MCCSC to reduce staff
By Jack Forrest jhforres@iu.edu | @byjackforrest
The Monroe County Community School Corporation will have to make staffing cuts in response to an enrolled act reducing the school’s potential revenue by over $17 million in the next three years, the district's Superintendent Markay Winston said at an MCCSC trustees meeting April 22.
According to Senate Enrolled Act 1’s fiscal analysis, MCCSC will see a loss of nearly $3.5 million in revenue next year compared to current law.
“The projected reduction in state funding over the next three years will impact our ability to maintain current support services and staffing levels throughout the organization,” Winston said at the meeting.
Winston said the district has already put a pause on filling positions left empty by retirements or resignations, though decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis.
It's also exploring other ways to reduce expenses in the coming months. The district is discussing how to approach the changes with the Monroe County Education Association and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees unions and building administrators, she said.
“I cannot eliminate the impact, but we will make our best effort to minimize the impact,” Winston said. “To be sure, the loss of this amount of revenue will require us to rethink how we do school.”
SEA 1, which deals with property taxes, was controversial on both sides of the aisle. It underwent several substantial amendments during the Indiana legislative session.
The original bill would have put a cap on property tax bill increases and increased the homestead standard reduction for property owners.
According to a fiscal analysis, Monroe County would’ve lost over $25 million in possible tax revenue in the first year alone, with an over $10 million loss to MCCSC.
The final enrolled act isn’t as dramatic of a change. Homeowners will be able to receive a property tax discount of 10%, up to $300. According to the Indianapolis Star, it allows cities and towns to establish local income tax rates but limits how much they can raise their property taxes. Public schools will also have to share revenue from tax levies with eligible charter schools.
Monroe County will receive nearly $10 million less in revenue in the first year compared to current law, according to the state’s fiscal analysis. The county will collect over $37 million less over three years.
Monroe County Councilors previously sounded the alarm about SEA 1’s effects on the county, approving a resolution opposing the then-bill in February. In March, they voted to pause consideration of new county jobs, reclassifications and description changes that increase county costs anticipating changes due to SEA 1 and other legislation.
“Senators, house members, you could cut it in half, and then cut that into quarters, and you’re still going to be killing us,” Councilor Trent Deckard said Jan. 28 about the original bill. “That’s how bad it is.”
MCCSC schools had an elearning day April 14 to allow teachers to participate in the Indiana State Teacher’s Association Day of Action rally at the Statehouse against the bill. Gov. Mike Braun signed the final bill into law April 15. School corporations statewide will receive over $190 million less revenue next year than they would under current law, the bill’s fiscal analysis states. That’s over $744 million across three years.
Broken pipes, couch stains and cockroaches
By Jasmine Wright wrightjv@iu.edu
Editor’s note: The Indiana Daily Student spoke to five current and former track and field athletes for this story. Two of the athletes who are currently still on the team have been granted anonymity.
When IU track and field athletes go to their designated locker rooms before and after team practices, they double-check their belongings in unlocked lockers. They are often greeted by cockroaches in bathroom stalls, a thick film of built-up residue in the shower and worn couches with years of stains on them.
A year ago, the IU track and field team claimed two event titles, broke three school records and achieved 15 podium finishes across men's and women's events during the Big Ten Championships. During the Indiana Early Bird Meet in December, the Hoosiers won 11 events and achieved 42 personal bests.
Every day, the accomplished Big Ten student athletes make a conscious choice to overlook the dirty place they are sent to get
clean.
Allie Latta, an IU junior and ex-runner, quit early in summer 2024 due to multiple running-related injuries. She remembered the two couches in the back of the women’s locker room faded with years of sweat stains and spilled liquids.
The team now brings their own chairs to sit on.
Latta said her teammates would put down an extra shirt before sitting on the couches. Latta’s roommate, who is currently on the team, even brought in a bean bag chair from home to help give the athletes a clean place to sit before practice.
"It's probably been about 15 years since we last renovated the locker rooms."
Jeremy Gray IU senior associate athletic director for strategic communications
IU Senior Associate Athletic Director for Strategic Communications, Jeremy Gray, said the head coaches can get together and annually request where budget expenses go for their team. He said the track and field
coaches' latest request was to update the video boards for the outdoor and indoor track facilities. The Indiana Athletics Associate Director of Finance, Cody Whiteman, said that it totaled $608,000.
“That was a major, major ask,” Gray said, “and so the question is, should he have spent that money on couches or on video boards?”
The IDS made multiple attempts to contact the IU track and field coaches. The IDS emailed the track Director of Operations Warren Bye once, Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Edward Beathea once and head coach Eric Heins twice. The IDS also called Bye’s staff directory number twice, and texted assistant coach Andrew Poore’s and Beathea’s personal numbers. The only response the IDS received was from Beathea, who declined an interview and referred the IDS to Gray.
Whiteman said Indiana Athletics has invested $2,253,225.50 into updating the track and field and cross country facilities in the past five years. This included resurfacing the indoor and outdoor tracks and turf, installing a new cross country track on the golf course, up-
dating the Billy Hayes Track Press Box and setting up new video boards.
“It’s probably been about 15 years since we last renovated the locker rooms,” Gray said, when asked specifically about updates to the track and field locker rooms.
"I mean, are we just not as important as any of the other sports?"
Allie Latta, IU junior Indiana Athletics has made significant updates to other sports locker room facilities over the past five years. The women’s basketball team center in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall underwent renovations in 2022, featuring a modernized locker room, team lounge and training areas. The IU Board of Trustees approved a $7 million project that was completed in 2020 to restore the men’s and women’s soccer team facilities. At IU, Gray said that while there is a budget for all of the sports, the amount each sport gets can vary. Only three sports produce revenue at IU — the men’s
‘I don’t see much change’ Trustee Vivian Winston on IU’s administration
and women’s basketball teams, and football — while the rest operate at a loss and have limited budgets. While some athletes like Latta wonder why furniture updates in the locker room haven’t been done yet, Gray said updating simple things such as the couch can prove to be extraordinarily costprohibitive. Michele Bucklin, IU’s interior designer, was hesitant to give costs, since it can vary depending on size, material and amount, but Gray said a desk by itself can cost $2,000. Bucklin said that the furniture that goes into IU student athlete facilities is standard, but can only be bought from IU Capital Planning and Facilities. This is because the furniture has to meet safety codes and health codes for student athletic and public spaces. Her main priority when choosing furniture is that it is as fiscally beneficial as possible, while also being durable and aesthetically pleasing. However, for the track and field team, concerns go far beyond aging furniture. In the middle of summer 2024, a pipe broke in the women’s locker room.
SEE TRACK, PAGE 12
By Chloe Oden chloden@iu.edu | @chloeoden0
Vivian Winston prides herself on being someone who listens.
So, when Indiana University President Pamela Whitten’s contract extension was brought up at the Feb. 20 Board of Trustees meeting, Winston dissented. She was the only dissenting vote.
She heard about the vote for the renewal the morning of the meeting and said she wouldn’t have voted for a contract extension so quickly for any president.
“A decision that was that important, I should have had more notice,” she said.
“That's the reason for trustees, and that's the reason we're there. When you get right down to it, the president reports to us. We don’t get involved. That’s not our job. Our job is just to really hire and fire the president.”
Winston is one of three alumni-elected trustees on the Indiana University Board of Trustees, the head of the university.
The board has the power to appoint the president, hire faculty, approve promotion and tenure, determine codes of conduct and disciplinary measures for students, faculty and staff, regulate tuition and fees, determine curricula, invest funds and award financial aid, among other responsibilities.
Across IU’s nine campuses, the trustees oversee more than 88,000 students and over 21,000 faculty and staff.
Below the trustees sits the university president.
“A contract extension is something that should be done over a period of time,” Winston said. “I think the minimum amount of time should be six months.”
Winston said she thought there should have been an independent review before the trustees voted to reappoint her until 2031. The university was supposed to seek an independent review during the fifth year of Whitten’s term in 2026, according to her contract.
Along with an independent review, Winston said she thought the board should have gathered input from students, faculty, staff and alumni before approving the extension.
The Board of Trustees did not respond to a request for comment.
‘We have to deal with it if a faculty votes no confidence’ Winston said shared governance is on the decline at IU.
“It leaves people feeling they don’t have a voice,” Winston said. “I think the university thrives when faculty feel like they have a voice.”
Shared governance is the “shared responsibility for operating and governing the university that faculty and administrators share,” according to the Bloomington Faculty Council.
The BFC’s description also states shared governance depends on mutual
accountability, collaboration, transparency and a relationship in which the faculty and administration are “answerable” to each other.
In April 2024, 93.1% of 948 faculty members voted “no confidence” in Whitten. Following the vote, the Board of Trustees issued a statement in support of Whitten, but it has since been removed from the trustees' website.
Winston spoke out against the statement in June 2024. In a letter to Indiana Public Media, she wrote she was not aware of it before its publication and would not have supported it.
She said the statement sent a message that the trustees were “ignoring” the faculty and did not want Whitten or the administration to do things differently.
“We have to deal with it if a faculty votes no confidence,” Winston said. “You can't ignore that. I thought ‘We at least need to talk to the faculty, get to the bottom of it. What could be done better?’”
Winston’s husband Wayne Winston, a professor emeritus of operations and decision technologies at IU, said faculty are told at BFC meetings they can email the Board of Trustees if they have questions — but he alleges the board either doesn’t get the emails, or doesn’t reply to them.
“There's no communication,” Wayne Winston said. “We need communication between the board and the faculty, staff and students.
There's a culture of fear.”
Last May, Whitten held closed door listening sessions with the College of Arts and Sciences. In these meetings, faculty expressed their discontent.
Whitten and the attending faculty debated the justifiability for “police action” in Dunn Meadow and other grievances, according to a summary of the sessions written by IU Professor P. David Polly in the Earth and Atmospheric Sciences department and IU Professor in the English department Purnima Bose.
The summary said Whitten “refused” to answer several questions from faculty. It also said she didn’t express remorse for the injuries sustained by students and faculty during the police response to the pro-Palestinian encampment last spring. It described some
attendees who said it was too late for listening sessions and agreements to change. The administration, it said, should have tried to rebuild trust long ago.
Wayne Winston said he believes the administration has no desire to hear about faculty opinion.
“The way things are being run here, it’s just morally reprehensible,” Wayne said.
Wayne Winston also referenced Xiaofeng Wang, a tenured IU professor fired in March on the same day two of his homes were inspected by the FBI.
The termination notice sent to Wang said it was Provost Rahul Shrivastav’s understanding that Wang had accepted a position at a university in Singapore and that Wang would not be eligible for rehire at IU.
‘I think that we’re in a slide toward
By Ella Curlin and Natalia Nelson elcurlin@iu.edu | nelsonnb@iu.edu
Several hundred demonstrators in Bloomington joined a series of nationwide protests under the organization 50501 on April 19 outside the Monroe County Courthouse.
The demonstrators rallied against funding cuts by President Donald Trump’s administration, immigration policies and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
Protesters brought everything from bagpipes to puppies to an Abraham Lincoln costume, chanting and shouting amid a chorus of supportive honks from passing cars. The protest doubled as a food drive, with donations sent to Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, a Bloomington food pantry.
“Show me what democracy looks like!” one protester chanted into a megaphone as demonstrators marched in circles around the courthouse. Some had laminated signs or painted umbrellas with slogans like “Hands off Science.”
The chants were accompanied by the ringing of a triangle and the beating of a drum as protest organizer Sandy Washburn joined first-time protester Jerry Carpenter for a drum circle on a park bench with fellow attendees. Carpenter is a friend of Washburn’s and has lived in Bloomington for about seven years. He said he was asked by Washburn to attend his first protest ever with his drums.
“This is a good atmo-
Bloomington takes part in ‘50501’ protests
fascism’
sphere, I think, to make a little bit of noise,” Carpenter said.
He wasn’t the only musician in the crowd. IU Student Health Center psychologist Ian Arthur played on his bagpipes for the better part of an hour. Arthur said he saw the protests while out for breakfast and thought of the Scottish “protest instrument” he had left in his car. He has been playing the bagpipes for almost 30 years and thought the instrument would be appropriate.
“They were used to inspire people to stand up,” Arthur said. “It was used to signal to troops that were fighting, movements.”
Demonstrator Joey Kauffman came dressed in an
Abraham Lincoln costume, accompanied by the signature black top hat and beard. He said he wanted to reclaim patriotic symbols. He was protesting research funding cuts, specifically for cancer research. He knew several people, including his mother and family friends, who have had cancer.
“Republicans get cancer too,” Kauffman said. “They’re gonna get sick and not be able to get better because they wanted to fire cancer researchers for being woke.”
Protesters gathered at 12:15 p.m. in front of the 50501 organizers, who spoke about the organization’s values. They specifically mentioned the state budget bill that was signed into law April
15.
“They passed a budget that gives tax breaks to billionaires and cut safety nets that people need,” one speaker said.
Washburn, a research associate at IU, said she learned of 50501 on social media.
Created in January 2025 on Reddit, the idea behind 50501 was simple — 50 protests in 50 states, one movement. Around 900 demonstrations against the Trump administration were scheduled for April 19. In Indiana, protests were scheduled in Indianapolis, Kokomo, South Bend and Terre Haute.
On April 5, demonstrators similarly rallied in Bloomington at the Monroe
County Courthouse for the “Hands Off!” protests against Trump and DOGE. On April 15, demonstrators gathered outside the Monroe Convention Center to protest a dignitary discussion that hosted Indiana Sen. Todd Young. Around 50 protestors gathered April 17 on Dunn Meadow to support academic freedom.
The decision to double up the protest with a food drive came from the national organization, which Washburn said suggested a greater focus on community service in addition to demonstrations. There were several food donation stations set up on the courthouse lawn, and by the time the protest ended at 2 p.m., the tables
were brimming with canned goods. Washburn said she thought 50501 would try and plan similar events every few weeks.
Washburn said she was protesting because she was particularly worried about immigration and Fifth Amendment rights.
“I’m really concerned about the lack of due process,” Washburn said. “People are just disappearing, and the administration is refusing to follow the judicial orders.”
Kathleen Gilbert, a professor emeritus at IU’s School of Public Health, said she was afraid for the future of the country that was being passed down to younger generations. She was specifically concerned about faculty tenure in the wake of the firing of Xiaofeng Wang and Nianli Ma.
“I look at that, and I think about the climate and how that has such a dampening effect on people who are interested in coming here,” Gilbert said.
Mallie Stevens attended with a sign reading “Hands off social security, public lands, and democracy.” She said she’s trying to make a change.
“I have four daughters who I don’t want to grow up in what this is becoming,” Stevens said.
Rea Kerse, a Bloomington local, said Indiana is dismantling her young nieces’ education. She attended the protest to show strength in numbers.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Kerse said. “I think that we’re in a slide toward fascism.”
Bloomington bike safety improvements show progress
By Gabby Rogers rogersgm@iu.edu
The last thought Carl Field remembers running through his mind before getting hit by the car was, “Not again.” Field was riding through the intersection of 10th Street and Fee Lane when a student driver making a left turn struck him. It was one of the four times he’s been hit in his four-decade cycling career and his first of two crashes in Bloomington.
“To tell you the truth,” Field said, “when you see it coming and you get to that last moment where it can’t be avoided, you just kind of, I hate to say it, accept it. And you tell yourself, I hope this isn’t really ugly, because you know what is about to happen.”
Field’s custom-made titanium Roark bike was totaled, but aside from some contusions and road rash, Field remained relatively unscathed.
Accidents like his are not uncommon in Bloomington.
In 2023, the year with the most recent crash data for Bloomington, 34 total bike crashes were reported, two of which caused serious injuries.
One of these serious injuries belonged to Bob DeGroff. DeGroff was 70 and biking around 250-300 miles a week when he was hit from behind by a pickup truck hauling a horse trailer.
He heard the frantic screech of the brakes seconds before he was thrown off his bike in an accident that shattered his femur and six bones in his back.
“There is an inherent risk, and if you cycle long enough, eventually, you’re going to either have a bad wreck on your own, or you’re going to get hit by a car,” Field said. “That likelihood is fairly high.”
Hank Duncan, Bloomington’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator, is working to mitigate that risk by redesigning the streets of Bloomington to establish safer biking conditions.
“I get to look at a street like a blank slate,” Duncan said. “I ask myself, ‘if we were to do anything to this street, what would we do? How would we do it? How would we make this coincide with our community goals?’”
Prioritizing pedestrian safety, biker safety and the livability of the city are Duncan’s top priorities when planning infrastructure ini-
tiatives.
The bleak conditions of urban transport systems date back to the rise of the automobile in the mid-20th century, Duncan said. Roadway designers ripped out the urban fabric that accommodated pedestrians and bikers, he said, so cars could move faster and more efficiently through urban areas.
“Turns out, that’s not the best idea in terms of safety or livability and a vibrant urban economy,” Duncan said.
Duncan’s job revolves around backtracking and developing the city by building better sidewalks, greenspaces and bike lanes. He hopes to accommodate for the things that were missed out on in this past century.
Recent projects have made strides toward this goal.
Expanded traffic barriers along the East Third Street bike lanes, speed cushions, protected bike lanes and rain gardens that narrow the street to make people slow down are just some of the recent works, but he said it is far from perfect.
A step forward is the construction of multi-use paths that are being built around the community, Duncan said. The paths are 10-to-
12-foot-wide paths that are made specifically for pedestrians and cyclists to travel on.
Duncan said several high-volume streets in town, such as 10th Street, College Avenue and Rogers Street, still need improvements for all transportation types.
“These are streets where we have the data that shows people are getting injured and or getting killed on these streets every year,” he said.
Duncan has found from looking at other cities that generally focusing on the safety of bicycles and pedestrian subsets makes the streets safer for all modes.
Field and DeGroff, both members of the Bloom-
ington Bicycle club, shared ways they would like to see the city improve bike accommodations.
“Four-way stops can help,” Field said. “Because people blow through red lights, and at least a four-way stop means people are going to be slowing down.”
DeGroff applauded the city for the work being done on Third Street but would like to see a better job of designating bike lanes on the roads, especially in major streets downtown, so bikers don’t have to ride in traffic.
Duncan said there is a common misconception that adding bike infrastructure means taking away from car infrastructure — that it
becomes a zero-sum game — but said that is not the case at all.
The vehicle network is well built, he said, and no matter the changes brought forth by the city, there will always be options for drivers. He said it isn’t the city’s intention to take those options away from drivers. Adding pedestrian infrastructure and bike infrastructure, he said, are crucial aspects to safer street design.
“Just because a project is not directly benefiting motor vehicles and motor vehicle users, does not mean that it is
NATALIA NELSON | IDS
526 N. Lincoln
Black Men Evolve: Student Org of the Year breaks barriers
By Deshna Venkatachalam
devenkat@iu.edu
IU sophomore Calvin Woods attended his first IU involvement fair last year and, like many students, wanted to explore student organizations he might want to join. But he was unable to find a club he was interested in. Instead, he walked away with something more personal, a slip of paper in his own handwriting and a plan.
“Look into a Black men’s mental health organization,” it read.
Just a month later, his idea took shape. Woods and a small group of his peers created Black Men Evolve by hosting its first event called The Evolution Summit. The event featured free haircuts, games, free clothes, headshots, resume building and
interview workshops.
Woods said they had about 250 people attend their first-ever event in 2023. He got in his car that day and cried because of how good the turnout was.
Since then, BME has created its own campus presence by promoting mental wellbeing, leadership, professional development, personal growth and unity among Black men at IU.
Almost two years after its founding, BME was named the 2024-25 Student Organization of the Year at the IU Student Leadership and Involvement Student Organization Awards on April 17.
“When we give a full description of what we do and the impact we’ve made, there’s not very many organizations that you could put on the same pedestal as us,”
Woods said. “It very hard to
get men in general involved and so when I see a room full of Black men engaged and actually paying attention, it is very rewarding and affirming.”
From the beginning, Woods said, he had a strategic plan for how he wanted BME to run. Instead of general body meetings, the organization tries to offer a variety of events throughout the year.
Events like Barbershop Talk and Affirmation Thursday provide spaces for members to relax and have healthy discussion. Other activities have included guest speakers and tours, including one at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the 30th anniversary of the Brickyard 400 race.
“We had a connection in Indy with guy that helps turns children into authors
IU highlights Arabic culture
By Deshna Venkatachalam devenkat@iu.edu
In 2017, the Arab America Foundation began the National Arab American Heritage Month initiative. It wasn’t until 2021 that former President Joe Biden officially recognized the month of April as Arab American Heritage Month with a commemorative letter to the Arab America Foundation.
Arab American Heritage Month acknowledges the culture, history and contributions of Arab-Americans. IU offers year-round programming to learn Arabic and understand the culture.
The IU Arabic Flagship Program is a federally funded organization in the Hamilton Lugar School. It provides the opportunity to reach superior-level fluency by completing Arabic coursework, working with tutors and providing opportunities to spend a year abroad in Meknes, Morocco. The students in the program are also required to attend cultural training.
Iman Alramadan, director of cultural and cocurricular activities for the IU Arabic Program, emphasized the importance of learning the culture and language together.
“Studying language is not separate from studying culture,” Alramadan said. “Bringing this idea to IU will help foster awareness and combat stereotypes.
Cross cultural understanding helped me a lot to be the person who I am now, and it’s opened to door to a lot of unity.”
Alramadan is originally from the Syrian Arab Republic, a country located in the Middle East. In the past 14 years, the Syrian civil war has been an ongoing conflict. However, Alrama-
dan remembers her home country more fondly.
“I tell people about Syria before the war,” Alramadan said. “The Syria of the jasmine, and of the rich history. I love to show my culture so they can have an idea about it through their communication with me and not what they see in the news or in the media.”
Nader Morkus, academic director of the IU Arabic Flagship Program, said that part of the goal of the program is to provide an immersive experience for the students part of it.
“It’s just fascinating when you see students learning new things every day about Arab culture,” Morkus said. “Whether it’s the communication style or the traditional clothing, I see them grow a develop a deeper, deeper understanding of the Arab culture.”
Morkus is from Alexandria, Egypt, where the official language is Arabic. He graduated college and worked for three years before moving to the U.S. at 26. Despite the initial culture shock, like seeing a squirrel for the first time outside of a zoo, he felt privileged to be able to still speak and teach Arabic to students and introduce others to the culture.
He still goes back every couple of years and maintains strong ties with his family back home, something that he believes the Arab culture values significantly.
“Even here in the Arabic Flagship, there is a strong sense of community and family, and that’s a beautiful thing,” Morkus said.
Sophomore Shraddha Krishnan, a student in the Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowships, said she felt she saw a similar
value of family when talk-
ing to a student from Jordan, a sovereign state in Southwest Asia.
As a part of the fellowship, she took part in a cultural exchange program. She would meet every other day on Microsoft Teams with her partner and speak to them in Arabic.
“It was so cool to see how similar but also like how completely different our lives are,” Krishnan said. “They are super family-oriented, even if they aren’t blood related to somebody the essence of family is still super strong.”
Aside from work inside the classroom, learning Arabic and studying the culture has changed Krishnan’s understanding of the world.
Two weeks ago, she went to a Lebanese restaurant and started speaking Arabic with the waiters. A few hours later, she learned when the restaurant started and became friends with the workers.
“I’m going to appreciate the culture and try to learn as much as I can from it, and it’s really just the most authentic way to understand somebody else,” Krishnan said.
Moving forward, the IU Arabic Flagship Program plans to continue to celebrate Arab heritage by sharing culture with students. It is planning a closing ceremony in May for the flagship where students will be able to display different aspects of culture they have learned, such as poetry, music and dancing.
“Arabs are part of the American fabric,” Alramadan said. “When it comes to Hamilton Lugar School, once you enter the door you will smell different cultures and the richness. I feel like I belong.”
and he came down to teach us,” Woods said. “I became like a published children’s book author and everything, so we create a lot of opportunities.”
Next year, Woods will be stepping down as president of BME and passing it to junior Christopher Buck, now the external vice president for BME. However, Woods still plans to be heavily involved in the organization as he assumes his new role as student adviser.
“I’m going to step down as the president so that he can flourish in a different light and allow somebody else’s vision to grow,” Woods said. “Next year, I want to see it just grow beyond IU campus.”
During Buck’s freshman year, he joined an organization at IU that was also tailored to Black men. Howev-
er, by his sophomore year he felt the organization didn’t have a presence anymore. Woods then came to him and pitched BME.
“Just being Black men on campus, we don’t really know our niche or know or space,” Buck said. “I think it’s important to create a space to show that incoming Black men and Black men that are already here that we have this space to be here for one another.”
According to IU’s institutional analytics, 4.7% of undergraduate degree seeking students at IU Bloomington in 2024 are Black. Being involved in BME has helped Buck connect with more of that percentage.
“I would say being a part of BME has helped me learn how to lead a team of people who look like me but also have different opinions and
ideologies,” Buck said. “Also, just kind of learning how to be there for one another and grow and evolve with each other.”
As Buck transitions from external vice president to president, he hopes to build off many existing events and initiatives created by BME this year. He also hopes to increase engagement among incoming students and find new ways to provide a positive impact on as many people as possible.
“I saw a statistic that said about only 27% percent of Black men receive a college degree, so I think winning organization of the year just kind of combated that,” Buck said. “It shows that Black men are here on campus and are trying to make an impact outside of just being regular college students.”
Dozens rally for academic freedom at ‘People’s Involvement Fair’
By Safin Khatri safkhat@iu.edu
A group of around 50 demonstrators gathered for the National Day of Action for Higher Education on April 17 in Franklin Hall. The national event was organized by the American Association of University Professors.
The demonstrators set up tables in the commons with flyers, posters and information about each of the groups participating in the protest. Some demonstrators said they were protesting for academic freedom and free speech, protections for tenure and the termination of faculty without notice.
Maria Bucur, IU history professor and self-proclaimed “master mistress of ceremonies,” said the event was organized by People’s 2030 Platform — a newly formed coalition of IU students, faculty, staff and organizations — in collaboration with the IU chapter of the AAUP.
Chapters of the AAUP across the country organized protests at 178 campuses across 48 states, including ones organized at IU East and IU South Bend.
The IU Bloomington protest brought representatives from numerous IU organizations, including the Palestine Solidarity Committee, Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition, University Alliance for Racial Justice, Green Feather Movement, Friends of Dorothy and Students for a New Green World.
The event was set up with speakers and open tabling, allowing protesters to interact with organizers and learn how to get involved with the organizations represented.
The demonstration began with six representatives from the organizations speaking about the importance of the event and the concerns they had with the university.
Notable speakers included AAUP President Benjamin Robinson, who is currently under investigation for violating “intellectual diversity” requirements under Senate Enrolled Act 202. Other speakers were IU Trustee Vivan Winston, Bloomington City Councilmember Andy Ruff, former student body president-candidate Omeed Mehrzad and Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering computer science chair Yuzhen Ye. Ruff played the guitar and sang the song “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)” by Woody Guthrie. He said the song signified what he
viewed as similarities between the mistreatment in the media coverage of the deported migrants who died in the song and current events happening today.
Robinson told the IDS the demonstration has “two dimensions,” for both internal and external stakeholders.
“We’re trying to communicate to the federal government, to donors, to philanthropists, to lobbyists,” he said, “that higher education is only healthy when it’s autonomous, and that autonomy, it’s just another word for academic freedom.”
Heather Akou, IU associate professor of fashion design, said she was concerned about potential retaliation from the university, as well as the federal government, but will continue to demonstrate at future events. She said advocating for civil rights and humans is her life work.
She also said some protests on campus have seen some of their “demands” met, such as the recent Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition protest, which resulted in IU outlining steps for students who had their visas revoked.
Ye spoke at the event about the termination of IU professor Xiaofeng Wang and IU Libraries analyst Nalini Ma. She claimed a researcher in China applied for a grant with Wang’s name on it without his knowledge. When IU asked Wang about the grant proposal, she said, he provided documentation to IU.
She also said she was saddened that IU would terminate a faculty member after years of contribution to the university.
The protest ended with a march to Dunn Meadow, where organizers chanted for about 15 minutes.
Bryce Greene, a People’s 2030 Project organizer, said it was hard for IU organiza-
tions to get their voices heard by the IU community and administration.
“You are stronger when you’re part of a larger chorus of voices calling for the same thing,” Greene said. “And one of the things that we lacked in the past was a unifying vision that brought together both the graduate workers, Palestine organizers, faculties, staff, all these groups.” However, he said each group will continue to be separate organizations with their own “work and pace.” In March, People’s 2030 Project drafted a 27-page strategic plan that Greene claimed had “100% approval” from representatives from multiple student organizations.
“I think this is the first time at least since I’ve been in IU that there is a major coalition with a vision that they’re willing to fight for,” Greene said.
Greene said he doubts IU administration will want to have a conversation with the group. However, he said if the administration wants to have a conversation, they can look at the plan created and “make the vision a reality.” Akou said the organization is publicly mailing its initiatives to IU administrators and hopes to have “big conversations.” She added that she participated in developing the IU 2030 Strategic Plan — a seven-year strategic plan to improve education, research, scholarship and creative activity at the university — but believes the plan can be improved.
“The administration has not demonstrated much willingness to listen, which is why we felt like we really had to create an alternative plan,” Akou said. “But I think that there are some really hopeful elements of it that are not represented at all in the administration’s 2030 Strategic Plan.”
ILLUSTRATION BY EVELYN STRAUSS
COURTESY PHOTO
Black Men Evolve’s cookout is pictured April 12, 2025, in Bloomington. The organization described the annual cookout as a place to uplift and celebrate Black culture at IU.
EMERSON ELLEDGE | IDS Organizer Bryce Greene leads demonstrators to Dunn Meadow on April 17, 2025, outside Franklin Hall. Demonstrators spoke about the need for academic freedom in higher education.
Wang’s wife and IU Libraries analyst Nianli Ma was also terminated without being provided a reason.
Wayne Winston said the university is considering Wang “guilty until proven innocent,” and that faculty are “terrified” of the administration.
A year on from the encampment
Last year, during IU’s pro-Palestinian encampment in April 2024, Winston and fellow trustee Donna Spears visited the protest at Dunn Meadow.
“I'm important to the university, I should see what's going on,” Winston said. “If people are protesting in such a visible way, I think they deserve the respect of us coming down to talk with them.”
She said she would have preferred that the encampment had been handled by
the university without the Indiana State Police.
Winston said she was impressed by how organized and clean the encampment was. She also said she was impressed by the faculty helping the students manage negative response to the encampment.
“I think they were respectful of what the students were trying to do and helping make sure they did it in a good, productive manner,” Winston said.
A year after the encampments began, Winston said the campus climate is no better.
“Honestly, I don't see much change,” Winston said. “I feel like the problems that caused the faculty to vote ‘no confidence’ a year ago haven't really been dealt with yet.”
Nothing is changing, Wayne Winston said, because most of the board likes Whitten.
“Pam realized, ‘Hey, I can govern this university through a majority of
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nine people. I don’t have to please anybody else,’” Wayne Winston said. “And I do think Pam thinks she's doing what's right for the university.”
Winston’s career history
Winston graduated from IU in 1978 with her bachelor’s in accounting and went on to earn her Master of Business Administration in 1991. After, Winston worked as staff and faculty at IU in the Kelley School of Business and retired in 2021 before being elected to the Board of Trustees in 2022.
Winston is nearing the end of her three-year term and announced in March she will not seek reelection.
“It was a difficult decision because it was an honor to have the opportunity to be involved with the university at that level, but I decided it's time for someone else to chip in,” Winston said.
Wayne Winston said he agrees with her decision.
“It’s been a horror show trying to do things when you’re the only person who has the guts to do anything,” he said. Along with being the single dissenting vote against Whitten’s reappointment, Winston has often been on the losing side of board decisions.
In November last year, the board voted on a new section of IU’s controversial Expressive Activity Policy. Winston and student trustee Kyle Seibert were the only two trustees to vote against the section of the policy enforcing overnight restrictions between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. for prohibited expressive activities.
These activities include protesting, making speeches, circulating petitions and other unapproved conduct. Permitted activities include spontaneously assembling and distributing literature.
Six of the trustees are appointed by the governor and the other three are alumni-elected. This year’s
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Eating Disorder
election for the alumnielected trustee opens June 1. Winston endorsed John McGlothlin’s campaign. McGlothlin is a financial planner from Austin, Texas, and earned his master’s and doctorate from IU in English language and literature. He also served as Assistant Director of Composition in the English department and visiting lecturer in the Kelley School.
McGlothlin took second place in last year’s election, receiving 14.89% to Jill Maurer Burnett’s 19.06%.
Winston said McGlothlin knows the campus well and that his time as a faculty member is a strength.
“I think he will be concerned about the strength of the university and the health of the university and will work hard to support the university,” Winston said.
She thinks it is important for trustees to have spent time in Bloomington and have experience at IU.
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Wayne Winston said to get closer to repairing relationships between faculty and administration, the board needs to come to Bloomington, reserve Whittenberger Auditorium and answer questions from faculty he says they’re ignoring. “Answer questions like, ‘Why did you reappoint her without a survey?’ They won't answer,” Wayne Winston said. “They don't respond to anything that's sent to them. There's no communication between the board and the Bloomington campus.” Winston said from her term on the board, she was most proud of how she listened to students, faculty and staff and how doing so helped her make a difference.
“I hope I did what was in my heart,” Winston said. “I just feel so close to the Bloomington campus, having been here all my life and so I hope I did some good along the way. I tried.”
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Health Spotlight
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President Donald Trump has been president for more than three months in his second term, and I can’t recall a day I didn’t read about him in the news. Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. However, headlines like “Trump inner circle warned of tariff consequences” or BBC’s “Trump threatens new tariffs on smartphones days after exempting them” make me wary of the future and what we can do about it.
All this talk of tariffs, trade wars and promises of economic stability also made me see the growing need for financial literacy. This means understanding personal finances for budgets, investments and debt management. With this knowledge, students can make more informed and confident decisions that hopefully have a higher return on investment.
As broader economic forces and policies influence personal financial decisions, it’s increasingly important that students strive to become familiar with this subject. Financial literacy enables students to evaluate political promises and policies properly.
Ainsley Foster (she/her) is a junior studying Elementary Education.
If you look up the 2001 movie “Legally Blonde” on your preferred search engine, you’ll likely see it described with two familiar words: “romance” and “comedy.”
I won’t go so far as to say Google is wrong — but it’s not exactly right. Sure, there are romantic and comedic elements, but neither of those words captures the heart of what makes it such a great movie.
Let me be clear: my issue with the term rom-coms isn’t about the movies themselves, it’s about how broad and limiting the label can be. The term “rom-com” tries to encompass such a wide range of films when it sometimes fails to describe them accurately.
Take Legally Blonde. Calling it a “rom-com” feels like an oversimplification. It’s not that the label is wrong, but it’s incomplete.
When Elle Woods first decides she wants to go to Harvard Law School and makes it clear that she is serious, her friends and even her academic advisor, waste no time helping her achieve her dream. Her sorority sisters keep her focused while studying and they time her for practice LSATs. When her results arrive, they are the first ones to know. When she scores high enough on the LSAT to get into Harvard, they put her on their shoulders and carry her through the foyer of the sorority
Justin Vasel received his doctorate in Physics from Indiana University Bloomington in 2021. He has maintained an active interest in university governance, including currently running as an alumni-nominated candidate for the IU Board of Trustees.
Today is IU Day, when we honor Indiana University and the remarkable individuals who make it possible. As we don cream and crimson, and celebrate our enduring connection to this institution, we are called to reflect on what truly enables our university to thrive. Beyond its buildings and endowments, IU’s greatness has always rested upon twin pillars: its people and its principles. Herman B Wells understood that a great university draws its strength from the vibrant community that gives it life and purpose. Throughout his legendary tenure, Wells recognized that IU’s success was inextricably linked to the
OPINION
According to The Associated Press, Trump’s trade wars started Feb 4 when he set a 10% tariff on Chinese imports and a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico, prompting swift countermeasures from these countries. By March, he esca-
lated the situation with a 25% tax on steel and aluminum, which also caused retaliation from the EU. Now in April, Trump has introduced “reciprocal tariffs,” which set a baseline 10% tax on imports from almost all countries. De-
pending on a country’s trade surplus with the U.S., it faces lower/higher rates. This was to supposedly make it fair for all trade relations, but I don’t think China sees its 34% tax compared to the EU’s 20% that way. All that news seems like
a lot of numbers and angry politicians, but it affects us too. I believe companies will likely raise prices on imported goods like electronics and groceries to cover these tariffs. China’s retaliatory tariffs already increased domestic agricultural prices,
steel and aluminum which makes homes and appliances more expensive. To improve one’s financial literacy, there are several websites – Coursera, Khan Academy and Udemy – with a range of online courses to consolidate one’s learnings further. But aside from that, one can read books and articles on personal finance which give more of a foundation and strategies you can inculcate regularly. I’m personally a fan of reading finance blogs like Morning Brew to keep up with financial advice. Hopefully with these resources, finances can become more hands-on, second nature and help evaluate critical policies affecting your life. Understanding the consequences of trade policies like tariffs goes beyond politics: it’s about decisions affecting our daily lives. Financial literacy empowers us to navigate these challenges by helping us make smarter choices and evaluate how economic policy aligns with our goals. Staying informed is not just about reading headlines but recognizing the stakeholders and symbiotic relationships. By doing so, we can hopefully weather the political storm together and build a more financially stable future.
megracha@iu.edu
house in a celebration of silly string and applause.
There’s something so beautiful about how her friends rally around Elle to support her dreams. It shows the power of female friendship and the importance of having a strong support system. It showcases how empowering female friendships should be, proving that success is even sweeter when shared with those who believe in you.
This theme continues as Elle goes to Harvard, particularly in her interactions with Paulette, her beloved nail tech. Elle teaches her how to “bend and snap,” and in my favorite scene, Elle also empowers Paulette to get her dog back from her horrible ex-boyfriend.
In court, Brooke TaylorWindham is the defendant of the case Elle is chosen to assist her professor in defending. She is one of Elle’s sorority sisters and someone Elle deeply admires. When Brooke confides in Elle her alibi, a secret that could ruin Brooke’s reputation, Elle keeps this to herself, even though sharing it could have helped her win points with her professor and her team, as well as helping them win the case.
The title of “rom-com” makes it seem like the film is all about Elle and her quest for love, with her law school journey being the backdrop for her romantic endeavors.
Although Elle’s intention of going to Harvard to win back her awful boyfriend was misguided; to reduce this story
flourishing of its students, faculty and staff—each person “precious in her eye,” representing “a unique individuality and… a divine opportunity.”
Wells built IU’s reputation upon three enduring principles. First, he championed academic freedom as the bedrock of discovery. Second, he pioneered shared governance, understanding that authority in a university “must be derived from reason, not from position.”
Third, he demonstrated extraordinary moral courage, standing firm against external pressures that might compromise IU’s integrity and independence. “I had early made up my mind,” Wells wrote in his 1980 autobiography, “Being Lucky: Reminiscences and Reflection.” “That a university that bows to the wishes of a person, group, or segment of
to just its romantic value seriously undercuts the real meaning.
Even Vivian, Elle’s rival from the beginning, eventually comes around to seeing Elle for who she really is, someone of intelligence and character. Notably, this rivalry has nothing to do with who either these women are and everything to do with Warner, Elle’s ex and reason for Harvard, who, at the beginning of the school year, was dating Vivian. Once he is out of the way, Elle and Vivian become better friends than either of them could have ever envisioned.
The story is a masterful reversal of the “dumb blonde” stereotype, flipping it on its head in the most triumphant way. Elle Woods walks into Harvard with her signature pink wardrobe, a little dog in tow and a head full of fashion knowledge — and from the moment she enters, she’s underestimated. But instead of changing who she is to fit in, Elle leans into her individuality and proves that femininity and brilliance are not mutually exclusive.
Her transformation isn’t from “shallow” to “smart,” it’s from someone who defined herself through others’ expectations to someone who reclaims her identity on her own terms. Elle doesn’t become powerful by abandoning her personality; she becomes powerful by realizing it was never the problem. The world just told her it was.
By the end of the film,
society is not free.”
This unwavering commitment to principle attracted generations of brilliant minds to Bloomington and beyond, establishing IU as a beacon where truth and light could flourish.
As we celebrate IU’s achievements today, thoughtful members of our community have raised legitimate questions about our institutional direction. Are we still the university where, as Wells insisted, “reason is exalted over emotion and force?” The April 2024 arrests in Dunn Meadow — a site with deep historical significance for free expression — have prompted many to ask whether we’re maintaining our commitment to open discourse. Similarly, when major university decisions proceed without meaningful input from faculty, students and staff, do we honor Wells’
Elle doesn’t win because she was lucky or because of a romantic twist. She wins because she’s clever, empathetic, hard-working and unafraid to be herself. That’s not a love story. That’s a coming-of-age journey. That’s empowerment. So, yes, Legally Blonde has romance. And yes, it’s funny. But calling it a “romcom” feels like calling a steak a snack because it’s served with a smile. It may look light on the surface but
vision of shared governance?
While external pressures mount from political, financial and reputational forces, are we standing firm in defense of our institutional integrity? How do we recommit to these foundational principles? The path forward requires courageous leadership and collective responsibility, grounded in both tradition and innovation.
First, we must reaffirm our unwavering commitment to academic freedom and open inquiry. Wells championed the fearless pursuit of knowledge, recognizing that universities can only fulfill their societal mission when intellectual exploration remains unfettered. This protection transcends ideology — it’s the essential oxygen that sustains discovery and learning. Second, we must reimagine shared governance for contemporary challenges.
it’s rich with substance. It’s a story about the power of women supporting women. About fighting stereotypes and proving your worth. About friendship, identity, resilience and yes, about love. But not just the type between romantic partners. It’s about the kind of love that exists between best friends, sisters and, perhaps most importantly, the love you learn to have for yourself. Because at its core, Le-
Wells exemplified leadership through consensus rather than decree, gradually introducing initiatives only after wide discussion and debate and recognizing that diverse perspectives inevitably strengthen outcomes.
Third, transparency must become our institutional habit. When our community understands not just what decisions are made but why, the university operates with greater legitimacy and wisdom.
Finally, we must stand firm against pressures that would compromise our mission. A university fulfills its highest purpose when it upholds its values even when doing so is difficult. By defending our academic principles with moral courage, we protect not just institutional integrity, but the very purpose of higher education in a democratic society.
gally Blonde isn’t just about Elle Woods getting the guy or delivering iconic oneliners, though she does both spectacularly. It’s about a woman who challenges expectations, redefines success on her own terms and inspires those around her to embrace their own strength, support one another and celebrate the friends that empower us all to be our true selves.
ainsfost@iu.edu
As we celebrate IU Day, let us remember that IU has always been more than buildings or traditions — it is, at its heart, a community united in pursuit of knowledge and truth. Today, the responsibility for upholding these essential principles falls to all of us: students, faculty, staff, administrators, trustees, and alumni. Each of us must become stewards of academic freedom, shared governance, and moral courage.
On this IU Day and beyond, let us honor our university not just through celebration, but through our collective commitment to reimagining Wells’ vision for a new era. By recommitting to these foundational principles, we ensure that Indiana University will continue to illuminate paths of discovery for generations to come — a beacon of light and truth in an ever-changing world.
THE TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
A person walks past the New York Stock Exchange on Nov. 16, 2020, on Wall Street in New York City. President Donald Trump set a 10% tariff on Chinese imports and a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico on Feb. 4.
MOVIE STILLS DATABASE
Reese Witherspoon portrays Elle Woods in “Legally Blonde.” The film was released in 2001.
By Joey Sills sillsj@iu.edu
Before anything else,
“Sinners” is a movie about the blues. The genre — so entrenched in the history of Black America, so ingrained in the sociopolitical culture of the post-antebellum South — totally informs the ethos of Ryan Coogler’s newest picture. It’s just a happy convenience that the vampire story, with its exploration of repressed eroticism and religious superstition, turned out to be a perfect thematic parallel.
The film, starring Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld and, in his debut, Miles Caton, is a welcome comeback for Coogler, who’s spent the last 10 years directing franchise projects. “Sinners” is both a big budget spectacle — Warner Bros. reportedly spent $90 million on the film — and a wholly original story that stands alone. If it’s not the best film of the year so far, a title it has a legitimate claim to, it’s certainly Coogler’s personal best.
Right away, we’re hit with a title card informing us of the story’s time and place: 1932, the Mississippi Delta, two signifiers that carry a wealth of cultural meanings in American history. It’s a time in the South where the memory of slavery is fresh, the wounds not yet healed, and the culture this film depicts speaks to that reality: our main character, Sammie
By Emerson Elledge eelledge@iu.edu
SPOILER ALERT: This column contains potential spoilers about “Yellowjackets.”
From the very first couple of seconds of the show, “Yellowjackets” immediately pulls you in. There aren’t many better openings than seeing a nameless and faceless girl run through the woods, barefoot and bleeding in the snow. You start to feel for her, sympathy growing as animalistic sounds are heard around her, all for it to not matter when she runs to an unassuming plot of land just for the ground to give out, revealing itself to be a spike-filled pit that kills the girl immediately. Throughout the pilot, the audience is introduced to the Yellowjackets, a New Jersey high school girls soccer team who just won the 1996 New Jersey state championship. The team is shown at their highest as they excitedly prepare for their journey for the national competition. These high moments are jarringly contrasted as the team is shown at their lowest, as they are eventually revealed to be the same savage hunters who killed the girl and ate her, who we now can infer was their teammate.
From its introduction, “Yellowjackets” doesn’t shy away from showing its audience what type of a show it really is. It’s brutal, bloody and barbaric. In its three seasons so far, “Yellowjackets” has kept at least that consistent.
In the first season of the
By Hayden Kay haykay@iu.edu
Shoppers climbed the escalator of Monroe Convention Center on April 19 for Indiana Vintage Market’s first event in Bloomington.
The market was started in December 2023 by Sam Brann and Brandon Douthitt. The business partners wanted to provide a space to connect other vendors in Indiana. The market has popped up in Evansville, Fort Wayne and other cities throughout the year.
Vendors who sell at the market come from across the Midwest. Most vendors sell vintage clothing, but some had vintage jewelry, toys and art prints. Multiple booths had mystery bags with an assortment of sealed items for a set price, and concessions were available near the entrance. While the first hour of early bird admission,
Moore (Caton), is a sharecropper, as are, it seems, most of the figures in his working-class community.
But what he really wants to be is a bluesman, a dream his father, the local pastor, reviles and warns against. His cousins, Elijah and Elias — or, as everyone knows them, Smoke and Stack — are identical twins, both played by Michael B. Jordan. They’re World War I veterans who moved back down to the Delta from Chicago where they worked for Al Capone; in fact, they stole from the legendary gangster, and now they’re well-to-do men with a goal of opening a juke joint. Their first performer? Their little cousin “Preacher Boy.”
It’s not worth recounting how, exactly, a period piece about the Delta blues turns into an action vampire horror. This sort of unusual genre switch-up is a bold move, one that could’ve been a cheap gimmick and nothing more, but the film manages to achieve it flawlessly. The layering of a vampire story over the story of the early days of the blues does seem unconventional at first, but Coogler’s narrative is just confident enough in its own unconventionality that he convinces you it makes sense. And it makes sense because he manages to tie the mythos surrounding the vampire into the mythos surrounding the blues, in turn
show, “Yellowjackets” killed off seven of its characters, although only four of those were ones who had significant time to be introduced to the audience. In its second season, the show killed off five, all of whom were significant to the show. In the third season, which finished premiering April 11, the show killed six characters, which left its fanbase and actors outraged. For a show that has a much more finite number of characters (it’s hard to organically introduce new characters to a show where the entire premise is based on its characters being stranded), the “Yellowjackets” writing team clearly has no qualms about killing important characters off.
What makes “Yellowjackets” different from previous stranded or survivalist dramas like “Lost” and “The Wilds,” is its usage of two timelines throughout the series. The audience is led through the horrific situations the soccer team is put through at the expense of their survival in the 1996 timeline just to be shown the survivors’ cushy suburban lives in the “modern” timeline — the modern timeline is still 2021 because that was the year the first season was made, although the specific year of the modern timeline rarely comes up. This differs from shows like “Lost,” which also utilized multiple timelines. In “Lost,” the audience is shown what is happening in the stranded timeline and is then shown what happened in the character’s past, rather
which required a $10 ticket to gain early access, was quiet, the room quickly became crowded once $5 general admission opened at noon.
IU alumna Camryn Zapinski and her partner Mason Horner run Bizarre Vintage in Indianapolis. The pair started selling clothing online, primarily on Depop, in 2019. They previously sold their items during events at Dunn Meadow and across the Chicago area. Zapinski said she likes creating relationships with other vendors and customers. “We sell women’s clothing, men’s clothing, accessories, sometimes decor,” Zapinski said. “We do vintage ranging from, like, the ‘50s to the early 2000s. Usually we have a lot more, but we both work corporate jobs now, so this is kind of like just a side gig now.”
Zapinski said the first step she takes when looking
painting an extensive portrait of the American South in whole. Without getting into spoiler territory, the vampires aren’t simply vampires in the traditional way we think of them: they’re a literal manifestation of Hell and the religious fears that Sammie’s father has for his son. At the same time, the fact they are vampires means they fit among the unorthodoxy of very real Southern folk religions that are embodied in the character Annie (Wunmi Mosaku).
Of course, everything in this film — every theme and every character and every element of the story — is related, in one way or another, to the issue of Black liberation in America. It’s certainly not a coincidence that Coogler chose the blues to represent that struggle. James H. Cone, a minister who helped develop the Black liberation theology movement, argued in his 1972 book “The Spirituals and the Blues: An Interpretation” that the blues, by the very nature of being an expression of Black American existence, were life-affirming and a liberatory act.
“That black people could sing the blues, describing their sorrows and joys, meant that they were able to affirm an authentic hope in the essential worth of black humanity,” he wrote.
Coogler very explicitly ties the blues to the broader history of Black music: there’s depictions, both literal and
than their future, as a device to show parallels in character’s actions across time.
This change is what makes “Yellowjackets” so unique. The audience isn’t (entirely) on the edge of their seats during the show, hoping their favorite teen survives the 19 months spent in the wilderness. Four survivors are revealed in the modern timeline in the pilot episode, but the show eventually confirms eight survivors in total, leaving it unrevealed on if that number will continue to grow.
Instead of the nail-biting mystery and anticipation that accompanies shows like “Lost,” “Yellowjackets” is much more interested in the resulting impact of trauma on a person’s psyche. Though the survivors appear well-adjusted at their first introduction, it is revealed through the seasons that the ritualistic hunting and cannibalism of their friends may have actually been more psychologically damaging than originally thought.
A common complaint of fans throughout the seasons, especially in the third, was the growing disconnect between the girls’ wilderness actions and their modernday relationships. As audiences learned more about what truly happened in the wild, the survivors’ friendly dynamic in the present timeline became increasingly confusing. This is excellently explained in the season three finale when the audience learns that most of the survivors’ memories of their time stranded in the wilderness was blocked off in a
for items is checking that it is in good condition. She said the pair also try and figure out what is low in stock and what they know sells the best.
“Of course, when you’re a vintage seller, it’s hard to not want to keep everything that you curate or that you source, so, I guess it’s really just having the will power to find good vintage and want other people to experience it,” Zapinski said. “Helping people find what makes them comfortable in their own skin and it being cool and unique. Every item here, for the most part, could be the last of what it is, so I think I like the mystery of it too.”
Liv Nicoloff owns Creations by Livv. She reworks and upcycles thrifted clothing, handmakes jewelry and curates vintage pieces. Nicoloff did not bring any jewelry to the market, but it is a
part of
figurative, of traditional African rhythms, slave songs and prison songs, spirituals, jazz, rock and roll, and hiphop. He knows that to depict one is to, necessarily, depict it within its proper context, both past and future, because of their deep interconnectedness with each other. It leads to a beautiful sequence in the middle of the film where Sammie plays the blues for an audience for the first time — a sequence I won’t elaborate on in any more de-
tail because it’s worth being entirely awe-struck the first time you watch it. Cone argued another thing, which I think Coogler enunciates here very well — it’s the ability for the blues to act as a secular spiritual, songs that focus on the immediate aspects of existence, like sex and melancholy, in search for some higher truth.
“The ‘new priests’ in the black community were the blues men and women,” Cone wrote, “and their songs
were the blues.” In many ways, the conflict we see in “Sinners” is a conflict of its time: nobody is really arguing today that the music of Robert Johnson or B.B. King or Muddy Waters is “devil’s music.” But how common it is to hear people deride rap for its vulgarity and profanity. By the end of the film, one understands the direct line between these ideas and, most importantly of all, one understands Coogler’s position on it.
trauma response, essentially putting the survivors on the same level of knowledge as the audience.
“Yellowjackets” is a show that is far from perfect. It killed off a fan favorite who acted as a foil to its growing antagonist seemingly out of nowhere. Fans are divided on decisions like this made by the writers. The common argument by fans who defend the writers is that a five season plan has been developed ever since the show was first pitched in 2019.
While the writers likely did have such a plan, it is far more plausible that it only covered a basic timeline with key events being put in place instead of an episode-byepisode outline. The show has already proven that the writers can be swayed. One
character was supposed to be killed off in the first season, but their actor proved to be so likeable, that the character remained and even got an adult counterpart in the next season.
This can even be seen in the season three finale, which shows the iconic “pit girl” scene, as fans have referred to it, in a new light. It directly contradicts the brutish and feral portrayal of the girls in the pilot scene. Only one of the characters wanted to hunt and kill someone in that episode, and many nuances that weren’t revealed to the audience in the pilot become known.
There is no definite answer about whether this was planned from the start or was a change introduced as the show’s popularity has
grown. Nevertheless, “Yellowjackets” continues to be a show that doesn’t pander to its audience’s desires, almost apathetically crushing the audience’s hopes every episode.
The show hasn’t yet been renewed for its fourth season, but its fans and actors remain confident that it will.
“Yellowjackets” is every bit of the gruesome thriller it is marketed as, and its confidence in itself and its concept is the reason the show’s fanbase is as large and passionate as it is. The writers obviously have a story to tell, and the audience is just along for the ride. Every season of “Yellowjackets” can be watched on Paramount+ and the first season of the show can also be watched on Netflix.
big
her business
what got her started. She was also inspired by her parents, who used to own a home decor store in Franklin, Indiana. “That kind of developed my own entrepreneurism and how this kind of sprung into its own thing,” Nicoloff said. “I started doing little pop-up markets, and then I finally grew to doing an Instagram, and now it’s just like completely blown up into something that I couldn’t
HAYDEN KAY | IDS
Shoppers gather around a booth at the Indiana Vintage Market on April 19, 2025, in the Monroe Convention Center in Bloomington. Indiana Vintage Market visited Bloomington for the first time since it was started in December 2023.
MOVIE STILLS DATABASE
Christina Ricci acts during filming of season three of “Yellowjackets.” The third season of the show premiered Feb. 14, 2025.
MOVIE STILLS DATABASE
Michael B. Jordan acts while filming “Sinners.” The movie was released April 18, 2025.
This was Nicoloff’s first time selling with the Indiana Vintage Market. She described her store’s style as Y2K and likes to see what is trending when curating items. She kept Bloomington in mind and brought some vintage IU pieces and
graphic T-shirts. Drew Wise is the owner of Wise Choice Watches from Fort Wayne, Indiana. His team started the business eight months ago and mainly sells watches. Wise said he has thousands of watches at home, but he’s learned he really likes repairing them.
“It scratches my brain
the right way,” Wise said. “I bought a box of watches and broke probably half of them learning how to fix them, and then after a couple of YouTube videos and a couple questions to ChatGPT, I started getting the hang of it.”
Another part Wise said he enjoys about selling at markets is making people
happy when they find a watch. He especially likes negotiating with customers.
“We’ll buy them in bulk, not running, and then we’ll fix them all up, clean them up, throw some price tags on them, and then negotiate with people,” Wise said. “We really like haggling, we think it’s fun, it’s like a game.”
Desi Silva, a sophomore
at Indiana University Southeast, was at the market to shop. Silva said she and her boyfriend are frequent thrifters. She was wearing a skirt she thrifted and said she typically looks for skirts when shopping at Goodwill or local businesses.
“Skirts, vintage, anything that I feel is pretty unique and that won’t be like any-
one else has worn. Just unique pieces of clothing,” Silva said. “Where I live, fortunately, I have a bunch of thrift stores around me, so just any of my local thrift stores or vintage stores.” Those interested can visit the Indiana Vintage Market Instagram to learn more about the next market May 4 headed to Danville, Indiana.
IU students celebrate recovery progress with a cookout
By Sydney Weber syaweber@iu.edu
Editor’s Note: This story includes mention of drug use and addiction.
At first, James Fry didn’t tell his friends he was part of a recovery community. The IU senior left it vague, saying he was going to a meeting. Calling it “recovery” felt intense.
“But slowly, I kind of fell in love with it,” Fry said.
Fry, among other students, was at the Collegiate Recovery Community cookout on April 18. The CRC is a group dedicated to helping students make progress in their recovery from substance abuse. Coordinator Samantha Reitz said the event had two goals.
“The purpose of the cookout is a chance to not only celebrate the students in the program who want to attend but also bring awareness to the larger IU community that we exist,” Reitz said. “We’re cool, normal people. And also, we have fun just like anyone else does, whether we’re partying or not or using a substance or not.”
Meagan Barnhart, interim director of Substance Use Intervention Services, said the CRC frequently hosts sober events so students can spend time together without using substances.
“Because oftentimes the complaint is that, you know, it feels like there’s not much to do outside of drinking on this campus,” Barnhart said. “So, what else can we do out there? And that’s what CRC
tries to fill the gaps on.” Junior Maddox Dempsey said it’s difficult to be in recovery while at IU, which he described as a big drinking school.
“And as someone who couldn’t really drink, I felt like I couldn’t really socialize with people,” Dempsey said. “Now, I’ve kind of figured out that there are a lot of activities that you can do that don’t involve alcohol. So, I think it’s gotten a lot
easier.”
Dempsey got involved with CRC at the beginning of his sophomore year after his substance use became an issue for his family. He said he’s gone to every meeting since.
“I found the CRC, which is great because it doesn’t cost anything, you don’t have to worry about like insurance,” Dempsey said. “And it still met the requirements that I needed to get
through my early recovery.”
Similar to Dempsey, Fry first joined the CRC because of his family. Now, he said it’s part of who he is.
“I wish I had been coming for my whole four years,” Fry said.
He joined in January 2025, at the beginning of his final semester at IU. He also started inviting other people.
“And, you know, I was even asking some of my
friends like, ‘Hey, do you want to go to this too?’” Fry said. “Because I know a lot of people struggle with substances in silence.”
That reticence is something Reitz noticed when she transitioned from working in recovery with the larger Bloomington community to serving IU students.
“For example, in community mental health, when someone went to rehab, they were stoked and we
were screaming ‘recovery’ from the rooftops for them, cheering them on, everything,” Reitz said. “Here, a lot of the students don’t even necessarily want their friends to know that they’re part of it.” Fry said students make excuses about not having enough time to go to recovery groups, but he doesn’t buy it.
“It’s an hour,” Fry said. “Like, just come for an hour. Come hang out. Come talk.”
IU students had the opportunity to do just that during the cookout, which featured Jimmy John’s sandwiches, free plants and lawn games like Connect Four. Reitz said she chose a cookout because it’s an excuse to be outside and those events are common in the larger Bloomington recovery community. Plus, it gives the CRC visibility, she said, and hopefully entices people to join the programs.
Reitz said the CRC can connect students with treatment providers in Bloomington and elsewhere, if needed.
“And so, the hope is that they come here, but that they also get immersed in the Bloomington recovery community,” Reitz said. Dempsey said the communal aspect of CRC eases the sense of isolation and encourages him.
“It’s fun to get to see yourself grow and get to grow alongside people and get to hear their stories,” Dempsey said. “Just to kind of match up your journey with someone else’s. You don’t feel so alone.”
SYDNEY WEBER | IDS
Samantha Reitz looks on as James Fry and Maddox Dempsey select plants April 18, 2025, at the Collegiate Recovery Community’s outdoor event
in Bloomington. The CRC hosted a cookout to celebrate students’ progress in recovering from substance use problems.
Taylor makes Indiana history despite 17-4 loss
By Matt Press mtpress@iu.edu | @mattpress23
Devin Taylor walked 30 steps from the on-deck circle to the batter’s box, took a couple practice swings and prepared for the moment that etched himself in Indiana baseball history.
It was the bottom of the third inning April 19 at Bart Kaufman Field in Bloomington. The fans who flocked to the park some two-and-ahalf hours earlier had mostly vanished due to a rain delay. Indiana’s 13-run deficit against Maryland didn’t help, either.
But here was Taylor, a program icon who dwarfed the lofty expectations thrust upon him as a freshman, one swing away from the Hoosiers’ home run record. He mashed the 47th of his career in Indiana’s 7-5 loss to Indiana State University on April 15, joining Alex Dickerson, Mike Smith and Mike Sabo in a four-way tie atop the leaderboard.
Then April 19, in a gloomy and lifeless 17-4 defeat to Maryland, Taylor stood alone. In the first atbat back from a 30-minute rain delay, Taylor checked his swing at a high fastball from the Terrapins’ sophomore righty Joey McMannis.
The next offering hung right over the plate. Taylor loaded up, coiling his lower half with a slight raise of his right leg. His swing was short and compact, but with that sweet lefty follow-through just like Seattle Mariners’ legend Ken Griffey Jr., one of Taylor’s favorite players. Taylor connected perfectly with the pitch. He watched it fly and fly, eventually 413 feet to center field. His 48th home run, and the 12th of his junior season, broke the program record. His mother, Michelle, smiled and recorded her son’s trot around the bases.
He shared a quick embrace with redshirt sophomore outfielder Korbyn
Dickerson at home plate before being mobbed in the dugout.
“Just an incredible achievement of consistent, great play,” head coach Jeff Mercer said postgame. “You have to not only be right for a short period of time, or for a season, you have to be right for a long time.”
That time is inching toward three years and likely the last before Taylor enters his name in the MLB Draft, where he’ll almost certainly be selected in the first round. Before arriving at Indiana, Taylor ranked as Ohio’s No. 2 overall prospect and the nation’s 78th in the class of 2022. He wasn’t always viewed as a power hitter. He was
lanky and ran fast enough, threw hard enough and made more than enough contact to be a crucial member of the Hoosiers’ lineup, but there wasn’t always the long ball threat.
Then, with an intensive weight-lifting regimen prior to his debut collegiate campaign, he unleashed his power. Taylor played sparingly at first — it tends to take freshman some time to adjust to college pitching.
“Whoever the coach is that didn’t play him for the first three or four weeks of his freshman year probably slowed him down even more,” Mercer joked.
But his potential became too enticing to ignore. Ultimately, Taylor notched 16
WOMEN’S GOLF
homers in 2023 and tallied 59 RBIs (an Indiana freshman record) en route to Big Ten Freshman of the Year, first-team All-Big Ten and Freshman All-America honors. His stellar freshman season magnified the whispers of how high his ceiling could be. As a sophomore last season, they grew even louder. Taylor crushed a Big Ten-leading 20 home runs, becoming the first Hoosier since Dickerson in 2010 to reach that mark.
The accolades again rolled in after the season. Expectations continued to mount, with MLB scouts projecting Taylor as high as a top 10-15 pick in the draft. His third season cer-
tainly hasn’t been filled with the team success he’d hoped for. The Hoosiers — now 2118 and eighth in the conference after April 19 blowout loss — are 80th in the NCAA RPI rankings. Pitching has been a cause for concern, and even redshirt senior ace Cole Gilley was shelled in his two-inning start against the Terrapins.
“Just an incredible achievement of consistent play.”
Head coach Jeff Mercer
But Taylor hasn’t slowed. Even as he works through swing adjustments, which
Indiana finishes tied for 16th in Big Ten title
By Savannah Slone srslone@iu.edu | @savrivers06
After claiming the title of Big Ten Champions last spring, Indiana women’s golf traveled to Havre de Grace, Maryland, looking to defend its conference championship. Last season, the Hoosiers became Big Ten Champions for the first time since 1998 with their final round surge to defeat Michigan State by one stroke. But the 6,187-yard, par72 Bulle Rock Golf Course proved to be a tough challenge for the Hoosiers. Indiana finished the 2025 Big Ten Championship with a score of 40 over par and in a tie for 16th place with Washington on April 18-20. Indiana started the tournament with a first-round score of 17 over par, which put it in 16th place for the tournament. After their score of 305, the Hoosiers were unable to make a charge up the leaderboard, as they backed up their first round with an 18-over-par 306 in the second round, setting them even further back into 17th place. The Hoosiers didn’t have a single player who shot under par for the first two rounds of the tournament, but two were in the top 50 after the first round — redshirt senior Caroline Smith and junior Madison Dabagia. Dabagia sat tied for 29th place after a 2-over-par 74, and Smith was just one stroke behind and tied for 36th place with a 75. Redshirt junior Maddie May and senior Beatriz Junqueira each shot rounds of 6-over-par 78 in the first round as other scoring players for Indiana. Smith and Dabagia remained in the top 50 following the second round, when they shot rounds of 3-over-par 75 and 4-overpar 76, respectively. May and freshman Cara Heisterkamp rounded out scoring for the Hoosiers in the second round. May scored a 5-over-par 77 while Heisterkamp recorded a 6-overpar 78. Indiana played its best round of the tournament in the final round as it shot 293, 5 over par. It was paced by Heisterkamp, who shot a 3-under-par. She carded
four birdies and just one bogey, which came on the par 4 16th hole. With her score of 69, she finished the tournament in 81st place
Nebraska and 52 strokes behind the 2025 Big Ten Champions, Oregon.
could’ve conceivably resulted in a dip in power, he’s a threat every time he steps into the batter’s box. With 16 games left in the regular season, Taylor could very well match his home run production from last season. For a player who so many assumed would be a college star, this success shouldn’t be surprising. But this good? This consistent? Even Mercer has a hard time grappling with that.
“I thought he’d be a really good player when he came to college,” Mercer said. “I don’t think anybody would have thought he would break the career home run record in less than three years.”
By Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer
LAUREN MCKINNEY | IDS
set the Hoosiers’ home run record
PHOTO COURTESY OF IU ATHLETICS
Indiana women’s golf concluded its conference season with a tie for 16th place in the Big Ten Championship. The Hoosiers finished the 2025 Big Ten Championship with a combined score of 904
Indiana sees mixed results at regular season end
By Elakai Anela eanela@iu.edu | @elakaianela
Indiana men’s tennis wrapped up its regular season slate of games with a loss on the road to Ohio State but responded with a much-needed win over Penn State on April 18-20.
The first matchup for the Hoosiers was against Ohio State on April 18 in Columbus, Ohio. After a 9-0 start to the year, the Cream and Crimson have struggled mightily in conference play. Indiana came into the match on a four-game losing streak with a record of 10-12 (1-10 Big Ten).
On the flip side, Ohio State was ranked No. 4 in the latest national poll for men’s tennis. The Buckeyes sported an impressive 22-2 record (11-0) while remaining undefeated in conference play.
Doubles play kicked off the match, where Ohio State cruised to the first point of the match. The Hoosiers struggled to counter the double pairings Ohio State threw out, which plagued Indiana throughout its conference losing streak.
Ohio State’s duo of sophomore Aidan Kim and junior Will Jansen defeated junior Jip van Assendelft and graduate student Michael Andre 6-3 on the No. 1 court. Ultimately, the Buckeyes closed the page on doubles play by securing the first point of the match on the No. 2 court. Redshirt freshman Brandon Carpico and freshman Nikita Filin beat
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junior Sam Scherer and freshman Matteo Antonescu 6-2.
Facing a 1-0 deficit moving into singles play, Indiana had a chance to respond but didn’t execute.
Ohio State quickly took a 2-0 lead in the match, as Jansen defeated Indiana sophomore Ben Pomeranets 6-1, 6-2 on the No. 3 singles court.
The Buckeyes continued
to apply the pressure onto the visiting Hoosiers. Ohio State junior Jack Anthrop, who was one of the players to watch heading into the year along with Indiana redshirt sophomore Facundo Yunis, dominated freshman Braeden Gelletich 6-3, 6-0 on the No. 4 singles court.
Ohio State closed out the fast-paced match with another effortless victory on the No. 5 singles court.
Senior Chris Li defeated Indiana freshman Karan Raghavendra 6-3, 6-0 to give the Buckeyes the victory.
The penultimate match of the regular season for the Hoosiers was an uneventful one, but the road trip wasn’t over yet. Indiana had a day off to travel to University Park, Pennsylvania, to face off against Penn State in the final match of the regular season.
the first point of doubles play. Indiana’s duo defeated freshman Shrikeshav Murugesan and Reiya Hattori 6-0 on the No. 3 doubles court. Indiana won the doubles point with a victory on the No. 2 doubles court. Antonescu and Andre cruised past senior Charl Morgan and sophomore Marcus Schoeman 6-1 to give the Hoosiers the lead in the match.
With all eyes turning to singles play, Indiana kicked that portion of the match on the wrong foot.
Penn State senior Loren Byers defeated junior Deacon Thomas on the No. 1 singles court 6-3, 6-4 to tie the match at 1 apiece. However, Gelletich and the Hoosiers fought back with a win on the No. 5 court. The Goshen, New York, native proved to be victorious over the Nittany Lions’ Hattori 6-3, 6-4. With the Cream and Crimson up 2-1 in the
The Nittany Lions entered the April 20 match with a record of 12-14 (0-12 Big Ten) and on a threegame losing streak, but they were 11-5 at home.
The Hoosiers kicked off the match with a couple of convincing wins in doubles play to get the first point of the match in their favor.
Indiana’s pairing of Gelletich and Pomeranets gave the Cream and Crimson
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KAITLYN STACY | IDS
Sophomore Ben Pomeranets eyes the ball in a match against Washington on April 13, 2025, at the
BLISS
HARRY BLISS
James enters portal
By Jacob Spudich jaspudi@iu.edu
Indiana men’s basketball
fifth-year senior center Dallas James entered the transfer portal April 21, according to 247Sports.
James, who now becomes the eighth Hoosier to enter the transfer portal, didn’t play a single minute for Indiana during the regular season. He was on scholarship and was not honored during senior day festivities.
The Artesia, California, native spent four seasons at South Carolina State University from 2020-24. Across 70 career games for the Bulldogs, James scored 99 total points, secured 116 total rebounds and blocked 46 total shots. The 7-foot, 200-pound center transferred to Indiana on July 30, 2024.
JACOB SPUDICH | IDS Fifth-year senior center Dallas James is pictured during open interviews at Indiana basketball’s institutional media day Sept. 18, 2024, in Cook Hall in Bloomington. James didn’t play a single minute for the Hoosiers during the regular season.
After his four years in Orangeburg, South Carolina, he graduated with a degree in electrical engineering technology while holding a 4.0 GPA. Ahead of the fall 2024 semester at IU, James was accepted into the Luddy
School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, according to his Instagram. As a grad transfer, he will have one year of eligibility remaining.
Kiaku commits to Indiana
The Hoosiers now have added five players out of the transfer portal
By Dalton James jamesdm@iu.edu | @daltonmjames
Indiana women’s basketball landed another player out of the transfer portal April 21, as former Duquesne University guard Jerni Kiaku committed to the Hoosiers, according to her Instagram post. Kaiku originally entered the portal April 3 and has one season of eligibility left.
Kiaku began her collegiate career at North Carolina Central University in 2022-23, as she played in all 30 contests while making 10 starts. She averaged 10.7 points, 2.1 assists and 1.4 steals per game, earning Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year honors.
After transferring to
Duquesne for her sophomore season, Kiaku averaged 6.6 points, 2.7 rebounds and one assist across 34 games. She played 19.1 minutes per contest while she shot 44.5% from the field. Then, in 2024-25, Kiaku started in each of the Dukes’ 33 games. She averaged 13.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game in her junior season. She shot a team-high 47.1% from the field — the fifthbest mark in the Atlantic 10 Conference — and compiled four 20-point performances.
The Garner, North Carolina, native went 21.4% and 26.7% from 3-point range across her last two seasons, respectively. She posted four 20-point performances
Unity of Bloomington A Center for Spiritual Growth
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Bloomington Young Single Adult Branch
2411 E. Second St.
To Contact: Send message from website maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/ wards/237973
Sunday: 12:30 p.m.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has four congregations in Bloomington—Three family wards and our young single adult branch for college students. This info is for the YSA Branch. Weekday religious classes at 333 S. Highland Ave, Bloomington IN 47401, next to campus.
More info at churchofjesuschrist.org.
Lutheran - Missouri Synod
University Lutheran Church and LCMS U Student Center
607 E. Seventh St. 812-336-5387 indianalutheran.com facebook.com/ULutheranIU instagram.com/uluindiana
Sunday: 9:15 a.m.: Sunday Bible Class
10:30 a.m.: Sunday Divine Service
Wednesday:
7 p.m.: Wednesday Evening Service
Student Center open daily:
9 a.m. - 10 p.m.
The LCMS home of campus ministry at IU, our mission is to serve all college students with the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ, located across from Dunn Meadow and the IMU. The Student Center is open daily for study, recreation, and prayer. For full schedule, visit our website.
Rev. Timothy Winterstein - Campus Pastor
United Methodist
Jubilee
219 E. Fourth St. 812-332-6396 jubileebloomington.org
Facebook: First United Methodist Church of Bloomington, IN Instagram: @jubileebloomington
Sunday: 9:30 a.m., Classic Worship 11:45 a.m., Contemporary Worship Wednesday: 7:30 p.m., College & Young Adult Dinner
Jubilee is a Christ-centered community open and affirming to all. We gather on Wednesdays at First United Methodist (219 E. 4th St.) for free food, honest discussion, worship, and hanging out. Small groups, service projects, social events (bonfires, game nights, book clubs, etc.), outreach retreats, and leadership opportunities all play a significant role in our rhythm of doing life together.
Markus Dickinson - jubilee@fumcb.org
Inter-Denominational
Redeemer Community Church
111 S. Kimble Dr. 812-269-8975 redeemerbloomington.org facebook.com/RedeemerBtown
Instagram & Twitter: @RedeemerBtown
Sunday: 9 a.m., 11 a.m.
Redeemer is a gospel-centered community on mission. Our vision is to see the gospel of Jesus Christ transform everything: our lives, our church, our city, and our world. We want to be instruments of gospel change in Bloomington and beyond.
Chris Jones - Lead Pastor
Kiaku marks the fifth player — and fourth guard
— Indiana has landed out of the transfer portal this offseason:
• Rising sophomore guard
Chloe Spreen
• Rising sophomore guard
Phoenix Stotijn
• Rising junior guard
Edessa Noyan
• Rising sophomore forward Zania Socka-Nguemen
The Hoosiers now have 12 players on their 2025-26 roster: five newcomers, five transfers and two freshmen. The transfer portal is slated to close April 16, meaning players have until then to enter their name into the portal. However, players can still commit to schools after the portal is closed.
4001 S. Rogers St. text/call: 812-333-2484 unityofbloomington.org IG: @unityofbloomington facebook@UnityofBloomington
Sunday Celebration: 10:30 a.m.
Discover a vibrant, welcoming community at Unity of Bloomington – “a positive path for spiritual living”. Our center offers a space for spiritual growth; embracing all with open arms. We proudly affirm and welcome the LGBTQ+ community, fostering love, acceptance, and inclusion. Join our loving congregation, where everyone is valued and encouraged to explore their spiritual journey. At Unity of Bloomington, all are welcome and together we thrive!
Minnassa Gabon - Spiritual Leader Phyllis Wickliff - Music Director
American Restoration Movement
North Central Church of Christ
2121 N. Dunn St. 812-332-2248 nc3family.org Facebook.com/nc3family
Sunday: 10 a.m., Worship 11 a.m., College Class
Come learn about historic Christian teaching on theology, ethics, and culture. We offer an alternative to the post-modern ideologies and teachings you often see in your lives today.
Shane Himes, PHD - Senior Minister
Christian Science
Christian Science Church
2425 E. Third St. 812-332-0536 bloomingtonchristianscience.com facebook.com/e3rdStreet
Sunday Church Service: 10 - 11 a.m. Wednesday Testimony Meeting: 7 - 8 p.m.
Mon. -
magazine for its integrity, fairness and compassion. (Christian Science Monitor) csmonitor.com
Orthodox All Saints Orthodox Christian Church
6004 S. Fairfax Rd. 812-824-3600 allsaintsbloomington.org webbrk1@gmail.com
Youtube video of services on website
Sunday: 9 a.m.: Sunday Matins
Bahá'í Faith
Instagram: @bloomingtonbahai
The Bahá'í Association of IU works to share the Teachings and Principles of the Founder, Bahá'u'lláh, that promote the "Oneness of Mankind" and the Peace and Harmony of the Planet through advancing the "security, prosperity, wealth and tranquility of all peoples."
Karen Pollock Dan Enslow
Indiana adds former Troy guard Conerway
Former Troy Univeristy guard Tayton Conerway is the sixth transfer to join Indiana this offseason
By Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer matfuent@iu.edu | @mateo_frohwer
Indiana men’s basketball added another piece to its backcourt April 16 as former Troy University guard Tayton Conerway joined head coach Darian Devries’ squad, according to the Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman’s X post.
Conerway joins former Sam Houston State University guard Lamar Wilkerson, former DePaul University guard Conor Enright and former University of North Florida guard Jasai Miles in the Hoosiers’ backcourt. The Burleson, Texas, native has one season of eligibility remaining.
Conerway began his career at the junior college level, with one season at Grayson College followed
by two seasons at Ranger College. In 2022-23, his junior season, he earned NJCAA Division I men’s basketball All-American First Team honors.
After his three JUCO seasons, Conerway transferred to Troy. He averaged 11.8 points with a 47.5% field goal percentage in his first season as a Trojan, earning Sun Belt Conference Sixth Man of the Year honors.
Conerway increased his production in the 202425 season, averaging 14.2 points in 30.3 minutes and starting all 34 games. His efforts culminated with Sun Belt Player of the Year honors and a selection to the All-Sun Belt First Team.
In December 2024, Vanderbilt University quarterback Diego Pavia secured an injunction from
Society of Friends (Quaker)
Bloomington Friends Meeting
3820 E. Moores Pike
812-336-4581
bloomingtonfriendsmeeting.org
Facebook: Bloomington Friends Meeting
Sunday (in person & Zoom) :
9:45 a.m., Hymn singing
10:30 a.m., Meeting for Worship
10:45 a.m., Sunday School
(Children join worship 10:30-10:45)
11:30 a.m., Refreshments and Fellowship
12:30 p.m., Events (see website)
Wednesday (Zoom Only) :
7 p.m., Meeting for worship for Peace
Friday (Zoom Only) :
9 a.m., Meeting for worship
We practice traditional Quaker worship, gathering in silence with occasional Spirit-led vocal ministry by fellow worshipers. We are an inclusive community with a rich variety of belief and no prescribed creed. We are actively involved in peace action, social justice causes, and environmental concerns.
Peter Burkholder - Clerk burkhold@indiana.edu
Non-Denominational
Christ Community Church
503 S. High St.
812-332-0502
cccbloomington.org
facebook.com/christcommunitybtown
Instagram: @christcommunitybtown
Sunday: 9:15 a.m., Educational Hour
10:30 a.m., Worship Service
We are a diverse community of Christ-followers, including many IU students, faculty and staff. Together we are committed to sharing the redeeming grace and transforming truth of Jesus Christ in this college town.
Bob Whitaker - Senior Pastor Adam deWeber - Worship Pastor Dan Waugh - Adult Ministry Pastor
Christian Student Fellowship
1968 N. David Baker Ave. 812-332-8972 csfindiana.org
Instagram: @csfindiana
Monday - Friday: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Christian Student Fellowship (CSF) exists as a Christ-centered community focused on helping students truly know Jesus Christ. Our ministry operates from an on-campus house where students can live. Reach out to schedule a tour of the house or a visit to our Thursday night worship service!
Ben Geiger - Lead Campus Minister
Stephanie Michael - Campus Minister
Joe Durnil - Associate Campus Minister
Hailee Lutz - Office Manager
a Tennessee federal court that granted him an additional year of eligibility, meaning Pavia’s years at the JUCO level did not count toward his NCAA eligibility.
If not for a new NCAA decision, Conerway would not have had an extra year to join the Hoosiers.
The injunction extended to all athletes in similar positions, which granted Conerway a sixth season of eligibility that he’ll now use to play for the Hoosiers.
Conerway is the sixth transfer to join Indiana this offseason, along with Enright, Wilkerson, Miles, senior forward Reed Bailey and redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries. Freshman forward Trent Sisley is Indiana’s lone high-school recruit in the 2025 class.
City Church
1200 N. Russell Rd.
812-336-5958
citychurchbloomington.org
tiktok: @citychurchbtown
Instagram: @citychurchbtown
Sunday Service: 8:30 a.m., 10 a.m., 11:45 a.m.
City Church is a multicultural church on the east side of Bloomington. We provide transportation from campus. Our college and young adult ministry meets on Tuesday nights.
David Norris - Pastor
Sacred Heart Church
615 N. Fairview St. 812-345-5239 sacredheartbloomington.org facebook.com/sacredheartbloomington
Sunday: 10:30 a.m.: Refreshments and Fellowship 10:45 a.m.: Worship Service Tue., Wed., Thu.: Midweek Meals (Check Facebook)
Sacred Heart is a nondenominational church that seeks to follow Jesus by acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with God. We strive to be a safe, inclusive community where you can bring your doubts, questions, struggles, and joys before a loving God and find true belonging. All are welcome!
Dan Caldwell
Episcopal (Anglican)
Canterbury Mission
719 E. Seventh St. 812-822-1335 IUCanterbury.org facebook.com/ECMatIU
Instagram & Twitter: @ECMatIU Youtube: @canterburyhouseatiu9094
Sunday: 3 p.m. - 7 p.m. Mon., Wed., Thu.: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Tuesday: Noon - 8 p.m. Fri., Sat.: By Appointment
Canterbury: Assertively open & affirming; unapologetically Christian, we proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ by promoting justice, equality, peace, love and striving to be the change God wants to see in our world.
Ed Bird - Chaplain/Priest
Independent Baptist
Lifeway Baptist Church
7821 W. State Road 46 812-876-6072 lifewaybaptistchurch.org facebook.com/lifewayellettsville
Sunday: 9 a.m., Bible Study Classes
10 a.m., Morning Service
5 p.m., Evening Service
*Free transportation provided. Please call if you need a ride to church.
Student Ministry: Meeting for Bible study throughout the month. Contact Rosh Dhanawade at bluhenrosh@gmail.com for more information.
Steven VonBokern - Senior Pastor Rosh Dhanawade - IU Coordinator 302-561-0108 bluhenrosh@gmail.com
United Church of Christ and American Baptist Churches-USA
First United Church 2420 E. Third St. 812-332-4439 firstuc.org facebook.com/firstuc
Sunday: 10:30 a.m., Worship
Monday: 10 a.m. via Zoom, Bible Study
We are an Open, Welcoming, and Affirming community of love and acceptance dedicated to welcoming the diversity of God’s beloved. We exist to empower, challenge, and encourage one another to live out Jesus’ ways (compassion, truth, and justice) authentically as human beings in community to create a better world.
Rev. Jessica Petersen-Mutai Senior Minister
Baptist Emmanuel Church 1503 W. That Rd. 812-824-2768 Emmanuelbloom.com
Instagram & Facebook: @EmmanuelBloomington
Sunday: 9:15 a.m., Fellowship
Sunday: 10 a.m., Worship Groups: Various times
Emmanuel is a multigenerational church of all types of people. Whether you are questioning faith or have followed Jesus for years, we exist to help fuel a passion for following Jesus as we gather together, grow in community, and go make disciples.
John Winders - Lead Pastor
Second Baptist Church
321 N. Rogers St. 812-327-1467 sbcbloomington.org facebook.com/2ndbaptistbloomington youtube.com/@secondbaptist churchbloomington
Sunday Service: 10 a.m., In house and on Facebook/YouTube Sunday School: 8:45 - 9:45 a.m. Bible Study: Available In House and on Zoom Wednesdays, 6:30 p.m., Thursdays, Noon
Please come and worship with us. We are in training for reigning with Christ! Need a ride? Call our Church bus at 812-3271467 before 8 a.m. on Sunday
Rev. Dr. Bruce R. Rose - Pastor Tallie Schroeder - Secretary
Unitarian Universalist
Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington
2120 N. Fee Ln. 812-332-3695 uubloomington.org facebook.com/uubloomington
Sunday: 9:30 a.m.,11:30 a.m. via
or
We’re
and
and
the Spirit, Building Community, Changing the World.” A LGBTQA+, Dementia Friendly, Welcoming Congregation to all ages and groups and a Certified Green Sanctuary. Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Rose House LuMin & St. Thomas Lutheran Church
3800 E. Third St. 812-332-5252 Stlconline.org lcmiu.net
Instagram: @hoosierlumin facebook.com/LCMIU facebook.com/StThomasBloomington
Sunday: 8:30 a.m. & 11 a.m. @ St. Thomas Lutheran Church
3800 E. Third St. Tuesday: 6:30 p.m.
our neighbors, and love boldly. Rev. Adrianne Meier Rev. Lecia Beck Rev. Amanda Ghaffarian - Campus Pastor
Unity Worldwide
Unity of Bloomington A Center for Spiritual Growth
4001 S. Rogers St.
text/call: 812-333-2484 unityofbloomington.org IG: @unityofbloomington facebook@UnityofBloomington
Sunday Celebration: 10:30 a.m.
Discover a vibrant, welcoming community at Unity of Bloomington – “a positive path for spiritual living”. Our center offers a space for spiritual growth; embracing all with open arms. We proudly affirm and welcome the LGBTQ+ community, fostering love, acceptance, and inclusion. Join our loving congregation, where everyone is valued and encouraged to explore their spiritual journey. At Unity of Bloomington, all are welcome and together we thrive!
Minnassa Gabon - Spiritual Leader Phyllis Wickliff - Music Director Reformed Protestant
Trinity Reformed Church
2401 S. Endwright Rd. 812-825-2684 trinityreformed.org lucas@trinityreformed.org facebook.com/trinitychurchbloom
Sunday: 10:30 a.m., Sunday Morning Services 7 p.m., Bible Study at the IMU
We are a Reformed Protestant church on the west side of Bloomington with lively worship on Sunday mornings and regular lunches for students after church. We love God and His Word. Please get in touch if you’d like a ride!
Jody Killingsworth - Senior Pastor Lucas Weeks - College Pastor
COURTESY PHOTO
Then-Troy senior guard Tayton Conerway dribbles the ball past a defender in a game against Old Dominion University on March 8, 2025, inside Bay Center Arena in Pensacola, Florida. Conerway joined the Hoosiers on April 16 from the transfer portal.
One of the athletes, who is still on the team but requested to be anonymous due to fear of being kicked off, said this was the third time the pipe had broken in the past three years. She said she put a 32 gallon Brute trash container under the leak, but not before standing water had taken up much of the left side of the locker room, seeping into the bathroom and right in front of the stalls.
Gray said this is not exclusive to track and field, and that pipes burst in other facilities, even football’s and basketball’s.
“The problem is, you’ve got a 60-year-old facility here,” he said. “Assembly Hall’s just old.”
Any repairs needed, such as the pipes, are done by IU Facilities. Gray said they’ll shut off the water immediately and try to get to it as soon as possible.
An athlete has three immediate ways to ask for repairs at IU. First, they can go to their coach, who will speak to the administration. The second option is to go directly to their sports administrator. The third way is to submit their complaint to “Real Response,” an online application program that anonymously collects complaints from athletes for administrators to review regularly.
“It’s kind of a troubleshooting hotline,” Gray said. “The turnaround time of it is pretty quick.”
A new trash can had been put under the leak because the first one was completely filled, and some of the athletes had to move lockers because their personal belongings were soaked by the water. The athlete said she reported the broken pipe to her coaches, but after three days, the pipe had still not been fixed.
“I mean, are we just not as important as any of the other sports?” Latta said.
Earlston Bean, the track and field sports administrator, said he has not received any complaints from the track and field athletes since he started his position as the second sports
administrator for track and field a little over a year ago, now holding the primary position, which he started in February 2025.
While all five of the athletes interviewed said they have seen custodians who help with issues around the building, they have never seen them in the locker rooms.
Gray wrote in an email to the IDS on March 26 that the custodians clean the locker room daily. Anthony Smoot, an IU custodial supervisor, also said that his third shift crew cleans the track and field locker rooms on a nightly basis. They take out the trash, vacuum the floors, clean the restrooms and disinfect the showers.
“The problem is, you’ve got a 60-year-old facility here. Assembly Hall’s just old.”
Jeremy Gray, IU senior associate athletic director for strategic communications
However, the athletes suspected that instead of replacing the trash bags, staff were simply removing the paper towels and trash, leaving the same dirty bag in the bin. Latta said that for the two years she was on the team, the soap and toilet paper were always running out, and none of the athletes interviewed remember noticing the floors vacuumed or mopped.
“I would never walk on the locker room floor barefoot,” Latta said. “That’s just gross.”
Cockroaches are also common in the locker rooms.
Athletes said they have become used to analyzing the toilet for insects before using the bathroom. Many times, they have found cockroaches lying on the seat or the handle — both dead and alive.
“We would normally see them when we were going to the bathrooms,” Latta said. “In the stalls you would see dead ones.”
Gray said cockroaches are common in any venue that hosts millions of fans a year, including Assembly Hall, no
matter how new the facility is.
One of the athletes said she’s seen cockroaches on the locker room floor for an entire month before finally being swept away or vacuumed. Some of the athletes will throw them away themselves.
Latta recalled her friends on the team asking the coaches for cleaning supplies to clean the locker room, but they were ignored. One of the athletes finally decided to bring her own supplies and spent a day scrubbing and vacuuming.
***
Across the entire Big Ten conference, track and field facility conditions differ depending on each school.
Illinois received a $7 million gift to develop Demirjian Park, completed in 2021. The park includes a renovated track and field complex, with updated locker rooms, meeting rooms, medicine and nutrition facilities, coaches' offices and more.
In December 2024, Nebraska announced its Board of Regents approved a $10.5 million enhancement to its track and field facilities, which is set to be completed in October.
Other universities have not been as fortunate.
Wisconsin demolished its Camp Randall Memorial Sports Center in October 2024 to make way for a new indoor football practice facility. The demolition left the track and field team with no place to practice for the indoor season. The team now travels 30 minutes away to a leased warehouse for training.
At IU, while the school budget might not yield enough to renovate the locker rooms, IU alumni have been known to donate to specific facilities. Shonda Stanton, IU softball head coach, said the team's softball clubhouse was renovated because of a generous donation from an IU alumnus.
“They were ecstatic,” she said. “I think you can imagine what it could do, it’s exciting.”
Stanton and Gray said locker rooms aren’t as important for other sports,
including track and field. But for the softball team, Stanton said a clubhouse is everything.
Trelee Banks-Rose, a 22-year-old fourth-year runner on the men’s track team, has marked the second fastest time in IU history for the 200-meter finals with a time of 20.80 seconds. Trelee has spent a lot of time at IU’s track and field facilities.
“I think the men's locker room is quite great,” BanksRose said. “We all get along.”
Banks-Rose said some of his favorite memories from being on the track and field team were in the locker rooms. He remembered his first year running for the IU track and field team, the leaders of the team and upperclassmen invited him to play games in the locker room one night.
Banks-Rose said he had not noticed any oversight in the upkeep of the locker rooms and his coaches take good care of the team and do their best with what they have. Banks-Rose has asked for replacement gear for himself, or for utilities such as the air conditioning to be fixed in the past. He remembers never having to ask twice and things getting done within a couple of days.
“It would actually be a hundred degrees in there.”
Clayton Guthrie, IU sophomore
Banks-Rose said he still doesn’t know the combination to his locker, but he doesn’t mind because he’s never asked for it. He said he had never seen a cockroach in the restrooms.
Clayton Guthrie, an IU sophomore and ex-runner, competed during his freshman year of college. He had to quit the track team because he acquired an injury while running and knew he was going to be cut. Guthrie remembered a different experience while on the team.
He said he was excited to be a part of a college track and field team when he first came to IU, but admits he was disappointed when he
got a tour of the facilities.
“I just didn’t expect it out of a Big Ten school,” Guthrie said.
Guthrie said some of the worst days in the locker rooms were during the summer when the air conditioning would break. He described it as sounding like somebody had put a metal ball inside, which kept up a constant loud clanking noise.
“It would actually be a hundred degrees in there,” Guthrie said. “You couldn’t really stay in there.”
Guthrie said people who wanted to bring soap for showers, deodorant for after practice or even ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch would come back and find it all had melted into a mess at the bottom of their locker.
Guthrie remembered seeing a lot of broken lockers go unfixed as well. One of his teammates had to use a broken locker that wouldn’t lock for two months before someone fixed it for him.
The three female athletes added that for years, the women haven’t been given a code to the locked compartment in their cubbies. Some of them have been permanently swung open while others stay shut.
Only female track and field athletes, female cross country runners, custodians, coaches and other authorized personnel can enter the women's track and field locker room.
One athlete said most of the women leave their valuables, such as keys, purses and cell phones, in their cars or find other, more secure places for them.
Jackets and Aquafor have been stolen, she said. One time, she found her clothes strewn on top of her locker instead of in the bottom compartment of her cubby where she last put them.
“I was thinking, ‘Did someone seriously wear my stuff without asking?’” she said.
When asked about the lockers not being able to lock, Gray said he did not know anything about the issue and that he would look into it right away.
Even with all of this, Gray said he wants to spend money for their next renovation on the bleachers.
“It’s important for them to have a facility that makes them competitive with the peers that we ask them to compete against,” Gray said. “It's also important to have safe and clean personal spaces for them to operate, and locker rooms fall into that.”
While that is the goal, budgets are what they are.
Gray said one of the reasons why money isn’t available for the track and field locker rooms is due to the $20.5 million budget cut IU athletics implemented at the start of 2025 in preparation for revenue-sharing with students.
Gray said IU Athletics built new facilities for wrestling, volleyball, baseball and softball from 2010-2020. They have upgraded field hockey, branded swimming and diving and bought a new indoor track. Both sides of the football stadium were enclosed, Assembly Hall was renovated and a basketball practice facility was installed in Cook Hall. The staff got pay raises and teams received extra coaches and travel opportunities.
“That’s going to be kind of looked at as the fat and happy years,” Gray said. “So we’re going back to the way it was before, but it’s easier to never have lived in a mansion than to go from a mansion to a regular house.” Even still, most of the athletes in the “24 Sports One Team” school feel the impacts of these cuts, while the top three revenueproducing sports are expanding. In November 2024, Indiana University President Pamela Whitten and Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Scott Dolson were working out plans for a renovation to Memorial Stadium facilities to solidify IU’s football reputation. It’s been almost a year since the pipe broke in the women’s track and field team locker room. There is still a hole in their ceiling and a trash can under it, just in case it starts to leak again.
