The University of Minnesota’s School of Dentistry hosted its Give Kids a Smile event (GKAS) Feb. 3, providing free dental care for 64 children.

This February, which is children’s dental health month, marked the 20th anniversary of GKAS.

According to Dr. Teresa Fong, a clinical associate professor and director of the pediatric dental clinic at the University, GKAS is supported by the American Dental Association and the Minnesota Dental Association.

“Everyone in every dental office is invited to have a Give Kids a Smile event,” Fong said. “It’s a well-known event.” 

Miranda Thacker, a third-year dental student, helped lead the event and said over 200 volunteers saw children for exams and cleanings. They also came up with treatment plans.

Treatment plans include sealants, protective sealants, crowns and anything the children need which would normally get done at a dental office, according to Thacker.

“We do treatment, if the child needs any, and if they are willing to do it the day of,” Thacker said. “We also have grants and some fundraising we did to pay for their continued care beyond the event.” 

Elizabeth Isaacson, a second-year dental student, said she helped run a t-shirt and sweatshirt sale through the dental school and found corporate sponsors to provide scholarships for the children to receive the care they needed. 

According to Thacker, there are various barriers children face in receiving dental care. 

“Some of the big barriers that come to mind are insurance and financial barriers,” Thacker said. “Dental offices also tend to operate from eight to five on Monday through Friday, and that is when parents are working and kids are in school.”

An interpreter service donated iPads for the event since there was a high volume of Spanish-speaking patients, according to Thacker. 

Fong said there was also a MNsure navigator present on the day of the event so families with no insurance had the opportunity to speak to someone to see if they qualified. 

According to Fong, to ensure families found out about the event, students found several avenues to get the word out.

“I make sure we sign up through the Minnesota Dental Association, and that has some statewide press, so some people find out about the event through that,” Fong said.

Isaacson said seeing children coming in crying and leaving with smiles on their faces is one of the most rewarding aspects of the event.

“What sets the event apart the most is being able to establish a dental home for these families and for these kids to know that they can come back and get the care they deserve and need,” Isaacson said. 

Isaacson added the event helped her play a part in establishing a lifetime of healthy dental work and a happy smile for these children. 

“Anytime you see a child in a dental capacity, you are forming a lifelong impression in terms of what oral health is and how they can take care of themselves,” Thacker said.

Thacker added there was an educational component to the event, beyond just the physical care the children received. The School of Dentistry provided children with materials to maintain oral health at home, while dental hygiene students explained the importance of brushing.

Thacker also mentioned the further impact of the GKAS event on the community.

“We are teaching them how to be lifelong, healthy individuals, and they’re gonna impact other people around them like their siblings and classmates,” Thacker said. “I think that is one of the beautiful things about pediatric dentistry.”

The University of Minnesota has seen declines in enrollment for language programs, mirroring a national trend.

Despite foreign language requirements in the College of Liberal Arts (CLA), the University is no exception to the trend. Faculty from language departments say they are hopeful it will reverse at some point, but when that might be is uncertain.

Four-year institutions saw a 16.6% decrease in language enrollment between 2016 and 2021, according to the Modern Language Association.

A major driver of enrollment in language courses at the University is the foreign language requirement in CLA. According to CLA’s webpage on second languages, the college requires students pursuing a bachelor of arts or a bachelor of individualized studies to take at least two years of a foreign language.

Mandy Menke, director of language programs for Spanish and Portuguese studies, said enrollment in 1000-level courses decreased proportionally with enrollment in CLA. Enrollment in CLA is down nearly 10% from pre-pandemic levels, according to data from the University’s Institutional Data and Research webpage.

Menke said part of the value of language requirements is that they allow instructors to decenter students’ perspectives and introduce them to new cultures and ways of thinking.

“When you decenter your perspective and think about your relationship to others, you really have that opportunity to think about, ‘Who are you,’ and how do you fit within this bigger world that we’re all living in,” Menke said.

Federico Fabbri, the director of language instruction for Italian, has been teaching languages for the past ten years and did his dissertation on the enrollment crisis for languages in higher education. He said the decrease in enrollment nationally comes from several factors, some of which universities cannot counteract.

Enrollment trends behaved cyclically over the past two centuries and languages normally see cycles of growth and decline, Fabbri said. However, this recent decline is larger and has taken longer than previous declines.

According to Fabbri, the decline began around the financial crisis of the late 2000s and was exacerbated by the shift in colleges and universities toward STEM fields.

“The fact the language programs are declining now does not imply that that cannot change again, hopefully, in the near future,” Fabbri said.

Fabbri said universities around the United States need to do more to make themselves relevant and adapt to the interests and needs of their students.

In terms of enrollment for degrees in foreign languages, Menke said the number of majors in her department has seen a decrease, but the number of minors has been increasing. It varies, but the same trend is present in other languages.

Menke said she believes the shift in majors and minors is connected to the shift in how society views the purpose of a college education. Students picking up majors for a specific profession might not see value in a Spanish major, but a minor can be earned with a smaller workload.

Helena Ruf, the director of language instruction in German, Nordic, Slavic & Dutch, said there’s a difference between students enrolled in lower-level courses and higher-level courses. A greater level of engagement is expected once students enter an advanced curriculum.

One of the readiness goals of CLA is “written and oral communication,” according to Ruf. Language courses teach students to communicate and get their message across even though they do not know everything.

“It’s kind of cliche, but I feel like it opens doors to things,” Ruf said.

Ruf said that when she was a college student, she tested into the fourth semester of German and did not want to continue learning a foreign language. A year and a half later she decided to study abroad in Germany.

“Here I sit now with a PhD in German linguistics teaching German,” Ruf said. “You don’t know where life is going to take you, and we’re giving you something that could be very valuable.”

The University of Minnesota will hold finals this spring during the first week of May, and what they look like depends on the department, the course and the professor.

There is no blanket policy on what exams look like, but they can be proctored online or given in person and can take the form of essays, written exams or scantrons.

According to Lee Penn, the director of undergraduate studies for the chemistry department, common exams are often held for courses with high enrollment and multiple sections. Common exams are collaborative efforts within groups of instructors that teach different sections of the same course.

A benefit of common exams is that more people reviewing the questions reduces the chance of mistakes, Penn said.

“Sometimes I write a question and people are like, ‘I don’t even know what you’re asking,’” Penn said. “I love common exams.” 

Penn said the School of Physics and Astronomy started using common exams for finals in many of their physics courses.

According to the University’s exam schedule, common exams are scheduled during finals week and bring together several classes and their sections. For the physics exam this spring, there will be seven different courses in attendance for finals, including introductory college physics.

“A couple of years from now I’m hoping that if you agree to teach a section of class X, then you’re agreeing to the common exam structure,” Penn said.

Sarah Chambers, the chair of the history department, said courses she taught typically have a greater emphasis on writing, which means fewer scantrons and more reading than science courses.

Chambers said she prefers to give take-home exams for finals rather than holding them in person because they reduce her workload and make for higher-quality writing. 

“It’s more interesting for me to read the final exams where they’ve had time to think about it and gather their thoughts and type it out rather than scribbling in a book,” Chambers said.

Some professors in the history department do not assign a final at all, instead opting to assign a final paper that’s due the last day of class, Chambers added.

Stacy Tiball, the associate vice provost of academic support resources, said in an email to the Minnesota Daily that exams can be held during the last day of class, but cumulative or final exams should be held during the scheduled finals week.

Final exam periods are normally two hours long and can be done in person or asynchronously as a take-home exam, according to the University’s exam policy.

Final exams this spring semester will be held May 2-4 and May 6-8.

Minneapolis is home to many murals scattered across the city. Here are some artworks that are important to its cultural landscape. 

Music Notes

This mural is on the wall of what was once Schmitt Music Company and is now home to the Creative Partners Group. The mural was painted in the early ‘70s and features sheet music of the piano piece “Gaspard de la Nuit” by French composer Maurice Ravel. It was the backdrop of Prince’s first professional photo shoot and has long been a staple of Minneapolis.

George Floyd

On the wall of Unity Foods (formerly Cup Foods), outside which George Floyd was murdered in 2020, there is a mural of his face along with the names of other victims of police brutality. The painting is a collaboration by artists Xena Goldman, Cadex Herrara and Greta McLain. They completed it four days after his death and it remains there to this day as a place to honor and mourn Floyd’s death. 

“The George Floyd mural is a source of community for locals who were affected by the murder of him and many other black folks over the years,” said Minneapolis resident Dave Branson.

“The Times They Are A-Changin’”

This mural in the center of downtown Minneapolis honors Minnesota-born folk singer Bob Dylan. Painted by Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra, the mural depicts three different images of Dylan over the years juxtaposed with a colorful, geometric background. The Nobel Prize winner is one of the state’s most famous artists, and the giant painting is a testament to his legacy.

“Bob Dylan has always been one of my favorite artists so it is nice to see his face really big on a wall. I like the palette of colors as it contrasts with the black and white of his face,” said University alum Alfred Schomaker. 

Cedar Cultural Center Wall

Near the West Bank campus of the University in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood lies a mural featuring the standout Riverside Plaza apartment building next to a train, a boat on a pond, a globe and a black power fist. 

Around the border of the mural are many flags from around the world including South Korea, Eritrea and Russia. These images together show the diversity of the neighborhood, creating a welcoming environment for everyone.

“I often walk past the mural near Cedar-Riverside on the way to class and it makes me feel inspired by how good Minneapolis is. I can’t imagine living anywhere else,” said University student Abigail Smith.

First Avenue Stars

This iconic venue in Minneapolis has hosted concerts for many huge names over the years, including but not limited to New Order, Wu-Tang Clan and My Bloody Valentine. Here, you can also see the gold star given to Prince after his death in 2016 — the venue was an important starting point for the pop star. When driving near Target Center or around the hub of downtown, it is hard to miss this wall of stars.

While these may be some of the most recognizable murals in the Twin Cities, there are still many more to be found around the area. Next time you are in Minneapolis keep an eye out for these and many other murals that are present throughout the city. 

The City of Minneapolis is hosting Black History Month 2024 events in partnership with the Minneapolis Black Employee Network (MBEN) and Hennepin County. 

There are five events this month, ranging from music to creating a belonging space to the history of Black hair and leaders. 

Gary Hines and Andre Cymone, two musicians prominent in the Minneapolis Sound, led the discussion at the first event. The second event discussed what it meant to have a sense of belonging with two hip-hop artists, Nakara Forjé and Lewiee Blaze. 

The theme of this year’s events, following the national theme, is African Americans and the Arts. 

Planning committee member Fatimat Olukoga said each week in February had its own committee to help come up with a topic and events for the week.

“We start as a large group and just kind of throw ideas out there,” Olukoga said. “We usually will set different committees up for each week and assign a leader and then they’re tasked with finding a topic for their week.”

Upcoming events include Family Feud: Black History Month Trivia on Feb. 21, History Makers at Home on Feb. 22 and Rock Your Crown, rescheduled from last year after its cancellation due to a snowstorm, on Feb. 28. 

The two events that have already happened this month are Black Music and the Arts – The Minneapolis Sound and Black and Belonging. 

Mayor Jacob Frey and the Minneapolis City Council released a resolution Jan. 25 honoring Black History Month. The ending of the resolution commemorates achievements and contributions Black Americans made in the development of the U.S. and the region and the anniversary of MBEN. 

Former council member Natalie Johnson-Lee first brought the idea of a Black History Month resolution forward. Councilmember Andrea Jenkins (Ward 8) worked as a policy aide for Johnson-Lee during the creation of the first resolution in 2002. 

There is a Black History Month resolution every year, Jenkins said. While the topics change, the intent to highlight Black history does not.

Jordan Hook, a Black History Month committee planning member for the Black Music and the Arts event, said Black History Month is a celebration of Black culture and history. 

“It’s just like a celebration of our culture and everything that it’s brought to this country,” Hook said. “Kind of encouragement to be ourselves, to be proud, to recognize our history.” 

Olukoga said everyone should attend the events to learn more about Black culture. 

“It’s also a great moment for education, for people who are not of the culture to learn a little bit of our history,” Olukoga said.

The family-oriented approach by Gophers softball’s coaching staff has drawn talent from across the country to play in Minneapolis.

Head coach Piper Ritter, having worked under Jessica Allister and Jamie Trachsel, learned the framework of a championship-contending team and how to get her players to buy in.

 The Gophers named the longtime pitching coach the eighth head coach in program history in May 2020. Ritter’s vast understanding of the team and program through her time as the pitching coach helped her lay the groundwork for Minnesota’s future.

No stranger to the postseason

The Gophers have a profound streak of 10 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament, including three under Ritter.

To keep the streak alive, Ritter continued to build upon a program with a high standard through recruitment, transfers and in-house development.

Ritter utilized the transfer portal to add pitcher Bri Enter and catcher Taylor Krapf to the team last season while filling the remaining gaps with impactful freshmen like shortstop Jess Oakland and outfielder Breezy Burnett.

In the portal, there are hundreds of players each year in the new era of college sports. Ritter said the coaching staff looks for players who have had success at the collegiate level in the transfer portal.

“The transfer portal, they had to have done something at this level, doesn’t matter hitting or pitching,” Ritter said.

Ritter said recruiting through the portal is a need-based system where the coaching staff identifies areas to improve. Instead of recruiting the best available players, Minnesota targets specific positions to add depth to the squad.

One position where Ritter made an effective addition through the portal was behind the plate. Sara Kinch, the team’s starting catcher in 2022, hit the transfer portal after her sophomore season, leaving Minnesota without a catcher.

Ritter turned to Krapf, a sophomore from Duke who only started three games as a freshman. However, the talent never left the No. 18 ranked prospect in the country. 

In Krapf’s first season with the Gophers, she posted team-highs in three statistical categories: batting average (.342), home runs (14) and RBIs (48).

On top of that, Krapf caught for last season’s Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, Autumn Pease.

Reflecting on her decision to commit to the Gophers, Krapf said attending a practice helped her decide Minnesota was the right fit.

“I was on my visit and I saw the way the coaches interacted with the girls,” Krapf said. “They were supportive but challenging in the practices. I really liked that aspect and I was like, ‘I could see myself playing here.’”

A national brand

It is no secret that Ritter loves to recruit nationwide. In her three and a half years as head coach, she has brought in 28 players from 15 different states.

Ritter has turned California, colored in yellow, into a hotbed for future Gophers. Oakland and third baseman Kayla Chavez, both recruited in 2023, are two notable prospects to come out of California.

In her freshman season, Oakland started all 57 games and was named to the All-Big Ten First Team. Oakland said Ritter’s ability to recruit across the nation speaks to the program and the coaching staff.

“I think that’s unbelievable and I just think it’s crazy that she’s able to pull kids from all over the country,” Oakland said. “I think it’s a nod to the coaching staff and how they are able to get these kids and bring them away from their home and make Minnesota their new home.”

Feeling at home in Minnesota is a concept players commonly share due to the culture, according to Oakland and Chavez. 

Chavez joined Oakland on the All-Big Ten First Team last season, leading Minnesota with 69 hits in her 57 starts.

Talent and awards are not the only things the pair have in common. Chavez and Oakland form a partnership on the left side of the infield and have grown close on and off the field.

“We’ve got a lot closer here on campus, and we’re so far away from home, we kind of confide in each other,” Chavez said about Oakland. “We got really close throughout the semester by hanging out not just during practice but off the field, which has made us even closer.” 

The family aspect of the team’s culture trickles down from the staff to the players, Chavez and Oakland said, and fosters relationships off the field.

The Gophers welcomed two new additions through the transfer portal this offseason: outfielder Morgan DeBord and catcher Cassie Lindmark. Both players come in as graduate transfers, having played four seasons of college softball prior.

Chavez said the two will be important to the team’s success this season and will bring a veteran presence to the squad.

“They can be very impactful, especially with both offensively and defensively,” Chavez said. “We’re going to have a whole new outfield this year, so Morgan coming in will be great.”

Road warriors

 Minnesota is coming off a 38-18 record, finishing 17-6 in the Big Ten and generally exceeding expectations. However, like last season, the Gophers have their work cut out to start the year.

 The first 37 games of the Minnesota season, which started Feb. 9, will be on the road. The Gophers will not play at home until April 5 when they host Ohio State.

Oakland said the road trip is going to be hard, but there is a silver lining as Minnesota will play in California. 

“That can be hard, being on the road for like nine straight weeks,” Oakland said. “I’m also excited because we get to go to new places and California, both the Carolinas and Florida.”

Former Gophers libero Kylie Murr was among the first few Gophers to play professional volleyball in the inaugural season of the Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF).

When Murr started her college career, there was no professional women’s volleyball league in the U.S.. Now she is joined by 109 other professional volleyball athletes competing in the league.

“I started hearing about it and I immediately knew that that’s something that I wanted to do,” Murr said.

There are currently four former Gophers playing professionally in the PVF. 

Athletes Unlimited is the other professional women’s volleyball league in the U.S. 

Athletes Unlimited features 44 professional athletes who compete for five weeks with teams changing weekly. Athletes score points weekly and the top four players with the most points become the captains the following week and select their teams.

League One Volleyball is another professional league based in the U.S. that will launch in November with teams in Atlanta, Austin, Houston, Madison, Omaha and Salt Lake City.

Former Gopher and now middle blocker for the Omaha Supernovas Tori Dixon said the growth of professional volleyball in the U.S. is “a dream come true.”

“We don’t have to go overseas and kind of sell our souls a little bit,” Dixon said.

Thirty-five college athletes were drafted to the PVF to play professionally for the first time alongside women, like Dixon, who played professionally since the end of their college careers.

Dixon said she helps many of the young women on her team with a variety of skills, from reading the game to filling out a tax form. Murr is on the other end of the spectrum, going from being the “old lady” on the Gophers last year to the “baby” on the Thrill.

“I just love to listen to all the older girls [and] what they have to say,” Murr said. “Some of them have been playing pro longer than I’ve even been playing volleyball.”

Head coach of the Vegas Thrill Fran Flory said from a coaching standpoint there has to be a process of progression for the younger players.

The Thrill has a 10-or-more-year age gap between their oldest and youngest player. Flory said there can’t be a one-size-fits-all method of coaching with so many different players of different ages and skill levels.

“We’re not going to get from point A to point B in one step,” Flory said. 

Former Gopher and now middle blocker for the Atlanta Vibe Regan Pittman took a break from volleyball after college and is now returning to the court for the Vibe in the PVF.

Flory, like Pittman, didn’t coach after she retired from LSU.

“I was kind of just enjoying life,” Flory said. “[I took] a break from the sport and it was wonderful.” 

Flory said the game has changed a lot since she was last on the sidelines, with players more educated on the sport and executing at a high level. She said the rules at the professional level allow for less error since NCAA rules allow for 15 substitutions per set while the PVF allows for eight.

Dixon played professionally overseas and said the atmosphere around the PVF is far different from playing in Europe. She said part of the different atmosphere stems from the PVF being a start-up league with little expectations.

Europe has a well-established marker for professional volleyball, Dixon said. In the U.S., people are just happy to have attention put on women’s volleyball.

The closest team to Minneapolis right now is the Omaha Supernovas, who play 379 miles from Maturi Pavilion.

For Dixon, the nearly six-hour drive to get home to Minneapolis is far more convenient than the 15-hour flight from when she played overseas. 

“I love the state of Minnesota,” Dixon said. “That’s still my home.”

In 2025, the league plans to have teams in Dallas, Indianapolis and Kansas City, Missouri.

Two freshmen stood out among the rest at Minnesota last season, and their connection runs deeper than their graduating class.

Kris Hokenson and Weber Neels have played together since they were 11 years old, according to Neels. The pair played for NorthStar, a youth and high school club baseball team bringing together some of the best talent in the state, including teammate Drew Berkland.

As roommates, the two share more than just time together on the diamond. Neels said having someone he has grown up with, like Hokenson, made the transition to college baseball easier.

“Having somebody that I grew up with just allows for the team aspect to be a lot more easy,” Neels said. “Going into the locker room, we’ll walk together, we’ll talk about the days and then, on the way home, we’ll talk about how practice went.”

Neels added having known each other since they were 11, Hokenson understands his mental side more than his teammates at Minnesota.

Assistant coach Packy Casey said the best way to describe their bond is like a “brother relationship,” and they understand how to play with each other on the field.

The Gophers received impactful first seasons from the pair. Hokenson led the team with 33 walks in over 100 at-bats and a .421 on-base percentage. Neels led the team with a .452 slugging percentage, was second on the team with seven home runs and finished third in batting average, hitting .274.

Neels was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team in 2023 and noted as a “Player to Watch” for the 2024 season.

“[Neels] had the best season from a power output standpoint of any true freshman since Luke Appert in, I think it was 2000,” Casey said. “That’s 23 years of freshman that you’d have to go back to that have hit the most home runs in John [Anderson’s] tenure.”

Casey said Neels brings more to the team than just power and physical attributes by also being a true leader.

Hokenson brings a different element to the team as a two-way player. After limited appearances on the mound a season ago, Hokenson will take a larger role in the staff this season, according to head coach John Anderson.

Anderson said Hokenson will step into a larger role on the mound this season due to Rooney’s injury.

“Hokenson’s going to be a two-way guy, right fielder, good hitter and defender,” Anderson said. “Because of Rooney’s loss, left-handed pitcher Hokenson’s probably going to be one of the guys we’re going to have to use in the bullpen a little bit more.”

Noah Rooney, who missed the last month of the season due to injury, experienced an arm issue a few weeks ago. Anderson said the team will look to rehab him but said it is a low probability Rooney will be back this season.

Casey said his philosophy has always been to recruit two-way guys because they are the best players on the field. In college, Hokenson has improved as a hitter in his two-strike approach, ability to hit a fastball and how he has shortened his stride, according to Casey.

Working with Casey reviewing film, Hokenson said he found out he is a visual learner.

“Me and [Casey] kind of learned that I am a visual learner and like the feel of things,” Hokenson said. “So mostly, he kind of works differently with people. So, with me, he’ll kind of take it slower and just kind of let me feel how it feels and see if I like it.”

Minnesota is a player development program and is using new methods to learn as much as they can about their athletes, according to Casey.

One method gaining traction in the college baseball community is motor preferences. It starts with players learning proper posture, how to walk efficiently and how to improve oxygen intake.

“We’re one of the only, I want to say probably two, maybe three college baseball programs at the absolute most right now that have actually been trained into this,” Casey said.

The new technologies and development methods Minnesota utilizes allow them to grow MLB-caliber talent every season through years of development.

Hokenson and Neels look to take what they have learned about their bodies and styles of play to take that next step in year two.

Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign released a new album, “Vultures 1,” on Friday.

This is the first album West has released since his divorce from Kim Kardashian and his later run of antisemitic comments. 

Over a year ago West appeared on the right-wing talk show InfoWars, on which he said antisemitic comments. This was only a few months after tweeting he was “going death con 3 on Jewish people” and he “can’t be antisemitic because black people are actually jew also.”

This controversy is referenced heavily on the new album. Not even a minute into the first song on the album, “Stars,” West mentions that he “keeps a few Jews on the staff now.” On the title track, “Vultures,” he asks how he can be antisemitic if he has had relations with a Jewish girl. 

West’s obsession with his own ego could be traced to his own self-image as a Christ-like figure. Later on “Carnival,” he claims he is the “new Jesus”, and “Hoodrat” ends with an audio clip of Mike Tyson calling West a leader, referencing his 2013 song “I Am A God.”

However, despite West’s clawing to stay in the spotlight, he is clearly past his prime. In the middle of “Carnival,” he includes a snippet of his song “Hell Of A Life,” and on “Problematic,” he recycles a lyric from “So Appalled.” Both of those songs were off his 2010 album “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” which many would point to as his best album.

While West is quick to take risks with his publicity, he is not taking the same musical risks that he would over a decade ago. The production on the album is solid but does not delve past any techniques he has not already used before. 

One stand-out moment is when West’s daughter North West makes an appearance on the song “Talking.” This is likely a response to the song “My Man Freestyle” that Drake released earlier this year featuring his six-year-old son Adonis rapping about breaking his iPad and playing basketball. The two have a public rivalry despite being frequent collaborators in the past. 

The second half of “Talking” has Ty Dolla $ign airing his anxieties about being a good father. Ty’s contribution to the album adds much-needed hooks and consistent verses. Without him the album would seem too eclectic to be a cohesive project, a problem that recent West releases have encountered.

Other stand-out moments are the Playboi Carti features on “Fuk Sumn” and “Carnival.” His verses are performed in a lower register, which is a new switch away from his “baby voice” that used to epitomize his music. Freddie Gibbs’ verse is also an excellent end to the song “Back To Me” and is arguably one of the best parts of the album.

The album is good but pales in comparison to West’s older albums. West’s fear of decline in the public eye may be what is fueling his perpetual lashing out, and his recent divorce sure is not helping. 

West loves controversy. From early in his career he realized any publicity is good publicity. “Who’s not entertained by my pain,” he says on the song “Burn.” “Crazy, bipolar, antisemite, and I’m still the king,” he claims on the closing song “King.”

He also frequently associates himself with questionable celebrities throughout the album. On the song “Carnival” he claims that he is now “Ye-Kelly” and Bill Cosby, a reference to two celebrities who have been accused of sexual assault.

Later in the album, the song “Beg Forgiveness” heavily features Chris Brown singing about holding his head in shame. Fifteen years ago, Brown was charged for domestic violence against his then-girlfriend Rihanna, which has been associated with his public image since. 

It is difficult to say where the line is drawn behind what West says for shock value and what he actually believes. West himself doesn’t seem to have a strong understanding of what he believes, merely spewing radical takes to gain attention from the public.

West has made a career off making a spectacle of himself and will lean on that crutch whenever necessary. 

After an investigation was launched into the University of Minnesota by the United States Department of Education (DoE) Jan. 17 following complaints of antisemitism, faculty members on both sides have shared their stance on the current University policies for departmental statements.

The investigation began because of a complaint made by former regent Michael Hsu and law professor Richard Painter in December, which alleged antisemitism from multiple College of Liberal Arts (CLA) departments, primarily Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies (GWSS).

“For people to say, ‘It’s okay, I can say anything I want to on a University website, as long as I say that it doesn’t represent the University’s view, or it’s not an official policy of the University.’ That’s a bunch of horses—,” Hsu said.

The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) faced a similar situation, according to Hsu. UIC is now among 113 total higher education institutions being investigated by the DoE for alleged discrimination of students or faculty based on race, color or national origin.

According to Hsu, he and Painter went to the University with their complaint first and said they would take their complaints to the DoE if the University itself did not respond. 

Eric Van Wyk, the chair of the Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee (AF&T), said tenure protects some faculty in their speech of more controversial topics while providing more job security. Statements like the one from the Department of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature (CSCL) were written by tenured faculty.

Van Wyk said the current policy being cited is the Board of Regents’ academic freedom and responsibility policy, which outlines an individual’s responsibility to specify they are speaking for themselves and not for the University when using an official platform.

The University currently does not have an administrative policy to enforce the Board policy, Van Wyk said. This means even though it is a policy of the Board, it is not official for the whole system.

At the Friday Board meeting, Interim President Jeff Ettinger addressed the division caused by the ongoing conflict during his opening remarks.

Ettinger said he held several listening sessions with students, faculty and alumni on the topic of free speech and reiterated the University needs to remain a place where everyone can express their opinions.

“This University has a strong record of responding to and acting against bias or misconduct in all its forms, no matter who is the perpetrator and who is the victim,” Ettinger said.

Associate professor and Chair of CSCL Michael Gallope said he has seen statements for other social issues on University platforms that did not receive nearly this level of attention or backlash.

Gallope, who was also involved with the drafting of the original statement, said the moment issues become controversial is when a protected form of speech matters most.

“As scholars, we will not hesitate to analyze and critique U.S. foreign policy when the survival of tens of thousands of human lives are at stake,” Gallope said.

Gallope said social media websites like X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and others are equally valid places to express individual speech. The statements written by CSCL and other CLA departments, like GWSS, are constitutionally protected, vital for groups to express their shared opinion and fully compliant with University policy.

According to Gallope, the CSCL statement explicitly stated that it came only from the tenured faculty of the department when it was first posted on Oct. 20. It was later amended to show the exact names of its contributors.

Hsu said he and Painter did not have a problem with faculty exercising their freedom of speech, they just did not believe it should be allowed on official University platforms.

Hsu added he thinks the DoE investigation is necessary because he feels no policy change will come from within the University itself. It felt like the University was “playing a game of chicken” with their policymaking, according to Hsu.

Hsu said many things can happen during the course of the investigation that could resolve the dispute. For example, the University could settle with the DoE to avoid a prolonged investigation, or the DoE could reach a conclusion on their own.

“I sense that the University is afraid to make a decision,” Hsu said. “They want to have an outside source, whether it’s a court or government agency, make the decision for them, because then they don’t have to get their hands dirty.”

Gallope said Painter and Hsu’s argument against the use of the website is nonsense and that University websites are a forum for opinions and expert perspectives on matters of public concern, from both groups and individuals.

“If Painter and Hsu want to defend Israel’s conduct in the war, they should drop the ad hominem attacks and the contorted efforts to silence dissent, and engage in an informed discussion of the war itself,” Gallope said.