Kirkwood Communiqué – The Eagle Voice!

Students reflect on rising gas prices

By Olivia Schanz, Staff Writer, and Mayah Anderson, Copy Editor

**Matthew Gire, digital arts, fills his car with gas in Marion on April 2, when prices were $3.56 per gallon. As of presstime, the price had risen to $3.79 per gallon.**

Students put down their phones to disconnect, reconnect
For an hour and a half, groups of students play games, color, and do a puzzle together as popcorn pops in the background, adding to the ambiance of their conversations as they take a break from their phones and have fun, all the while connecting on a more [Continue Reading »]
Students reflect on rising gas prices
On Feb. 28, the U.S. and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran, sending shockwaves through the oil industry and driving gas prices up 36%, or $1.06 per gallon, as the Strait of Hormuz is in the process of reopening, according to Reuters. Students at Kirkwood Community College [Continue Reading »]
Students ignite the way in prairie conservation
At Kirkwood Community College, parks and natural resources students share a passion for conserving Iowa’s ecosystems. Land management of wetlands and tall grass prairies is a major part of the program’s curriculum as well as studying the native plants and animals that inhabit them. One way that students [Continue Reading »]
Advising Center relocates back to Kirkwood Hall
For nearly a year, Kirkwood Hall, home of the Advising Center, has been under renovation. Over spring break, the center reopened, allowing advisers to return and students to once again attend advising meetings there. The renovation process of Kirkwood Hall began back in spring of 2025 with [Continue Reading »]
Dance Marathon raises record amount
At the end of the Big Event on March 6, Kirkwood Community College’s Dance Marathon revealed that it raised a record amount of $37,854.16 for the Stead Family Children’s Hospital in Iowa City. Kirkwood is the only Children’s Miracle Network Dance Marathon program in the nation, and Dance [Continue Reading »]

Feature

Uplifting women in natural resources
by Communique Staff
What’s the club called? Women in Natural Resources Club. How did it all begin? The natural resources industry has been, and still is in some ways, male dominated. We wanted to give women in the industry a space where they could come together to network and professionally [Continue Reading »]
Provoking discussion with the film club
by Communique Staff
What’s the club called? Kirkwood Film Club. We also call it KFC, just because it’s a fun acronym. How did it all begin? We’re pretty much all students of the professor and advisor, Phil Brown. We just realized that a lot of us were either coming in early [Continue Reading »]
Passion drives students to switch majors
by Josh Heilskov
“Don’t be afraid to switch because if it’s what you’re wanting to chase, chase it.” Garrett Witham, Exercise Science Choosing a major is one of the most important decisions a student makes when pursuing a college education. Many factors influence that choice, and not all students stick with [Continue Reading »]
Program shapes future hospitality leaders: Students learn service and leadership skills
by Waterz Yidana
Graduates of Kirkwood’s hospitality program have gone on to work across different sectors of the hospitality industry, including hotel management, country clubs and event planning. At first glance, hospitality may sound simple, serving guests, managing hotels, or working in restaurants. But at Kirkwood Community College, the hospitality [Continue Reading »]

Program shapes future hospitality leaders: Students learn service and leadership skills

By Waterz Yidana, Campus Outreach Coordinator

**Students in the hospitality program fulfill clinical hours working at The Hotel at Kirkwood Center.**

Numbers behind playing games at home

By Isaac Stevens, Sports Editor

**Kirkwood Community College’s basketball court in Johnson Hall is home to Eagles athletes.**

Kim Muhl announces retirement
by Communique Staff
On April 1, Kirkwood Community College women’s basketball head coach Kim Muhl announced his retirement. After 37 seasons of pure excellence, Muhl has engraved himself as one of the most successful coaches in sports history. His career as a head coach consists of a 1,108-178 record (.862 [Continue Reading »]
How Eagles athletes prepare to soar
by Gibson Lowenberg
The Kirkwood Community College Eagles are known for dominant play on the playing field, but what does it take to unlock that strong play? The unsurprising answer is practice, and lots of it. Every athlete at Kirkwood had to work hard to get to where they are. They’ve [Continue Reading »]
Numbers behind playing games at home
by Isaac Stevens
Kirkwood has historically shown excellence across its six sports. Whether it is winning the majority of games, sending student-athletes to four-year colleges or garnering national attention from NJCAA media, the Eagles consistently perform at a high level. In sports, there is frequent discussion about home-field advantage and for [Continue Reading »]

Art & Life

‘Crime 101’ is atmospheric, character driven, but lacking
by Jack Groth
“Crime 101,” directed by Bart Layton, is a slow-burn crime film centered around the criminals and investigators of a chain of jewelry store robberies committed along U.S. Route 101 in California. Mike (Chris Hemsworth) is hired to commit high-stakes jewelry theft across different couriers in Los Angeles. He [Continue Reading »]
Students learn Argentine tango on campus
by Mayah Anderson
Multiple people glided across the floor, holding each other’s arms, as they learned a traditional dance. On March 24, during activity hour at Kirkwood Community College, Hispanic Horizons hosted two community instructors in Iowa Room A to teach students, staff and faculty how to tango. The specific type [Continue Reading »]
Blood-typing event highlights importance of donating
by Communique Staff
On April 1, Kirkwood Community College partnered with ImpactLife to host a free blood typing awareness event aimed at educating students, faculty and staff on the importance of knowing their blood type and understanding the life-saving impact of blood donation. The event was held in Iowa Hall. A [Continue Reading »]

‘Almost, Maine’ highlights student collaboration, growth

By Kota Winterboer, Photo Editor

**Reuben Thomas playing Gayle and Andrew Forcier playing Lendall in the scene “Getting it Back” in Ballantyne Auditorium on March 31.**

In order from left to right, Agnes Tahrin, a Human Resources student, Gracia Priscilia Hapsari, an Entrepreneurship student, and Hillary Monica Maranresy, a Hospitality Management student in their traditional Indonesian dresses.

Fasseri Doumbia, an Agriculture Business student, in his traditional Ivorian dress called Bogolan.

Newscast

Opinion

Why we should take courses in American history
by Aya Doster
In February, the Iowa House Higher Education Committee passed a bill requiring students in the state’s public universities to take American history and government courses as part of general education requirements. Many other states, including Texas, have mandated that college students take these courses, and it is great [Continue Reading »]
Modern versus traditional classes: Are we truly learning?
by Waterz Yidana
We like to celebrate modern education as progress. Technology, online classes, artificial intelligence and digital libraries—everything is faster, easier and more accessible. But let me ask a simple question: are we truly learning better, or are we just learning differently? As someone who went through the Ghanaian education [Continue Reading »]
Students deserve more local degrees
by Teddy Bennett
Kirkwood Community College students work hard every day. They juggle classes, part time jobs and family stuff while trying to build a future without going deep into debt. Right now, a big debate is happening in Iowa about letting community colleges offer some four-year degrees. The idea came [Continue Reading »]
Thrifting: A cost effective way to shop
by Communique Staff
Thrifting is often overlooked in today’s fast-paced, trend-driven culture, but for college students, it can be a practical solution to rising costs. Clothing prices have steadily increased, yet many shoppers no longer question the cost. What might have once seemed expensive is now often viewed as normal, leading [Continue Reading »]
Social media impacts student attention span
by Mischa Reiners
Social media is an integral part of daily life for most college students. As social media becomes increasingly influential, we must consider the emerging evidence that suggests social media’s impact on mental health and academic engagement is not negligible and must be addressed by the Kirkwood community. Cognitive [Continue Reading »]
Do we really need to know how to spell?
by Xavier Jiacinto
With the widespread use of word processing programs that can check your spelling in real time and correct it, it begs the question, Do we need to know how to spell? Personally I feel that this kind of reasoning is dangerous for a multitude of reasons. Being overly [Continue Reading »]