UIndy Faculty, Staff Provide Expert Insight to Local & National Media in November

As part of their commitment to “education for service,” faculty and staff at the University of Indianapolis share their expertise with local and national news outlets in order to keep our community informed and to introduce new perspectives on current issues.

UIndy faculty and staff were featured in the following news stories in November:

Dr. Amanda Miller, professor of sociology, provided expert analysis to USA Today about a viral TV moment on the Hulu show “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” involving the topic of relationships and cheating. The article was subsequently picked up by Yahoo Life. Portions of an earlier she conducted with USA Today reappeared for a story on dating trends for the year 2025. She and Dr. Gregory Shufeldt were mentioned by the Daily Journal for being winners of the PALNI PALSave Open Educator Award.

Liz Whiteacre, associate professor and department chair of English, spoke about her new chapbook “it could account for the panic” which consists of 15 poems associated with temporal lobe epilepsy or TLE in connection with National Epilepsy Awareness Month in a live interview on WISH-TV, which was also mentioned on WIBC.

Dr. Isabell Mills, associate professor and director of the sport management program, and Jessica Sremanak, director of employer engagement, were both quoted by WIBC and in the Daily Journal as part of the announcement that UIndy and Indiana Sports Corp had partnered together to shape the future of Indiana’s sports and events workforce, news which was also mentioned on WISH-TV.

Dr. Kelly Miller, psychologist and director of the Student Counseling Center, provided expert analysis about how to manage stress and successfully navigate family gatherings ahead of the holidays as part of a live interview on WISH-TV.

Chris Keevers, head football coach, was interviewed by the Indianapolis Star as part of a feature story about running back Garrett Sherrell.

Coran Sigman, live mascot handler and marketing & communications manager, brought both Grady and Grady II into WISH-TV for a live interview so that viewers could meet UIndy’s ‘paw-some’ new mascot. Sigman, Dr. Tanuja Singh, and Dr. Elizabeth Ziff, associate professor of sociology and co-director of the Community Research Center, shared about their experiences and feelings about the importance of a live mascot for a feature story in the Daily Journal.

Dr. Colleen Wynn, department chair of sociology and co-director of the Community Research Center, shared her expertise on topics like the trends of cheating in marriage and strategies for combating addiction and domestic violence for a story ranking the most sinful cities in America for WalletHub.

Carissa Newton, assistant professor of practice of marketing and director of the Stephen F. Fry Scholars Program, analyzed why shoppers feel like the Black Friday experience doesn’t feel the same, even as sales for many businesses rise, for a story on WTHR.

Dr. Matt Will, associate professor of finance, discussed various financial topics including the financial headwind of tariffs and how a jobs report was sparking a market frenzy with Tony Katz on WIBC.

Dr. Vincent O. van Empeh, assistant professor and director of accreditation & assessment in the School of Business, provided answers on various financial topics like why unsecured credit cards for people with bad credit are so expensive and what to look for in an unsecured credit card for WalletHub.

Dr. Gregory Shufeldt, associate professor of political science, was interviewed multiple times on WRTV about various political topics including the possibility of the special session as well as the threats of physical violence on state lawmakers. He discussed the possible statewide implications for three counties which have recently passed moratoriums on data center projects for a story with the Indianapolis Business Journal, which was also picked up by the Daily Journal. He shared analysis with The Indiana Citizen as the General Assembly didn’t fully put the mid-cycle redistricting question to rest. He also spoke on the topic of political threats made against lawmakers who voiced opposition to redistricting to The Indiana Citizen for an article which was syndicated by TheStatehouseFile.com, the Daily Journal and the Evansville City-County Observer.

Dr. Laura Merrifield Wilson, associate professor of political science, received prominent frequent coverage by being the featured speaker for a series of town hall meetings on the topic of redistricting, including WXIN, as well as WRTV, The Indiana Citizen, the Hamilton County Reporter and the LarryInFishers.com blog. She was a key figure for media outlets covering the town hall meetings including WRTV and for The Indiana Citizen, as well as a follow-up article on the reaction for The Indiana Citizen. Twice she served as a featured guest on Indiana Week in Review on WFYI, including in the middle of the redistricting discussion, as well as the IN Focus politics show on WXIN which is rebroadcast on other stations around the state. She discussed the implications of a Congressional candidate campaigning in a district in which the boundaries may change with WTHR. She explained the significance of a key vote in the U.S. Senate which helped end a federal government shutdown to WXIN. She provided expert analysis when Indiana Senate Republicans announced they had rejected the redistricting push even as President Donald Trump invited some of them to the White House to outlets like Indiana Capital Chronicle (which was syndicated by Fox News) as well as WTHR (which was syndicated by WHAS). She discussed the significance and possible political price for not redistricting for WFIU as well as WXIN, a story which was also picked up by WTWO. When Senate Republicans reversed course, she analyzed the meaning and scenarios for The Indiana Citizen as well as WXIN, which was then syndicated by WTWO as well as WANE.

Are you a UIndy faculty or staff member who was recently featured in the media? Let the Office of Communications and Marketing know at newsdesk@uindy.edu to be included in the next monthly update.