ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES
Volume 152 No. 10
Miami university — Oxford, Ohio
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2024
Dorsey Hall residents were promised a safe space — instead, they found harassment TAYLOR POWERS THE MIAMI STUDENT
TAYLOR STUMBAUGH CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY EDITOR On East Quad, Dorsey Hall sits as the home of Miami University’s “Love. Honor. Pride.” (LHP) Learning Living Community (LLC), which is dedicated to creating a gender-inclusive space for the LGBTQ+ community. However, this safe space has been threatened over the past few months by harassment in the hall. Felix Karmilowicz, a first-year data analytics major, is part of LHP and said the issues started in late September with pumpkin smashing and have evolved into spitting on doors and hate speech on whiteboards. “We're also having issues outside of Dorsey where people are seeing people coming out of [the dorm] and then they'll start barking at us,” Karmilowicz said. Only the second floor and half of the third floor in Dorsey are dedicated to the LHP LLC, and the rest of the hall is filled with unassociated students and a business LLC. Karmilowicz said that the whole dorm held a meeting last semester to discuss the complaints coming from the third floor “about disrespecting people and their identities.” The director of residence life at the time, Vicka Bell-Robinson, addressed the hall and compared their complaints to bike theft and her own experience growing up in an unsafe environment, Karmilowicz said. “She's like, ‘I knew that I can't leave my bike out or else it's going to get stolen,’” Karmilowicz said. Since September, the various forms of harassment have included homophobic and transphobic comments made outside residents’ doors,
REAGAN RUDE SENIOR CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR Most buildings in Uptown Oxford today have worn many hats over the years. Stores and restaurants open and close, residents come and go, technology innovates new businesses and antiquates others. But one building has remained the same amid all these changes — Bethel A.M.E. church, the oldest of the four historically Black churches in Oxford. The congregation originally formed in 1842, meeting in the house of John Rollins before purchasing a building on Beech Street in 1857. The building was constructed two years before church trustees purchased it. While the physical structure of the church has undergone renovations over the years, it’s remained in the same location — 14 S. Beech St. — for more than 150 years. Hiram R. Revels, one of the church’s first pastors, later moved to Mississippi and went on to become the first Black man elected to the U.S. Congress in 1870. Jacqueline Johnson, a steward at Bethel A.M.E. and archivist at Miami University, has been a member of the church for over 30 years. She said she’s proud of its unique history. “After slavery and the Civil War was over, they had the strength and the power to build a church where they could worship freely,” Johnson said. “To me, that’s a great history that no one can take away from us.”
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In this issue
DORSEY HALL IS HOME TO THE LOVE. HONOR. PRIDE. LLC. PHOTO BY CAITLIN DOMINSKI
Miami hockey’s plans for bye week and final stretch of the 2023-24 season JEFFREY MIDDLETON THE MIAMI STUDENT
CAMPUS & COMMUNITY
Professors struggle with keeping students engaged in and out of the classroom - page 4
OXFORD
New Uptown store offers locally-sourced products and promotes sustainability - page 7
The Miami University hockey team's schedule ramped up significantly after the new year. The team has played five straight National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) series, including four against ranked teams, two of which were in the top 10 in the nation at the time. Two of their five series were back-to-back road trips. Now, the RedHawks finally get a break. While the team’s bye week will have impacts from a practice and player recovery standpoint, the rest of the schedule is important to remember going in. What the rest of the season will look like
How Miami Athletics can address low student turnout PATRICK REAVES
MIAMI UNIVERSITY'S HOCKEY TEAM HAS A FULL SCHEDULE AFTER ITS BYE WEEK. PHOTO BY JESSICA MONAHAN
First, on Feb. 23 and Feb. 24, they take on the Denver University Pioneers, who are currently ranked fifth in the nation. The Pioneers will be coming back home from an away
series against the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs.
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Miami Art Museum embraces environmental art for spring gallery
‘I stumbled into an unbelievable university’: Sheldon White reflects on his football journey
SAM NORTON
- page 8
GREENHAWKS EDITOR
OPINION
- page 16
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
THE MIAMI STUDENT
SPORTS
Why sorority recruitment shouldn't define your college journey
‘It’s a safe haven’: How Oxford’s oldest Black congregation honors its history
STUDENTS EXAMINE ART PAINTED FROM PIGMENTS EXTRACTED FROM MINE RUNOFF RESIDUE. PHOTO BY SARAH FROSCH
At the end of a hallway decorated with frames and canvas, natural light streams in from floor-to-ceiling windows, a fitting illumination for a gallery filled with artwork reflecting the natural world on the other side of the glass. Sweeping landscapes, apocalyptic scenes and thought-provoking sculptures fill the Farmer Gallery in the Richard and
Carole Cocks Art Museum at Miami University. From Jan. 30 to June 8, “The World in Which We Live: The Art of Environmental Awareness” exhibition will provoke museum-goers to examine their place in the world around them. Jason Shaiman, the museum’s curator of exhibitions, began imagining an exhibition displaying environmental art three years ago after CONTINUED ON PAGE 15
Call for art
When the Miami University men’s basketball team played Eastern Michigan University last year, around 800 students crowded the student section to watch the game. Most of them were there to see Eastern Michigan guard and social media star Emoni Bates, who was drafted in the second round of last year’s NBA Draft. The basketball team averaged 1,847 attendants at home games in 2022. That number rose to more than 3,000 in the Eastern Michigan game. When Miami plays teams with notable players, the homegame attendance tends to increase significantly. Steve Baker, who has been covering the RedHawks for 39 years on radio and streaming broadcasts, reflected on how the games were when some high profile players attended Miami: “Back when [Ron] Harper was here, we had a section called the Bleacher Rats … and it was packed,” said Baker. “Certainly when Ben [Roethlisberger] was here, some of our best crowds ever in football. I think at this level, it takes that kind of player or that kind of team to get that involvement.” Despite some of the recent shortcomings, Miami has the ability to draw sizable crowds. Having everyone moving in the same direction within the Athletic CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
ROWS OF CROPS COLOR THE LANDSCAPE ACROSS THE FIELDS OF MIAMI’S FARM. PPROVIDED BY AUDREY ALLEN.
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