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Campus car thefts and break-ins prominent in early weeks of January
The beginning of the spring semester also brought a string of incidents to the University of Memphis campus, many of them involving cars. According to the crime log from the UofM Police Services, there have been four motor vehicle thefts, a theft from a motor vehicle and three car vandalisms.
Bailee Dykstra, a UofM sophomore, reported one of these incidents after her car was stolen from lot 15 – located near the campus recreation center – on January 8.
Dykstra previously had her car stolen before Christmas Break last year while she was not in Memphis. The car was found several weeks later. However, after getting it back from repairments, her car was stolen again the very next day. Her car, an Infiniti, was found by campus police nearly an hour after it was reported missing, dropped off less than a quarter mile away from where it was stolen.
“The police said at first they were really unsure of why they took it and then dropped it right back off,” Dykstra said.
Dykstra later discovered that her friend knew someone whose Infiniti had also been stolen the same night. Once informing police of this, Dykstra said the police concluded that her car was taken by the suspects because they knew of its location and used it to take his car.
Dykstra said that her car was stolen both times by the same men.
“These men know what they’re doing and have clearly done it multiple times,” she said. “They’ve taken my car and I know of a few other people they’ve done it to also.”
Although the suspects ultimately ditched the car, they took her catalytic converter and reset her car keys in the process.
They were able to reprogram the keys with a key programming tool from an auto body shop or dealership. Through reprogramming a car key, the original key will no longer be programmed to the car.
“Everytime I get my car back, I have to pay someone to reprogram it,” Dykstra said.
The suspects also took items from her vehicle including her car paperwork, seat covers and air fresheners. The only thing that was left unaltered was her personal information.
“I had everything in the car because I just got a new job,” said Dykstra. “They took everything but never tried to touch or do anything with my debit or credit card.”
Dykstra said she has since felt uncomfortable walking into her apartment at night after experiencing these incidents.
“After the police told me they had stolen my car a second time, only 40 minutes after I parked my car, it began to worry me more,” she said. “They’re clearly checking the lot, if not watching what I do.”
Dykstra said that she felt as though the UofM Police Services or the Memphis Police Department should have enough information to find the two male suspects who stole her car.
“The thing that doesn’t make sense to me is that they’ve watched the footage both times my car was stolen and know it’s the same two males,” she said. “They know these men. They know who they are, what they drive, yet have never been able to catch them.”
The Daily Helmsman contacted the UofM Chief of Police Derek Myers about the car incidents that had occurred in the month of January. In response to them, Myers made the following statement:
“Unfortunately, we are not immune to the larger issues of the region with vehicle break-ins, catalytic converter thefts and stolen vehicles. We slow this down by identifying and locating suspects and following through with criminal prosecution. We work very closely with Memphis Police Department detectives and their task force units sharing intelligence. We use camera technology that allows us to get alerts when suspect vehicles are in the area. We have interrupted several attempted crimes this way. If the suspect vehicle was previously unknown, we have been very successful in identifying it through our cameras. In one of the latest vehicle thefts, the suspect vehicle was easily identified which has already led to one arrest.”
In order to remain safe on campus, Myers advises students and staff to be aware of their surroundings, not to leave valuables in a vehicle, lock their vehicle and report suspicious activity to UofM Police Services at (901)678-4357 or through the LiveSafe app.
Shown above is the UofM Police Services enforcement area. The boundaries end at Highland, Poplar, Goodlett, Park and Getwell, but also extend to the Park Ave. campus – often called South Campus.
Halloween won’t be a drag this year thanks to this U of M student organization
by Devin Clark
On Friday night, four student drag queens and one king danced around the UC River Room and effortlessly lip-synched to classic hits like “Girl on Fire” by Alicia Keys and “Yes & No” by XYLO for a night of performances that was carried out in three rounds.
A zealous audience cheered as the performers wearing dresses, vests, heels and intricate makeup delivered energetic performances in the dim room filled with colorful, Halloween-themed lights.
Friday’s Halloween drag show was the hosted by the Stonewall Tigers Gender & Sexuality Alliance student organization. It was the second one that the group had put on at the University of Memphis.
“We had a drag show once before at U of M, right before the pandemic hit,” said Stonewall Tigers president, Emily Campbell. “We wanted to do one this year and was thinking about the timing of it. And I thought, what better time for a drag show than Halloween?”
Of the event’s five performers, one of them was drag veteran, Miami Rose. Originally from Jonesboro, Arkansas she has been doing drag for five years. She likes to call herself a glamor clown because she looks really pretty and acts really crazy.
Rose developed an interest in drag after seeing a clip of a drag queen on YouTube in high school.
“I fell down this rabbit hole of drag, and I found drag race. It really inspired me to go to the club and it never stopped. They can’t get rid of me now,” she said.
Rose performs in many parts of Memphis and Arkansas. She also has a podcast on Spotify called “Are We Pretty” that she hosts with fellow drag performer, Analeigh Douché. The podcast includes a weekly topic as well as drag news and exclusive interviews.
Because it was Halloween-themed, attendees were invited to wear costumes to the event. During the intermission between rounds, a costume competition was held. The competition was divided into several categories including cutest and scariest outfit. Winners were selected based on the amount of applause they received from the crowd.
The event had to be organized weeks in advance to make sure it went as smooth as possible.
“We had to make sure we got funding, decorations, performers, food, everything to make sure we were ready for tonight,” Campbell said.
Besides Campbell, Chelsea Liddell, multicultural affairs program manager and Stonewall Tigers staff advisor, also played a big role in putting on the show.
Liddell helped with arranging the room location, contacting the performers and making sure the event came together overall.
“I think all the students had a really great time and it seemed like a great response. I consider this a success,” she said.
The show was significant because holding it showed that there is a safe space on campus for people in the LGBTQ+ community to be themselves, which is one of the main goals of the Stonewall Tigers.
“It’s already kind of hard to exist outside of this environment because there is judgement that comes about it,” said Stonewall Tigers’ publicity coordinator Charlie Ross. “These events are important not just to enlighten us on queer history and culture but as well as for people to be involved in it.”
With most of the seats in the room being filled Friday night, the drag show proved to be an attention-grabbing event that Liddell was right to consider a success. Sophomore Kat Chávez. said that she was excited to see that kind of event held at the U of M.
“The fact that you can have an event like this at a university now and it be loved and accepted is just amazing. It really makes for an awesome environment,” she said.
by Devin Clark
The University of Memphis announced the inclusion of a seating chart initiative to its COVID-19 safety requirements on Aug. 30.
In an email sent to students, University of Memphis provost, Dr. Thomas Nenon, announced that beginning Wednesday, Sept. 1, students will be asked to select a permanent seat for each of their classes on campus throughout the fall semester to aid in the university’s contact tracing efforts.
“This will allow seating charts to be created that will help with more accurate and focused contact tracing if a student in one of your classes tests positive for COVID-19,” the email said.
The new seating chart initiative is another safety measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on campus on top of everything else that the university has already been doing.
Prior to the seating chart initiative, the university put in place typical safety measures like requiring masks and social distancing among students and staff.
The university also provides COVID-19 testing and vaccinations on campus for students and faculty.
While he didn’t make clear if students and staff are required to follow the new initiative, in an email to the Daily Helmsman, Nenon expressed confidence that most people at the university would comply voluntarily.
“Students and faculty understand the benefits of seating charts for focused and accurate contact tracing, should a student test positive,” he said. “We have no reason to believe that compliance will be a problem.”
The seating chart initiative comes as COVID-19 cases have been rising at the university despite it being less than a month into the new semester.
The university’s most recent COVID-19 data report from Sept. 3 shows that, for students, 107 COVID-19 cases have been contracted on campus and 125 active COVID-19 exposures are being monitored.
For faculty and staff, there have been two cases contracted on campus, while 46 active exposures are being monitored.
Some students expressed approval of the move and the university’s overall strategy to fight COVID-19 on campus.
“I think for how big the school is and how tall of an order it is to try and control COVID-19, the University of Memphis is doing a great job,” said Skylar Sicilia, a sophomore.
Denzel Johnson, a senior, also agreed with the university’s COVID-19 guidelines and protocols but said he believes that they could be enhanced.
“I think the concept of having arranged seats could be conducive to a healthier learning space,” Johnson said. “The problem is once we leave, no one wipes down the desks or seats.”
Some professors at the university, however, expressed mixed views on the decision, with some praising the school’s judgement while others stated concern over their ability to implement a seating chart in courses with large numbers of students.
“I think the university is taking steps to make sure students and professors are safe,” said Jessica Jaglois, an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism and Strategic Media. “I trust their judgement because I know they want students to be in person learning, and they want to do so safely.”
Robert J. Seals, an instructor in the psychology department, on the other hand, believes it will be very difficult to implement a seating chart for some of his courses.
“I can see that it works and is reasonable to do it for classrooms with up to 30 students,” Seals said. “But the logistics when you get above that number can become prohibitive for a number of reasons.”
Seals teaches General Psychology, a 200-student course held in the psychology department’s large auditorium that has 385 total seats.
He also teaches a course called the Psychology of Evil that has 60 students.
Seals explained that with large courses like those, gathering the chart data from the students, converting the information into a single chart as well as re-doing the chart multiple times for students who were absent or on Zoom, could make following the initiative difficult.
“It’s doable, but look at the process it’ll take to get it done,” Seals said. “I think that when this policy came out, it was not thought through very well for larger classes.”
by Nikki Scheinberg and Devin Clark
The University of Memphis Board of Trustees Executive Committee met on Friday to announce their recommendation for the university’s new president.
After spending the week meeting with and interviewing the three final candidates, the committee recommended Dr. Bill C. Hardgrave, currently provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Auburn University since 2018.
President Rudd announced last semester that he would be stepping down in May 2022 to return to teaching and research.
Since the announcement, the board has been conducting a national search for a successor. The search was narrowed down to three final candidates, all of whom have spent the past week on campus meeting with campus leaders and attending question and answer sessions with board members and students.
The other two candidates that have been under consideration are Dr. Cammy R. Abernathy, the Dean of the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering at University of Florida, and Dr. Teik C. Lim, the interim president of University of Texas at Arlington.
The three executive committee members voted unanimously to recommend Dr. Hardgrave, citing his background, work ethic and enthusiasm in their decision making.
During the question and answer session with students on Wednesday, Dr. Hardgrave spoke about his familiarity with the UofM, growing up in a small town in Arkansas, and his admiration for the school.
“When I started looking at the University of Memphis, I just saw a tremendous opportunity to continue building this great university,” he said.
The final decision will come in a meeting on Tuesday at 3 p.m. in the University Center Senate Chamber. The meeting can also be streamed remotely.
devin clark 