IDS
Thursday, May 12, 2022 | Indiana Daily Student | idsnews.com
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID Terre Haute, IN PERMIT NO. 24
2022 GRADUATION EDITION
1
2
3
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Congratulations, class of 2022! This graduating class experienced such a wide range of events during your time at IU, solidifying your place in this campus’s history. For better or for worse, one of the biggest characterizers of these years of your life was a global pandemic that redefined what it meant to be a student. COVID-19 changed the way you learned, but this class of graduates persisted through hardships. You were forced to transition to online learning in March 2020 and continued with hybrid classes through the following academic year. The lack of in-person classes, fans at sporting events and the loss of other traditions like Little 500 weekend impacted the IU culture more than we would like to admit. This past year, however, Bloomington and the IU community were finally able to start returning to normal, bringing a new wave of Hoosier spirit with it. When you think about this past year, what comes to mind? I think of the mob of shirtless guys that filled Section 19 in Memorial Stadium in near-freezing temperatures while Rutgers beat our football team on the field below. I think
of the mask mandate being lifted for in-person classes at the start of the spring semester. I think of the sheer number of Indiana fans that filled Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall to cheer on our women’s basketball team as they earned their spot in the Sweet 16 round of March Madness. More recently, I also think of the on-going graduate worker strike and I assume the same can be said for the graduate students that completed their degree this past week. These events, despite being different, have each defined what it meant to be a Hoosier this past year. You learned how to persevere through life’s ups and downs, something that will stay with you as you begin the next chapter of your life. On behalf of the Indiana Daily Student, congratulations again to the class of 2022! We will still be here in Bloomington covering any news if you want to stay up-to-date with your alma mater. All the best,
Ethan Moore Summer 2022 Editor-in-Chief
5 4
6
8 PHOTOS BY IZZY MYSZAK
1. An IU-Bloomington undergraduate student gasps during the undergraduate graduation ceremony May 7, 2022, in Memorial Stadium. More than 20,000 degrees were awarded to the class of 2022. 2. Members of the class of 2022 listen to one of the commencement speakers, CEO of The Walt Disney Company Bob Chapek, on May 7, 2022, in Memorial Stadium. “IU was my ticket to a new life,” Chapek said. Graduates file in for the undergraduate student graduation ceremony May 7, 2022, in Memorial Stadium. There were 20,853 degrees awarded. 4. Students read out of their pamphlets May 7, 2022, in Memorial Stadium during the singing of the Alma Mater. A student from the IU Jacobs School of Music led the song. 5. A student takes a picture of her friends May 7, 2022, in Memorial Stadium. Before the ceremony began, students were calling their guests and taking pictures with one another. 6. A student walks through the aisle May 7, 2022, in Memorial Stadium. Students were seated with their schools during the ceremony. 7. A cap reading “Let the journey begin” is pictured amongst blank caps May 7, 2022, in Memorial Stadium. Students had the option to decorate their caps. 8. A student holds the hand of one of his guests after being gifted a flower lei May 7, 2022, in Memorial Stadium. Flowers were available for purchase as guests walked into the stadium.
7
Commencement speaker Jordan Davis talks about power of legacy By Grant Wheeler grawheel@iu.edu
IU senior Jordan Davis was this year’s student commencement speaker for the class of 2022’s graduation on May 7 at Memorial Stadium. Davis graduated with a degree in Marketing and International Business with a minor in Spanish. She has also filled a number of administrative and leadership roles in various organiza-
tions at IU, including work as an orientation leader, director of Health and WellBeing with IU Student Government, and vice president of outreach with Kelley Student Government. As vice president of outreach, she organized a campaign called “I am, I am not” which dealt with the deconstruction of stereotypes. “We wanted to raise awareness with majority and minority groups by saying
‘This is how I’m stereotyped, but this is what I’m not and this is how I’m not that,’” Davis said. “So, for example, ‘I am a Black woman, but I am not always strong because that’s really damaging.’” In the same position, she founded and co-led the first Black Student Action Committee as a response to the low percentage of Black students in the Kelley School of Business. “It’s to make sure Black
students have an equitable experience at Kelley because there are so few of us,” Davis said. Davis was inspired to speak at her graduation because of her long standing ambition of being a talk show host. She said Oprah Winfrey, Issa Rae and Beyonce are some of her professional inspirations. “Everyone thinks I’m joking when I say that but I’m actually dead serious,”
she said. “I’ve known for years, that’s what I’m supposed to do.” She has plans to produce her own talk show that diverges from the traditional medium and removes some of the corporatization from the process, allowing viewers to more personally connect with the guests. Davis and her classmate Sika Kodzi co-host a podcast called “You’re Too Loud.” “It’s all about Black wom-
en taking up space and owning their voice and being as loud as possible,” Davis said. They’ve interviewed a number of high-profile guests, including Shontay Lundy, CEO of Black Girl Sunscreen, and Broadway actress Sasha Hutchings. Davis said her main motivator has to do with legacy. She said she often had a hard time finding her voice SEE DAVIS, PAGE 5