Activist, professor and mom Dr. Rebecca Mercado-Jones works to spread “radical love,” while answering the tough questions in and out of the classroom. 

Varner Hall will have its first major renovation in 2021, after the Board of Trustees (BOT) unanimously approved the construction on Monday, Dec. 7. 

Two days before the election, students gathered around a snow-filled Hamlin Circle for a Black Lives Matter (BLM) Peace March, setting the timely tone for the week — voting, mental health and supporting Black lives. 

Justice Richard Bernstein celebrated Disability Awareness Month with OU students by discussing his road to becoming the first blind Justice and an avid athlete, with 24 marathons under his belt. 

Curious viewers have pushed obscure Polish flick, “365 Days,” to the top of Netflix’s trending, despite condemning ratings. New problematic themes — glorifying rape, kidnap and manipulation — seem to continue to bubble to the surface from each view, but “365 Days” prevails with record breaking popularity. 

Emerging from winter and a pandemic leaves a questionable list of springtime activities, but visiting OU’s picnic spots should be near the top of your list.  

​

There’s countless cozy spots across campus, but these picnic tables are the peak. 

Navigating grade school homework, walking the family dog and creating beats for his “bad band” are all being sprinkled into Dr. Roy Soto’s schedule lately. Recently, his time has been continually shadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but he’s beginning to “see the light at the end of the tunnel.” 

Before spreading her wings as an actor, activist and honor-roll student, Oakland University almost almost expelled her. Jai Carrero had a rocky start at OU, but her past is also her inspiration. 

Stapled outside of South Foundation Hall, there was an abstract sculpture — Motherwell by Joseph Wesner — that’s been moved for the first time in over thirty years. 

Michigan’s stay-at-home order is causing many families to postpone gatherings and celebrations, but Ramadan is a fixed staple on the Islamic calendar. Observances were forced to evolve. Although the holiday will be entirely enveloped by pandemic precautions, some Muslims have an optimistic outlook, while reminiscing about usual traditions. 

The swim teams began practicing in the Recreation Center (Rec Center) pools again on Monday, Sept. 20 after the pandemic forced a sudden hiatus in mid-March. Although easing back into some normalcy is welcomed, Coach Peter Hovland assured swim athletes have been “thinking outside of the box” and have “stayed focused” without access to OU’s Olympic-grade pool.

“Just give me a little smile.”

​

This seems like an innocent statement — after all, what harm can a smile do? But there seems to be a miscommunication between this request and a smile’s positive qualities.

Rose Cooper’s 47 years of teaching communication skills have weaved her career into Oakland University history. With COVID-19 dynamically changing OU’s classrooms, Cooper decided to retire and move into the next phase in her life. 

The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled alcohol consumption trumps accountability in a Minnesota sexual assault lawsuit on Wednesday, March 24. Once again, sexual assault is posed as only a women’s issue, instead of a cultural issue. 

Dr. Tolulope Ifabiyi walked into a medical room clad with feelings of apprehensiveness coming from a Black mother and her child. Initially, a hospital room rarely fills its patients with ease because customarily people only find themselves in the simple polished rooms if they’re sick, but those feelings can often heighten more for Black women. Racism among healthcare professionals puts Black women’s lives at risk everyday. 

If walls could talk, Oakland University’s Sunset Terrace — the retirement of OU founder Matilda Dodge Wilson and her husband Alfred G. Wilson — could tell countless stories of cutting-edge architecture and art, extravagant events and vast visitors. 

From the surface, Kresge Library is comprised of several floors of carefully organized books and resources, from aardvarks to zythum. For many, those are arbitrary words — unless you are checking out job prospects at Merriam-Webster — but one librarian is transforming Oakland University’s library resources with some local archaeology and a passion for OU’s history.

The haunting of Meadow Brook Mansion isn’t a suspense-filled series but a stately manor teetering on the edge of Oakland University campus. Built nearly a century ago from 1926 and 1929, the mansion amounted to a history: a home, a museum, a party venue and a possible haunting. 

Netflix’s “We Can Be Heroes” is a sloppy shell of director Robert Rodriguez’s childhood staple movie — “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl.” 

Pioneer Pete went down in history as Oakland University’s first mascot, but the man behind those first cheers and crowd leading is actually Charles ‘Chuck’ Conklin. 

In an Oakland University first, the 2020 graduates drove into parking lot one to celebrate — at last — on Friday, Aug. 28 and Saturday, Aug. 29. A traditional ceremony was rendered unsafe after OU was pushed to continue virtually in March, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.