The University of Minnesota’s 320-member marching band returned to Northrop Auditorium for its 63rd annual indoor marching band concert.

The band kicked off a full weekend of performances on Friday, with a matinee for elementary, middle and high school students. The concert was open to the public for performances on Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

The Friday matinee  hosted 2,000 students, according to marching band director Dr. Betsy McCann.

“It’s so fun to play for that many kids who are just super excited about the music and excited about the band,” McCann said. “Energy is great, and it’s really cool to play for a crowd like that.”

McCann hopes the concert will inspire younger students to continue to pursue music. 

“I know it inspires a ton of kids, and hopefully gets kids more interested in music or band or a possibility of what they could do in their futures,” McCann said.

As the auditorium lights dimmed, band members performed traditional school songs like the Minnesota Rouser as band members marched through the aisles to reach the stage. 

McCann said the beginning of the concert is fun because it gets the audience excited for the rest of the concert.  

“That part’s really fun because if you’re sitting in the audience, you might have a band member literally right next to you,” McCann said. “So you get really close to just the energy and the excitement and everything that happens in the band, it feels like you’re part of it.”

As the band settled onto the stage, they began to perform some of their hits from the 2024 football season halftime shows including favorites through the years, ’70s classics and songs from the Muppets. 

The concert also included feature performances from the drumline and color guard. 

The drumline writes their own music and choreography to tell a story, according to McCann. The color guard performed their own choreography as well. 

Claudia Staut, a third-year cymbals player, said she enjoys the more upbeat music the band performs. 

“This upcoming halftime show, we have a classical music show, and we’re playing some of those pieces,” Staut said. “So it’s still nice to kind of have that contrast to it, to still kind of have some calmer pieces, but I just really like the energy with marching band pieces and how they’re more hyped or amped up.”

After performances from the smaller groups, the band transitioned into playing sing-along favorites from previous halftime performances, including hits from the Barbie movie, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.

Ellie Steffens, a fourth-year clarinet player, said the fun and upbeat tunes this year will make a great experience for the audience.   

“I think just the high energy and being exposed to, maybe especially if you haven’t been before, being exposed to kind of who we are, close up, is a fun experience,” Steffens said.

As the concert came to an end, McCann gave a special thank-you to the band’s 89 graduating seniors. As director, McCann said the most important part of her job is bringing all the parts of the show together.

“It’s such a huge production, and there’s so many different people in charge of different things, which is really, really awesome because I’ve got a great team of people,” McCann said. “I think the biggest thing for me is just making sure that everything is happening as it should, and if everybody is executing their jobs, it’s going to be a great concert.”

Negotiation between the University of Minnesota and the Graduate Labor Union (GLU) resumed Thursday.

Negotiations were halted on Oct. 11 because the University filed a unit clarification petition with the Bureau of Mediation Services (BMS) to determine whether fellows should be included in negotiations. This resulted in BMS filing a Maintenance of Status Quo order, halting negotiations.

Since negotiations halted, the GLU Bargaining Committee prepared to organize a strike authorization vote to get the University to resume negotiations, said Sam Boland, GLU Bargaining Committee member. It was not a decision GLU takes lightly, said Boland.

On Oct. 25, three days before GLU’s scheduled strike vote, GLU received communication from the University’s legal team expressing interest in resuming negotiations if GLU canceled the vote, Boland said.

GLU was able to reach an agreement with the University to resume negotiations on a contract for graduate assistants, Boland said. GLU hopes to include fellows in negotiations once a contract is agreed upon for Graduate Assistants.

The University and GLU held bargaining sessions on Nov. 7 and 8 with additional sessions scheduled on Nov. 21, 22 and Dec. 9.

“The University values our graduate students and the contributions they make both as students and as graduate assistants,” said a University spokesperson in an email to the Minnesota Daily. ”We continue to bargain in good faith and in accordance with our principles.”

Boland said both GLU and the University are bound in their agreement of good faith to try and reach a negotiation for a fair contract.

“If we determine we can’t make an agreement at that point, we can file for clarification with the Bureau of Mediation Services, but we believe we won’t really need to do that,” Boland said. “The University largely backed off their position that no fellow should be included.”

For graduate students like Olivia Wood, resuming negotiations means that the University listened to its employees and is willing to bargain in good faith.

“I’m starting to feel hopeful again,” Wood said. “I think we will hopefully have a contract that is able to give workers what we need and what we deserve. I hope that the University follows through on this action and actually bargains in good faith and takes the union’s and workers’ concerns seriously.”

Wood said one of the issues most important to her on GLU’s proposed contract was fair pay as almost no graduate workers make a livable wage for Hennepin County. Rent and energy costs take most of her paychecks. Wood is hoping to come to an agreement with the University to cover the cost of extra fees for all students, especially international students.

“It’s feeling like a real squeeze, and there are definitely people who are in worse off situations than I am, which is also part of what we’re fighting for,” Wood said. “We’re hoping to get the U to cover fees for all students, including international students who have an extra burden of fees on top of just the normal student fees.”

Wood hopes that by resuming the contract negotiations, GLU can reduce the disparity between international graduate students and domestic graduate students so all students can study and contribute to the University, regardless of where they are from.

GLU is excited and hopeful to continue negotiating for a fair contract, Boland said.

“We’re very happy with how things worked out, and we feel that, like this agreement that we reached was a big win for us,” Boland said. “Because we went from bargaining being suspended indefinitely.”

The University of Minnesota’s Student Counseling Services (SCS) and Boynton Health mental health clinic have been working to merge since 2023, though affinity groups through SCS will be unaffected by the merger.

Affinity groups through SCS offer students from specific identity groups opportunities for support within their own communities.

SCS is a free resource on campus for all students. It offers individual counseling for mental health, career and academics, educational workshops and affinity groups, counseling groups, and other resources for students struggling with their mental health.

As SCS merges with Boynton Health, its services will remain free for students. When first told about the merger, El Reinhard, a student at the University, thought the Chronic Condition/Pain affinity group they attend would be canceled.

Emily O’Hara, associate director and clinical director of SCS said affinity groups will not be affected by the merger. The groups come and go based on student needs and staff availability.

“We’ve really received a lot of positive feedback from students on our affinity spaces,” O’Hara said. “If we have students really expressing interest in a particular affinity, and we’re noticing students are expressing interest in this area, we would form a group around that. Broadly speaking, there really aren’t any plans to end affinity groups.”

O’Hara said SCS and Boynton Health are both part of the Office for Student Affairs, but will now be even more closely aligned to improve the student experience.

The merge, aiming to align all mental health services, began last year and is an ongoing intentional process with no interruption to services available to students, O’Hara said.

Alexa Fetzer, facilitator of the Chronic Pain/Pain Connection Space affinity group, said the group is a great way for students to get connected, and the focus of affinity groups is to form a community of students who are dealing with the same things.

“These are spaces where students come together and really share and receive support, build community with one another, and I would say it’s also a space where students actually really take the lead,” Fetzer said. “They’re more student-focused and student-led.”

A central access point for all counseling and mental health services is planned to launch in spring 2025, according to O’Hara. Instead of having students navigate different options on their own, the access point will have all options in one place.

Reinhard said the Chronic Pain group is often small because, as students with chronic issues, many group members are not always physically able to join. However, the group has been successful for Reinhard in finding community.

“We usually have three or four people at each call, and that’s honestly more than enough,” Reinhard said. “We always have something to talk about.”

SCS will continue to have its services free for students and integrating with Boynton can give students more options for resources, O’Hara said.

“Sometimes students want to use their insurance at the health center at Boynton, and sometimes they want to use their health insurance to see a provider in the community,” O’Hara said. “It’s nice that we can offer a variety of different options for students, we want to be able to continue to offer that as an option.”

The University of Minnesota’s Film Club offers community through film with its meetings and film-centered events.

The club, which meets weekly on Saturdays from 5-7 p.m. at Coffman Union, discusses a variety of movies and themes. From animation to thrillers and French new wave movies, there is something for everyone, and the club offers ways to expand its member’s tastes.

Club President Adam Meyers said club members vote on a film for the club to watch on their own time and then come together during the meetings to discuss it.

Meyers helped found the club in fall 2021 during his freshman year. As a senior now, he is president and among its oldest officers.

“At the time, I was just like it seems like a fun way to come and talk about movies,” Meyers said. “And I’ve always enjoyed just discussing art in general, in movies, so I know that’ll be enjoyable for me.”

Along with their Saturday meetings, the club often partners with theaters and film studios to attend advanced screenings or get free tickets to movies. The club also hosts an Oscars watch party.

Weekly meetings frequently consist of a game led by an officer after movie discussion. Mariah Muchow, club treasurer, said there is a wide variety of games officers come up with.

“We’ve done trivia related to either the theme or maybe a specific movie or director,” Muchow said. “We’ve also done skits, and we’ve done drawing games.”

Muchow, a sophomore, joined the club last semester and decided to apply as an officer right away.

“Especially at that time, I was very consistently going to meetings, like almost every week, and I really enjoyed it,” Muchow said. “I honestly saw it as a way to maybe get even more involved in the club.”

Since then, Muchow said it has been a way to become better involved with the inner workings of the club. She added she enjoys being able to choose themes and movies for members to vote on.

“I do have friends that enjoy movies, but it’s not always their main thing, like it is for me,” Muchow said. “So I feel like in the club, I meet a lot of other people who like movies as their main interest.”

As someone interested in movies, Muchow said she is grateful for the opportunity to watch movies she has never gotten to see and discuss them with other members of the club.

“It’s been kind of a nice side thing to have,” Muchow said. “I have my friends who maybe don’t want to always talk about that, then I always know when I’m going to film club, that will be the opportunity I get to kind of just talk about movies for like an hour and a half.”

Members of the University of Minnesota’s Undergraduate Political Science Association (UPSA) and College Democrats aim to connect students with similar political interests or aspirations.

UPSA is a nonpartisan organization whose goal is to bring together students majoring in or interested in political science. UMN College Democrats is an official branch of the Democratic party at the University.

Shae Horning, vice president of UPSA, said although the club’s name is Undergraduate Political Science Association, it is for everyone.

“It’s really just a chance for people that have the same interests in politics and government,” Horning said. “And to have a space to meet people that have the same interests and get a chance to talk about it.”

The Association tries to meet every other week, with many of their meetings focusing on professional development.

“Our first meeting this year was an internship panel,” Horning said. “So we had students that had already had internships come to talk about their experience and how they got them.”

UPSA also tries to hold a few bigger events in addition to regular meetings, Horning said. In spring 2024, one of the group’s big events was a Women in Politics Panel with a variety of notable women who made a career in politics, ranging from a former U.S. Senate representative to legislative assistants.

Along with professional and speaker events, the Association also tries to have fun events, including a de-stress event during finals.

As a third-year student this year, Horning said UPSA has been a part of her college experience since she first started at the University. Horning joined the association her first year and applied to be on its board right away.

“I ended up starting as one of our communications directors, and that was really fun,” Horning said. “It was cool to just jump right in and see the organization from the perspective of a board member.”

The University’s College Democrats club has been present at the University for around 60 years, said club Vice President Lexi Cornolo. However, it was not running during COVID-19 or in the years since.

That was before Cornolo and President Kavya Nair revived it.

Both Cornolo and Nair were part of Minnesota Youth DFL and realized the lack of club presence at the University was a big deal, said Cornolo. Because she was the Director of Advocacy for the Minnesota Youth DFL, they asked her to get the club running again.

“I feel very passionate about the club existing on campus in general,” Cornolo said. “Just to be a space for people who just want to learn more about politics.”

The club’s first meeting was on Oct. 16 and included guest speakers such as Minnesota Representative Mohamud Noor, U.S. Senator Tina Smith and Florida Congressman Maxwell Frost. In the future, the club will have more workshops and speakers, aiming to get students involved in politics.

As of right now, the main priority of the club is the national election as well as local elections.

“College Democrats is passionate about having workshops, helping people with resumes, helping people network outside of their usual self, canvassing, anything that has anything to do with just getting involved,” Cornolo said.

Annie Griffiths, one of the first female photographers at National Geographic and founder of nonprofit Ripple Effect Images, will be the University of Minnesota’s 2024 homecoming parade Grand Marshal.

Griffiths is a Minneapolis native and graduated from the University in 1976. She worked at the Minnesota Daily as a photographer while getting her degree in photojournalism through the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Each year, the Grand Marshal serves as an exemplary role model for students and helps celebrate their achievements and contributions throughout homecoming festivities, said Marissa Smith, associate vice president of engagement for the University of Minnesota Alumni Association (UMAA).

Smith said UMAA looks for University alumni who are recognized for excellence in their industry, and a well-rounded group of grand marshals that represent the diversity of the alumni body.

“So many of our grand marshals, it should probably come as no surprise, are deeply interested in connecting with students and learning more about what student life is like now versus when they went to school,” Smith said.

Griffiths said being in photojournalism classes at the University and a photographer at the Minnesota Daily was very valuable in finding her place on campus.

After taking two years of journalism classes at the University and a gap year after her second year, Griffiths decided to try a photojournalism class. Though Griffiths had to audit the course to be allowed in the major-specific class, she switched her major to photojournalism two weeks after starting.

“I just fell in love with it,” Griffiths said. “I fell so in love with it, and it was like, what was missing somehow because I’ve always been a storyteller, it hadn’t occurred to me that I could tell a story with images until it started happening.”

After embarking on her photojournalism path at the University, Griffiths decided she needed to get serious about her career and have more of her photos published. So, she decided to work at the Minnesota Daily.

“One of the photographers graduated and I was shameless about pursuing his spot because, once again, there weren’t any women photographers at the Daily, and I got his spot,” Griffiths said. “It was the reason that I was able to build a portfolio. It was the reason that I got jobs.”

After college, Griffiths started as a photographer at the Worthington Daily Globe in Worthington, Minnesota. Shortly after, at age 25, she was hired at National Geographic as one of the publication’s first female photographers.

Throughout her career since starting at National Geographic, Griffiths has published several books and started a nonprofit organization called Ripple Effect Images.

Ripple Effect helps bring awareness to women in emerging countries, documenting their successes while raising money, training and educating women on issues such as health education, access to schools, education and more.

“I was so discouraged at the lack of coverage of women especially in emerging nations, and the portrayals of them were inaccurate,” Griffiths said.

Recently, Griffiths has gotten back into writing by publishing her work on her substack, titled “You’re Not That Nice,” which is updated every week.

Griffiths is honored for the opportunity to serve as this year’s homecoming grand marshal.

“What I’m most excited about is coming back and meeting with students,” Griffiths said. “That’s what I really like. I love teaching, and so that opportunity, in addition to the more formal events that are going to happen over the weekend, it’s what I’m most looking forward to.”

University of Minnesota students and community members celebrated homecoming this week with various activities, including the annual homecoming parade, a comedy show by Marcello Hernández and other events held throughout the week.

Throughout the week, students had the opportunity to attend events hosted by the University’s Student Unions and Activities (SUA).

On Monday, Oct. 21, Homecoming week kicked off with Pastry Palooza in the morning, located on Northrop Plaza, Washington Avenue Bridgehead on West Bank and Terrace in St. Paul. The event featured yard games, free donuts from The Test Kitchen and pastries provided by Cinnabon, Cardigan Donuts, Glam Doll Donuts and Cookie Cart. Attendees also received a free 2024 Homecoming scarf and reusable hand warmers.

Monday evening was the Eco-Conscious Crafts event at Coffman Union. In partnership with Ski-U-Crew, Feminist Student Activist Collective, Golden Magazine, Forestry Club and SUA Building Art, the event had an environmental focus as well as a crafting workshop on indigenous plants.

As the week progressed, more events were held specifically for students, including a blood drive and bingo night on Wednesday and Homecoming Concert by rock band Slow Pulp, and Minnesota-based band Keep For Cheap on Tuesday.

Homecoming weekend started on Friday, with the annual parade presented by Affinity Plus.

The parade kicked off with Grand Marshal Annie Griffiths and featured floats for student and alumni organizations and the greater campus community.

Anya Nelsestuen, a student who attended the parade, said she felt like homecoming was good for campus but did not know a lot about the events.

“I think doing stuff like this is cool because it showcases a lot of different things students are involved in,” Nelsestuen said. “It just gives us something after midterms for our community to do.”

After the parade, students could attend a comedy show featuring “Saturday Night Live” cast member Marcello Hernández. The show featured fellow SNL cast member Emil Wakim and comedians Matt Richards and Alexis Carabãno.

Kyra Shah, a student who attended the show, said she wanted to attend the show after seeing clips of Hernández on TikTok.

Shah is a part of University Greek life in the Gamma Phi Beta sorority and said participating in Greek life’s homecoming traditions like pomping and a lip sync battle with other chapters on Thursday were her favorite parts of the week.

“It’s kind of cool to see how the student body comes together,” Shah said. “And to get to see the Greek Life aspect of it and the parade.”

Capping off the week was the Gopher football game against the University of Maryland and a Ski-U-Mania pre-game event at the McNamara Alumni Center, hosted by the University of Minnesota Alumni Association.

First-year student Jordan Willeck and University of Minnesota-Duluth student Amelia Fischer both attended the football game. Fischer said her favorite part of homecoming was the parade and seeing frat row decorated.

Willeck said Homecoming is a chance to celebrate going to college.

“It’s just celebrating being a Gopher,” Willeck said. “It is bringing everyone together regardless of who you are or where you’re from.”

The Bureau of Mediation Services (BMS) temporarily suspended negotiations between the University of Minnesota and its Graduate Labor Union (GLU) on Oct. 11, following over a year of negotiation.

The University filed a petition with BMS to determine whether graduate and professional fellows and trainees are part of the Graduate Assistant Bargaining Unit. GLU maintains these groups are part of the Graduate Assistant Bargaining Unit, while the University maintains they are not.

The day after the University filed its petition, BMS issued a Maintenance of Status Quo order that suspended negotiations until a determination is made, according to University spokesperson Jake Ricker in an email to the Minnesota Daily. Suspension of negotiation is required when such an order is issued while the BMS reviews the petition.

Ricker said mediation will resume once BMS completes its review and issues a decision.

“The University looks forward to resolving this issue and resuming mediation,” Ricker said in the email.

Graduate fellows are graduate students who conduct research and teach at the University. They are not considered employees of the University and therefore do not have many of the protections University employees have.

The contract would have applied to students who fall under the Minnesota Public Employment Labor Relations Act (PELRA). In its current language, PELRA allows for the unionization of university student workers but does not allow for graduate fellows to be part of collective bargaining units or unions.

According to an update on the Office of Human Resources website, the University maintains fellowships are non-service awards to graduate students, as fellows do not work assigned hours or under University direction.

Sam Boland, a member of GLU’s bargaining committee, said the University’s decision to file the BMS petition on Oct. 10 caught the committee off guard since they have been negotiating for over a year now. The parties have been negotiating for a contract that would raise wages, lower student fees and guarantee better workplace protections for graduate students.

“We did not want to stop bargaining,” Boland said. “So we proposed that we would enter into a joint agreement with the University to suspend negotiations over fellows and let this legal process carry out, then let us continue negotiating over everything else.”

During a bargaining session on Oct. 10, GLU members believed they and the University would issue a joint petition to BMS, Boland said. He said that an hour after the session ended, the University filed its petition without notifying GLU bargaining committee members or the BMS mediator.

“We were just really caught off guard because we were led to believe that they wanted to continue negotiating and sign this joint agreement with us,” Boland said. “They didn’t even have the courage to tell us to our face that they were just going to shut everything down, so it was definitely a feeling of betrayal.”

Since the petition and subsequent order to investigate whether fellows should be part of the bargaining unit was filed, GLU members are no longer legally allowed to hold any bargaining sessions, Boland said.

“Our guess is that the University was getting really nervous,” Boland said. “They realized how dissatisfied members are, and kind of saw the writing on the wall that we were preparing for a strike.”

Graduate student Caleb Allen said part of his job is presenting his research at conferences, which is a way to gain recognition with others in his field and raise the prestige of his department.

Although Allen’s department, art history, was able to give him some aid for travel to an upcoming conference in Toronto, Allen still had to take on $1,000 of credit card debt in order to participate.

“We could have actually had a decent contract by now,” Allen said. “One where, ideally, I would be able to offset some of these conference costs without having to take on more credit card debt.”

Allen said since graduate students are still paying over $1,000 in fees, which is almost half a monthly paycheck, it is hard for them to feel valued by the University.  

“We’re pretty integral to the research process,” Allen said. “And yet, after a year of not bargaining in good faith with us, they can then turn around and file a petition that basically could end up suspending bargaining for even more months.”

International graduate student Chelsea Rodriguez said she came to the University hoping for a contract for graduate students. Now, she is not sure when that will happen.

“I have no idea when we’re going to be able to come to an agreement or a contract,” Rodriguez said. “It just means another semester of paying over $1,000 in fees. It can be really difficult as a financial situation having to put out that money again and again.”

The University of Minnesota offers a wide range of religious-based organizations for students to join, providing students with the opportunity to gain community and grow in their religion.

As college students, it can be difficult to fit in time to pray or practice religion, but efforts from student groups and the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) are trying to fix that.

Hindu YUVA, which stands for Youth for Unity, Virtues and Action, is a Hindu organization on campus that is part of a larger national organization with 78 different chapters across the U.S.

The organization’s mission is to create a platform to protect, preserve, practice and promote Hindu Dharma, according to their website. 

Prasannakumar Salasiya, president of Hindu YUVA UMN, said the organization meets once a week to do spiritual activities like yoga or meditation. The group also celebrates Hindu festivals, like Diwali and Holi, together.

“Individually, I can only do so much,” Salasiya said. “So it’s better to have a space where there are many students so we can exchange our views and kind of learn more about what others think.”

USG’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee is working to provide more classrooms available for prayer and meditation, according to USG President Rahma Ali. 

Although there are worship spaces in and around campus, including churches for Christian students and the Al-Madinah Cultural Center in Coffman Union for Muslim students, Ali said it can be difficult for students to make it to those places to pray and worship if they are across campus or in St. Paul.

“Buildings that have spaces that are not being utilized can be utilized to allow students to these meditations and spiritual prayer spaces,” Ali said.

Ali said USG’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee contacted classroom management and visited buildings to see what rooms are not used and could be turned into prayer and meditation spaces.

“When we talk to classroom management, it’s a lot more of ‘This is a room that’s not as utilized so you’re able to use it,’” Ali said. “But we go through a process of, ‘Can we make sure that this is not labeled as a storage room anymore so other facility managers, or just facility staff, are aware that this room is now a spiritual meditation space?’”

Giving students space to pray and grow in their faith is important to students like Emily Bessler, a member of Gopher Catholic. Gopher Catholic is a student group through the St. Lawrence Catholic Church and Newman Center, located in Dinkytown.

Bessler said there are a lot of different things that go into the student organization. They have meetings every other week and Women’s and Men’s Groups that members can participate in.

As a student leader, Bessler said she can invest more in the community.

“I think that this community and being a part of Gopher Catholic has really supported me in being the person that I want to be,” Bessler said. “The women and the men that I’ve met in this community are probably some of my friends that I’ll have for the rest of my life.”

Bessler said it is important to have a worship space close to campus she can visit after a long, busy day.

“Life can get so loud and so busy and being able to just sit and pray and have no noise around is really such a blessing,” Bessler said. “So being able to have that accessible and being able to just be able to walk here is definitely very nice.”

Staff from the University of Minnesota’s Tutoring and Academic Success Center, Boynton Health and Disability Resource Center have been working to provide support and resources to students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). 

In spring 2024, the groups collaboratively launched an Effective U webpage specifically focused on developing a basic understanding of ADHD and learning skills to manage it. The webpage contains a module where students can learn study tips, money management, exam prep and more. 

The collaborative effort also piloted a new section of OUE: 1101: Academic Refresher, specifically tailored to students diagnosed with or who suspect they may have ADHD. The one-credit course has four sections with different focuses, though they all aim to support students experiencing academic barriers. 

Other collaborative efforts included starting the ADHD Peer Network, which gives students with ADHD the opportunity to connect in person and secure a Campus Climate micro-grant, which funds projects that enhance the University’s social environment. 

Stevi Shively is a clinical counselor who was a master’s student when planning started last spring on OUE 1101 and the Effective U module. Shively teaches the section of OUE 1101, which focuses on strategies for students with ADHD. 

“As a course, it does not require a diagnosis,” Shively said. “Anybody can take it if they think they benefit from it.” 

The course teaches how to identify dopamine-seeking behaviors, time awareness and task prioritization tools. 

As someone who was diagnosed with ADHD while getting her doctoral degree, Shively said being around students going through similar issues as her and being able to help them is incredibly rewarding.  

“The course is really focused around recognizing and appreciating the fact that a lot of academic systems are developed for a particular learning style or a very specific way of brains working that might not necessarily match very well with the way that an ADHD student’s brain functions,” Shively said.

Shively worked with Keelin Yenney, a University Academic Success Center coach and instructor, to modify the course for students who have or may have ADHD.

“We have two classes left, and have been getting a lot of really positive feedback in that course, and hope to be able to teach it and offer it in future semesters,” Shively said.

Yenney helped organize the ADHD Peer Network, which had its first meeting on Sept. 18 and meets again on Oct. 16. 

“It’s very new, and we’re kind of figuring it out as we go because we want to make sure that it is very student-driven,” Yenney said. 

The Network’s meeting in September focused on getting student feedback, according to Yenney. The Network is excited to start implementing that feedback, starting with its next meeting. 

Based on student feedback, each meeting will include time to chat with peers and a 30-minute educational component related to ADHD, Yenney said. Educational components could be anything from study skills and time management to emotional regulation and community building. 

“Again, we want it to be student-directed,” Yenney said. “So if students are interested in making it something larger we can then coordinate additional events or things like that.”