In a partnership with Stratford Ecological Center, Ohio Wesleyan Universityâs Monnett Garden will get a honey producing and observation apiary on April 22 for students of all majors to use.
The apiary is financed by an approximately $1,000 Theory-to-Practice grant written by junior zoology and nonfiction writing double major Meg Deeter. The grant Deeter received will cover the costs of beekeeping equipment and a stipend for a current lecture series about beekeeping by Stratford apiarist Dave Noble.
Nobleâs last two lectures have been about the pollination industry and the honey bee genus Apis, respectively. Stratford will be providing the hives for no charge and will act as the main apiary caretaker and owner. âItâs a growing trend for campuses to have apiaries, and I wanted to bring that here,â Deeter said.
âIâm hoping for a foundation for students like me. Iâm not the first and I wonât be the last. I want it to be something that stays when Iâm gone.â âMy main goal is to have a hands-on experience for parasitology and entomology students,â Deeter said.
Deeter said the apiary would still be open to students of any major. âI emphasized in my grant that this project would be interdisciplinary,â she said. âI donât like the sciences and the arts being separated.â
Deeter said she was inspired to start the apiary over the summer while interning at a fish and wildlife center and watching her boss breed honeybees. While staying late in parasitology lab last semester, Deeter also overheard OWU professor of zoology Ramon A. Carreno mention wanting an observation hive.
âI also want an outreach for kids. Dave Noble helps with OWjL (Ohio Wesleyan Junior League)Â and wants to bring kids here to campus to study our apiary,â Deeter said.
Nobleâs focus is getting young people interested in bees. âI came to bees when I was in college. My mentors started keeping bees when they were eight,â he said. â10,000 kids on average come to Stratford every year on field trips. I get to interact with all of them,â Noble said.
Like Deeter, Noble said he also wants science, humanities and social science college students to get involved. âIâm a huge proponent of the liberal arts because you have a specific major but get exposed to all these other things to create a wide foundation for life,â Noble said.
Nobleâs next lecture is on March 28 and will be about threats to honeybees. The series continues with an April 11 lecture on honey bee genetics and an April 18 lecture on how to not get stung.
All lectures will take place at noon in Schimmel-Conrades Science Center room 163.
Amy Butcher, assistant professor of English at Ohio Wesleyan, uncovered the difficulty of assigning an emoji via text message to her friend in her most recently published article in The New York Times.
The article, âEmoji Feminism,â does not only showcase the arduous task of deciding what emoji to give her friend, but how the options of emojis for women are limited.
Within the article, Butcher writes that there are in fact emojis for women, but not any for women âengaged in activity or a profession.”
âThere [are] only archetypes: the flamenco dancer in her red gown, the bride in her flowing veil, the princess in her gold tiara,â Butcher wrote. âThere was a set of ballet dancers complete with bunny ears and black leotards, their smiles indicating that, gosh, they were so grateful to God and everyone, really, for this opportunity to pose for Playboy.â
Butcher was looking for empowering depictions of women to assign to her friend.
âWhere was the fierce professor working her way to tenure?â Butcher wrote. âWhere was the lawyer? The accountant? The surgeon?â
âHow was there space for both a bento box and a single fried coconut shrimp, and yet women were restricted to a smattering of tired, beauty-centric roles?â
Image courtesy of emojibase.com
When unable to find exactly what they were looking for, Butcher and her friend decided on a penguin.
The anonymous friend of Butcher featured in the article is Ellen Arnold, an associate professor of history at OWU.
âI was proud to have been part of the genesis of this article, although it was a bit odd to be featured (anonymously) in such a major news source,â Arnold said. âOne thing that I love about the article, though I’m anonymous, [is that] Amy did a really nice âcapsuleâ version of me.â
âWhat I enjoyed most was going on Twitter after the article was published and seeing happy and congratulatory penguins everywhere. It shows how much Amy’s voice and concerns resonated.â
Butcher said she truly enjoyed writing the article that raised the question of why there is imminent disparity between men and women, even on the âsmall screen.â
âI really love comedic writing, and certainly the subject of women in academia,â Butcher said. âThe place of professional women within our culture more generally is of great personal interest to me.â
Butcher had both supportive and dismissive responses to her essay in the comments section of the publication.
âAlthough I had great support from male friends and colleagues, a lot of male commenters predictably complained about the trivialness of the issue, minimizing the larger argument altogether,â Butcher said.
âSome even argued that an adult and professor of English shouldnât be using emojis in the first place, but I find that argument boring, agist and classist.â
Butcher explained that getting written work into The New York Times is not easy.
âMy submission went through what we call the âslush pile,â which is the default email address where thousands of pieces are sent monthly,â Butcher said. âMost often, submissions sent in this way are rejected, but this piece was different.â
The opinion page editor liked Butcherâs article and reached out to her the day after her submission to accept the piece.
âThe editor really enjoyed my work and sense of humor and has invited me to send new work to her as I write it,â Butcher said. âI have two pieces Iâm in the process of drafting for her, and Iâll send them to her in time, but I have no idea if these new essays will be of any interest to her or not.â
Butcher said that those who are not official writers for the publication do not get re-published for another 3 months. As a professor, that time span is somewhat beneficial.
Butcher has taken after her mentor, John DâAgata, when it comes to being a professor and a writer.
â[He considers] himself exclusively a teacher from September to May and exclusively a writer in the months in-between,â Butcher said.
Being a professor requires a lot of commitment inside and outside of the classroom, which Butcher finds makes it hard to write during the academic year.
âNot only lesson planning, reading and grading, but writing letters of recommendation for past and current students,â Butcher added. âAnd helping students secure internships and polish off graduate school applications, serving on campus committees, attending readings and plays and recitals, and moreover, just being a helpful presence in a studentâs life.â
Senior Adelle Brodbeck, who is currently taking Butcherâs magazine writing class, said itâs great having her as a professor.
âIt is so refreshing to have an educator that is close to college age,â Brodbeck said. âIt’s much easier to relate to her. Also, it’s nice to have a female professor for once. Out of my four years, the vast majority of my classes have been taught by men.â
Brodbeck enjoyed reading âEmoji Feminism,â as well.
âI thought it was light-hearted and fun, but also had an important message,â Brodbeck said. âIn this new age of communication, what are the ways in which we can support each other? Especially how can we support and empower women when the majority of today’s tools are created to favor men.â
As Butcher addresses in her article, sexism has long existed before emojis.
âEmoji diversity is a very small issue plaguing women and our culture more generally,â Butcher said. âBut it’s representative of an overwhelming cultural and daily accumulation of grievances.â
âEmojis are the least of it.â
To read Butcher’s piece in The New York Times click here.
Trent Williams in the Hamilton-Williams dining hall. Photos by Courtney Dunne.
Courtney Dunne, Copy Editor
Sitting at the lunch table chatting with friends, eating Chartwells and talking about weekend activities makes for a normal day at Ohio Wesleyan.
On Wednesday, Feb. 17, that routine was broken as many OWU students walked into Ham-Will and held an unexpected demonstration to raise awareness for Black Lives Matter.
Students were subtle, but their voices were strong as they held signs that said, “Stop police brutality,” “Unapologetically black⌠Deal with it,” “Queer black lives matter” and “Black disabled lives matter.”
Students were spread throughout the dining hall, the Bakery, the Ham-Will Atrium, the Bishop Cafe and Beeghly Library.
Junior Caitlin Burton-Dooley stood up in the Zook Nook and asked if everyone could stand in solidarity with senior Reilly Reynolds, who silently held a sign to raise awareness for black lives. Everyone in Zook Nook fell silent.
The Student Union on Black Awareness (SUBA) organized the demonstration to educate the campus on the intersectionality within the African-American community.
Hayden Knisley participating in the   demonstration.
Throughout the demonstration, students were seen having different reactions.
Some ignored it and kept on with their daily routine, some gave a nod in acknowledgment while others others, like Burton-Dooley, were vocal of their support.
“It was nice to see people taking it from Facebook into real life [and] doing what they say they want to do,” said senior Cecilia Smith.
Senior Mili Green said, “It’s good to see people taking action. They planned it well to coincide with the Butler A. Jones lecture on Race and Society.â
Junior Trent Williams said, “My sign “Stop police brutality” was as simple as it could get. Police brutality of any kind against any human being is unacceptable in general and should not be tolerated from any police district at all.â
Anticipation filled the air Friday afternoon Feb. 26 as the Campus Programming Board (CPB) announced this yearâs Bishop Bash performer.
CPB, the organization set up to fill the need for fun and excitement, brings to campus some kind of larger scale entertainment every year.
This spring, CPB is ramping things up and bringing Bo Burnham to campus. Burnham is a musically inclined comedian that went from being a YouTube sensation to being featured on MTV and Comedy Central.
As CPB announced that Burnham would be this yearâs Bishop Bash performer, balloons fell from the lofts of the Ham-Will atrium and students screamed with excitement.
âI have been following Bo Burnham on YouTube since I was in middle school,â said sophomore Zoe Rosenthal. âHis performance has changed a lot since then and his stage presence is ridiculous.â
As students popped balloons and ate brownies, courtesy of CPB, after the announcement, they discovered that there were free tickets in the balloons. Five students were able to get free tickets to this yearâs Bishop Bash.
âI was so excited that I got a free ticket and it is actually a performer that everyone can enjoy,â said junior Jess Sanford.
President of CPB, sophomore Catie Kocian, told the Transcript that CPB had a ranked list of performers that they wanted to bring and Bo Burnham was at the top of their list.
âThe mission of CPB is to bring high quality entertainment that will appeal to campus,â Kocian said. The reactions in the atrium after the announcement made it clear that many students were pleased with CPBâs choice to bring Burnham to campus.
On March 24, Burnham will be performing in Grey Chapel. Tickets are on sale now. They are $10 for OWU students, $15 for non-OWU students and $20 for general public.
Tickets are only available to OWU students until Monday, Feb. 29, which is when they will go on sale to the general public.
Itâs official. Gender inclusive housing is coming to Ohio Wesleyan starting this fall, but the new policy does not apply to everyone.
Gender inclusive housing is a form of housing that allows students to live together in rooms and suites regardless of their gender identities.
Gender neutral symbol courtesy of allpix.club
Wendy Piper, director of Residential Life, said gender inclusive housing âaims to create an environment that acknowledges, appreciates and respects the diverse nature of the OWU student body, and supports the various needs of students who feel that they would be more compatible with a roommate of a different biological sex or gender identity.â
Piper said the ResLife staff has been talking with students about creating a gender inclusive housing policy since the fall of 2012 when some students came to them with âa vision for gender inclusive housing.â
The first proposed policy was drafted in February 2013. However, inquiries from students reach as far back as 2004. Piper said those inquiries went undeveloped mostly because the interested students graduated.
According to Piper, ResLife did not feel a gender inclusive housing policy should be developed with a âtop-down administrative approach.â
All-gender bathrooms are on the rise. Image courtesy of mydoorsign.com
âIt did not make sense to impose it upon students who were not requesting it,â she said. âAs OWU students recognized an increasing need for gender inclusive housing options, we invited them to contribute to the introduction of a policy that would apply specifically to their needs.â
Junior Lissette Gonzalez, Sexuality and Gender Equality House (SAGE) moderator, said she understood this reasoning, but wished a gender inclusive housing policy existed before students became vocal about their discomfort with the current policy, instead of after.
Piper said the new housing policy does not apply everywhere on campus.
Hayes will remain women-only housing in order to accommodate female students who do not want to participate in a gender inclusive housing environment.
The policy also will not impact students living in fraternity houses because those fraternities are men-only organizations.
Bashford Hall, Thomson Hall and 4 Williams will also not be gender inclusive because they have common bathrooms on each floor.
Unlike other students, first-year and transfer students will have to specifically request to be included in the new policy, and requests will be handled on a case-by-case basis, said Piper.
âI think thatâs a little bit hard and isolating just because there are a lot of first-year students who actually would benefit from this,â Gonzalez said. âBut I guess itâs just to see how next year is going to go.â
Piper said she does not anticipate many complications.
âThe only change that we have made to our online housing application is to ask students if they prefer a gender inclusive housing environment,â she said. âResidential Life will make gender inclusive housing assignments prior to the various housing selection events at which students come and select their room.â
Julie Duhigg, Spectrum Resource Center co-adviser, said this policy change means OWU is joining the 21st century.
âThis means a healthy shift toward greater inclusivity for our students, and particularly for students that have historically been marginalized and not recognized,â she said.
Gonzalez said without gender inclusive housing, the transgender and non-binary students in SAGE can live in a single, but if they want to be with a roommate, they wonât necessarily be allowed.
âI think itâs important because there are a lot of different gender identities, and people should really be allowed to live in a space where they feel safe and live with people they feel safe with.â
Chris Mickens, a Public Safety officer, discovered his passion for designing jewelry on an Ohio Wesleyan mission trip to the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
As an activity to pass time, Mickens and the attending students started making traditional Lakota beadwork. But it wasnât until the summer of 2013 that Mickens began producing jewelry.
During that summer, Mickensâ mother passed away. His mother had a vast collection of earrings.
âIf I didnât know what to get [my mother], I knew I could always get her earrings,â Mickens said.
Initially, it was a coping mechanism and that fostered his passion for designing jewelry, especially earrings.
For more than 20 years, OWU has had a relationship with the Rosebud Reservation, which is the home of the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation.
âOWU has been sending mission teams for many years now. It was Chaplin Powersâ brainchild basically,â Mickens said.
Creating jewelry also helps him with deal with his mild obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). He said designing jewelry helps prevent his OCD from occurring in other places in his life and he can use it as an advantage when creating pieces of work that require fine detail.
Public Safety Officer Chris Mickens.
As of now, Mickens has only designed some basic necklaces and bracelets and noted he is planning to create some that are more complicated.
Other creations include beading guitar strings and some medallions, specifically ones in Lakota style that are made in a circular piece of leather where beads could be sewed on to make a variety of patterns.
Mickens uses a large assortment of materials in his work. When he does âbeading,â it particularly relates to the Lakota style. The beads he used are called seed beads.
âThey are very small and made of glass, Mickens said. âAnd the colors of them span the spectrum.â
One of Mickensâ best pieces is untitled, but it has a larger glass rainbow bead in the middle, surrounded by wire that has smaller beads around it.
He started out with very little supplies: beads, headpins and ear wire. âThis is the pair [of earrings] that kind of told me I knew what I was doing,â he said.
Mickensâ jewelry is mainly sold on his Facebook page to friends and family. One of his goals is to use the revenue he generates through his sales to help the Cuba mission team who has some financial struggles.
But he said his ultimate goal is to open a nonprofit organization, where all proceeds would be used for either purchasing school supplies for elementary school kids or provide a scholarship.
His mother helped out the community by donating school supplies to elementary school students, so starting a nonprofit organization honors his mother, he said.
Mickens would not consider labeling himself an artist or someone who comes from an artistic background.
He studied physical education and recreation of dance briefly in college, but came home after his second year when he had a child.
Senior Zak Davis goes for the shot. Photo by Leia Miza.
Areena Arora, Managing Editor
On Tuesday, Ohio Wesleyan hosted the quarter final match-up for the North Coast Atlantic Conference tournament at the Branch Rickey Arena, and defeated visiting Wabash College.
With a minute and half remaining, amidst a crowd of over 300 in attendance, the score was 97- 75 in favor of OWU, ultimately ending with a 100-80 win for the Bishops.
Head Menâs Basketball Coach Mike Dewitt said, âItâs a really good win for usâŚitâs nice to be able to still play this weekend.â
Wabash began with a 11-4 lead but toward the end of first half, OWU had a lead of 57-42.
âItâs one of the best seasons in school history and we just hope we can continue that as long as we can,â Dewitt said.
Kyle Brumett, head basketball coach at Wabash said, â(OWU) is really good. Weâve had success at times against them because they havenât shot it as well as they have shot tonight. (OWUâs) game plan is out of the window, definitely and thatâs why they are 1st place and weâre 8th.â
Sophomore Shooting Guard William Orr said, âThis is the best group of players Iâve played with. We know the rules, we know what we need to know to win and thatâs what we did tonight.â
According to the Battling Bishops website, the NCAC tournament semifinals and championship game will be held at OWU on Friday and Saturday. In the first semifinal, Hiram College will play against College of Wooster, followed by the second semifinal between Denison University and OWU.
Ohio Wesleyan menâs lacrosse team is coming off one of their best seasons in the programâs history in 2015. This year, they are ranked 11th in the preseason USILA Division III coaching polls for the upcoming season.
The Battling Bishops finished with an overall record of 18-1. They lost to Gettysburg in the quarterfinal of the Division III NCAA tournament.
The Bishops won the NCAC conference and recorded their first undefeated regular season finishing 14-0.
Freshmen, Steven Hildebrand (left) and Jack Harvey (right) warm up during a practice. Photo by Leia Miza.
A total of nine OWU seniors are returning from last yearâs team, one of which is senior captain and defender Jordan Carlson.
âI know that we can be as good if not better this year. We have a lot of guys from last yearâs team [who] were contributing to our success,â Carlson said.
The team is looking to recover after losing 10 seniors who were major contributors to last yearâs team, including some who were All-American and All-Conference players. But Carlson said he was optimistic that the incoming freshman class can fill that void.
âThis yearâs freshman class is very talented and a lot of them are going to be playing for us at some point this season,â Carlson said.
Players express their excitement for the season to begin when they play Augustana College on Feb. 20 at home in Selby Stadium. The next game will be on the road at Otterbein on Feb. 24.
âThe teamâs goals for this year are the same as they are every year,â said junior defenseman Justin Smith. âWe want to win the NCAC regular season, win the NCAC tournament, make the NCAA National Tournament and win a National Championship.â
This year, the team will have six coaches. Head Coach Mike Plantholt returned along with assistants Trey Keeley and Jesse Lawrence.
Joining the coaching staff is Keith Long, Ryan Sullivan and Tommy Minkler. Minkler was a senior and starting captain on last yearâs team.
An Ohio Wesleyan record was broken when two OWU students earned a Top-5 finish in last monthâs American Collegiate Moot Court Associationâs national championship.
In Moot Court, students argue for or against a fake case that requires each team and its members to interpret constitutional rights that apply to it.
OWU was eligible to send four students (or two teams) to this event, which was attended by more than 350 schools from across the country.
Michael Esler, a professor of politics and government, accompanied seniors Katherine Berger and Rhiannon Herbert and juniors Forrest Dearing and Chloe Dyer on the trip.
California State University in Long Beach hosted this yearâs championship.
Seniors Katherine Berger (left) and Rhiannon   Herbert (right) show their awards. Photo courtesy of Facebook.
âItâs a great opportunity to cultivate and begin the process of developing arguments, learning the necessary forensics and getting arguments ready for competition,â said Michael Crum, one of the team members.
The team, which meets several times each week to discuss different cases, earned praise from President Rock Jones for their commitment to the program.
âOur students who participated in Moot Court worked very hard in preparation for the competition and did very well against very strong teams,â Jones said.
Berger and Herbert earned a Top-5 finish in the American Collegiate Moot Court Associationâs national championship, setting a new OWU record. Last year, they had a top 20 finish.
In a press release, Essler said, âAt last yearâs nationals they won every round in the preliminaries, one of only six teams to do so but they were undaunted, knew what they had to do, and took care of business with the determination that has characterized their performance throughout their moot career.”
The team proceeded to win three consecutive rounds against higher-ranked teams, including two of the nationâs top-ranked teams.
Jerry Lherrison, a former team member, spoke highly of the Berger and Herbertâs record-setting performances.
âI think they are both phenomenal debaters,â Lherrison said. âTheyâre going to make incredible attorneys one day.â
WCSA members talk to Trustees during their winter visit to campus. Photo by Olivia Lease.
Areena Arora, Managing Editor
Olivia Lease, Online Editor
The Ohio Wesleyan Board of Trustees (BOT) passed a resolution to support the goal of enrolling 2,020 students by 2020 when they visited last week.
This goal, according to the BOT campus retreat report shared by President Rock Jones with faculty, calls for a 25 percent growth in total student body over the next five years. Ten faculty members were also present with the trustees for discussion.
On Feb. 11, Wesleyan Council of Student Affairs (WCSA) invited the Board of Trustees to dinner to discuss a myriad of issues and celebrate their love for the school.
Topics such as the importance socioeconomic and racial diversity among the students, and enhancing school spirit were discussed. Also at issue were the appropriate role of academic advisors and campus accessibility for students with different abilities.
In his opening statement, Thomas Tritton â69, chairperson of the board, said, âWe [the board members] love coming back to campus because it allows us to reminisce. We love sharing good memories, and of course, blocking out the bad ones.â
Addressing the students present, Tritton said, âYou all are going to be us someday. I hope that doesnât scare you too much. It should inspire you instead.â
Junior Jess Choate, president of WCSA, said she wanted those in attendance at the dinner to focus on âlooking to the past in order to better the present.â
Choate talked about discontinued OWU traditions such as Spring Fever Day during which a bell was rung and the students were allowed to ditch class in exchange for other fun activities. WCSA, she said, is aiming to reintroduce old traditions.
The idea of rethinking OWUâs plentiful travel opportunities was also discussed. Laurie Anderson, professor of botany-microbiology, suggested offering a competitive scholarship so more students can go on travel-learning courses.
Will Kopp, chief communications officer, suggested the idea of an âangel fundâ or emergency scholarship to help students who are struggling to pay tuition. âItâs just a shame,â he said.
Senior Emma Drongowski, former WCSA vice president, who was in attendance and remembered planning the event last year, said, âItâs very stressful. I mean, people on the Board of Trustees are very important people and they have a limited amount of time on campus. So as a student, we know how valuable that time is.â
âAt my table, we talked about varying abilities of students coming in, specifically academic-level abilities and how to best support them,â said Drongowski. âI think all the issues talked about today [at the dinner] were important, but the overall question on most peopleâs minds was retention just because that is indicative of a lot of other things on campus.”
According to U.S. News and World Reportâs 2011 edition of Americaâs Best Colleges, OWUâs retention rate was 87 percent. The current rate however, is 81 percent, showing a drop of 6 percent in the past five years. In 2011, OWU had the lowest freshman retention rate of the Five Colleges of Ohio or the Ohio5 (Oberlin, Kenyon, Ohio Wesleyan, Denison and Wooster).
Gregory Moore â76 said, âI love the big 2020 plan. We want to get more students to come and stay. The trustees are really starting to echo with what students have been saying. We are starting to listen more.â
During the retreat, the board reviewed results of the Student Satisfaction Inventory survey, which was collected in October 2015, and engaged, along with faculty, in conversations with students about ways to enhance the student experience and increase student satisfaction and success, according to the retreat report.
In an email, Rock Jones, the president of OWU, said, âThis is an exciting time at the university as we set out on this new, critical pathway. We must embrace appropriate change while remaining true to our historic mission, be willing to take urgent action, keenly focus on proper execution and be dedicated to our nearly 175-year-old commitments to a liberal education, diversity and public service.â
