The Royal Purple has been covering arts and recreation at UW-Whitewater for a long time. From the opening of the Center of the Arts in 1971 with a familiar guest present, President William Carter, to a college bowl tournament in 1969. From incorporating impactful events like the Hearts Dance, which had the proceeds go towards the Heart fund, to an opening of an opera in Hyer Auditorium. From having sections in 2014-15 called Royal Reviews and RP Outdoors.
The Royal Purple has continued their impact into modern day, helping highlight music groups that aren’t as well known on campus to the new and upcoming rec sports.
Arts
“The Royal Purple has helped bring music awareness to the campus, from covering all the music types the department has to offer to spreading the word of an important culture that artistically broadens people’s horizons,” music department chair Christian Ellenwood said.
He describes music as a key part of human civilization, in which it helps us care and connect, comparing music performance to sports, in which musicians give a physical performance. Using a plethora of air and stability to play the earworm melody to any-sized audience within a certain time frame of both performance and preparation.
“Professors and students are always happy to talk to reporters and have their voice be heard on the campus and community of Whitewater,” Ellenwood said
Arts on October 2nd, 2025.
Another department in music that also appreciates talking to reporters and having its voice heard is the theatre department.
“Getting coverage in theatre helps get the word out, and the department relies on word-of-mouth to get ticket sales as it helps with visibility and engagement,” theatre department chair Eric Appleton said.
The theatre department enjoys the publicity as the shows are season-based and are usually limited to two grand performances per semester. The cultural environment keeps growing with the help of getting the news out there, as art journalism is important. The coverage impacts the Whitewater community, whether the focus is on women in theatre or the behind-the-scenes of each production and what it takes to make the live performance feel like a movie to its audience.
The last arts section is the galleries on campus, whether that is the Crossman Gallery in the Center of the Arts or the Roberta Art Gallery in the University Center.
“The coverage of Roberta helps tell the story of the Artist, Culture and community that we host within the space,” service manager Tonia Kapitan said. “Bringing interest and awareness in the collaboration and the community on and off campus.”
She describes the coverage as helpful to the art community, as art is not a priority in the world’s appreciation and is a frontline of struggle. Roberta’s Art Gallery has collaborated with 43 different organizations on campus with students and others. It is a good and free source for recognizing different works with the educational purpose to learn and get to know different media of art located in the heart of the campus.
Rec Sports
The Royal Purple covers recreational sports to help boost recognition, whether that is focusing on one specific sport in a feature or covering a championship event in intramural sports.
“It’s cool to see the Intramural Flag Football gaining attention from the coverage as it highlights a fun program that is not as well-known to students on campus,” flag football captain Danny Hanlon said.
He describes how the coverage in intramural sports helps represent all students who are good athletes and deserve recognition for their hard work. The championship coverage of the intramural sports helps motivate teams to push themselves further, as it is the biggest part of the season.
Club paintball president Jacob Ihn says how the coverage in rec sports helps with public knowledge, as the posters usually get skimmed over and it excites the freshman members into being involved in the school newspaper. He shares how his team members were so excited to be interviewed that they were competing to be the lucky ones to get their voice heard in the article.
“Club Paintball benefitted from the article that was written by more members being interested, morale boosted, a sense that the club exists and getting recognition from sponsorship donations,” Ihm said.
October 21, 2025.
Matt Schnieder, assistant director of intramural and club sports, goes into detail about how much of a difference spotlights make for intramural sports and upcoming club sports to help gain more involvement and support.
“The coverage on rec and intramural sports helps to promote opportunities to students while giving individual students or underrepresented sports a spotlight,” Schneider said. “The students really enjoy the opportunity to be interviewed as it validates what they do in campus life, along with helping promote their sports ability in a competitive environment.”
He urges students to try out a sport and to know that everyone on the staff in the rec sports department really cares for everyone and is there to help students, urging students to help give ways in which they can improve.
The Royal Purple continues its coverage in the Arts and Rec environment to help educate collegiate students and Whitewater community members of what is available in the Center of the Arts or in the recreational and intramural sports fields and competitions, along with highlighting features.
