THE
Daily Egyptian SERVING THE SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY SINCE 1916.
DAILYEGYPTIAN.COM
WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 2025
VOL. 108, ISSUE 32
SIU students push for DEI initiatives amid Trump cuts
Peyton Cook pcook@dailyegyptian.com
Maggie Wilkerson fears the day she can’t get accommodations for her disability. Wilkerson is an art student that uses accommodations almost every day. She holds one of two seats in Undergraduate Student Government representing students with disabilities. She goes to class, takes exams and completes projects like any student. Accommodations reduce the amount of barriers for Wilkerson to be able to graduate. “It’s not to make my life easier. It’s to make my life possible,” Wilkerson said. “I think the miscommunication is that people think accommodations are setting me up for success, when in
actuality, they’re just leading me up to achieve success the same way that every other student here can,” she said. For students like Wilkerson, diversity, equity and inclusion programs can be the difference between getting the support they need in college and not graduating. Programs and scholarships that could be labeled DEI help students financially as well as emotionally. “I feel like education should be a fundamental human right. I feel like every single person here has earned their place here and deserves to be here,” Wilkerson said. On Jan. 21, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive DEI | 3
What to know for graduation Lylee Gibbs @lyleegibbsphoto
King Haynes, USG DEI chair poses in front of the student center May 2, 2025 in Carbondale Illinois. Peyton Cook | @cookmeavisual
SIU students to see new textbook program and mental health fees in fall semester Annalise Schmidt aschmidt@dailyegyptian.com
Provided portrait of Penny Bordewick.
Beginning in fall 2025, Southern Illinois University Carbondale students will see two new initiatives designed to improve academic access and mental health services: a flatrate textbook program and a new mental health fee. Both measures were approved by the SIU Board of Trustees on April 17. The flat-rate textbook program will provide students with access to digital textbooks on the first day of class, with the option to opt out if they prefer to purchase books independently. SIU students will be charged $26 per credit hour for all necessary course materials identified by faculty. Penny Bordewick, president of the Undergraduate Student Government, explained the process leading to the approval of the program. “So the textbook one, that was something that the admin had already kind of thought about a little bit here and there, mostly in the Provost
Office… They thought it over, and then it had worked its way down to our adviser,” Bordewick said. She further elaborated that, after receiving more details, they took the proposal to the USG Senate for approval. The flat-rate program will include digital features to support learning needs of a variety of students, Bordewick said. “The online feature is going to be what the majority of students will be offered because it has a lot of different cool features that will actually enhance learning,” she said. “One of them being that it will read your textbook to you, or if you would like a dyslexic font that’s going to be available as well.” While most textbooks will be available digitally, students who need physical copies will also have the option. Bordewick said that the more students who enroll in the program, TEXTBOOK | 2
SIU’s 2025 Spring commencement will be held in the Banterra Center on Saturday, May 10 with ceremonies at both 9 a.m and 1 p.m. The 9 a.m. ceremony will include the College of Agricultural, Life and Physical Sciences; College of Engineering, Computing, Technology and Math; College of Arts and Media and the School of Education. The 1 p.m. ceremony will include the College of Health and Human Sciences; College of Business and Analytics; College of Liberal Arts and the School of Medicine. The SIU Simmons Law School commencement ceremony will be held on Friday, May 9 at 1 p.m. at Shryock Auditorium. Tickets are not required and general seating is limited on a first-come-firstserve basis. The doors will open 90 minutes before the start of the ceremony. Graduates and guests will be directed to park in lots 18 and 56 south of the Banterra Center. Designated parking for guests with disability plates or placards will be available in Lot 18 at the Banterra Center and Lot 52 off Douglas Drive. Flowers, SIU-themed memorabilia and commencement gifts will be available for purchase inside the arena. Balloons, signs, noisemakers and other objects that will obstruct view are not permitted into the ceremony. Editor-in-Chief Lylee Gibbs can be reached at lgibbs@dailyegyptian.com or on Instagram @lyleegibbsphoto
Stay up to date on the news with our website!