Seattle U Spectator (2025)

16/12/2025

In a Dec. 3 email to the Seattle University population, Chair of the Board of Trustees Patrick Callans announced the school’s plans to move forward with the presidential selection process following an Oct. 15 announcement that current university president Eduardo Peñalver would be leaving for a new role as president of Georgetown at the end of winter quarter. They shared the chairs of the committee, how various student and faculty entities would be represented in the committee and in decision-making processes and that more information would come in January.

The search to find Seattle U’s next president will be led by co-chairs Jason Oliver and Ana White, both of whom are trustees and alumni of the university. Oliver, ‘00, has worked in Human Resources, Talent Acquisition and as an executive at AT&T and Apple. He is currently self-employed in business consulting. White, ‘95, has held consulting, Human Resources, and executive positions at Watson Wyatt Worldwide, Microsoft, F5 and is currently the Chief People Officer and Executive Vice President at Lumen Technologies.

(✍️) Milan Damjanac

16/12/2025

For our last Campus Currents of Fall Quarter, check out some of our best stories with Diego and Maya!

Click the link in our bio to watch the full episode!

10/12/2025

Emily Malone, public relations specialist for the Seattle Aquarium, took The Spectator on a tour of the sea otter exhibit to learn more about Ruby and her peers.

“We wanted to make sure this was the right fit for Ruby, and Monterey Bay actually reached out to the Seattle Aquarium because they knew that we had Mishka and Sekiu, two older females that are independent, and that seems to have done the trick,” Malone said. “Ruby was initially part of the surrogacy program at Monterey Bay, and due to a variety of factors, Monterey thought it would be a better fit with two older females.”

The sea otter exhibit has deep water cluttered with mussels and clams that the three otters snack on throughout the day. There is also an underwater viewing section of the exhibit where the otters can be seen playing and diving. Tall rock walls line the exhibit with greenery scattered around them. A hole in one of these walls connects two areas, both of which have platforms for the sea otters to lounge.

Next to the habitat are plaques with information on the sea otters, including the origins of their names: Mishka, meaning “little bear” in Russian, and Sekiu, being an indigenous word meaning “quiet waters.”

Ruby can be seen playing with ice on the rocky shores or swimming around with the frozen snacks provided by Seattle Aquarium staff members.

(✍️) Austin Woolley
Click the link in our bio or story to read the full news article.
(📸) Justin Hartshorn

08/12/2025

Seattle-based solo artist Jo Cosme created most of the art in the collection, as well as curated the other featured artists. After being displaced to North America from Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, Cosme was struck by the lack of knowledge surrounding the United States’ control and oppression of the archipelago. Using mediums ranging from lenticular prints to cyanotype to interactive performance art, Cosme has created a body of work that is both educational and emotionally impactful.

Juan Roman, one of the featured artists who goes by the artist name “NEPO,” created two silkscreen prints for the gallery. “Nadie es illegal en tierras ocupadas,” translating to “No one is illegal on occupied land,” focuses on the oppression faced by the Dominican community in Puerto Rico, particularly with recent ICE raids under the Trump administration.

Roman’s second piece, titled “Siembra,” translates to “sowing,” and depicts two young girls farming—a symbol of self-sufficiency in the face of colonialism. Typically a commissioned mural artist, Roman was eager to create work that reflected his own story.

“I was feeling like a hypocrite doing art that doesn’t have a message,” Roman said. “Just decorating these walls or making pretty pictures so people can hang at their home is the way that we make our living… Of course, you get less work because you make these stands and try to support these issues. But it’s something that I’m willing to sacrifice for having our voice.”

(✍️) Keagen Brooks-Torres
Click the link in our bio or story to read the full arts & entertainment article.
(📸) Courtesy of Marcus Donner

07/12/2025

In the past year, spirit athletes have taken on a larger slate of appearances and grown in recognition, from appearing at volleyball games and the women’s soccer’s home opener to being invited to “Rudy’s Welcome” for the first time in the program’s history. The teams have also traveled with Men’s Basketball, including last season’s trip to Las Vegas for the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.

The current teams are led by three second-year captains: Psychology Major and Dance Captain Courtney Aoki, Strategic Communications Major and Cheer Co-Captains Regan Luz and Salamat.

Their leadership roles require them to bridge communication between coaches and teammates while modeling the time management needed to be a student-athlete. Luz said the impact of that responsibility has been worth the extra work.

“The most rewarding thing is being able to lead this team. Seeing how our leadership has affected people on the team, I feel like we are doing leaps and bounds ahead from where we thought we would be last year,” Luz said.

(✍️) Maya DeGuzman
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(📸) Courtesy of SU Spirit Teams

06/12/2025

“Congress had a desire to do something about student debt because it was growing pretty significantly,” Jordan Grant, associate vice president of financial services at Seattle University, said. “They saw that we’ve crossed a trillion dollars in debt, and they saw that a disproportionate share of it is on graduate loans, so they cut them.”

The Department of Education released a list Nov. 21 of just eleven degrees it considers “professional.” The list included programs like pharmacy, dentistry, law and theology; however, a number of other programs were excluded. Nursing, teaching, accounting, architecture and social work–women-dominated professions, as many were quick to point out–were notably absent, prompting widespread outrage.

Professional degrees are eligible for twice the amount of student loans (per year and aggregate) than other graduate school offerings are. Students pursuing degrees on the newly released list can access up to $50,000 per year in direct unsubsidized loans; other graduate school students are eligible for only $20,500. In addition, federal PLUS loans, which allow graduate students to borrow up to their full cost of attendance, are set to be eliminated in June 2026.

“It was a very heavy-handed decision,” Grant said. “We know that aggregate PLUS loans now are capped at $65,000. That math doesn’t really work out because it takes about four years to go to graduate school.”

With access to federal aid decreased, graduate students at Seattle U–who borrow an estimated thirty million dollars per year in federal aid–will now be responsible for fronting a much greater portion of their tuition, along with associated costs of attendance like textbooks and housing. Students in the nursing and mental health counseling programs are expected to feel the loss the most: they account for nearly 70% of all federal loans taken out by graduate students at Seattle U.

(✍️) Kean Mathis
Click the link in our bio or story to read the full news article.
(📸) Atticus Sweat

05/12/2025

What began as a University of Washington-affiliated program at Providence Hospital in 1935 has grown into a nationally recognized program ranked in the top 5% in the country—the College of Nursing and Health Sciences (CNHS) is celebrating its 90th anniversary, wearing a new name and welcoming a new program.

Housed in the Garrand building, the oldest building on campus, the nursing school officially became part of Seattle U (then still known as Seattle College) in 1934, and its first class graduated shortly thereafter in 1939. Since then, the program has steadily expanded to offer degrees in Diagnostic Ultrasound, graduate-level nursing education, advanced practice roles and, in the near future, a master’s degree and graduate certificate in public health.

Dean of Nursing Butch de Castro reflected on the college’s legacy.

“The change in the program to be more widespread over the last 90 years has caused a gain in national knowledge about the program,” de Castro said. “The anniversary isn’t just a marker of time. It shows how much the program has grown alongside the city’s healthcare needs.”

(✍️) Leila Bunker & Alice Makarenko
Click the link in our bio or story to read the full feature article.
(📸) Anna Nguyen

04/12/2025

Joining us on Cherry Street Chat this week is two staff members, Rachael Benson and Tory Franklin, from the South Lake Union campus. Tune in to hear them talk about their artworks that are currently being featured in the Currents exhibition, as well as other art related topics.

Click the link in our bio or story to listen to the full podcast episode.

04/12/2025

SAS has introduced a variety of sports programs throughout the years and currently offers four: power soccer, wheelchair basketball, goalball and sled hockey, which is currently in season. These teams, most of which have youth and adult divisions, provide opportunities for people with different disabilities to participate in sports. SAS hosts sports for all different types of people, including but not limited to wheelchair users, people with limited mobility and blind and low vision athletes. While the sports that SAS offers have changed over time, the organization’s inspiration hasn’t.

“We’re creating outlets that don’t exist for disabled people,” Thom Youngblood, board president of Seattle Adaptive Sports, said. “We’re concentrating on creating the ability for people with disabilities to play sports.”

However, physically accessible sports are not always financially accessible. Most adaptive adult sports are prohibitively expensive to enter. A custom sled for sled hockey can cost anywhere from $600 to $1,000, and goalball balls can reach close to $100. Luckily, SAS offers opportunities for participants whose finances may be a deterrent.

“There are definitely some adaptive sports I can’t afford to do,” Amy Wiegand, sled hockey player and SAS secretary, said. “For us, we don’t want that to be a barrier.”

(✍️) Kean Mathis
Click the link in our bio or story to read the full sports article.
(📸) Courtesy of Seattle Adaptive Sports

03/12/2025

While many children create gingerbread houses during the holiday season, few have the opportunity to construct larger-than-life masterpieces designed by professional architects. However, each holiday season, a select four children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes from nonprofit Breakthrough T1D’s Pacific Northwest Chapter get to do exactly that. The children are chosen to be “elves” who help architects design and assemble candy concoctions that go on display at the Sheraton Grand Hotel for all of Seattle to see.

In the tradition’s 31st year, the Sheraton Grand Hotel is hosting Gingerbread Village, a fundraiser benefiting the Northwest Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. While the village originated with many small gingerbread houses, over the years it has been reduced to around four to six structures, each towering at over six feet tall. An abundance of gingerbread, cookies and candy are assembled in ways never before seen. In one structure, frosting cascades over tree branches stretching above flowers with jelly bean stems growing in graham cracker soil, while another features a winding racetrack of gummy worms and sour ropes.

Stevie Kepple, development director at Breakthrough T1D, spoke on the uniqueness of this event.

“It’s been such a staple, and it has the longevity that maybe some other holiday events in the area don’t quite have,” Kepple said.

The process of creating this display is long. Children apply to be elves in May, and they meet the architects they work with in June or July. Kepple said that when choosing elves, the directors try to find children with diverse experiences with T1D.

(✍️) Julia Pilch
Click the link in our bio or story to read the full arts & entertainment article.
(📸) Roan Tierney

02/12/2025

Seattle University Volleyball took on Oregon State Nov. 22 on Senior Day in a nailbiting five-set matchup that ended with the Redhawks going home victorious. With a score of 3-2, the team secured the program’s first win over Oregon State.

This matchup wasn’t only about competition though, as friends and families gathered in the Redhawk Center to celebrate the three graduating players on the team.

Marley Hardgrave, a middle blocker/right side from Bend, Ore., has spent all four years with the Redhawks. During her time at Seattle U, Hardgrave was named to the Academic All-WAC in 2022 and Academic All-District in 2023. The middle blocker has appeared in 358 total sets over four years, picking up 421 kills and 311 total blocks.

Yasmin Elmas is a middle blocker that hails from Istanbul, Turkey. After redshirting her freshman year, Elmas has played 252 sets and amassed 367 kills and 201 total blocks.

Setter Elif Teksoy, like Elmas, is an Istanbul native. In her redshirt freshman year, Teksoy was named to the All-WAC Freshman team, starting in all 27 matches and playing all 97 sets. The setter has picked up 1756 assists in three seasons, including a career-high 55 against San Francisco Nov. 8 this year.

(✍️) Diego Dumlao
Click the link in our bio or story to read the full sports article.
(📸) Justin Hartshorn

29/11/2025

Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) has banded together once again to hold ongoing strikes across the country since Nov. 13, bringing Starbucks’ alleged labor law violations and unresolved union deals into the public eye. This strike has been dubbed the “Red Cup Rebellion” because it started on Starbucks’ annual Red Cup Day, one of the company’s highest-earning days of the year.

SBWU started forming in early 2021 due to Starbucks’ low wages, low hours and outstanding labor law violations that employees were accusing the company of. In January 2022, SBWU would officially begin at a unionized store in Buffalo, N. Y., setting off a wave of new union stores across the country.

Current strikes are taking place due to unreached bargaining between the SBWU and the Starbucks executives after hundreds of hours of discussion dating back to April 2024. The main points of discussion are more hours for workers to alleviate understaffing across the nation, a pay raise for all workers and a resolution to the copious amounts of labor law violations baristas have brought to national attention.

“Workers United walked away from the table but if they are ready to come back, we’re ready to talk,” Sara Kelly, Starbucks Chief Partner Officer, wrote in a statement.

(✍️) Austin Woolley
Click the link in our bio or story to read the full news article.
(📸) Atticus Sweat

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