Top 10 stories of 2021

Mattie Beck, Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor

1. UWO student gave a ride to Petito’s fiance
Earlier this year, UW Oshkosh became involved in the case of a travel TikTok influencer, Gabby Petito, who was suspected to have been murdered by her fiance.
Miranda Baker posted a video to her TikTok explaining how the morning of the suspected murder she gave the fiance a ride to his getaway destination. This story was viewed nearly 29,000 times on the Advance-Titan website.

2. Frederic March, have we misjudged you?
In August of 2020, Chancellor Andrew Leavitt decided to remove actor Frederic March’s name from the UWO theater building due to allegations of March being affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan at UW-Madison.
After the decision to repeal was named, letters to the editor flew in asking for the decision to be reconsidered, with many letter writers noting that March later contributed to racial equality and social justice. However, Leavitt said his decision stands.

3. Haunting at Horizon?
One of the buildings on campus, Horizon Village, had rumors flying of ghosts being present in the building.
Though it can’t be confirmed if there are ghosts present, it was certainly entertaining to hear claimed stories of supernatural sightings on campus.

4. UWO celebrates 150 years
UWO celebrated being an educational institution for 150 years during 2021.
To begin the celebration, the campus held a huge event on Sept. 12, 150 years to the date that the first classes were held at what was then the Oshkosh Normal School.

5. ‘Justice is not just Chauvin’s conviction, justice would be George Floyd being alive’
After Derek Chauvin’s guilty verdict for George Floyd’s murder, local community leaders rejoiced in the accountability, but they also acknowledged the need for police reform.
Chancellor Andrew Leavitt himself weighed in on the situation and addressed how systematic racism exists even at UW Oshkosh.

6. In freakin’ person
In March 2021, it was announced that the graduation ceremony in May would be held in person.
Though there were not a lot of details on how the celebration would go, it was exciting news as the last two commencement ceremonies had been completely virtual events.

7.‘Women’s sports are underappreciated’
Women’s sports were put into the spotlight last year for being unfairly represented throughout the media and in the treatment of female athletes in sports.
On campus, female athletes took notice of this, weighing in on how they thought women’s sports are underappreciated.

8. It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s spectators in stands!
COVID-19 took a huge hit on a lot of events, with sports at UW Oshkosh suffering the loss of spectators for most of last year’s sporting events.
Finally, in April, spectators were allowed back into the stands to watch players, and even though guidelines were set, it was a win for athletes as they no longer had to play to empty stadiums.

9.Athletes play to empty stadium
Back before COVID-19 wasn’t as managed as it is now, athletes were forced to play to empty stands.

10. Advance-Titan staff wins 22 awards
The Advance-Titan staff entered the 2020 Wisconsin Newspaper Association Foundation’s Collegiate Better Newspaper Contest and was able to take home 22 awards.
The staff was also able to take third-place honors for the overall publication as well