“Let us learn” is the message IPFW students and faculty want the administration to consider before suspending liberal arts programs, but that message has resulted in harassment from other students and the community.

Protests, calls for resignations, and sexual harassment have been products of the USAP report in October, leading to backlash between students, administration, and the community.

The three major departments being slated for suspension at the start of the 2017 calendar year are women’s studies, philosophy, and geology.

Not In Our Future, student and faculty-run organization started in May against Purdue and IPFW’s decision to cut liberal arts programs being suspended Jan. 1^st of next year.

The group held protests at the obelisk between Kettler Hall, Neff, and the engineering building on Oct. 26 and 27 in cold and cloudy conditions.

Janet Badia is a professor and director of the women’s studies program at IPFW, and is one of the many school professors who were at the protests last month in support of the students.

“I am here to help them, support them, make sure their voices get heard,” Badia said, “amplify their voices, second what they have to say, and help them make the arguments they want to make.”

Cody Fuelling, an IPFW student associated with Not In Our Future, said women’s studies students and professors have been sexually harassed.

“There is a study lounge (associated with women’s studies), and Dr. Badia has a door, and these doors have been covered in sharpie of male genitalia,” Fuelling said, “and this has happened to women’s studies before, and it’s continuing now.”

At one point, there were Twitter accounts made to troll Not In Our Future, but Fuelling said many of them have since been deleted.

The group is comprised with others on campus who feel that the cuts could lead to bigger problems.

“It doesn’t affect me directly,” Jalyn Ely, an IPFW communications major said, “I’m afraid of how it’s going to affect the community in the future.”

Not In Our Future’s Facebook page, which as of yesterday has 1,504 page likes, describes itself as, “IPFW students, alumni, and Fort Wayne community members resisting Purdue leadership and complicit members of IPFW administration as they attempt to deprive Northeast Indiana of access to affordable, comprehensive education.”

As a result of the backlash surrounding the USAP report, many at IPFW have shifted blame toward the university’s chancellor, Vicky Carwein, resulting in an official document, “A Faculty Notice of No Confidence in Chancellor Carwein.”

In the document, the faculty states that Carwein has failed the campus as followed: failure to represent the interests of the campus, lack of commitment to the stated mission of IPFW without the ability to articulate a clear vision or rationale or changing the mission, mismanagement of USAP and lack of commitment to operationalizing the 2014-2020 Strategic Plan, and damage to the campus morale by creating a culture of fear.

The full document can be read here: statement-of-no-confidence.

These claims have led people in the community to criticize the protests in the comment sections on Facebook posts related to the issue. Many believe the protestors are just being immature and do not understand these cuts are happening for a good reason.

“Get over it,” one Facebook user said, “change your major to something that has meaning in the REAL world.”

In an email sent to students from Chancellor Carwein on Nov. 15, she made it clear that harassment has no place at IPFW.

“It’s all being magnified, because women’s studies is being slated for elimination,” Fuelling said,” women’s studies says, ‘Hey don’t eliminate us.’ And then people who want to see women’s studies go away now have this opportunity to voice that it should be eliminated.”

A common concern for students and alumni is that the changes now will lead to bigger ones down the road, and the IPFW brand will be terminated. Leaving the 52-year history of the school in limbo.

Alexander Sanderson, an IPSGA officer, says that kind of thinking is wrong, because “IPFW will never die.”

Not in Our Future plans to hold more events by the end of the school year as the women’s studies, philosophy, and geology are suspended.

The women’s studies department is being cut, but all women are being affected.

IPFW is losing a number of academic programs and departments at the end of this school year as a result of the the University Strategic Alignment Process (USAP).

The USAP recommendations propose cuts of the philosophy, women’s studies, and geology programs, along with as two dozen other majors within larger departments.

“They called it a recommendation, but as soon as they made the recommendation, they suspended admissions to our program. So you can no longer sign up for a philosophy major here,” says Charlene Elsby, assistant philosophy professor.

Elsby is one of nine female professors whose job is in danger come Jan. 1, when the preliminary cuts take place, eliminating three departments entirely. She is not directly involved with women’s studies, but these cuts affect the livelihood of herself and others.

“My dad says I can move back in with him,” Elsby says with a nervous laugh.

Laura Laudeman, a junior theatre major, is also beginning to feel the ripple within her department, one not even on the long list of cuts.

“We’ve even decided that for this upcoming season, instead of focusing on shows, selecting shows that they thought would be beneficial to students,” Laudeman says, “one of the major factors in choosing the shows was, ‘Will they make money?’”

Money seems to be a driving factor in all of the decisions that will force change on students.

In 2015, 7,106 women were enrolled at IPFW, compared to 5,703 men. Women have been the majority of students on campus since before 1985, according to the annual IPFW Statistical profile.

Janet Badia, professor and director of the women’s studies program, realizes that it’s not just her colleagues or students that are feeling the changes.

“The students who are impacted in the other majors,” Biday says, “I see them around, they go to our events, I go to their events.”

One thing is agreed upon by many: the community will change because of USAP.

Jalyn Ely, a senior communication major, says this makes her look at the university in a different light.

“There are people who care about this,” Ely says, “There are people who are genuinely affected by this, who are seeing their hopes and their dreams and their career paths destroyed.”

Ely’s family members who were previously considering attending the university have decided not to in the wake of the cuts.

Worse yet, community members feel they are out of the loop regarding the changes affecting them.

Professors like Elsby and Badia, whose jobs are on the line, have known about the changes for almost a year, but students only recently found out details about the USAP recommendation in a campus wide email blast from Chancellor Vicky Carwein.

“They keep talking about, ‘we’ve tried to be really open and communicative about this,’” Laudeman says, “but I feel that there’s been a real lack of transparency.”

Laudeman is not wrong. In fact, a freedom of information on open records request regarding details of the USAP process and recommendations has been denied by university lawyers.

The recommendations have been the central focus of campus for weeks as IPFW approaches the first leg of USAP eliminations.

The university is also undergoing Legislative Services Agency (LSA) recommendations to repurpose the Fort Wayne campus. The process will put more of an emphasis on certain departments and could possibly mean major changes to the curriculum and programs offered.

Reasons given for the LSA changes by administration are budget adjustment and best-serving the purposes of the Fort Wayne community.

Mitch Daniels is the president of Purdue University and a driving force behind the LSA recommendations.

“He has underestimated the value of our campus and all that we do here when he says that the point of a regional campus is to train our students to be good employees,” Elsby says. “That negates their possibilities to become the innovators or the good employers.”

Tensions are rising around campus as the true consequences of the recommendations come to light. Women are beginning to realize the 22 students seeking degrees in women’s studies are not the only people affected.

The recommendations started promisingly enough.

Little did faculty know, philosophy professors, among others, would lose their jobs, and students could no longer earn a degree in this and other departments.

“They are planning to cut our program and our department as of January first,” said Charlene Elsby, assistant professor in philosophy.

But philosophy is just one of the many programs IPFW plans to cut next year part of the University Strategic Alignment Process.

The Legislative Services Agency was brought in to review to programs and departments that listed recommendations they should complete by the university.

“They call it a recommendation,” Elsby said. “But as soon as they made the recommendations, they suspended admissions to our program.”

She said a month after the philosophy department received its notice, they started to change the courses based on the report.

According to the “USAP Recommendations 2.2 and 2.3”, the philosophy department is to “develop and implement a plan for attracting and retaining students from introductory courses.”

The report showed the department had a 11.6 percent graduation efficiency and an average of 27.6 graduates within the major every year, higher than many programs like biology and computer science that were not suspended.

Students affected by the suspensions and cuts were also vocal.

Shortly after the announcement, on Nov. 2 and 3, students and faculty gathered to share their frustrations, as a Teach-In was held outside of Kettler Hall. It drew 1,000 students throughout both days.

“I wanted to be out here because I am kind of passionate about this,” said Jalyn Ely, a communication major.

Ely said she is passionate about education because she enjoys learning and studying. It is important to her that other people get those opportunities also.

She is afraid of how the suspension of these programs is going to affect the community in the future. Ely is not from Fort Wayne, but enjoys it here. She is afraid the cuts will force students to leave IPFW to find a better education.

“I have three younger siblings,” she said. “At least two of them were considering coming to IPFW, and they’re not anymore.”

She explained the protest is encouraging, because students are willing to listen and talk about why they do not want these cuts to happen.

Ely said she is also skeptical with the metrics they are using to cut the programs, especially the philosophy department.

“You can’t justify cutting a foundational discipline,” she said. “They didn’t even have a good reason for philosophy.”

Steve Carr, chair of the communication department, said he does not understand why they want departments to market themselves more.

He said universities usually hire the faculty to teach classes and conduct research.

“Wanting faculty to have to conduct marketing and recruitment on top of everything else they already do seem to undermine the core mission,” he said.

He said with Indiana University and Purdue University splitting, as a result of the recommendations, it has forced Purdue to look at all the programs and make cuts.

According to the LSA study, IU will change hands with being in control of the nursing program, causing it to change from a Purdue degree to an Indiana degree.

“Purdue is going to lose a lot of money because of that,” he said. “Purdue sees a lot of small programs that either pay for themselves or make money for the university.

Charlene Elsby is not sure what is going to happen to her after the cuts have been made either. She said there has been a lack of communication between the faculty and Vice Chancellor Carl Drummond on what is to come.

“I have a contract until May,” she said. Whether that will be renewed is completely up in the air.”

Marlie Reed traveled the Pacific United States for 10 months, and in return, she received an education award for nearly $6,000.

The IPFW alumna was a part of a program called AmeriCorps, where she volunteered to aid communities and organizations in Alaska, California and Oregon while she secretly struggled with what direction to take in life.

“I was unsure of what I should do next,” Reed said, as she combed her fingers through her hair. “I had a friend who did the program and told me he gained a new perspective on himself, so I wanted to try it.”

According to the American Gap Association, interest in gap years has increased substantially. High school and college graduates are electing to take a gap year by traveling nationally or internationally.  Graduates are also volunteering or working at home before enrolling into an institution or beginning their career.

Amanda Grace, a student from North Webster majoring in office administration at International Business College, said she decided to work before continuing her education to save money and figure out what she should major in.

Through her experience, Grace said, she learned how to be more responsible, and never lost her work ethic because she finally felt like she wanted to go to school, not that she was supposed to.

Deidre Hoffman, another IBC student majoring in office administration from Norwell, said she was unsure of her plan after high school. She joined the U.S. Army, and while serving, she gained skills similar to Grace’s, such as time-management, maturity, and life-experience.

According to the AGA website, Grace and Hoffman are among the students who have shown that taking a break between high school and college renews interest and increases motivation. Another AGA study shows 90 percent of students are enrolled in a four-year institution within one year of time off from academia.

The AGA also surveyed students and found they can gain useful, job-related skills from their personal experiences during their time off.

“Employers are looking for students who have communication skills, interpersonal skills, and leadership skills,” said Ashley Calderon, IPFWs director of career services.

According to the AGA, the University of Colorado Denver, and the AmeriCorps website each of these options — volunteering, enlisting in the military, traveling, and working — will teach students some of the skills to prepare them for their future careers.

Students could highlight their skills on their résumés and during their job interviews, Calderon said. She also believes getting involved with these organizations are exceptional ways to network.

“It made me more self-aware and more appreciative of what I have and the family I have, even the material things,” Reed said about her AmeriCorps experience. “I am just alive and well, doing something different made me more adventurous.”

Service Journalism:

AmeriCorps NCCC Program:

• Available for 18- to 24-year-olds
• Must complete 10 months of service to be awarded education award
• Government pays for housing, food and stipend.
• Volunteers can choose from five different regions in the U.S. and can apply for their fall or winter cycle.

Source: http://www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps/americorps-programs/americorps-nccc/americorps-nccc-faqs

While most college students think nothing of a night out drinking with their friends, for one family, it became their worst nightmare.

According to 20/20, Lauren Spierer disappeared from Indiana University just over six years ago in early June after a night of heavy drinking.

The department of applied health at Indiana University defines binge-drinking as consuming five or more drinks in one sitting for men and four or more for women. Using this definition as a basis, this department concluded that a large number of students develop excessive-drinking habits during their college years.

“I am finding more and more college-aged people are beginning to drink earlier in the day,” said Pat Clancy, Fort Wayne family and individual therapist.

Indiana University also reports there are sociological consequences of heavy-drinking tendencies, such as an increased crime rate, increased number of unintentional injuries among students, as well as an increase in student assaults.

Clancy said that with more students engaging in early drinking activities, more alcohol is consumed over the course of the day, leaving a bigger window of opportunity for dangerous situations to occur, and added motivation.

Breeanna Fusselman, a junior in communication from Ossian, said drinking on college campuses is an expected activity.

Fusselman said she believes incoming freshman are at the highest risk for alcohol abuse and poisoning, due to the fact that they are unaware of their limits.

Chad Landez, IPFW and IU alumnus, said he thinks heavy drinking is a coping mechanism that many college students turn to automatically, due to the association society places between college and drinking.

Landez went on to say he believes many college students make it a goal to drink excessively when they go out on the weekends. In other words, they drink to forget.

Courtney Bourne, a Ball State junior in criminal justice from Markle, said college students tend to have a work hard, play harder mindset. They get all their work done during the week. Then come Thursday or Friday, it’s time to loosen up. Bourne said the problem with this mentality is people tend to get carried away, especially after encouragement from peers.

“They live for the weekends,” Bourne said. “There has to be a way that college students can relieve stress from the week, and most of them turn to alcohol because it an easy fix, and they like the way it makes them feel.”

According to an IU on student drinking patterns, Greek houses and college athletes are at the highest risk of engaging in heavy drinking. The department found that as athletic participation increases, so does alcohol consumption among athletes. In terms of fraternities and sororities, the department reports heavy drinking is the central activity at most social events between the houses.

Emma Browning, an IPFW freshman undeclared major from Fort Wayne, said she recently learned in her psychology class that alcohol was a more addictive substance than marijuana. Browning believes police departments should crack down on college drinking, in order to deter students from drinking so excessively.

As for the Lauren Spierer case, 20/20 reported no further progress has been made. Spierer remains amongst the many college students who have gone missing during a night out gone wrong.