With the Kaplan Institute officially open as of the October 25 ribbon-cutting ceremony, no doubt many Illinois Tech students, staff, and faculty members are curious as to the layout and operational functions of the building. Thus, guided tours of the new building were held the following day with the building’s architect, John Ronan, as well as the Executive Director of the Kaplan Institute, Howard Tullman. Through these tours, the two laid out many of the building’s core design features, as well as their visions for the space to be used by all Illinois Tech students to pursue innovative ideas and collaborative synergy.

Once per semester, the Illinois Tech Student Government Association (SGA) hosts an open event wherein the university’s president and provost take to the stage and answer direct questions from the student body. The fall 2018 installment of the President-Provost Forum saw President Alan Cramb and Provost Peter Kilpatrick answer a plethora of student questions during the lunch hour on Wednesday, October 28.

The most recent installment of the Future of Higher Education forums was held on the afternoon of Tuesday, October 23 in the MTCC Ballroom, packed to capacity with Illinois Tech students, staff, and faculty, with a follow-up forum repeating the same process on Tuesday, October 30 in Morris Hall at the Downtown Campus.

On Wednesday, October 17, the President’s Student Advisory Council (PSAC) met as a group with both President Alan Cramb and Provost Peter Kilpatrick for the second time this semester.

Third-year architecture student and Student Government Association (SGA) Senator Marcos Mercado is in the midst of a project that is very personal to him as an architecture major. For the past several weeks, he has been in talks with Illinois Tech Career Services to look into better options for bolstering the portfolios of architecture students.

Although for many it may be far too early to start seriously planning out the summer of 2019, the Lewis College of Human Sciences has already been advertising some very unique opportunities for interested Illinois Tech students: faculty-led study abroad opportunities.

In approaching TechNews for a potential article idea, African Student Organization (ASO) Service and Outreach Chairperson, as well as Resident Advisor (RA) for the second floor of Fowler Hall within McCormick Student Village (MSV), Bizimungu Obedi relayed to our paper the rather dynamic story of how he more or less accidentally set up a partnership between ASO and St. James Church (located just north of Keating Sports Center at 2907 S Wabash Ave).

On the afternoon of Saturday, October 20, Union Board hosted the 14th annual Pumpkin Launch, which occurred at 1 p.m. on Ed Glancy Field. Two teams competed this year: Illinois Tech Robotics (ITR) as well as the Society of Physics Students (SPS).

As a student who likes to keep himself immersed in the laptop studying or either watching videos, experiencing The Open House was an insightful experience. Chicago is considered as one of the most architectural cities of the world and on that Sunday, I just came to know why.

On the evening of Monday, October 8, the staff of the Illinois Tech Idea Shop were met with a very special surprise guest: rapper Kanye West (also known as YE). Held in the new building for the Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship (hereafter abbreviated as the “Kaplan Institute”), West surprised the students present (some of whom were new members of the Idea Shop team) with his appearance, especially surprising as news outlets at the time focused their attention on his visit with U.S. President Donald Trump later that same week.