Photo: Visit Bloomington
By: Keith Klein
IU has set a new record for students enrolling. It’s still not clear how many will show up in the fall. Universities are facing more uncertainty than usual because of the pandemic. IU Bloomington will see a beginner class similar in size to previous years. Beginner class refers to first-time undergraduate students. “We have a strong number of deposits,” said David Johnson, vice provost for enrollment management. As of last week, 9,340 students had paid deposits to enroll in the fall, a 1% increase over last year. About 9,000 deposits are typical for the Bloomington campus. Johnson is optimistic there will be about 8,000 students in this year’s beginner class. One reason is the record number of deposits. Another is reservations for orientation.
The Bloomington Pridefest annual celebration will go virtual this year due to the pandemic. Bloomington PRIDE organizers say the event will take place online over three days at the end of August and include a vendor expo, musical performances, and workshops, among other virtual activities. “We did not make this decision lightly,” PRIDE Board Chair Janae Cummings said”. The 2019 festival saw more than 20,000 visitors.
Veteran’s Affairs is seeking information that could lead to those responsible for smearing tar and feathers on graves in the “Confederate Mound” section of Crown Hill Cemetery earlier this month. “We are committed to maintaining our cemeteries as national shrines, including cleaning these gravesites, which memorialize those interred at the cemetery,” VA officials said. Groundskeeperswere able to clean most of the substance off the graves, but some remnants remain. The Confederate Mound is federally-owned and does not belong to Crown Hill Cemetery, though it is on its property. 1,600 Confederate prisoners of war were buried at the site after they died at Camp Morton, a military base in Indianapolis.
