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opinion@technewsiit.com

TechNews | Tuesday, September 13th, 201 6

Faculty resolution on diversity, a criticism

Reno Waswil
DISTROBUTION MANAGER

It is quickly approaching one year
since the previous Illinois Tech Provost, Alan
W Cramb, was inaugurated as the ninth
president of the university, picking up the
baton from John L. Anderson, who had held
the position since 2007. Having been a student
enrolled at the school for two years before the
inauguration, I had, naturally, noticed a few
changes that could be linked to the changing
holder of the position, as one might expect
from a new president trying to make a defining
mark. A few of these changes I found somewhat
minor and humorous, such as the renaming
of the coffee, fruit, and preepackaged pastry
spread in the lobbies of the academic buildings
on Mies (previously Main) Campus on the
first day of Final’s Week from “Pat Anderson’s
Finals Breakfast" to “Mrs. Anna Cramb’s Finals
Breakfast;" it makes sense, sure, but the politics
of it seem a bit chuckleeworthy.

Then, some of the changes seemed
significant. It may only be my singular
evaluation of things, but Cramb, at this point
in his presidency, seems much more open and
available to students and student concerns
than was Anderson. There is always room for
improvement, but Cramb’s establishment of
the President’s Student Advisory Committee
(PSAC) as a transparent, and, ultimately,
studentechosen group of individuals, as well as
the influx of emails from the President’s Office
since Cramb’s inauguration to keep student’s
generally more informed of administrative
changes and business are just a few attestants
to my evaluation.

And I would cite more updates from
the President for the purposes of keeping
students, faculty, and staff more inetheeloop of
administrative news as a beneficial method of
creating a larger sense of school community,
which is whyI make a point to read them when
I do receive them.

It was because of this that I took a
keen notice to the curious email from President
Cramb last week For those paying attention,
several factions of the school (or at least many
of the students) actually received a total of
three emails from President Cramb last week,
and although I did form opinions about the
other two (one of which was a celebration of
fulfilling donorship goals and the other was an
announcement to students wishing to vote in
the election this November), I was compelled
only by the third one, received last Monday
morning, to generate some commentary This
email was part of a series of emails which

include the header “President’s Updates," and
shared a resolution on diversity and respect
that was passed at the last Faculty Council
meeting ofthe spring on April 21.

The email was short, and the
resolution went: given President Cramb’s
commitment to respect within the university
community “regardless of gender, race,
background, country of origin, religious
affiliation, immigration status, orientation...“
as was affirmed in his “University Update" on
November 20, 2015, as well as Illinois Tech
faculty’s observation that respectful diversity
strengthens us as a community, that the faculty
would, therefore, remain unwavering in their
commitment to “welcoming students, faculty,
and staff, whomever they may be."

What got me about this email was
the stark dichotomy of how little the statement
actually meant to the deal that was being
made of it. The only message I could takeaway
from this email was that the faculty “is still
proediversity, and that won’t change," which
is an absurd thing to make a point of saying
without any context. The resolution, passed
unanimously, now actually appears as its very
own tab, under the header “Faculty Statement
on Diversity," on IIT’s “Ofiice of the President"
webp age. Navigating to the website, in addition
to this new tab, I also see what I assume to be
a preexisting “Commitment to Diversity" tab,
which leads to a page harping on basically the
same point.

Before I continue, I’d like to restate
that I do see more announcements like these as
a beneficial practice in increasing the interest
of students in taking an active part in the
Illinois Tech community. However, I see it as
only being beneficial if these announcements,
somehow, allow us feel including and
responsible in the decision processes and not
just as outsiders being fed down patronizing
news, and furthermore, that these updates
don’t be of a nature that allows them to be,
more or less, meaningless, and to fade into
aggrandizing noise. These are two criticisms
that, I argue, can be fairly levied about this
particular update.

Why was news, may I ask? Am I to
understand that, prior to this, there was not an
expectation of respect regardless of affiliation
among our faculty? This seems contrary
to what I have been told time and time
again, enough to cement this already almost
universally supported idea of a university,
wide “commitment to diversity" in my mind
as meaningless noise. Perhaps there was some
explanation for this resolution in context of
specific issues in the school (a few having been

brought up by students at the last President
and Provost Forum), or plans for realeworld
effects or enforcement of said policy in the
future. This was not made clear in this email,
and these issues still remain, with or without
this new resolution, as contentious as they was
before.

Additionally, I may be mistaken,
but the only other email I received with any
reference to the Faculty Council was in a
“President’s Update" email from October
16, 2015. In this email, there was, actually,
what I believe to be meaningful information
conveyed. There was never, however, any
establishment in that or any other update I
recall that resolutions made by such a council
merited the publicity that this one did. This
was, in fact, the first resolution of this council
that I’ve ever heard of, and the implications of
these or other resolutions that may or may not
have been made in the past is a mystery to me.

According to Soren Spicknall,
the TechNews writer assigned to cover
Undergraduate Studies Committee (UGSC)
meetings, this “respect and diversity" topic
was actually also discussed within the UGSC
last spring stemming from the poignant
discussion had at the last President and
Provost Forum around the topic. There were,
however, administrative barriers to making
any immediate concrete changes to university
policy, and I may speculate that such barriers
resulted in the final Faculty Council resolution
to emerge in the way that it did. Although this
may have been the case, I was, sadly, unable to
find any reference to this in last spring’s UGSC
minutes to offer any details or proof.

Despite this realization, I am still
unsatisfied. I commend President Cramb
putting such a focus on communicating
with the students body and expendng so
much time to do so, but I am unsatisfied by
some of the methods he chooses to do it. I
do understand that asking for active student
representation in administrative decisions
is an idealistic request, and that, perhaps, we
can expect nothing more than occasional self,
applause of the university’s positive features
in the forms of mass emails for the sake of
shallow advertisement. I prefer to think of the
reality of the situation as somewhere between
these two extremes, and hope that the school
comes to progress towards the former. In
doing so, I invite any response to my questions
posed about the nature and meaning of
this resolution, and hope to receive a public
response in this paper.

Office of Campus Life hosts first leadership development event for Fall 2016

Alexandra Detweiler
TEC H N EWS W RITE R

Were you curious about the picture
of Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift that
was posted by the IIT Campus Life page on
Facebook? Were you drawn towards the sound
of Taylor Swift music coming from MTCC’s
Executive Conference room last Thursday?
You may be interested in learning about the
new leadership activities that are happening
this year.

Over the summer, Patrick Fina
with the Office of Campus Life was tasked
with “revamping the leadership program."
Because of this, Fina is kickstarting a series of
leadership workshops that will use pop culture
as a method to talk about what leadership is
and what makes a good leader. Using real life
examples will not only be more applicable to
students’ lives but will provide the opportunity
to talk about tough decisions that people such
as celebrities have to make. The first leadership
workshop of the year was on Thursday,
September 8th. It yielded a surprising turnout
of about 20 people and tasty sandwiches were
provided for all.

At the beginning of the luncheon,
Fina addressed us by asking who could define
leadership in two seconds or less. None of us
stepped up to the plate. Leadership is a hard
concept to define, vague and indefinite, and
Fina understood this. After letting individuals
share their own opinions, Fina said that his

own definition of leadership was “that feeling
you get in your gut when you know you’re
making a hard decision Where you’re worried
you might disappoint someone. Where you’re
worried that you’re going to make the wrong
choice. Or maybe you’re so nervous because
you know you’re making the right choice, but
it’s going to come with consequences."

Speaking of consequences, we
discussed how Taylor Swift learned about
consequences over the summer. For those
of you who don’t knoweeand care enough
to learneeTaylor Swift and Kim Kardashian
(on behalf of her husband Kanye West) were
recently involved in a heated feud over social
media where Kardashian fans ignited the
Twitter hashtag #KimExposedTaylorParty and
Taylor released a single statement asking to be
excluded from the drama.

Regardless of which celebrity was
actually in the wrong, we discussed our
opinions on who was acting like the “leader"
in the situation throughout the lunch. After all,
it is sometimes the leader’s job to step out of
the drama and sometimes the leader’s job to
step up to defend your family. In the end, the
group decided that both Swift and Kardashian
had acted as the leader in their own way.

We examined how our perception of
a leader is shaped by the identities they hold.
For example, both Swift and Kanye are artists;
that’s why we’re paying attention in the first
place. In addition, their racial backgrounds
differ as well. There’s Taylor, a white, former

country music artist from Nashville, Tennessee
suburbs, and, according to Fina, “Kanye,
who claims he is god, from the Southside of
Chicago." It was interesting to analyze how the
identities that different leaders have can shape
their actions.

The workshop as a whole was very
enjoyable; the atmosphere in the conference
room was warm and welcoming. All ideas
were accepted and discussed. However, I was
not well versed in the drama involving Swift
and Kardashian beforehand and felt lost
throughout parts of the discussion. Some
aspects of the ordeal were explained, but it
was assumed that the audience already knew
a substantial chunk So if you’re like me and
aren’t a pop culture guru, brush up on your
celebrity drama before attending the next
leadership event.

Keep a lookout for other events
like this one. The “Day of Be a Better You"
will be from 10 am. to 2 pm. on Saturday,
September 24. RSVP through Hakaink and
you will be eligible to take a Strengthsquest, a
tool that helps you identify where your natural
skills lie. The next leadership luncheon will
be on Thursday, October 13 from 11 am. to
2 pm. This event will involve the concept of
vulnerability and discussion will be centered
around Drake and Rihanna.

Tuesday, September 13th, 2016 | TechNews

opinion@technewsiit.com

 

Do you know the difference between UNICEF and Circle K?

Alexandra Detweiler
TECHNEWS WRITER

If your freshman self was anything
like mine, a lot of things confused you about
Illinois Tech. What were the random wooden
benches scattered around campus? What
was the deal with “less is more?" Why did
everything have to be an acronym?

But among other things, one thing
that had me scratching my head was the
difference between UNICEF and Circle K.
During this year’s student involvement fair,
I spent some time squinting between the
two booths and trying to discern what made
each unique. Two groups of nice, enthusiastic
college students looking to do volunteer work.
How was anyone expected to make a decision
on which to be involved in? A coin flip?

Fortunately, both organizations’
presidents were willing to meet with me and

help me understand the difference.

Martae Marshall, president of Circle
K, understood my confusion. He pointed out
that “the objective [of each] is not different.
The way UNICEF is structured is different
than Circle K." There are several ‘tiers’ of Circle
K that differ as one grows older. Builder’s Club
is for those attending middle school, Key Club
for high school students, Circle K for college
students, and Kiwanis International for those
older than that.

In the past, Circle K has done a
multitude of volunteering activities, such as
going to the Ronald McDonald house to read
and do activities with the children and helping
out at the city farm to pull weeds and plant
crops. In the future, Circle K has a myriad
of new projects planned, all of which involve
outreach events like cleaning up the city and
teaching children.

UNICEF, on the other hand, focuses

The Bog, after an over two-year run,

Reno Waswil
DISTRIBUTION MANAGER

Illinois Tech’s signature recreation
area, bowling alley, and bar, The Bog, located
in the basement of Hermann Hall, has been
a casual meeting and lounging spot, venue
for musical and performance acts, and space
for group parties and getetogethers for years.
During weekdays when classes are in session,
The Bog is host to the Commuter Lounge: a
period when The Bog’s recreation area, stocked
with video and board games, pool and ping
pong tables, and amenities like a refrigerator,
microwave, etc. is open for students to visit at
their leisure. During regular hours, the bar and
bowling alley are open for use, and attendees
are welcome to partake in the occasional
special events that may be hosted in the area
by any number of student organizations and
sponsored by Union Board.

The goal of maximizing the
usefulness of the space to the student populous
has resulted in adjustments to The Bog’s

Corrections

Union Board’s Hawks Coffeehouse continues into its fourth

year, now on Wednesday nights

In the previous issue, I wrote an article about
Union Board’s (UB) bieweekly performance event, Hawks
Coffeehouses, changing from Tuesday to Wednesday nights this
semester, but I had some of my information wrong. I claimed

hours of operation over the years. Some may
recall that, prior to spring of 2014, the Bog’s
regular hours were exclusively Thursday and
Friday evenings from 5 pm to 1 am during the
school year. However, in an attempt to give
students more weekend dining options, The
Bog’s management extended hours to include
Saturday nights from March 1 to April 5, 2014.
The following two academic years, Saturdays
during the months between October and
March were added to The Bog’s semesterly
scheduleeeSeptember and April being deemed
as having moderate enough weather that
students would more likely seek offcampus
dining options if inclined. This trend was
believed to continue into this academic year
as well, though inklings of unsatisfactory
attendance had already surfaced. It wasn’t until
this past summer when management decided
against continuing the Saturday operations,
and they elected to return to the Thursday and
Friday schedule as it had been previously.
Correspondence with the leading
OCL member involved in The Bog’s

location of said movie event was being changed to the Perlstein
Auditorium, and that it would, as a result, heretofore be called

mainly on children. In fact, UNICEF stands
for the United Nations International Children’s
Emergency Fund, and it has been at Illinois
Tech for only three semesters. However,
the organization already has an impressive
track record. One volunteering highlight
of UNICEF’s past is Keen Chicago, where
UNICEF members spent the day playing with
children with disabilities to keep them active.
Last year, UNICEF attended the national
conference in Washington, DC. Out of about 75
organizations, they won most knowledgeable
organization, in only their second semester.
According to Wildaline Serin,
president of UNICEF, “Every day, about 17,000
children die from preventable causes such
as poor water conditions and malnutrition
UNICEF’s mainmission is to makethat number
zero." Each month, UNICEF has a country and
an issue of the month. Their three committees,
eeducation, fundraising, and public relations,

operations, Alex Carlson helped uncover
the factors behind the change. “The decision
to cancel Saturdays" she writes, “was a joint
effort between Campus Life and Sodexo, based
on the lack of attendance we both saw over the
semester."

Although efforts were made to
increase attendance to the Bog on weekdays,
such as the introduction of Union Board’s
weekly instructional dance event “All the
rIITe Moves" last yeareeattendance remained
modest. “On Thursday and Friday nights, our
hourly counts normally peak with at least 100
students," Carlson elaborates, “on Saturdays,
we rarely saw more than 40 students." However,
as a sideenote, “All the rIITe Moves" is expected
to continue this year on a different day.

Union Board, which began booking
student organization reservations of the
space for the fall last semester, sent all of
the organizations that requested Saturday
bookings emails notifying them of the
change in July. They were given the option to
reschedule their events for another date, for

“Pearlstein Premiers." The following dates of both events will

in that article that one of the reasons behind the change was
“to better coordinate this event with other regular onecampus
UB event ‘Wishflix’ a monthly movie event on Wednesdays at
9 pm. in the Wishnick Hall Auditorium." After speaking again
with UB’s Music and Dance Chair, Citlalli Bueno, I learned that,
in fact, the movie event was being changed to Tuesday evenings,
and that Hawks Coffeehouse was changed to Wednesdays so
that the two did not correspond. Additionally, I learned that the

Adverfise In

be, for Perlstein Premiers, 9 pm. on September 13, when the
movie “Deadpool" will be shown, and for Hawks Coffeehouse, 7
pm. on September 14, with student performers. I apologize and
hope that no one who read the article was mislead too much.

campus@technewsiit.com

ework together to organize and advertise this
event. All proceeds from the event will be
donated to the cause in that specific country.
This month, UNICEF’s country is Mali and the
issue is underage child marriage. S0 expect a
fun event before the month ends that will help
combat this issue.

However, while Circle K and
UNICEF do have their differences, I was
surprised to learn that the national chapters
actually work together when their issues
overlap.

Interested in joining one or both?
Circle K meetings are on Thursdays in
Wishnick Auditorium from 12:50 to 1:40 pm.
UNICEF meetings are also on Thursdays, from
12.45 to 1:30 pm. in LS240. Look up UNICEF
@ Illinois Tech on Facebook for further
updates.

    

will no longer be open on Saturdays

which there was still a number of openings
available from which to choose. According to
Carlson, all of the funding that Union Board
was given to cover programming of The Bog
on Saturdays was returned.

When asked if the change would
at all impact the workers at the Bog, Carlson
explained that no additional staff was hired
over the summer, knowing that there was a
chance of The Bog’s hours decreasing, and so,
“our student staff should not see much of an
impact on this."

Although unfortunate, this was
not a decision made lightly, nor was it made
temporarily; Carlson concludes, “this year
we will go back to regular hours of Thursday
and Friday. I do not anticipate a change in
the future." With any hope, students that did
regularly use The Bog as an onecampus dining
option on Saturdays in the past will be able to
adjust without too much trouble, and student
organizations will be able to fit their planned
events in with the space’s new schedule.

Illinois Tech breaks ground on Kaplan Institute, first
academic building addition in 40 years

The front page article in Issue 1 of TechNews which
came out on Tuesday, August 30, mistakenly stated that the
Institute of Design (ID) will remain at the Downtown Campus
following the completion of the Ed Kaplan Family Institute for

Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship. In fact, ID will
have a home at the Kaplan Institute on Main Campus, where its
graduate programs will reside, whilst also continuing to have
programs based at the Downtown Campus. TechNews offers
its apologies for the error and any inconvenience it may have

caused.

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