THE SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY SINCE 1916.
8,
> Professor watchlist creates ‘chilling effect’ in academia | Page 4
> Saluki basketball shows off for students during scrimmage | Page 9
>PRSSA hosts canned food drive for Saluki Food Pantry | Page 10
nick pfannkuchE npfannkuchE@DailyEgyptian com
Saluki Football opened up conference play this weekend as the Indiana State Sycamores came to Carbondale looking to spoil SIU’s Family Weekend.
SIU hit the ground running from both sides of the ball from the first whistle.
A 60-yard rush by Shaun Lester Jr. from the first play from scrimmage set up a touchdown pass to Jay Jones on the Dawgs’ first possession. Chandler Chapman doubled the Saluki lead the next time the offense had the ball with a 39-yard scamper to the endzone. And a 62-yard rush from DJ Williams helped put SIU up 21-0 in the first eight minutes of the game.
“Anybody can run the ball, they just never know what to expect with us,” Chapman said.
As for defense, the Dawgs forced two three-and-outs on the first two possessions for ISU. With the ball for their third time, the Sycamores were able to find some rhythm on the ground, rushing for 48 total yards on the drive to punch the ball into the endzone and get on the board.
It looked like the Sycamore defense had also found their footing, forcing what would have been a three-and-out in their favor, but an aggressive fake punt on fourth-and-10 from SIU’s own 36 resulted in a 28-yard gain for the Dawgs, leading to a field goal from Paul Geelen to put the home team up 24-7.
The Saluki defense stopped the Sycamore offense on the ensuing drive, which the offense complemented with an 83-yard touchdown to Vinson Davis III. Davis put together his second straight game with 100+ receiving yards, finishing the contest with seven receptions for 140 yards and the lone touchdown.
ISU found some big plays of their own to get into the endzone for the
| @riley_sembler
Two people were arrested and later released on Wednesday, Oct. 1 after an altercation at a Turning Point USA booth outside of Lawson Hall.
SIU police first arrested SIU student Carmella Cesario around 2:30 p.m. after getting a call that Cesario had gotten into a physical altercation with Nathan Myers. The altercation, part of which can be seen on video at dailyegptian. com, was recalled differently among various eyewitnesses.
SIU police did not immediately arrest Myers at the scene — only Cesario was apprehended at that time. The officers were originally only shown video footage of the incident by members of TPUSA, and eyewitnesses told the Daily Egyptian that TPUSA members were most of whom the police had spoken to when conducting their original investigation.
Myers, who does not have a record in SIU’s campus directory, was later arrested for battery after the SIU police
carmEn J. taplEy ctaplEy@DailyEgyptian com
There are many ways that Danny Trejo can be described: the tough guy, the hero or a general badass. But he is more than just the roles he has played on the big screen. In addition to acting, Trejo regularly speaks about his life experiences, including a stint in prison and recovery from drug addiction.
To kick off 2025 Family Weekend, the SIU Student Programming Council invited Trejo to campus on Oct. 2, where he talked about his life story, experiences while acting and his lifelong progress of rehabilitated success during an event at Shryock Auditorium.
Fifteen guests — each allowed to bring two friends — were given the chance to meet Trejo at the end of the panel and ask him questions directly.
Trejo started out as a lightweight boxing champ at California’s San Quentin State Prison after his incarceration in 1965. He went on to receive the welterweight championship at the same prison and became a wellknown boxer.
After he was released from prison, Trejo became a heroin rehab counselor at Western Pacific Med Corp. While working for Med Corp, he was called to the set of “Runaway Train” to aid
in the recovery of a client on the verge of a relapse. A screenwriter on the set, Eddie Bunker, recognized Trejo from their time in San Quentin State Prison. Bunker offered Trejo the job of training actor Eric Roberts for his role. Andrei Konchalovsky offered Trejo a small role for his exhibited talent while training Roberts. That was the beginning of his acting career.
Trejo went on to act in many beloved films, most notably “Machete” in 2010.
Away from set, Trejo is a family and community-oriented man. His connection with his children has helped keep him grounded from falling too deep into the action-packed personas of his career, he said during the event Thursday.
“I’ve got people around me to keep me in check,” Trejo said, referencing how his son will set him straight if need be.
Trejo often mentioned his children during the panel, but along with his love for family, he spoke of his love for food.
In 2016, an on-set joke of opening a taco joint became a reality for Trejo. He opened his first location of Trejo’s Tacos in Los Angeles in March of that year. Since then, the single location has
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Published by the students of Southern Illinois University Carbondale on a weekly basis in print, and every day on dailyegyptian.com. Fall and spring semester editions run every Wednesday. Free copies are distributed in the Carbondale, Carterville, and Springfield communities.
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expanded across California, with one located in Chicago. Trejo’s Tacos is also a waste-free business, where loss of profit is a benefit to those in the community. They do not waste what is left at the end of the night, instead they hand it out to those in need, Trejo said.
His restaurant options have expanded as well to include Trejo’s Coffee and Donuts where he is “not allowed in because he eats all the profits,” he joked during the panel.
With the restaurant business, Trejo has played a large role in being an activism-oriented actor. He stands for causes of sobriety and recovery, prison reformation, Latin representation in media, and animal rights and welfare.
Trejo turning his life around from a person in active addiction to a rehabilitated drug counselor has been an inspiration to many people who silently struggle with those trials themselves. His success is a sign for others that they have resources and opportunity to look for rehabilitation and reform into the people they aim to be.
In 2015, Trejo spoke in favor of a California penal code that would
permit inmates who were sentenced as a juvenile and have aged out of detention facilities to be permitted parole hearings for reformation. His mission is to inspire inmates to follow the 12-step program to a life of rehabilitation. Even in his movies, he will not let the bad guy win as a lesson to the younger audience.
During a question-and-answer session during the panel, he was asked by a fan how Latin representation in the media has changed during his career.
“I won’t do a film unless there are Latins in it. Representation has greatly improved since I started,” Trejo answered.
Trejo not only holds a heart full of compassion and love for his family and community, but for animals as well. He is a partner of Best Friends Animal Society and encourages people to adopt, not shop, from their local animal shelters.
The fans were starstruck and touched to hear about Trejo’s past and present involvement outside of the acting studio. A few attendees that were chosen for the meet and greet with him shared their experiences about how he has impacted their own lives.
One fan who shared an ambitious admiration for him was Sylvia
Przybylowski, a Hispanic woman and SIU alum. Przybylowski has already completed seven years of recovery and is currently a substance abuse counselor. She grew up watching Trejo with her mom and views him as an inspiration because of his story.
“He’s a huge inspiring person from where he came from to where he is now and it’s something that reminds me that life is so precious and that you can really do anything you put your mind to,” Przybylowski said.
A current student, E, said that Trejo was a large part of his childhood in “Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies.”
“I feel like he’s underrated for his role in ‘Call of Duty,’” E said. “In a personal opinion, it was refreshing for someone to mention one of Trejo’s non-normative roles in media along with his presence in ‘Grand Theft Auto: Vice City’ and the TV series, ‘Rick and Morty.’”
E also said Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson would be a great speaker for next year’s Family Weekend.
Staff reporter Carmen J. Tapley can be reached at ctapley@dailyegyptian.com.
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department obtained video footage showing a more complete version of the altercation.
Despite originally being told they were being arrested for battery, Cesario was only charged with criminal damage.
“Physical violence is not tolerated on campus,” SIU police chief Ben Newman told the DE. “Both parties were arrested. An unaffiliated person, depicted in part of the video posted, was arrested for battery.”
Videos taken from multiple angles show Myers slamming Cesario to the ground as the two argued. Footage obtained by the Daily Egyptian shows Myers grabbing Cesario’s arm from over their shoulder as the pair were picking up flyers from the ground, then throwing Cesario onto the sidewalk.
Zachary Lochard, the SIU chapter president of TPUSA, said he was at lunch when he got a call about the altercation and ran back to the booth. Lochard told the DE that he watched a video of the altercation taken by TPUSA saying “it did look really bad,” and that Cesario got “physical” with his colleague.
“So I’ve been doing some minor political action on campus for the last semester or two,” Cesario said. “Whenever they (TPUSA) show up, I take all their papers, and usually they don’t stop me, because I assume they aren’t supposed to physically assault people. But this time, when I took their papers as I was
and we have filed a police report once before. This time, it got taken to another level.”
On Monday, Oct. 6, the SIU TPUSA chapter released a statement regarding the incident, which said that the chapter had filed a report with SIU police after past encounters with Cesario.
Videos released by TPUSA on Oct. 6 show Cesario taking flyers and papers from the booth on at least one other occasion.
Myers is not a member of SIU’s TPUSA chapter, but is a member of the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow — or CFACT — and was there promoting the organization, which often partners with TPUSA.
“The TPUSA at SIUC team condemns the actions of both parties, as their behaviors do not reflect the values we uphold, nor did they conduct themselves properly,” the TPUSA statement said.
In the video, TPUSA and CFACT pamphlets, posters and papers can be seen strewn across the Lawson lawn, which Myers said Cesario had done, prompting the altercation.
“She (Cesario) decided to come and tear everything up and rip things out of the ground,” Myers told the DE. “So I went to reclaim our property — which had not been given to her. She didn’t even say anything when she walked up, she just walked up and immediately started trashing the table. So it got a little physical, unfortunately. I didn’t want it to, but I had to
“He attempted to coerce me into hurting him. He was trying to make me mad, but he did throw me to the ground at least three times.”
- Carmella Cesario SIU student involved in altercation
turning away, one of the Turning Point people, a man with a maroon shirt and a beard, grabbed my bag and threw me to the ground. I started grabbing some more of their signage, and he grabbed me and threw me down again. And when I tried to get up and grab some of the things I dropped, he threw me down again.”
According to Lochard, this incident would not have been the first time in which law enforcement have been made aware of the animosity between Cesario and TPUSA.
“We have had interactions with her at least four times before,” Lochard said. “She’s trashed our tables, she’s stolen stuff from us, she’s destroyed our property,
defend us and defend our stuff.”
Myers alleged that it was Cesario who first started to get physical. The videos obtained by the DE only show the altercation after it began. In one, Cesario is seen first on the ground, which they say is after Myers had thrown them there. Cesario is then seen standing up and gathering papers as the two continued to argue – that is when it appears that Myers grabbed Cesario by the arm and spun them around, throwing them to the ground again.
“There’s a cut on my face,” Cesario said. “I have several scrapes and bruises on my hands and forearms, and I just want there to be a paper trail,
because initially I was arrested as the person who did battery… I did not put my hands on the other person. The only things I touched were physical objects. I did not harm the other person. He attempted to coerce me into hurting him. He was trying to make me mad, but he did throw me to the ground at least three times.”
Rachel Howell, who was sitting on a bench right outside of Lawson, said Cesario took papers off of the TPUSA table and threw them away.
“There was like a little bit of scramble to pick up all the papers and throw them away or put them back on
SIU police originally conducted their investigation of the situation was biased toward TPUSA.
“The interaction with the officer was very strange,” Cesario said. “The way he approached me, it seemed like he assumed I was the aggressor and was going to be aggressive with him.
“I told him my injuries, and I showed him my injuries, and the conversation was maybe like a minute and a half to two minutes. He took my ID, and then he went to go talk to the people outside.”
Weaver said the police first consulted with
“So it got a little physical, unfortunately. I didn’t want it to, but I had to defend us and defend our stuff.”
- Nathan Myers Member of the CFACT involved in altercation
the table or whatever,” Howell said. “And then the guy in the maroon shirt (Myers) was a few yards away, and he saw everything going on, so he ran over there and said, ‘Hey, get your hands off my s---.’
“Then they started arguing a little bit,” Howell said. “They ended up taking more papers, and the guy (Myers) threw the person (Cesario) to the ground. There was a little scuffle. They (Cesario) were telling them to ‘get your hands off of me,’ ‘this is assault,’ ‘please don’t touch me.’ And then the person went to get up — and he threw them again.”
Val Weaver, who was just on their way to a lecture in Lawson, also witnessed the incident.
“I noticed that there was this group of guys with a tent or whatever and they were there with this other individual that was mostly in black clothing,” Weaver said. “I noticed that they were arguing with each other, and then like a second later, this man in a maroon staff shirt had body-grabbed this other individual and like, screwed them into the concrete.”
After Cesario got up, they rushed to their art history class in Lawson, where they told the TA that they had been assaulted, witnesses said.
“They were shaking and they got a TA to go call the authorities,” Weaver said. “There was a group of several other people in Lawson that were recording this and watching it go down, and we were all like, ‘Hey, are you okay? What happened?’ And they were like ‘No, he just assaulted me.’”
Cesario and Weaver said they felt like the way
TPUSA members, which was when they were able to view the video footage that TPUSA had filmed. At that time, Weaver had been consulting Cesario, who they identified as the victim in this situation.
“I was still with the victim (Cesario),” Weaver said. “It felt wrong to just leave them alone when they didn’t even have a friend with them yet. So I stuck around, and then these two cops came over and they were like, ‘So, what happened?’ And so the victim responded, ‘This guy assaulted me for taking some papers,’ and then the officer went, ‘Well, I’m afraid I have some bad news,’ or something like that. And then he goes, ‘According to all of the eyewitness response reports and videos that I saw — you’re the one that instigated this and acted out first.’ And then he says, ‘I’m going to have to arrest you.’
“It’s the fact that I literally saw this go down,” Weaver continued. “I saw this all happen, and he (the police officer) did not ask a single individual that had stuck with a victim what happened. There were literally 234 other people who had recorded this entire event and he didn’t look for that.”
The Daily Egyptian will continue to report on this story as more information becomes available.
News Editor Jackson Brandhorst can be reached at jbrandhorst@dailyegpytian.com and Daily Egyptian staff can be reached at editor@dailyegyptian.com.
Kristin Borchers KBorchers@dailyegyptian com
During the Red Scare in the 1950s, U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy claimed he had a list of employees working for the U.S State Department who had loyalties to the Soviet Union.
During the Cold War, as the anticommunist movement heightened, McCarthy capitalized on hearsay and utilized intimidation tactics to accuse government officials of communist ties.
In 2025 online exists a vast list of college professors all over the country who remain under Turning Point USA’s surveillance. Although the professor watchlist website claims the organization advances free speech, databases like these hinder professors’ free speech and may falsely characterize their language. First Amendment experts say lists like these feel similar to the Red Scare.
“It’s a mischaracterization by trying to accuse me of hate, by trying to accuse me of attempting to spread discord and deceit and a mischaracterization around how I am seeking opportunities to enhance learning spaces for all people by paying attention to those who have been most marginalized within these spaces,” said an Illinois professor on the watchlist.
They wish to remain anonymous out of concern for their personal safety and the safety of their family members, colleagues and students. The professor began receiving threats following their appearance on the watchlist two years ago, which were not only directed at them, but towards those who are indirectly related as well. The database is intended to “unmask” college professors. Prior to being placed on the list, they had never heard of it.
The professor studies critical race theory and works to understand how race and racism interacts in higher education, and how those environments are constructed.
Originating in 2016, Professor Watchlist is a project of Turning Point USA, a nonprofit political organization that promotes conservative principles. The founder of TPUSA, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated on Sept. 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University.
According to its website, the mission of the watchlist is to expose professors who discriminate against conservative students. The website states they compile a list of professors who advance leftist propaganda in the classroom.
The professor has consistently received threats since being added to the growing list of academics being monitored by TPUSA.
“I’ve received an anonymous email from an untraceable source that has called me all kinds of vulgar and obscene names. I’ve had people stalk my social media and by virtue of stalking my social media, reach out to family members and colleagues saying things like, ‘I should die because of the work that I am doing,’” they said.
They added that during a heightened period of threats, people attempted to break into their home.
“My work challenges that notion to say that everyone is capable. We have systems and structures that are put into place that favor and privilege some, while oppressing others and causing more challenges and harm,” they said.
Inside the watchlist, each professor has their own profile with a headshot, their corresponding institution and tags. These tags give their research topics a distorted label. They include categories like antiFirst Amendment, climate alarmist, LGBTQ, anti-law enforcement and COVID-19 among others. Under the profiles a description is provided of the professor’s research and how it advances the claimed leftist propaganda. Often, screenshots of social media posts are placed into the descriptions.
At the top of the page lies the long list of tags. Users of the site have the option to search by institution, name or by the assigned tags. Additionally, a donate option is available and an option to submit a tip. In order to submit a tip, however, a user has to leave their name, contact information and explain how the professor is biased. Under some profiles are links leading to publications or various news agencies as sourcing for the brief descriptions. Others have a request to send more information on the professor to TPUSA.
Currently 54 Illinois professors and 19 Illinois institutions remain in the watchlist’s database. Among the 19 include public, private and community colleges. Northwestern University has 15 professors, making it the largest number from one school in Illinois.
“If we truly want to be the nation that we’re claiming to be, we can’t say, ‘we the people’ if populations of people are continuously oppressed and marginalized. We can’t say that
Martinez-Powell | ymartinezpowell@dailyegyptian.com
we’re trying to establish a more perfect union if we are regressing in our policies and practices,” the professor said.
William Frievogel is a journalism professor at SIU and the publisher of the Gateway Journalism Review. Frievogel previously worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where he was a member of the Washington bureau for 12 years. Frievogel covered the Supreme Court and served as the assistant bureau chief.
“A list of people whose speech is disfavored; it doesn’t seem to fit in very well with free and open and robust free speech,” Frievogel said. “It reminds me of what we called blacklists of writers and actors during the Red Scare of the McCarthy period.”
Frievogel leads a project that’s funded by the Pulitzer Center reporting on the status of the First Amendment within today’s political climate.
“I’m concerned about chilling speech, people being intimidated to say what they think,” Frievogel said.
A chilling effect on free speech causes people to reduce their speech from an organization’s outside pressures. In response to fear of being punished or reprimanded, exercising protected speech is often suspended even though the law technically prevents that from happening.
Because of threats the professor has received, they stated they have to
be more intentional when choosing where they go, what they do and who they do it with. While being aware of their surroundings, they still remain true to themselves.
“It’s disheartening just to know that in 2025, we’re having to live in the space where by virtue of being me and by virtue of trying to support other people like me, I am demonized and I am positioned in ways that could threaten not just my professional livelihood, but my physical livelihood,” they said.
The Daily Egyptian sent an email to SIU’s TPUSA chapter president for an interview regarding free speech, but he declined before publishing.
“I also remember that President Nixon, before he was forced out of office, had an enemies list. So these kinds of lists of people who you shouldn’t be associated with are certainly not conducive to the kind of free debate that Charlie Kirk himself often favored,” Frievogel said.
Despite the watchlist claiming it grants free speech, the surveilling attempts to censor academics. The looming watchlist has not stopped or halted any of the Illinois professor’s research. They continue despite the threats they’ve received to advocate for all to come in the future.
“I know that my ancestors went through trials and tribulations to grant access for me,” they said. “I need to ensure the future generations don’t have to endure the same things
that I or others have endured.”
MingQing Xiao is the only SIU professor on the watchlist. Xiao’s tag is corruption. In early 2022, he was found guilty for incorrectly filing his taxes in addition to not reporting a foreign bank account. Xiao was sentenced to one year probation.
“We can have differences, but I don’t think it should be as hard to have a productive conversation as it is right now,” said Sinaya Cecil, a freshman at SIU from Texas. “I’m used to treading lightly as far as like, commentary goes. I know there are certain people I can (talk to), but at the same time there’s people that you should be weary of. Yeah, but I feel like SIU’s pretty open on both sides of the topic as far as expressing those opinions.”
Although the professor said the watchlist has misrepresented their work, they said they hope for a future where people can utilize America’s democracy and create change within systems like the watchlist.
“It is my hope that rather than listening to the propaganda and believing the fear mongering that’s put out there, that the people are actually able to see the impact of folks who are making these hostile and violent decisions and how it’s negatively impacting everyone and make a change,” the professor said.
Staff reporter Kristin Borchers can be reached at kborchers@dailyegyprian.com
Will Elliott WElliott@dailyEgyptian com
There are many ways to celebrate Halloween, but nothing can compare to the thrill of entering a haunted house. For only a few dollars, a person can enter an old abandoned building infested with zombies or serial killers for a few minutes of frights, or they could come to The Varsity Center and watch how these haunted houses make “The Fright Stuff.”
The Varsity Center is set to preview “The Fright Stuff” on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, right in time for the Halloween season. Admission to the show is free with doors and The Varsity Bar opening at 6 p.m. with the screening itself starting at 7 p.m.
“The Fright Stuff” is an allaccess documentary that takes the viewer behind the scenes of the haunted house industry. The documentary aims to explore the beginnings of haunted houses and the 365-day pursuit to give people the fright of their lives. Though the documentary was filmed and produced in the Chicagoland area, its true origins started in the Communications Building of Southern Illinois University in
Carbondale, Illinois.
John Laflamboy, founder of Zombie Army Productions, which “The Fright Stuff” follows, was a theater major at SIU in the late 1990s.
“My career started in the green room of the theater department in the communications building in 1996 when I pitched the idea —- ‘Theater people should create their own marketplace inside the haunted house business,’” Laflamboy said.
Later that year, Laflamboy and his fellow theater majors started a haunted house in University Mall in an abandoned shoe store and raised an estimated $6,000 in two weeks. The money was used to send 26 SIU theater students to the Southeastern Theater Conference in Miami, Florida.
A year after Laflamboy graduated from SIU, Mike Meyer, director of “The Fright Stuff,” started his education in the Cinema and Photography Department of SIU. Meyer graduated from the program in 2002 and started work in the film industry.
“So throughout the years, I worked for a number of companies, largely doing every aspect of production,” Meyer
said. “I was involved with, oftentimes, people or people along the relationship chain of people I met at Southern.”
Around 2006 or 2007, Meyer got in contact with Chris Sato, a future producer on “The Fright Stuff” who is an SIU Cinema and Photography alumnus who graduated from the program two
had an agent who was looking for content for cable television.
When the agent asked Meyer and Sato if they had anything, they pitched an idea.
“The show we pitched was a reality show following him (Laflamboy) and his exploits throughout the year,” Meyer said.
“It sorta fizzled on the vine, but
“What is special about this screening is that we are doing it, for not just people at Southern, but to show people at that stage that it is possible to do this.”
- Mike Meyer Director of “The Fright Stuff”
years after Meyer. The two did not know each other while they attended SIU. Sato and Meyer, along with five other members of their loft space in Chicago, worked on media projects ranging from commercials to sketch comedy.
In 2010, while making a feature film, Meyer and Sato came in contact with Laflamboy, who ran Statesville Haunting Prison in Joliet, Illinois. At the time, Sato
over time…we found a way to keep a version of that show that led to the movie that’s going to be screening at SIU.”
The film began production in February of 2016.
“My favorite part of the production was how much we learned about the origins and history of Halloween and Haunted Houses in America,” Laflamboy said. “And on a selfish note, I’m
really happy that all the work and dedication my crew had during that opening year is forever captured.”
While the film was being shown in St. Louis at a convention, Meyer talked to Jeremy Cory, who is also an SIU graduate, and talked to Meyer about getting more involved with a group of alumni of the SIU School of Media Arts. Meyer said yes and got to talk to SOMA students over Zoom.
“You know, the idea sort of popped into my head like, ‘Hey, I should come down as the season started changing to talk about haunted attractions and see if they want to show the film too,’” Meyer said. “Even beyond just people who are in film production or theater.”
Meyer talked to Karla Berry, director of the School of Media Arts, who helped him set up the event.
“What is special about this screening is that we are doing it, for not just people at Southern, but to show people at that stage that it is possible to do this,” Meyer said. “You know, not just to make a film, but to do it independently.”
Videographer Will Elliott can be reached at welliott@dailyegyptian.
oct 4 - Nov 2
second time of the night. A 30-yard pass got the Sycamores into Saluki territory and Nick Osho found a hole to break off a 39-yard rush to the endzone.
On the kickoff that followed, Davis shook off some would-be tacklers to set his squad up at their 44, their best starting field positioning of the night so far. Ironically, it ended in a three-and-out, being the first Saluki possession of the game that didn’t result in any points.
SIU forced another Sycamores punt, but on the return, one white jersey was able to rip the ball out of Tae Marrero Jr.’s hands and another pounced on it, giving ISU the ball in Saluki territory. The Dawgs’ defense was able to bounce back from the bad break and force a field goal attempt that sailed wide to the right.
Taking over under two minutes to play in the half, Williams was able to put some short completions together to get into scoring position and inside the last 10 seconds he was able to push his way into the endzone, putting the Salukis up 3814 at the break.
Williams, coming off a performance against SEMO that earned him FCS National Player of the Week recognition, put together a statline of 226 yards and two touchdowns
through the air and 70 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
On the other side of halftime, the Saluki defense stayed hot, forcing another three-and-out, but had to come back onto the field just a play later after the Sycamores recovered another SIU fumble. The defense was able to keep ISU out of the endzone, stuffing the fourth down attempt on the Saluki goalline to get the ball back to the offense.
The Dawgs, unable to make the 99-yard trek across the field, punted the ball back to the Sycamores. The Trees put up the first points of the second half on another long rushing touchdown from Osho, this one from 66 yards out. Chasing 18, they elected to go for two on the point after, but were unsuccessful. ISU also attempted an onside kick to keep possession of the ball, but that too was unsuccessful.
SIU had some trouble stopping the run in the contest, allowing ISU to run for 322 yards, including 211 for Osho alone.
“You don’t want to give up a 200 yard rusher,” Hill said. “There’re issues in all three phases every week that teams will expose. It’s our job to go clean those things up and make sure we’re putting our guys in the best position.”
With a short field ahead of them, the Dawgs got another touchdown from Chapman and were able to tack on another field goal from Geelen following the Saluki defense’s first takeaway of the game on an interception by Donnie Wingate.
After ISU’s next drive ended in a punt, Eddie Robinson got the house call, rumbling 81 yards to stretch the Saluki lead to an insurmountable 35 with 10 minutes left.
As a team, the Salukis gained a total of 430 yards on the ground, barely edging out the previous program record of 423.
“Every coach would tell you, to be a successful run team, it takes everybody,” Hill said. “From the offensive line, the back that’s carrying the ball, the tight-ends that are engaged in most of our run game and then wide receiver.”
The Sycamores put up a touchdown in garbage time as the two teams ran out the clock with the Salukis coming out on top 55-27.
The Salukis (4-1, 1-0 MVFC) will be back in action on the road against the defending national champions, North Dakota State (5-0, 2-0), in Fargo next Saturday, Oct. 11.
Sports Reporter Nick Pfannkuche can be reached at npfankuche@dailyegyptian.com.
Noah Petschke NPetschke@dailyegyPtiaN com
After getting off to a hot start in conference play, SIU volleyball looked to kick off Family Weekend by continuing its four-game win streak with a match against the Indiana State Sycamores on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025.
The Salukis and the Sycamores played evenly to begin the first set, alternating kills into a knot at 4-4. Indiana State’s offense then clicked together and jumped out to a commanding 7-point lead, leaving the Salukis with the tall order of coming back. SIU’s offense refused to quit as they started mashing the ball, bringing the set score within 1 point. However, the persistent attacking and well-rounded Sycamore defense was enough to take the set by a score of 25-22.
The second set of the contest began
with an impressive 5-0 SIU lead, powered by two Kelly Franklin kills.
The Sycamores charged back to tie the game at 9 points apiece. The two teams continued to battle, bringing the match into a tie in the late stages, when Indiana State broke through to take the set 26-24 after myriad SIU attack and service errors.
The third set of the match was underway, and SIU was not ready to give up. Three blocks, an ace and a plethora of kills powered the Salukis to a dominant 18-10 lead. The Dawgs never looked back, taking the set 25-17.
The Salukis, in a make-or-break third set, put on an offensive clinic, with a whopping 18 kills, 7 from middle blocker Larissa Seger, and 6 from outside hitter Kelly Franklin.
The fourth set kicked off with an early 6-point Indiana State lead, and
the Sycamores had their sights set on a victory. The Salukis were not going to go down without a fight, and it showed with impressive digs from Jillian Shaneyfelt and kills from Cecilia Bulmahn. Although SIU tied the set at 19-19, the strong Sycamore offense took hold, and Indiana State secured the set by a score of 25-23, ultimately winning the overall match 3-1.
The intense conference matchup between the Salukis and the Sycamores concludes in favor of Indiana State, leaving SIU with a conference record of 2-1 and an overall record of 8-8. SIU looks to get back in the win column on Saturday, Oct. 4 with a match against Belmont in Nashville, Tennessee.
Sports Reporter Noah Petschke can be reached at npetschke@dailyegyptian.com.
The SIU men’s basketball team made their first public appearance of the 20252026 school year in a student-only scrimmage at Davies Gym Wednesday, Oct. 1. The scrimmage was then followed by students testing their skills in various shooting games against members of the team.
In the scrimmage portion of the evening, the Maroon Team, led by senior guard Damien Mayo Jr., took on the White Team, led by senior guard Davion Sykes. Everybody had a chance to shine, from freshman Luke Walsh and redshirt sophomore Drew Steffe impressing from range, to brothers Rolyns and Prince Aligbe dominating in the paint. The score ended in a 28-28 tie, much to the chagrin of the students in the crowd who had hoped for a definitive winner.
After the scrimmage, Saluki head coach Scott Nagy asked for some volunteers to go up against members of the team in a shooting game called knockout. Two students went up against Walsh, Steffe and Valparaiso transfer forward Isaiah Stafford.
One of the students, Kelly Moss, ended up eliminating Walsh. When asked afterward about her impressive shooting display, Moss said she was “truly shocked, truly excited. I was in disbelief.” Moss was later eliminated from the competition by Stafford.
They then moved to a students versus players game of P-I-G, a classic shooting competition game. The players were wearing drunk goggles to even the playing field, and that turned it into more of a comedy routine than a display of athleticism.
After the event, students ate free pizza from Newby’s courtesy of the SIU Dawg Pound.
Fans have one more chance to see the Salukis before they start playing competitive games. The team is putting on a Donuts with Dawgs event Saturday, Oct. 11 at 8:45 a.m., which includes a free breakfast, another scrimmage and an autograph session.
Mariah Fletcher MFletcher@dailyegyptian coM
Boxes were piling up across campus last week, not with textbooks or dorm supplies, but with canned goods. The SIU Raymond D. Wiley chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America led a food drive aimed at filling shelves for students. Canned goods were collected around campus to donate to the Saluki Food Pantry, which helps SIU students with food insecurity.
PRSSA is an organization on campus for students who are planning to enter public relations careers. This program is directly affiliated with PRSSA, the national professional organization for PR professionals. Members said they want to focus on community-related services.
“As students on campus, we have an obligation to give back to the community that provides us resources to be here in the first place,” PRSSA Event Coordinator Addison Bean said.
The canned food drive was just the start of community service for students in PRSSA.
“We did implement community service strategies into our plan this year for our RSO,” Bean said. “We felt called to do the food drive because when I was
speaking to the representative from the Saluki Food Pantry, she let me know that at the beginning of the semester there is a great need for donations … But, I am for one satisfied with the amount of donations that we got.”
PRSSA collected over 60 different canned goods for the Saluki Food Pantry. The Saluki Food Pantry is a nonperishable food cabinet located in SIU’s Student Center. Their goal is to help students with food insecurities.
Members of PRSSA said they wanted to help students directly on campus, because that is who supports them. Several boxes were spread around campus, in places like the communications building, financial aid office, student services offices, admissions, the Multicultural Resource Center and Morris Library.
“(Community service) makes me feel like I am actually contributing to something important,” PRSSA President Makenzie Gaines said. “Hosting professional events is fine, but I do think it is really, really important to give back to needs that aren’t talked about every day. Unfortunately, if you are hungry, you probably can’t think correctly. You cannot function and
Isaiah Roth talks to a student about supporting PRSSA during a fundraising sale Oct. 3, 2025 at the Faner breezeway in Carbondale, Illinois. The organization sold snacks and other items for $5 or less. Amilia Estrada | aestrada@dailyegyptian.com
I do not think that is talked about enough. There are students that really need these items to help them function throughout the day.”
Bean and Gaines explained that food drives are especially beneficial
in southern Illinois because the surrounding communities are food desert areas. PRSSA members believe it represents their pillar of advocacy to help the community they are in.
“The only thing separating us and students who are struggling with food insecurities is the situations that we were born into and the systems we are born into. I think it is very important to lift each other up, and that makes me feel like I’m doing something bigger,” Bean stated.
Gaines said this food drive was just the beginning of community service for PRSSA. Gaines expressed that she would like to do several more community service projects including a coat drive and a hygiene drive. Gaines feels as if by helping people when they need it most, they offer the community dignity and respect.
Students currently struggling with food insecurity can turn to the Saluki Food Pantry, which is available on campus to provide support. With the ongoing government shutdown, programs such as SNAP and WIC may be affected. Those experiencing food insecurity are encouraged to contact the Saluki Food Pantry for assistance at (618) 536-3351.
Staff reporter Mariah Fletcher can be reached at mfletcher@dailyegyptian.com.
SIU is celebrating LGBTQIA+ history month in October with the theme “History will Repeat. We Won’t Retreat.” The month kicked off with a pumpkin painting event at Becker Pavilion on Oct. 1.
National Geographic says the name LGBTQIA+ started as LGB in the ‘90s to describe the lesbian, gay and bisexual community. Since then, the term has added more and more letters for an ever growing community. It added transgender, queer, intersex, asexual and any other group included within the plus. The events are sponsored and organized by many different student and community organizations, such as the Paulette Curkin Pride Resource
Center, Saluki Rainbow Network, Hispanic/Latino Resource Center, SIU No Shame Theater, Southern Illinois Queer Archive and many more.
The month brings people together and shows what resources the school and community have for LGBTQIA+ students and faculty.
“I am just excited to celebrate my fellow queer community at SIU,” Kadence Lane, a graduate student said. “It’s actually my first semester at SIU, so I’m excited for the community aspect of it.”
Resources became available at SIU for the LGBTQIA+ community in the ‘90s with the Triangle Coalition. A group created by faculty to push for LGBTQ+ inclusivity on an institutional support level.
It later became the Pride Resource
Center. The center was renamed the Paulette Curkin Pride Resource Center about a year ago, in honor of alum Curkin, who worked for university housing and supported LGBTQIA+ students. She is the student development coordinator the Pride Resource Center and a volunteer advisor for Saluki Rainbow Network.
LGBTQIA+ history month has been celebrated at SIU for the last 21 years.
On Oct. 2, the Student Center hosted a Queer Salukis Townhall where the Pride Resource Center talked about LGBTQIA+ responses, individual concerns and checking in with the community.
Juniper Oxford, the coordinator for the Paulette Curkin Pride Resource Center, said the center wants to see everyone in the community feel safe and welcome.
“I think the most important piece of that event was having … our LGBTQ+ community members know the names and faces of the people who represent them.”
A keynote speaker, Jeanette Oxford, is planned for Oct. 10 at Morris Library at 3 p.m. in Guyon Auditorium. Oxford is an SIU alum who served as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives and was the first openly lesbian member of the Missouri Legislature.
Oxford is visiting SIU with two other Missouri Representatives and is a relative of Juniper Oxford.
Juniper Oxford said that Jeanette Oxford will be “talking about the importance of interlocking queer justice
those at SIU all in one photo. So hoping to break a record here on our biggest photo yet.”
SIU Safe Zone, a group that teaches staff on how to support the LGBTQIA+ community. They will have an LGBTQIA+ history session on Oct. 7, and a retreat on Oct. 27. Faculty can volunteer to go to a training session for Safe Zone and join a support system for LGBTQIA+ students across campus.
The training sessions will also teach staff how to use inclusive language, learn about issues the community faces and how to become a support system for LGBTQIA+ students and staff.
with racial justice and the co-organizing that’s been happening; and standing up to injustice everywhere.”
The next day, Oct. 11, will feature a Carbondale Pride Fest all day at the Carbondale Pavilion and Washington Street. This year, the festival lines up with National Coming Out Day.
“We always do a coming out social on campus and … also do a big group photo,” Oxford said. “And this year, because of the overlap, we’re going to have our national coming out day downtown, and we’re going to share the festivities, but we’re going to have a moment in that day where we’re going to come together and do a group photo of everybody in Carbondale, visiting Carbondale and
Lana Rizzo, an SIU alum and automotive professor, is most excited for the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” with shadow cast at the Varsity Center on Halloween night. Rizzo said she is impressed with how many events are planned for the month.
“There’s so many events and it’s fantastic that, you know, there are that many events to go to all the cinemas and all the other pride parades and all the speakers that are coming,” Rizzo said. “There’s so many, and it just is like, it’s great that the resources are here for supporting the LGBTQ+ community.” Find the full schedule of events for LGBTQ+ history month at https://smrc. siu.edu/lgbtq/programming/
Digital Editor Peyton Cook can be reached at pcook@dailyegyptian.com, or on Instagram at @cookmeavisual.
The all-female brass band Brass Queens brought high energy and genre-defying music to the Off the Rails concert series on Oct. 3, igniting the night with their New Orleans-inspired sound.
The Brass Queens were founded in 2019 by Ally Chapel and Alex Harris. Their goal was to show off the talent of female musicians in a field that was mostly dominated by males.
“The best musicians we knew were the women,” Chapel said. “And they knew that they could use a place like ourselves to actually showcase our talent and our ideas for running a band and creating music.”
Inspired by the brass bands in New Orleans, Brass Queens blend different genres like film, latin, pop and their own originals. They put their own New Orleans twist on covers of songs by artists like Bad Bunny and Ariana Grande.
Currently on tour, the group’s next stop is Nashville. They are looking forward to releasing their next album which is Volume 2 to their latest album “Hot Tub Sessions Volume 1.”
“Our motivation is to keep creating new music,” Chapel said. “We love traveling and bringing our music to people. So to keep it fun for us, we like to write new music and perform that, but we love sharing our ethos as a group of women that are friends and traveling and the experiences we’ve been through. We think our music reflects that,” Chapel said.
Off the Rails in Carbondale was a great opportunity for Brass Queens to showcase their music and share some unreleased songs. The crowd was big and lively with people dancing and laughing throughout the night.
“We get a lot of joy from performing and people always tell us that they leave feeling the same way,” Chapel said.
Staff photographer Emily Brinkman can be reached at ebrinkman@dailyegyptian.com
*answers on Page 3
Baptisms of fire
It may get you all worked up for no reason
"__ the Earth Move"
One with a degree
Wasn't colorfast
Caustic cleaner
Arithmetic result
No longer fresh
1970s fashion items (they're seen in 3-, 8- and 31Down) 27. Saskatchewan native
28. Fish of the family Gadidae 31. Feature of a mysterious old house, maybe 32. Fanny Brice's double? 33. __-Seltzer 35. Piston attachments 37. Available by the mug
38. Fleck with a banjo 39. Like two
Cleaning item 42. Actor Juliette ("Jet Lag") 45. Land of __ 47. "I __ been a contender!"
48. Like zombies
50. Without equal
52. __ Maine
53. Words abt. one departed
54. Walk or trot
55. Disney animated pirate
57. Disparaging word
58. Brewpub staple
59. Wharton degree
61. Wallet items
Your guide to upcoming local events over the next 7 days!
08 09
October
10 11 12
WED THURS FRI SAT SUN TUE
Booby’s Carbondale
Local Band Benefit Night, 7 p.m.
Hangar 9 Carbondale Game Night Free, 3 p.m. - 2 a.m.
PK’s (21+) Carbondale Trivia, 8 p.m.
Little Nashville Marion Wild Card
Wednesday, 5 p.m.
Booby’s Carbondale Karaoke, 8:30 p.m.
Hangar 9 Carbondale
Scratch Brewery at Hangar, Beer Garden, 5 p.m. The Giddy Up before the Get Down, 7 p.m.
PK’s (21+) Carbondale Cash and Company, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Brews Brothers Murphysboro Trivia, 8 p.m. Route 51 Elkville
Tim Whiteford with Jazz Alliance Quartet, 6 p.m.
Booby’s Carbondale
Yoky, Revenge Bodies and Crunch, 10 p.m.
Hangar 9 Carbondale
Fiddle Rick and The Collective, Beer Garden, 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. Grateful Dead Night, 9 p.m.
Halloween dance party and costume contest, 10 p.m.
Booby’s Carbondale Hangar 9 Carbondale
Alto Vineyards Alto Pass
Hangar 9 Carbondale
Isaac Biver, 2 p.m.
Touch of Nature Carbondale
Little grassy get down Fri- Sun
PK’s (21+) Carbondale
PK’s (21+) Carbondale The Meerkats, 9 p.m.
Peachbarn Winery
Alto Pass Honey and Tar, 4 p.m.
OwlCreek Vineyards Cobden
Bruce Blew, 2 p.m.
Route 51 Elkville
Hick and Banks, 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Little Nashville Marion
Memphis Night with The Smith-Hill Band, 6 p.m.
Art Reception - Lewis Salinas, 5 p.m. Night Bass, 10 p.m. Tres Hombres Carbondale
Alto Vineyard Alto Pass
Cody Cambell, 2 p.m. Starview Cobden Cartunes, 4 p.m.
OwlCreek Vineyards Cobden Ol’ Fishskins, 3 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Blind Stein and Friends, 7 p.m.
Peyton Blewett, 6 p.m.
Peachbarn Winery
Alto Pass
Pity Thy Neighbors, 2 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Feather Hill Cobden
The Melungeons, tasting room, 3 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Route 51 Elkville
Joslyn and the Sweet Compression, 7 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Blue Sky Vineyard Makanda
Colorfest Celebration featuring The Phonics, 4 p.m.
Peachbarn Winery Alto Pass
Tom Cat Hill, 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.
OwlCreek Vineyards Cobden
Palermo Duo, 3 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Starview Cobden
Eastwood and Bradley, 1 p.m.
Little Nashville Marion Open Mic Night, 6 p.m.
Blue Sky Vineyard Makanda
Ol Moose and Friends, 2 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Karaoke, Free, 8 p.m.
RSO Karaoke Cup Contest, 10 p.m.
Want to see your event here?
Email editor@dailyegyptian.com.