Bruce Harreld selected as UI president

After a tense public forum and low faculty support in an American Association of University Professors survey, Bruce Harreld was selected as the new University of Iowa president by the state Board of Regents in September, and he officially went on the clock in November 2015.

The decision created an uproar in some sectors of the university because Harreld was selected over more conventional candidates: then-Ohio State University Provost Joseph Steinmetz, Tulane University Provost Michael Bernstein, and Oberlin College President Marvin Krislov.

Harreld previously taught at Harvard Business School and held leadership positions at Boston Market, Kraft Foods, and IBM but had no academic administrative experience.

Harreld was given an annual salary of $590,000, plus a five-year deferred compensation plan with $200,000 added annually as UI president. Former President Sally Mason — who came to the UI after serving as provost at Purdue University — had a $525,000 salary.

The presidential search was undertaken by a 21-member Search Committee comprising faculty, staff, regents, student leaders, and others was appointed by the regents. The Search Committee led the process with private firm Parker Executive Search.

Kozak found guilty of first-degree murder

In April, Alexander Kozak was found guilty of first-degree murder in the June 2015 Coral Ridge Mall shooting of Andrea Farrington.

Farrington, an Iowa Children’s Museum employee, was shot three times in the back while she was working at the information booth. Kozak had formerly worked as a security guard in the mall. The State Patrol arrested him later on Interstate 80, and he reportedly confessed to the shooting.

The typical sentence for first-degree murder is life in prison. Kozak will officially be sentenced at 2:30 p.m. on June 6.

After the trial, the attorney representing Kozak, Alfredo Parrish, filed a motion for a new trial.

Parrish said he will not dispute the fact Farrington was killed on June 12, 2015. However, he will argue his client suffered from a mental illness that began when he was 15.

The state has until May 18 to submit any resistance to the motion for a new trial. The motion will be considered by the court at Kozak’s sentencing hearing on June 6 at the Johnson County Courthouse.

2016 Iowa caucuses

The first-in-the-nation caucuses crowned Sen. Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton as winners.

With 99 percent of the state’s precinct caucuses reporting, Cruz eclipsed business mogul Donald Trump by 27.7 percent to 24.3 percent, according to preliminary numbers from the Iowa Republican Party. Sen. Marco Rubio trailed Trump and garnered 23.1 percent of support among Iowa Republican caucus-attendees.

With 99 percent of the state’s 1,600-plus precincts reporting, Clinton, a former secretary of State, led the self-described democratic-socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders by a minuscule 0.3 percentage point in a projection of delegates each candidate would have at the state convention.

Since then, Cruz has dropped out of the presidential race.

Dance Marathon

Dance Marathon was able to surpass its goal of $2.4 million at the 22nd-annual celebration of the event, raising more than $2.4 million for pediatric cancer patients and their families at the UI Children’s Hospital.

The organization’s new goal was a 20 percent jump over the previous year, which has required the organization to implement new policies and use incentive programs to help reach its goal.

Dancers this year were asked to raise $500, instead of $400. $100 Day, a new program started this year, brought in $135,395.50 in one day for the kids.

UI Student Government elections

The BLOC, or Bettering Our Lives on Campus, Party won this year’s University of Iowa Student Government election.

The executive ticket of President-elect Rachel Zuckerman and Vice President-elect Lauren Freeman was elected over Yes Party candidates Jon Langel and Elliott Smith.

Zuckerman and Freeman snagged 80.28 percent to 19.72 percent, or 2,312 votes to 568 votes.

All 36 BLOC Senate candidates also won seats. Independent candidates Mingjian Li and Angel Alicea were also elected. The Yes Party had no senators on the ballot.

Turnout was down significantly at 13.36 percent of undergraduate students. Last year’s close election between the winning REAL Party and the BEACH Party saw a turnout of 30 percent.

Alleged hate crime causes uproar

Three white males reportedly assaulted Marcus Owens, a black freshman at the University of Iowa, on the evening of April 30, sometime between 10 and 11 p.m. Owens said the perpetuators spat racial slurs at him. The assault resulted in 12 stitches on his lip and two chipped front teeth.

The Iowa City police are investigating the assault as a hate crime; no suspects have yet been named.

The attack, which was not reported by UI officials until the early morning of May 4, prompted a flurry of tweets. The trending of #ExplainIowa called on UI administration to explain why the university community was not notified after Owens was assaulted.

In an interview with The Daily Iowan, Owens’ uncle said Harreld showed “strong leadership” in the aftermath and went to the dentist with Owens in Iowa City.

Tuition freeze thawed

The University of Iowa and other regent universities are set to face a tuition hike next fall after state lawmakers approved a spending plan significantly smaller than requested by the regents in April.

Tuition increases will be on the rise for the first time since the 2011-12 academic year for all undergraduate students. The regents unanimously approved increases in tuition for UI students last year.

The regents approved raising tuition by 3 percent for in-state undergraduate students at the UI — or around $200 to $6,878. Tuition for out-of-state undergraduates, in-state graduate students, and out-of-state graduate students will increase by 1.9 percent, rising to $26,966, $8,556, and $26,060, respectively.

Tuition for in-state undergraduates at Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa was increased $100 for the 2016 spring semester but frozen for next year. Fees will increase for all students.

Both the UI Student Government and the Graduate & Professional Student Government backed the proposal.

Quad set for demolition

This summer, the UI will bid farewell to Quadrangle, a West Side residence hall that will be torn down to make way for the new College of Pharmacy building.

The Quad was built in 1925. In 2015, the New York Times named it one of the worst dorms in the country because of its “nonexistent” water pressure, frequent cockroach sightings, and a lingering mildew smell.

Officials will begin preparing Quad for demolition after the spring semester is over.

UI Assistant Vice President for Student Life Von Stange said after the demolition, there are plans to sell bricks from Quad, which could provide funding for residence-hall scholarships. He said plans are not completed, but officials hope to raise around $100,000 from alumni and UI supporters.

He also said there are plans to have a Quad memorial, which could preserve the gate and other historic points, but no details have been completed yet.

Meditation room

The UI opened a meditation room in the IMU for all students on Feb. 4.

The UI made the space available so students, including Muslims, could feel safe and comfortable while performing prayers. However, the spaces prompted a national organization called the Freedom From Religion Foundation to call for the closure of these two rooms, citing the separation of church and state.

The foundation, a national umbrella organization for those committed to the separation of church and state, challenged the UI to close down the two rooms in a March 25 letter on its website, which was later sent to Harreld.

Controversy even seeped into the regents’ discussion on April 21 at the Iowa School for the Deaf, and officials said they would review policies for clarification.Art building

As the 2015-16 school year wraps up, construction on the new state-of-the-art Visual Arts Building is nearing completion, and UI art faculty and students have begun transitioning into their new $77 million home.

Standing five levels tall and with more than 126,000 square feet, the building will house the UI School of Art and History after the 2008 flood destroyed the old Art Building.

UI studio-art faculty and students were temporarily relocated to the old Iowa City Menards building, 1375 Highway 1 W. The building was refurbished and transformed by the university into the interim Studio Arts Building following the flood. Construction of the new building began in August 2013.

The facility is on schedule to be fully completed this month.

Hancher

This year, Hancher Auditorium announced its first season in its new building, which is set to open next fall, replacing the facility heavily damaged by flooding in 2008 and later razed.

Eight years in the making, Hancher’s first season in its new auditorium will see Steve Martin and Martin Short, Yo-Yo Ma, *The Book of Mormon*, and the Joffrey Ballet.

The first performers on the new stage will be Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on Sept. 16.

Hancher will also host a variety of classical-music performance, dance pieces, contemporary works, lectures, and even a film screening.

Hancher will finally be able to participate in Iowa City’s Mission Creek Festival in April 2017, too, now that it has a venue to offer. Tickets will be available for public purchase on June 10.