The Kaimin Cast

Last year, the Montana Legislature passed a series of bills targeting queer people based on their identities. One law now bans transgender women from participating in women's sports, while a second permits discrimination toward LGBTQ people on the basis of religion.  But ahead of Valentine's Day, queer people in Missoula say the city remains an inclusive and welcoming place, and that love and frie...

When UM sophomore Alex Crisp quit his job as an RA in Jesse Hall last fall due to stress and burnout, he left behind a cohort of residents who say he made a real difference in their lives — building relationships, supporting them through difficult times and drawing the entire floor closer. On this episode of the Second Look: a dive into the impact resident assistants make on students long after th...

In late 2021, a letter circulated among University of Montana administration, students and media outlets containing a plea for help. It said the resident assistants living and working in the dorms need more support. Alex Crisp, a former RA, wrote the letter following a series of incidents in UM's Jesse Hall that led him to quit the position early. He cited, "Ridiculous hours, unsafe conditions, to...

Missoula College student and mother-of-three Nereyda Calero says it felt like her world was ending when the Trump administration announced in 2017 it would rescind the "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals" program, or "DACA." The policy, established under former President Barack Obama in 2012, protects immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children from deportation and allows the...

Nearly 10 years ago, former President Barack Obama announced a program designed to protect undocumented immigrants brought into the United States as children. The policy — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or "DACA," — went into place in June 2012. By 2020, more than 600,000 former childhood arrivals had secured protection from deportation and the ability to work in the United States. But th...

Maria Bustos retired last semester along with 15 other professors in the University of Montana's College of Humanities and Sciences. After a more than 30-year career, she decided to step down from her tenured position in the Spanish department and enjoy time with her loved ones — that, and the University offered her an early retirement package. The cuts came as part of UM's plan to slim down the C...

From the minds behind the Kaimin Cast comes an all-new segment: The Second Look. Sometimes, after the mics are muted and the interview's over, you still have questions. The Kaimin Cast offers rich storytelling and in-depth reporting from the journalists of the Montana Kaimin, University of Montana's independent, student-run newspaper. But this semester, the story doesn't end on Thursday. The Secon...

The University of Montana has long had a reputation as Montana's premier liberal arts school with a College of Humanities and Sciences that educates 42% of the university students. However, that same Humanities Department has endured 68% of UM's budget cuts since 2015, with 15 professors in the school accepting an early retirement package last semester. The hits to the humanities have left some de...