speaking to The DePaulia under the condition of anonymity out of the fear they would lose their jobs, said there has been
a string of departures within the office after university-wide restructuring, mainly women and people of color. Hired in their place were mostly white men. “There are people who have to sign off on this stuff, and people are signing off on this,” an employee said. “It’s not being done in a vacuum. But it’s surprising that in 2018, this has become the new norm and the new standard.” To accompany the restructuring that began with Esteban’s presidency, Esteban commissioned a six-year plan to set short-term goals and directions for the university.
Among the key points are bolstering student engagement with athletics, growing the endowment to $1 billion and improving student career readiness. The six-year plan, which was approved by the Board of Trustees in May 2018 after considering community input from a series of town halls, also sets forth goals regarding increasing diversity at all levels of the university, including staff, faculty and students. “Create an inclusive and engaging experience for all students,” one goal reads in Section 2, the section that focuses on diversity.