Indiana Daily Student eEdition - Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025

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Indiana Daily Student | idsnews.com

Tucker Carlson debates at IU Auditorium

By Natalia Nelson nelsonnb@iu.edu | @natalianelsonn

Conservative political commentator and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson clashed with attendees in heated debates — using his signature brand of quips and dry humor — in front of a packed IU Auditorium during a Turning Point USA speaker event Oct. 21.

He spoke in place of Charlie Kirk for the Bloomington stop of TPUSA’s “This is the Turning Point” tour. Kirk, a right-wing activist and co-founder of TPUSA, was assassinated Sept. 10 while hosting an event at Utah Valley University.

The IU Auditorium, which seats about 3,200, was crammed with attendees, many in white and red hats and Kirk-inspired merchandise. Five police officers flanked either side of the stage. Attendees lined up outside at 4:30 p.m., two hours before the event was set to start. The line stretched past the Fine Arts Plaza down East Seventh Street.

The plaza entrance was barricaded to allow for only sidewalk traffic, and Indiana University Police Department and Indiana State Police officers patrolled the area. Tickets for the event were free for both students and general attendees and were completely claimed. No bags were allowed into the event, and attendees had to go through metal detectors.

A group of about five protesters took up a spot by the Showalter Fountain, showing off signs that read “TPUSA is a hate group” and “Christian values?”

Some argued with those supporting the event.

Carlson was preceded by Indiana Gov. Mike Braun, who took the stage briefly to commend Kirk for his “family, faith and community” values.

“I could tell he was someone special,” Braun said of Kirk. “I've learned more from talking to folks that disagree with you and then bringing them over to

your side. He invited that. That was unusual.”

Following Braun was comedian and TPUSA contributor Jobob Taeleifi, who criticized Oct. 18's No Kings protests and asserted that the right was more ideologically diverse than the left. At the end of his speech, he encouraged the crowd to honor Kirk’s legacy and fight for truth, freedom and a “different country.”

TPUSA at IU chapter President James Chambers, wearing a white “47” hat, urged students to join or start TPUSA chapters at their schools. He thanked Carlson for helping share TPUSA’s message and vision with the campus and city.

Carlson and his two dogs walked onstage around 7 p.m. to raucous applause. He offered few remarks, simply stating he had spent his life giving many speeches rather than taking questions and invited the crowd

to step up to the microphone.

A line of audience members quickly formed, stretching from the center of the auditorium to its walls.

One debater from Poland asked Carlson about his views on the RussiaUkraine war. He said he felt that Carlson had a harsh stance on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and asked Carlson if he thought Russia was the aggressor of the war.

“I think Ukraine is the victim here. NATO is the aggressor, NATO did this under the command of Joe Biden, and it’s deranged,” Carlson said. “Zelenskyy is bad, but most Ukrainians are not bad. They’re great people, and they’re being destroyed.”

Carlson also questioned why the United States was involved in the conflict and “paying for the war.”

He argued with an at-

tendee over abortion, saying that there was “no point at all” to getting one. Carlson called it a form of child sacrifice and a way to sate the thrill that he said people derive from killing another human being.

“I kind of believe the ‘my body, my choice’ thing. I really thought that’s what it was about, like bodily autonomy,” Carlson said.

“That is what it’s about,” the debater responded.

“Really, so where were you on the COVID (vaccine)?” Carlson replied. Carlson then suggested the attendee be shown a video of an abortion and questioned if they could sit through it.

Another audience member asked Carlson about the Trump-led push to redraw Indiana’s congressional districts to give Republicans more seats.

“Trump is trying to make it even more unfair,” the attendee said. “He’s trying to

move us from 78% Republican districts in Indiana to like 89% or even 100%. To me, that’s not fair.”

Of Indiana’s nine congressional districts, two are currently held by Democrats. Proposed redistricted maps would divide those districts in efforts to unseat one or both of them. Carlson said that while he wasn’t as well-versed about the Indiana redistricting effort, he thought the makeup of congressional districts should reflect the people who live there.

Carlson said he thought undocumented immigrants should not be counted in the census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau website, data on both foreign- and native-born populations, including “unauthorized migrants,” are collected.

He spoke for nearly two hours, often engaging in fiery arguments with those who stepped up to debate him. Toward the end of

the event that lasted until almost 9 p.m., audience members began to filter out.

Some attendees waited for hours to be allowed to enter the auditorium.

Bridget Van Gansbeke and her two daughters, both in high school, skipped class and drove from Louisville to line up at around 2:20 a.m. to be first to get into the event.

Bridget Van Gansbeke said they set up camp chairs and a wagon with a cooler and food in front of the auditorium steps but left the spot around 8 a.m. when the area started being sectioned off. She said that she signed up for tickets after Kirk’s assassination to show support for TPUSA and keep Kirk’s message going.

One of Bridget’s daughters, Stella Van Gansbeke, said Kirk made it easier for conservatives to speak their minds.

“People don’t realize how hard it is sometimes,” Stella Van Gansbeke said. “People don’t like you for what you say. And you know, if like him, you’re called racist and homophobic and whatever, but now it’s easier.”

Another attendee, Elizabeth Casman, stood outside trying to give up her ticket. Casman, an IU student, initially planned on attending the event to voice her opinion but changed her mind, partly because she worried it would be a hostile environment.

“I mean, it’d be cool to go in, I guess, like it’d be informal for some talks and debates and stuff, but personally, I don’t really feel like going in anymore,” Casman said. “I would have loved to have bring up a couple of good points about how this would be a very, a very different setting if Charlie Kirk was possibly still alive.” The next stop on TPUSA’s “This is the Turning Point” tour is slated for Louisiana State University on Oct. 27 and will feature conservative commentator Allie Beth Stuckey and Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry as speakers.

Bloomington joins national ‘No Kings’ protests

By Zoe Reed and Elizabeth Schuth news@idsnews.com

Organizers estimated 1,300 demonstrators gathered in Bloomington for the “No Kings” nationwide day of protest, wielding handdrawn signs, costumes, bubbles and instruments on the Monroe County Courthouse lawn.

Bloomington protesters joined over 2,600 demonstrations across the country as part of the No Kings movement, aimed to unite people to “fight dictatorship together.” The first No Kings protest in Bloomington took place on June 14, President Donald Trump’s birthday, as part of a nationwide day of protests that drew an estimated 2 to 4.8 million people across the country.

The local chapter of activist organization "50501” arranged the protest. Lori Stumpner, a local activist and one of the organizers for the event, said it took weeks of planning and an “army of volunteers” to pull together Oct. 18's rally.

“Once the No Kings 2.0 was announced, we started recruiting people immediately to see if we had enough volunteers to do it,” Stumpner said. “Every day it seems like somebody comes up with a new idea of something to do, or a new speaker to get or a new activity.”

Other organizations involved included the Bloomington chapters of the Sierra Club, Exodus Refugee

Immigration, Care Not Cages, Democratic Socialists of America and Mobility Aids Lending Library. The organizations provided crownmaking booths, information tables and free zines — small, independentlyproduced magazines.

During the event, protesters listened to speakers including Bryce Greene, a spokesperson from the IU Divestment Coalition, and Amy Huffman Oliver, a Democratic candidate for Indiana State Representative in District 62.

Greene said the protest brought together activists with different focuses, from immigrant rights to reproductive rights, all united in opposition to what he described as government oppression.

He said some attendees traveled from deeply conservative parts of Indiana, where no local protests were organized, showing that opposition to the administration exists even in Republican-dominated areas.

“A lot of people are willing to show up and drive great lengths to go and oppose Trump and to oppose all this authoritarianism,” Greene said. “And like I said during my speech, this isn’t just about Trump; there are issues that go deeper.”

Greene said he hopes elected officials recognize the depth of frustration among constituents.

“The people here are simply fed up with it,” Greene said. “If they continue to go the way that

they are, not only are they destroying America, but there will be a hell of a lot of people who are going to vigorously oppose it.”

Between speeches, musicians performed for the crowd, playing a central role in the demonstration.

“I was inspired to bring my voice,” singer and drummer Angela Gabriel said shortly before leading the crowd in an original song. “If we want a successful social justice movement, we have to sing.”

Organizers emphasized keeping the protest peaceful, with event organizer Sandy Washburn reminding protesters “not to provoke conflict with anyone here to distract us.”

The protest indeed remained peaceful, with a constant parade of cars driving by the square honking in support. Other drivers yelled at or gestured with their middle fingers at protesters.

At the end of the event, hundreds of protesters marched down Kirkwood Avenue, parting the cream and crimson sea of Homecoming celebrators. They made their way toward Dunn Meadow, chanting “No ICE, No KKK, No fascist U.S.A.” Shortly after marching through Dunn Meadow, the protest disbanded.

Appearing like a politically-themed costume party, many protesters wore crowns and inflatable animal suits, including frog costumes that became a viral non-violent protest symbol after federal agents

pepper-sprayed a Portland protester wearing one during an anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest earlier this month. No Kings organizers encouraged protesters to wear yellow because of its bold shade and a historical connection with peaceful protest.

Protesters Matt and Christy Smith chose to wear banana suits because, Matt said, “what’s going on is absolutely bananas.”

“All the ICE raids, the non-criminal immigrants here just being abducted is really disheartening,” Matt

Smith said. Protesters came out for a variety of reasons, including Michael Hamburger, a former professor in IU’s Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department. As a scientist and long-term Indiana resident, Hamburger said he’s witnessed a steady decline in democratic norms.

“I really have deep faith in our democratic system and our institutions in which our country has been based,” Hamburger said. “I’ve seen them taken apart piece by piece over the last eight years and very

rapidly over the last year.” Hamburger said he came to add his voice to what he sees as a defense of democratic values.

“I just want to be part of a visible opposition movement that is representing the best parts of American democracy in face of an increasingly hostile and autocratic administration,” Hamburger said. “As citizens, we need to stand up and be seen and heard.”

Editor’s note: Bryce Greene previously worked as an opinion writer for the Indiana

EMERSON ELLEDGE | IDS

Conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson speaks to the crowd while answering a question from an audience member at the "This is the Turning Point" event Oct. 21, 2025, in the IU Auditorium. Carlson briefly spoke at the start of his time, but primarily took questions from and debated members of the audience.

Daily Student.

ELIZABETH SCHUTH | IDS

Protesters wave to honking cars at the Monroe County Courthouse on Oct. 18, 2025, during a "No Kings" protest in Bloomington. Bloomington residents joined the nationwide demonstrations against the Trump administration.

After IU cuts IT inspectors, classes see tech failures

By Zoe Reed reedzoe@iu.edu

Indiana University’s classroom technology checkers used to perform regular inspections on classroom equipment. After budget cuts, the university eliminated the room checker program and dismissed student workers who held those positions in July.

Now, professors and students say they are experiencing technology malfunctions that disrupt class.

IU senior Niko Brooks, a former classroom technology checker, said they received an email from IU July 15 notifying them the position was eliminated due to “significant reductions in budget.”

The student workers would each check around 20 classrooms per week, Brooks said, inspecting projectors, document cameras and microphones to ensure they functioned properly before classes began.

The university would not answer how many people were fired. Brooks estimated up to 10 were, but the Indiana Daily Student has not been able to independently verify this estimate.

In the fall semester following their termination, Brooks said they witnessed technology failures in two of their classes, usually projec-

tor problems.

“Professors build their entire lesson plans around being able to use the technology,” Brooks said. “It’s definitely having an impact.”

Cody Kirkpatrick, a senior lecturer in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, said he canceled a class this semester after a projector failed 10 minutes into the session.

“Because I am so reliant on that technology, I was not prepared,” Kirkpatrick said. “I did not have a contingency plan to proceed with class.”

Kirkpatrick said both projectors in his classroom have had problems this semester.

“When there is unreliable equipment, it affects everyone,” Kirkpatrick said. “Valuable instructional time and students will get distracted or frustrated too.”

IU spokesperson Mark Bode said the university remains committed to classroom technology.

“Maintaining reliable classroom operations continues to receive the highest level of attention and support,” Bode said. “UITS teams are dedicated to keeping learning spaces fully operational with regularly updated technology and quick response times to address any equipment issues that arise.”

Teresa Mackin, deputy director for media relations, declined to speak about Brooks’ dismissal, citing university policy not to comment on personnel matters.

Kirkpatrick said maintenance staff replaced a broken projector within a couple of days after he reported it broken, but broader staffing issues of changes created delays.

“Reassignment of frontline staff has led to confusion and slowness in getting responses to some parts of campus,” Kirkpatrick said. “It can now take a week or more while everyone writes back and forth to figure out who is supposed to respond.”

Moriah Reichert, a fifthyear doctoral student in religious studies, echoed Kirkpatrick’s concerns. She has worked as an associate instructor every semester of her graduate program, helping with discussions for large lecture courses for up to 175 students.

Reichert said eliminating the inspection team creates additional burdens for instructors, who already spend little time teaching in consistent classrooms.

“We kind of rely on arriving whenever our section time is and it just working,” Reichert said.

Reichert said associate instructors often teach back-

Ellettsville Town Council approves annexations

The meeting was held Oct. 17

By Madelyn Hanes mrhanes@iu.edu

After a lack of attendance postponed Oct. 13’s meeting, the five-member Ellettsville Town Council held a special meeting the morning of Oct. 17 to address a packed agenda — including the town’s 2026 budget, annexation, fee increases and more.

Councilmembers adopted an $8,461,781 budget for 2026. Last year, the budget was $7,981,903. The budget was fairly tight this year, Town Manager Mike Farmer said. The town can’t afford to fill a vacant police officer position, which has been open since May, he said. The town also could not raise town officials’ salaries.

“This is in reaction to SB1 legislation,” he said.

“We anticipate this being the status quo in the next budget.”

Early this year, Gov. Mike Braun signed Senate Enrolled Act 1, a law that restricts local governments’ ability to raise revenue through property taxes.

The council approved the Ripley annexation — three neighboring parcels located in Richland Township between Bloomington and Ellettsville — that will add nearly 72 acres of land. The annexed properties are located along North Union Valley Road and West McNeely Street.

Michael and Megan Ripley, who own the properties, filed a petition requesting annexation of the areas Sept. 11. According to meeting documents, the fiscal plan for the property shows little impact on town revenue.

“Nothing to say but welcome Mike Ripley’s property into town,” Farmer said during the meeting.

The annexed areas will be zoned for agricultural use.

Councilmembers also approved a $19,825.64 transfer from the Parks Department to Town Improvements. The funds originally budgeted for a part-time director and parks laborer will now support town improvements including finishing pavements for the half-mile Heritage Trail in downtown Ellettsville.

Councilmembers adopted a resolution amending pay for Plan Commision, Board of Zoning Appeals, Parks Board and Redevelopment Commission members. Farmer said at the meeting they are increasing the pay for board members from $50 to $100 for attending board meetings. Board members are members of the public selected by the council or by other local government officials. He said a spot is open on the Board of Zoning Appeals that the town hasn’t been able to fill, and he thinks the raise could encourage

more public engagement.

The council supported the motion — which also applies to town councilmembers who serve on the boards. Town councilmember William Ellis called it double-dipping.

“This is in reaction to SB1 legislation. We anticipate this being the status quo in the next budget.”

Mike Farmer, Town Manager

The council also voted to increase non-recurring water utility fees due to an increase in labor and material costs for providing services to customers. Farmer referred to the cost as a “hook-on fee.”

“When somebody does a commercial building or a new home, and also, they need water, they call it a hook-on fee, when they ask for us to hook them on to the system,” he said.

The Ellettsville Municipal Water Utility serves about 5,200 customers. The rate changes are pending final approval by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, which will make a decision by Nov. 19. The proposed increases will not affect retail water rates. According to the legal notice of filing, residents may submit objections to the filing to the Utility Regulatory Commission.

Phi Kappa Psi fraternity placed on cease and desist

All fraternity events are suspended until further notice

By Maxine Cain maxcain@iu.edu

The Indiana University chapter of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity was placed on cease and desist effective Oct. 21 for hazing, according to the Office of Student Life’s list of organizations on disciplinary status. The hazing incident caused at least two hospitalizations due to injuries that occurred late at night Oct. 15 and early in the morning Oct. 16, according to an Indiana University Police Department Crime Notice. IUPD has launched a criminal investigation into the reported hazing and encourages anyone with information to call the depart-

ment at 812-855-4111 or call Crime Stoppers at 317-2628477. Specific incidents of hazing are not publicly disclosed.

Phi Kappa Psi is suspended from all organization activities until further notice.

Phi Kappa Psi was previously placed on cease and desist during the fall semester of 2015 following multiple reports of hazing and drug use. Its fraternity house was vacated and no meetings were allowed until the fall semester of 2017. The fraternity joins Beta Sigma Psi and the Palestine Solidarity Committee on the cease and desist list. All three organizations’ activi-

to-back sections with classes scheduled in the same room immediately before, making it impossible to arrive early and test equipment.

“If there were an issue, I would have to go hunting on the IU website then to try to figure out who we would even call,” Reichert said. “If the projector isn’t going to be reliably available, I might choose not to have discussion around a video clip, not because it’s not the most appropriate thing for us to be

talking about, but because if it’s not working, it’s not going to be worth my limited time in class to resolve the tech issue.”

Reichert said the shift from preventative maintenance to reactive repairs may force instructors to adjust their teaching.

“There are lots of ways that we kind of trust that the tech is going to work,” Reichert said. “If it’s only being attended to when there are instructors flagging a

problem in the room, I think that might adjust how I plan to teach sections.” Brooks said the cuts to the technology checker program shouldn’t have been made.

“It feels so unnecessary, we had solutions in place,” Brooks said. “It’s frustrating because it’s preventative work, so it’s somewhat invisible work, and I think that’s what led to us being one of the programs that they felt could be eliminated.”

City plans construction start for Hopewell South housing project

By Grace Fridy gfridy@iu.edu

The City of Bloomington hosted a kickoff event at City Hall for the Hopewell South neighborhood development project Monday, announcing its goal to begin the building process by June next year.

The city’s leading the Hopewell development effort to turn the former site of IU Bloomington Health Hospital into a neighborhood. The city first unveiled plans for the neighborhood five years ago. The development will happen in three phases: South, East and West.

“And if you saw that timeline, you know that we’re really hoping to train developers and get this ready to go by June of next year,” Mayor Kerry Thomson said. “So that’s our timeline.”

ties are suspended until further notice.

Hazing is illegal at the state level and prohibited at IU. The university conducts its own investigations and disciplinary actions, which are handled by the Office of Student Conduct and the Office of the Dean of Students. The Indiana Daily Student reached out to IU’s Interfraternity Council for comment but did not hear back by time of publication.

If you or anyone you know has experienced hazing, you can report it using the IU Hazing reporting form. The form is anonymous to the offending organization, and your name will not be publicly disclosed.

Thomson led the event, as well as representatives of Flintlock LAB, the architecture and building consulting firm approved by the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission in June to partner with on the housing project.

Alli Thurmond Quinlan, the project lead at Flintlock LAB, presented over video call to the attendees about the status of plans for Hopewell South. Quinlan presented three different concept plans for the neighborhood, all based on building plans that the city will pre-approve.

“We’re not trying to zone for good architecture via really complicated zoning patterns and architectural design controls that then mean review boards,” Quinlan said. “Instead, we’re developing good built outcomes that the city’s selecting the

architecture, selecting the details from the beginning so that you know what you’re getting.”

Of the concept plans presented, two proposed changing city codes to allow for the use of alleys as frontage, meaning the front of a building. That proposed code change would allow for more homes to be built within the area. The third proposal, which involved no code changes, had an average home value of $415,000 with an estimated 28 homes built, in comparison to the largest proposal with code changes featuring 118 homes built at an average cost of $290,000.

Another code change she proposed was legalizing the splitting of lots into smaller land parcels.

“Under current by-right development, we can fit 28 homes,” Quinlan said.

“Right, so about three quarters less than we’re proposing doing with a couple of these code changes.”

Quinlan also said that Flintlock LAB is calibrating its plan for Hopewell South so that it could be considered for city-wide use in the future.

“So, we are talking about a planned unit development at Hopewell, and so that will be just for Hopewell,” Thomson said. “But we’re really hoping that Hopewell is sort of our living laboratory and people can come and see what it looks like and what it feels like, and that we may be able to incrementally make some of these changes in our unified development ordinance moving forward.”

At a July 29 press conference in City Hall regarding housing in Bloomington, Thomson and several city

officials discussed plans to change the permitting process to speed up development projects and lower housing costs associated with paying employees before building permits are attained and work is allowed to start.

“So we’re just starting that audit, and so that’s going to be a – we’ll have some quick hits, but then it’s going to be a pretty long process to do that full audit,” Thomson said Monday regarding changing the permitting process.

Attendees at the event brought up that one of the Hopewell South concept plan maps contained the former Bloomington Convalescent Center, which city officials are considering as a site for new police headquarters.

Quinlan stated that this was included to meet the requirement of 5 acres for Planned Unit Developments, a type of zoning meant to allow for mixed use buildings and home types. She said that despite that, it may not be included, as the Bloomington Redevelopment Committee had not decided the building’s use going forward yet. In response to a question about how a police headquarters could bring frequent sirens into the neighborhood, Thomson pointed to the neighborhood’s past.

“This is obviously a neighborhood that’s had a lot of lights and sirens because it used to be the hospital site, so, home to many ambulances,” she said.

Going forward, the city has to approve concept plans for the Hopewell South and find local developers before breaking ground.

IDS FILE PHOTO

An IU student looks at a computer Feb. 17, 2023,

IDS FILE PHOTO

A Hopewell sign is pictured in front of heavy machinery March 22, 2022 at the former IU Health Bloomington Hospital on West Second Street. The City of Bloomington hosted an event Oct. 20 to discuss plans for the Hopewell South neighborhood.

Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl moment must be about more than music

Joaquin Baerga (he/him)

is a junior studying journalism.

Bad Bunny should take notes from Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show performance and use the platform to make a political statement. It would justify his decision to perform, despite previously saying he wouldn’t tour the mainland U.S., and it would transform the event into a celebration of Latino identity and contribution.

He already hinted at this in his SNL monologue where he suggested he would do the show primarily in Spanish after speaking the language briefly. He quipped, “If you don’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn.” By performing primarily in Spanish at the Super Bowl, Bad Bunny would make a statement about representing his language and culture. In a post on X, he men-

tioned he would only do one tour date in the U.S., and that same day, he tweeted the announcement about performing at Superbowl LX. Many may think he’s only doing it to gain massive exposure or boost album sales; if he wants to justify his decision, the halftime show should be a moment of both celebration and protest.

Last year, Kendrick Lamar proved artists can use the Super Bowl stage to make political statements without being too overt or calling anyone out. His performance symbolically pierced the patriotic veil cast over the Super Bowl spectacle.

He enlisted the help of actor Samuel L. Jackson, who played Uncle Sam, not as a paragon of American values, but rather as a gatekeeper who policed Lamar’s Black identity and called it “too ghetto.” This changed the patriotic symbol into one of coercion, highlighting

the cultural domination of whiteness over Black expression in the American mainstream.

The PlayStation controller-like stage signified a subversion of the “American Game,” and Lamar’s statement about picking the “right time but the wrong guy” implied his unwillingness to surrender to cultural assimilation. This indirect message made the performance politically charged but avoided being preachy.

Eyerí Morales, an IU junior, said he’s not expecting Bad Bunny to make a political statement, because it’s not his responsibility as an artist. He believes Bad Bunny’s selection is still impactful because he was chosen as an artist who mainly sings in Spanish.

“It’s a sign that music is a universal language,” he said.

But, regardless of duties, politics and artistry are not mutually exclusive, and

Bad Bunny is no stranger to blending them. In his music, he’s spoken about Puerto Rico’s struggles, including government corruption, economic inequalities and gender violence.

The music video he released for his song “El Apagón” (The Outage) was itself a documentary on displacement and colonial neglect. The video for “Nuevayol,” which is the colloquial Spanish pronunciation of “New York,” was a celebration of Puerto Rican culture and a statement against antiimmigrant rhetoric.

As one of the mostwatched events in America, the Super Bowl is an ideal platform for Bad Bunny to address the current problems faced by Puerto Ricans and the larger Latino diaspora. The performance could act as a moment of pride and visibility for Latinos, at a time when U.S. political discourse frequently sidelines them.

LETTER TO THE EDITORS

This is a rolling collection of letters sent to the Indiana Daily Student about Indiana University’s censorship of the IDS. They have been combined due to the quantity of letters received.

Censorship of the IDS As American journalism faces perhaps the most significant challenges in its history, the young people stepping up to pursue it as a career deserve a university committed to advancing journalism’s best traditions: Integrity, service, dedication to the truth, independence, freedom of the press. With the firing of Student Media Director Jim Rodenbush and the university’s embrace of censorship at the Indiana Daily Student, it’s clear those ideals have gone missing at the Media School.

An old memory from my time at the IDS in the early 1970s makes my point. I was assigned to cover the trial of a student charged with disorderly conduct during an antiwar march on Indiana Avenue, just down the street from the law school.

A cop clearing the street of demonstrators heard Gregory Hess yell, “Let’s take the fucking street,” and put him in handcuffs. The trial in City Court was all about whether the word was protected by the First Amendment. Of course, “fuck” was heard every day around the IDS newsroom, as I expect it is today, but as far as anyone could recall, it had never ap-

Already, his confirmed performance has faced backlash from the Trump administration and even led to the organization of an “alternative halftime show” organized by Turning Point USA.

Nina Rivera, an IU junior, said the Super Bowl gives Bad Bunny an opportunity to gain more exposure toward a larger, non-Spanishspeaking audience. She also mentioned it makes sense for him to make a political statement, considering his cultural value for Latinos, a prominent demographic in California.

“It would be very out of character for him to not say anything,” she said.

Rivera also noted how Kendrick’s performance in New Orleans leaned more toward celebrating Black culture.

In his performance, Bad Bunny could continue his unapologetic use of the

Reactions to IU’s censorship of the IDS

peared in the paper. So what to do? Should the story be on Page 1? Should the word be in the headline or even the lede paragraph? Should we clean it up? Like this: F—, or this: F***? What repercussions might publication generate?

Jack Backer, the veteran newsman who, as IDS publisher, held a job equivalent to the one Rodenbush just lost, left the decisions to the student staff. The story went on an inside page, and we didn’t use the word in the headline. But the full quote was in the story. I guess there were raised eyebrows and perhaps some discussion among university administrators about our publication. But everyone who mattered at what was then the Department of Journalism understood that the spirit of the First Amendment required that students run student media and that we tell the story without mincing words. Nothing was more important to our education as journalists than instilling that spirit. With Jim Rodenbush’s dismissal, that spirit has been snuffed out at IU.

What a shame — for the students, for IU and for Indiana.

P.S.: Hess’ lawyer, IU law professor F. Thomas Schornhorst, appealed his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned his conviction. Maybe someone at the law school will step up now for the IDS.

Dale Eisman is a 1973 IU grad who parlayed his IDS experience and journalism education into a 46-year career as a reporter and editor at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Virginian-Pilot and Common Cause.

Changes for the worse at IU

Let me start this message by reminding you all of Media School Dean David Tolchinsky’s own words: “It was time to ask ourselves and define who we are, who we want to be, and what we stand for… we value ethics, innovation, and interdisciplinary collaboration.”

The Dean said those words in March. At the time, he was speaking specifically about the Media School, but those questions deserve to be asked of administrators and trustees alike. Who do you want to be and what do you stand for?

What does IU stand for?

As a 2005 graduate of the former School of Journalism and the Indiana Daily Student, the unjust firing of Jim Rodenbush caught my attention, but it seems this is just one of a series of failures that IU has perpetuated recently. Dissatisfaction meriting a noconfidence motion against a university president is bad enough, but for that vote to be ignored entirely by the trustees? That is disrespectful and shameful. Then to offer no resistance when the alumni-elected trustees were forced out, leaving the entire board in the hands of the governor? That is capitulation.

Before this happened, there were the snipers on the roof of the Indiana Memorial Union during student protests. What purpose did that move serve except to intimidate and suppress? Why would any parent want to send their child to a place where the only thing between them and a stray bullet is prudence and trigger discipline from law enforcement? Officers should never have been put in such a situation where that kind of mistake could be made.

Another set of self-inflicted wounds for IU are the degree cuts. Rather than fight to save some of IU’s marquee programs, university management volunteered to explore cutting them. Other Indiana colleges put just a few programs on the chopping block, while IU put over a hundred up for disposal, including programs that draw national and international recognition. IU was a standout because of the breadth of programs it offered, at public college prices. Why announce to the world that IU is just going to give all that up?

The firing of Rodenbush is the latest example of a move that is counter-productive and self-destructive. By doing this, you administrators are telling the student body that the people in charge at IU are not willing to live up to the standards they would expect from the students themselves. You are telling Indiana, and the

world, that IU is no longer a place for free speech and free thought. You are signaling to everyone that IU only respects power and will wield it freely and selfishly rather than for the common good.

Again, the questions deserve to be asked: who do you want to be, and what do you stand for?

What does IU stand for?

Several hundred thousand living alumni are very interested to hear the answers. George Lyle IV is a lawyer and IT security professional for Purdue University. He’s also a Board Member and Secretary for the West Lafayette Community School Corporation.

In support of IDS and student journalism, from a Journalism school alumna

Dean David Tolchinsky — I write with great concern for a vital asset of the university community and learning laboratory for Media School students: the Indiana Daily Student. I’m a 1989 graduate of the former School of Journalism who majored in journalism and English and an alumna of the High School Journalism Institute; both of those experiences lit the fuse for my 35-year career in journalism. The administration’s move to permit feature coverage for special events and prohibit routine news coverage means it is dictating content. University leaders may couch this as a “busi-

Spanish language on national television, as he did in his SNL monologue. Taking notes from Kendrick Lamar’s performance means matching his intentionality, not his politics. Kendrick used the platform to connect art with identity, community and resistance. Bad Bunny could do something similar and continue the work he’s done in speaking about Caribbean, diasporic and colonial themes. Bad Bunny is the first to headline as a solo artist performing solely in Spanish. The Super Bowl halftime show doesn’t just provide him with a big, national platform; it puts him at center stage amidst paradigms of American mainstream culture. If he turns his performance into a moment of Latino self-definition, he can make history.

jbaerga@iu.edu

ness decision” — much like Disney’s punitive stunt of pulling Jimmy Kimmel off air — but there’s no possible way to view this other than pure censorship. I never once fell asleep in David Boeyink’s media law class in the fall of 1988, so I’m fairly confident that I understand the concept of press censorship. I can’t believe this is happening at an institution with such an important, enduring and respected tradition of educating journalists of integrity and courage.

My husband, Rob, and I are both proud IU graduates. Rob received the Wells Senior Recognition Award in 1989. We met on campus during the celebration of IU’s 1987 NCAA men’s basketball championship. We come back to Bloomington regularly. We’ve donated meaningfully to the IU Foundation. To date, IU has consistently figured heavily in our estate planning. If this is the direction the university is heading — stifling free expression, denying students valuable learning experiences, undermining the university community — then we will reconsider our plans without hesitation.

Please know that alumni like us — not just the Mark Cubans — are paying attention to what’s going on. And we intend to take action in our own ways.

Bryn Mooth is an independent

Cincinnati.

and

TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Bad Bunny performs during the 2023 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 14, 2023, in Indio, California. Bad Bunny will become the first to perform an entirely Spanish set at the Super Bowl halftime show.

Community, advocacy orgs react to IDS print cut

IU alumni, faculty, and national organizations speak out following Rodenbush's termination

By Ian Collier, Emerson Elledge, Molly Gregory news@idsnews.com

On Oct. 14, the Indiana University Media School fired IU Director of Student Media Jim Rodenbush after he refused to tell Indiana Daily Student staff to cut news from the Oct. 16 Homecoming edition of the paper.

Following a letter from IDS Co-Editors-in-Chief Mia Hilkowitz and Andrew Miller criticizing Rodenbush’s firing, The Media School cut print entirely, an action Hilkowitz and Miller labeled censorship. IU alumni, faculty and journalism organizations reacted to what became international news, with coverage from The New York Times and The Guardian.

IU Bloomington Chancellor David Reingold

IU Bloomington Chancellor David Reingold released a statement Oct. 15.

“To be clear, the campus’ decision concerns the medium of distribution, not editorial content,” he said. “All editorial decisions have and will continue to rest solely with the leadership of IDS and all IU student media. We uphold the right of student journalists to pursue stories freely and without interference.”

Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression wrote a letter to IU President Pamela Whitten on Oct. 16 requesting the university halt its efforts to control the IDS’ content, offer Rodenbush reinstatement, take back its order that the IDS stop printing and “reaffirm its commitment to upholding academic freedom and a free press.”

“As an educational institution, IU has a responsibility to teach student journalists their journalistic craft; its insistence on censoring student reporters and removing their advisor guts the education IU purports to provide,” the letter said.

William Harris, FIRE Strategic Campaigns Specialist, condemned IU’s actions in another Oct. 16 article.

“Firing Rodenbush and banning the paper are textbook First Amendment violations that IU claims are part of a digital-first media strategy,” he said. “But that’s a smokescreen. Cutting the print edition and removing a longtime adviser after critical coverage isn’t a strategy. It’s retaliation. And it’s illegal.”

Indiana University

Bloomington American Association of University

Professors

On Oct. 16, the IUB chapter of the AAUP condemned the firing of Jim Rodenbush and the termination of the IDS print edition, calling it a “clear attempt at media censorship.” The statement said the IUB chapter of AAUP

stands in solidarity with the staff of the IDS in their defense of the First Amendment.

“We urge IU administrators to reconsider these unconstitutional actions that serve only to corrode Indiana University’s standing as a credible research institution and further diminish the value of the education our students are receiving,” the statement said.

Poynter Institute In an Oct. 15 opinion article for Poynter, IU alumna Annie Aguiar, an arts and culture correspondent for Lookout Eugene-Springfield, critiqued The Media School's firing of Rodenbush. Aguiar questioned the framing of Rodenbush’s firing as a financial choice and critiqued Tolchinsky’s understanding of the ethics at the core of The Media School.

“It seems IU, and the Media School specifically, are hesitant to support the conditions that make for good journalism,” Aguiar wrote. “They can feel free to prove me wrong by reinstating Rodenbush immediately.”

Aguiar also said she felt ashamed to be a graduate of IU, but would never be ashamed of working for the IDS.

In another opinion article published Oct. 17, Poynter Institute Senior Media Writer Tom Jones called Rodenbush’s firing and The Media School's choice to cut print “a mess created by leadership at IU.” Jones praised the design work of the digital paper the IDS published in place of the print version, specifically citing the black boxes that replaced ads from lost advertising contracts due to the print cut.

“It was brilliantly effective. And proof that you might not want to mess with smart journalists and clever designers,” Jones said.

The Purdue Exponent

After offering to print the IDS for free, The Purdue Exponent, Purdue University’s independently run student newspaper, printed and delivered special edition copies of its paper across IU’s campus Oct. 17. The front page read, “We student journalists must stand together.”

In a post on X, Exponent Adviser Kyle Charters referred to the act as "Operation Clandestine Delivery.” The paper featured letters from both paper’s editors in an edition that focused on editorial independence as an act of solidarity for student journalism.

Mark Cuban Entrepreneur and IU alumnus Mark Cuban took to X to comment on the paper being cut.

“Not happy,” Cuban wrote. “Censorship isn’t the way. I gave money to IU general fund for the IDS last year, so they could pay for everyone and not run a deficit. I gave more than they asked

for. I told them I’m happy to help because the IDS is so important to kids at IU.”

Student Press Law Center

An Oct. 15 statement from the Student Press Law Center quoted Jonathan GastonFalk, SPLC staff attorney.

“If the abrupt ousting of the student media director was related to his refusal to participate in such censorship, the message is clear; IU no longer welcomes a free student press,” he said. “The Media School must reverse course immediately, before more damage is done to its reputation and to its student’s rights.”

Indiana University Student Publications Alumni Association

The IU Student Publications Alumni Association wrote a letter to IU Media School Dean David Tolchinsky, saying any effort to dictate what the IDS covers went against the Media School's own agreement with student journalists.

“The circumstances around the dismissal of Jim Rodenbush and the sudden elimination of the print edition of the IDS raise urgent questions about the integrity and independence of student journalism at IU,” the letter said.

The letter went on to request a meeting with Tolchinsky to discuss the changes and “reaffirm IU’s and the Media School’s commitment to editorial independence.”

Indiana High School Press Association

The Indiana High School Press Association announced that it is severing ties with The Media School in response to what Ryan Gunterman, the executive director of IHSPA and an IDS alumnus, called “an unacceptable infringement on press freedom.”

The IHSPA released a statement Oct. 20 and sent a letter to Tolchinsky on Oct. 21 regarding its decision to suspend its relationship with The Media School. Teresa White, director of the High School Journalism Institute at IU, said this separation means IHSPA will no longer send students to HSJI, and that The Media School will not have a presence at IHSPA’s state convention until IU restores the IDS' “autonomy.“

Media School faculty

On Oct. 17, 19 Media School faculty members issued a statement saying they were “appalled by Chancellor David A. Reingold’s decision to cut the print edition of the Indiana Daily Student hours before publication” The statement said the school’s actions broke the Student Media Action Plan, threatened editorial independence and breached core values of journalism.

The statement continued saying to honor students and repair trust with alumni, leadership should produce a

What’s the state of banned books in Monroe County?

By Adelyn Rabbit adrabb@iu.edu

Across the state of Indiana, pressure groups, government entities and community members challenged around 50 books’ position on library shelves in 2024, according to the American Library Association.

Challenged books were alleged to include gender identity, LGBTQIA+ themes or sexually explicit content. But local libraries like the Monroe County Library are combatting what their banned book campaign calls “censorship” by highlighting some of the books that are commonly-banned nationwide.

MCPL has banned book displays in each library branch and a banned book quote generator machine in the downtown library during October.

The banned book quote generator is accompanied by a sign that reads “challenge censorship with a single button.” The library’s campaign this year was titled “Read for Your Rights: Censorship is so 1984.”

full, independent account of the events of the last week.

“This must include a restoration of the printed special editions of the Indiana Daily Student as agreed upon in the Student Media Action Plan,” the statement said. “We stand ready to join a conversation about next steps.”

Homecoming parade demonstration

On Oct. 17 starting at 5 p.m. around 25 people chanted and held signs during the Homecoming parade on the sidewalk north of Dunn Meadow along Seventh Street. The group included some IU faculty.

IDS Managing Editors Jack Forrest and Alayna Wilkening spoke to the attendees before the parade started and thanked the public for their continued support.

“Football, basketball, full court press. Don’t suppress the IDS,” some protesters chanted during the demonstration. The sentiment was shared on a small white sign that had drawings of a basketball and a football.

The demonstrators held up signs and chanted as the parade passed, with little reaction from those marching.

One large sign read “WHY AXE THE IDS HOMECOMING ISSUE??” and displayed a web address to the IDS’ digital Homecoming edition in white text.

Another sign said, “WHY HIDE THE WHITTEN PLAGIARISM REPORT?” and showed a web address to an Indiana Public Media article discussing IU’s public relations approach.

A third sign read, “WHY WRECK THE VALUE OF AN IU DIPLOMA?” and linked an article about the "Freedoms Under Assault" documentary made by documentarian Jacky Comforty and IU Chancellor’s Professor Emeritus of Education Robert Arnove, as well as Abdulkader Sinno’s guest column with the IDS.

Attendees handed out copies they made of the Homecoming issue’s front page to people walking past. The papers had a QR code to the digital issue.

Retired faculty

In a shared statement of support for Media School faculty, 14 retired professors shared their shock with IU’s effort to stifle and censor the IDS. The letter applauds the faculty for supporting the IDS and calls upon Tolchinsky to “engage in good faith” and “restore the reputation” of The Media School.

“If Dean Tolchinsky, Associate Dean Clavio and Assistant Dean McFall do not accept and support the independence of the IDS that the Indiana University Board of Trustees protected in the 1969 charter, they should make way for leaders who do,” the statement said.

ALA Student Chapter, said Banned Books Week draws attention to the topic, which many people outside the literary world don’t think about often.

“I think people take their libraries and their public schools for granted, so I think it’s important that we remind people that this is a year-round issue, and not just something to think about right at the start of the school year or when a book that you particularly like is on the chopping block,” Congdon said. In 2023, then-Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed House Enrolled Act 1447 into law, which requires schools to publicly post their library catalogs and allow community members and parents to challenge materials they find inappropriate. Congdon said K-12 students are most affected by book banning.

“Censorship harms everyone,” Congdon said. “It keeps books out of the hands of students who are interested in learning about those topics, and it kind of just perpetuates the spread of misinformation.”

According to ALA, pressure groups, government entities and community members attempted to take 5,813 books off the shelves nationwide in 2024. Nearly 2,500 of those titles were challenged for the first time in 2024, which is the third highest number of unique challenged titles ALA has ever recorded. In 2024, the most consistently challenged books in Indiana libraries were “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson, “Fred Gets Dressed” by Peter Brown, “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe, “Hurricane Child” by Kacen Callender and “It’s Perfectly Normal” by Robie H. Harris. These books are all geared toward young people, according to ALA, and include LGBTQIA+ themes and discussions about puberty and sexual health.

Tori Lawhorn, communications and marketing director for MCPL, said many of the top 10 challenged titles have remained consistent for the past few years.

MCPL has a collection development policy which describes the guidelines the library uses to purchase materials. If a community member disagrees with the inclusion of a certain book, they can complete a request for reconsideration form, and the library will put the material through their formal review process.

The committee that reviews the request then makes a recommendation to the library director who decides what action should be taken, if any.

MCPL faces no more than one official request for reconsideration each year, Lawhorn said, and most concerns from the community are dealt with through conversations between the community member and the library staff.

“As a public library, we do serve everyone, and we have materials that should reflect our community,” Lawhorn said. “So, while you might see something that you might not necessarily want to read, you definitely don’t have to read it.”

The library also has a suggest-a-purchase form so community members who do not see their interests represented in the library’s collection can request specific new materials that reflect their own values.

Part of MCPL’s mission, Lawhorn said, is to provide equitable and impartial access to information.

“We believe, and are champions of, intellectual freedom,” Lawhorn said.

“That’s the foundation of libraries as a whole, and that’s something we are incredibly committed to.”

Lawhorn said other local county libraries do not have the same community support.

“It’s important to be able to choose what you want to consume and when and how,” Lawhorn said. Sophia Congdon, second-year Master of Library Sciences student and president of the IU Bloomington

For example, she said, when books that discuss sexuality get banned, it can restrict children from learning about the human body and puberty during that period of their life.

Congdon said libraries can often deal with requests to ban books by simply moving challenged material from the children’s or teenager’s section and into the adult section.

The smaller the library, Congdon said, the more harmful book bans are. Without enough room for separation of departments, there is no way to just move the book from one section to the next, so the book must be completely removed.

“I think that a lot of people masquerade under this children’s crusade that they have going where they’re like, we want harmful books out of the reach of children,” Congdon said. “But in reality, what they’re doing is promoting censorship at all levels.”

Howard Rosenbaum, professor of information science in the Department of Information and Library Science in the Luddy School at IUB, is an expert on intellectual freedom. He defined the term as “the ability people have to think for themselves without outside interference and without restriction.”

Book banning has become an important instrument in culture wars, Rosenbaum said. He also said banning books makes librarians’ jobs more difficult, as they lose access to all materials possible to curate a collection.

The process of book ban request reviews does not have an equivalent process in schools, Rosenbaum said, which means school librarians are often simply told what they can and can’t include.

Lawhorn said Banned Books Week especially took off around 2021, when campaigns to suppress books grew. Rosenbaum echoed that, saying since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a nationally organized effort to ban books.

Rosenbaum said students must have intellectual freedom in order to learn. People who push for book bans, he said, seem to operate under the assumption that books are the primary way that children learn about the world.

He said that the irony of the book-banning movement is the fact that children learn most of what they know from social media and a mix of other information sources.

Still, Rosenbaum said books serve an important purpose of giving children alternate views of the world, and students’ learning is negatively affected by book bans. “People should have the right to pursue whatever information they want and develop their own ways of thinking, even if it’s ways of thinking that you don’t agree with,” Rosenbaum said.

EMERSON ELLEDGE | IDS

Protesters hold up a banner reading, "Why axe the IDS Homecoming issue??" with a link to the IDS' digital paper during the Homecoming parade Oct. 17, 2025, outside of the Indiana Memorial Union in Bloomington. Around 25 people attended the demonstration, and some chanted and held signs as the parade passed.

Letter of support for our Media School faculty

Guest writer

We, the undersigned, are emeriti faculty members of the IU School of Journalism (now the Media School).

Some of us hold degrees from IU. Some of us were student reporters at IU or elsewhere in our day. Some of us chose to join the faculty here because of IU’s reputation as a fine university and one with an accredited journalism program ranked among the best in the country. Some of us spent our entire

Advait Save (he/him) is a junior studying economics and sociology.

Tucker Carlson visited IU on Oct. 21 for Turning Point USA’s event honoring Charlie Kirk’s legacy after his tragic assassination at Utah Valley University last month. This event carries emotional weight for many Hoosiers. It’s of particular importance given the controversy surrounding some of Carlson’s remarks.

Due to the political and contested nature of this event, we must deeply reflect on what a university is, and how we must conduct ourselves when confronted with ideas that we may agree or disagree with.

Universities are, at their core, sites of knowledge production. Knowledge production is the entire process through which ideas are generated, challenged and refined within a community, making it both an intellectual and social process.

This definition is naturally permissible as we consider universities to be democratic institutions where everyone has the right to speak. So, in this broader sense, knowledge is not only produced in laboratories or within published academic papers. It is a living process of claims and counterclaims open to everyone.

Philosophers since Plato have argued knowledge is justified true belief. Basically, a belief that aspires toward the truth and is backed by justification. But in a university setting, that definition

academic careers at IU; others came later, following professional and academic careers elsewhere. Some of us represent a mix of the above.

All of us, it is fair to say, share the emotions of our school’s current faculty and students: shock, frustration, anger, disbelief that the IU administration has taken the steps it has to stifle, to censor, the IDS. The local, national — now even international — attention the campus’s actions have cast an ominous light on this

university and its disregard for free expression. We write this note not to try to deal with the details of what has occurred on the campus this past week or to recount past issues. We expect to learn more in the coming days. Instead, our message here is one of strong support for our journalism faculty colleagues on the ground and in the classroom today. Their statement of Oct. 17, signed by Journalism’s 19 faculty members, calls for specific

action to demonstrate the administration’s “commitment to journalism’s future.”

We support our colleagues’ courage to speak out and their dedication to uphold the values and reputation of journalism at IU. We applaud their unfailing support of the IDS and particularly of the current courageous student editors and their staff.

We call on the dean of the Media School and university administrators to take to heart the messages

ADVAIT WRITES

they are reading, hearing and seeing from colleagues on campus, in town, across the country and beyond. We call on them to engage in good faith with the Media School faculty and students to resolve the current issues and to begin to restore the reputation tattered by last week’s actions. If Dean Tolchinsky, Associate Dean Clavio and Assistant Dean McFall do not accept and support the independence of the IDS that the Indiana University Board of Trustees protected in the 1969

Campus discourse needs humility

is unsettled, as we must first assume that no one owns the truth in its entirety. We must then view the truth as something to be pursued and not owned. The pursuit of truth happens through open discussion and free expression, which helps people reach closer to pursuing the truth collectively.

If no one holds the truth, our universities must become spaces where even conflicting or unpopular ideas find refuge, so they get a chance to play a role in refining our understanding of the world. In effect, those at universities should view knowledge, and the pursuit of it, with humility. We, as students, must adopt this humble ethic.

When speakers like Tucker Carlson visit our campus, they can hold a mirror to our own integrity in fostering a campus that allows all speakers to contribute to the process of knowledge.

To engage humbly does not mean to suspend critique but instead means to critique without having the arrogance of certainty over knowledge. It means recognizing that even when we challenge claims, our own might be flawed. To subscribe to humility is to accept that our knowledge is fallible. We must remain humble enough to revise our beliefs. In classrooms, debates or even speaker events, our act of engaging must presuppose respect for everyone. Respect does not mean one agrees with a particular claim but acknowledges that their own claim may be

wrong.

Humility, then, is not a passive act. It is active in its practice of having the willingness to listen, question and respond proportionately. It is what keeps a university from turning into a theater of self-righteous voices. For if such a thing were to happen, that would mean the rejection of the very process through which understanding grows.

To protect knowledge production at universities, certain practical steps in engagement should be adopted. This includes preparing

by reading primary sources and credible reports so that one’s responses are grounded in evidence and not ad hominem. It requires one to be an attentive listener to keep track of empirical claims, resisting responses to potential snark comments and preparing counter speech rooted in deliberation.

It’s essential to show respect for all, as it serves two functions of granting people the same rational agency we claim for ourselves and committing to the process of discourse through which an understanding can be reached.

ERRANT ERIC

When we adhere to this principle, we move toward extending a speaker’s event into a pedagogical event of educational value.

Conversely, when engaging with speakers devolves into personal attacks or aims to silence people, it claims arrogance over knowledge, and whatever potential educational value people could derive is lost.

I, therefore, wish to frame humility as a civic virtue for engaging in expression within the context of the university. It is the duty of the university and ours as students to

structure our common life to become a laboratory of fallibility; an institution where beliefs are freely expressed, contested and improved. Inviting contest is the way to keep this laboratory functioning. If we are to maintain our university’s nature of producing knowledge, inviting speakers like Carlson is a welcome step in this direction. Our responsibility in that case is to meet such an event with humility and respect to build a university that values openness.

ausave@iu.edu

SATIRE: Local genius defends dissertation in Kelley Compass 1

Eric Cannon (he/him) is a sophomore studying philosophy and political science and currently serves as a member of IU Student Government.

A 10-pound dissertation hot off the Wells Library West Wing printer slammed on a desk, breaking the nervous silence in a Hodge Hall room brimming with students Monday morning. Professor Herman B Hoosier, who teaches the 5:30 a.m. section of Kelley Compass 1, said the desk snapped after bending under the paper’s weight. With midterm season over, Hoosier and his students are

reflecting on this spectacle.

“Bro,” Kyle McNutt, a senior majoring in finance, said.

“When I saw that massive midterm, I knew mine was cooked.” The midterm belongs to John Spea, a freshman on a pre-Kelley track. In Spea’s senior year of high school, he competed in the National Overachievers Association scholarship competition. After placing second, he said he vowed never to be outdone again. Since then, he has raised his hand for every question a professor has asked, even when he was

only walking past the classroom.

“I always try to answer in five paragraph format,” Spea said.

Hoosier said he assigned an essay for the class midterm, encouraging students to express their networking aspirations, but emphasized that they should not stress over the work.

“This isn’t rocket science, after all,” Hoosier said. “It was just participation points. I wanted to get my students thinking.”

According to the class syllabus, the recommended

word limit on the essay was 500 words.

“I knew this was my chance,” Spea said. “I just imagined the joy on Professor Hoosier’s face when he saw my 328-page critique of contemporary research on West Germany’s comparative advantage in the Egyptian auto market from 1963 to ‘64 during President Sadat’s tariff regime.”

Spea shared a copy of his dissertation with the IDS. He followed this with a second copy, impressing editorial staff with flawless AP style.

“I prepared several ver-

sions in APA, MLA and Chicago format,” Spea said.

“When the Indiana Daily Student reached out, I pulled out my pocket AP style guide during lunch and made the necessary changes.”

According to his LinkedIn profile, Spea interns at three consulting firms while juggling a 20-credit course load, assistant teaching K-201 and keeping a 4.10 GPA.

“The unpaid internship almost gives me more joy than the two paid ones,” Spea said.

Spea told the IDS that he thinks Professor Hoosier

would have liked it if everyone in the class had turned in similar midterm papers. He said he fears Hoosier will not have enough bedtime reading. In an email to the IDS, Spea’s parents, John Sr. and Jane, said their son hopes to pass Kelley Compass 1 with at least 103% in the class.

“He views it as vital to his future career,” Jane wrote. “He tells us he asks Professor Hoosier for extra credit opportunities every day after class.”

ericcann@iu.edu

ILLUSTRATION BY EVELYN STRAUSS

Witch Faire brings local vendors to Bloomington

By Violet Kingsbury viokings@iu.edu

Spooky fun was brought to Bloomington’s Monroe County Fairgrounds with local vendors, tarot readings, costume contests and trickor-treating just a couple of weeks before Halloween.

Raine Hutchens, founder and event coordinator of Twig & Ash Pagan Event Planning, organized the Witch Faire with local vendors and practitioners, a costume contest and trickor-treating for families.

Hutchens said he grew up going to flea markets and was “enamored” by

By Steven Leatherwood sjleathe@iu.edu

the people selling goods. In 2021, he opened the Burnished Raven, a metaphysical shop in Bloomington that sold ritual items and witch-themed gifts. The shop has since closed.

Witch Faire vendors sell a variety of items including broomsticks, fall-themed nail sets, amigurumi crochet, crystal gemstone jewelry, “blind date with a book” selections, handmade clothing, soaps and art. Some attendees dressed up in costumes, mostly witch-themed, while others wore fall-related clothing

for the rainy afternoon.

“All of my events are kid friendly,” Hutchens said. “So, you can bring your kids, have something to do on a Sunday, and just take away a great warm feeling — that’s what I hope for.”

Katie Freeman owns Stellar Trinkets, which specializes in bracelets and key chains made from natural stones. She said it was her second time participating as a vendor in the Witch Faire.

“Everybody’s great here,” Freeman said. “You know, you always see all the smiling faces, everybody’s hap-

py. It’s a good time.”

Elizabeth Bowers and IU alumna Jasmine Litton, owners of EB&J Nails, a Bloomington-based presson nail business, began selling custom nail sets this year. Their designs featured tortoiseshell print, olives, apples, ghosts, pumpkins and stripes for the fall season. Attendees could pick the designs they liked and size them to fit their nailbed.

“It’s like the most affordable way for people to pick their own sets and also be able to express their unique

creativity by putting together a whole bunch of different, like, mishmash of combinations,” Litton said.

Thera Hermsen attended the Witch Faire for the first time this year to see the handmade crafts selection and products that vendors had to offer.

“I really like the handcrafted soaps,” Hermsen said. “They’re always very pleasant smelling.” Hutchens said he hopes attendees take away items from vendors and have a good time. Every time Hutchens hosts the Witch Faire, he devotes an hour to

trick-or-treating for families and a costume contest that brings the community together.

“We believe in one another, we believe in community, and just to show that, it’s a very positive thing for Bloomington to have this community that supports local,” Hutchens said.

Hutchens said he plans to hold his next seasonal, spooky-themed event Dec. 14 at Switchyard Park. The event will focus on Krampus, a Central European figure known as the opposite of Santa Claus.

COLUMN: 7 pop songs to add to your Halloween playlist

I am always a bit disappointed when I go to a Halloween party and everything that’s played is 40-year-old music, all from the same cult classic movies or bands. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with those songs, I crave something more. If I’m going to dress up as a vampire, surely I want to bop to something more than just “Ghostbusters.”

As a man with what some may describe as “girlypop”

Eilish can instantly make a playlist more sinister. Therefore, it was quite difficult to pick which of her songs would be best for this list. I debated between including Eilish’s 2019 song “Bad Guy” instead, because I think it can be the better choice for straight-up party music. But “Bury A Friend” certainly outperforms it in spookiness. With lyrics such as “step on the glass, staple your tongue,” it’s difficult to find a more horrific song in Eilish’s discography.

5. “Escapism.” by RAYE

RAYE and 070 Shake is a must-have on any party track list — in addition to “Von Dutch” by Charli xcx. The main reason I think it’s appropriate for a Halloween party is the overall darkness of the sound and the vivid lyrics that evoke an ethereal picture in the listener’s mind. This track also includes an organ which is, in my opinion, the best Halloween instrument. I think on Halloween we all have the same thought as RAYE of “I don’t wanna feel how I

did last night.”

4. “Cure For Me” by AURORA

If you’re thrilled by Mario Kart music, then “Cure For Me” by AURORA is perfect for you. I added this song for similar reasons to “Escapism.” Its lyrics are weird, and the vocal performance is otherworldly. This bouncy track could also be a nice refresher from the darker sound of many Halloween bops. AURORA’s themes of self-creation and

self-expression are perfect for a night of expressing yourself through costume.

3. “Abracadabra” by Lady Gaga

No, this is not the only Lady Gaga song on this list. No, I am not sorry. The melody of “Abracadabra” is infectious, and its lyrics are unabashedly incomprehensible — the telltale signs of an epic Gaga song. I picked this one for how witchy it is. The chorus sounds like a spell incantation, with the lyrics consisting of eldritch chant

could put both on your playlist and just have a Gagaheavy mix.

2. “supernatural” by Ariana Grande Arguably the least spooky in terms of sound, but I had to have this good witch on the list. Even if the music of Ariana Grande’s “supernatural” isn’t dark, I think the track has a somewhat alien quality, which is backed up by the UFO shown in the music video. This song is about being possessed by a supernatural feeling. Grande sings “this love’s track list.

In general, I think Billie

VIOLET KINGSBURY | IDS

Decorated brooms with flowers and charms are displayed at the Witch Faire on Oct. 19, 2025, at the Monroe County Fairgrounds. The event featured local vendors selling handmade crafts and goods. ILLUSTRATION

Author P. Djèlí Clark stops by Morgenstern Books

By Sofía Rodríguez sr73@iu.edu

Author and professor P. Djèlí Clark visited Morgenstern Books and Café on Oct. 17 as one of the final stops on his book tour to discuss his newest novella, “Ring Shout.”

With conversation led by Matthew Woods, bookseller and editor of Kismet Magazine, the bookstore hosted a free, public conversation about Clark’s work, which includes fantasy novels featuring marginalized voices embedded in history and his newest book.

“Ring Shout” started as an idea that wouldn’t come to life until more than 11 years later. Clark noted that he pulled inspiration from free people using folklore to talk about their trauma and utilize supernatural storytelling.

“This was a great depiction of the work I’d done previously...” Clark said. “It was a hodgepodge of stuff, I said ‘I want to write,’ and I knew the story I wanted to write.”

Clark’s visit was part of his mini tour for the paperback of a book previously released in 2020. The novella features a mix of genres like horror, fantasy and historical fiction. It features female main characters who fight against members of the Ku Klux Klan.

This wasn’t Clark’s first time at Morgenstern Books; he last visited in August 2024, when he spoke about “The Dead Cat Tail Assassins.” During the talk, Clark talked about how he wanted to be a well-rounded storyteller, exemplified by writing women as the main characters in

his novellas and focusing his story plots on traumatic times in history such as slavery. But he doesn’t hold himself to only one genre. Clark noted that he tries not to hold himself to one genre and occasionally uses folklore to talk about trauma in history.

“A lot of films were influences to be able to sit down and write ‘Ring Shout,’” Clark said.

When he’s not writing novellas, Clark goes by his legal name, Dexter Gabriel, and teaches at the University of

Connecticut as an assistant professor in the history department.

He said he pulls much of his inspiration for his books from the courses he teaches along with his students. He focuses his courses on African American history, including slavery and how it is portrayed in pop culture and in film.

Bloomington residents Gabriel and Savannah Mo visited Oct. 17 to hear the talk, buy a book and get it signed.

“I’ve really wanted to

read this book for a long time

and saw he was coming and thought it’d be really cool, I love the content of the book,” Savannah said. “I think it’s important to support authors who are creating stories that focus marginalized voices, I think Morgensterns does a really good job of showcasing those authors. I think that, especially as a white person, it’s important to be reading these kinds of books.”

Some guests at the program had never heard of Clark or his work, like Ga-

briel Mo, who said he’s now going to read the book after the talk.

While some came because they were fans of the book, others had different intentions.

“When we saw the description of the book, we were like, ‘This seems like a really good thing,’” sophomore Keira Tabb said.

Two IU students were tasked with finding something newsworthy along a bus route in Bloomington for a Media School class.

“Ours is bus route nine

which goes right down this street,” junior Grace Hunteman said. “I’m a big Morgensterns fan myself so when we were looking through Bloomington’s events I was like ‘Hey this is happening at the time we need to get this story, and this would be perfect to do, and I hadn’t heard of the author before.’”

Other guests were previous fans of Clark’s work, like archivist Amber Passen.

“I am here tonight because I fell in love with P. Djèlí Clark, mostly from the small, short story ‘A Dead Djinn in Cairo,’ and then just tripped down everything he’s ever written,” Passen said. “I wanted to hear him talk about his books.” For Clark, these book signings are a good opportunity to promote his books and increase his recognition.

“I think any writer, you want to get out and meet people and talk to them and talk about what your book’s about,” he said. “I think hopefully it gets people to buy my books and people want to converse with the author.” Clark is in the process of writing his next short stories for a different audience. This time, he’s working on a book for a younger audience.

“(It) is not horrific but does have some serious themes,” Clark said. “I’m working on a ‘Benny and the People Who Could Fly.’ It’s a fantasy type of story, it’s got magic, monsters and all that for a middle grade novel.” After the hour-long conversation with Woods, including questions from the audience, members of the audience lined up to get their book signed by Clark.

‘Moana Live-to-Film Concert’ to bring Polynesian music to IU

By Sophie Albert soalbert@iu.edu

“Disney’s Moana Live-toFilm Concert” is making its way to IU Auditorium on Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale now, starting at $20, and can be bought online on the IU Auditorium website or in person at the box office.

An hour before the show begins, Amber Racoma, who is Hawaiian, and members of IU’s Pacific Islander Student Association will host a preshow talk and activity. Racoma will perform traditional hula and teach some moves to attendees. The Pacific Islander Student Association will then lead a lei-making table where guests can make their own paper leis.

Juniyah Nazaire, a senior studying accounting and finance at IU and the president of PISA, said the preshow activities will be a fun opportunity to get more cultural context for “Moana.”

“The process of making a lei and giving a lei is about spreading aloha,” Nazaire

said. “So, it really gives context to ‘Moana’ in a way that it shows how to spread aloha and in what ways we can do that.”

This concert sets out to bring “Moana” to life by performing the accompanying score and songs live with a musical ensemble of top Hollywood studio musicians, including Polynesian percussionists and vocalists.

Ryan Keau Kalama is a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and educator who will be playing bass and singing lead vocals in the concert. Because most of the band is Polynesian, Kalama said, the music represents Polynesian culture well. He said that matters for proper pronunciation and representation on stage. Kalama said the percussion within the concert in particular brings the music and culture within the film to life. There are five percussionists in the show who each have authentic Polynesian percussion in-

COLUMN:

By Abby Whited abwhited@iu.edu

Scents are some of the most evocative avenues of capturing memory we have access to. There is something about smelling a familiar scent that make you feel like you’re right back in the moment when you first encountered it. Though it is impossible to really travel back in time and relive certain moments, experiencing scent memories may be the closest method we have to doing so. If you’re like me and often feel consumed by a longing to return to a previous time in your life, I suggest reconnecting with scents from that time.

We as humans move about the world primarily through sight. However, the survival of our ancestors relied on their sense of smell, and these primitive instincts still exist in our brains. Consequently, we associate emotions and memories with certain smells. Changing your personal scent with the seasons isn’t a new concept, but there is certainly a sense of renewal that comes with it. Just as scents can bring us back to who we once were, they can also serve as representations of who we are now. Whether it’s through scented candles, body lotions,

struments like a pahu and a to’ere, he said, all built by Anthony Stanley, one of the band members. In the concert, the percussion is a big focal point of the show, not just sonically, but visually as well.

“When you come to the show and see it live, it really makes the music just come alive. It has a pulse, you know. It becomes organic,” Kalama said. “Especially, again, some of the percussion parts really just pop when you see it live.”

Before joining the show, Kalama was concerned about the difficulties he’d face with the music — he doesn’t read musical notation. That meant extra challenges for him to learn the entire score.

“I liken it to the story of Moana, where she heard the call of the ocean. She always wanted to go out on the ocean and also for me that was going on tour,” Kalama said. “But then Moana has all these challenges, and I had

challenges learning the music, you know, areas of time where I didn’t even know if I could do it, if I was the right person for the job. But just like Moana, she persevered and after the experience, she had grown.”

Apart from the thrill of hearing the music from “Moana” live, this live-to-film concert is also a great opportunity to experience Polynesian culture and learn more about it.

Racoma said that in Hawaiian culture, there is something called “mana,” which is a spiritual power and energy that brings people together and promotes respect with love and sharing traditions. She said that this concept is very present throughout “Moana,” but that it’s also an important consideration for audiences to keep in mind while watching the film.

“A lot of people, you know, when they see hula dancing, they’re kind of like, ‘Oh wow, it’s so beautiful,’” Amber said. “But then

to really embrace the hula dancing and to understand what the music is about and what they’re talking about, that mana is there, it’s very strong.”

Scent memories and the power of seasonal fragrances

soaps or perfumes, adopting a different scent with each season can be a subtle but extremely powerful way to stay connected to yourself in the present.

Most people favor light, citrusy scents in the summertime and switch over to cozier, woody scents in the autumn. As a result, we associate these scent categories become associated with those seasons, giving allowing us to mentally transport back to those seasons whenever we smell them.

These are some common scent categories that people gravitate toward during the fall months.

Gourmands

Scents that feature sweet, edible notes reminiscent of baked goods and sweet treats are often characterized as gourmand, a term which originally describes someone who loves to eat.

Baking becomes more enjoyable during the colder months due to the warmth and comfort it provides — gourmand scents have the same effect. There is a sense of grounded comfort provided by these fragrances. The sweet, creamy notes of gourmand scents evoke a sense of warmth and gentleness that we search for when the weather gets colder and the days become

shorter. Year after year, these scents call us back to previous seasons, giving us comfort through the nostalgia they provide. Gourmand fragrances seem to wrap us in memory, reminding us of simpler, cozier moments even as we create new ones.

Smoky, spicy scents

Scents with spicy or woody notes comprise the more sophisticated, abstract side of the fall fragrance range. These types of scents tend to feel more mature than a sweet gourmand, providing a scent profile that is dimensional and energetic. Amber, cinnamon, clove and sandalwood notes give any basic scent an element of excitement, which can be perfect for embracing new changes with the autumn season. These types of notes provide an invigorating element to any fall fragrance. They possess a quality of vitality that can make any home or space feel alive, providing a spark in cold autumn weather.

Pumpkin and apple Pumpkin and apple are perhaps the most classically autumn scent characteristics and are often heavy with the nostalgia of seasons past. They are the notes most reminiscent of fall. A single

whiff can conjure memories of orange leaves crunching underfoot, a stroll through an orchard or a gathering around a table full of comfort food. The familiar notes of apple pies baking in an oven or pumpkin spice beverages carry not only pleasant aromas but the emotional texture of the fall season itself. These fresh apple and pumpkin scents are more than simply agents of nostalgia, though; they are tangible reminders of the passage of time and

past versions of ourselves. They allow us to revisit who we once were while also grounding us with who we are still becoming. The quiet beauty of scent is that it never exists only in the past; each time we encounter a certain scent, we associate it with a new memory or layer of experience. A cinnamon vanilla candle that once brought you cozy solitude while studying might now symbolize a new opportunity or a season of change. Smells of freshly baked Thanksgiving

desserts or of a walk through an apple orchard remind us that we can return to the same scents each year, yet they always have the potential to mean something slightly different than they did the year before. As the days become shorter and the air becomes chillier, allow yourself to embrace your favorite scents of the fall season. Let them serve not just as reminders of the past but as time capsules open to new memories you can look back on for years to come.

MOVIE STILLS DATABASE Maui and Moana, voiced by Dwayne Johnson and Auli’i Cravalho, respectively, sail across the ocean in a promotional still for the Disney film “Moana.” The “Moana Live-to-Film Concert” will come to IU on Oct. 24, with a live performance of the score and songs played along with the film.

ILLUSTRATION

Could Big Ten schools use NIL deals to circumvent salary cap?

House settlement could exacerbated transparency concerns with Big Ten NIL disclosures

By Mia Hilkowitz, Nathan Shriberg, Savannah Slone, Kasey Watkins

and the Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism sports@idsnews.com

Big Ten universities reported thousands of thirdparty name, image, and likeness deals to the NCAA this year, just as they have since NIL’s introduction in 2021. The highest payments are valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

But the conference’s biggest earners, and the companies behind these deals, are still a mystery to the public, an Indiana Daily Student and Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism investigation found.

The landmark $2.8 billion House v. NCAA settlement, which went into effect July 1, allows colleges to directly pay student athletes for their name, image and likeness. Schools that adopt the new revenue-sharing model for compensating student-athletes — including Indiana University — can pay them up to a cap of $20.5 million for the 2025-26 school year. This maximum is expected to increase each year until 2035, the last year of the settlement’s term.

While student-athletes can still sign third-party NIL deals, the agreements cannot be used to circumvent the salary cap and must be for a “valid business purpose.”

However, an IDS and Arnolt Center analysis of Big Ten universities’ NIL disclosures found major inconsistencies in schools’ reports — inconsistencies that could make it more difficult for the public to independently determine if schools are exceeding the cap.

In 2024, the since-reformed NCAA Division I Council unanimously decided to require studentathletes to share information on NIL agreements valued at more than $600 with their schools. Schools were then required to deidentify the data and provide it to the NCAA at least twice a year. The new rule aimed to create a nationwide standard disclosure requirement. At the time, at least 20 states had varying laws requiring student-athletes to share the information.

The IDS and Arnolt Center requested NIL disclosures from 14 Big Ten schools reported between Aug. 1, 2024, and Feb. 18, 2025, before the House settlement took effect. Six schools — Maryland, Michigan, Michigan

“I don’t see a reason why these student-athletes should be treated different to someone who is a really talented musician who’s going to university, or someone who’s a really talented actor or anyone else monetizing their name, image and likeness while they’re at a university,”

Thilo Kunkel, NIL researcher

State, Minnesota, Oregon and Wisconsin — provided redacted disclosures or deidentified the data. Eight others either denied or never fulfilled the request, submitted in February.

The schools’ disclosures included inconsistent information, making it more difficult to compare deals across the conference. Some schools detailed the athletes’ gender or the team they played for, while others omitted information.

All schools’ disclosures also included a category for the type of activity connected to the deal — activities including posting on social media or signing autographs. However, one of the most common activity types for four schools was listed as “other.” Minnesota partly or fully redacted most activity descriptions. School representatives didn’t respond to requests for clarification on what this unspecified category could include. Without this information, the public can’t decipher how much athletes are being paid and why.

Michigan State specified when school resources were used to help athletes secure deals, but no other university did in their disclosures. Most school representatives didn’t respond to requests for comment about when school resources are used. However, Nebraska, which the IDS did not obtain records for, specified the school has agreements with Opendorse and The Brandr Group to help athletes secure NIL deals.

There’s limited public information about some of the conference’s most expensive deals.

Michigan reported a $70,000 “representation disclosure” deal paid to a single athlete in September 2024 but does not specify the athlete’s sport or gender.

At Michigan State, a football player received $36,000 for posting on Instagram, though the details on the post were redacted. Another football player at Michigan State received $24,101 for signing autographs.

Maryland disclosed an NIL deal valued at $250,000 but provided little information on the deal. The activ-

ity was dated Jan. 7, 2025, but was categorized as “other.” No information on the athlete(s) or sport involved was provided. No other disclosed deal surpassed $75,000 in value.

Wisconsin reported a deal from Jan. 15 valued at $153,462.50. Like Maryland, Wisconsin provided very little information about the deal. The activity type was listed as “other,” and it was specified that a collective was the compensating party, although no specific collective was identified. No information was given about the athlete(s) or sport that the deal involved and no other deal surpassed $77,000.

Oregon provided 3,768 NIL disclosures dating from July 1, 2021, to Jan. 1, 2025. However, of the disclosures, only 161 of the transactions included the monetary value. All of the value-disclosed transactions occurred between July 1, 2021, and Oct. 5, 2021. The highest disclosed transactions were a football autograph signing worth $10,500 and $10,000 for a “NFT digital trading card deal” for a football player. Minnesota redacted nearly all of the information on the four documents provided. The transaction, athlete and vendor were often redacted while the value of the deals was usually available, but there were inconsistencies across all four documents.

In an email to the IDS, Minnesota executive associate athletic director Jeremiah Carter and senior associate athletic director Paul Rovnak said Minnesota redacts any date indirectly or directly related to the student athlete “to separate public and private information.” They said public information available about the deals “makes redaction more variable in certain circumstances.”

The House settlement tasks the newly-created College Sports Commission with enforcing third-party NIL deal regulations and requires student-athletes to report some deals to the clearinghouse “NIL Go.” Though IU did not fulfill the request for disclosures, Jeremy Gray, Indiana senior

associate athletic director, said Indiana operates NIL deals exclusively through the newly formed NIL Go. Indiana doesn’t screen any potential vendors for deals, nor does it possess any records of NIL deals made by its student-athletes, Gray said. Additionally, no external parties can access the records kept by NIL Go.

Gray said Indiana is uninvolved in the process of screening NIL partners and deals, and that it would only become aware of a deal violating NCAA rules (the House v. NCAA salary cap or others) if NIL Go notified them.

In the wake of the House settlement, all NIL deals valued at least $600 must be reported for approval. Recently, Front Office Sports reported major conference executives and NIL collectives have grown frustrated with the system, particularly at delays for NIL Go approval of deals. As a result, some collectives have started bypassing the approval system.

The lack of confidence in NIL Go raises concerns over Indiana’s hands-off approach to deals. If the collectives that make deals with Indiana student-athletes begin bypassing NIL Go, there wouldn’t be any screening of any NIL deals, leaving all parties unaware of any potential violations.

Michael LeRoy, labor and employment relations professor at the University of Illinois, said the public should have access to general disclosure data.

“It’s important for the public to remain confident in the integrity of the sport, and that entails disclosure of what agreements are being made,” LeRoy said. “Not necessarily the amounts, but with whom.”

Each institution also redacted the student-athletes’ names and the vendors behind the deal.

“The school has an interest in ensuring that athletes are not making deals that would essentially embarrass the school and embarrass the team and degrade the brand of the school,” LeRoy said.

NIL researcher Thilo Kunkel, however, doesn’t believe detailed NIL disclosures should be available to members of the general

public.

“I don’t see a reason why these student-athletes should be treated different to someone who is a really talented musician who’s going to university, or someone who’s a really talented actor or anyone else monetizing their name, image and likeness while they’re at a university,” Kunkel said.

“Some random person” should not be able to see what a student-athlete’s personal income is, he said. However, he believes universities should be able to have some level of oversight if they start paying athletes directly.

“I think here it makes sense to understand why a specific student-athlete that engages in sport at that university, why they’re sometimes being paid more than the president of the university or some of the faculty or anyone in competing or anyone working at that university,” Kunkel said. Half the schools did not disclose athletes’ gender. LeRoy said he doesn’t think it’s necessarily important to see what individual athletes are earning, rather a breakdown of what schools are spending in the aggregate on each team. He argues it’s important for the public and experts to see the gender breakdown of NIL deals to identify potential disparities between male and female athletes.

“As we move into the new athletic model for universities at the D1 level, we’re likely to see cutting back on non-revenue sports, and this would impact women more than men,” he said. “So, this, again, drives the NIL conversation. Are sports going to be cut in order to increase the payroll for the football team or the men’s basketball team?”

LeRoy said schools and the NCAA should still disclose third-party NIL deals, even if the House settlement has created a “new NIL era.”

“The No. 1 reason is so that you can ensure that one school is not outspending its rival school, and everybody’s playing by the rules,” he said. “But unless you have that disclosure, you don’t know that for a fact.”

The Arnolt Center and IDS didn’t request records from Northwestern, USC, Penn State and Nebraska because they are not subject to the same public records laws as the other Big Ten public universities. Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio State, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA and Washington denied or never fulfilled the requests.

ILLUSTRATION

COLUMN: This year’s Homecoming felt different. Indiana is the reason why

By Quinn Richards qmrichar@iu.edu | @quinn_richa

By 5 a.m. Oct. 18, a

swarm of crimson-clad early risers wrapped around Kirkwood Avenue’s Upstairs

Pub. The few drowsy souls motivated enough to make their way to Bloomington’s social hub did so with the intention of snagging a complimentary Homecoming T-shirt — one that depicted Indiana’s Hoosier the Bison throwing Michigan State’s Sparty the Spartan into a bottomless pit.

The mascot-ified parody of the film “300” was a creative way to depict an impending result every Hoosier fan knew. Indiana was going to beat Michigan State.

About three hours later, the tailgate fields began filling up. Droves of cars inched their way through long queues before pulling into their designated lots, giving way to tents, tables and cornhole boards.

As the sun rose, empty dishes of eggs, hash browns and donuts were replaced with plates of burgers, bratwursts and nachos. The back-and-forth barrage of cornhole bags was replaced with crowded sessions of football catch as the Hoosiers’ Homecoming matchup with the Spartans drew closer.

With an hour until kickoff, some fans began sauntering into Memorial Stadium to take their assigned seats. Others remained under tents and sat in comfortable lawn chairs, content hearing the excitement from the cheers of those within. A few dozen were treated to a

cover band’s rendition of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Californication” on the lawns surrounding the outdoor practice fields. For those who annually frequent Bloomington in the fall, the tailgating festivities are nothing new. The Indiana faithful have long since mastered the art of enjoying adult beverages underneath the waking birds in the trees above. Still, this time, things were different. There was a sense of calmness in the brisk morning breeze. The typically seen basketball jerseys were replaced by T-shirts that read, “Football School.”

Students milled around in groups wearing apparel depicting Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti’s face. For once, uncertainty over the Hoosiers’ gridiron matchup didn’t cloud the air surrounding Memorial Stadium. For once, basketball enthusiasm hadn’t already replaced pigskin misery. For once, Indiana football was something to be celebrated.

“It’s a more unique Homecoming given where the program is and what’s been accomplished so far,” one IU alumnus said, standing behind a table littered with hot dogs. “It’s definitely different.”

A more seasoned Hoosier fan added more insight.

“I’ve had season tickets off and on since ‘72 and I’ve seen a lot of bad football,” Greg Murray, another IU alumnus, said. “For one time, we’re a football school and not a basketball school.”

Last season, the unproven Hoosiers steamrolled through their Homecoming matchup with a 56-7 win over Nebraska. While the impressive performance was, well, impressive, it was early into Cignetti’s tenure. The Indiana fanbase hadn’t yet seen what the program’s new wave of leadership was capable of.

Sportsbook. There were no questions. The Hoosiers’ biggest obstacle was a halfhour weather delay that created a rather lengthy halftime. When Cignetti’s squad returned from its luxurious locker room vacation, it finished off a 38-13 victory over the Spartans. The students who weathered the storm, including a 20-row section of towelwaving shirtless men, were treated to a fitting conclusion to the Homecoming festivities. Redshirt junior left tackle Carter Smith carried the Old Brass Spittoon, the trophy given to the winner of the annual matchup, and jogged to the student section before hoisting it up to share in celebration with the outstretched arms of fans above. It was a celebration worth having. For the first time since 1969, Indiana took home the unique — and possibly unsanitary — prize in back-to-back seasons. Just before I headed into the game, I stopped by

That’s since changed. Af-

ter a trip to the College Football Playoff and a historic road win against then-No. 3 Oregon, the Hoosiers are ranked No. 2 in the country in The Associated Press’ Top 25 poll — the highest national ranking in program history.

“It’s just astounding,” Bill Benner, former sportswriter for The Indianapolis Star and an IU graduate, said. “I just keep shaking my head, trying to suspend my disbelief, because I really believe that they are for real.”

Indiana was a 27.5-point favorite against Michigan State according to FanDuel

Sisley headlines dominant win over Marian

By Dalton James, Kasey Watkins jamesdm@iu.edu | @kaslwatk@iu.edu

Darian DeVries sat alone in a red chair on the east sideline with his left leg crossed over his right.

It was an hour and 15 minutes before Indiana men’s basketball faced Marian University inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, and DeVries was focused on observing. The Hoosiers’ post players warmed up to his left while the Knights took shots to his right. Just over three hours later, the final buzzer sounded. Although Oct. 17’s contest was an exhibition, DeVries’ squad cruised to a 107-46 victory over Marian in its first game in front of the Hoosier faithful.

Here are four takeaways from Oct. 17’s dismantling:

Tucker DeVries’ standout performance

It was Darian DeVries who was largely the talk of Indiana men’s basketball’s offseason. He built a newlook roster with 10 transfers and three freshmen and spent the summer readying the Hoosiers for his first season in Bloomington. But it was his son Tucker DeVries who showed plenty of promise against the Knights on Oct. 17. The redshirt senior forward scored Indiana’s first 9 points from all levels: beyond the arc, a 2-point basket, inside the lane with a dunk and at the free throw line. Three other Hoosiers accumulated the Cream and Crimson’s next 11 points.

DeVries followed with back-to-back 3-pointers and a pair of makes from the charity stripe. He scored 23 points — tied for the gamehigh — as he went 7 for 9 from the field and 5 for 7 be-

yond the arc.

“I thought he (Tucker) did a good job kind of just playing,” Darian DeVries said postgame. “One of his better qualities, I think, is just his feel and his IQ, and his ability to kind of play off of defenses. ...I thought he had a nice, solid floor game tonight.”

For Indiana’s new roster, the first unfamiliarity came in drills at practice and with the playbook. But having players like Tucker DeVries and redshirt senior guard Conor Enright, who have a prior understanding of each, led Darian DeVries to challenge them as leaders.

“I mean, it’s great to have a guy like Tucker,” senior forward Sam Alexis said postgame. “He’s been playing in this offense for a long time, so he’s the guy. He’s a great leader on and off the court.”

Trent Sisley

Ahead of the matchup, four Hoosiers were sidelined with injuries in junior guards Nick Dorn and Jason Drake, freshman guard Aleska Ristic and sophomore forward Josh Harris.

With the injuries adding up for the Hoosiers before the start of regular season play, a variety of players are getting the chance to show their capabilities in different lineups.

“We got a lot of people hurt right now, so it’s everyone stepping up, playing different roles in practice,” Sisley said postgame. “Everyone’s learning new spots. So, I think for me, just getting that experience early, it’s been good for me.”

Freshman forward Trent Sisley took advantage of these opportunities in his 23-point performance Oct. 17. The Indiana native finished the night shooting 4

for 4 from the 3-point line, 8 for 10 from the field and 3 for 4 from the free throw line in his 26 minutes on the court.

Following the game, Darian DeVries said he was happy about the freshman’s performance and looks forward to seeing his development throughout the season.

“I’m really excited about the things he’s doing, and he continues to grow and get better every day,” Darian DeVries said.

Offense (assists and 3s) Indiana didn’t have any trouble scoring throughout the night and demonstrated its ability to shoot 3-pointers and share the ball.

In the first half alone, Indiana put up 67 points off 64.9% shooting from the field and 60% from 3-point range. Indiana dished 17 assists off 24 made field goals. The offensive efficiency continued into the second half as Indiana put up 40 more points and shot 50% from the field.

Indiana finished the night with 15 made 3-pointers and 27 assists on 39 field goals.

While the statistics speak for themselves, the players’ confidence in their shot making was apparent postgame.

“I feel like we shoot it pretty well in practice — even better than we did

tonight,” Alexis said. “So, y’all going to keep seeing us shoot, keep making shots.”

Doesn’t count? Don’t tell the Hoosiers Indiana played three contests in Puerto Rico in August against two opponents. Since then, the Hoosiers have constantly faced each other in practice and in an intrasquad scrimmage Oct. 3.

Despite the Cream and Crimson overwhelming Marian — a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics program — Oct. 17 allowed the DeVries-led squad to face a team in a different color jersey.

“Our thoughts was just

come in, play hard no matter who we play tonight,” Alexis said. “We was just excited to play someone besides us. So we just came in and attacked the game.” DeVries said exhibition games are challenging because they don’t count toward the Hoosiers’ regularseason record. But taking on the Knights provided ingame repetitions to improve on both ends of the floor.

“Exhibition games are especially really challenging,” DeVries said. “We know it’s not counting for anything. We’re just working on ourselves. That was a big thing leading up to the game, and every timeout is just focused on us.”

LAUREN MCKINNEY | IDS

Redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza attempts to break a tackle against Michigan State on Oct. 18, 2025, at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington. The Hoosiers defeated the Spartans 38-13.

BRIANA PACE | IDS

Redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries dribbles the ball during the game against Marian University on Oct. 17, 2025, at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington. DeVries scored 23 points against the Knights.

Indiana improves to No. 2 in AP Poll after win

By Conor Banks conbanks@iu.edu | @conorbanks06

Indiana football improved to No. 2 in The Associated Press’ Top 25 Poll released SOct. 19. The Hoosiers were ranked No. 3 prior to their matchup against Michigan State on Oct. 18 — the highest mark in program history. Meanwhile, the University of Miami held the No. 2 spot entering Week 8. But the Hurricanes suffered a 24-21 loss to the University of Louisville on Oct. 17, dropping seven spots to No. 9 in the poll. This allowed the Hoosiers to claim the No. 2 spot in the rankings after their 38-13 victory over Michigan State on Oct. 18, setting a new program record.

Redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza led the Hoosiers to an efficient offensive outing Oct. 18, scoring on six of their eight possessions. Mendoza completed 24 of 28 pass attempts for 332 yards and four touchdowns.

Senior wide receiver Elijah Sarratt secured two of Mendoza’s passing touchdowns, while redshirt junior

wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. added 115 yards and a score through the air. The Big Ten owns five top25 teams in the latest AP Poll. Ohio State remains at No. 1 in the rankings after its dominant 34-0 win against Wisconsin, and Oregon jumped two spots to No. 6 following its 56-10 victory over Rutgers. Michigan and Illinois both reentered the top-25 af-

VOLLEYBALL

ter falling out of the rankings last week. The Wolverines sit at No. 25 after their 24-7 win over Washington, while the Fighting Illini jumped to No. 23 in the rankings after a bye week.

USC held the No. 20 slot heading into the week, but fell out of the rankings entirely following its 34-24 loss against Notre Dame over the weekend. Nebraska also

dropped out of the poll after its 24-6 defeat against Minnesota onOct. 17. The Cornhuskers previously owned No. 25 in the rankings. Undefeated Indiana returns Oct. 25 to Memorial Stadium in Bloomington to take on UCLA, where FOX’s “Big Noon Kickoff” will make an appearance. Kickoff is scheduled for noon, and will be streamed on FOX.

No. 22 Indiana snaps losing skid, defeats Ohio State at home

By Savannah Slone

srslone@iu.edu | @savrivers06

Ahead of No. 22 Indiana volleyball’s match against Ohio State, it had played just one game inside of its home gym, Wilkinson Hall, since Sept. 5.

The Hoosiers had trips to Chicago, Kentucky and Evanston, Illinois, before returning to Bloomington on Sept. 27 and defeating Washington. Indiana then went to Los Angeles for a weekend followed by a trip to Michigan and a stop at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, where it was the designated home team.

Across those 12 contests, Indiana recorded just three losses and knocked down two ranked opponents in then-No. 17 USC and thenNo. 24 UCLA. But two of the Hoosiers’ losses were consecutive defeats to Michigan State on Oct. 12 and No. 12 Purdue on Oct. 16, putting Indiana on a two-game losing skid for the first time this season ahead of its contest Oct. 19.

“We all woke up really pissed off when we lost against Purdue,” Indiana senior opposite hitter Avry Tatum said after the win. “So we kind of just took that as motivation into this match and that was like the biggest thing that we did.”

While Tatum and the Hoosiers carried that emo-

tion into the match against the Buckeyes, they looked sluggish from the start. Ohio State started the first set with a 3-0 run in which 2 points came off attack errors from Tatum.

Indiana went on a run of its own to take a small lead over Ohio State and ultimately won the set. In the second set, the Hoosiers struggled to find any rhythm and fell 25-18. Indiana once again looked sluggish in the third and fourth sets but gained momentum late to win the match 3-1 over the Buckeyes on Oct. 19 afternoon at Wilkinson Hall.

The win improved the Hoosiers’ record to 15-3 overall and 6-2 in the Big Ten. The 15 wins matches Indiana’s total from last year, and the Hoosiers’ season is just over halfway through.

Indiana head coach Steve Aird said the biggest thing he wants his squad to carry into the rest of the season is “rest.” He told his team to take care of themselves, recover from the travel and be ready to work hard Oct. 21 when practice starts for the week.

“I just think they need to take a deep breath, you know,” Arid said. “Purdue was really emotional. We were super bummed we didn’t get it done and then we just were in the mud a lot today, so we found out way

out of it.”

Tatum recognized that the win over a struggling Ohio State team — which has recorded just three wins this season, all of which were nonconference — was essential for Indiana to “continue on doing what we want to do.”

“I think October’s a grind,” Tatum said. “And I think we kind of have the mindset coming into this game like ‘We need to get back into the groove of things.’ And I think Ohio State’s a really good team, so we kind of just had to buckle down on the scouting report and everything that we needed to do in order to win this match.”

Freshman outside hitter

Jaidyn Jager and Tatum said with the consecutive losses ahead of the match, there was an element of added pressure on the Hoosiers’ ability to pull off a win at their home gym.

The duo was right. Over halfway into the season, it was crucial for Indiana to stop the string of losses, especially with a slew of ranked matchups left on its schedule — starting with No. 18 Minnesota on Oct. 24 at Wilkinson Hall.

During the match, the NCAA D1 women’s volleyball committee released the in-season top 16. The committee put the Hoosiers at No. 14, which reflects

what seeding the committee would give teams if the 2025 NCAA Tournament started today. For the top 16, the committee considers “strength of schedule, top10 wins and head-to-head

FOOTBALL

competition,” among other factors in its rankings, according to the NCAA website. Indiana hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2010 when it had an overall

record of 23-12 and won its first two tournament matches before falling to USC. The win over Ohio State brought Indiana one step closer to making its return to the tournament.

DL Kellan Wyatt suffered ‘long-term injury’ vs. Michigan State

By Dalton James jamesdm@iu.edu | @daltonmjames

Indiana football lost two players to seasonending injuries across the first three contests of the season. Since then, the Hoosiers have been mostly healthy. However, Indiana didn’t escape its 38-13 victory over Michigan State on Oct. 18 without an ailment. Senior defensive lineman Kellan

Wyatt suffered a knee injury with just over nine minutes left in the contest. “Right now it looks like a long-term injury,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said during a press conference Oct. 20. “I’m not sure if we’ll see him the rest of the season or not.” Wyatt was pass rushing and engaged with a Spartans’ offensive tackle when his leg was extended. It came down “a little funny,”

Cignetti said, leading him to lie on the 38-yard line after the play. He eventually walked off the field under his own power with a limp.

Through Indiana’s seven games this season, Wyatt accumulated 27 total tackles, eight tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. On Oct. 13, Cignetti dubbed Wyatt a “key acquisition,” one who’s impressed since he arrived in Bloomington from Maryland after spring practice.

Now, senior defensive lineman Stephen Daley will be tasked with slotting into Wyatt’s role. Daley also joined the Hoosiers after spring, transferring from Kent State University. Daley has notched 7.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks alongside 16 total tackles.

“He’s a guy I really wish we had a couple years because he’s a tremendous athlete and once he’s learned the defense, he’s

really making fast progress,” Cignetti said. “He has size, strength, speed, suddenness. He plays hard. He was our player of the game on defense last week.”

Cignetti said he’s always run relatively short practices as a head coach, explaining they’ve probably shortened as the years progress. He wants his team to be fully prepared but still fresh and healthy. Since Cignetti hired Der-

ek Owings as his strength and conditioning coach at James Madison University ahead of the 2020 season, his squads have largely prevented soft tissue injuries — common in college football. Most knee injuries, though, are different. “A lot of the knees that occur nowadays can be non-contact,” Cignetti said. “Not much you can do about it. It’s outside of your control.”

LAUREN MCKINNEY |

Redshirt junior quarterback

KAITLYN STACY | IDS

Senior outside hitter Candela Alonso-Corcelles passes the ball in the game against Ohio State on Oct. 19, 2025, at Wilkinson Hall in Bloomington. Alonso-Corcelles got eight digs during the win game against the

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