The University of Minnesota’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG) specialized committees are working to expand healthcare on campus to improve accessibility for students and make the campus as healthy as possible. 

USG’s Student Life and Wellbeing Committee is working to make free Narcan available on campus to reverse opioid overdoses, while the Public Health and Prevention Committee is working to bring pharmacy vending machines to campus.

Student Life and Wellbeing Committee Director Addie Sweeney said USG’s goal is to have five free Narcan locations set up by the end of spring and to expand to 25 locations by the fall semester.

Narcan, the nasal version of naloxone, is an over-the-counter drug used for the emergency treatment of opioid overdoses, including fentanyl and heroin. Narcan is non-harmful if it is administered to someone who is not overdosing. 

Sweeney said Narcan nasal spray will be supplied in the form of emergency naloxone boxes on campus. The boxes will look very similar to the University of Wisconsin Madison’s naloxone boxes which were introduced in October 2022, she added. 

Sweeney said she and her team are working with Boynton Health, the Health Emergency Response Office (HERO) and the Minnesota Substance Use and Community Health Lab (MN-SUCH) to bring the free Narcan boxes to campus.

According to Sweeney, the goal is to have boxes with Narcan nasal spray  in Coffman Union, the St. Paul Student Center, the West Bank Skyway area, Appleby Hall and outside Boynton. 

Sweeney said she hopes the initiative can get more funding during the state legislative season so it can be included in all higher education buildings. She added although there is a small percentage of students doing opiates, people will feel safer having Narcan with them since they are in a metropolitan area. 

“Even if there’s a lot of people who like to smoke marijuana or something, you never know what things could be laced with nowadays, and fentanyl has been a big talk, because even very, very small doses of that could cause an overdose and could be really detrimental for students here,” Sweeney said. “And you know, this is just something that you can keep in your backpack and potentially save a life.”

Median monthly overdose deaths increased 109% from 2019 to 2021 in the U.S. among youth from 10 to 19 years old, according to the CDC .

There were 11,506 non-fatal drug overdose hospital visits in Minnesota in 2021, and 1,003 Minnesotans died due to opioid overdoses in 2023, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. 

Sweeney said everyone should  have access to Narcan. The price of nasal Narcan is $44.99.

“The nasal Narcan is still like $50 over the counter, which is just not realistic for students at all,” Sweeney said. “I mean, ask anybody here any student who wants to spend $50 on something, even if it’s like a life-saving medication.”

Sweeney said she is excited to see what the timeline is for the boxes and is hopeful something can be put into action soon to ensure the students are well-informed about what the naloxone boxes are and what they have access to.

USG Public Health and Prevention Committee Director Jenna Monday said she has been talking with Boynton and University Vending Services to advocate for the vending machines. 

Monday said she got the idea for the vending machines after seeing other schools with similar programs. Several Big Ten schools have implemented health and wellness vending machines, including the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Purdue University. 

Monday said since the Boynton pharmacy is only open weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., having vending machines in residence halls and different places around campus will extend the healthcare accessibility on weekends or at night. 

Monday said the vending machines will include over-the-counter products you can get from the Boynton Pharmacy, including Dayquil, Nyquil, Benadryl and basic cold medicine for stomach aches. These will be offered at a reduced price. 

“The whole point is to get these lower priced products available to students,” Monday said.

According to Monday, there is a disconnect between Boynton resources and students being able to use them.

“I think one of those areas of disconnect is communication, whether it’s like someone needs to communicate about these resources to students, or students don’t really know where to look for them,” Monday said. “So kind of just bridging that gap, that’s kind of one thing we hope to do with either a round table or creating a more centralized resource place so students can kind of see, oh, here are my options.”

Monday said there is not a set timeline for when the project will be completed, though it will likely take a long time. All the parties involved are still trying to figure out if the vending machine is something that can actually happen, she added.

“Right now we’re kind of on a little bit of a lull, just waiting to see if this is possible,” Monday said. “We’re just gonna keep having conversations with the people at Boynton and the people at the university to keep saying this is something that has helped students at other schools. We think this is something that the University of Minnesota students will really benefit from.”

The University of Minnesota Law School paused its search for a new assistant dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) as the University reassessed its DEI programs Jan. 31. 

The pause came just two weeks after President Donald Trump’s executive order to ban DEI initiatives in any programs receiving federal funding. The order also called for all federal DEI staff to be put on paid leave with the expectation of their eventual layoffs. 

The executive order followed by the hiring pause prompted reactions from students and faculty on what might happen on campus. 

Emmanuel Mauleón, an associate professor at the Law School, said most people were shocked by the announcement to pause the hiring process since they were still engaged in the hiring process and had planned to interview candidates that week. Mauleón said he thinks University President Rebecca Cunningham understands removing the assistant dean position does not mean the assistant dean’s work disappears. 

“When the position evaporates, it’s not like the support that those students need evaporates,” Mauleón said. “It just begins to get spread out amongst the professors with which students feel comfortable approaching these issues.” 

Mauleón said the pause creates more vulnerability for the people DEI programming was intended to support in the first place. 

Mauleón and three dozen faculty members sent letters to Cunningham last Thursday asking for the position to be reinstated. 

“That was just something that the faculty organized in support of the position and in support of our students, frankly, because our students have been demanding action from the faculty,” Mauleón said. “There hasn’t been communication between the president’s office and the faculty.”

Mauleón said his meetings with students have increased in the past week, and that it has been difficult since the announcement. He said students feel like they have been sold a false promise with several students coming to the law school specifically because of its commitment to DEI. 

Samia Abdulle, Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee Director, said she is optimistic Trump’s executive order will not cause as much harm as Trump anticipates. 

Abdulle said the order has not affected the Committee’s work and added the University has taken certain steps to make sure DEI is protected within the University and believes DEI is not going anywhere in Minnesota. 

The Law School hiring freeze disappointed Abdulle, but she said it did not surprise her. She believes cutting federal funding in any capacity will hurt students more than help them. 

Abdulle said she wished the University was more communicative with students likely to be impacted by the rollbacks, but understands the University is facing a loss of federal funding and federal pushback. 

“I honestly think that was just like they were just a little bit scared, and they were just doing what they could to just keep their federal funding,” Abdulle said. “They were doing what they thought was the safest option and the most conservative option, but that does not mean that I’m not disappointed.”

Council of Graduate Students (COGS) President Cal Mergendahl said COGS needs enhanced communication from the University.

Mergendahl said COGS values its relationship with administration, but there is a lot of fear and concern with the absence of clear and effective communication from the University. 

“That fear is going to proliferate, it’s going to turn into panic, it’s going to turn into paranoia and that’s just not a healthy thing for the campus,” Mergendahl said. “I think it’s something that as a student leader, I personally think we should address. And I think COGS in general, has generally been of the opinion in the past that if and when things happen, the University should do its best to keep the students, keep our constituents informed as much as we can.”

Dylan Young, a graduate student at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs and Board of Regent Candidate, said there is a climate of uncertainty among the student body at this time. 

Young, a Native American student who graduated from the University of Minnesota-Morris, said DEI programming has been pivotal to his education and personal journey in life. 

“I think that my experience as a student has been greatly enriched by being able to meet people from diverse perspectives, and be exposed to ideas that I otherwise wouldn’t have been exposed to from back home,” Young said. “I think without DEI, there would be a lot of students that simply don’t have that.”

Young said as he sees other institutions back away from DEI and roll back their initiatives, it presents the University with an opportunity to stay true to DEI. 

“It shows that we have a backbone,” Young said. “It shows that we stand for what we stand for, and whatever is happening at the White House doesn’t change that. It shows that our college campuses are ones that will prepare students for the real world better than our other competitors.”

Correction: A previous version of this article stated that Emmanuel Mauleón thinks the Law School Dean William McGeveran understands removing the assistant dean position does not mean the assistant dean’s work disappears. Mauleón was referring to Cunningham, not McGeveran.

A previous version of this article listed Samia Abdulle’s last name incorrectly. Other edits have been made for clarity.

A Muslim community center is planned to open on West Bank in September to give Muslim students at the University of Minnesota their own space near campus. 

The center, Salam Community, will be open by the first week of classes in September, according to Salam Community co-founder Shaykh Saifullah Muhammad. 

Muhammad and his team signed a purchasing agreement in January with the current building occupant, the Corner Bar, to purchase the space and the two floors above it.   

The deal is set to be closed by the end of March to give ample time to raise money to renovate and maintain the space, Muhammad said. He added there will be a focus on fundraising through March to raise the funds. 

Muhammad said the center’s inspiration came during the encampments when the University told Muslim students they could not have access to the Al-Madinah Cultural Center (AMCC). Muhammad said this made him realize that Muslim students need their own space. 

AMCC is located on the second floor of Coffman Union. During encampment protests in spring 2024, the University closed Coffman Union along with 11 other buildings to ensure the safety of community members, Vice President and Provost Rachel Croson said in a statement last spring.  

Muhammad participated in the encampments last spring and said he was the only Imam to stay overnight. He added that he and a few others needed to grab things from AMCC but were denied access by the University, which inspired the need for having a Muslim space on campus. 

“Us Muslims, we don’t really have a fully dedicated Muslim space, and for me, that just didn’t sit well,” Muhammad said. “I felt that we should have a space for Muslims to be able to come and interact with other Muslims and get to know other Muslims and have a gathering space like a center, community space, where everyone feels comfortable coming.”

AMCC is the only space currently on campus that is strictly for Muslim students. However, Muslim students pray in the basement of the Grace University Lutheran Church every Friday due to limited space in the AMCC. 

Mateen Ali, the co-founder of Salam Community, is a University alumnus and said there was not a space for him to pray when he was a student. Ali’s son, who graduated from the University in 2021, used to attend Friday prayers at Grace Lutheran. 

Ali said seeing Muslim students pray in a small space in a basement made him realize Muslim students ought to have their own space. 

“We need to have a place for our Muslim students to go and practice their faith,” Ali said. “We wanted to make sure that we have services and a place where they could hang out on a Friday night and have a game night and just hang out.” 

Ali said he is very excited to provide this space for Muslim students and to give back to the community. Ali said the Salam community is not just about offering services to students but about giving back to the Muslim community. 

“I want people to feel welcome, and I think that’s the biggest thing,” Ali said. “I want them to make friends too and meet people, so a lot of things, but I want people to at the end feel like it’s the place for them too.”

Buthaina Asamarai, AMCC’s co-public relations officer, said it is great there will be a bigger space for Muslims near the University.

“AMCC is really great, but it also has limitations because we don’t get to do everything that we want to do because, at the end of the day, we’re answering to people who are not Muslim,” Asamarai said. “We’re not a religious room, we’re a cultural room that serves a Muslim community, so to hear that we get not only one space, but the entire building is really amazing.”

Asamarai said it feels refreshing to finally have something for Muslims.

“We’re finally getting what other religions have and a space where no one can tell us what we can and can’t do because it’s our space,” Asamarai said. 

Asamarai said she felt a sense of relief knowing tefforts are being made to help the future generation of Muslim students. 

“I would feel a lot more comfortable with my younger siblings coming here knowing they actually had a space where they’re protected,” Asamarai said. 

The space has three floors the center plans to make use of, according to Muhammad. The bottom floor will be transformed into a coffee shop, the second a Muslim youth center with a dedicated prayer space and the third a Salam seminary to help produce the next generation of Imams, chaplains and Islamic teachers. 

Muhammad said the coffee shop, Salam Coffee, is the heart of the project. He said he hopes it will be up and running in May or June, with halal food options provided. 

Salam Coffee will be the public square of Salam Community where Muslim and non-Muslim students can interact, Muhammad said.

“The most important thing for us was to get the coffee shop up and running to have good coffee and good food as well,” Muhammad said. “We wanted there to be a constant flow of people coming into the building, but then naturally feeling comfortable to come up(stairs).” 

Ali said the center wants support from the entire University community, with all students welcome, regardless of religion. 

“Once we open, we want you guys to come here and make this your community, your place to hang out,” Ali said.

University of Minnesota Undergraduate Student Government (USG) leadership said spring semester priorities include new and further work on food insecurity, campus safety and college affordability. 

USG President Rahma Ali and Vice President Clara Jünemann said USG is turning its attention to what it hopes to accomplish at Big Ten on the Hill, a student government conference USG will attend in the spring.

Food insecurity

Ali said she wants to continue to tackle food insecurity on campus with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP is the largest federal program that helps eligible people with financial needs get more money for food, and it includes some online retailers and food at grocery stores.

Ali said USG will continue to prioritize adding an affordable grocery store on campus.

In Feb. 2024, USG formed its Food Insecurity Ad-Hoc Committee to combat food insecurity issues on and around campus, which includes an affordable grocery option for students. 

The Food Insecurity Ad-Hoc Committee sought to expand food security on campus by expanding the Nutritious U Food Pantry, continuing the Farmer’s Market on campus and bringing back the Mobile Market to the University, a 2021 USG initiative to provide students with low-cost grocery options. 

Ali said USG will continue to push for an affordable grocery store on campus. 

“We want to make sure we have affordable groceries on campus and students are able to access affordable groceries when in need,” Ali said. 

Shae Horning, USG director of state affairs, said USG’s Government and Legislative Affairs (GLA) team is working to strengthen existing food resources on campus. One such resource is the Hunger Free Campus grants program, which supports food pantries and other food resources on campuses statewide. Horning said GLA hopes to work on this during the ongoing state legislative session.

Campus safety

In terms of campus safety, Ali said USG wants to collaborate with the University’s Department of Emergency Management and Department of Public Safety to ensure SAFE-U alerts are sent out promptly. Ali said USG’s Campus Specialized Committee will work with these University departments to ensure changes are made to enhance SAFE-U’s effectiveness. 

SAFE-U is the University’s emergency mass notification system. As part of the Clery Act, all students, faculty and staff are required to receive emails with SAFE-U alerts, according to the University. 

Ali said, from experience, she was concerned about the timeliness of SAFE-U alerts. She said safety alerts are not sent out immediately, and students do not get an email or alert until after the danger passes. 

“It’s a concerning campus safety issue not having SAFE-U’s safety alerts being sent out immediately once those crimes happen on campus, and instead getting an email 45 minutes after it’s happened,” Ali said.

The Clery Act is a federal law requiring colleges and universities to collect campus crime data and share that information with the public. 

College affordability 

Ali said USG is looking to increase financial aid support by pushing for a $100 increase in the Pell Grant. 

The Federal Pell Grant is through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and is awarded to undergraduate students who display financial need and have not earned their bachelor’s, graduate or professional degree. 

Ali said USG is looking to have general support for keeping federal aid programs like FAFSA, the Pell Grant, work studies and scholarships that are available to students. 

Horning said USG will advocate to standardize the letters that outline students’ financial aid during the state legislative session. 

“I still remember this process, when you’re applying for college and you get your award letter that outlines your financial aid and I remember it being really confusing,” Honing said. “So what we’re advocating for is to kind of standardize it.”

Horning said everything is expensive nowadays, and that costs are high for students. Given the legislature’s makeup, there is not a lot of money to spend this year on new services after Gov. Tim Walz announced his recommended budget on Jan. 28, according to Horning. 

“There’s not a ton of money to spend, so we can’t really go to the legislature and ask for things that would cost a bunch of money,” Horning said. “So we are just being creative and finding ways to still support students without going that route.”

Big Ten on the Hill

Big Ten on the Hill is a conference where student leaders from universities in the Big Ten Conference go to Washington D.C. in March to meet with members of Congress, the presidential administration and national advocacy groups to advocate for the needs of students at the federal level. 

Ali said USG’s priorities range from drafting and prioritizing ideas to bringing such ideas to representatives, legislators and others to advocate for students on a federal level. 

Ali said increased federal funding for affordable student housing, food insecurity and transportation are USG priorities for the conference. 

“Once we have representatives supporting our bills and priorities, they can ensure and make sure that all Big Ten schools or all colleges and universities across the nation are aware of these federal priorities,” Ali said. “And universities can implement those initiatives and projects at their institutions.”

During Big Ten on the Hill, the USG delegation will work with Minnesota senators including Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and Sen. Tina Smith, according to Ali. 

“Our representatives have always been supportive, they’ve always worked with us to get these priorities on this to the Senate and to the House,” Ali said. “If they’re not passed that same year, they make sure it never leaves the table to continue those conversations.”

Despite some of the coldest temperatures of the year and various cancellations around the state, the University of Minnesota held many classes during the week of Jan. 20.

Both Minneapolis Public Schools and St. Paul Public Schools were among those who canceled classes Jan. 21 amidst wind chills 30-40 degrees below zero. Many University students questioned the decision to hold classes.  

The University weather and air quality index thresholds state the campus may reduce operations if the forecast predicts air temperatures or sustained wind chill at or below -35ºF for more than three consecutive hours between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. 

University Assistant Vice President for Health, Safety and Risk Management Katharine Bonneson said the University decided to maintain operations at their normal level because temperatures did not meet this threshold. 

Bonneson said the big difference between K-12 students and University students is that the student population is not made up of minors. Additionally, unlike the University, K-12 schools are reliant on bus transportation. 

The thresholds come from the National Weather Service, according to Bonneson.

The decision to cancel classes also involves further considerations, Bonneson said. For example, if there were predictions of snow or high winds, the University may have made a different decision.

“If metro transit or other areas would have said, ‘Hey, we’re concerned about buses running,’ we probably would have maybe erred on a more cautious side,” Bonneson said. “But none of those other factors were at play. I think the school K through top 12 closing was the biggest thing we saw that day.” 

Bonneson said individual departments could cancel classes at their own discretion, but any University-wide cancellations would have come from Provost Rachel Croson.

Fourth-year student Kevin Doan, who commutes from Shakopee, said he expected classes to be canceled Jan. 21.

“I think it should be like a whole University-wide policy where, if it’s like a very cold day, maybe professors will go on Zoom,” Doan said. ”Not only would that be helpful for commuters, but that would also help students.”

First-year student Danny Sibri Guiracocha said canceling classes University-wide would delay the speed of the curriculum. 

“The whole schedule is set a day off because of a cancellation, so it’s much better if it’s on Zoom,” Sibri Guiracocha said. 

Bonneson said a lot of preparation goes into making decisions like these and there is rarely a right or wrong call. Closing areas of University services is hard on those who need the money to work at the University. 

“We hope that we get it right, and if we don’t, we hope that people feel comfortable communicating whatever their decision is personally,” Bonneson said. “If they decide not to come to class, and they communicate early and often with their faculty, that would be my message.”

As the fall semester comes to a close, many students go through the winter blues and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), widely referred to by students as seasonal depression.

For many students at the University of Minnesota, the winter season can be tough, especially toward the end of the semester when finals take up a lot of students’ time. Some students reacted to the winter season and shared their experiences with seasonal depression and the winter blues. 

SAD is a type of depression related to seasonal changes. Some symptoms can include having low energy and feeling moody, sad or down nearly every day, and difficulty concentrating, according to Mayo Clinic. 

University Psychology Professor Liza Meredith said places with less sunlight have higher rates of seasonal depression. 

“Levels of sunlight, and having lower amounts of sun exposure in a day, is one cause, but also some personality traits have been correlated with seasonal depression,” Meredith said. “If you have a tendency towards mood instability, that may be linked to having seasonal depression as well.”

Meredith said it is important to get the word out about SAD because it is important to differentiate it from the winter blues. 

Meredith said the winter blues are a lower level of seasonal depression, leading to feeling more sad, blue, crummy, off and disengaged during the colder months of the year. 

For someone to be diagnosed with depression, symptoms have to be severe, such that someone is feeling low mood almost all day for at least two weeks, Meredith said. 

“You need to be showing a lot of changes in your mental health and behavior, you know, sleeping a lot more or less, eating a lot more or less, not getting the same pleasure out of hobbies,” Meredith said. “It’s just a more extreme version of winter blues, where, yeah, maybe you’re a little bit down, but it’s not all day, every day. You can kind of pull yourself out of it. So it’s a less intense version.”

Meredith said there are ways to fight seasonal depression and the winter blues both medically and on your own. 

“If you go the professional route, meeting with a doctor to decide is it worth trying medication, because there are medications that help treat the symptoms,” Meredith said. “You could also meet with a psychologist or therapist to learn skills for sort of changing your mindset about winter. So for instance, changing your mindset from ‘I hate winter’ to ‘I prefer summer.’”

Some options available for students include Boynton Health and Student Counseling Services (SCS) at the University each providing counseling options uniquely tailored to students.

The first step for students seeking counseling services at Boynton is to set up a mental health consultation. The consultation is usually a 30-minute appointment where students can speak with a mental health professional, express concerns and explain what kind of service they are looking for.

Appointments can be scheduled over the phone or through Boynton’s online portal. 

Fourth-year student Peter Stidman said he was diagnosed with moderate depressive disorder about four or five years ago and noticed that his symptoms were primarily bodily lethargy and a really sour, despondent, hopeless mood which worsened significantly in the winter months. 

Stidman said some of the effects he faces due to SAD include thoughts of hopelessness and feeling tired throughout the day. 

“When seasonal affective disorder comes into play, it’s harder for me to see if there’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” Stidman said. “I guess it’s losing some perspective, some hopelessness and as a consequence of all that, I tend to isolate, which just leaves this brutal spiral right, where that makes you more sad and isolated more.” 

Stidman said he combats these emotions by trying to flee south a few times and having a really strong community of friends and supportive peers. 

“I tried to get out of Minnesota a few times,” Stidman said. “I’m from here, but I tried to flee south with school a few times.” 

Stidman believes that SAD can have a big effect on students during this time of year with finals. 

“Holidays can be a really difficult time, and I think that plus finals, plus Item D efficiency, plus colder weather,” Stidman said. “I have to imagine, it exacerbates the burnout that a lot of people already feel during the semester.”

Fourth-year student Maggie Sorensen said she has never been diagnosed with SAD but does notice a dip in energy levels and motivation in the winter season.

Sorensen said it does not feel great experiencing a dip in mood and focus during the winter, but she combats it by being resourceful. 

“Try to kind of come up with ways to cater your studying towards a shorter attention span or a worse mood,” Sorensen said. “I always try to get myself out of the house and use study methods that are catered to a shorter attention span, like flashcards instead of textbook reading.”

Sorensen said students should get sun mimicking lamps which help stimulate vitamin D production. Sorenson said sun-mimicking lamps can be checked out at Walter Library. 

Sorensen said she would tell students going through seasonal depression or winter blues that they are not alone.

“Talk to a provider, there’s a lot of resources out there, and different things work for different people,” Sorensen said.  “Figuring out what those things are for you could be huge in the long run, but yeah, just kind of tap into the support system.”

On Dec. 8, after nearly 54 years in power and 13 years of war, the Syrian civil war came to an end. And with it, the fall of the Assad family’s rule. 

For many Syrian students who call the University of Minnesota home, this moment carried a lot of personal and cultural significance. Some students spoke out after the regime ended. They talked about their hope for the future and reflected on their experiences.

On Monday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad fled the country after an armed rebel alliance charged across the country over 11 days. 

The Syrian civil war has internally displaced 7.2 million people since 2011 while forcing 6.4 million Syrians to flee abroad as refugees.

Third-year student Raed Alobeid was born in Homs, Syria and lived there until 2012. Alobeid’s family fled Syria in 2012 due to the civil war and the constant bombings and airstrikes taking place in his neighborhood in Homs. Alobeid said there were many moments when he and his family were in the middle of bombings in his neighborhood. 

“I remember those times because I was too scared to sleep,” Alobeid said. “I thought, ‘What if I sleep and never wake up again?’ That was the thought that was going through my head as an eight-year-old.”

Alobeid said his family found asylum in the country of Jordan, where they stayed for three and a half years before coming to the U.S. as refugees in 2015. 

When Alobeid first heard of the news of Assad fleeing and the rebels gaining control of Syria, he said it was just surreal. He added his dad described it as the happiest day of his life. 

“I was in shock of how quickly it unfolded and everything,” Alobeid said. “My family was very happy, I was very happy, but at the same time, there’s still a lot to work on.” 

Alobeid said for him, the Assad regime represented dictatorship and a lack of freedom for Syrians, and he remains optimistic for the future of Syria. 

“I’m really hoping to see a democratic regime in the future, hopefully having a place where people actually have an area to speak, an area to speak up, no matter who’s in charge,” Alobeid said. 

Alobeid said he never thought he would have the chance to go back home to Syria, but now that it is a possibility, he wants to return as soon as he can. 

“It’s just very, very, very shocking, like I actually get to go back to walk down my neighborhood where I grew up in, where I was born,” Alobeid said. “The neighborhood was just filled with all my family, like my uncles, my aunts, both my grandparents. It was a full neighborhood, just our family. So just getting to go back, just seeing the neighborhood again.” 

Second-year student Lolia Jarouj grew up in Damascus, Syria and immigrated to the U.S. in 2014. 

Jarouj said a lot of her family was displaced due to the war.

“During Ramadan, we would just be having Iftar and the sounds of rockets would just be a normal part of life, like you would have to distinguish between the cannons and the rockets,” Jarouj said. “The cannons that were telling you it’s Iftar and the rockets just kind of blended into normal life, and you just tried to just hold on to contact with family.” 

Jarouj said hearing news of the regime’s fall was crazy. She added there were a lot of calls with family and friends in Syria that night. 

Jarouj said waking up and hearing that Assad was overthrown gave her and her family hope for the future.

“There was a lot of hope, because, of course, we don’t want Bashar al-Assad,” Jarouj said.

Jarouj said she wants the University campus community to know that Syrians are more than just a people at war. 

Syria is beautiful and not enough people know just how rich its culture is, Jarouj said. 

“I would say war has sort of trickled its way into our culture, like in a lot of small ways, but it’s definitely not who we are as Syrians,” Jarouj said. “We’re some of the most respectful people. We have such respect for all kinds of people. I would say this is because Syria was built on such a diverse history and such a diverse people.” 

First-year student Ibrahim Ismail’s family is from Aleppo, Syria. Ismail was born in the U.S. and did not visit Syria until last summer. 

Ismail said he felt a sense of relief now that the Assad regime was over. He added he felt a sense of patriotism seeing the Syrian rebels storm the capital. 

“I felt like, for the first time in my life, I felt a real sense of patriotism for my country, like yeah, that’s my country, that’s Syria, that’s where I’m from,” Ismail said. “It made me happy because all this time it’s been under the Assad regime for 54 years.”

Ismail said he hopes Assad never comes back and the country can start building towards a new Syria. 

“I’m hoping that there’s some serious people that are like, okay, we gotta start over, and we gotta do it right this time,” Ismail said. “I hope we get a new government, something truly democratic, and a new system that would prevent something like this happening ever again.”

Since coming to campus as an official organization this summer, the University of Minnesota’s Arab Dabke Club (ADC) has started to build membership. 

According to its mission statement, the club’s goal is to teach students Dabke, a traditional Palestinian folk dance, while maintaining Arab culture. Learning Dabke can help maintain Arab culture and promote it positively.

The Dabke originates from the Levantine regions, including Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, according to City Dance Studios. The dance is characterized by rhythmic stamping of feet in lines or circles, and dancers’ arms are often interlocked with one another.

Second-year student Dunya Mazhary and third-year student Zyde Alkhatib founded ADC this summer. Mazhary serves as president of the club, with Alkhatib as vice president.

Mazhary said the one-hour weekly meetings will be open to University students and the public during the spring semester. 

“We’re hoping that it’s a very fun and inclusive way to meet people and get in touch with your culture,” Mazhary said. 

There will be a space for dancers of all levels to learn, though Mazhary said she would like some of the group to perform at events in the future like the Students for Justice in Palestine Gala in February and the Arab Student Associations Gala later in the spring semester. 

Mazhary decided to start the club because her mom taught her the Dabke growing up. A University alum, Mazhary’s mom was in a similar Dabke group in the late ‘90s and would always talk about the club. 

Mazhary said hearing her mother’s stories made her want to be in a Dabke club and have a way to connect with people.

“I’m so excited that I get to follow in her footsteps and I hope I can be half as good as she was,” Mazhary said.

Mazhary’s mother, Jeanine Amra, said she met her closest friends during her time in a Dabke club and will be the teacher for the ADC. 

“It is truly culture. It’s fun, it’s music, it’s dancing. It’s also just friendships,” Amra said. “What I think is just beautiful to see is that our kids have hung on to and worked hard to make sure they’ve hung on to their sense of their sense of identity, their sense of being.”

Amra said she met Alkhatib’s mom, Hanan Mowahid, through their Dabke club in the ‘90s and they have been best friends for over 20 years. 

Mowahid said she wants to push and support the group members however she can. 

“It’s about the culture, and it’s about the community,” Mowahid said. “So it’s pretty cool for them to be in that club and driving it.”

ADC Treasurer Malak Alkhatib, Mowahid’s daughter and Zyde Alkhatib’s sister, said it was a full-circle moment seeing the club begin after learning about it from her mom her whole life, growing up with Dunya and now being a part of the Dabke club with her brother.

“Our campus is very diverse, so I feel like, especially at this campus, even if you’re not Arab and you’re still coming to learn Dabke, you have so much to give, and I think that’s so important because everybody can learn from everybody,” Malak Alkhatib said.

Malak Alkhatib said students can expect a lot from the ADC next semester. 

“They can expect a lot of fun, a lot of dancing, a lot of jumping around, but also learning and just connecting with each other,” Alkhatib said.

Sunday Cruise, a Chicago-based alternative rock and indie band, headlined a concert at the University of Minnesota’s Whole Music Club Saturday with Minneapolis multi-genre band Shrimp Olympics and St. Paul-based indie band BlueDriver. 

For a night of upbeat indie music, the music club had a buy one get one ticket sale, where attendees could buy $5 student tickets or $10 general public tickets and get the second ticket free.

Shrimp Olympics kicked off the event performing psychedelic pop and progressive rock songs from their set list. The band performs genres including psychedelic pop, country rock, jazz, noise experiments, progressive rock and baroque pop. BlueDriver’s set followed.

The Whole Music Club offers students the opportunity to see local and national music icons for affordable prices on campus. The concert Saturday concluded with Sunday Cruise performing.

Music Event Planner Berenice Sandoval-Solis said she started planning the event last spring semester. Her favorite part of the event was interacting with all the students.

“I just love being a part of that,” Sandoval said. “Just seeing all the people come out and just kind of make the community.” 

Sandoval said the event created a quality space for people to come see live music. 

“A lot of our shows are usually not that expensive,” Sandoval said. “So it’s good to have like, a place where young people can come and just enjoy music.” 

Sandoval said students should come to concerts like this at the Whole Music Club to have a good vibe and be with the community.

Zoe Garcia, founder, singer, songwriter and guitarist for Sunday Cruise, said it was important for the group to perform on the University of Minnesota campus so they could provide good music and good hospitality for students and the community. 

Cassidy McGill, bassist for Sunday Cruise, said the concert was important for students caught up in finals studies or grappling with seasonal depression. 

“It’s nice to have somewhere to go that’s social and like an outing, and you know, just like be at a show and listen to music,” McGill said. “And just have a way to get away from whatever is in their dorm room or in their classroom.” 

Lead Guitarist for Sunday Cruise Camden Kiefer said it is important for the group to perform on the University’s campus because college-aged students are at the right time in their lives to embrace music.

“There’s a lot of people who are just at a point in their life where they’re discovering themselves, and music is, usually, a good part of a lot of people’s life in that sense and identities,” Kiefer said. “It’s always good to play places that we’re not from because people know us and haven’t seen us, and then they’re so excited, and I’m excited.” 

Third-year student Taava Johnson said she came to the event to see Sunday Cruise.

Johnson said the show allows small communities of people to come and support local bands and love music. She added she was surprised by how much she enjoyed the music and that this is a good way for local bands to be represented. 

First-year student Abdihafid Mohamed said he learned of the event from an Instagram ad and said it sounded fun.

Mohamed said when he goes to events like these, he feels he is exposing himself to different cultures within the local music scene. 

“We surround ourselves with people we feel more comfortable with, and pushing yourself in non-comfortable spaces where you’re not entirely surrounded by people of your own identity is really key to expanding your comprehension of other social groups,” Mohamed said. 

Mohamed hopes more people can check out events like this and support local bands.

“It’s like, really chill, because there aren’t a lot of people,” Mohamed said.”But it’s also vibey and you can sense that everyone’s enjoying the music, which I really appreciate.”

University of Minnesota meal plan prices have been consistently rising for at least the last six years, though the rate at which they increase is lower this year than in the 2023-24 fiscal year.

University meal plan prices in fiscal year 2024-25 increased by 7.5% from fiscal year 2023-24, according to data from the University. Though a steeper increase than any of those from 2019 to 2023, it is a lower increase than last year by three percentage points.

The University’s Contract Administration Department develops, negotiates, manages and administers campus dining vending projects, according to the department’s website.

Meal plan rates are mainly dependent upon food and supply costs, which have significantly increased since the pandemic due to inflation and supply chain issues, said Contract Administration Director Amy Keran in a statement to the Minnesota Daily.

“Labor costs have increased with higher wages for students and full-time employees and additional paid time off through Minnesota’s Earned Sick and Safe Time law,” Keran said in the statement. 

Keran said food supply chain issues vary.

“For example, eggs have increased in price due to the recovery from the bird flu and the increase in seasonal demand,” Keran said. 

Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Vice President Clara Jünemann said hearing about the increase in meal plan prices was incredibly frustrating. 

“Students are already struggling to meet their basic needs, and increasing the meal plan prices is not necessarily a solution to help with that,” Jünemann said. “If anything, it’ll only make those situations worse for those students.”

Jünemann said having such an increase is counterproductive to conversations with their attempts to help students and advocacy work. 

USG is continuing to advocate for an affordable grocery store for students, Jünemann said. 

“I think our efforts should be made to working to fix that, instead of continuing to increase and continue to add to the problem,” Jünemann said. “I understand there are certain reasons for increases, but at the same time, I think we need to make sure that our priorities are aligned with what students need.”

Second-year student Claudia Fezzey said she did not purchase a meal plan this year because of the rising prices. 

Fezzey said she learned of the rising meal plan prices when she was planning her living situation for the year and that it was disheartening to see so many of the prices rising. 

“I can’t like put the blame fully on the University because I think a lot of it comes down to funding,” Fezzey said. “I know there’s been some issues in the legislature, so I think people need to realize that we need to be voting for politicians that are going to be funding education in order to keep our prices down as much as we can.” 

All students living in University residence halls are required to have an unlimited meal plan.

“When I started kind of doing the math for it, and I realized it’s upwards of, like $30, $40 a day, if you do the math on it,” Fezzey said. “I just kind of realized that that’s not worth it if it’s something that’s not going to be mandatory.”

Fezzey said an affordable grocery store on campus would be a very big step towards food accessibility on campus. 

“I think the end goal should be to try to keep a freeze on that so that people who are required to and want to have that experience in the residence hall and are required to purchase it, should be able to get that at an affordable cost,” Fezzey said.