Stephen VanWinkle named new Miami police chief
By Lexi Whitehead | August 31, 2021Following Chief John McCandless’ retirement from the Miami University Police Department (MUPD) in July, Stephen VanWinkle was named the new chief of police.
Following Chief John McCandless’ retirement from the Miami University Police Department (MUPD) in July, Stephen VanWinkle was named the new chief of police.
Oxford City Council voted to reinstate a mask mandate at a special meeting Monday night after failing to vote on the order at its Aug. 17 meeting. Residents who do not comply with the mandate are subject to a fine of $100.
It’s late August in Oxford, which can only mean one thing: students are back in town, and they’re here to have a good time.
On Sunday at 11 a.m., up to 400 tables will be lining the sidewalks from Upham Hall to King Library, filling the spaces through Academic Quad, around the Seal and down Irvin Drive as student leaders set up camp for the fall Mega Fair.
The draft policy was approved by the University Senate Executive Cabinet and will be discussed by the entire Senate at its meeting on Monday afternoon. The draft still must await approval from university president Greg Crawford before it comes to fruition.
The Honors College is a program meant to give extra resources to high-achieving students during their time at Miami. Replacing the Honors Program, the Honors College aims to help students within the program succeed through grant money, enhanced research opportunities and honors-only classes.
For some Miami University students eager to make up for the past year and a half of college life during the pandemic, Oxford’s many bars are the perfect place to be. But some uncertainties linger as the delta variant and unvaccinated populations remain an issue.
In May, April Callis began working at Miami University as its new associate director of LGBTQ+ Initiatives in the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion (CSDI).
Around 10 McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital employees and family members gathered outside the hospital at 4 p.m. on Aug. 25, with signs to protest the COVID-19 vaccine requirement for employees. Today was the second time they protested the requirement. The first was held last week.
Miami University is “carefully considering” mandating the COVID-19 vaccine for all students, faculty and staff, according to a university-wide email sent this morning.
Current students, including this year’s incoming first-years, will continue taking classes under the Global Miami Plan. Incoming students beginning in fall 2022 will have to complete the Miami Global Plan requirements.
When first-year education major Michael Sanchez heard Miami University’s class of 2025 had been named “the largest, most academically accomplished incoming class in history,” he was surprised. “I’m a bit intimidated,” Sanchez said. “In front of other people, I don’t think I would hold up to that standard, but hopefully I do.”
Miami University faculty and staff will receive increased salaries and financial bonuses for the 2021-2022 academic year, as announced by university President Gregory Crawford in June.
Students are divided in their feelings about an exemption to Miami University’s indoor mask mandate allowing professors to take off their face coverings while instructing.
Despite the indication from Miami University that Bell Tower Commons would reopen this fall, the dining hall will remain closed indefinitely for the upcoming semester. Haines, Spring Street Market, Dorsey Market and the Starbucks at Withrow Hall will also remain closed for the time being.
In contrast to last year’s schedule of online-only welcome events, this fall, first-year, transfer and second-year Miami University students will all have the opportunity to attend in-person welcome events.
Miami University’s COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines are still a work in progress as thousands of students move back into residence halls, apartments and houses this fall.
By the end of the Aug. 17, Oxford City Council meeting, an ordinance mandating masks within the city was neither passed nor denied. The meeting was standing room only as residents showed up to speak both for and against the proposed mask mandate.
As students prepare to move back to Oxford and begin a new school year still impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, The Miami Student has compiled a Q & A to provide the Miami community with information about what to expect during the fall 2021 semester.
Oxford’s Talawanda School Board voted 4-1 in favor of instating an indoor mask mandate for all students and staff regardless of vaccination status at its Aug. 16 meeting.