BSA Executive Board 2017-18by Simone E., Editor-in-Chief
This year, the Black Student Alliance (BSA) finished Black History Month off with a week of exciting events. The B.L.O.C. Awards started BSA week off with a bang. Students flooded to the Tennessee Room in their evening gowns and high school prom dresses, excited for an evening full of awards for themselves or their friends. As people walked onto the red carpet, Tender, a student band on campus, played everyone into the event as both faculty and students enjoyed food. The evening was full of fun videos, award presentations, good music, and the Purpose Award was given to a faculty member on campus who has impacted countless minority students by empowering them and giving them knowledge that only he can give. Chris Stokes was honored and cheered on at the event, and the B.L.O.C. Awards, which stands for Black Leaders On Campus Awards, ended with so many black student leaders being awarded with awards they deserve and enough pictures to last a lifetime. The next program of the week was D.A.P., or the Diversity Awareness Program. This is a program put on by Justin Brown, the creator and founder of the program, and it brought to life questions that many students have, but never answered, about diversity. Now, what exactly is diversity? Attendees of the event participated in a 90-minute workshop that incorporated different elements of accountability for change, cultural progression, and role-playing cultural situations, which worked to answer that question while simultaneously bringing new questions to light. The Black Entrepreneur Expo was an event where both consumers and business owners benefitted. It was a chance for UTC students and staff to show the rest of the campus what business venture they were pursuing or attempting to pursue. Each business owner had the opportunity to introduce themselves, and students had the opportunity to support black businesses as well as win fun prizes. If you missed this year’s BSA Week, be sure to get involved in BSA in order to find out about next year’s events!
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by Dominique M., Assistant Editor-in-Chief
Whether you are a student, faculty member, or staff member on our campus, it is imperative that you are aware about issues going on around UTC. Therefore, this article will serve as a snippet of what might be changed on our university and what has been discussed on this campus. For those who are unaware, our campus is in the process of proposing a new tuition model that has already been passed at UT-Martin and UT-Knoxville. The tuition plan is called the 15 in 4 model, which stands for students taking 15 hours every semester for 4 years. The purpose of the plan is to aid with students graduating on time and to garner more money for the university that can be used to improve other services on campus, like advising. The pros here are definitely the improvement that we can expect to see in the graduation rate, because we are essentially funneling students into a constant way of taking classes. On the other hand, many students are not taken into account through this plan. Students who may have learning disabilities, or non-traditional students with families, may literally be unable to take 15 hours, yet they would still be required to pay for such. Ultimately, the decision to implement the plan rests in the hands of our administration, but that doesn’t mean that your voice will not be heard. Please feel free to email and reach out to SGA about any opinions you have regarding this proposal. Another important idea that has been floating around many of the UT campuses is the right to open carry. In other words, this notion would allow students to carry guns on campus as long as they have the proper permit to do so. There has not been legislation as of now to definitely pass this idea, but it will be completed within the coming weeks. Again, if you feel strongly about wanting to carry or not wanting to carry on campus, then use your voice and tell someone. Tell your administration, tell your SGA, tell everyone, but don’t let your voice go unheard. Smaller projects that are being worked on as of now are changes to advising, creating a hammock garden, and the Board of Trustees attempting to remove the student-voting seat (UT Focus Act). If you have any interest in helping, then please reach out. SGA Meetings are every Tuesday at 5PM in the Raccoon Mountain Room and every person on campus is welcome to come. Additionally, you can follow our social media accounts to get more information. Our Twitter and Instagram handle is @UTCSGA. by Simone E., Editor-in-Chief
The Eta Phi Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated has been hosting a lunch and learn series titled, “Food for Thought.” There have been two events in the series thus far, and if you missed the good food, conversation, and interesting topics, I’m sure there will be more to come this semester! This past event though, talked about Spring Break and tips that you should keep in mind over the break. Ericka Hill, from the Center for College and Student Success, first spoke about getting our priorities in order so that when we come back from break, we’ll be ready for the fact that we’ll only have one month of the semester left. She urged us all to make sure that we were ready and that we realized that we may not have time to fix our grades if we hadn’t already. Jordan Roberts, the president of the Eta Phi chapter, then showed a video and talked to all attendees about the importance of that “one decision.” In the video, an athlete’s life was changed forever because of one decision that he made--Roberts urged everyone to, essentially, think before we act. To conclude the program, Roberts then went into some Spring Break tips from Teen Vogue. Although Roberts claimed that he didn’t frequent the website on his own, the tips from the website were helpful and informative. The article, posted below, warned its readers of the importance of a buddy system when traveling, to keep your guard up at all times, and make sure you stay connected--keep your phone charged and tell your friends and family where you’re going. Read the article for more tips, and be sure to check out another event in this amazing series of events put on by the Alphas! Follow their social media: @etaphieskimos on Instagram and Twitter. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/10-safe-travel-tips-spring-break |
Author's NoteWelcome to The Torch: Reborn, we hope this ignites the flame within. Archives
March 2018
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