March 2, 2022

THE TIMES-DELPHIC The weekly student newspaper of Drake University Vol. 141 | No. 17 | March 2, 2022 FEATURES

SPORTS

COMMENTARY

Drake students will have an opportunity to help fellow Bulldogs in financial need at the Student Alumni Association’s “All In” event.

Following a mixed bag of wins and losses, Drake men’s tennis team will play Northern Illinois at 5 p.m. on March 4 at the Knapp Center.

An editorial from the Asian American Pacific Islander Affinity Faculty group demands action against racism at Drake University.

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Racist messages found in Crawford Hall, Cowles Library Madeleine Leigh Staff Writer madeleine.leigh@drake.edu

On Feb. 18, Lorissa Sowden, assistant dean of students and director of residence life at Drake University, sent out an email informing campus residents that an unknown person or persons vandalized a third floor bulletin board in Crawford Hall with racist speech. An email from Drake provost Sue Mattison on Feb. 21 notified campus that an unknown person or persons had also vandalized an area of Cowles Library with racist speech.

The Drake administration is encouraging any students with information about the perpetrators to contact Drake Public Safety or any member of Drake’s Student Affairs team.

In the immediate aftermath of this vandalism, Jennifer Harvey, the associate provost of campus equity and inclusion, sent out an email inviting “all members of the Drake community whom we know who are directly affected” to a meeting in Levitt Hall on Feb 20. This included the Coalition of Black Students, Flight program, Crew Scholars, Bright College, Unity Roundtable and Residence Life staff.

Just over 30 people attended. Attendees included Sowden, Mattison and Harvey, as well as chief student affairs officer Jerry Parker, dean of students Hannah Clayborne, Bright College dean Craig Owens and Drake Counseling

Center director Kayla Bell. The meeting was a space for affected students and staff to share their thoughts, feelings and reactions to the public act of racism on Drake’s campus.

“We are committed to providing a safe, healthy and inclusive living and learning environment for all our students and this behavior does not align with Drake University’s values and is unacceptable,” Sowden wrote in her email.

Mattison wrote in her email to campus that Drake “would not tolerate” racist acts like the recent vandalism. Additionally, she wrote that she heard at the Feb. 20 meeting that “students of color are exhausted, [and] facing overt racism and microaggressions every single day,” and promised that Drake would take action based on that feedback.

This is not the first time someone has posted racist or bigoted messages on Drake’s campus, according to previous reporting from The TimesDelphic. In 2018, an unknown person slid a racist threat under a Black first-year student’s door. In 2017, someone wrote a racist slur on a Black first-year student’s whiteboard outside their dorm room; in the same weekend, someone also carved a swastika onto the wall of the Olmsted elevator. In 2016, someone taped posters onto two Latina first-year students’ doors that attacked their identity.

Harvey said that marginalized communities on Drake’s campus continue to face discrimination and

A RACIST MESSAGE was found at Cowles Library. PHOTO BY JOSHUA BRUER | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

that combating these issues is always a work in progress.

“For many of us, myself included and including many of us in administration, the urgency about inclusion, decreasing incidents of racism, homophobia, transphobia, all of those –isms and phobias, both proactively and stronger actions plans—that urgency—I do not believe that it ever goes away,” Harvey said. “We’ve been talking since 2016, we’ve been talking since the notes in 2018. [We’ve discussed,] ‘Okay, we know these things will continue to happen, how do we increasingly get ready?’”

When incidents like this latest racist act of vandalism do happen at Drake, the administration’s response has included meeting the immediate needs of students affected by it.

This means providing resources that can help students process

the incident, like sessions at the counseling center or oneon-one conversations with administrators, as well as listening to student concerns.

Hearing students’ concerns is important to Harvey because it lets her and other administrators know where they’re falling short, and where they need to better communicate what work they’re already doing.

“It’s a gift when students are willing and able to say, ‘here’s a thing, here’s a falling short,’” Harvey said. “I also know it comes at a cost to them, so it makes me sad [that it’s necessary]; it’s not like ‘oh, thank you for that gift.’ But that’s how I receive it even when it’s articulated with anger.”

Drake Student Affairs and Academic Affairs are holding a series of listening and dialogue sessions in Levitt

Hall this week and next week.

Sessions for “Black students, students of color, and students [whose] religious and/or ethnic identities and experiences render them directly targeted by racist incidents” will be held on Feb. 28 from 4-5 p.m. and on March 8 from 4-5 p.m. and 5-6 p.m. Sessions for white students will be held on March 1 from 4-5 p.m. and Match 7 from 4-5 p.m.

A session for faculty and staff will be held on March 2 from 4-5 p.m.

Harvey said that she shares students’ feelings of anger or exhaustion at this latest racist attack on the Black community at Drake.

“Yeah, you should be mad, and of course you’re tired, and exhausted. I’m sorry, and I’m also angry [along] with you,” Harvey said. “And you certainly don’t have to navigate it alone.”

Drake SWOC advocates for a student workers’ union Meghan Holloran Contributing Writer meghan.holloran@drake.edu

After hearing about recent strikes and union drives at Amazon and other companies, the founder of the Drake Student Workers Organizing Committee (Drake SWOC) started trying to form a Drake student union. SWOC has started an Instagram account at @drake.swoc and a Twitter account @Drake_SWOC. “Last year and the beginning of this year, like last fall, was especially big for strikes and union drives. And I’m, you know, a left wing sort of fellow,” said the founder of Drake SWOC, who asked to remain anonymous. “And so that energized me.”

The founder said he believes that forming a union is a basic right that guarantees better treatment and pay for everyone.

He said that the absence of a union sets up a society “to be a place of unfair contracts.”

Drake isn’t the only campus that has seen a student unionization movement. In 2016, NPR reported that the National Labor Relations Board ruled that graduate students working as teaching or research assistants at Columbia University had a right to unionize.

Drake’s executive director of human resources, Maureen De Armond, replied over email to a question about how Drake University would handle a possible unionization.

“Drake will always adhere to the rules under the National Labor Relations Act applicable to any union organizing effort,” De Armond said.

Under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, workers in private-sector jobs have “the fundamental right to seek better working conditions and designation of representation without fear of retaliation,” according to the National Labor Relations Board.

Student workers at Drake are paid $7.25 an hour and up with monthly paychecks. Out of 14 on-campus jobs listed on the hiring platform Handshake on Feb. 28, four paid $7.25 per hour, two paid $7.50 per hour, one paid $8.00 per hour, one paid $8.25 per hour, three paid $10.00 per hour, and three did not list their hourly wage.

The job search website Indeed puts the average wage for a receptionist in the Des Moines area at $14.50 an hour, and ‘overnight associates’ wages at $15 an hour. The University of Iowa’s average rate of pay for office workers is $10.51, and Grinnell College pays nonunionized workers $8.24 and up.

The founder called student wages at Drake “abysmal.”

“If Drake were employing normal classes of people, not students, you know, they say, hey, $7.25 for receptionists,” The founder said. “Everybody would say ‘screw them.’”

De Armond said she understands student’s frustrations over not being paid

as much as local businesses around the Des Moines area. She said she is working to provide better working opportunities and micro-internships.

“The goal is to negotiate for the things students want from their jobs. I’ve heard a number of things: higher pay, higher night pay, more flexible schedules.”

“While we may not always be able to offer the same wages as for-profit businesses, we do want to make sure we grow opportunities that match our mission and support the professional preparation of Drake students,” De Armond said.

De Armond stated in her email that “Drake Human Resources initiated an assessment of student wages last fall” and that it could take a year for any potential budget increases to be planned.

According to the founder, Drake SWOC has many goals to improve students’ working conditions as well as increase their hourly pay.

“The goal is to negotiate for the things students want from their jobs,” the founder said.

“I’ve heard a number of things: higher pay, higher night pay, more flexible schedules.”

THE STUDENT WORKERS ORGANIZING COMMITTEE is recruiting through Instagram and Twitter and an online form linked on its profile page. GRAPHIC BY OLIVIA KLASSEN | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The founder said that Drake SWOC hopes to add a labor senator to Drake’s student senate.

“We want to constantly negotiate for things in general that are better for students, whether that comes from the [Drake] administration agreeing well, that’d be fantastic,” the founder said.

“That’d be the easiest way for everybody.”

The founder said that alumni and faculty have also become involved in the movement.

Alumni were among the first to reach out to him, and the founder hopes that SWOC “can

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tap into [alumni enthusiasm] at some point.”

“If faculty want to support us, I welcome them with open arms, and it’s fantastic. But I don’t want to expect it,” The founder said.

Drake SWOC may plan events in the future. The founder said the biggest challenge for recruitment is just getting the conversation started.

“The big first step is just one on one conversations with people,” the founder said.

“And that’s where probably the bottleneck at this point is, we just need people to talk to each other about it.”

02 | Features

Features

March 2, 2022

bulldog highlights:

matthew williams tackles a variety of internships Maia Songer Staff Writer maia.songer@drake.edu

Matthew Williams, a junior majoring in accounting at Drake University, has held a multitude of internships that he believes have set him up for professional success.

Before college, Williams wanted to be a lawyer. However, once he realized he didn’t want that lifestyle, he was introduced by one of his teachers to accounting.

“It really struck me as a field that impacts every organization —nonprofits, businesses, governments—and there’s a very logical flow to it,” Williams said. “Everything should equal, there’s not crazy calculus five required and it is very straightforward math.”

In spring of 2021, Williams held a tax internship at HoganHansen P.C. That summer, he took part in a financial reporting internship at Village of Schaumburg. Currently , Williams is working as a tax intern at BerganKDV and is slated for an internship for summer 2022 doing consulting work at one of the big four accounting firms, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Director of the School of Accounting and associate professor, Kelley Ellis, is Williams’ academic advisor and provides insight into the value of Williams’ wide range of preprofessional experiences.

“He’s had a variety and that’s something to highlight,” Ellis said. “Internships are a student’s opportunity to get exposure to a lot of different things and Matthew has used that. He doesn’t get a job with one company and just keep coming back to the same company all the time. He’s worked in taxes and audit and nonprofit and he’s just tried lots of different types of accounting roles in order to figure out what he likes. I think that that’s a good model for students to try to adopt in their practices.”

JUNIOR MATTHEW WILLIAMS discovered his passion for accounting at Drake and has taken advantage of many different types of accounting internship opportunities that allow him to gain diverse experience in the field. PHOTOS COURTESY OF MATTHEW WILLIAMS

By doing a variety of different things, as Ellis suggests, Williams has fallen in love with government accounting.

It was William’s internship doing financial reporting for the Village of Schaumburg in Illinois that inspired his interest in government accounting work.

“My job was to help our accounting team prepare for our annual audit,” Williams said.

“So, the auditors gave us a list of things that they needed from us to do their audit and it was my job to help our team prepare those documents before the auditors came for field work.”

Beyond basic tasks, however, Williams appreciated the opportunity to serve his local community.

“We did two vaccination clinics in April and May, and so we were trying to get a grant from FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Administration, to get reimbursed for those costs for those vaccination clinics,” Williams said. “It was my responsibility, I was lead on that, to kind of do all that financial reporting for that grant application so I owned the number that was on that grant application.”

Williams celebrated the fact that the grant was fully funded, or obligated as Williams would refer to it, shortly after the application went out.

“It was really fulfilling to be able to use my skills and make an impact in my community,” Williams said. “Those dollars are able to be redeployed for the benefit of residents which was really awesome.”

Williams said that he’s always had a passion for service.

“I just think he’s a really good ambassador,” Ellis said.

“He’s very approachable and personable as he’s dealing with others, so he’s got a really good demeanor about his personality.

I think he’s a good ambassador for the program at Drake, for the College of Business. His people skills are good and then he’s just very organized. He’s good at time management and preparing for classes and being involved.”

As a social person, Williams challenges a common stereotype that comes with accounting professionals.

“We don’t sit behind computers all day and have no social interaction,” Williams said. “It’s a very people-oriented business if you want it to be

because you do the accounting work, but then you have to explain to the client what you are doing or if you’re with a company, you have to be able to explain to the CEO what these numbers mean. It’s one thing to compute them, but being able to communicate it is a totally different game.”

Ellis said that Williams is skilled at professional networking and is very active on LinkedIn. In addition, Williams was selected by the Association of Government Accountants as one of ten recipients nationwide for their National Collegiate Leadership Program Scholarship.

Williams attended the conference in Washington D.C. last week. Beforehand, Williams said that he looked forward to the networking opportunities that would come with attending the national leadership training.

“We were each assigned a mentor to help us network around the conference and mine is the Chief Financial Officer for the US Office of Personnel Management, so he has had a very long and very successful career,” Williams said before the conference. “I’m looking forward to learning with him

and exploring the D.C. area too. That’s always a fun perk as well.”

As Williams continues to explore more professionally, he leaves with a word of advice to young professionals: there is no expectation for you to understand everything on day one of your internship.

“When you’re working on some big project for an internship, you have to realize that it’s okay not to know what’s going on because you haven’t had that exposure yet, you haven’t been in the field for 20-30 years,” Williams said.

“Recognizing that and being willing to learn is the biggest lesson that I have learned. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand day one but if you are willing to take the effort to learn, that is more important in my mind.”

Drake University prides itself on the pre-professional development that the University supplies for its students. This features series serves to highlight students at Drake who have explored pre-professional options and provide insight into what these experiences look like.

Student Alumni Association prepares for Drake All In she said. “You may think ‘Oh, my donation is just $5’, but everything is doubled.”

The Caldbeck Student Philanthropy Challenge is named after Diane Caldbeck, a longtime employee and alumna of Drake. According to Hussain, the challenge is funded by Caldbeck’s three children, all of whom are Drake graduates.

“My brother, sister and I were motivated to endow the Caldbeck Challenge to honor our mother,” said Kelly Caldbeck, one of the contributors to the fund. “She taught us at an early age to love the power of philanthropy.”

Maddi Cave Staff Writer maddi.cave@drake.edu

Drake students will have the opportunity to donate money to students in financial need, to their favorite schools at Drake or to the university at large at the ninth annual “All In” event this Thursday, March 3.

Every spring, the Drake Student Alumni Association (SAA) hosts the 24-hour All In giving challenge to raise money for various aspects of Drake University.

“The ultimate purpose is really to offer a day where the entire Drake community, alumni, students, staff and parents witness what we can do when we all come together,” said Becca Widmer, the director of annual giving at Drake.

According to Widmer, donations made within the 24 hours of All In “go further” because of the many “challenges” that will be going on.

“For example, there are individual challenge matches for each school, thanks to various alumni and donors,” Widmer said.

Widmer also noted that if they reach a total of 1,250 donors, it unlocks a challenge match of an additional $100,000 for Drake. She said this is the ultimate goal.

SAA Vice President of Philanthropy Amber Hussain said that all donations not

“Help others experience the Drake you get to experience day-to-day.

Help build your bulldog community so it can last forever.”

SAA VICE PRESIDENT OF PHILANTHROPY AMBER HUSSAIN encourages students to participate in the ‘All In’ event, even if they can only donate a little. PHOTO COURTESY OF AMBER HUSSAIN

directed to a certain school or department will go into the Catalyst Fund, an emergency student fund that is available to all Drake students.

“Those donations will be going directly towards other students, the people you see around you every day,” she said.

“If someone needs a computer fixed, tuition paid for, help with room and board, etc, the

Catalyst Fund helps students with those things, big and small.”

Hussain said students should not be discouraged if they do not feel they have much money to contribute.

“One of the biggest challenges we host is the Caldbeck challenge, which will match every donation a student gives up to $1600,”

To Caldbeck and her siblings, private education depends heavily on the generosity of its alumni.

“I am committed to making a Drake education possible for future generations as my education was made possible for me,” she said.

Caldbeck said she knows that the cost of higher education is expensive, and for many students, the thought of

contributing money to Drake in addition to the tuition they already pay seems hard to comprehend.

“Yet, as members of the Drake community, we’re all in this together,” she said. “Give a gift, let us match it and let’s make a difference at Drake together.”

Hussain said there will be several events happening over March 3 and 4, including a kickoff event at noon on March 3 in the Olmsted Breezeway, a March 3 performance by Jim the Pancake Man at 6 p.m. on Pomerantz Stage and Dollars for Donuts on Friday, March 4 at 8:30 a.m. in the Olmsted Breezeway.

She also said students could check out all of the “challenges” that Drake will be offering at https://all-in.drake.edu/, which is also the website students can use to make their donations if they do not plan on attending the in-person events.

“This event really gives the opportunity for people to give to what they care about here at Drake,” Widmer said. “Give to areas where you think it is deserved.”

Both Hussain and Widmer encouraged students to “put their money where their heart is.”

“Help others experience the Drake you get to experience dayto-day,” Hussain said. “Help build your bulldog community so it can last forever.”

03 | Sports

March 2, 2022

Sports

Men’s tennis team gets first win of the season

THE DRAKE MEN’S TENNIS TEAM broke their five match losing streak after a 4-3 win against Utah State on Saturday, Feb. 19. PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Darinka Stepan Staff Writer darinka.stepan@drake.edu

Drake men’s tennis got their first win of the season against Utah State on Saturday, Feb. 19.

The Bulldogs traveled to Logan, Utah to compete against a couple of schools. They first competed against Utah State, followed by playing Utah and then finishing their weekend off against Montana State.

In the match against the Utah State Aggies, the Bulldogs had close matches on all three courts for doubles. At doubles one, sophomore Jeremy Schifris and junior Oliver Johansson had a close set, but were able to get the match, winning it 6-4.

The doubles two team consisting of redshirt sophomore Matija Matic and redshirt junior Evan Fragistas

also had a close set, but were able to finish it in a 6-4 victory.

“I think everyone came out with fire this match, we were looking for a win after our past matches,” Matic said about the team’s performance against Utah State. “I’m glad that we were able to get the dub today.”

“I think everyone came out with fire this match, we were looking for a win after our past matches. I’m glad that we were able to get the dub today.”

Doubles three team had junior Reid Jarvis and junior Matt Clegg. They lost their set

in a hard-fought battle, but fell 4-6 to the Aggies.

Singles one was played by Schifris who had a close first set, but lost 7-6 with the tiebreaker score 7-5. Schifris continued to fight in the second set, but lost 4-6.

At singles two Johansson also had a close match. Johansson won the first set 6-4, and then fell short in the second set losing it 6-4. Johansson also lost the third set 6-1.

Matic played in the singles three slot for the Bulldogs, and got a quick win for them. He won the first set 6-2 and then won the second set 6-3 to get a singles point for the team.

Single four was also a close match, Jarvis battled through the first set to win 7-6 with the tiebreaker score as 7-3. Jarvis lost the second set 1-6 and lost the third set 4-6.

Fragistas got another point for the Bulldogs at the singles five slot. Fragistas won the first set 6-3. He then had a close second set falling short and losing it 3-6. He came back to win the third set, 6-3. Fragistas got another point for the Bulldogs.

“I went out there today ready to fight for a point for Drake, I’m really grateful that we were able to get a win as a team today.”

Sophomore Markus Bolin was at the singles six slot. He lost the first set 0-6, but then bounced back to win his second

set, 7-6. The tiebreaker match went 7-2 in favor of Bolin.

Heading into the third set Bolin won 6-4 helping Drake clinch the match and winning a fourth point.

“I went out there today ready to fight for a point for Drake, I’m really grateful that we were able to get a win as a team today,” Bolin said.

Following this match against Utah State, the Bulldogs lost to Utah, 0-4, and Montana State, 3-4 on Sunday, Feb. 20. After this double header the men’s tennis team came home. The Bulldogs secured big wins against NO. 44 Western Michigan, 4-3, on Friday, Feb. 25 and NO. 55 Wichita State, 4-3, Sunday 27.

Drake next plays Northern Illinois at the Roger Knapp Center on Friday, March 4 at 5 p.m.

Russian sports face the consequences of Ukraine invasion

ON MONDAY, FEB. 28 FIFA and UEFA suspended all Russian clubs and national teams from participating in competitions after facing pressure. PHOTO COURTESY OF FIFA Lia Reichmann Sports Editor lia.reichmann@drake.edu

Since Russia’s attack on Ukraine earlier this week, sports leagues, teams and players have protested and severed ties with Russian sponsors and any affiliation with Russia.

On Monday, Feb. 28 FIFA, the global governing body for soccer, and UEFA, the European governing body, announced they have banned all Russian national soccer teams and clubs from competitions “until further notice.” This ban could affect and remove Russia from next month’s qualifying playoff games for the Men’s World Cup. The World Cup is one of the biggest international sporting events.

“Football is fully united here and in full solidarity with all the people affected in Ukraine,” FIFA said in a statement. “[We] hope that the situation in Ukraine will improve significantly and rapidly so that football can again be a vector

for unity and peace amongst people.”

Before Monday’s stronger sanctions, FIFA faced backlash with some saying they had not done enough to punish Russia for its attack on Ukraine.

Officials from Poland, Sweden and the Czech Republic pressured for a full ban as their federations would have potentially had to play Russia in trying to qualify for the World Cup. Russia’s women’s national team would also be affected by the UEFA ban and will likely not be able to compete in the 2022 Women’s European Championship, which is this summer. Russian Club Spartak Moscow qualified for the Europa League round of 16 will face the effects from the ban as well.

UEFA relocated its Champions League final from St. Petersburg in Russia to Paris, France a few days prior to the most recent sanctions. They also announced they would end its sponsorship deal with state-

owned oil company, Gazprom.

Gazprom has been in a UEFA partnership since 2012 and the deal was worth about €50 million a year. On Monday, German Club Schalke 04 also ended their sponsorship deal with Gazprom.

Athletes themselves have come out against the war and called for Russia to stop their invasion. Players from the Sacramento Kings and Denver Nuggets in the NBA came together before their Thursday, Feb. 24 game for a moment of silence in solidarity for Ukranians. Ukrainian player Alex Len was in the center. NHL star and Russian, Alex Ovechkin issued a statement last Friday.

“Please, no more war,” the statement said. “It doesn’t matter who is in the war-Russia, Ukraine, different countries-we have to live in peace.”

The IOC executive board also announced Monday that they are recommending sports organizers to not invite or allow “the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes

and officials in international competitions.”

Belarusian athletes are included in this ban as Belarus is supporting the Russian invasion. The International Paralympics Committee will meet later this week to discuss the participation of Russian athletes the games.

These are just some of the most recent bans on Russia within the sports world. Over the last few days, many federations, teams and athletes have dropped anything to do with Russia.

Although these bans don’t do a whole lot, they are symbolically significant and put more pressure on Putin to end the war. It also shows a growing movement for players and organizations to participate in protests and social justice.

It’s hard to tell what other repercussions and sanctions Russia faces in the sports world.

Some have advocated Russia be banned from the Olympics and other major sporting events due to their state-wide doping scandal and their invasion of Ukraine.

BARCELONA AND NAPOLI PLAYERS displayed a banner that read “STOP WAR” before their Thursday, Feb. 24 Europa League game. PHOTO COURTESY OF @ESPNF C INSTAGRAM

04 | Commentary

Commentary

March 2, 2022

A diet of air: vegetarians indignant at lack of Hubbell variety Olivia Klassen Assistant Photo Editor olivia.klassen@drake.edu

Two things have become increasingly apparent this year to some students: 1) The food here sucks and 2) They don’t care to fix it.

“Bland and flavorless doesn’t pair well with a lack of option,” sophomore Cameron LeeParker said.

Multiple attempts for change, including advocating for better options, voicing vegetarian needs and actually filling out the Sodexo survey have been made.

They’ve heard our (limited) praises, our grievances and our pleas to improve the food, and they still haven’t answered our prayers. Are you even listening, oh Sodexo food gods?

Let’s set some things straight from a previous 2012 TD article: In this article, a reporter had interviewed the regional Sodexo manager Carla Carlson, where Carlson had made a statement along the lines of, “chicken breast is chicken breast” and while I’d like to congratulate Carlson on knowing their meats, part of the problem is the fact that the chicken breast has found a way to be burnt to a crisp, undercooked and dry as a bone all at the same time.

I don’t even eat meat anymore, but freshman me had these problems, and my omnivore friends complain about it daily.

“It [the quality of food] just makes it really hard for me to want to eat anything but quesadillas and fries,” sophomore Sarah Princapato said.

More and more students are switching from walking to Hubbell to DoorDashing, Grubhubbing and Uber Eatsing their meals. One would beg to ask if this expensive food hell is just a problem with Drake, but it seems to be the same with other Sodexo customers too.

After interviewing students at Simpson College, which uses Sodexo as its food provider as well, it became clear that they have the same feelings as Drake students.

“The quality really varies, but usually it’s not edible, resorting to more people not using their meal plan, myself included,” Simpson student Cam Whiles said. “I don’t think they really season anything and the fruit they serve isn’t ripe so it’s literally not edible.”

And while I’d love to give

HUBBELL IS THE TEFLON OF MESS HALLS, assailed by disgruntled pitchfork legions of food critics. One vociferous writer slams the dearth of vegetarian options, calling for the Sodexo bigwigs to stop the lip service and put their money where their mouth is.

What are we, a herd of stegosauruses? Limited to only salads for brunch and linner? PHOTO BY OLIVIA KLASSEN | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Sodexo the benefit of the doubt and say that lack of training would be the problem, Dr. Becky Maes on “Is it bad for you?” agreed with the comments Whiles made. She states that Sodexo is not good for you, and that the healthiest alternative is to pack a homemade lunch.

Excuse me?

I pay $2,564 a semester to be advised to pack my meal at home because the food was deemed not healthy?

Now, let’s get to the reason why I wrote this: J-term was one long monthish of vegetarians begrudgingly swallowing salad after salad.

After my third day of salad, I asked my fellow vegetarians what they had been eating, because maybe they could see options that I couldn’t.

To my disappointment, they

had also been forcing down salads. After a few emails with the nutritionist, we had gotten some tofu, a form of protein on the salad bar. Happily ever after, right? Hahaha, no.

“It lacks substance,” LeeParker said. “It’s just side dishes made in large quantities to pass off as a meal.”

In a model close to Lucy ripping the football away just before Charlie Brown could kick it, the tofu mysteriously disappeared after 3 days, which tells me one of two things: either they put it on to shut me up and never intended on restocking it, or there were so many vegetarians here that we ate the entire stock that they had ordered.

“But Liv,” you may be asking, “isn’t there a vegetarian station so that people who eat

vegetarian have something to eat?” The short answer is that there was.

But they covered the vegetarian symbol up with two sticky notes. My personal favorite vegetarian “options” over J-term were a choice of corn or grits (two separate stations), salad, and jasmine cilantro rice and Santa Fe black beans, but they mixed the rice and black beans and forgot the jasmine and cilantro.

I didn’t see anything vegetarian until someone had Yik Yaked “I’d rather have an ED than be vegetarian and eat at Hubbell.” The next day, which coincidentally had also been both the last couple days of J-term and a tour day, there were vegetarian options.

There was something that we could eat at every station, and a

Hubbell employee had turned to a broken record saying, “I have to let you know, this is vegetarian” and “everything at my station is vegetarian today.”

The thing that’s the most disappointing about this whole ordeal is that no matter what we do, they don’t seem to care.

We pay so much money to be here, stay here and eat here.

The classes and housing are both up to par, but the food is far below. Someday, maybe the Sodexo food gods will hear our prayers and answer them in some capacity.

Until then, continue to fill out the survey, talk about the food and ask yourself if you’re getting what you’re paying for, and if the answer is no, start advocating until we get what we deserve.

AAPI statement of support: addressing racist incidents Cameron Tuai Associate Professor of Librarianship cameron.tuai@drake.edu

The following editorial by the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Affinity Faculty group addresses the problem of structural racism at Drake University. In particular, the structures associated with the organizational position of University president. The AAPI wants to clearly state

that this opinion is not directed at the current holder of Drake University president, but rather the position of University president. The AAPI is firm in its belief that President Martin is truly dedicated to eradicating structures of oppression across all of the University.

-Cameron Tuai (AAPI Representative) In light of the current and ongoing racism targeting the Black student population, the Asian American and Pacific

THE TIMES-DELPHIC The student newspaper for Drake University since 1884 EMMA BRUSTKERN Editor-in-Chief emma.brustkern@drake.edu ANDREW KENNARD, News Editor GRACE ALTENHOFEN, Managing Editor andrew.kennard@drake.edu grace.altenhofen@drake.edu LIA REICHMANN, Sports Editor lia.reichmann@drake.edu

AUTUMN OSIA, Photo Editor autumn.osia@drake.edu

COLIN FRIER, Commentary Editor colin.frier@drake.edu

MAX BROWN, Digital Editor max.brown@drake.edu

MAKAYLA CASTILLO, Business Manager makayla.castillo@drake.edu LAURA WEBER, Distributor laura.weber@drake.edu

CAT FARRELL, Media Manager cat.farrell@drake.edu ERIN DUENWALD, Copy Editor erin.duenwald@drake.edu

JEFF INMAN Faculty Advisor jeffrey.inman@drake.edu

Islander (AAPI) Affinity Faculty group stands with students, faculty and staff of color, and in particular, the Black student population. We demand that now is the time for Drake University to act upon its commitment to “redressing historic injustices that result in continued marginalization of members of specific groups... and respond to contemporary calls for inclusivity as necessitated by social justice.”

The University president

must recognize that as he walks through the entrance to Old Main that the presidential portraits looking back at him will continue to look like him and his predecessors as long as Drake allows “acts of oppression, be they denial of freedom of expression, discrimination in its various forms of sexism or racism, or intolerance of religion, age, sexual orientation, or political beliefs.”

The AAPI Affinity Group

believes that this recognition and admission of privilege will begin to redress the burden--emotional, physical, and mental--- that students of color face from overt racism and microaggressions every day.

We hope this acknowledgment will allow the Drake community to finally “come together” to see diversity, equity and inclusion within both the position of president and in portraits that celebrate us as a community.

The Times-Delphic is a student newspaper published weekly during the regular academic year and is produced by undergraduate students at Drake University. The opinions of staff editorials reflect the institutional opinion of the newspaper based on current staff opinions and the newspaper’s traditions. These opinions do not necessarily reflect those of individual employees of the paper, Drake University or members of the student body. All other opinions appearing throughout the paper are those of the author or artist named within the column or cartoon. The newsroom and business office of The Times-Delphic are located in Meredith Hall, Room 124. The Times-Delphic is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press. The editor-in-chief sits on the Board of Student Communications.

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