Welcome back to TDPage, a weekly newsletter from The DePauw. Here is the roundup of the latest stories from our journalists on and off campus.

Spring Semester To Begin With Four Weeks Remote

October 8, 2020

DePauw plans for all classes to be held remotely the first four weeks of spring semester from Feb. 2-26, according to LaTonya Branham, university registrar.

Per the plan announced in July, following Thanksgiving break, all students will be remote. Winter term is also entirely remote. However, all students will be welcomed back to campus for the spring term according to an email sent by Lori White.

The university plans to continue offering remote, mixed and in-person classes, according to Dave Berque, vice president for academic affairs. The board of trustees is meeting this Thursday and Friday. Plans for spring are among the things they are expected to discuss.

The intention behind the four week delay is to avoid flu season when it will be hard to differentiate between COVID-19 and flu symptoms, according to English professor Harry Brown, who attended Monday’s faculty meeting at which the schedule was discussed.

By Ian S. Brundige  •  KEEP READING »

DePauw Announces Further Changes to Spring Calendar

October 9, 2020

Although the first four weeks of the spring semester will offer virtual classes only, small groups of students will be allowed to come back at the beginning of the semester, according to an email sent by President Lori White on Friday, Oct. 9.

This announcement came as the Board of Trustees ended its October meeting.

Groups of students will be brought back to campus in phases throughout the month with the first students arriving before the start of the semester. White’s email noted that no decisions have yet been made as to which students would come back first.

White also announced in the email that spring break will not be a traditional weeklong recess, instead, a few days will be scattered throughout the semester without classes.

By Katie Hunger  •  KEEP READING »

Phi Delta Theta Released From Quarantine

Phi Delta Theta fraternity members ended their two week quarantine today after an active member tested positive for COVID-19 on Sept. 25.

The student who tested positive for the coronavirus was placed in isolation and relocated to temporary campus housing until they tested negative. The remaining members of the fraternity were able to quarantine in their Greek residence with limited contact with other students.

After a three day incubation period following the COVID-19 exposure, two additional members in the house developed symptoms and were put into isolation. They both tested negative for the virus on Tuesday, Sept. 29 and Thursday, Oct.1, according to Justin Brinegar, President of Phi Delta Theta.

Brinegar is thankful that members of the fraternity have been cooperative throughout the two-week period, but he recognizes that morale is low within the organization. "I think a lot of frustration has stemmed from how the university is handling things rather than how [the IFC] is handling things internally,” he said.

By Olivia Jennings  •  KEEP READING »

On-Campus DePauw Students Prepare to Vote in 2020 Election

With just over three weeks until Nov. 3, both parties have been calling on voters to show up for the general election. Millions of Americans have already mailed in their ballot, and millions will show up in-person to the polls.

According to DePauw’s COVID-19 safety procedures, on-campus students are restricted from non-essential travel. Voting-by-mail has been encouraged.

For out-of-state first-year students like Joseph Sullivan, Brooks Coats and sophomore Lindsay Uhrich, voting by mail is the easier option, regardless of the pandemic. They each described wanting to avoid the hours-long drives it would take to vote in-person.

First-year Elias Alexander said, “I want to vote because it’s one of the handful of ways we can influence the government. There’s petitioning and other things, but voting in particular is so integral to the democratic process that it’s hard to imagine living in our society without doing so.”

By Abigail McArthur-Self  •  KEEP READING »

DePauw Investment Group Receives Alumni Gift

One of DePauw’s most successful organizations, the DePauw Investment Group, achieved another milestone this fall.

Thanks to the support of DePauw alumnus Randy Dippell, ‘91, the group was granted access to a technology platform for wealth management professionals called Riskalyze.

Riskalyze is a financial technology company based in California that has partnered with several schools across the country to improve the tools that business programs have to offer for investment and portfolio analysis.

Through the McDermond Center, the Investment Group was able to achieve access to this software because of the generosity of DePauw’s alumni network. “The business-focused student groups that we sponsor at the McDermond Center thrive because of the close involvement of successful alumni with our current student leaders,” Steve Fouty, Director of the McDermond Center, said.

By Arham Azeem  •  KEEP READING »

Here's What Else You Need to Know

• Zero positive case. No DePauw community member tested positive for the coronavirus among 94 tests conducted this week. There are two students in quarantine as of Friday, Oct. 9, according to the DePauw COVID Dashboard.
• Last flu shot clinic. Tuesday, Oct. 13 is the last chance for students to get a free flu shot at a on-campus clinic. The shots are also available via individual appointments. Visit DePauw Health for more information.
• Voter registration deadlines. States such as Illinois and Michigan have upcoming deadlines to register, while on-campus DePauw students are preparing to vote under unprecedented health restrictions.
• Prindle Prizes. The Prindle Institute is offering $300 honorariums to students who exhibit understanding of the ethical nature of their classes. Submissions are accepted through Dec. 18.
• No Curry Fridays, for now. There is no set date for when the Center for Spiritual Life’s well-loved Curry Fridays will return. “I think it comes down to the pandemic numbers," said Chaplain Sami Aziz, adding: “One student misses [Curry Friday] so much she’s going to make it herself. I offered to help her through sharing tips and recipes." 

By Eleanor Margulis, Katie Hunger, Jack Woods & Jos Fox  •  PAST ARCHIVES »

‘Control What You Can Control’: Football Team Adjusts to Practices During COVID-19

Typically, the football team would spend the second week of October practicing and preparing for their annual matchup against Hiram College. But like many traditions halted by the pandemic, all of DePauw’s athletic teams’ seasons have been suspended.

This is the first year since 1988 that the team won’t have a season, according to Bill Wagner. DePauw’s football team played through both world wars and the 1918 Spanish flu.

Even though DePauw welcomed back first-years and sophomores for the fall semester, teams have been limited when organizing practices. Starting last week, football players on-campus were allowed to start practicing.

Sophomore quarterback Wallace Reine said, “we are practicing in individual position groups, and we are spread out all across the field.”

By William Berens  •  KEEP READING »

DePauw Student Government Works With Administration to Navigate COVID-19

The DePauw Student Government (DSG) has been helping the administration navigate the COVID-19 situation on campus.

The DSG is a group of DePauw students elected by DePauw students or appointed by student organizations to represent the DePauw student body, allocate funds and organize events.

Nathaniel Swanson, the Vice President of Public Relations, says, “We recognize and work with a lot of the student organizations from campus, and we’re in constant communication with them… If they have any concerns for their individual community on campus or the larger DePauw community, they can come to us.”

“I, for example,” Swanson says, “serve on the curriculum committee – so the whole thing about the pass/fail options is something that I was consulted on along with the other members of the committee, and we suggested how the university should go forward.”

By Jack Woods  •  KEEP READING »

Mulan 2020: Worth the Watch

Olivia Jennings

Despite its flaws, Disney’s 2020 rendition of “Mulan” is a masterpiece meant to spread love and a sense of empowerment to a whole new decade of people.

Unlike other recent live-action Disney princess movies adaptations “Mulan” is a work of its own, independent from the animation it was born from. The movie was directed by Niki Caro, who made several sacrifices in order for the story to align with the original Chinese legend, “The Ballad of Mulan.” These sacrifices include cutting out Mushu the spirit-dragon and Li Shang, Mulan’s love interest.

While these are beloved characters that are sentimental to many, this film is intended to be a much more historical look into Chinese history, family, honor, and female empowerment. “Mulan” does not need a cartoon dragon or a heterosexual romance to give her power. She is a great warrior and she finds that on her own.

KEEP READING »

Letter to the Editor: Hogate 2.0

Concerned Alumni

DePauw recently finished construction of the first residence hall in the south quad project aimed at enhancing freshman living. Because the opportunity to completely rebuild an entire quad is incredibly rare, all watched with anticipation to see how the blueprints would translate to real life.

Unfortunately, the building reminds alumni of the Hogate fiasco when it was initially praised as new and modern but immediately conflicted with the traditional red bricks of Longden Hall and fell out of favor within years.

Can the project be saved before four Hogates exist in the quad?

KEEP READING »

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