The University of Minnesota’s Business of Beauty Club was created to connect students with business opportunities in the beauty industry. The club was inspired by the University’s Women in Business Club. 

Students in the club had the chance to meet guest speakers from prominent companies such as L’oreal Paris, Estée Lauder and Kosas Cosmetics, who taught them about the business side of the industry. 

Libby Keller, a fourth-year student and the club’s former president, said the club brought in the founder of Evry Makeup Studio in Minneapolis, Maggie Jessen, who answered questions and provided networking opportunities for club members. 

“Maggie gave people the opportunity to be brand ambassadors for Evry, and she would tell us what to be on the lookout for and what she would be introducing soon into her brand,” Keller said.

Rachel Ezramus, the club’s former director of events who graduated in May, said the club wants to create a diverse panel of networking opportunities for its members.

“The great thing about reaching out to people with smaller businesses in our community is that there is more of an opportunity to help build their businesses up since they are so close,” Ezramus said. “It’s also great to see opportunities on a larger scale like we did with the speakers from L’oreal.” 

Olivia Johnson, a 2023 graduate who helped found the club, said the club always asks permission to share the LinkedIn profiles of guest speakers with members. This allows members to connect with speakers and ask questions.

Johnson, who works in the beauty industry, said simply being a member of this club shows employers how passionate you are.

“I did a bunch of research on any other clubs out there for the beauty industry and there are not that many, so it really does show how passionate you are, and it is something I brought up in every interview I had,” Johnson said.

Johnson said the club taught her to be resilient, think on her feet and be flexible, which prepared her to work in the beauty industry more than any class she ever took. 

“Even now, working full time, I always think back to the Business of Beauty, ” Johnson said. “I kept thinking how creating the club was like building our own little business because we had to think about marketing, we had to create our own logo and we had to get people to come in and actually want to be a part of this community.” 

Megan Tomas, a 2023 graduate who helped found the club and now works in the beauty industry, said a big skill she gained from the club was confidence, especially in networking. 

“We reached out kind of randomly to a lot of people that we thought would come in and speak and people we look up to,” Tomas said. “I got my job now through a connection when I started calling people, so I really think the skills from the club paid off in my career as well.” 

Beyond the business aspect, Ezramus said the club is also a great creative outlet for people with a passion for beauty but are not looking to enter the industry.

“I think it balances well for helping people’s career paths, but it also can just be a fun club to join,” Ezramus said. 

Ezramus said most of the club’s meetings start with talking about creative aspects of the beauty industry. They then go into how you can make a career and other opportunities.

Johnson said the club also collaborates with other clubs at the University, such as Business of Fashion, where they had trivia nights to help each other learn more about each industry. 

Keller said being a part of the club influenced her to try new products in new ways.

“It doesn’t always have to be so overcomplicated,” Keller said. “You don’t always have to follow the trends. They are always being recycled, so there’s a lot of different routes you can go and different ways you can achieve things.” 

Ezramus said the club taught her there is a lot more that goes into the beauty industry than just fun and creativity. 

“The club helped me realize how complex the beauty industry is and what it takes to grow a brand within the beauty industry,” Ezramus said.

The upcoming 2024 presidential election sparks conversation among University of Minnesota students who plan on voting in November. 

With President Joe Biden dropping out of the race on July 21, Vice President Kamala Harris became the presumed Democratic nominee. This, coupled with former President Donald Trump’s candidacy as the Republican nominee, makes the road to election day nothing short of tumultuous. 

Benjamin Lindeen, a fourth-year student at the University, said he was disappointed Biden decided to run for a second term and was excited to see him step down, though it was far overdue. 

“I think he mentioned himself that he was looking to be a bridge to the next generation of politicians and leaders, which he did not follow through on because he decided to box out any Democratic primaries and then continue to run even though many speculated his health was in decline,” Lindeen said. 

Andrew Palik, a third-year student, said he was surprised Biden stepped down this late in the race.

“I would say Trump has an advantage because of Harris coming in so late,” Palik said. “Also, just as a Black woman in the United States, she has a disadvantage that Trump does not have.” 

Brandon Price, a fourth-year student, said he believes Trump has an edge with voters because he feels people want someone more outside the political sphere. However, he said he is excited to have Harris as an alternative to Biden in this election.

“I feel like she will be able to inspire the youth a bit more, and she will be able to put a little bit more pep in the step of the younger audience,” Price said.

Price, Palik and Lindeen said they will vote for Harris in the upcoming presidential election.

Price said one of his concerns in this election is the rise of anti-democratic values, such as both sides trying to disqualify each other and not trusting the rules of democracy. 

“I think we’ve been seeing a rise in anti-democratic values, especially the Jan. 6 stuff with storming the Capitol, and even in the left wing, we saw a push toward not allowing Trump to run,” Price said. 

Lindeen said he does not think democracy is on the ballot, and the whole idea is an overplayed narrative. 

“I think our institutions are strong enough that there will be checks and balances on the executive office, so I don’t worry too much about that,” Lindeen said. 

Price said he is worried about foreign policy.

“I am very concerned about the upcoming years of China’s relationship with Taiwan,” Price said. “There’s also a lot of tension in the Middle East right now with the Israel-Palestine conflict, along with the war in Ukraine right now.”

Palik said he is most concerned about environmental issues like climate change. 

“For example, when Donald Trump was president, he severely cut funding for anything related to climate change and research related to international efforts towards climate change,” Palik said. “For me personally, that is a big deal.” 

Palik said the Biden-Harris administration has been focused on environmental issues and takes them seriously, which is a positive for him. 

Lindeen said he is concerned for women’s reproductive rights if Trump wins the election. 

“As a result of Trump’s direct action, three hardcore ideologues were put onto the Supreme Court, all of whom are in their 40s and 50s, so they are very young and will be around a long time,” Lindeen said. “Over the past few years, they have enacted many sweeping decisions that really roll back the clock in terms of the progress the United States has made over the past few decades.”

Palik said the president of the United States is not just a political figure, but a cultural figure as well.

“When Donald Trump was president, it was a different climate,” Palik said. “I think there’s a lot of merit towards the idea that when he was president, he promoted and pushed hateful rhetoric.”

Palik said the Harris administration would be more culturally positive and progressive, but the political landscape will change no matter the outcome.

“When Donald Trump was elected in 2016, there was massive unrest from the Democratic side, but when Joe Biden won in 2020, Trump did not want to concede, so it will be crazy and a lot of unrest no matter who wins,” Palik said.

The University of Minnesota’s Taekwondo Club aims to create a community with shared interests, regardless of experience or background, both inside and outside of taekwondo.

The club meets three times a week from 5 to 7 p.m. at the University’s Recreation and Wellness Center. According to Sakthi Sundaram Saravanan, a fourth-year student and the club’s vice president, meetings usually start with warmups to prevent injuries and a grace period for people to show up late.

“On Mondays, we usually do conditioning drills, so kicks, drills, practice and getting those basics down,” Sundaram Saravanan said. “On Wednesdays, we focus more on sparring, which is one-on-one fighting for points, and Fridays are more like a free practice where people are open to do whatever they want.”

The club focuses on many components of taekwondo, including sparring, tricking, weapons, self-defense, board breaking, demonstrations and poomsae.

Poomsae is a memorized series of taekwondo moves performed in a specific order, Sundaram Saravanan said. 

According to Sundaram Saravanan, poomsae involves a variety of different elements, including breaking and tricking. 

“The tricking component is more gymnastic stuff like flips, spin kicks, jump spin kicks and line kicks,” Sundaram Saravanan said. “In the weapon section, you either have a staff or a sword that you do a demonstration with, and there are also weapon defenses that go along with them.” 

Kaitlin Beel, a graduate student and the club’s facilities and safety officer, said demonstrations are performances similar to a dance, which involve a mixture of poomsae, including breaking and tricking elements.

“I would describe the club as casual and social, but the support is there if you want to go and be more engaged at a higher level, so it is certainly not required,” Beel said. “There’s always going to be someone who can help you if you want to do more, but there is also an openness to taking people at whatever level they’re at.”

Victor Hofstetter, a third-year student and the club’s external relations and marketing officer, said anyone can find a way to focus on their interests within the club. But, he finds people gear their interests towards what they are good at for competition.

“If you are interested in sparring or poomsae, you will for sure be able to go to a competitive level on those,” Hofstetter said. “If you do tricking or weapons though, these are more niche and don’t necessarily have a big audience or a big demand in tournaments.” 

Hofstetter said people can join the club more casually, but they welcome people who want to join them in tournaments.

James Cho, a fourth-year student and the club’s vice president, said the club was invited to the Midwest Collegiate Taekwondo Conference (MCTC) last fall, which is an alliance of college taekwondo clubs in the Midwest.

“In October of 2023, we had the opportunity to go to our first competition and training camp in Chicago at the University of Illinois Chicago with MCTC,” Cho said. “It was pretty low stakes, just getting to know everybody else, and it was a fun experience.” 

Hofstetter said the Director of MCTC David Lee is coming Saturday to give the club a sparring training session in preparation for two MCTC tournaments in October. 

Beel said the club tends to focus on collegiate competitions because there are more students at the same age and level.

“It’s nice to be able to be around other college students, which collegiate events provide,” Beel said. “Whereas, if you are at a local tournament, you might be the only person in your division and may get paired up with an exhibition match with a high schooler, which isn’t as enjoyable of an experience.” 

Hofstetter said the club plans to attend at least one competition each semester this academic year. 

The club also performed in partnership with both the University’s Asian American Student Union and the Korean Student Association, Cho said.

One of the main reasons Cho said he continues his involvement with the club is because of the friendships he made and the environment.

“I felt that I fit in, that I could be myself, not be judged and have a lot of fun,” Cho said.

Hofstetter said building community is one of the club’s main goals. 

“We want to share the cultural tradition of taekwondo,” Hofstetter said. “The means that we use to get to that goal do not matter, whether it’s competition or creating community. It’s really about finding that thing we’re all passionate about and engaging in it together.”

The University of Minnesota’s Carlson Impact Lab provides students with opportunities to work with real clients and collaborate with peers.

The Impact Lab launched in fall 2022 as a part of the newly required Carlson School of Management undergraduate curriculum, which includes two courses. In 2023, the Impact Lab partnered with Special Olympics Minnesota to help prepare them for the Special Olympics Games, which will be coming to Minneapolis in June 2026.

Students take a problem-solving class in their first year where they learn basic skills, according to Amee McDonald, the Impact Lab’s managing director. The students then apply those skills in the Impact Lab, also known as the “in-action class,” during their second year.

“In the in-action class, students are empowered to identify and analyze complex problems for a client,” McDonald said. “Within that, they are empowered to identify which frameworks to use and how to approach it.” 

In the Impact Lab, students have business professionals as mentors who make sure the students are addressing the right problems, McDonald said. 

Last fall, the Impact Lab collaborated with Special Olympics Minnesota to help them explore how to engage Minnesotans before, during and after the Special Olympics Games, McDonald added. 

The Special Olympics Games bring in more than $75 million of economic impact to the state, according to Dave Dorn, president and CEO of Special Olympics Minnesota. 

“With the Impact Lab, we thought we could use this lead up to the games to really shine a light on the Special Olympics movement period, so more people realize the Special Olympics is for everybody, no matter what age and no matter if they have a disability or not,” Dorn said. 

Dorn said he was happy to work with University students who can help build a better, healthier, more inclusive community across the board. 

McDonald said students conduct research in groups, create prototype solutions, get feedback from clients and stakeholders, then finalize their solutions and build instructions for the client.

“The purpose really is to be of service to others, and in that process, the students are having to navigate ambiguity,” McDonald said. “They’re having to figure out where their skill deficits are and how they can motivate themselves to learn the skills or partner with individuals who can help them.” 

Trenton Knutson, a third-year student who participated in the Lab, said his group focused on creating a social media strategy for Special Olympics Minnesota to engage 18- to 22-year-olds with the games. 

“We ended up deciding TikTok because you can really target your segments a lot more there,” Knutson said. “You can target demographics, specific regions, you can hashtag stuff and it is more likely to be picked up in the feed of people searching that topic.” 

Knutson said his team came up with a three-part plan, which included what the current social media manager and volunteers at Special Olympics Minnesota should be doing, when to implement it and steps to create effective, engaging TikToks.

“We wanted to make it easy for them to copy what we were suggesting, so in our plan, we had links to certain trends at the time, and we found a website to give them that was constantly updating what the current trends are,” Knutson said. 

Rachel Secrist, a third-year student who participated in the Impact Lab, said her group focused on reaching out to athletes from the University and having them work as volunteers when the games came to Minnesota. 

“One of our main challenges was figuring out what we were really doing because the class is not structured as ‘here’s a problem, now solve it,’” Secrist said. “It is more like there is no problem until you find it, so we spent a lot of time figuring out the problem we wanted to focus on and narrowing it down.” 

McDonald said it is uncomfortable for students at first because there is no right answer or structure for each week.

“When I say the students have to identify, analyze and address complex situations, I really mean it,” Mcdonald said. “They are the ones doing the work, figuring out the methodology and gathering the resources. We are there to facilitate the process and intervene if it goes off the rails. 

McDonald said the client is involved throughout the process, hearing about the research and giving feedback at every point. 

“I think the experience is invaluable,” Knutson said. “When you learn in a class, you’re learning a subject, you take a test on it, then you move on. However, in the Impact Lab, these are real clients, and everything we are doing has a real impact on them.”

The University of Minnesota’s Best Buddies club is a chapter of Best Buddies International, which creates one-to-one friendships between students at the University and students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in local transition programs. 

The students with IDD range from ages 18 to 21 and match with University students based on shared interests. 

Elsa Higbie, a fourth-year University student and president of the club, said the club’s main emphasis is friendship.

“We are a social club more than anything else,” Higbie said. “We don’t advertise or push a volunteer aspect, it’s more just people getting to know each other and being friends.” 

At the beginning of each school year, the club’s officers send out Google Forms to parents of students with IDD and members interested in getting a buddy match, Higbie said.

“We ask a lot about their interests, what age they are, if they like to do sports or crafts, and things just to really get a sense of who they are,” Higbie said.

Higbie said the officers work with parents and special education coordinators from local transition programs to ensure they are clear on the needs of each student. 

“We really try to base the matches primarily on interests, so people can have an initial connection coming in, even if they don’t feel super comfortable talking to new people or getting to know people they haven’t met before,” Higbie said. 

Katie Timmer, a recent graduate and former member of the club, said she matched with her buddy Liam all three years she was involved with the club.

“I’ve been living in a different city now, so there’s not as much opportunity to hang out as much as we used to,” Timmer said. “I was trying to coordinate how to get his birthday gift to him, so that’s been most of our communication recently.” 

Higbie said peer buddies from the University are expected to reach out to their matches, whether over text, phone call or Zoom to keep an authentic friendship going, like anyone else. 

“We try to make sure that people know that other people of varying abilities or different walks of life are absolutely still valid and deserving of friendship and acceptance,” Higbie said. “They are deserving of different kinds of accommodations to make life a fun place to be.” 

The club usually hosts a “match party” in early November, where officers come up with fun and creative ways to unveil the matches, Higbie said.

Emma Jester, who helped create the club in 2020 and now works for Best Buddies Minnesota, said the club meets about once a month.

“Some of the monthly events range from attending a Gopher sporting event to doing a craft,” Jester said. “Some really popular events were the holiday song trivia and cookie decorating.” 

Higbie said the club tries to host many different events to cater to people of all interests and hobbies. 

“We are having a joint gala with the Special Olympics at the University of Minnesota this November,” Higbie said. “We’re going to cater some food, get some snacks going, have some drinks and hire a DJ, and I think it will be super fun.”

Students from the University often participate in Best Buddies’ statewide events, Jester said. 

“Usually every May we have a statewide Friendship Walk, which in the past, has been in Maple Grove,” Jester said. “A lot of the pairs will attend that event with their buddies and families.” 

Jester said another statewide event is the Friendship Ball, which is similar to a school’s prom and is open to middle school, high school and college students. The biggest theme Best Buddies focuses on is inclusion, Jester added.

“Our motto is we want to live in a world that’s so inclusive we put ourselves out of business,” Jester said. “Best Buddies does a great job of breaking down barriers and showing society that people with disabilities are just as valuable as people without disabilities, and they deserve to have a meaningful, well-rounded life.”

University of Minnesota students will see tuition costs increase up to 5.5% next year after the Board of Regents approved the annual budget at their meeting on June 13.  

At the Twin Cities campus, tuition will increase by 4.5% for in-state students and 5.5% for out-of-state students. The University’s other four campuses will see a 1.5% tuition increase.

Luke Wittner, a fourth-year student, said he has seen many changes since he was first accepted to the University as an incoming freshman.

“When I got accepted here, the acceptance rate was between 45% and 50%, and tuition was reasonable,” Wittner said. “Now the acceptance rate is hovering around 75%, and they jacked up the tuition, so they are obviously doing this for the money.” 

Wittner said he believes the University is taking advantage of current students and is deterring new students from attending the school.

“More students are going to have to pay a lot more money, and I am sure a lot of people will no longer want to apply here because it is not as prestigious anymore based on the acceptance rate, quality of education and the raise in tuition,” Wittner said.

Andrea Arifin, an international third-year student from Indonesia, said the tuition increase is a source of anxiety for her.

“With international student fees, you are looking to pay at least $10,000 per semester, even with a scholarship, so even only a 3% increase would really add up over time,” Arifin said.

Arifin added she has been looking for different scholarship options and a new off-campus job that pays more. She does not get financial aid without a green card.

“My main concern is really that it is a financial burden on my parents,” Arifin said. “There’s just this sense of guilt because when you sign up to study abroad, you don’t think they are going to raise tuition each year.” 

Wittner said he thought about attending graduate school at the University, but with the tuition increase, he plans to go elsewhere. 

“I just want to yell at the University and tell them to stop accepting so many people,” Wittner said. “If you accept less people, you will need less money and your University will be more prestigious.” 

Jay Radke, a fourth-year student, said he is part of the North Star Promise Scholarship Program, which pays for his tuition, so he will not be affected by the increase.

Radke said he sees how the increase can be rough for some people, especially those who pay for school without parental assistance.

“I do think there are probably a lot of people who complain about this even though their parents are paying for their college anyways, so I think some people are mad even though it will not affect them,” Radke said.

Radke said the trend of state universities getting less and less funding is worrying.

“For me personally, I know people from out-of-state, and I am more worried for them because those numbers in general are so much bigger, and they are not eligible for scholarships like North Star,” Radke said. 

However, Radke added he believes it is short-sighted for people to be mad about tuition increases because, without them, the University may have to remove resources and programs that benefit students. 

“I think that this is a loss for the University,” Arifin said. “There are so many bright minds out there and so many contributions to be made, but these people will not have the financial means to attend school.”

The University of Minnesota’s American Indian Studies Department hosted its first American Indian Studies for Teachers Institute last week in partnership with the Center for Climate Literacy. 

Thirty-eight K-12 educators, including guidance counselors and specialists from across the metropolitan area, came to the Twin Cities campus to learn about American Indian history and culture. They plan to incorporate what they learned into their classrooms and share it with other educators. 

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community funded the Institute as a part of the Understand Native Minnesota Initiative. 

David Chang, an American Indian Studies professor and co-organizer of the Institute, said the workshop covered several topics related to Native American education.

“We covered the basics of what tribal nations are, their sovereignty and status with relations to the United States, what it means to be a tribal member, what treaties are and what their legal force is,” Chang said.

Jana Lo Bello Miller, a senior lecturer in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and co-organizer of the Institute, said the Institute lasted four days with different themes for each day.

“We had language and community one day, and then we had decolonization and eco-justice day,” Lo Bello Miller said. “Day three included conversations around boarding schools, primary sources, native life, art and politics, and the fourth day was reflection and connecting to curriculum.” 

To help the educators reflect on what they learned and explore an exhibition of Native American art, Chang said the members visited the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Stephanie Rollag Yoon, a member of the Professional Development Team at the Center for Climate Literacy and co-organizer of the Institute, said she and Lo Bello Miller used their networks with K-12 educators across the metropolitan area to recruit attendees.

“In the Department of Curriculum Instruction, we place our candidates, our preservice teachers, in school districts throughout the metro,” Lo Bello Miller said. “So, in terms of getting the word out, we were able to connect with teachers, schools and school districts we already partner with in our licensure programs.” 

Lo Bello Miller said teachers are craving more information about Native American history and education, which the Institute was able to offer them. 

Mackenzie Bevins, a sixth- and seventh-grade social studies teacher at the St. Paul Academy and Summit School, said one of the main takeaways she got from the Institute was the idea of treaties.

“I talk about treaties with students already, but not to the degree that I should be and that we talked about in the Institute,” Bevins said. “I can now envision going further into what exactly a treaty is, what happens when treaties are broken and what needs to be done by both parties.” 

According to Chang, the Institute hosted internationally recognized scholars from the University’s American Indian Studies department who worked directly with K-12 educators who wanted to improve the quality of American Indian Studies instruction. 

“I think the educators who attended are going to take what they heard in the classroom, saw in the museum and the dozens of resources, books, articles and videos we gave them, and they’re going to find a way to integrate them into their own classrooms,” Chang said.

Educators can be leaders at their schools by sharing this knowledge with others, Chang said.

According to Bevins, the Institute opened her eyes to be more intentional with the words she uses, the resources she provides students and the voices she presents in her classroom discussions. 

“As a social studies teacher, it is my obligation to teach the truth, and in doing so, you need to have different perspectives that are not just westernized or from a colonizer’s perspective,” Bevins said. 

Bevins added the Institute allowed her and other educators to enrich themselves to better teach younger generations. 

Chang said the Institute was a great experience that they valued. 

“This was a chance for us to be what we want to be, to work with Indigenous community and to work for the understanding of Indigenous issues at the broadest level and take things further,” Chang said. 

The Institute is set to return in the summer of 2025.

The University of Minnesota’s Animal Welfare Judging Team is composed of undergraduate, graduate and veterinary students who compete every November at the Intercollegiate Animal Welfare Judging and Assessment Competition.

Students learn how to assess the welfare, health and behavior of animals in a variety of settings using science-based methods and reasoning, and gain course credit for competing. 

Courtney Archer, an animal science doctorate student and assistant coach, said there are two parts to the competition.

“The first part is called the ‘live assessment,’ where they put students in front of live animals and you do a real-time assessment of them,” Archer said. “The second part of the competition is more of a general assessment.”

For the live assessment, team members assess animals in front of judges and explain why the animal has good welfare, Archer said. The competition identifies four species, and teams get PowerPoints with different scenarios about how each group is raised.

The team studied farmed bison this past year. 

“For example, we had bison from Farm A, and they gave us information about how the farm runs and manages health, nutrition and housing,” Archer said. “Then, we would compare that to Farm B and based on the information provided, we decide which farm has better welfare overall.” 

Kristin Soucek, who competed on the team as an undergraduate, said to prepare for the competition each year, the team will learn everything they can about the four given species and create a guide with citations to help them. 

Soucek said the team has three minutes to deliver their reasons for which farm is better and are judged on whether they chose the right scenario and if their reasoning was valid. Students take a prerequisite course called Animal Welfare & Ethics and are invited by Rielle Perttu, the professor and head coach, to join the team since spots are limited.

Madi Bacon, an animal science doctorate student and assistant coach, said a typical week on the team involves a lot of research into a specific animal or area.

“For me, I was doing a lot of checking work, making sure our students were finding the things they needed to be finding for our guides,” Bacon said. “We also had students give us their reasoning in writing a few times, and I would tell them what they were doing well and what they needed to work on.”

Bacon said she and the other coaches would find practice scenarios and set them up for students to perform and get feedback on. 

According to Soucek, the team would go over their research and deliver it to their teammates before the competition and practice like it was the competition. 

Bacon said the team also goes on field trips throughout the semester to visit the animals who would be part of the competition that year.

“There were definitely some weeks during the semester where we’re all piling into vehicles and driving out a few hours to go visit a bison farm or the Minnesota Zoo where we can learn about the animals and see them up close,” Bacon said.

According to Bacon, the team has given her more of a community within the field of animal welfare science.

“One of the most valuable things about this competition is that it’s a very friendly competition, and we are all very supportive of one another,” Bacon said. 

Archer said students competing are given a good understanding of animal welfare as a whole, no matter what species they are given. 

“Welfare is a new up-and-coming concept because consumers are having a lot more say in how we raise our animals,” Archer said. “So, for our undergrads, I think it really benefits them because it gives them a solid foundation they can use in practically any animal-related job.”

The University of Minnesota will offer a free Indigenous Education For All course open to the public in collaboration with the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) in 2025.

The College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) received a $1.1 million grant from SMSC’s Understand Native Minnesota campaign to improve the Native American narrative within the state.

George Veletsianos, a professor of learning technologies who is helping lead the development of the course, said it will include current and historical issues related to Indigenous Minnesotans and myths that need to be dispelled. It will also increase awareness and knowledge of tribal nations in Minnesota. 

In an email statement to the Minnesota Daily, SMSC Chairman Cole Miller said “Our tribe’s goal is to improve the narrative taught in classrooms about Native peoples, which is too often incomplete or inaccurate.” 

Miller said SMSC is happy to provide a grant for the University to develop this online course to offer Minnesota students a reliable introduction to the history, cultures and modern experiences of Native Americans in Minnesota. 

Cassie Scharber, the assistant dean of online professional education and professor of learning technologies, said there are many components to the collaborative process with SMSC.

“The Community Advisory Council will be a large part of this project, and SMSC has one representative on that council at this moment in time,” Scharber said.

Veletsianos said the council will consist of people who have lived experience with Indigenous issues.

“We want this course to be active, and we want it to connect to people’s daily experiences and realities,” Veletsianos said. “We want it to be authentic to the Indigenous ways of knowing, living and learning.”

The target audience of this course is not only students, administrators and educators but also the general public, Scharber said.

“We are making sure the text and videos we might be using are relatable and readable by not making assumptions about what people know or don’t know,” Veletsianos said.

According to Scharber, the team intends to have the course available in multiple languages to accommodate the diverse range of people within Minnesota.

Scharber said the project was inspired by an Indigenous Canada course from the University of Alberta, which had a lot of success. 

Veletsianos said the course will be flexible and fluid to be used in different ways and settings, whether in the classroom or at home. He added he wants the course to be interactive so people can engage in ways other than reading or listening. 

One of the challenges the team is looking into is how to promote the course, Veletsianos said. 

“Online courses that are geared for the broader public are oftentimes completed by people who are already really interested and want to learn about a topic, ” Veletsianos said. “We want to figure out how we can expand the number of people we might be able to reach with this course.” 

The course is expected to launch in mid-2025.

A study conducted in 2021 by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy found the use of medications by college students has roughly doubled across all medications. 

The use of antidepressants rose from 8% in 2007 to 15% in 2018-19, according to the study. Anti-anxiety medication usage has increased from 3% to 7.6%, and mood stabilizer usage rose from 0.8% to 2%. 

The study also found there has been an approximate 20% increase in the number of students who were prescribed psychiatric medication by their primary care providers since 2007. The use of mental health medication without a prescription has decreased from 11.9% in 2007 to 7.7% in 2018-19. 

According to Jessica Cici, the medical director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at M Health Fairview, young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 have the highest chances of developing depression, and there are multiple reasons why they seek medication.

“I think we can come back to the impact of the pandemic on young adults and having to live through that,” Cici said. “I think what was happening at that time was just a lot of fear and anxiety about the future.” 

Cici said racial inequities and problems like climate change have a significant impact on young adults who worry about their futures.

Luke Wittner, a fourth-year student, said he started seeking medication for anxiety and depression in the fall of 2020.

“I didn’t want to start it at all, but nothing else was really working for me, so starting medication was a last-ditch effort for me to try and fix it,” Wittner said.

Wittner has changed medications four times in the past four years to try to find the right fit.

“Every medication I’ve taken has helped me, I am just trying to find the one that has the least amount of side effects,” Wittner said.

According to Cici, some people are hesitant to start medication due to a fear of side effects and whether they are going to be able to tolerate them.

“Under the close supervision of a doctor, medications are very safe,” Cici said. “The most common side effects will be headaches and stomachaches that typically resolve after a couple of weeks.” 

Providers will also watch for an increase in suicidality, which occurs in less than 2% of individuals taking mental health medication, Cici said. 

“I’ve definitely experienced a lot less mental fog since starting the medication,” Wittner said. “I think it’s doing great work. If you saw me four months ago, I would have been a blubbering mess right now.” 

According to Cecilia Bloomquist, a psychotherapist at Boynton Health, the stigma surrounding mental health is a barrier to care. 

“I think there’s a lot of people that don’t seek care or avoid care because of fear of what they would look or feel like,” Bloomquist said. “They especially worry about how people would judge them if they were to have a mental health diagnosis.”

According to Bloomquist, 27.6% of University students now report taking medication for a mental health condition. This is up from 12.6% in 2015, according to Boynton’s College Student Health Survey.

“People are understanding that feeling depressed is not how it used to be, and there is a way to treat it,” Bloomquist said. “There is more awareness and more people seeking out treatment.” 

Bloomquist said she tries to talk to her patients and help them gain insight into how knowing and being aware of what is going on can help them make sense of their experience.

According to Cici, depression and anxiety are medical illnesses, and treatments for them can vary.

“It’s an illness of one of the organs in your body, your brain,” Cici said. “High blood pressure, hypertension, diabetes — these are medical illnesses for which you get treatment affecting an organ in your body.” 

Ashley Sudeta, a third-year student, said she took medication for her mental health but did not notice any changes, so she stopped.

“I never felt different, and my mom thinks it actually made things worse for me,” Sudeta said. “It just really didn’t give me any benefits.” 

Sudeta said she started taking medication for mental health due to sporadic depressive episodes she experienced throughout her life. 

“I wouldn’t say I had a negative experience with the medication, it was more neutral,” Sudeta said. “People shouldn’t give up just because something doesn’t work for them, different things work for different people.” 

Sudeta started therapy and has gotten more involved on campus since stopping her medication.

“Connecting with others and talking to my therapist about my issues instead of tampering them down has helped me a lot,” Sudeta said. 

Cici said one challenge that remains in the current landscape of mental health treatment is that not everyone responds to antidepressant medication. 

“As we continue to make scientific advances to understand the neurobiology of these illnesses, we will have medications and treatments that are better targeted to be specific and lead to improvements,” Cici said. 

Mental health services are available at Boynton Health and Student Counseling Services.