From people dancing on tables to Bhangra in the middle of the dance floor, Bollywood Night was exactly as we’d hoped it would be. A congregation of all the Desis (and some non-Desis) grooving to the best Hindi music of the last 25 years all under one roof. The night started off at 10 p.m. instead of 9 p.m. as originally promised because of the phenomenon we like to call "Indian time" whereby people show up a good hour after the event starts. Nevertheless, the raw enthusiasm of everyone present there completely made up for it and by 10:30 p.m., the party was in full swing.

Peter Kilpatrick began his position as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Illinois Tech on August 1, 2018, previously the McCloskey Dean of Engineering at the University of Notre Dame.

A face smiles at me from the other side of the hall, two paths colliding for just a second to exchange rushed greetings. With nine research projects and one class to teach, it is no wonder Professor Sonja Petrovic maintains such a fast pace even when walking down the halls. I managed to find a small hole in her schedule in order to kick off this column - and so, I present to you a bit on how research works in the Department of Applied Mathematics.  

Beginning the week of Monday, September 17, the Illinois Tech Office of Campus Life (OCL) began the first steps of creating a new group students known as the Illinois Tech Social Justice Ambassadors (SJAs). Although the group is still in its formative stages, having just been assembled, Combs is confident that the new group will be able to make great strides in establishing the program’s precedents and working towards a greater sense of inclusivity on the Illinois Tech campus.

First-year students, second-years, third-years, seniors, super seniors, alumnae planning to attend the career fair, calling all to attention: are you ready to attend Illinois Tech’s campus-wide career fair on Wednesday, September 26 and Thursday, September 27? 

Prism IIT, the on-campus LGBTQIA+ organization, is proud to announce that, as part of Homecoming 2018, Laura Jane Grace (founder, lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist of punk rock band Against Me!) will be performing on campus on Saturday, September 22 from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Every month, the Illinois Tech Office of Campus Energy and Sustainability hosts a speaker to present at its Sustainability Forums, open to all staff, faculty, and students of the university. The first such forum was held on Friday, September 14 in the Hermann Hall ballroom and featured Jennifer Walling, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council (IEC).

Illinois Tech hosted Chris Wilson, Vice President and Operations Director of Environmental System Design (ESD) to give a presentation on the work he and ESD perform titled “Improving Society Through the Built Environment.”

The first general body meeting of the brand-new Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS) student chapter was on Tuesday, September 11, 2018. This chapter was launched underneath Illinois Tech’s Association for Computing Machinery – Women (ACM-W). The meeting covered what the chapter plans are for the semester and this involves a cybersecurity themed escape room and participating in the National Cyber League.

The first main topic discussed by the group was transparency of information on campus. Specifically, the group brought to the president and provost’s attention that many students are upset about the lack of notification regarding the departure of Vice Provost for Student Access, Success, and Diversity Initiatives (SASDI) Gerald Doyle.