Letter from the Managing Editor
Surprise Patriots, you’d thought you’d seen the last of me. Welcome to the third issue of the semester. I hope y’all have been nice to everyone on campus since the last issue. This week I thought I would talk about something that has been affecting my friends, others on campus and I since the start of the semester.
Catcalling or better known as street harassment.
No matter what gender is getting catcalled, you just shouldn’t. In my personal history, I have never known of anyone who goes up to their catcaller and actually gives them the time of day. So to you catcallers, why do you do it?
Catcalling at all isn’t cool but especially not on this campus. It doesn’t make you cool and it feels predatory to those who are being catcalled. By catcalling other students on campus, you’re perpetuating a campus that is full of harassment and predatory. I, as a proud student of University of the Cumberlands, do not stand for it.
UC before the start of the semester had been a campus I felt comfortable walking around alone late at night. Now, my friends and teammates can’t run during the day, walk back to their dorms or even leave the Grill without getting untoward comments. Again, I’ll reiterate, catcallers you need to stop.
WIth all the changes that are happening on campus we need to proceed with progress. UC needs to stay a safe place for all students. So, let us progress. If you hear someone being catcalled, step in. Catcallers don’t deserve your attention or time.
Catcallers, what if that person was your sibling or friend, would you still say those things to them? Regardless, it shouldn’t matter what their relation to you could be, they’re still human. So moving forward Patriots, let’s be better.
Keep surviving and thriving,
Taylor Duke, Managing Editor
Editor-In-Chief
Mike Krzyston
Managing Editor
Taylor Duke
Faculty Adviser
Jeremiah Massengale
Staff
Emilee Agee
Haley Bullock
Whitney Couch
River DePetris
Makayla Durham
Abigail Fletcher
Leanne Gregory
Alex Nunn
Jenna Rose
Sara Sherman
Elizabeth Spires
Maranda Young
Front cover by Mike Krzyston
Back cover by Taylor Duke
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The Patriot is the student publication of the University of the Cumberlands. Our goal is to provide timely and original content by highlighting campus news and views.
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annual 9/11 memorial service
Paying homage to those we lost UC hosts
BY TAYLOR DUKE Staff Writer
Students, faculty and community members gathered around a structural beam from the World Trade Center in New York City in the University of the Cumberlands’ Patriot Park, 18 years after 9/11 to honor the 3,056 total casualties.
Prayer opened the memorial and the crowd fell silent. Those passing by to get to class stood still to pay their respects. After prayer, athletic director Chris Kraftick greeted the crowd and introduced UC’s women’s basketball head coach Rick Reeves.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Coach Reeves was on a flight from Dallas, Texas to Atlanta, Georgia. He remembered that some of the other passengers were on their way to Boston, Massachusetts, the airport where Flight 11 had been hijacked.
Flight 11 was on the way to Los Angeles, California but never made it. It crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
Reeves recollected the moments on that day where his flight from Atlanta had to circle back and was disembarked.
“That day, I guess there were so many planes that were told to land that you could literally look out the window and see in the windows of other planes,” said Reeves.
Reeves used his speech to reflect on what could’ve happened and how he uses what did happen to live every day with joy and gratefulness.
UC freshman Alyssa Morningstar attended the memorial but was eleven months old when 9/11 occurred.
Morningstar says, “It’s important to come to memorial services because it’s important to look back at our nation’s history.”
Much of UC’s student body was under 5-years-old when the terrorist attack happened.
“I was happy to see so many people there to remember all the victims and the first responders who lost their lives trying to help,” continued Morningstar.
Dan Ballou, a retired major in the Marine Corp and current circuit court judge for Whitley and McCreary County was in attendance in his uniform.
“I was an attorney back then. By the time I got to court, everybody at the courthouse knew. I was in the military already. I was just mad,” said Ballou.
Talking about why he felt that way Ballou continued to say, “There was this phrase, “Flight or Fight.” For me it was just fight.”
September 11, 2001 changed national security in the United States of America. After 18 years, the U.S. still feels the aftershocks. Earlier this year, John Stewart, former host of “The Daily Show,” addressed Congress on behalf of first responders and survivors with medical needs of our nation’s most notable terror attack.
The “September 11th Victim Compensation Fund” did not get renewed for funding until July of 2019. The end date for the 9/11 VCF is 2092 according to an article from the New York Post.
Every year we need to take a second to remember those who are no longer with us due to that act of terrorism.
Photo by Taylor Duke
Two students look upon UC’s ROTC cadets raising the flag to half mast.
BY MAKAYLA DURHAM Staff Writer
Strike up the court
UC volleyball team gears up for the season
The University of the Cumberlands women’s volleyball team has had a great start to their season and has proven their abilities to themselves and the crowd. Before each game the team will warm up together and talk about some goals for the match that is about to happen while also going over lineups and movements of the sets. While interviewing Jennifer Stein, a junior at UC, about how the team gets motivated before a game she said, “We get really pumped up to music beforehand. If you come early enough to a game, you would see many of us dancing and lip-syncing to one another. That vibe carries us into games stronger than anything else.” During home games a great motivator is the student section, the cheering chants and stomping feet brings encouragement straight onto the court.
Photo by River DePetris
Senior Mackenzie Koch approaches the ball to score a kill.
The UC crowd celebrates after the team scores.
Photo by Taylor Duke
Graduate
during intermission.
Assistant Kelsley Wilkenson begins to hype the crowd
Senior Anna Zuniga prepares to serve the ball.
UC Volleyball player returns a ball at theirhome opener.
Photo by Taylor Duke
Photo by River DePetris
Photo by River DePetris
Students, no swiping!
New update to the meal plan has many students upset
BY MIKE KRZYSTON Editor-In-Chief
Last week, on-campus residents were shook by an official email from the Campus Food Service pertaining a new update on the meal plan. The message states in bold, “Please note, effective September 4, there will be a 15 minute waiting period between each meal swipe.” To say that this sudden, unexplained change caused a stir in the residential community would be an understatement.
Of course, circumstances could be worse. During my freshmen year, in the fall of 2015, the meal plan was set up in a way that I was forced to use my swipes in a certain time window. For all of you who missed that unfortunate time, if I was unable to get to the cafeteria before 10:30 am when breakfast ended, I lost my swipe and was down to only 2 left on the day. Thankfully, by my junior year the administration updated to let us use our meal swipes at any time during the day.
Now, those with meal plans are faced with an unfortunate conundrum. For those not participating in extracurricular activities, this change may not be that big of a deal. Yet, for the majority of the student body who either plays a sport or are a part of a club that practices and travels often, this change can be detrimental.
As a former athlete, I was thankful for the leniency of being able to use swipes whenever I wanted due to my team’s hectic traveling schedule. There were countless times where we would be returning to campus and the only places open were Tossed or Chick-Fil-A, and being able to use three swipes at once helped save a lot of our disposable money we had set aside for other things. With this new policy, students coming home late from tournaments or events are now essentially being robbed of a bigger meal. Let’s face it, one chicken sandwich and a side of fries is not going to satisfy an offensive lineman coming back to campus from a big win.
The weirdest part about this whole update is the reasoning behind it, or should I say the lack thereof. The official email stated no reasons why the change was happening, nor any information on whether or not it is permanent or a trial. In the most recent Student Government meeting, President Larry Cockrum explained his worry of non-residents and non-students “cheating the system” by tagging along with their buddy who has a meal plan, which could be a legitimate problem. According to Chief Financial Officer Quentin Young, the providers of our food services (which include Chick-Fil-A and Tossed) charge the school per swipe used throughout the year. Yet, as students who pay for our meal plan, is it not ultimately our decision on who uses our swipes?
On-campus residents pay a lump sum for their room and board cost in the tuition, which is $9,300 per year, according to Young. As students who want to be “maximizing the resources available to you via your student meal plan,” as the official email states, it would make the most sense to use all three of our meal swipes, regardless if they are being used by us or our friends, especially if there is no option of being reimbursed for the swipes we never used.
As this update is fresh, we are going to have to roll with the punches as the administration irons the kinks out. In the meantime, those who want to try and revert back to the old system should appeal to their closest SGA member. Being a faith-based university, I hope we can figure out a satisfying resolution, as Proverbs 11:25 (NIV) says, “A generous person will prosper, whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.”
Photo by Mike Krzyston
Looking back to go forward
Advice to the new freshmen
BY HALEY BULLOCK Staff Writer
Dear freshman Haley,
Though it may not seem like it, a lot can happen in a year. It’s 365 days of change, yes, but it’s also growth. Freshmen year in college is such a confusing and transitional part in your life. It’s scary and it’s rough, but it can be one of the greatest years of your life. If you can manage to get past the deadlines that creep up faster than you ever thought they would and make it to that 8 a.m. class that you dread more than anything, you’ve experienced that growth. If you can just make it past that freshman year, one of the hardest things you could ever do, you will know that all the struggles you have been put through was all worth it.
If I could go back in time and sit with you to have a one-on-one conversation, I would tell you to stop caring what other people think. This is something that I still must tell myself, but that is a part of growth, pushing through the hard parts. I would tell you that it doesn’t matter if I’m not looking my best and that it isn’t the end of the world if you fall on the viaduct in front of God and everybody. Sometimes the small things seem like the worst thing to have ever happened, but as time passes, you discover that they definitely were not the absolute worst thing to have happened.
Another thing I would tell you, so determined and strict on yourself, is to loosen up. There’s a lot of pressure that comes with coming to college for the first time. You want to make a good first impression on all of your teachers with that assignment turned in the night you get the prompt for the assignment.
You turn down invitations from your friends to hang out because you “need to do some more homework.” I know this isn’t the case for everyone because most people are told to buckle down on their studies, but this is something important to hear for all of the “overachievers.” That essay prompt will still be there in 30 minutes. Go eat that Blizzard with your friends and watch that movie that everyone has been talking about. At the end of the year, you don’t remember the countless nights holed up in your dorm room, you remember all the laughs and the good times that you made with all your friends.
Even though I was just a freshman last year, a lot has changed for me as a person. Growth is something that is so important to becoming the person that you want to be, and we all experience it with each day that passes. Enjoy that growth, revel in the sunlight of the good days, and know that the rain passes on the days where you just want to hide under the covers. You’re only a freshman for such a short while; make the most out of it. Love,
The person you are now
1997-2000 were not only years important for music but for most of us on campus who were born around this time.These nostalgic tracks were hand-picked by our staff with Haley and Mike as our playlist cover. Their letters to their freshman selves are featured to the left.
Photo by Taylor Duke
