ESTABLISHED 1826 — OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES
Volume 151 No. 15
Miami university — Oxford, Ohio
FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2023
GreenHawks announces its plan to merge with The Miami Student in the fall 2023 semester
Emails show administrator shared medical leave resources with Bill Knight SEAN SCOTT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
REAGAN RUDE CAMPUS & COMMUNITY EDITOR Next semester, a new section will be coming to the Miami Student: GreenHawks. Currently an independent student publication at Miami University centered on sustainability and the environment, GreenHawks Media will merge with The Miami Student and continue covering climate-related issues around Oxford and beyond. Sam Norton, a sophomore biology major with an environmental science co-major and a minor in journalism, is the current editor-in-chief of GreenHawks and an opinion columnist for The Student. Norton will continue serving as editor for the GreenHawks section of The Student next semester. Norton said it was GreenHawks’ previous editor-in-chief, Morgan Schneider, who came up with the idea for the merger. “She had been talking with [Annie-Marie] Blair, who’s our faculty advisor, about what was going to happen after Professor Blair retired, and that was an idea that floated around,” Norton said. “I was on board with it right away because I had written for The Student, and so I was very happy about it.” Norton said another reason for the merger was GreenHawks' struggles with maintaining output and writers. With The Student, Norton hopes he’ll be able to recruit more writers and deliver content to a broader audience. “I’ll have access to some people who already write for The Student who want to dabble in environment-related content,” Norton said. “I’m also hoping more people will see the option of writing for GreenHawks and feel confident that what they’re writing will have a platform.” Blair, a senior clinical lecturer of journalism, said although she’s sad CONTINUED ON PAGE 3
In this issue
SENIORS TAKE PHOTOS AROUND CAMPUS IN PREPARATION FOR THEIR UPCOMING GRADUATION, PHOTO BY JAKE RUFFER.
Four years later, Miami’s class sent home by COVID-19 is ready to graduate RILEY CRABTREE STAFF WRITER For many students at Miami University, it’s easy to recount the trials that came with the COVID-19 pandemic: physical distancing, masks and contact tracing. Usually students just beginning their college years associate the time with freedom, new friends and social experiences they’ll always remember. Unfortunately, for many current Miami seniors, their experience was not what they expected. Savana Colegate, a senior botany major, remembers how empty it felt to be on campus in a time where class was on Zoom and students had very little chance to interact with their peers or the campus.
“Everything was locked up. It was empty and sad,” Colegate said. “I think it’s a lot nicer now. It feels more human.” Caden Wilcox, a senior Russian, East Europe, and Eurasian studies and economics double major, looked back on his experience on campus as a difficult time. “The social element was definitely lacking,” Wilcox said. “It was often difficult for students to get that support network that being around other people gives. It’s more difficult to approach classwork and academics without having friends or acquaintances by your side.” Wilcox wished the university had worked more for their students at the beginning, but noted it was difficult to navigate the new circumstances administration faced.
“I think Miami didn’t take the pandemic seriously at first, and because they lacked that seriousness at the beginning, the effects were more longstanding,” Wilcox said. “I think their approach was disjointed, and they thought they could give the same experience, but that just wasn’t possible. Any attempt they made couldn’t give us what we needed.” Colegate agreed that Miami did all they could, but she still felt her experience has improved without all the restrictions of the pandemic. Despite what it may have felt like to students, Miami quickly began to plan their procedures after the shutdown in March 2020. Kimberly Vance, a director with the Center for Student Engagement, Activities, and CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
The 17th annual MUF&D fashion show is absolutely “ethereal” ALLISON LEE STAFF WRITER
CAMPUS & COMMUNITY Miami ... Merged? - page 8 SPECIAL SECTION Graduating senior profiles
- page 5
ENTERTAINMENT RedHawk Radio hosts share music and life updates on show - page 9
FOOD New coffee ordering options at Starbucks - page 10 SPORTS Names to watch in the Miami women's basketball head coaching search - page 12
Miami University Fashion & Design’s (MUF&D) 17th annual fashion show, “Ethereal,” took place Saturday, April 29, in Millett Hall. Expectations going into the show were already high but were still exceeded. Ethereal, as a concept, is incredibly open-ended. Ethereal is anything that is light, precious, delicate or otherworldly. While all of the pieces and collections were unique in their own right, they all followed the theme cohesively. MUF&D is Miami’s largest student organization with more than 800 members. Students can choose what committee they join, such as the modeling committee, the finance committee or the public relations/ marketing committee. The fashion show is an end-of-year production centered around one theme, and student designers are hand-picked to create collections that relate to the theme. These student designers then pick their models from a pool of hundreds of students that audition in the fall semester, and they do not have to be in MUF&D. This year’s fashion show isn’t the first to get this much traction. On April 26, MUF&D won Miami’s
MODELS ENTER AND EXIT THE THE RUNWAY AT THE MUF&D SHOW. PHOTO BY SARAH FROSCH
Student Engagement Activities and Leadership (SEAL) award for “Event of the Year” for its 2022 show, “Oasis.” One of the highlights of the entire show was senior speech pathology and audiology major Emma Neuhauser’s “M.I.A. (Mood In Ambivalence).” Denim, patchwork and oversized materials came together to create something straight out of
“Peter Pan.” The showstopper had to have been the giant mesh hoop skirt. The crowd gasped as the model stepped on stage, tying the skirt together with a whimsical-and-goth-esque corset top. The outfit showed how versatile the theme of “Ethereal” and the creativity of our student designers can be. CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
New emails obtained by The Miami Student in its continued reporting on the wrongful death lawsuit against Miami University show that one administrator shared resources for the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) with Bill Knight when he brought up concerns about his health. In early April, Miami, its Board of Trustees, former Provost Jason Osborne, Associate Vice President for Academic Personnel Ruth Groom, and Associate Vice President for Budget and Analytics Lindsay Carpenter were named as defendants in a lawsuit following Knight’s death by suicide in 2021. The lawsuit alleges that the university and its administrators are responsible for creating the conditions that led to Knight’s death. Groom was accused in the lawsuit of “intentionally delay[ing]” Knight’s application for medical leave under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). However, an email from March 18, 2021, shows Groom showed concern for Knight’s health and provided FMLA information for him. She also checked on the status of Knight’s FMLA application multiple times after he submitted it. Groom emailed Knight and his coworker, Mollie Miller, on March 15, 2021, about inconsistencies in data on the number of professors in various departments. On March 16, Knight responded that he was “profoundly sorry” and added, “I am very sorry that the health challenge I have been experiencing has affected my performance and consequently caused problems for several people including you.” On March 18, Groom responded to Knight individually. “Let me begin by first stating that I am sorry to hear that you have been having some health challenges,” Groom wrote. “I wanted to share with you the link to apply for FMLA, in case the challenges you are facing result in the need for you to apply for FMLA leave.” Groom then linked the application form, as well as the university policy on FMLA. Knight revealed in another email that day that he applied for FMLA on March 17. In a March 18 email, a staff member in HR responsible for coordinating medical leave confirmed that she had received his application and said Knight’s physician would need to provide medical certification. Once HR received his medical certification, it would take up to five business days for the HR department to approve the leave. In an email to The Miami Student, Alecia Lipton, associate director of media relations, confirmed that a request needs to be received and reviewed by HR to start the FMLA process. Academic personnel will inform the faculty or staff member that they’ve met the eligibility requirements and request a medical certification from them and their physician. “Once HR/Academic Personnel have the form from the physician’s office, it is reviewed for completeness and to be sure it meets the requirements of FML,” Lipton wrote. Angela Wallace, the lawyer for Knight’s widow, Adriene Knight, didn’t respond when asked for more information on the lawsuit’s claim that Knight’s FMLA “application was intentionally delayed by Groom.” According to the emails, Knight sent his medical certification form to his physician that day, but he didn’t hear back from her until March 23. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Graduating Talawanda to Graduating Champions: Three Oxford native student-athletes share their Miami experience STYLE The 17th annual MUF&D fashion show is absolutely "etheral" - page 14 OPINION Redefining my disability
SOFIA CENTRELLA THE MIAMI STUDENT
- page 15
PHOTO Where students are studying for finals this year - page 16
DALTON NORRIS HAS MET HIS CLOSEST FRIENDS AT MIAMI. PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY DALTON NORRIS
There are 16 varsity teams here at Miami University, with nearly 600 total athletes. Of this number, just four attended the local high school in Oxford: Talawanda High. People typically think college students try to move away from home, but for these athletes, you couldn’t seem to get any closer. Junior Dalton Norris is a defensive lineman on the football team, who majors in sports leadership and
management and minors in general business. He has lived in Oxford his whole life and picked up football once he reached second grade. Growing up, he knew he wanted to play football in college, but he often contemplated where to commit. He eventually landed at Miami because of the strong connection he made with the head coach, Chuck Martin, who he had originally met back in middle school. Norris also wanted to give his parents the best opportunity to watch him play football without having to travel long distances. “I’m really glad that I decided to stay here because I’ve met my clos-
est friends I’ve ever had on Miami’s team,” Norris said. His favorite memory at Miami was earlier this school year when the team went to the Bahamas Bowl and played the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He described the experience as cool and said he and the team had a good time being there. Part of the fun occurred on the beach of their Atlantis resort while both teams battled in a dance-off. “Luke Bolden got robbed of that title,” Norris said. “You can quote me on that. He should have won.” When Norris isn’t on the field, he loves to go to his favorite place in Oxford, which is Faded Traditions CONTINUED ON PAGE 3