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THE OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF INDIANAPOLIS • FOUNDED 1922 VOL.
103 I S S UE 1 2
APRIL 28, 2025
reflector.uindy.edu
THE RESULTS ARE IN
Jo'Tan and Johara elected as SGA leadership By Luke Cooper ONLINE EDITOR
Election Breakdown Jo’Tan Johnson and Johara El-Shahat were elected as the University of Indianapolis Student Government Association’s next president and vice-president, according to an email f rom Associate Vice President and Dean of Students Rob Williford. Johnson and El-S hahat received 57% of the vote,according to Williford’s email. Griffin McGee and Colin Seymour’s slate trailed behind them with 23.38% of the vote, then Christopher Hammer and Jose Cheshier received 19.62% of the votes. “We had a total of 704 votes that were submitted,” Williford said. “Now, one thing to note about that is that so we used a Google form and limited it to UIndy emails, which does mean that faculty and staff had the ability to submit a vote, although I will tell you that if they are a faculty or staff member that doesn't have a student status, then we did have to disqualify their vote, and there was a total of eight of those votes.” To participate in the election, students had to enter their ID number. Williford said there were about 60 students that accidentally entered an invalid number, causing some crossexamination among student affairs staff and the SGA election commission. Williford said the election commission consisted of five staff members from around campus. New changes were implemented for this election due to some issues with the election last year, Williford said. This election marked the first
time grievances were allowed to be filed between candidates. Williford said this was to ensure all campaigns were following the rules outlined in their candidate packet as well as not gaining an unfair advantage. Over 10 grievances were filed, according to Williford, and all were reviewed by the election commission. It was highly encouraged for candidates filing a grievance to submit evidence to coincide with their report. Only two resulted in an outcome, one slate received a written warning and one slate got docked 2% of votes, according to Williford. He did not disclose which slates were affected. Williford said the deduction affected less than 10 votes. He stressed it did not affect the election outcome. Williford would like to see more potential responses to grievances. Williford said significant progress has been made in the SGA election process since its first election in 2023, but they are always looking for ways to continue improving. Johnson and El-Shahat El-Shahat attributed her and Johnson’s victory in the SGA election to the debate and their experience in SGA. Johnson and El-Shahat also mentioned their charisma and being approachable played a role. Johnson and El-Shahat said they plan to advocate for the students on a few main issues, including financial assistance, utilities, campus accessibility and parking.They cited feedback from this year as to why they chose the issues they are going to focus on. “Recently we heard about 800 students are at risk of losing their scholarships,” Johnson said. “That
means that there's going to be over 800 students who will need more financial assistance. Finding ways how we can better support UIndy students financially is a main goal.” El-Shahat added changing anything with financial aid would be inherently difficult and potentially impossible. However, reorganizing department scholarships can play a role to achieve SGA’s objective for financial aid. “Let's say that nursing students have 25 scholarships available within the department, but criminal justice only has three,” El-Shahat said.“Making sure that we're looking at the places that don't have a lot of scholarships, and getting it through that we want to make grants.” Williford told both candidates they typically would only have nine months to accomplish their goals, according to El-Shahat. However, she said they are planning on utilizing the summer to get some of the groundwork done. Conversations with UIndy Chief of Police Brandon Pate have started about parking for commuter students, Johnson said. Johnson also serves in the cadet program, giving him perspective into campus safety and a direct line of communication between him and Pate. One way SGA is looking to increase campus engagement is with events, Johnson said. ElShahat added that along with SGA being advocacy-based, events also play an important role. “We're open to feedback in order to improve,”Johnson said.“In order to have an effective student government, you need both negative and positive feedback.”
Amber Smith leaves university
Photo by Allison Dininger
El-Shahat and Johnson sit on the steps of the Schwitzer Student Center. They received 57% of the Student Government Association vote.
DPT, OTD doctorate programs see high national rankings
By Elyssa Merrill
Williford now performs as Interim Vice President for Student Affairs. OPINION EDITOR Williford worked under Smith during her two years officially in the Office of Student Affairs role, and said he The university is searching for was mentored by her and grateful a new vice president for student to have learned so much. However, experience, success and belonging Williford is not the only person after Amber Smith left the role on she mentored during her time here. April 4, according to an email from Senior graphic design major Kivonte the president on March 6. Williams said he was mentored by In her farewell email, Smith said Smith as well, meeting her when the she began her journey at UIndy in Office of Inclusive January 2020. Excellence and According RetentionStrategy t o S i n g h’s I wish folks could see was still called the email, Smith Office of Equity accomplished ... how much we are and Inclusion. a variety of For Williams, working behind initiatives he said Smith and programs the scenes...." was integral in dur ing her helping him get five years at more involved on the university: campus after visiting OIE and establishing the Inclusive Excellence eventually spearheading an academic Strategic Leadership Coalition, meeting for him to switch his major. creatingtheInterculturalEngagement That is just the person she is, he said. Center, guiding the launch of the “She's someone that she'll ensure NO LIE (No Longer Invisible that she uses the resources that she Experience) initiative and many has to make somebody else's journey others. easier,” Williams said. “And that's In her stead, Associate Vice President and Dean of Students Rob > See Smith on Page 3
Photo by Allison Dininger
Sophomore social work major Johara El-Shahat and junior criminal justice major Jo’Tan Johnson pose with Ace the Greyhound in the Schwitzer Student Center.
By Pete Roeger
DISTRIBUTION MANAGER
Graphic by Olivia Pastrick
The University of Indianapolis doctoral programs in physical therapy and occupational therapy each placed among the top 50 programs in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report. According to the U.S. News p hy s i c a l t h e r a py r a n k i n g, UIndy’s doctorate of physical therapy (DPT) program was tied for 42nd in the nation. In a separate ranking for occupational therapy programs, UIndy’s occupational therapy doctorate (OTD) program tied for 39th. Physical Therapy According to a document f rom the American Physical Therapy Association, physical therapy is “treatment provided by a physical therapist or physical therapist assistant
that helps people improve their movement and physical function, manage pain and other chronic conditions, and recover from and prevent injury and chronic disease.” Tr a c y Po r t e r, a s s o c i a t e professor of physical therapy, director of the UIndy DPT program and chair of the Krannert School of Physical Therapy, said UIndy’s reputation was part of what drew her to the program. She said the program had been in the top 50 for numerous years. She also said it was notable for the Krannert School to remain in the top 50 due to significant changes occurring nationally across physical therapy programs. Porter also emphasized the strong faculty support system for students in UIndy’s physical therapy program. “Not only do we as faculty and staff have a great deal of > See Rankings on Page 3