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THE OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF INDIANAPOLIS • FOUNDED 1922 VOL.
103 I S S UE 8
reflector.uindy.edu
FEBRUARY 5, 2025
TRUMP RETURNS TO OVAL OFFICE
Photo by Ron Sachs
U.S. President Donald J Trump salutes as he participates in a Reviewing the Troops Ceremony as part of his Inaugural activities in Emancipation Hall in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (Ron Sachs/Pool/Abaca Press/TNS)
By Olivia Pastrick
MANAGING EDITOR & CO-NEWS EDITOR According to his inauguration speech, the “golden age” of America has begun. DonaldTrump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Jan. 20. In his inaugural address, he said his administration’s top priority will be to “create a nation that is proud,
prosperous, free” and greater than ever before. “Fromthisdayforward,ourcountry will flourish and be respected again all over the world,” Trump said in his address. “We will be the envy of every nation, and we will not allow ourselves to be taken advantage of any longer. During every single day of the Trump administration, I will very simply put America first. Our sovereignty will be reclaimed. Our safety will be restored. The scales of justice will be rebalanced.”
In his speech, Trump criticized the Biden administration for failing to protect its citizens while providing sanctuary for“dangerous criminals.”As hegavetheseremarks,formerPresident Joe Biden sat in the audience alongside former vice president Kamala Harris and their spouses. Chair of the History and Political Science Department at the University of Indianapolis and Presidential Historian Edward Frantz said this distancing betweenTrump and former
presidents is unique,and in addition to criticizing the Biden administration, Trump also referred to generations of neglect from politicians in a negative, nonpartisan way. As well as a handful of former presidents, several tech CEOs and billionaires including Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk were seated in the front row for the inauguration. AP News described this as a “shift from tradition, especially for a president who has characterized himself as a champion of the working class.”Frantz said the presence of these billionaires is symbolic of the culture Trump is building for himself and his administration. “Symbolism is always important with the presidency,”Frantz said.“And three things that just stood out is that it’s a very masculine culture, he wants to be perceived as being tech-friendly, andIthinkthatprobablymergesexactly with also being friendly to big business, which, for the most part, are one in the same right now.” Junior political science major and President of UIndy College Republicans Bryce Howard said the CEOs’ presence is proof of Trump’s commitment to the future of technology and innovation. He said it is a great thing that the Trump administration is on board with the growing role technology is playing in the U.S. and around the world. “It sends a message that President Trump is aware that the tech and these billionaires are producing the future of this nation, and it's best to hop on the train now,” Howard said.
In his farewell address, Biden warned against an oligarchy forming in theU.S.thatisthreateningcitizens’basic rights and freedoms. Senior political science and history major and former PresidentofUIndyCollegeDemocrats Imelda Pozos said the billionaires in the front row of the inauguration was a jarring display of a growing oligarchy. “It's very scary to put into words, but realistically I think the rhetoric that has been going around online of that representing a future oligarchy is very real,” Pozos said. “I feel like never once in history have we ever had a bunch of CEOs and billionaires be that close to the presidential inauguration.” Elon Musk, one of Trump’s closest supporters and one of the tech billionaires present at the inauguration, addressedacrowdinWashingtonD.C. following the inauguration, thanking the crowd for assuring the “future of civilization” by electing President Trump. Similarly, Trump said Jan. 20, 2025 would now be known as “LiberationDay”forAmericancitizens. Frantz said it is important to consider what exactly liberation means in this sense and who is being liberated from whom. Frantz also highlighted the comparison Trump drew between himself and Martin Luther King Jr. in his speech. “The inauguration was also on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and you saw the ways in which he tried to tap into the spirit of Dr. King, which, as somebody who teaches Civil Rights Movement class, also seemed disingenuous at best,and in many ways, > See Trump on Page 3
HB 1136 to dissolve public schools Bill seeks to dissolve school corporations, possibly putting pressure on IPS schools By Mia Lehmkuhl EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & CO-NEWS EDITOR
The Indiana General Assembly introduced legislation that would effectively dissolve Indianapolis Public Schools — the largest public school district in the state. House Bill 1136 seeks to dissolve public school corporations where less than half of students with legal settlement in a school corporation go to schools operated by the school corporation. The dissolved corporations would then transition to a charter school system by 2028, establishing an appointed governing board, requirements and procedures, according to the bill’s text. IPS is the largest school corporation to fall under this bill, and reports that approximately 61% of students are not enrolled in IPS schools.Bill author Rep. Jake Teshka (R-North Liberty) saidconsideringtheamountofparents choosing to enroll their children in a public school corporation is a means of measuring its performance. “We say, if less than half of the parents in a certain district are choosing to send their students to that school, then we ought to look at maybe interjecting a new governance bill,”Teshka said. Charter schools are publicly funded, tuition-free schools that differ from public schools through operating autonomously with state or local governments.This gives these schools more freedom to tailor their
curriculum, staffing and academic focus than traditional public schools, according to the U.S. News & World Report. For example, one charter school may choose to emphasize the arts while others emphasize math or science. Assistant Professor of Secondary Education Sarah Denney said charter schools can be a force for good; however,they may not share the same goals as members of its community. “... There's a big question mark in terms of what will be the outcome for our students,” Denney said. “We know that charter schools have high teacher turnover rates. We know that they tend to employ less experienced
... I would just tell folks to, first of all, don't panic." teachers, and in recent years, a charter school teacher's license is on the books as being a really a less rigorous pathway to teacher licensure.” The bill has received pushback, with the Indiana Education Equity Coalition sending a letter to the Indiana General Assembly outlining their opposition to the bill, claiming it is a “misguided proposal that will destabilize schools, silence communities, and jeopardize the future of public education in Indiana.” Teshka said he is willing to have robust conversations and listen to varying perspectives.
“Our job as legislators are when we see problems,to try and address those and of course, we want to have these conversations on an ongoing basis,” Teshka said. “... I would just tell folks to, first of all, don’t panic. Second of all, again, we’re going to continue to have those conversations ….” Associate Professor of Political Science Laura Merrifield Wilson indicated the bill might be a political strategy to secure power over IPS’s domain; she said some would say it feels like an “open secret.” However, she said the real challenge with policy is how unclear the result of legislation is. “Perhaps at the school corporation, we would need more charters to support all of these students,”Wilson said. “It's not clear if there would be expansion of current charters. If you would have more charters crop up, would you have more private schools potentially trying to come in? It’s incredibly unclear.” Additionally, Wilson said much of the politics between IPS schools and the legislature boils down to partisanship. The bill would give the state government more authority over the IPS school system, Wilson said, and IPS serves a different population than most of Indiana’s state legislatures actually represent. However, Teshka said the motivation for the bill comes from a need to make sure “Hoosier kids are educated to the best of their ability.” HB 1136 is currently referred to the House Committee on Education for its first reading and can be tracked through iga.in.gov.
Graphic by Olivia Pastrick