IDS Thursday, May 8, 2025
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GRADUATION GUIDE
ACLU, trustee candidate sue Braun
Braun signed a bill eliminating alumni-elected trustee positions at IU By Natalia Nelson
nelsonnb@iu.edu | @natalianelsonn
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana and former IU Board of Trustees candidate Justin Vasel announced May 6 they have filed a lawsuit against Gov. Mike Braun over the last-minute addition to the state budget giving Braun total control over the board’s member selections. House Enrolled Act 1001, which eliminated the three alumni-elected positions on the board, was signed into law May 6. The board comprises nine trustees, six of whom have been historically chosen by the governor, while the other three are elected by IU’s alumni and serve threeyear terms.
“There is nothing unique about Indiana University that justifies application of the new statutory scheme to it and not to Indiana’s other four-year universities.” ACLU lawsuit
Under the new law, Braun can remove and replace the current elected members of the board at any time, which includes Vivian Winston, Jill Burnett and Donna Spears. This year’s election for Winston’s seat was set to begin June 1. Several alumni, including plaintiff Justin Vasel, had already submitted 200 necessary signatures and materials to run for the position. IU has said that the election process would not continue if Braun were to sign the bill. The ACLU of Indiana announced May 6 that it was filing a lawsuit against Braun, with Vasel as a plaintiff, claiming the law violated the Indiana Constitution. The case was filed in the Monroe Circuit Court. “The new legislation that targets Indiana University and only Indiana University is special legislation,” the lawsuit reads. “There is nothing unique about Indiana University that justifies application of the new statutory scheme to it and not to Indiana’s other four-year universities.” The law does not require other universities to change their election procedures. The lawsuit claimed that the new law violates a part of the state Constitution that states “all laws shall be general, and of uniform operation throughout the State.” “This case touches on fundamental questions about democratic representation in public institutions and constitutional constraints on legislative power,” Vasel told the IDS in an email May 7. “Issues that transcend partisan politics and affect all Hoosiers who care about good governance.” Vasel and the ACLU requested that the court declare the section of the law unconstitutional and void and enter a preliminary injunction that would allow for the planned election to continue.
COURTESY PHOTO
(Right) Benny and Cheryl Hickok prepare to race and (left) Tim Fifer leads a group of runners during his weekly Tuesday workouts. Over the past decade, ultramarathon running skyrocketed in popularity.
‘That person can run 100 miles?’ How ultramarathon running thrives in Indiana
By Mia Hilkowitz mhilkowi@iu.edu | @MiaHilkowitz
It took about 18 miles for Benny Hickok to realize exactly why the race earned the designation as Indiana’s “toughest trail race.” For starters, the trails guiding racers through the Owen-Putnam State Forest that November in 2006 weren’t trails for people at all. The paths were meant for horses, which, over the years, had torn up the terrain. Add in the recent rain and nearby
springs, Benny found himself slipping and sliding through ankle-deep mud during the entire first course loop. It also didn’t help that his friend — the one who convinced him to try out the long-distance sport in the first place — failed to show up, leaving Benny to attempt his first ultramarathon, the OPSF5050, alone. He had run long distances before, including road races like Cincinnati’s Flying Pig Marathon. But this 50-kilometer race (approximately
31.1 miles) was different. It was freezing cold. His IT band started to flare up. And he could just go home. So, with 13 miles left in the race, Benny took a seat. He decided he was ready to stop. “What the hell are you doing?” Benny heard the voice of his wife, Cheryl, loud and clear. It was strange — his wife wasn’t even next to him at that moment (and would “never talk to me like this”), Benny said. But there her voice was in his head, urging
him to get up. “You’ve spent all this time training for this, you’ve got this day to yourself, spending it away from family and you’re just going to give up?” Benny imagined Cheryl telling him. “Just go get it done. Just get out there.” She was right, of course. So, with the help of ibuprofen and a shot of Captain Morgan, Benny got back on his feet and took off. Just another 13 miles to go. ***
Over the past decade, ultramarathon running — running distances longer than the traditional 26.2-mile marathon — has skyrocketed in popularity. According to the International Association of Ultrarunners and RunRepeat, participation in these long-distance races increased by 1,676% from 1996 to 2018, with women and runners from all age groups participating more than ever before. SEE MARATHON, PAGE 11
IU reflects a year after encampment By Natalia Nelson and Deshna Venkatachalam
nelsonnb@iu.edu | devenkat@iu.edu
On the morning of April 25, 2024, David McDonald was teaching a class called Pop Culture and Politics in the Middle East. Less than 12 hours later, he was sitting in the Monroe County Jail. McDonald was one of over 30 faculty and students arrested by the IU Police Department and Indiana State Police on April 25, the first day protesters set up tents in Dunn Meadow. He was charged with trespassing and banned from campus after standing between a police officer and a student, he told the Indiana Daily Student. Both the trespass charge and ban were dismissed a few weeks after the arrest. The IU Divestment Coalition organized the Dunn Meadow encampment to protest the war in Gaza and call for IU to divest from Israel months after the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war. On Oct. 7, 2023, a Hamasled attack on Israel killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in Israel. Hamas took around 250 hostages. Around 150 hostages have since then been released or rescued alive. According to the Washington Post, 82 hostages have been confirmed killed, and 24 hostages are still in Gaza. In response to the initial attack, Israel launched a military campaign, and at least 52,000 Palestinians, many of whom were women and children, have been killed during the conflict as of April 27, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The war has displaced 1.9 million people, or around 90% of Gaza’s population. Police arrested 23 more protesters on April 27. The encampment was dismantled by IU after 100 days on Aug. 2. IU spent over
JACOB SPUDICH | IDS
A student wears the flag of Israel as they overlook protesters at the IU Divestment Coalition encampment April 25, 2024, at Dunn Meadow in Bloomington. It's been over a year since the encampment started.
$265,000 on cleanup, repairs and renovation, and a fence was placed around the space for 136 days during the construction. Dunn Meadow opened again on Dec. 16. IU established an expressive activity policy in July, which prohibits expressive activity between 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. without prior approval, the installation of temporary structures without approval, camping on university property, blocking access to buildings and impeding vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The IUDC’s demands from the encampment, which ranged from divestment from Israel to the opening of Muslim and Middle Eastern cultural centers have not been met. The Monroe County Prosecutor’s Office did not file charges against 55 of the 57 protesters who were arrested, citing IU’s last-minute change to its unauthorized structure policy. The IDS interviewed IU community members about their experiences during and since the encampment. Rise in antisemitism Bloomington and IU have seen increased antisemitism and hostility toward Jewish students, according to Jeff Linkon, the executive direc-
tor of the Jewish campus organization Hillel at IU. He was not working at IU during the encampment but said he was attuned to the campus climate leading up to his acceptance of the role last October. During the hiring process, he said Hillel’s student leaders interviewed him, and campus attitudes toward Jewish students were at the forefront of their conversations. The Anti-Defamation League, an organization that aims to fight antisemitic bias, reported a 344% increase in antisemitism between 2019 and 2024, with incidents of harassment, assault and vandalism occurring nationwide. It reported synagogues and other Jewish institutions were targeted with bomb threats. The ADL updated its methodology after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack to include antiZionism incidents with other antisemitic incidents in its report. A map from the ADL recorded 21 incidents of antisemitic harassment and vandalism in Bloomington in 2024. One reported that a synagogue in Bloomington was the target of a bomb threat in January. Others included swastikas spraypainted on a synagogue and Israeli flag. In 2023, there
were only four incidents, all of which were recorded after Hamas’s initial attack on Oct 7. IU, along with at least 20 other universities, received a Title VI complaint a few months after Oct. 7, 2023, from “conservative culture writer” Zachary Marschall. The complaint accused IU of failing to address antisemitism on its campus, citing chants from pro-Palestine protests. On Feb. 5, 2024, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into IU. The Department of Education sent letters to 60 universities, including IU, in March 2025, threatening federal funding if “they do not fulfill their obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish students on campus.” All universities that received letters had been under investigation for antisemitism. According to Linkon, the encampment exacerbated the experiences Jewish students faced since Oct. 7, 2023. He said Jewish students expressed fear, isolation and a growing sense of vulnerability on the campus. Partnerships between the Jewish community and other culture centers, student governments and community organizations on campus
became impossible to continue, Linkon said. He said he thought they might have felt the campus climate was toxic and didn’t want to be a part of it, or that they turned their backs on the Jewish community. He said IU’s campus should be a safe space for students to talk about the events in Israel and in Gaza, but that safe space didn’t exist. “Antisemitism is as old as, you know, it dates back thousands of years,” Linkon said. "It isn’t going away today or tomorrow.” While combating antisemitism is vital, he said, it was still critical to provide a campus climate where Jewish students can thrive and connect in positive ways. Sophomore Mikayla Kaplan said she has been apprehensive to share her experiences as a Jewish student, though she said she hadn’t directly experienced antisemitism in the classroom. She has lived in Israel previously and is the president of Hoosiers for Israel, an organization with a goal to inform students about Israel. “I’ve had students that I’ve heard are experiencing bias and antisemitism in classrooms, both from professors and from their fellow peers and students,” Kaplan said. “I don’t want to feel isolated in a class.” In response to the encampment itself, she felt as though IU did not do a good job of handling it. “It’s tricky because the administration needs to protect all students, not just a specific group,” Kaplan said. Faculty reflect on the encampment Faculty who were arrested at the encampment have spent the past year grappling with how to move forward. SEE ENCAMPMENT, PAGE 4