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UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA CEDAR FALLS, IA THURSDAY, APRIL 5 VOLUME 114, ISSUE 42
CEDAR FALLS, IA
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2025
UNI’s Black Student Union is filling the gaps BAILEY KLINKHAMMER Executive Editor
CAMPUS LIFE
Campus Life editor Jenna Westendorf talks with the new Chief Administrator of applied engingeering SEE PAGE 6
SPORTS Sports Editor Cohen Kamaus relays the success of UNI Wrestling last week. SEE PAGE 11
VOLUME 121, ISSUE 17
After the Iowa legislature passed a bill to eliminate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies and practices from Iowa’s regent universities, multicultural student organizations, like the Black Student Union, were left to pick up the pieces. As resources were eliminated and faculty organizations restructured to find alignment with the new legislation, the Black Student Union found strength in their community, and continues to fill the gaps that the legislation left. Black Student Union president, Jasmine Allison, described the joy that the Black Student Union brought her when she first arrived at UNI three years ago. “It felt like home,” said Allison. “It was comforting to find that community here.” Black Student Union secretary, Keymora Douglas, echoed Allison’s sentiments. “BSU serves as a community. It’s not just meant for Black students on campus, but for people to come together as a whole,” said Douglas. Both Allison and Douglas said that they connected with the Black
Student Union through UNI’s Jump Start program, which allows incoming students to connect with peers and learn about different topics such as student involvement and budgeting before school begins for the fall semester. “When it comes to minority students on campus, I feel like that push to be successful comes from within our communities,” said Douglas. “And we find that community that we need within our multicultural organizations.” Last May, the Iowa legislature passed a bill to effectively eliminate DEI policies across Iowa regent universities, including UNI. This bill forced UNI to restructure departments and eliminate roles and resources that multicultural organizations utilized on a daily basis. Both Allison and Douglas lament that these changes hit the Black Student Union hard. “After DEI employees were taken away, all that’s left is the space itself,” Douglas said. “It falls back on the students and takes away resources.” The Center for Multicultural Education (CME) was once a lively space, constantly filled with students eating,
COURTESY/BLACK STUDENT UNION
The Black Student Union has been working to create spaces for fellow students after legislation has rolled back DEI policies across the state.
chatting, studying and hanging out. Now, Allison says that it’s up to multicultural organizations to fill the CME with laughter again. “Freshmen who weren’t here last year don’t know what a full CME looks like. It’s kind of up to us to bring people into the CME and show them what it can look like,” Allison said. “You could go in at noon on a Thursday and it’s lively and there’s food and there’s an event happening … and now
that space is there, but the resources aren’t, and it takes away everything that space meant to us.” Now that the CME isn’t staffed full-time, Allison described it as a “dead zone” when events aren’t going on. Multicultural organizations, run by full-time students, have made an increased effort to fill the gaps left by full-time employees when See BSU, page 2