Embedded Files
Pioneering Success
Pioneering Success
The Mercury Newspaper is an award-winning division 1 student newspaper based at The University of Texas at Dallas since 1980. Andre Averion's employment began October 2021 as an opinion columnist for video game media, and as he developed a sense of compassion for his community, his talents were recognized as he broke into breaking news and campus development. In May 2022, he was promoted to Distribution Manager, a new dual position between Mercury and AMP Magazines that Averion was the first to pioneer, before eventually coming to serve as Outreach Manager and interim Social Media manager for The Mercury.
Highlights of Andre Averion's career:
Highlights of Andre Averion's career:
Wrote the most stories in publication history.
Held the record for highest individual viewership post-pandemic, surpassing entire issues.
Personally handed out 12,600+ papers to students and faculty.
Personally delivered 105,750+ Mercury papers and 40,800+ AMP magazines across campus.
Revived campus interest in sports column, specifically basketball and fencing.
Started the first collaborative podcast between all of student media organizations.
Started Meet The Mercury and served as guest speaker for several UTD classrooms in marketing and communications.
Remembering History Today
Remembering History Today
Andre Averion has contributed to 149 articles at the Mercury, primarily focusing on breaking news, local and community development, criminal activity, law enforcement, research and a variety of sports. His writing was so indispensable that several entire issues had been dubbed “André papers” because he made up a quarter of the stories in print or made for the majority of the front page.
Some of Averion's Most Acclaimed Works and Personal Favorites
Some of Averion's Most Acclaimed Works and Personal Favorites
Photo by Surjaditya Sarkar | Mercury Staff
Law enforcement raids pro-Palestine encampment, arrests students and faculty
Law enforcement raids pro-Palestine encampment, arrests students and faculty
May 1, 2024
Nine students and three faculty members were among those detained as police tore down the encampment.
Photo by Surjaditya Sarkar | Mercury Staff
Comets create encampment in solidarity with Gaza
Comets create encampment in solidarity with Gaza
May 1, 2024
Students established a solidarity encampment with Gaza at the Chess Plaza, surrounded by walls made of cardboard, plywood and tires with a sign reading “Free Palestine: all the walls will fall.” State and local police forces arrived 4 p.m., tearing down the encampment and arresting at least 16 students and three professors less than 12 hours after the encampment’s creation.
Photo by Surjaditya Sarkar | Mercury Staff
Pro-Palestine students to meet with President Benson after seven-hour long sit-in for divestment
Pro-Palestine students to meet with President Benson after seven-hour long sit-in for divestment
April 24, 2024
A coalition of UTD student organizations hosted a walkout April 23, which began in the Plinth and evolved into a seven-hour sit-in occupying the admin building
Photo by: Surjaditya Sarkar | Mercury Staff
No Comet left inside
No Comet left inside
April 15, 2024
Total solar eclipse draws thousands of Comets, spectators across the U.S. to admire once-in-a-lifetime celestial wonder
Photo by: André Averion | Mercury Staff
Student Affairs removes Spirit Rocks for platforming ‘extended political discourse’
Student Affairs removes Spirit Rocks for platforming ‘extended political discourse’
November 20, 2023
The Spirit Rocks, a popular public platform for student expression, were removed from campus Nov. 20 after “extended political discourse” about conflict in Israel and Palestine, raising concerns of censorship.
Photo by: Jason Sadhanandh | Mercury Staff
JFK and UTD: A 60 Year History
JFK and UTD: A 60 Year History
December 4, 2023
Paying tribute to the 60th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the McDermott Library provided a public collection of books, government reports, feature films, and documentaries.
Photo by: Katheryn Montgomery | Photo courtesy
UTD student sentenced to six years in prison for animal cruelty
UTD student sentenced to six years in prison for animal cruelty
September 18, 2023
UTD graduate student Shubhankar Kawle was sentenced to six and a half years in prison on Aug. 31 for torturing two house cats, one of whom had to be euthanized due to severe injuries; the other had a limb amputated and made a full recovery.
Graphic by: Rainier Pederson | Mercury Staff
UTD bolsters sports identity with Division II move, $30 mil facility upgrade
UTD bolsters sports identity with Division II move, $30 mil facility upgrade
August 21, 2023
UTD is set to transition to Division II sports, eyeing a July 2024 National Collegiate Athletic Association approval after a coveted invite from the Lone Star Conference.
Photo by: Vedant Sapra | Mercury Staff
UTD wins first place in sword fighting tournament
UTD wins first place in sword fighting tournament
April 17, 2023
UTD swordsmen clashed blades and brought home first and third-place accolades on April 2 in the second-ever Texas College HEMA Alliance Tournament.
Photo by: Devinee Amin | Mercury Staff
Brent Tourangeau sworn in as UTD chief of police
Brent Tourangeau sworn in as UTD chief of police
April 3, 2023
In late February, campus welcomed former assistant police chief Brent Tourangeau as the newest UTD chief of police. Tourangeau’s official coronation was held in the McDermott Room on March 30, where UT System Director of Police Michael Heidingsfield came from Austin to officiate the ceremony.
Photo by: Andre Averion | Mercury Staff
Queens of the basketball court commemorated at homecoming game
Queens of the basketball court commemorated at homecoming game
February 27, 2023
An audience of over 680 fans gave seniors Jordan Maxwell, Maddie Edler, Diane Hurst and Lauren Fulenwider a standing ovation in their final season with the women’s basketball team.
Photo by: Isael Chavez | Mercury Staff
NASA Chooses UTD
NASA Chooses UTD
January 30, 2023
NASA chooses UTD physics professor Philip Anderson to lead a historic investigation to chart Earth’s poorly understood ionosphere-thermosphere.
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