Indiana University fully cut the Indiana Daily Student’s print newspaper — including the special publications it had earlier indicated it wanted us to run — Oct. 14, hours after firing its student media director. Our next edition, part of volume 158, in our 158th year of publication, was set to go out Oct. 16.
IU and The Media School had previously directed the IDS to stop printing news coverage in our newspaper. Only the special editions, traditionally included as inserts in our paper.
Telling us what we can and cannot print is unlawful censorship. The Student Press Law Center agrees and had told the university to reverse course.
After former Director of Student Media Jim Rodenbush resisted, IU fired him. When we asked them to rescind the order, it cut print entirely.
So the newsstands Thursday, Oct. 16, and all other Thursdays from now on, will not have news, sports, arts or investigative stories. No letters. Not even the special publications they had originally wanted us to print.
We didn’t make this call. Media School Dean David Tolchinsky sent the order to us in an email responding to our appeal that the school not censor our newspaper. He didn’t respond when we asked for clarification.
When approached Oct. 15, Tolchinsky had no substantial response to questions surrounding Rodenbush’s termination or cutting IDS print entirely. Galen Clavio, the Media School’s associate dean for undergraduate education, told the IDS his understanding was that an interim director of student media “has either been named or will be shortly” and a search is coming.
We reached back out to multiple administrators and IU spokesperson Mark Bode on Oct. 15 for further clarification.
“Indiana University Bloomington is firmly committed to the free expression and editorial independence of student media,” IU Bloomington Chancellor David Reingold said in a statement. “The university has not and will not interfere with their editorial judgment.”
“In support of the Media School and implementation of their Action Plan, the campus is completing the shift from print to digital effective this week,” he continued. “To be clear, the campus’ decision concerns the medium of distribution, not editorial content. 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
Mia Hilkowitz Co-editor-in-chief
pursue stories freely and without interference.”
As it stands, we have no way to trust this. To cut print entirely is a clear, blatant reaction to our protests. Or maybe the university cut print this week by pure coincidence?
What happens to our advertising contracts, which make us money?
Does the university care if our reputation among advertisers plummets? It seems the budget may not be the only consideration behind IU's decision.
What happens when the university decides it’s had enough of our digital presence? That our independent reporting doesn’t benefit “the campus?” Perhaps if our deficit continues online — after all the aforementioned issues — cutting back operations entirely could be framed as a budgetary decision.
The Media School is more focused on censorship than real solutions for student media. Is this really the best use of the university’s resources? Or of ours? Editorial decisions, including the contents of our print product, firmly lie in the hands of the students.
This is not about print. This is about a breach of editorial independence. If IU decides certain types of content are “bad for business,” what stops them from prohibiting stories that hold them to account on our other platforms?
We don’t want to say our voices are completely cut out. We’ve had extremely productive discussions with Michael Arnold, executive director of integrated public media. Already in his new role, he’s worked to understand our perspective. We hope this continues in the future.
But “the campus” is focusing its attention in the wrong directions: censorship, hostility and irrational business.
When administrators are unwilling to bring student media to the table, there’s no way for us to believe they are acting in good faith. When we directly brought up the potential the school would direct us to stop printing news in a meeting earlier this semester with Media School administrators, they danced around the issue.
We’re waiting to come to the table. We will continue to resist as long as the university disregards the law. Any other
Andrew Miller Co-editor-in-chief
Utilities fall back on goals amid AI data center boom
By Ella Curlin elcurlin@iu.edu
All of Indiana’s major electric utilities have halted or reversed plans to transition to clean energy, according to a Sept. 22 press release by the Sierra Club.
IU’s 2023 Climate Action Plan, which mapped out steps for IU to reach carbon neutrality by 2040, predicted grid decarbonization by utility companies would account for 44.7% of IU’s total decarbonization. The university did not respond to a request for comment.
This year’s “The Dirty Truth Report” from the Sierra Club, a national environmental advocacy group, found Duke Indiana and CenterPoint Energy both cut plans for clean energy and pushed back retiring coal energy, while the Northern Indiana Public Service Company and Applied Energy Services Indiana moved to build new gas plants.
Utilities across the country earned an average score of 15 out of 100 on their plans to retire coal, transition to clean energy and stop building new gas power plants. Meanwhile, energy prices have surged this year. A July report by Indiana activist group Citizens Action Coalition found for residential customers, Indiana’s energy prices had seen the biggest increase in two decades.
Ben Inskeep, program director of Citizens Action Coalition, said the growth of artificial intelligence data centers means Indiana’s energy demand is “going up very rapidly.”
A state law passed in 2019
incentivizes developers to build data centers in Indiana by offering tax exemptions on equipment and energy purchases. Qualifying centers can receive exemptions for up to 25 years for projects costing $750 million or less, and up to 50 years for projects exceeding $750 million. States across the country have implemented similar exemptions, with the hope that data centers will boost economies and revitalize rural areas by creating jobs and drawing in other businesses.
In Virginia, a global data center hotspot, a legislative oversight committee ran an analysis in 2023 on the economic impacts of data centers. The review found that most economic benefits from data centers resulted
from the construction phase, which typically lasted 1218 months and employed about 1,500 workers.
As of August, there were 72 data centers operating out of Indiana, up from 56 in March.
Megan Anderson, senior organizer with the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign in Indiana, said companies are in a rush to get data centers built.
“You have developers shopping in each community to build these data centers wherever it’s the cheapest and wherever they can get it done the fastest,” Anderson said.
NIPSCO has plans to build a natural gas plant to serve data centers, with potential emissions of 7 mil-
lion tons of carbon dioxide a year, the third highest in the state.
Inskeep said utility companies are extending the lives of their coal plants to meet energy demand without having to pay for new infrastructure.
In 2024, Duke Energy delayed the planned closure of its coal plant in Gibson County from 2035 to 2038, despite earlier plans to eliminate coal by 2035.
Duke Energy Indiana spokesperson Angeline Protogere said in a statement that the company’s power generation decisions weigh the increasing demand for power, energy costs for consumers and changing environmental regulations.
Protogere stated Duke
Energy also needs to prove to the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, which runs the electric grid in much of the Central United States, that they can meet energy costs year-round.
That puts weather-dependent energy sources like solar at a disadvantage.
“Our ultimate obligation is to provide power that is reliable and the lowest cost possible for customers while we modernize aging infrastructure with more efficient generation,” Protogere said in the statement.
Noah Stubbs, a spokesperson with CenterPoint energy, stated that CenterPoint’s 2025 energy plan is still under development.
“The Sierra Club’s report does not fully reflect the
broad set of considerations utilities must weigh today, including rising resource costs, shifting federal incentives and evolving environmental regulations,” Stubbs said in a statement.
As utilities try to meet Indiana’s increased demand for energy, Inskeep said legislators from the federal to the local level are pushing back against renewable energy.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by the U.S. Congress in July eliminated many of the Inflation Reduction Act’s federal tax credits for renewable energy.
On the state level, 72 of 92 counties in Indiana block renewable energy installations with moratoriums or bans, often driven by concerns about solar or wind power taking up farmland or decreasing home values.
Monroe County restricts solar farms to certain zoning districts and includes certain requirements on properties like height, spacing and fencing. Power lines must be buried underground unless specially permitted by the county.
Accessory solar panels, which are used to power structures on their property, must follow minimum spacing requirements and may require a permit. Inskeep said while the Citizens Action Coalition supports local government “having a say” on renewable installations, local bans are setting Indiana back.
“That’s just not a feasible way of having an economy in the 21st century,” Inskeep said. “You can’t ban all types of clean energy and have a thriving economic future.”
Filmmakers say free speech ‘worth fighting for’ in documentary
By Ian Collier icollier@iu.edu
“Freedoms Under Assault,” a documentary critiquing Indiana University’s administration, debuted to a packed Buskirk-Chumley Theater on Oct. 12, 2025.
The documentary was created by award-winning filmmaker Jacky Comforty and IU Chancellor’s Professor Emeritus Robert Arnove. The film combines video from the past two years with archival footage from as far back as the 1960s to capture how IU has changed.
Those interviewed in the documentary, many of whom were in attendance at the Buskirk-Chumley, provided personal accounts of events such as the forceful arrest of protesters at a proPalestinian encampment in Dunn Meadow last year and the enforcement of IU’s Expressive Activity Policy against candlelight vigils that purposefully violated the policy near Sample Gates.
Ushers had to turn people away after the theater reached capacity at 500, Arnove said. The crowd for the showing was lively, giving audible reactions to almost every on-screen appearance of former and current IU faculty and administrators, including an eruption of boos for President Pamela Whit-
ten.
The crowd gave loud applause for former IU President Herman B Wells, as well as for faculty who spoke against IU administration’s position on topics like tenure, institutional economy, academic freedom, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.
Former IU Associate Vice President for Overseas Study Kathleen Sideli told the filmmakers she hadn’t heard so much applause since she “saw the Beatles back in the 1960s.”
The idea for the documentary began when Comforty, a filmmaker who won a Gold Award at the Florence International Film Festival for his work on “Balkan Jazz,” reached out to Arnove, a frequent collaborator and friend, who he called his “brother from another mother.”
Comforty told Arnove about a friend that had been dealing with censorship at a different university and suggested making a documentary about similar issues they saw at IU.
Arnove agreed to make the documentary as long as Comforty helped. The pair worked together on “Monument to Love,” a documentary about Comforty’s mother which explores the perspective of Jewish people during
the Holocaust.
“I’ve distributed my own work since more than 35 years,” Comforty said, “but this is insane, in a way, also the most mainstream newsoriented and news-related and news-working film I’ve ever been involved in, and so I think there is a huge audience for it.”
At one point in the documentary, former IU trustee Vivian Winston discussed
the removal of the three alumni-elected members on the Board of Trustees. Gov. Mike Braun removed Winston on May 31, after a lastminute addition to the state budget bill gave him sole authority to appoint the board.
Justin Vasel, a former Board of Trustees candidate, is suing Braun for the change. Vasel attended the screening and felt connected with the lively audience’s reaction to the film.
“Having put a lot of work into a campaign and hoping for the chance to try to make the university better, having that suddenly taken away was a pretty devastating experience,” Vasel said. “Being in the room with everybody, it just reminded me that the IU community is one that really cares about everyone else in their community.”
Arnove said IU has
changed over the years and that top programs and majors are “under attack.” By documenting events and providing interviewees’ reaction to them, Arnove said he hopes to contextualize recent changes for students who aren’t as familiar with the events depicted in the documentary.
“This university which they came to is under assault and being dismantled piece by piece,” Arnove said.
The film is a work in progress, Comforty said, and pointed to editing, camera work and a more focused approach to its story as needed changes. Both filmmakers said that one of the biggest challenges in making the documentary was the abundance of material they wanted to include. The filmmakers often found themselves having to rush to cover
events as they unfolded in real time.
By screening film at the Buskirk-Chumley before it’s finished, the filmmakers sought funding to finish the film and share it with film festivals. After receiving what they estimated to be around $16,000 after the screening, both through a GoFundMe and two full buckets of donations, Arnove and Comforty said they are set on distributing the film to the largest possible audience.
Arnove said one of the film’s main purposes is “to inform and mobilize.”
“We’re standing up to bullies with it,” Arnove said. The film’s values are stated clearly as the end credits begin to roll over a protester standing in front of Sample Gates, who yells: “IU is worth fighting for. Free speech is worth fighting for.”
Don’t curse your gen eds. Learn for learning’s sake
Sasha Burton (she/her) is a sophomore studying elementary education with minors in English and Spanish.
“When are we ever going to use this?”
My middle school algebra teacher had a poster hanging prominently on his classroom wall with the same heading. Whenever he heard the question, he would say nothing. He would point to the poster, which listed what seemed like a hundred jobs that intersected with algebra concepts. I hated it when he did that. Now that I have started college, I have a new perspective.
My algebra teacher’s poster tried to prove that even rarely used skills still matter. Every bit of learning shapes how we think and how we grow. All education is important because no time spent learning is wasted.
These days, I hear “when are we ever going to use this?” most often in reference to general education classes. IU’s general education requirements include English composition, math, history, science, world languages and arts and humanities.
I agree that arts and humanities don’t have much to do with, say, a science or business major. And vice versa, science doesn’t have a lot of relevance to a voice major.
But studying disciplines outside of our fields of study makes us more wellrounded. It promotes a baseline of knowledge that every student should have. It also helps with general learning skills like critical thinking and problem solving, which are crucial when a student goes into the real world.
Beyond that, general
education classes allow us to explore interests outside of our major. They give us chances to learn about things we never would have thought of exploring.
When we set out to pick a major in college, wellmeaning family and friends often tell us that picking a field more likely to lead to a well-paying job is most important. This indicates a tendency in our society to value college education for job training rather than the inherent benefits of learning. These societal expectations lead to fear that if you don’t end up using your degree in your future career, your hard work will all be for nothing.
While a college education does function as job training, it is so much more than that. It is a chance to study with a variety of different people. It is a chance to soak up as much knowledge as you can get, to learn from others’
perspectives even within your chosen field of study.
Education is valuable. It is a power that we, as college students, are very privileged to have access to. Educated people gain a great understanding of the world around them, and they develop skills to interpret it.
Any learning contributes to your body of knowledge and helps form your life experience, on which every decision you make is based. It also helps strengthen connections in your brain, improving skills and memory.
As an adult, you are expected to make informed decisions about things as small as which groceries to buy, and as large as which news outlets to follow and what politicians to vote for. All of the skills that an education develops work to make those decisions easier. An education creates
context, a process to follow, to allow confidence in those decisions.
Reducing a college education to simply job training ignores the value that it has beyond that.
College is expensive. That is no secret. It is natural to want to get your money’s worth. However, I believe you are paying for experience. You aren’t just learning in the classroom. You are having a “trial run” at adulthood.
On campus, you are learning how to manage your own time and prioritize what you personally value. You are also learning how to grocery shop, how to find a place to live. All will continue to be important for the rest of your life.
You also learn how to act professionally and respectfully during group projects, and how to interact with friends and roommates.
Don’t disregard this social learning. Even a major where a job may be more difficult to find, then, is valuable. There are passionate people in many different fields who should be allowed to study what they are passionate about without being accused of wasting their time. No time spent learning is time wasted. Each experience, lesson learned and mistake made counts. About this time of the semester, I often get inundated with stress about midterms and piles of assignments. It is important to take a step back and appreciate what college gives us. In the end, my middle school math teacher was right. All learning is valuable. Even algebra. sashburt@iu.edu
Short-term pleasure and long-term health: the science of drinking behaviors
Odessa Lyon (she/her)
is a senior studying biology and English, pursuing a minor in European studies.
You hear shouts outside your window. Cackles echo down the street. The hair rises on the back of your neck. Dragging its legs slowly behind, Halloween approaches slowly, ushering in one of college students’ heaviest drinking events: Halloweekend.
More than a litany of niche yet nonchalant costumes, the Halloween celebrator must come equipped with an understanding of both the pleasures and damages of drinking, as inseparable as they are. While fun in social events and socially prescribed as a norm, it does take its toll on your body — and, no, red wine is not an exception.
To further their debate, let me don my Ms. Frizzle costume and take you on a “Magic School Bus” ride of alcohol’s journey and its effects: short-term and long-term, good and bad. Seatbelts, everyone!
On a night out, you may immediately notice a mixed bag of symptoms — euphoric feelings and vertigo, but also frequent urination and passing or blacking out. But how can you weigh that last shot of throat-burning Jose Cuervo if you don’t know what those symptoms mean?
That sense of euphoria is the release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens of your brain’s basal forebrain — its processing factory of reward, motivation and pleasure. Each sip of alcohol lights up these reward centers like a cheap Christmas tree, one that might short-circuit your whole house. Your body is constantly having internal
conversations, so if alcohol is constantly providing pleasure signals, your brain will stop producing its own; thus, your baseline feelings of reward, motivation and pleasure plummet. What ensues is often addiction, and that line between drinking enough to let loose and so much that it’s dangerous is blurry. This blurriness is dangerous, even though we are generally aware that tolerance levels vary greatly — for “lightweights” or “heavyweights” — because biologically female bodies are at a higher risk for health effects from lower amounts
of alcohol, notwithstanding your genetic predisposition of sensitivity to its rewarding effects. For example, most of us have experienced or heard stories of vertigo and overflowing bladders: stumbling into cabs, going to the bathroom every five minutes or even peeing their pants. Surprisingly, dehydration lurks behind these funny yet embarrassing anecdotes.
Alcohol stops the release of vasopressin, a hormone that suppresses the production of urine, forcing your kidneys to release more water than they should; not
only do you pee more, but this forced dehydration leads to vertigo by impacting the levels of fluid in your ears, vitamin B1 in your body and brain signals for balance and hearing. Vertigo, defined as a feeling of being off-balance, in turn causes many classic symptoms like headache, nausea, dizziness, vomiting or swaying. These short-term effects, left unchecked, can deteriorate into long-term consequences: chronic dehydration,anemia, balance problems and incontinence for those with weak or overactive bladders. Even in the short term,
severe loss of fluids — like vertiginous vomiting — can cause dangerously low blood pressure and a fast heart rate, risking alcohol poisoning or death.
So, while you may enjoy the merry-go-round of vertigo, enhancing the euphoria of dancing or simply staring up at the spinning ceiling in bed, your body won’t sympathize. The sedative sleep that follows, sudden and dreamless, is also a warning sign. It shortens and delays the rapid eye movement stage of sleep, wherein you dream and sleep’s most important work gets done.
It improves memory and problem-solving by pruning synapses, regulates mood by processing emotional memories and supports braindevelopment, protecting against dementia. Long-term alcoholinduced passing out and lighter sleep have been linked to cognitive dysfunction and emotional imbalance, and it has been called a possible contributor to the cycle of addiction. Memory dysfunction follows blacking out, worsened by drinking heavily and quickly on antidepressants or an empty stomach. College students surveyed in 2002 learned later that “they had vandalized property, driven an automobile, had sexual intercourse, or engaged in other risky behaviors.” Not only can you completely (en bloc) or partially (fragmentary) stop having memories while awake and conscious, but your hippocampus is under attack. Injury to your hippocampus impairs your ability to “create memories, remember specific moments or process information like names, dates, places and events,” according to the Cleveland Clinic. They say to love someone else, you must first love yourself; well, I say to have fun drinking, you must first understand that fun. Sure, dress up as a witch that loves a glass of Spanish Malbec, but not necessarily a cauldron full. Red wine’s antioxidants won’t save you — no drink can counteract what it does. Like Mother Earth, you only get one body. Treat it like you want to keep having fun, in moderation. oolyon@iu.edu
THE LYON LENS
ILLUSTRATION BY ODESSA LYON
Habitat for Humanity to host 15th build with IU Kelley
By Ella Curlin elcurlin@iu.edu
Starting Oct. 16, stu-
dent volunteers will build houses in the Osage Place neighborhood in southwest Bloomington for the 15th annual Whirlpool Habitat
Build. The event is a collaboration between IU Kelley School of Business, Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County and Whirlpool Corporation, a home appliance company.
While Kelley students are encouraged to volunteer, Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County President and CEO Wendi Goodlett said the opportunity is open to all students.
From Oct. 16 to Nov. 1, volunteers will frame five
Volunteers will build five homes in southwest Bloomington beginning Oct. 16
homes with funding from the Whirlpool Foundation’s BuildBetter program, which offers grants to Habitat for Humanity affiliates to build energy-efficient and climate-resilient homes.
BuildBetter homes are designed to reduce costs for homeowners by keeping the energy bill as close to zero as possible with improved construction materials like insulation, windows or heating and cooling systems.
The yearly event started in 2010 under the direction of now-retired Whirlpool CEO Jeff Fettig, a Kelley graduate. Since then, the program has built 14 homes and housed 50 people. To commemorate the 15th anniversary of the collaboration, Fettig and other orga-
nizers will attend a public celebration Oct. 18 at the build site. Rosa Skinner, the global senior manager of corporate social responsibility and community relations for Whirlpool Corporation, said volunteer employees from Whirlpool will work alongside students, faculty and staff.
“It really provides a unique opportunity for students to engage with us and have some workforce development,” Skinner said.
Skinner said Whirlpool will be recruiting for its BUILD Emerging Leaders Program, which provides workforce development and networking opportunities for freshmen and sophomores pursuing a bachelor’s degree and interested in careers in engineering or busi-
ness. The volunteers will also be joined by the future homeowners, who are required to contribute 250 hours of volunteer work as part of Habitat for Humanity’s “sweat equity” program, which aims to involve homeowners in the construction process, Goodlett said.
The last house will go to Bloomington residents Onga Masumbuko, Emmanuel Ngongo Kanamuli and their four children. The family is from the Republic of the Congo, but they came to Bloomington from Burundi, a country in east Africa, where they spent 23 years as refugees, Skinner said.
Students can volunteer or learn more at Kelley School of Business’s website.
LILY WELCH | IDS
The Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County office is pictured Oct. 13, 2025, at 213 E. Kirkwood Ave. in Bloomington. The nonprofit partnered with the Kelley School of Business and Whirlpool Corporation for its 15th annual Whirlpool Habitat Build.
For IU women’s wrestling club, fighting is family
By Nadia Suben nadsuben@iu.edu
There’s a certain music to the IU women’s wrestling club’s practice: the shuffle of shoes against vinyl, the beat of panting breaths, the syncopation of grunts and lunges, the hum of a fan whirring in vain against Bloomington’s late-summer heat.
Music, indeed. Circulating around the room, coach Erwin Salazar calls, “Be purposeful, almost dance-like.”
This mid-September practice, the first of the season, began with the team gathered in a circle. The athletes stretched on the red-and-yellow flooring of Bloomington High School North’s gym while discussing what they learned in classes and debating their controversial pop culture takes.
Club members arrive to a chorus of greetings and celebrations, whether the athlete has been attending practice for a year or is new to the mat.
Now, it’s time to warm up. The athletes laugh and continue catching up as they jog easily around the perimeter of the room, then slowly traverse the floor, lunging to simulate a match, then resume jogging.
It’s not just the first practice of the year; it’s a family reunion.
Juniors Maggie Boncosky and Manroop Turna founded the club at the beginning of the 2024-25 academic year. Both wrestlers in high school, Boncosky and Turna found limited options for continuing their careers in college.
“Right now, as a woman, you have to choose between going to a big, academically rigorous university, or a much smaller, probably less prestigious school to wrestle,” Boncosky said. “We both chose to pursue education at a higher level but wanted to continue wrestling.”
The popularity of women’s wrestling is skyrocketing. In 2023 alone, the number of girls wrestling in high school rose by nearly 60% from the previous year, after growing by five times over the previous decade. The Indiana High School Athletic Association sanctioned girls’ wrestling in April 2024, the number of athletes dedicated to the sport having grown to the thousands. This past July, women’s wrestling became a NCAA championship sport.
Still, prejudices that wrestling is incompatible with conventional femininity or that women lack the temperament for the sport are prevalent. As a result, women’s wrestling remains something of a fledgling sport in terms of formal recognition. There are only four NCAA Division I varsity women’s wrestling teams, in contrast to the 78 Division I varsity men’s wrestling teams nationwide.
Although IU’s club is a dedicated space for female students to grow as wrestlers, it isn’t open only to women. Around four men, a combination of IU students seeking to dip their toes into the sport for the first time and local high schoolers, participate in practice, too.
“There are a lot of unique challenges that come with being in this sport,” Boncosky said.
“Everybody knows that being on a toxic team or being in a bad environment isn’t an added challenge we need to deal with.”
Boncosky came to the sport almost by chance. Bored after one of her high school volleyball seasons, she decided to sit in on a wrestling practice. She said the kindness of the community immediately grabbed her. This early exposure to a positive team environment remains central to Boncosky’s continued career, as Salazar was her high school coach.
Helping lead IU’s club, Boncosky said, has been an opportunity to give back to the sport she loves.
“Wrestling gets under your skin; it gets in your blood,” Boncosky said. “I don’t know that anyone who’s done this sport, competed in it and found family in it could go back to a life without it.”
A core principle of wrestling, a sport demanding aggression, is that what happens on the mat stays there. At the second of this week’s practices, this agreement is on full display.
This second practice is decidedly technical: club members learn about the minutiae of point scoring, the particulars of different moves, the principles of compromising an opponent. The team splits up to work on different maneuvers in pairs. Partners agree on whether they will assume an offensive or defensive position, then take to the mat.
Learning moves must, at least initially, be approached academically. Partners talk through steps with each other, lunging, grabbing and turning slowly, methodically. When a step is forgotten, misplaced or approached improperly, they rewind. Questions are a necessary part of the process. “From this angle? With this arm? In this order?”
And, once on the mat, again and again: “Are you okay? Do you need help?”
While practice is preparation for competition, teammates can never, ultimately, be adversaries. This is combat free from malice, learning free from judgment. Successful moves are met with smiles and claps on shoulders. Challenges are taken with resolve to be conquered collaboratively.
After some time to practice independently, first-year member Eden Knight comes
forward to demonstrate a newly-learned skill. Knight seizes her partner’s legs, finds leverage under her ankles and begins to push. The gym erupts into cheers as Knight masters the freestyle wrestling leg lace in real time, turning her partner over a triumphant one, two, three, four times. When the maneuver is complete, Knight, panting, beams with pride.
The only smile bigger than Knight’s? Her partner’s.
Even as practice intensifies, the sport remains a family affair. But there’s no lack of drive on the team, whose roster boasts state champion wrestlers and athletes who turned down Division II and III varsity offers.
“Every athlete has that desire to compete,” said Turna, club co-founder and copresident. “You go at it and just keep showing up, consistently.”
For a break from partner work, the whole team gathers inside a circle drawn around the center of the gym floor to play a game. Because wrestling matches take place within defined boundaries, forcing a partner beyond those lines is a critical method of scoring. The game’s objective, then, is to be the last club member inside the circle.
A frenzy of movement starts as soon as the game begins. Teammates lunge at one another, grappling until a betraying heel stumbles just outside of the circle’s boundary, or taking opponents down and forcing them into compromised positions to force their concession. The
last woman standing basks in a round of applause. Then, everyone returns to the circle for another round. It’s anyone’s game.
Sophia Lancin has never been a stranger to competition. She was a nationally ranked Tae Kwon Do athlete for 10 years and a competitive cheerleader. So when she watched her brother start wrestling, she was immediately drawn to it.
“I thought, ‘why can’t I do this?’” Lancin said.
Lancin, a Connecticut native, went on to become one of the most decorated wrestlers in Weston High School’s history, winning three All-State titles and two New England titles. Despite her success, Lancin said she faced condescension and judgment as the only girl on her team.
Still, she remained convinced that a feminine wrestler was not an oxymoron. Now, at IU, Lancin feels she’s finally been proven right.
“When me and the girls on the team step off the mat, we go out, do our makeup, do stereotypically feminine things,” Lancin said. “Just because we’re in there working as hard as the guys doesn’t make us any less of a woman.”
A far cry from her high school experience, the IU club’s tightly-knit female community makes collegiate competition all the more invigorating for Lancin.
“When I came here, I was honestly scared: I’d never really had a girls’ commu-
topic of a conference for Indiana high school wrestling coaches she attended in August. While extreme weightcutting practices were once ubiquitous to the sport, the focus is shifting toward athlete safety, which sometimes means discouraging cutting weight altogether.
“If it’s a brand-new wrestler, we tell her to wrestle the way she is, to not even try it,” Boncosky said. “If it’s an experienced wrestler, we trust that she knows what she’s doing.”
The club’s strong sense of community acts as a safety rail and support system away from wrestling’s dangerous extremes. Here, the emphasis is on finding love of the sport and of the teammates by their side.
The club’s family environment is literal for freshmen Monica and Grace McMahon. Formally, the twins have been competing alongside each other since their sophomore year of high school, where they started the girls’ wrestling team at Columbus East High School. But coming from a family of nine siblings, the real training started sooner.
“We got a trampoline when we were little, and that’s really where the first wrestling matches happened,” Grace said. The McMahons were inspired to wrestle by their brothers taking up the sport and by a drive to hold their own in a competitive family. It was first at home, where showing up for their brothers’ tournaments was a priority, that Grace and Monica learned competition and support are not mutually exclusive.
For Monica, relearning this lesson as an IU club member has proven to be an antidote to early college homesickness.
“I had a rough start with conditioning, which is my worst nightmare,” Monica said. “But as we were going through the hardest part of it, the girls around me were so supportive. It healed a part of me — this team provides a home away from home.”
A nurturing team is all the more important in light of the psychological and athletic demands of wrestling. With those encouraging teammates, the McMahons said they have found empowerment in the sport.
“In this environment, it can really be, how can I, as an athlete — not based on my gender — push myself to the furthest?” Monica said.
For Grace, growth has meant learning when to stop pushing.
nity to call my own,” Lancin said. “But this is a sisterhood. These are the best people I’ve ever met in my life — I want to come to practice. I want to perform at game time.”
For all its empowerment and community, wrestling remains a high-risk activity.
According to the National Library of Medicine, wrestling is considered one of the world’s most physically taxing sports, with an injury rate second only to football. Instances of girls and women reporting serious wrestlingrelated injuries have grown in recent years, corresponding to women’s wrestling’s surge in popularity. The prevalence of weightcutting in wrestling amplifies the risks. Rapid weight cutting, undertaken to compete in lower weight classes, is associated with a higher likelihood of injury. Extreme measures to cut weight can also make athletes vulnerable to eating disorders, which women already tend to be more susceptible to than men.
Turna said the club’s efforts to provide high-quality coaching help protect against these risks.
“The moves are high-risk, but they’ll only injure you if you do them wrong or if you push too hard,” Turna said. “As teammates, you shouldn’t be pushing to that point.”
Risk awareness is becoming more important in the broader wrestling community. Boncosky said responsible weight cutting was a main
“I’m competitive to the point where it’s kind of unhealthy, so I’ve set the boundary for myself that I’m not going to compete in college,” Grace said. “I’m here for pure love of the sport.” This passion, and the family ties it engenders, are at the heart of wrestling.
“You have to love each other to beat the crap out of each other,” Monica said.
By the end of practice, conversation fades. Movement looks slower, more laborious, after an hour and a half of scrimmaging and troubleshooting maneuvers. The evening practice, capping off a week of classes, has tapped into the end of teammates’ energy reserves.
Cheeks are flushed, panting has crescendoed and the evening has grown tired. As the big blinking digital clock on the gym’s right wall inches past 7:30 p.m., teammates start to trudge off the mat. They dab at the sweat condensing around their faces as they break for the mound of backpacks, water bottles and street shoes piled at the side of the gym.
But even after 90 minutes of exertion and grappling, club members wear smiles. Conversation picks up again and the intense focus of competition and training relaxes back into camaraderie. Today’s work is done. Now, it’s time for a weekly team dinner. Everyone is invited. For the women’s wrestling club, the family
formed on the mat
JT FRENZEL |
Cougars were preparing for the upcoming wrestling season.
JT FRENZEL | IDS
School North in Bloomington. In 2023, the number of girls wrestling in high school rose by nearly 60% from the previous year.
JT FRENZEL | IDS Sophia Lancin poses for a photo before a practice Oct. 7, 2025, at Bloomington High School North in Bloomington. Lancin was a nationally ranked Tae Kwon Do athlete for 10 years.
JT FRENZEL | IDS
women’s wrestling club member Monica McMahon poses for a
photo before a practice Oct. 7, 2025, at Bloomington High School North in Bloomington. The second practice of the season was focused on learning different moves.
ARTS
Dance of ‘Hamlet’ provides artistic take
By Sophie Albert soalbert@iu.edu
“The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark,” by Canadian companies Côté Danse and Ex Machina, came to IU on Oct. 14 as part of its ongoing U.S. and international tour. The show is heralded by dancer and choreographer Guillaume Côté and multidisciplinary artist Robert Lepage, who joined together to bring “Hamlet” to life without words.
Anisa Tejpar, associate producer of Côté Danse, said this non-verbal version of the play can oftentimes help audiences better understand the story without the barrier of language.
“What this show does, our version, is it gets to the crux of the concepts and the ideas and the journey of these individual characters in a way that is very clear,” Tejpar said. “But all the themes are very present and current in today’s society, today’s politics, today’s stresses and pressures that individuals and humans have to go through.”
An hour before the show began, Tejpar discussed the inspiration behind the show and its creation in a preshow talk the auditorium organized. Tejpar said Lepage was inspired to create a dance version of “Hamlet” after putting on many different interpretations of the play himself. He convinced Côté to create the production with him, and after two years of workshopping, the production came together.
The show is made up of nine dancers who come from different dance backgrounds. The result is a dance that incorporates contemporary, ballet and hip
hop into a mesh of classical and modern movement.
The show began at 7:30 p.m. with dancers sprawled out on the floor. This was later revealed to be the end of the story. As the music began, the dancers came to life, immediately setting the dark and provocative tone of the production.
The minimalist set was made up of tables, chairs, mirrors and curtains. But these simple items managed to shapeshift throughout the show to create different settings and even reveal character’s inner thoughts. For example, the tables are at first used as actual tables, but later in the show they become a grave, a bed and an altar. Additionally, the mirrors are used as a normal mirror found in a vanity, but are later used to convey Ophelia’s mental state, taking the audience into her mind as she loses her sanity.
The curtains, while a seemingly simple piece of scenery, created breathtaking visuals that resulted in many gasps from the audience. The first notable use of the curtains is when Hamlet’s father visits him as a ghost to reveal how he died. In this production, a backlit curtain was draped over a dancer, creating a hauntingly beautiful dance. The curtain was then lifted up and pulled taught while dancers reenacted the king’s death through shadow work while Hamlet watched in horror.
Ophelia’s death was a favorite moment for the audience. After a solo dance leading up to her drowning, a blue curtain was unfurled. Ophelia walked up to the curtain and was lifted by dancers behind the curtain,
creating the illusion of being enveloped and carried by water.
Arts administration master’s students Ella Cope and Jade Ha both said Ophelia’s drowning sequence was their favorite part of the show.
“I thought the combination of the mirrored stage sequence where all of her insecurities and, sort of, the demons of her life in the palace are surrounding her, and then the upheaval of the water was really effective and beautiful,” Cope said.
The combination of the lighting, curtain and movement made this moment
stand out as a haunting and gorgeous portrait of Ophelia’s demise.
“Using a fabric and light and wind is a brilliant idea,” Ha said. “The portrait of, like, she’s drowned by sadness, not only water. It was very symbolic and it was very beautiful.”
Along with the effectiveness of the sets, the music played a vital role in bringing the story to life. The score, composed by John Gzowski, mixed traditional Danish instruments from the time period of “Hamlet” with modern instruments, like electric guitar. This created a dramatic and intense
backdrop for the dance and helped convey the emotions of the characters.
The show incorporates one piece of written word through a screen that types out different stage directions and descriptive writing. This simple aspect of the show also managed to leave audiences mystified as words and phrases were rearranged to turn their meanings on their heads.
Maryann Iaria, a retired IU employee and current Shakespeare actor for the Monroe County Civic Theater, was blown away by the production.
“It’s fantastic, I mean, it
was breathtaking,” Iaria said. After the show, Côté discussed how he put the show together, advice he had for emerging dancers and the value of communicating a story without words. “You see it bare bones and, in a way, it’s a two-hour version of ‘Hamlet’ that is truly kind of a little bit more, if I can humbly say, probably visceral instead of more cerebral,” Côté said in the discussion.
Ha said she didn’t want the show to end. “I felt like I’m in a bizarre dream that I don’t really want to wake up from, you know, I want this to last,” Ha said.
Furry friends light up the night for ‘Howl at the Moon’
By Emily Shannon shannone@iu.edu
Canines and their companions gathered for a night walk and received free glow sticks
With a pack of about 70 dogs waiting patiently for their walk to begin, the path on the north side of Switchyard Park was filled with canines wearing neon lights and dressed in Halloween costumes.
A small white dog pranced in a cheerleader outfit, and two more dogs jumped around in turquoise dinosaur costumes. One large black and white dog happily stepped up to strangers to have her ears scratched, as a second collar made from three glow sticks illuminated her dark fur.
With some daylight left and a slight chill in the air, the City of Bloomington’s “Howl at the Moon” dog walk began at about 7:30 p.m. Oct. 10. The annual night walk in Switchyard Park, one of multiple dogrelated events the city hosts, encourages Bloomington residents and their friendly dogs to walk on a 1.5-mile trek that loops around the park. The first 50 dogs received glow sticks to attach to their collars.
The fastest dogs sped to the front of the line, while slower canines trotted along at the back. The yapping quieted as each animal
sidled up to an owner or strained against the leash to sniff the fresh earth.
The city first held “Howl at the Moon” during the week of a full moon in October 2018, Community Events Coordinator Bill Ream said. Inspired by other glow-in-the-dark, dog-related and full moon events, like the “Full Moon Night Paddle” at Griffy Lake, the city offered leftover glow sticks from other community events to the dogs participating in “Howl at the Moon.” Ream said the kids and owners loved them, and the dogs were unbothered.
Ream said the walk, and events like it, are mostly attended by Bloomington residents and can be multigenerational, with lots of children coming to dogcentered events.
For this gathering, first-time participant Brad Snyder brought his 4-yearold border collie mix, Lucy, after hearing about “Howl at the Moon” from Facebook. Snyder said he could see himself coming again next year.
“Lucy is more interested in the humans than in the other dogs, so I like to bring her to interact with the dogs and people, and she does,” Snyder said. “She’s very,
very good in a crowd, just walking, good on a leash.”
For others, like dog owner Rose Hessert, who attended the event with her 6-month-old boxer-poodle mix, Morphy, the event marked a great training opportunity.
“The reason I wanted to do this one is because he doesn’t have any experience walking with a group,” Hessert said. “So, we’re going to use it as a training experience.”
Tori Thacker brought her 1-year-old Bloomington Animal Shelter rescue, Arizona, to “Howl at the Moon” for the first time in order to go out in the nice weather, grab a glow stick and work with her dog. Because of Arizona’s breed, Thacker said she wanted to bring her to events and get her used to new surroundings and people.
“Since she’s a pit bull mix, my personal project is to get her as well-socialized as possible, and this is a really good way to socialize her,” Thacker said.
The three owners appeared to be in consensus: socialization and training were the main factors in their decision to participate.
At the tail end of the walk, owners could visit a
table with treats and reward their obedient companions with snacks before heading home.
A few rowdy canines barked until the walk began or immediately dragged their owners into the grass,
but most of the animals were well-mannered, gentle and friendly — especially as they wore themselves out during the hour-long trek.
Since “Howl at the Moon” is an annual event, Ream said community
members can join in on the fun in the future. “There’s always room for more,” Ream said. “We’d love to have more people out, and it’s a good social event for a lot of the owners and for the dogs.”
COLUMN: Hollywood keeps re-reading the same love stories
By Ursula Stickelmaier
ustickel@iu.edu
Adapting popular books into a film or series is by no means a new trend.
Novels such as “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald and “The Godfather” by Mario Puzo have gone on to cement their legacy as classics with the help of their film counterparts. The “Harry Potter” film series played a huge role in making the magical universe more accessible for audiences.
From a studio standpoint, the reasons for taking a story from the page to the screen are clear. Book adaptations tend to already have an established fan base, there is rich source material to draw from and book adaptations are often easier to market to a wider audience. Financially, it’s
a solid move since popular books tend to generate films with at least a somewhat guaranteed success. A great example of this is “The Hunger Games,” adapted from Suzanne Collins’ book of the same name. Though the book series was already well established in the young adult book space, the 2012 film skyrocketed that popularity and grossed $694,394,724 worldwide after its box office debut. And, as a fan, hearing your favorite book is being adapted for the screen can be exciting news. Films and shows offer a whole new way for the worlds and characters readers love to come to life. While the saying “the book is always better than the movie” is still something fans typically keep in mind while watching the new release of
a treasured book, the films offer the chance to see a loved story in a new way.
Lately, these adaptations have been seen across all genres. Yet, there is no genre getting quite as many adaptations as romance. While romance books have almost always been a popular choice for adaptations, with classic romance novels by Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters having very popular films, in recent years it has felt like a majority of the rom-coms that come out are based on books.
Now I love a good romcom no matter where it comes from, but with the constant onslaught of adapted content coming to the romance genre, there seems to be little room for good, original stories.
When I think of what is currently popular in the
romantic comedy genre, there are many movies and series that come to mind: “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” “Regretting You,” and the “Culpables” series, starting with “Culpa Mía.”. What’s the common factor between all of these films? They are just a few of the films and movies in recent discussion adapted from other popular books. Along with these films there are just as many book adaptations that are in the works without official release dates. Look no further than Emily Henry, a popular author in the romance genre. Henry is rumored to have five adaptations in the works across different studios and streaming platforms. While her upcoming film “People We Meet on Vacation” is currently the most talked about, Henry’s books such
as “Book Lovers” and “Happy Place” are said to have future adaptations. While the hype around these films and others like them can often be very real, and in most cases not necessarily the worst thing, it only further highlights how little original cinematic romance has come out lately. Of all the new romance movies and shows I’ve watched this past year, of which there have been many, I would argue that only half of them were original stories. And of those original stories, an even smaller fraction of them were actually good instead of the Hallmarkesque, cliche ridden love stories we’ve gotten used to. I personally loved “Picture This,” which released on Amazon earlier this year in March. Starring Simone Ashley and Hero Fiennes
Tiffin, the film felt like a fun and refreshing take on romance and what we value in our lives. As a reader, it’s both a terrifying and thrilling experience to see a book you loved turned into a movie. That’s always been the case when adapting something so loved. What I never expected was to have that same feeling of excitement mixed with dread about an original rom-com.
I know original stories in rom-coms are possible. The romance movies of the 1990s and 2000s have proven that time and time again with films like “Sleepless in Seattle” and “27 Dresses” cementing themselves as rom-com classics in my mind. But now, more often than not, it seems that original romance screenwriting may be a lost art.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ROMAN BOLDYREV
Performer Greta Hodgkinson lays on the floor after her character’s death while Guillaume Côté leans over her during a performance. “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark,” created by Côté Danse and Ex Machina, reinvented the classic play through movement, light and shadow.
LILY WELCH | IDS
Patches Poo wears an orange pumpkin costume at the Howl at the Moon glow walk Oct. 10, 2025, at
Switchyard Park in Bloomington. The city first held Howl at the Moon in 2018.
Student community builds new bands and inspires musicians
By Stella Klaus ssklaus@iu.edu
From simple jam sessions to full-on concerts, Bloomington Delta Music Club is building a community of music lovers. As one of the biggest campus music clubs not affiliated with the Jacobs School of Music, BDMC works to create a safe space for people to share their passion for music and collaborate with musicians of all skill levels.
While the club hasn’t been around for very long, they have already made their mark in the local music scene. Bands like Opal and the newer band Garden Cinema are just some examples of the many club members who have been inspired through BDMC.
“I mean, the main goal of what we do as a club and I think what the club started as was just getting people together who like music because the majority of us don’t study music, we just love it,” BDMC co-president Riley Spitznagel said.
While the focus of the club is to give students across
any field of study a chance to perform and share their love for music, not every event is a big performance. BDMC hosts socials to give its members a chance to get to know one another through events like CD listening parties and non-music socials.
There’s also room for non-musicians — photographers and videographers create photos and videos for their website and Instagram, and graphic designers create posters for their Instagram and flyers for events.
BDMC often hosts jam sessions, led by the club’s music directors, to provide opportunities for members of all skill levels to play together and try out new genres.
“Most of the jams are centered around one genre, so you tend to have a lot of people that are interested in a specific genre show up,” Spitznagel said. “Then they start playing together and realize, ‘actually, I think we could make a band out of this, and that’s kind of how it goes.”
The club doesn’t offer music lessons, but jam ses-
sions are a good opportunity for people with little experience to learn. Often during jams, more experienced players will play something and newer players ask them questions about what they played and how they did it.
Along with these jams, club members have other opportunities to play with each other. BDMC plans several showcases each year, including a Halloween showcase Oct. 18. The showcase features their alt/indie/pop and metal/punk/emo genres playing Halloween-themed music. Oftentimes musicians and attendees will dress up in their costumes for the show.
There are two large events hosted every year. In the spring, BDMC organizes Presents, a six-hour outdoor music festival; last year’s was held at Waldron Hill Buskirk Park. The day is full of performances and usually includes food trucks. Additionally, later this fall will mark the club’s second Battle of the Bands, a new addition to the yearly event lineup.
Battle of the Bands participants without a band are
grouped together. For some teams, those random groupings turn into a more permanent band.
One of these groups, Always Late, has performed together since its win at last year’s battle. The band plays classic rock covers and has done a few gigs so far. It’s hoping to get more consistent.
“I think we just had really good chemistry, we all got along really well, and it was just really fun hanging out with each other,” Sophia Stephens, one of two lead singers for Always Late, said. “Most of the members already wanted to be in a band, so we were just like, ‘why wouldn’t we make a band?’”
Although the members have changed a bit since last year’s Battle of the Bands, Always Late is now an all-girl band with seven members who all participate in BDMC on some level. In the past, it included male members as well, but as they became too busy or graduated, the remaining group members decided to lean into it and seek out other girls to join.
“I think the rock space, especially right now, it’s very male-dominated still. I mean, it always sort of has been, but especially right now, just like, in Indiana, I feel like a lot of girls you do see in bands are singers,” Stephens said. “I’m hoping we can put ourselves out there more and maybe inspire other people.”
Playing mostly classic rock covers, the all-girl band finds inspiration from other women-led rock musicians, namely Heart, Blondie and Pat Benatar. Though they have been playing covers from other bands like Kansas and Kiss, the group’s ultimate goal is to create and perform more original music.
With the group’s busy schedules, Always Late likes to meet at least twice a week to practice covers. Through this, the members have become a very tight-knit group.
“We met through this club and we were able to play together through club events and I think if the club didn’t sponsor those events, or we never signed up for them, we would have never met and it would have been
very difficult to find likeminded people,” Lily Macey, lead singer, said. “All of them are my best friends, and we hang out all the time, which is a lot of fun.”
Another BDMC band that teamed up for Battle of the Bands and decided to continue, The Free Riders, plays a mix of country, southern rock and classic rock covers. The band has played a few gigs this semester, including one at Bring Your Own Business on Dunn Meadow, a house show Oct. 3 and an opening for Opal at The Bluebird on Oct. 10. The band practices weekly and hopes to play more house shows with an ultimate goal of regularly playing live at a bar.
“Honestly, it’s one of the most fun aspects of being a college student for me,” Oliver Trueblood, a guitarist for The Free Riders, said. “When I’ve got busier weeks with schoolwork where I’m kind of stressed, it’s like ‘ok, if I can get through this stuff, there’s a rehearsal on Wednesday or there’s a gig on Friday’ and that just helps me, like, stay motivated I guess.”
Jacobs alum Daniel Lelchuk blends virtuosity and vision in ‘Cello Sonata’
By Abby Whited abwhited@iu.edu
Since earning his cello performance diploma from IU’s Jacobs School of Music in 2012, Daniel Lelchuk has built a wide-ranging career within the music world that bridges performance, education and artistic direction.
His latest musical venture, a new recording titled “Cello Sonata,” marks just another step in his creative journey. The piece, a collaboration with contemporary composer Aidan Vass, was released Sept. 26 on Spotify and Apple Music.
Following his education at Jacobs, Lelchuk has played cello within several prestigious ensembles, including the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Opera House Muscat, where he served as associate principal cellist and principal cellist, respectively. His solo performances have also taken him to renowned stages around the world, such as the Castleton Festival and Rome’s Villa Aurora.
Beyond performance, Lelchuk has carved out a multi-faceted career. He is the founder of the Antigua Chamber Music Festival, host of the podcast “Talking Beats with Daniel Lelchuk,” developer of the cello curriculum for the music education platform Tonebase and instrument consultant for Boston’s Carriage House Violins.
“I’m very lucky, and I think I’m in the unique position that I’ve been able to see the music world from the full-time performance
view, from the 21st century tech pedagogical view and now from the business point of view,” he said. “So, I think I’ve just been very blessed to have this kind of three-pronged career.”
Twenty-two-year-old composer Aidan Vass, whose work is published with Hal Leonard and Santa Barbara Music Publishing, had the idea for “Cello Sonata” early last year. He approached Lelchuk about a possible collaboration and composed the piece over the next several months.
The sonata was recorded in Los Angeles in May 2025. It is a sprawling, 11-minute piece that goes in many different musical directions. It opens with a series of chromatic notes, which are returned to at the end of the piece.
The final recording features Lelchuk on cello and Vass on piano, creating an ongoing dialogue between the two instruments.
“The piece is really special because of the way the piano and cello interact,” Lelchuk said. “It’s almost improvisatory in the feeling, but it is very structured.”
Vass described his compositional process as building outward from the sonata’s most dramatic moment, crafting a journey through contrasting textures and tones. His creative vision was for the piece to be an exploration of musical color, expansion and vibrance.
“I was trying to lean more into what I can do with musical color. I wanted to make this piece really explore, and also really lean into musical gestures that
feel kind of really connected to nature,” he said. “So, like, creating musical gestures with the piano and cello where every phrase feels organic and kind of moves from one thing to the next thing.”
Vass detailed his appreciation for the way Lelchuk’s ability and interpretation add to the character of the final recording.
“He really knows how to lean into, like, the different characteristics of musical ideas,” Vass said. “He knows how to pull the color out of all these different musical gestures. And I think his ability to do that is just magical and is probably the thing that makes the color of the piece stand out.”
The ending of “Cello Sonata” is sparse as the instruments trail off, contributing to its rather unusual sounding conclusion. Lelchuk said he believes the ending leaves the piece on an interesting note, and that it will resonate emotionally with audiences.
“It has a sort of ambiguous, almost disturbing ending to it that is rather unsettling, and I find that very intriguing,” he said. “There’s almost a lack of finality in the ending and an emotional ambiguity. And I think audiences, when they start hearing it in concert, will find it very intriguing, too.”
Lelchuk will perform the sonata at Dartmouth College next spring, where he serves as the music department’s visiting scholar in residence. He will also perform the piece at next year’s Antigua Chamber Music Festival from Feb. 17-21.
By Ursula Stickelmaier ustickel@iu.edu @urose_18
“You’ve Got Mail” swaps out bookstores and emails for auto shops, socket wrenches and an online car forum in Amazon’s latest rom-com, “Maintenance Required.” Released Oct. 8, the film switches lanes from the typical rom-com formula with surprisingly entertaining results.
The movie follows Charlie (Madelaine Petsch), a car lover who runs an all-female mechanic shop called O’Malley’s. When Miller Boys, a corporate competitor of O’Malley’s, moves across the street and starts stealing business, Charlie shares her worries with her anonymous online confidant, Bullnose. What Charlie doesn’t know is that Bullnose’s real identity is Beau (Jacob Scipio), a corporate shark at Miller Boys and one of the very same people trying to shut O’Malley’s down for good.
From the synopsis alone, it’s obvious why this film has been compared to the beloved “You’ve Got Mail,” starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. In the 1998 rom-com, Ryan’s character struggles to keep her independent bookstore afloat when a corporate book retailer, owned by Hanks’ character, sets up shop around the corner from hers. As their respective businesses compete to shut each other down and survive, Hanks and Ryan are also falling in love online after meeting anonymously in an AOL chat room.
As soon as I mentally made that comparison, I was not hopeful for the fate of this movie. While I love “You’ve Got Mail” and think the romance between Ryan and Hanks makes for one of the more creative rom-coms I’ve seen, I wasn’t looking forward to a sorry recreation of a film I already knew. I feel like more and more lately, rom-coms lack originality. “Maintenance Required” seemed like it was ready to be a perfect example of this. While I was not entirely wrong about the similarities between the two films, I was happily surprised by how much I enjoyed watching the Amazon rom-com.
To start things off, the chemistry between Petsch and Scipio became an outstanding factor in what made the film so fun to watch. The leads in a romcom often make or break the movie. Do they have chemistry? Does their relationship seem realistic? It’s factors such as these that help take what would otherwise be a
stereotypical, cheesy romcom and make it kind of great. When it comes to Charlie and Beau, you’re cheering for them almost the entire time. Charlie in particular becomes a character the audience can really root for throughout the film. She’s fun and a little bit hopeless when it comes to romance, and her dedication to cars and the future of O’Malley’s is admirable. You want her to get that happy ending she deserves, and the way her and Beau’s awkward energy just clicks from the beginning makes it all the more obvious they belong together. However, what really makes this film a fun watch are the side characters. Madison Bailey and Katy O’Brian play Izzy and Kam, Charlie’s best friends and employees at O’Malley’s. While it felt slightly unbelievable that the two characters weren’t dating after the amount of chemistry they had throughout the film, Kam and Izzy stood out as strong female secondary leads. Kam, in particular, was a favorite of mine. I recognized O’Brian, an IU alumna, from her previous roles on films like A24’s “Love Lies Bleeding” and the latest “Mission: Impossible” film, so I was excited to see how she would do in a movie so different from her typical work. While rom-coms aren’t a common part of O’Brian’s filmography, she plays Kam brilliantly. The fun and fierce best friend to Charlie was one of the only characters who never once felt like she was shoving the “female mechanic” trope down my throat. And, maybe more importantly, her insistence on getting Charlie out of her shell makes for
some of the funniest parts of the entire film.
Another character who excelled at playing the comedic relief role was Mr. Miller (Jim Gaffigan). The CEO of Miller Boys wasn’t on screen for a lot of the movie, but the moments he was sure were memorable. Gaffigan’s comedic portrayal of an out-of-touch CEO works so well, that at points it felt more like a scene straight out of “Saturday Night Live” than anything else. As is typical of most romcoms now, this movie wasn’t perfect. At times the film felt like it was playing too much into the feminist lens. As a woman who loves cars, I am all for seeing women kick butt in the auto industry. But there are many points in “Maintenance Required” that felt extremely performative. I don’t need Petsch to repeatedly state how underrepresented and undervalued women are in the motor industry to know that everyone underestimates how capable she is. It may be one of the more realistic truths of the film, but it isn’t one that needs to be restated to the viewer every five minutes. Despite this, “Maintenance Required” is more fun than I could have possibly imagined. The writing may be cheesy at points, and the characters may have their more-than-cringey moments, but with a rom-com such as this, the only thing that matters to me is if it can make me laugh. It’s an expectation that was surpassed many times throughout watching. So, whether you’re a sucker for a sweet love story or you just want to admire some vintage vehicles, “Maintenance Required” is a joyride from start to finish.
By Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer matfuent@iu.edu | @mateo_frohwer
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is an enigma.
From 2021-24, he starred in four live-action feature films. The first in that span, “Jungle Cruise,” was a serviceable Disney movie based on the Walt Disney World ride. The other three were less-than impressive, including “Red Notice” in 2021, “Black Adam” in 2022 and “Red One” in 2024.
Johnson is currently one of the biggest names in Hollywood. A National Research Group survey from February 2025 asked which actors brought people into theaters, and Johnson finished third behind Denzel Washington and Tom Cruise. It’s an interesting result given his recent films largely flopped at the box office.
With the release of his fifth live action role since 2021, “The Smashing Machine,” Johnson has done what some wondered he would ever be able to do.
He starred in a good movie — and his acting is worthy of awards recognition. Which begs the question: why wasn’t “The Rock” doing this before when he’s more than capable?
“The Smashing Machine” is Benny Safdie’s first feature film as a solo director after directing five films with his brother Josh, including “Uncut Gems.” The movie is a flawed but interesting opening film for Safdie, who also wrote, produced and edited
it. But at the end of the day, it’s Johnson’s performance that I’ll remember above anything else the movie presents.
Mark Kerr (Johnson), a mixed martial arts fighter from the late 1990s, is the center of the biopic, which is based on the 2002 documentary “The Smashing Machine: The Life and Times of Extreme Fighter Mark Kerr.”
Dawn Staples (Emily Blunt) and Mark Coleman (Ryan Bader) provide supporting roles to the depiction of Kerr’s life, bringing conflict and comfort to the story.
Throughout the film, Safdie asks a lot from Johnson and his character. Physical acting through MMA fights; dramatic acting with shouting matches alongside Blunt; and the drastic shift from Johnson’s usual charismatic portrayal to a complicated fighter battling people and addiction.
Johnson excels at it all.
I’ll be frank — my knowledge of his roles is limited. But I’ve seen enough to confidently say this portrayal is the best of his filmography, and it’s not particularly close.
As for the other aspects of the movie, it’s an interesting watch. The documentarystyle filmmaking provides a raw look into Kerr’s life, but some moments and sequences are a little slow, just as any documentary might be.
The flip side are the sequences of action and vulnerable moments that give Johnson his time to shine.
Sure, watching him make a smoothie with one and a half bananas is fine, but it’s the scenes with Blunt, Bader or even just Johnson by himself that make his performance stand out. So where has this version of Johnson been? Oscar buzz is real for this performance, and considering Johson’s last live action feature was “Red One” — both a box office and critical flop — it’s astonishing to see the 180-degree flip. Though it will likely be a tough group of best actors this year during awards season, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet and Daniel Day-Lewis all releasing films, I think Johnson has a real shot at winning the award should he be nominated. It may be a once-in-a-lifetime performance for “The Rock” — that is, unless he can sustain the success and become the serious actor he’s shown he clearly can be.
COURTESY PHOTO
Cellist Daniel Lelchuk and composer Aidan Vass rehearse in the recording studio at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music in May 2025. Their collaboration, “Cello Sonata,” was released to music streaming platforms Sept. 26.
MOVIE STILLS DATABASE Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt are seen in “The Smashing Machine.” The movie released Oct. 3, 2025.
MOVIE STILLS DATABASE Madelaine Petsch (left), Madison Bailey (middle) and Katy O’Brian (right) act in the film “Maintenance Required.” The movie was released Oct. 8, 2025.
Behind the scenes of the Great Glass Pumpkin Patch
Photos by Trinity Mackenzie | IDS
DeVries’ roster can lead men’s basketball into modern era
By Nathan Shriberg naashri@iu.edu | @NShriberg
Under former head coach
Mike Woodson, the Indiana men’s basketball program was a post-heavy, big-man factory. In Woodson’s four seasons at the helm, two of his star big men went to the NBA — Trayce Jackson-Davis to the Golden State Warriors in 2023 and Kel’el Ware to the Miami Heat in 2024.
In the wake of Ware’s allBig Ten season in 2023-24, Woodson doubled down on the center position, recruiting the University of Arizona’s Oumar Ballo from the transfer portal. The decision didn’t pay off, and Woodson stepped down after a lackluster season — one marred by Ballo’s inconsistent play.
Enter Darian DeVries. And a whole new roster.
Nearly every Hoosier entered the transfer portal after Woodson’s departure at the end of the season, leaving the newly-hired DeVries to put together a roster from scratch. The result is a vastly different Indiana team that fits DeVries’ basketball philosophy.
In 2024-25, 3-pointers made up 33.2% of all shots attempted by Indiana. In DeVries’ lone year at West Virginia University, 46.1% of the Mountaineers’ shots were from beyond the arc.
Making the long ball a
core element of Indiana’s
identity was a priority while filling out the roster, DeVries said. And it’s all about spreading the wealth.
While the primary threats from distance are redshirt senior forward Tucker DeVries and fifth-year senior guard Lamar Wilkerson, Darian DeVries places no positional limits on who he trusts from beyond the arc.
“Almost everybody on the roster right now has the green light to shoot them,” DeVries said at Big Ten Basketball Media Days on Oct. 9. “We want everybody to be a threat out there. Even our bigs, they can all shoot it, they all got skill.”
DeVries’ player-friendly offense is a show of trust in his guys. In turn, the confidence he has in his players translates to them maintaining a high level of confidence in themselves, Tucker DeVries said.
“I think it gives the guys confidence to know that they have the green light,” he said.
One big with that coveted “green light” is senior Reed Bailey, who has a “unique skill set.” The 6-foot-10 Bailey is tied for the tallest on the roster — freshman center Andrej Acimovic. However, his stature didn’t stop him from putting up shots during his three seasons at Davidson College. Last season, his 3-point percentage jumped
to a career high 41.5%, on 1.2
attempts per game.
Having a lineup with five shooting threats is new territory for Indiana, and it frees the Hoosiers to be more creative with their offense than in years past. Rather than relying on a post-heavy offensive attack with 3-pointers as a rarity, DeVries’ offense is set up to pose a major threat from distance. With five shooters on the floor, the Hoosiers can fully spread out the defense, creating opportunities to slash simply by forcing the defense outside.
While the 3-point shot is the emphasis of DeVries’ offense, he recognized the importance of a balanced attack.
“You can’t just always shoot non-paint touch 3s,” DeVries said. “We still have to put pressure on the rim. Whether it be with dribble penetration or in what we do with cutting, being able to space the floor and put pressure on the rim for people to stop cuts or posting.”
An early candidate to receive those interior touches is Acimovic, the lone true center on the roster. The Bijeljina, Bosnia, native was a late addition to DeVries’ squad. He joined the Hoosiers on July 28, following the NCAA’s denial of eligibility waivers for guards Anthony Leal and Luke Goode earlier in the month.
In his four-game stint in the U19 Adriatic Basketball Association League with Igokea Mtel Aleksandrovac, Acimovic averaged 17.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game while shooting 72.2% from inside the arc. On a roster without a clear dominant paint presence, DeVries could look to Acimovic to provide a steady and efficient hand on the interior.
Another way for the Hoosiers to control the paint is with the emerging duo of senior forward Sam Alexis and Bailey. Due to foul trouble at the guard spot during Indiana’s trip to Puerto Rico over the summer, the two unexpectedly had to share the floor. But DeVries liked what he saw.
“It was pretty successful for us, so it’s something we’ve worked on a lot more here this fall, but they both complement each other in different ways,” DeVries said. “Reed is really good at facing up and driving it. Sam has a little more back to basket type post-up game that he can utilize.”
Pairing the 6-foot-9 Alexis — who is fresh off an NCAA championship at the University of Florida — with Bailey has the potential to devastate opposing defenses. At the Cream and Crimson scrimmage, Alexis threw down four dunks, including three off lobs. While Bailey can handle and run “like a guard,” DeVries said, Alexis has “got some girth.” Their combination of
“Having taller guards, longer guards will also help us in some of the
ing pieces too,” DeVries said. “It’s going to have to be more of a group rebounding effort for us to be a good defensive rebounding team, but I do like our positional side overall.”
With Wilkerson and junior guards Jasai Miles and Nick Dorn, the Hoosiers have the size to overwhelm smaller teams on the boards with a potential five-man lineup all 6-foot-6 or taller.
TRINITY MACKENZIE | IDS
during the Cream and Crimson Scrimage on
in Bloomington. The Hoosiers only retained walk-ons from the
COLUMN: Indiana just claimed the crown of college football
By Quinn Richards qmrichar@iu.edu | @Quinn_richa
I’ll get straight to the point. Indiana football is the national championship front-runner.
The Hoosiers’ 30-20 win over No. 3 Oregon on Oct. 11 wasn’t just the best win in program history — which it was — but it was also the most impressive win any team has had this season.
Indiana became the second team to notch a road victory over an Associated Press Top-3 ranked opponent this season. The Hoosiers beat the only other team to do so.
“It just kind of shows what the limit to this team is,” redshirt junior linebacker Isaiah Jones said postgame. “I don’t think we’ve found it yet.”
The result alone is enough reason to put Indiana on the same pedestal given to prestigious programs like Ohio State and the University of Miami. But the dominance the Hoosiers showcased to produce the final score yields a much more controversial conclusion — Curt Cignetti is coaching the best team in college football.
If you have a strong desire to slam your laptop or toss your phone into the nearest body of water in a fit of rage, allow me to explain.
Earlier in the week, I wrote that Indiana’s toughest test of the season would be decided in the trenches. Oregon’s speedy skill position players stole the limelight through the first six weeks of the season, but its play up
front was the backbone of an offense that averaged 46.6 points per game heading into the Oct. 11 matchup.
The Ducks came in having allowed just one sack all season. Then they played the Hoosiers.
Indiana made redshirt sophomore quarterback Dante Moore look as uncomfortable as a fifth wheel on a romantic double date.
The Hoosiers’ defensive coordinator Bryant Haines dialed up several blitz packages that forced the Ducks’ quarterback out of the pocket and into the arms of pursuing defenders.
Moore was tackled in the backfield on the game’s first play from scrimmage, beginning a game-long trend.
Indiana recorded six total sacks in a dominant performance up front.
“I thought our defense really took it to them in the second half,” Cignetti said. “Won the line of scrimmage, run game and pass game. Put pressure on the quarterback.”
Oregon had just 64 total yards in the second half.
The Ducks’ offensive line entered the matchup as one of the premier protection units in the country. Indiana’s defense — led by senior linebacker Aiden Fisher — recorded the second-most sacks it’s had in any game this season.
Are you convinced yet? If not, let’s switch things up and talk about the Hoosiers’ offense.
I’ll start with the obvi-
ous — senior wide receiver Elijah Sarratt is a top-five pass catcher in the country. Indiana’s number one option was just that against the Ducks, hauling in eight catches for 121 yards and a crucial fourth-quarter touchdown. The Hoosiers had four gains of 15 or more yards. Three of the four were passes to Sarratt. Redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza
didn’t play his cleanest game — Indiana’s signal-caller threw a game-tying pick-six early in the fourth quarter — but his connection with Sarratt was impossible to ignore. Despite Oregon’s best efforts to throw the duo off with overtly physical man coverage, the two routinely found one another on crucial downs.
“I don’t complain when I don’t get a call,” Sarratt said.
“Of course, I want it, but it happens. It’s part of the game, so our mentality is if they’re grabbing us, we’re going to catch it. If they’re not grabbing us, we’re going to catch it.”
Both Sarratt and redshirt junior Omar Cooper Jr. — who racked up 58 yards on seven catches — did just that.
While Indiana’s offense totaled its fewest yards of any matchup this season, it still produced 30 points against an Oregon defense that allowed just 12.2 points per game coming in. Mendoza threw for 215 yards — the most any quarterback has had against the Ducks this season.
All of that was done in a hostile, sold-out Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon.
So as I said, Indiana is the front-runner for the national championship. Realistically, there’s no way to truly declare who the best team in college football is without facing off head to head. Indiana won’t play No. 1 Ohio State unless the two sides square off in the Big Ten Championship, a matchup that seems all the more probable with the Hoosiers’ win over Oregon.
Regardless, Cignetti just proved that his Hoosiers are capable of beating high-caliber opponents on the road. That wasn’t the case one year ago. Still, the Hoosiers’ second-year head coach didn’t outwardly express an abundance of relief after notching his first marquee win outside
of Bloomington since taking over the helm.
“I thought we established credibility last season,” Cignetti said. “We got to understand some people are always going to be for you, some people are always going to be against you because they need to be.”
It’s a fair point. It’s very possible social media critics will look to the struggles of Penn State and claim Oregon was overrated to begin with in an effort to undermine Indiana’s win. While absurd takes are an inevitable part of college football, there’s an interesting juxtaposition lying in the Hoosiers’ upset victory.
Indiana was able to do something the reigning champion Buckeyes failed to do last season — beat the Ducks on their home turf. When asked what the win did for Indiana, Cignetti reinforced a necessary caution.
“It depends on what we do with it from here,” he said.
The Hoosiers’ calendar will lighten up for the rest of the regular season. Not a single team on the remainder of Indiana’s schedule was ranked in the latest AP poll. Still, one unexpected slip-up could quickly derail a flawless 6-0 start to the season.
The Hoosiers made program history with their first-ever road win over an AP Top-5 team. In another historic benchmark — for the first time ever — Indiana is the team to beat in college football.
IU is celebrating Homecoming this week, a longstanding tradition that first appeared 117 years ago.
The Homecoming court, which comprises IU undergraduates involved in the campus and philanthropy, was once a beauty contest that can be traced back to the 1940s. In 1968, the tradition of having a Homecoming queen was suspended after five Black students filed a complaint stating that they weren’t selected for the court because of their race.
Former IU President Herman B Wells suspended the elections after an investigation concluded that the judging criteria was a form of institutionalized racism. In 1978, the competition was reinstated to provide outstanding students with scholarships and recognition.
This year, there are 12 members of the Homecoming court, and the two winners will be announced on
The history of IU’s Homecoming court Homecoming weekend event schedule
By Elizabeth Schuth ekschuth@iu.edu
Coming off Indiana football’s win over Oregon Oct. 11, the Hoosiers are gearing up for Homecoming weekend. Beyond the Oct. 18 game against Michigan State, there are plenty of activities to celebrate all weekend long.
Friday, Oct. 17:
the field at the Oct. 18 football game against Michigan State. Each winner will receive a $500 scholarship.
In recent years, there have been around 100 applicants annually for the Homecoming court. After around 12 members are selected, they are interviewed ahead of Homecoming week by a panel of judges that includes alumni. Ally Wolfgang, president of the Student Alumni Association and chair of the SAA’s Homecoming steering committee, said these interviews account for the majority of how the court’s winners are decided.
Over the years, students have joined the court for various reasons. In 2014 interviews with the IDS, court nominees cited leadership, involvement, giving back and suggestions from peers and professors as reasons they decided to apply for Homecoming court.
Members of the court participate in various events throughout the week. On Monday and Tuesday, the
Student Alumni Association
hosted a blood drive at the IMU that the court attended.
Another event the court participated in was Paint the Town Crimson, a collaboration with downtown businesses that allowed students to paint their windows on Oct. 12. Each member of the court painted the window of a local business.
“Throughout the week, they get to do a whole lot of stuff, so the blood drive, and then Ride or Dye, the IUSF Trike Race, all sorts of stuff like that, they help out throughout the week,” Wolfgang said.
When Wolfgang first joined the SAA, the blood drive was a one-day event, but after its success last year, it expanded this year to last two days. Other events, such as the IU Student Foundation’s trike race, are meant to promote student spirit.
“We can see people from all over the campus, all over the community, all in this parade in the same place,” Wolfgang said.
Homecoming weekend begins with the parade, including floats from organizations across IU following the theme, “There’s no place like Homecoming.” The parade will start at 5:15 p.m. and go from 17th Street and Woodlawn Avenue to 7th Street. A pep rally will follow from 7:30 to 11 p.m. in Dunn Meadow.
The pep rally and Homecoming festival will include appearances from Hoosier the Bison, cheerleaders, and the Marching Hundred. Hoosiers can celebrate with activities including a pumpkin patch, a mechanical bull ride and a hot air balloon. For visitors in town looking for a sampling of the Bloomington food scene, Food Truck Friday provides the perfect opportunity to snack and socialize. Truck options will include Bloomington classics like Pili’s Party Taco, The Chocolate Moose, and Doner Kebab. The event is from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Switchyard Park.
Music fans can attend a concert by Andy West, associate professor of music, at Ford-Crawford Hall. West is renowned in the music world for his guitar and songwriting contributions in the bands The Fontaines and Cornwall, Cook and West. Friday night sporting events include a men’s soccer game vs. Hanover College at 7 p.m. at Bill Armstrong Stadium and a men’s basketball exhibition against Marian University at 7:30 p.m. inside Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
Saturday, Oct. 18: Saturday morning kicks off with the IU Alumni Association-hosted Home-
coming Huddle tailgate. Hoosiers young and old can gather at the Virgil T. DeVault Alumni Center at noon to celebrate all things IU with live music, food and giveaways. Finally, the Homecoming football game against Michigan State kicks off at 3:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. Fans hoping to beat the lines can enter the stadium as early as 2 p.m. For other entertainment, B-town Boulevard on the South Lawn of the stadium from 12:30-3:30 p.m. The Boulevard will include food trucks, live music, a kid-zone and games. The Marching Hundred pregame show will begin at 3 p.m. inside Memorial Stadium. Besides sporting events, the Wylie Museum will be offering a historical craft workshop. Here, they will be teaching Victorian-era art including hair wreaths and a related take-home activity. Hair wreaths were typically used to commemorate the death of loved ones, but the activity will focus on creating keepsakes for the purpose of remembrance.
Sunday, Oct. 19: Closing out the weekend, the FAR Center for Contemporary Arts is hosting the Bloomington Blues and Boogie Woogie Piano Festival. Performers include Silvan Zingg, C.J.
Chenier, Henri Herbert and more. Artists will be playing assorted boogie-woogie and blues music from 5:30 to 8:45 p.m. For lovers of Bluegrass, Trailhead Pizzeria is hosting a Sunday Bluegrass Jam. Bands will be playing music from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. IU Jacobs School of Music students will perform choral music in the style of “compline.” Compline describes a style of singing used by monks to signal bedtime. The music will be performed with light organ accompaniment from 9-9:30 p.m. in Alumni Hall inside the Indiana Memorial Union. It is designed to invite quiet contemplation among audience members.
FILE PHOTO
The 2022 Homecoming court passes out candy and smiles to the children along the parade route Oct. 7, 2022, on Woodlawn Avenue in Bloomington. The members of the court represented various student groups, such as Kelley Student Government and the IU Student Foundation.
Homecoming Court 2025
Arashdeep Aulakh
New York, New York
Senior studying finance, business analytics, & biology
Organization: HooSher Bhangra
“Hey Hoosiers! I’m Arashdeep Aulakh, studying Finance, Business Analytics, and Biology. From late-night study sesssions to gameday cheers, IU has given me memories and meaning I’ll carry forever. I’m here to celebrate every Hoosier who’s made this campus feel like home. Let’s make this moment ours—together!”
Jess Brown
Columbus, Indiana
Senior studying nonprofit management & leadership
Organization: IU Student Foundation
Steering Committee
“Hi, my name is Jess Brown and I am on the IU Student Foundation’s 2025-26 Steering Committee! My favorite thing about IU is the close-net community and spreading the Hoosier Spirit at all the events campus-wide. I’m so excited to be on Homecoming Court and represent IU - please vote for me!”
Mary Higdon
Seymour, Indiana
Senior studying elementary education
Organization: Independent Council
“Hello! My name is Mary Higdon and I am running for Homecoming Royalty! I am representing Independent Council, a social-philanthropic organization for non-Greek women and non-binary students. I love IC because it reminds me that even in a school like IU, I am someone and I can make a difference!”
Talayeh Marshall
Indianapolis, Indiana
Senior studying law and public policy
Organization: IU Student Government & Delta Sigma Theta Sorority
“Hi Hoosiers! I’m Talayeh Marshall, a Senior majoring in Law and Public Policy at the O’Neill School. From IU Student Government to Delta Signma Theta Sorority, Inc. and local volunteer work, I love serving my community. I’m passionate about unity, inclusion, and service. Vote Talayeh for 2025 Homecoming Royalty!”
Anna Schlueter
Noblesville, Indiana
Senior studying political science
Organization: Student Athletic Board
“Hi! My name is Anna Schlueter and I’m a senior from Noblesville, IN majoring in Political Science with minors in Spanish and Business. I am Vice President of Membership and Recruitment for Student Athletic Board and a Campus Ministry Leader for Greek IV and Kappa Alpha Theta. Happy Hoco Hoosier Nation!”
“Hi, I’m Nita! Hailing from Central Indiana. I’m a Senior Secondary Education major, IU Marching Hundred Alto Saxophone player, and proud Hoosier at heart. Vote Nita for Homecoming Royalty - see you on gameday!”
Maddie Bloom Fort Wayne, Indiana
Senior studying nursing
Organization: Director of Student Athletic Board, Ambassador for the Endometriosis Foundation of America
“Hi! I am Maddie Bloom, and I am a Senior in the School of Nursing. Outside of academics, I am a director on the Student Athletic Board, and a College Ambassador for the Endometriosis Foundation of America, advocating for early education and research of women’s health on campus. I would be honored to have your vote!”
Lola Hawk
Indianapolis, Indiana
Senior studying biochemistry and molecular life sciences
Organization: Co-president of Culture of Care & Site Coordinator for STEM Outreach
“Hello! I am a senior from Indianapolis, IN, double majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Life Sciences. I serve as Co-President of Culture of Care and Site Coordinator for STEM Outreach. I am also currently applying to medical school to continue my mission of caring for the community.”
Carson Johnson
Greenfield, Indiana
Senior studying public relations
Organization: IU Student Television, IU Gymnastics Club, and student communications assistant for the Media School
“Hey there! I’m Carson Johnson, a senior from Greenfield, Indiana, majoring in public relations with a minor in law and public policy. I’m a Hudson and Holland Scholar, a reporter and anchor for IU Student Television, a member of the IU gymnastics club and a student communications assistant for the Media School.”
Madison Moss
Knox, Indiana
Senior studying biotechnology
Organization: VP of Internal Affairs for Culture of Care & VP of Biotechnology Club
“My name is Madison Moss and I am a senior majoring in Biotechnology. On campus, I serve as the Vice President of Internal Affairs for Culture of Care and as Vice President of the Biotechnology Club. I am also an active member of Phi Mu and work in a research lab and as a UTA fir several classes.”
Ayla Torres
Syracuse, Indiana
Senior studying biology
Organization: Ballet Folklorico
“Hi! I’m Ayla Torres, a senior studying biology with a minor in medical humanities. I am passionate about research, community, medicine, and aspire to become a physician. I am dedicated to helping others, fostering community, and mentorship. Vote for me to represent you with compassion, pride, and spirit!”
Lorie Zagarzhevskity
Fishers, Indiana
Junior studying neuroscience & chemistry
Organization: IU Dance Marathon
“Hi I’m Lorie Zagarzhevskiy, a junior from Fishers, Indiana studying Neuroscience and Chemistry. I am representing the Student Athletic Board on this year’s Homecoming Court! You can find me cheering on the Hoosiers at every sporting event, raising money for Riley Hospital for Children with IUDM, and volunteering with Intra-Collegiate Emergency Medical Services.”
A guide to Indiana’s Homecoming parade
By Zoe Reed reedzoe@iu.edu
Celebrate IU pride at the Homecoming parade Friday evening on Woodlawn Avenue
There’s truly no place like Homecoming at Indiana University, and it all kicks off with a beloved parade. From elaborate floats by student organizations to performances by the IU Marching Hundred and Alumni Band, the Homecoming parade is where tradition meets celebration.
The 2025 IU Homecoming parade begins at 5:15 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, marking the traditional kickoff to Homecoming weekend. The parade starts at the intersection of 17th Street and Woodlawn Avenue, traveling south on
Woodlawn and concluding at Seventh Street. Following the parade, the festivities continue at 7:30 p.m. with a pep rally in Dunn Meadow, setting the stage for Saturday’s game against Michigan State. The IU Homecoming parade is a cherished tradition that has evolved into a large showcase of university pride and community involvement. The tradition’s roots trace back to the University’s “Gala Week” in 1908, the first Homecoming event for alumni which included a circus and banquet. One of the earliest references of a Homecoming parade goes back to 1923, with a photograph of a float from
IU’s 1923 Homecoming parade. Some notable floats since then include Sigma Nu’s Viking ship float that won in 1958. The float featured a full-scale Viking boat with a dragon head at the front, striped sails, and oars spelling out “I.N.D.I.A.N.A” extending from the sides. The School of Optometry’s “IU Eye” from 1959 featured an oversized eyeball wearing its own pair of sunglasses, with the saying “Eye U Makes Spectacle of U.N.” In 1978, the parade featured notable IU alumna Jane Pauley as honorary parade marshal. She appeared on a western-themed “RoundUp Hoosiers” float, dressed in cowboy attire complete
with a hat.
In 2025, the parade continues this legacy. Spectators can enjoy a variety of performances and displays along the parade route, including choreographed routines, themed costumes and creative floats from student organizations and local businesses. Attendees will also see the IU Marching Hundred, including the IU Marching Hundred Alumni Band, performing live music.
The 2025 Homecoming theme is “There’s No Place Like Homecoming.” Parade participants are encouraged to creatively incorporate this theme into their floats, costumes and
performances, reminding attendees to celebrate what makes IU feel like
Participating organizations can compete for plaques and trophies awarded at the end of the event. Entries compete in one of four divisions: float, decorated car, walking or musical. Entries are judged on creativity, theme, presentation and performance, with floats and cars evaluated for spectator appeal and walking or musical groups for costumes and choreography. Winners in each category receive a plaque, and the overall parade champion receives a trophy.
quickly. Free parking is available Friday at Memorial Stadium and in lots
Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bill Garrett Fieldhouse and other nearby athletic facilities. However, attendees should be cautious about leaving cars in lots overnight, as the car may be ticketed or towed. Expect heavy traffic throughout Bloomington during Homecoming weekend and plan for
Spectators can line the streets on Woodlawn Avenue to enjoy the festivities. Arrive early to secure the
FILE PHOTO | IDS
The Student Athletic Board float rolls down East 13th Street on Oct. 20, 2023, during the IU Homecoming parade in Bloomington. The first homecoming event for alumni was in 1908 and included a circus and banquet.
BRIANA PACE | IDS
A cheerleader is photographed during the Homecoming parade
20, 2023, on Woodlawn Avenue. The cheerleaders cheered for IU as they walked in the parade.
BRIANA PACE | IDS
The Marching Hundred plays in the IU Homecoming parade on Oct. 20, 2023, on Woodlawn Avenue. The Marching Hundred played music for parade-watchers before the parade began.
COLUMN:
By Hayden Kay haykay@iu.edu
With the return of
Hoosier the Bison as IU’s official mascot, alumni returning for Homecoming can now find bison apparel at just about every IU merch store. What better way is there to show school spirit than celebrating the ‘homecoming’ of this beloved symbol?
I set out to find what I believe is the best
bison merchandise in Bloomington. The result is more than I could have hoped for — three stores, all within a few steps of each other. Of course, other stores like the bookstore in the Indiana Memorial Union or Alumni Hall are worth checking out, as well. If you are going across town, stop by Rally House in College Mall. While you’re downtown this weekend, treat yourself — or someone else — and add the bison to
your collection of IU gear.
Greetings on Kirkwood
If you’re looking for one of the softest hoodies in Bloomington, Greetings is the place for you. Its bison hoodie comes in multiple colors — including cream, of course — and a graphic with the likeness of the mascot himself. There you can also find bison T-shirts in both youth and adult sizes. Don’t forget to include the little ones in the family
when it comes to repping the Cream and Crimson.
Hoosier is so adorable, how can you resist?
The Indiana Shop
Next, you can hit up a Bloomington merch staple and go to The Indiana Shop. Take a look at the wall when you enter the store, and you’ll see many options for durable bison stickers. Stick one on your car, water bottle or laptop and bring that Hoosier pride with you
wherever you go. Get into the fighting spirit with a red bison hat that features Hoosier blowing smoke from his nose. The hat is reasonably priced, with a punchy graphic no one else can beat. You’ll also find T-shirts with a range of vintage to modern graphics. If cream and crimson aren’t your colors, they also have a black and white sweatshirt with Hoosier in the center. Homefield at Tracks
Something else you may have missed since last year is the newly renovated Tracks. Have an IU top you simply can’t part with? Pair it with Hoosier-themed sweatpants. This version of Hoosier has a nose ring and an attitude. Whether it’s for lounging around the house or staying warm at a tailgate, these pants are a can’t miss. Pair them with a red sweatshirt or one of the many Hoosier T-shirts Tracks has to offer.
IDS reflects on 6-0 start, predict final 6 games
By Conor Banks, Dalton James and Quinn Richards sports@idsnews.com
Indiana football capped the first half of its regular season Oct. 11 with a 30-20 victory over Oregon — its first ever road win over an Associated Press top-five team. The historic win garnered a No. 3 ranking in the latest AP Top 25 Poll, marking the highest position in program history.
As the Hoosiers continue into the second half of the 2025 regular season, they will look to build upon their undefeated start. Indiana’s first opportunity arrives at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 18, when it hosts its Homecoming game against Michigan State at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
The Indiana Daily Student’s two football reporters and columnist provided their takeaways from the first six games, and predictions for the second half of the 2025 season.
Biggest surprise DALTON JAMES: Is it fair to say I’m not surprised?
I don’t know. One thing I do know is that nothing shocks me with Curt Cignetti’s squad anymore after 2024. He brought in “a few more dogs” in the offseason, a move that’s paid dividends. I didn’t see Indiana dominating Oregon the way it did, but I’m not surprised. Since Cignetti arrived, he and the Hoosiers were confident. They’re now backing it up, winning position battles and games against high-level teams this season.
CONOR BANKS: Indiana lost linebacker Jailin Walker in the offseason, leaving a gap at the position. While many expected sophomore linebacker Rolijah Hardy to fill the role, few foreshadowed the emergence of redshirt junior linebacker Isaiah Jones. Prior to this season, Jones had started just two games for Indiana. He now leads the Hoosiers with 4.5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss. Jones’ rise has helped solidify one of the top defenses in the nation.
QUINN RICHARDS: Unlike my lovely co-writer Dalton, I am surprised. I didn’t think Indiana would come out of Eugene, Oregon, with a win. I certainly didn’t think the Hoosiers could match up with the speed and physicality of the Ducks’ loaded roster. That’s the thing, Indiana didn’t just win in a hostile Autzen Stadium, it controlled the game. Yeah, it surprised me and — unlike Dalton — I’m not afraid to say it.
Biggest question
JAMES: Can Indiana’s secondary hold up throughout the second half of the season? The Hoosiers have made some mistakes on the back end, specifically junior safety Amare Ferrell. He made two errors against Illinois and Oregon that led to touchdowns. Without cleaning those up, Cignetti previously said the Hoosiers will get “fractured.” Plus, heralded freshman defensive back Byron Baldwin Jr. missed the first six games, and Cignetti hasn’t provided a concrete update on his
injury status.
BANKS: This season has clearly been full of positives for Indiana. But the back end of the defense has allowed explosive touchdowns, and the lack of secondary depth showed against Iowa in junior defensive back D’Angelo Ponds’ absence. With Byron Baldwin Jr. likely facing an extended absence after missing Indiana’s first six games, the health of the starting secondary and preventing big plays through the air will prove critical down the stretch.
RICHARDS: Indiana’s offensive line bolstered its trio of returners with a pair of proven veterans in redshirt senior center Pat Coogan and redshirt sixth-year senior right tackle Khalil Benson. While Coogan has shined, Benson has struggled at times in pass protection. Combine that with redshirt junior right guard Bray Lynch’s inconsistencies and the Hoosiers have a real problem up front. The unit mostly cleaned up those mistakes against the Ducks, but it’s one of the few places Indiana’s shown vulnerability.
Most valuable player
JAMES: Cignetti explained Oct. 13 that the quarterback gets too much credit when his team wins and too much criticism when they lose. But for Fernando Mendoza, he’s earned the praise he’s received, throwing for 1,423 yards and 17 touchdowns — already a career high in a season. The redshirt junior tossed two interceptions and led gamewinning drives after each.
Mendoza has distributed the ball at an elite level and made NFL-caliber throws, solidifying himself as a top contender for the Heisman Trophy.
BANKS: In Weeks 1 and 3, senior wide receiver Elijah Sarratt was held under 50 yards. Since then, he has eclipsed 90 yards in all three of Indiana’s Big Ten matchups. Sarratt’s clutch performances have powered the Hoosiers to close victories over Iowa and Oregon, where he secured a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. Since arriving in Bloomington last spring, Sarratt has already established himself as a top receiver in the nation.
RICHARDS: Coming off a team-high 13-tackle performance in the win over then-No. 3 Oregon, senior linebacker Aiden Fisher is the heart of an Indiana defense that holds opponents to a Big Ten-best 229 yards per game. The veteran linebacker leads the team with 39 tackles and is seemingly involved in almost every play. Fisher, a team captain, has been a vocal leader in the middle of the Hoosiers’ stout defense. If you’re asking for value, Fisher offers more than a Wendy’s four-for-four.
Biggest key to sustaining success
JAMES: Eliminating noise and clutter. Sure, it’s one of Cignetti’s dependable catchphrases, but it’s critical. During Cignetti’s tenure, the Hoosiers have ignored the noise around the program — positive and negative. For the Cream and Crimson
to reach college football’s pinnacle, they’ll need to continue with their onegame-at-a-time mindset. And Fernando Mendoza must continue to play “point guard,” as he described it, much like Tyrese Haliburton did during the Indiana Pacers’ playoff run.
BANKS: While the Hoosiers have allowed a few explosive plays on the ground this season, their defensive front remains dominant. The Hoosiers held the Ducks to a season-low 81 rushing yards in Eugene. Indiana’s defensive front has been one of the best units at generating tackles for loss, and this dominance at the line of scrimmage is primed to be a key component of a College Football Playoff run.
RICHARDS: I’m a firm believer in the statement “games are won in the trenches.” While the cliché has been restated on almost every college football broadcast — well — ever, it has merit. Indiana’s narrowest win was at Iowa and Fernando Mendoza struggled to find a rhythm in a crowded pocket. If the Hoosiers’ pass protection can handle its responsibility, good things will happen on offense. If another messy performance like that in Iowa City were to happen, Indiana’s spotless record could very well have its first blemish.
One bold prediction
JAMES: Evidently, Fernando Mendoza will somehow speak even more extravagant words after the Hoosiers’ six future regularseason victories. He uses
words like conglomerate, fantastic, exponential growth, tenfold, etc. in his postgame media availability. He even spoke about academics after beating Illinois by 53 points. The only forms of social media on Mendoza’s phone, he said, are LinkedIn and iMessage — which isn’t even social media. He’ll continue to carve Big Ten defenses, speak like an intelligent businessman and win the Heisman Trophy.
BANKS: No Hoosier has ever won the Heisman Trophy, but Fernando Mendoza will change this when the winner is announced in December. The Miami native currently owns the third best odds to take home the award on FanDuel Sportsbook. Indiana faces an easy schedule the rest of the way, forging a clear path for Mendoza to dominate as the Hoosiers finish the regular season undefeated. The trophy will propel Mendoza to the top of NFL draft boards.
RICHARDS: UCLA is the Hoosiers’ most challenging opponent left on the schedule. Look, I get it, with road matchups against a seemingly improved Maryland and the mystery that is Penn State, this seems crazy. But think about it, Indiana knows the power of a coaching change. The Bruin’s offense has been incredible since interim offensive coordinator Jerry Neuheisel took over play calling duties after the team’s 0-4 start. UCLA will give the Hoosiers a shootout in Bloomington.
PHOTO BY LAUREN MCKINNEY | IDS
Senior linebacker Aiden Fisher watches as junior defensive back Amare Ferrell collects an interception against Iowa on Sept. 27, 2025, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hoosiers moved to 6-0 with a win over Oregon on Oct. 11.
Indiana looks for win against Michigan State
By Conor Banks conbanks@iu.edu
On Nov. 30, 2023, Curt
Cignetti inked a deal with Indiana football to become its next head coach. The deal came on the heels of a 3-9 season for the Hoosiers, but Cignetti led Indiana to its first College Football Playoff appearance in school history in his first season.
Across its first six games of this season, Indiana has outscored its opponents 26968, powering the team to a 6-0 start and a No. 3 ranking in the Associated Press’ Top 25 Poll — the highest mark in program history. This solidifies one of the greatest turn-around jobs in football, and serves as a testament to the Hoosiers’ all-around dominant start to Cignetti’s second year at the helm.
Cignetti and his team look to build upon this historic start and secure a 7-0 record for the second consecutive season when they host Michigan State on Oct. 18 at Memorial Stadium.
Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m.
Indiana heads into Week 8 after wrapping up two consecutive road games against Iowa on Sept. 27 and Oregon on Oct. 11. In both matchups, Indiana found itself tied in the fourth quarter.
However, Indiana redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza completed a 49-yard goahead touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Elijah Sarratt against Iowa. The connection came with under a minute and a half remaining to seal a 20-15 victory.
Indiana’s matchup against then-No. 3 Oregon followed a similar script.
Mendoza connected with Sarratt for an 8-yard touchdown in the final frame to push the Hoosiers out in front. The Cream and Crimson went on to win 30-20, notching their first road win against a top-five opponent in school history.
Mendoza joined Indiana during the offseason, after transferring from the University of California, Berkeley. In his first year with the Hoosiers, Mendoza has developed a strong connection with Sarratt.
The signal-caller leads the Big Ten with 17 touchdown passes through his first six games with the Cream and Crimson. Sarratt has hauled in seven touchdowns, tied for the most in the conference.
On the defensive side, Indiana has surrendered just 229 yards per game to opponents this season — the fourth lowest mark in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Linebacker Isaiah Jones has blossomed into a key reason for the Hoosiers’ defensive success in 2025.
The redshirt junior started just two games last season, but now leads the team with 4.5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss.
Following a strong start to 2025, the Hoosiers will continue to lean on their defense against Michigan State.
The two programs last met in 2024, when Indiana secured a 47-10 victory in East Lansing, Michigan, and took home the Old Brass Spittoon.
Michigan State finished 3-0 in nonconference play this season, but it has struggled in its first games of Big Ten competition in head coach Jonathan
Smith’s second year with the program. The Spartans are 0-3 against Big Ten opponents to start the year, and enter Bloomington after suffering a 38-13 defeat against UCLA on Oct. 11.
While Indiana boasts the fourth highest scoring offense on a points-pergame basis, Michigan State’s defense has surrendered 31.83 points per game, which ranks just 119th in the nation.
Offensively, the Spartans average just 331.7 yards per contest — the 108th lowest mark in the FBS. Through their first six games, the Spartans were led by quarterback Aidan Chiles. The junior completed 61% of his throws for 1,019 yards and nine touchdowns. However, Chiles exited the Spartans’ matchup against UCLA after taking a helmetto-helmet hit on a scramble.
Redshirt freshman Alessio Milivojevic took over signal-calling duties in Chiles’ absence. The Naperville, Illinois, native completed 8-18 attempts for 100 yards and a touchdown. With uncertainty regarding the status of Chiles, Milivojevic may be forced to make his first collegiate start against a tough Indiana defense on the road.
Michigan State owns a 51-18-2 all-time record against Indiana. After a dominant victory last season, the Hoosiers look to secure consecutive victories against the Spartans for the first time since 1969 and build upon what has been a historic season so far. The 2025 Homecoming game is set to kick off at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 18 at Memorial Stadium, and the game will be streamed on Peacock.
BRIANA PACE | IDS
The Indiana football defense celebrates in the end zone after a play against Illinois on Sept. 20, 2025, at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington. The Hoosiers defeated the Fighting Illini 63-10.
BRIANA PACE | IDS
Redshirt junior running back Lee Beebe Jr. and sixth-year senior tight end Riley Nowakowski celebrate a touchdown during the Indiana football spring game April 17, 2025, at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
Nowakowski transferred to Indiana from Wisconsin.
Cignetti deems response to top 5 win critical
By Dalton James jamesdm@iu.edu | @DaltonMJames
The Hoosiers improved to 6-0 with their 10-point victory over Oregon on Oct. 11
Indiana football earned arguably its biggest win in program history over thenNo. 3 Oregon. And it didn’t just handle the Ducks on Oct. 11; it gave Oregon its first loss at Autzen Stadium in nearly three years.
The Hoosiers entered 0-2 in the Curt Cignetti era against teams ranked in The Associated Press’ top 10 away from Bloomington. Now, they’re 1-2.
But Cignetti said he wants his squad to rip off the rearview mirror. The Hoosiers’ victory over the Ducks is in the past — just like the previous five wins — and he doesn’t want his squad dwelling on it.
“Total focus on Michigan State,” Cignetti said during his press conference Oct.13. “I think the key now is our response coming off of this game. But that’s always the key.”
The Hoosiers’ win made national headlines. No longer is Indiana the squad that can’t win big games, and prominent media members took notice.
ESPN’s Heather Dinich, who was outspoken last season regarding Indiana’s inability to defeat teams in the upper echelon of the sport, has since turned. Now, Dinich — a former writer at Indiana Daily Student — thinks Indiana is “for real.”
ESPN’s Paul Finebaum has also flipped his stance on Indiana. He was critical of the Hoosiers’ inability to compete with top teams. Not anymore. Fox’s Joel Klatt said if a team like Ohio State, Penn State or Michigan went into Autzen Stadium and defeated the Ducks in the manner Indiana did, then that squad would be crowned the absolute national championship favorite. Klatt said he’d been wrong about the Cream and Crimson all season. He thinks the Hoosiers are more than “for real,” deeming them national championship contenders.
Indiana has won five of its first six games by at least two possessions — the lone exception being a 20-15 road win against Iowa at Kinnick Stadium.
The Hoosiers have two top 10 wins, one at home and one on the road.
Cignetti’s squad has met every challenge head-on this season and conquered each of them because of the hallmarks Cignetti has built his program on. The ones he’s talked about since the day he became Indiana’s head coach.
The Hoosiers have been humble and hungry. They’ve prepared properly, Cignetti said, and displayed it on the field. Indiana has eliminated outside noise and clutter. Controlled the controllables. Put itself in the best position for success. Confidence comes with proper preparation. Cignetti said it also “brings out your best.”
Still, prior results don’t matter to the Hoosiers.
“So, this game gives you nothing,” Cignetti said. “You got to earn everything, and it’s all about our mindset and our preparation.”
Indiana has six games remaining in its second season of the Cignetti era. Three games at home and three on the road.
“Now, it’s really impor-
IU football LB Aiden Fisher earns Player of the Week A
By Dalton James jamesdm@iu.edu | @DaltonMJames
Aiden Fisher sat inside the Don Croftcheck Team Room inside Memorial Stadium four days before Indiana football earned its first road top 10 victory.
He said playing in big games and expecting great outcomes is “why you come to Indiana.” The Hoosiers proved him right, notching a 3020 win over then-No. 3 Oregon on Oct. 11 at Autzen Stadium in Eugune, Oregon. Fisher put together a dominant performance in the Hoosiers’ biggest game of the season thus far, earning him Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, according to the conference’s release Oct. 13. Fisher had 13 total tackles against the Ducks, making four of those by himself. He also racked up 1.5 sacks in the Hoosiers’ 10-point victory.
“We’re primed for games like this,” Fisher said postgame. “This is why we play this game. It’s why
you come to Indiana. You want to play in top-ranked matchups. You want to win top-ranked matchups.”
In total, the Hoosiers’ linebackers — comprised of Fisher, sophomore Rolijah Hardy and redshirt junior Isaiah Jones — notched 34 total tackles, 3.5 sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss against the Ducks.
Indiana’s defense allowed Oregon’s high-powered offense, led by redshirt sophomore quarterback Dante Moore, to notch just 267 total yards. The Ducks’ offense scored one touchdown, which came because of junior safety Amare Ferrell’s blown coverage.
“Defensively, we were tremendous, most of the time,” Cignetti said during his press conference Oct. 13. “You know, TFLs, sacks. Second half, gave up three points, had two interceptions, gave up 41 total yards, not counting the last drive — we were in prevent defense.”
Fisher now has 37 total tackles and 2.5 sacks through the Hoosiers’ six games this season.
By Conor Banks conbanks@iu.edu
With 13 minutes remaining in the ranked matchup between No. 7 Indiana football and No. 3 Oregon, the Hoosiers led 20-13 and held the ball — poised to close out a statement win.
On a 3rd and two play, Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza dropped back to pass. However, multiple Oregon defenders converged upon the redshirt junior, who launched the ball into the air off his back foot while under duress.
The ball landed short of the intended target and sixth-year senior wide receiver E.J. Williams Jr. Instead, the ball fell into the hands of Oregon freshman defensive back Brandon Finney Jr, who ran 35 yards down the sideline and into the end zone. The extra point that followed evened the game at 20 points.
This would be Oregon’s last score of the game.
Meanwhile, the Hoosiers went on to add 10 more points, notching a 30-20 upset victory over the Ducks in Eugene, Oregon. The win marked their first on the road against an Associated Press top-five team in school history.
Before kickoff, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti
tant that we understand who we really are,” Cignetti said, “and what’s got us to this point, always, last year, this year, all the years in the past, you know.” The Hoosiers’ offense has asserted itself as one of the nation’s best. So has redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who’s tossed 17 touchdown passes and just two interceptions. He followed both fourth-quarter interceptions, which came at Iowa and at Oregon, with gamewinning touchdown drives. Indiana’s defense largely halted Oregon’s high-flying offense. It notched six sacks, eight tackles for loss and two interceptions. The Hoosiers allowed just 267 yards to the Ducks, a team that entered the contest averaging 503.8 per game.
To Cignetti, it’s not the statistics that have gotten Indiana to No. 3 in the AP Poll or to the national championship-contending level national media pundits deem it’s at. It all goes back to the characteristics of Cignetti’s programs, which are now present in the Hoosiers af-
ter he installed his proven successful blueprint.
“You got to have commitment, you got to make sacrifices,” Cignetti said.
“You get out what you put in. You got to have discipline to do what you have to do when you have to do it and do it right. You got to have work ethic, attention to detail. You got to control the controllables, eliminate the noise and clutter, which you guys (reporters) do a great job of providing a lot of that, and stay humble and hungry.”
Now, the Hoosiers are tasked with retaining the Old Brass Spittoon against Michigan State at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 13 inside Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
The Spartans (3-3, 0-3 Big Ten) enter the contest after a 25-point loss to UCLA in East Lansing, Michigan. They’ve also dropped games against USC and Nebraska, which are both ranked.
Cignetti sees Michigan State as a “big-time opponent.” The Hoosiers reclaimed the Old Brass Spittoon last season with a 4710 victory over the Spartans
in East Lansing. Led by second-year head coach Johnathan Smith, Michigan State averages 276.6 yards per game in conference play. Conversely, the Spartans have allowed their Big Ten opponents to gain 400.7 yards per contest.
Indiana possesses the No. 8 total offense and No. 4 total defense in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Michigan State’s offense is the 108thbest. Its defense is the 71stbest. But for all the success Indiana has enjoyed through its first half of the season, it’s just halfway through its 12-game marathon. No win is guaranteed. That’s why 60 minutes are played on the gridiron.
“We also understand we’re in a production-oriented business, and what we did yesterday doesn’t mean squat,” Cignetti said, “because next week’s news will be largely determined by what we do today (Monday), tomorrow (Tuesday), Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and then obviously Saturday from 3:30 to 6:00, from play one to 150.”
took the field for an interview.
“You gotta go in with great belief, and indomitable will, a resiliency about yourself,” he said. “Because there’s gonna be adversity hit that you’re gonna have to overcome. And when it hits, you can’t doubt, you can’t flinch. You just keep playing. Then you gotta make the plays at the end.”
Redshirt senior offensive lineman Pat Coogan hyped up members of the Indiana offense in the pregame tunnel. The team, he said, had “no fear.”
Cignetti and Coogan’s messages echoed through the Indiana sideline throughout the fourth quarter, as the Hoosiers continued to fight after Mendoza’s pick-six.
Despite the potentially game-defining mistake on the previous drive, Mendoza shook it off and returned to the field with confidence on the next possession. The Miami native connected with senior wide receiver Elijah Sarratt on a 29-yard completion to set the Hoosiers up at Oregon’s eight-yard line. Three plays later, the duo connected again. This time, it was an eight-yard touchdown to cap off a 12-play, 75-yard scoring drive led by Mendoza.
“That’s resiliency right
there,” Cignetti said postgame. “That’s like being a rubber ball, right? If you’re not resilient, you don’t want to be like the crystal chandelier. When you drop it, it breaks into a million pieces. You want to be like a rubber ball. It bounces it right back into your hand. That’s what he did after he threw the interception on third and two.”
After Mendoza set the resilient tone and granted the Hoosiers a 27-20 lead, the Indiana defense responded with firepower of their own. On the Ducks’ ensuing drive, Indiana senior defensive lineman Stephen Daley tipped a pass at the line of scrimmage. After the ball hung in the air briefly, sixthyear senior defensive back Louis Moore secured the interception — his fourth of the season. This interception came with 6:04 remaining in the fourth quarter and set the Hoosiers up inside Oregon territory. Indiana’s offensive unit continued to display its toughness against a hostile and rambunctious yellow-out crowd at Autzen Stadium. The Cream and Crimson burned nearly four minutes off the clock with seven rushing plays before redshirt sophomore kicker Nico Radicic converted a 22yard field goal to extend their lead.
While the Indiana defense failed to record a turnover through the first three quarters, it forced two interceptions in key moments of the game of the final frame. The second interception, secured by redshirt junior linebacker Isaiah Jones, ended Oregon’s comeback hopes in the final minutes.
“When the offense was on the field and we needed a game-winning drive we did it,” Mendoza said postgame. “When the defense needed a stop, we did it.” Prior to the loss, the Ducks had won 18 consecutive home games — the longest active streak in the nation. Oregon was 7.5 pointfavorites heading into the game, according to ESPNBET. All the College GameDay crew except Pat McAfee picked Oregon to win Saturday. But the continued fight and collective team-effort of the Cream and Crimson solidified the end of the Ducks’ unbeaten Big Ten home-record and silenced underdog narratives.
“We knew that there’s going to be resilience in this game, they’re the number three team in the nation,” Mendoza said. “And we knew that we had to overcome resiliency and adversity at some point. And I think we showcased that perfectly.”
BRIANA PACE | IDS
Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti stands on the field before the game against Iowa on Sep. 27, 2025, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hoosiers defeated Oregon on Oct. 11 ahead of their contest against Michigan State on Oct. 18.
Campus goes loco for hoco 2025
Homecoming week events
and International Studies
By Lexi Bunting lexbunti@iu.edu
As Homecoming week arrives, IU’s campus is highlighting the culture and community of Hoosier life. From long-standing traditions to student-led events, Hoosiers have plenty of ways to celebrate their pride and connect with campus.
This year’s theme is “No Place Like Homecoming,” a play on words inspired by “The Wizard of Oz.” The
Indiana Student Alumni Association and various student-run organizations are hosting many events during the week showcasing Hoosier pride, creativity and culture leading up to Saturday’s big game.
Thursday
The Independent Council will host “Totes and Gourds” — an event where participants have the chance to explore their artistic side by painting pumpkins and tote bags — at the Global
Building on Oct. 16, from 6-8 p.m.
Friday Friday ushers the start of IU’s Homecoming weekend, as pageantry and school spirit take over all of Bloomington.
The Homecoming parade will kick off at 5:15 p.m., traveling down Woodlawn Avenue from 17th Street to Seventh Street. The parade will feature floats, student organizations, community
groups and the IU Marching Hundred.
Following the parade, the celebration moves to Dunn Meadow for the Student Alumni Association’s Homecoming pep rally.
The fantastical “No Place Like Homecoming” themed celebration will feature food, games, music and performances.
Going on at the same time, the IU Jacobs School of Music will be hosting the Facility String Quartet-in-residence
concert at the Simons Music Center, 200 S. Eagleson Ave, from 8 -10 p.m.
The IU Auditorium will stage “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” by Côté Danse & Ex Machina: an innovative, dance-infused reinterpretation of the Shakespeare classic at 7.30 p.m.
Saturday The biggest day of homecoming starts off bright and early with the Hoosier
Huddle Tailgate hosted by the IU Alumni Association at 9 a.m. at the Virgil T. DeVault Alumni Center. The event will include food, drinks, music and field games for Hoosiers of all ages. At 3:30 p.m., IU’s football team will face Michigan State at Memorial Stadium for the 2025 Homecoming game. During the game’s halftime, the homecoming court winners and spirt competition grand champion will be announced.
PROMOTIONAL SPACE
ILLUSTRATION
By Sydney Weber syaweber@iu.edu
La Dulce Chocolate
The new sweet shop La Dulce Chocolate opened in Bloomington on Aug. 22 at the corner of Kirkwood Avenue and South Indiana Avenue, at the former site of Mr. Tokyo. La Dulce
Chocolate sells the TikTokviral Dubai chocolate strawberry cups — made of chocolate, pistachio cream and a toasted, shredded phyllo dough called kataifi — as well as cheesecake, waffles and chocolate bars.
For a unique pre-game treat, try checking out the Labubu Dubai chocolate bar. It has all the same ingredients as a regular Dubai chocolate bar, but is molded into the shape of a Labubu, a popular monsteresque toy.
Hoosier Alley
Entertianment
Bowling and laser tag, axe throwing and roller skating. Bumper cars. These attractions, plus an arcade, make up the new Hoosier Alley Entertainment, which opened in September at 2424 S. Walnut St.
The axe-throwing section has various challenges, from classic bullseye tests of accuracy to a duck-hunting simulation. In addition to the activities, Hoosier Alley boasts a restaurant and bar which offers tacos, pizzas and desserts.
Spudshacks
Welcome home!
Spudshacks, a new restaurant specializing in stuffed baked potatoes, opened at the beginning of August at 224 N. College Ave. Erol and Elena Sinan brought their homestyle Turkish fast food to Bloomington, providing customers with the opportunity to add toppings to the typical base of potato, butter, sour cream, green onions and cheese.
Gables Bagels New York-style bagel shop Gables Bagels opened a new location inside POSH Boutique Hotel in early September 2025. The hotel is located at 200 E. Kirkwood Ave near the CVS Pharmacy.
Gables Bagels sells bagels, sandwiches and schmears with flavors like maple bacon habanero, strawberry and vegan chive. One of their noteworthy items is the rainbow bagel, which is a plain bagel made of dough colored red, blue and yellow.
Dave & Buster’s Hoosier Alley Entertainment isn’t the only recent arrival to Bloomington’s extracurricular entertainment scene. Dave & Buster’s,
