The Volante W E D N E S D AY, F E B R U A R Y 1 4 , 2 0 1 8
THE STUDENTS’ VOICE SINCE 1887
VOLANTEONLINE.COM
Rebuilding The Center for Diversity & Community is embracing change after a semester of staff resignations and decr eased Cheyenne Alexis & Ally Krupinsky volante@usd.edu
Students who frequent the Center for Diversity & Community (CDC) are moving forward after a fall semester that saw complaints, multiple resignations and a drop in attendance. Lena Tran, the former intercultural program coordinator, and Lynae Tucker, a former CDC graduate assistant, resigned last October. Adetokunbo Oredein, the former CDC director, resigned in December. This semester, Lamont Sellers, associate vice president for diversity, and Kim Grieve, dean of students and vice president of student services, have stepped in to help plan programming, lead monthly meetings and encourage collaborations among student groups. Olivia Mann, a senior criminal justice and sociology double major, said she’s happy with the transition plan. “The biggest and most obvious issue that we’re facing right now is the fact that we are out our CDC staff,” she said. “There’s also definitely some residual tension, because last semester was tumultuous in many ways, and that’s definitely exasperated by national and political tensions.” Diedra Gatzke, a junior accounting major, said the problems facing the CDC are “normal ones.” Student organizations in the CDC are in
student involvement
“
The biggest and most obvious issue that we’re facing right now is the fact that we are out our CDC staff. Olivia Mann, senior
a good position with support from Sellers and Grieve, they said. “There’s been good communication between me and other students and the administration,” Gatzke said. Though the transition hasn’t been easy, Sellers said he appreciates how students are stepping up. “Between the graduate assistants and the work study students, as well as just the students that have a genuine concern and appreciation for this center, really have stepped up and are making stuff happen,” he said.
“It kind of feels like it used to,” he said. “I mean, we’re missing Lena, so that’s a really big part of the CDC that we’re missing, but other than that, it kind of feels like it’s a safe place again, or it’s home.” Mann attributes the drop in attendance last semester to a “rocky” transition after Tran’s departure, which led to less programming. “I think there was definitely some very real grief when she was gone, because it just wasn’t the same space,” she said. “We lost a lot of
Returning ‘home’
ONGOING STORY
Several students who stopped going to the CDC in the fall have started spending more time there again this semester. Xavier Wright, a senior media & journalism major, said he “just recently” started going back to the CDC.
See CDC, Page A3
Additional stories regarding the search for a new CDC director and program coordinator, Tran’s departure and inclusive excellence will be published in following weeks. If you have anything to add to this story, contact us at volante@usd.edu.
Abbott recovering after heart attack Rachel Newville
Rachel.Newville@coyotes.usd.edu
President James Abbott is “resting comfortably” after suffering a heart attack Saturday morning. A university press release said Abbott drove himself to the emergency room in Vermillion Saturday morning, where he was then airlifted to Sioux Falls to undergo surgery. As of Saturday afternoon, Abbott was “resting comfortably,” said Roberta Ambur, vice president for administration and technology, in a press release. He was released from the hospital Monday. A press release said he was grateful for the care he received from Sanford Vermillion and the Sanford USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls. Laura McNaughton, the presi-
dent’s chief of staff, said in an email he’s recovering well and taking things on a day-to-day basis. “We have not placed a firm timeline on President Abbott returning to his full schedule. It is fluid and based on how he feels and what his doctors recommend,” she said. “He feels very good right now, but needs some time to rest and recuperate.” Abbott will still be kept updated while he is out of the office. “While President Abbott is recovering, executive committee members will step in and cover any meetings or issues that need to be addressed,” McNaughton said. “President Abbott does have access to email and will respond to things as necessary.” McNaughton said any cards or well-wishes should be sent to the president’s office.
USD bikes sit in storage to avoid damage from winter weather.
Master bike plan in the works Molly Sperlich
Molly.Sperlich@coyotes.usd.edu
File photo I The Volante
President James Abbott is “resting comfortably” after having a heart attack Saturday morning.
Logan Rahn I The Volante
The city of Vermillion is in the beginning stages of developing a bike plan to improve infrastructure to make the town more bike-friendly. The effort began as a petition by city officials, and now, the city has hired an architectural firm to take on the project. This plan will make roads more bike-friendly as well as connect various bike trails around town, and it will coexist
with USD’s bike share program. Last April, the bike share program was implemented on campus. Amanda Hegg, a master’s student in the biology department and president of the sustainability club, said the program has been very successful. “It’s been very popular. We were hoping that we would have it be a recreational thing, and I have seen a lot of students take the bikes down to the trails in lower Vermillion,” Hegg said. “Also, international students who don’t have cars take them
to Walmart or Hy-Vee.”
Vermillion Master Plan
Marty Shukert, an architect with RDG planning and design, was hired by the city as the lead consultant on the project. He said the plan isn’t something that can be created overnight. “The plan has some specific elements that are set out and it is a systematic process. We start out with reconnaissance with See BIKES, Page A6
Social media complaint posted about non-university affiliated man Devin Martin
Devin.Martin@coyotes.usd.edu
Students are tweeting about a non-university affiliated man who has been allegedly harassing students in the Muenster University Center. A series of tweets posted on Sunday by a student stressed that the man “made disturbing comments to many girls about inviting them to meet his dog in his car, asking girls to be his roommate, offering rides.” The student’s tweets also said that the man “made
myself and my coworkers very uncomfortable.” Doug Wagner, director of the MUC and student programming, said if an employee feels unsafe on campus, they can consult human resources or the University Police Department. “Human resources guides all of our practices as far as fulltime, faculty staff. If there’s ever an unsafe work environment from another employee, we will talk directly with human resources and file that as a complaint,” Wagner said. “Someone who isn’t affiliated with the university, we
“
The MUC is kind of a blessing and sometimes a curse in the sense that we are both a university center not just to students, but also to the community.
Doug Wagner, director of the MUC and student programming encourage employees to talk to the university police directly.” Wagner said there is no policy in place to keep non-university affiliated individuals from being
in common areas on campus. “The MUC is kind of a blessing and sometimes a curse in the sense that we are both a university center not just to students, but
also to the community,” Wagner said. “We currently don’t have a policy procedure on record that governs those (non-university related) individuals.” UPD and University Brew declined to comment.
ONLINE ONLY See screenshots of the student’s tweets.
volante online. com