Roar Magazine Vol. 9 / Issue 1 / Fall/Winter 2024 by Fort Hays State University

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Meet PJ Stauffer

PJ Stauffer, a second-year master’s degree student in drawing at FHSU, loves learning new artistic processes but is drawn to mediums that can “evoke a certain feeling of nostalgia,” such as oil pastels. He uses many different mediums and loves to paint, too.

His current work revolves around depicting emotions there are no words to describe.

“I use art as a cathartic process to express the feelings I can’t explain. I hope the viewer will look at these and if they relate, know they are not alone.”

PJ’s latest work, a mural in downtown Hays, can be found near the Downtown Hays Pavilion on the east wall of 117 E. 10th. This mural highlights some of the native plants and insects that are unique and important to Kansas ecology.

TO FOLLOW PJ’S JOURNEY, FOLLOW HIM ON INSTAGRAM: @THE.GHOST.PJ

Creation is how I use all of my extra energy, good and bad. There are some things I have to work through using art, but sometimes I just like to

paint something pretty for others to enjoy, too.”

PJ Stauffer grew up in Glen Elder. He began his mural project in July of 2024.

Don Bickle’s lifetime of generosity

Stories from Tiger Alums

Charlie Riedel, Cody Bickley and Brett Meyer 22 A SPIRIT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

FHSU encourages students to acquire skills and knowledge to adapt to an ever-changing marketplace. 28

The Robbins College of Business and Entrepreneurship leads the way in preparing students for successful careers in financial planning and banking. 34 TIGER NATION. UNITED. A STRATEGIC AFFILIATION

FHSU has launched a historic affiliation partnership with two technical colleges in rural Kansas.

I.B. Dent’s journey from Appalachia to the Great Plains

360-Video research project prepares teachers to innovate.

Dear Tiger Nation,

Welcome to the Fall/Winter 2024 issue of ROAR Magazine. Today is November 1. President Tisa Mason and I finished her annual media tour of Kansas two days ago. We logged over 1,000 miles and made 20 stops, including Dodge City, Garden City, Goodland, Russell, Beloit, Salina, Topeka, Wichita, and Great Bend. Tisa did two live TV interviews, three radio interviews, and a podcast. She met with reporters and editors across the state to discuss the impactful work of our university community across Kansas.

This year’s tour focused on the amazing work of our faculty, staff, students, and partners in the communities we serve. In Dodge City, we addressed issues of sex trafficking and gender-based violence. We also shared the progress of our Strategic Affiliation Implementation Teams in building new academic pathways between FHSU and our two Fort Hays Tech affiliation partners. Additionally, we visited the Topeka Correctional Facility to share the impact of an adult literacy program that is helping incarcerated mothers connect more deeply with their children.

President Mason also spoke at alumni gatherings in Garden City, Salina, and Wichita. She shared updates on fall enrollment growth, our Strategic Affiliation Initiative, our 2024 funding requests to the Kansas Legislature, and a range of capital projects currently underway on campus. Those projects include the installation of air conditioning at Gross Memorial Coliseum, a complete renovation of Forsyth Library, an expansion of the nursing and allied health spaces in Stroup Hall, and the construction of the new Bickle Schmidt Athletic Complex at Lewis Field Stadium.

The Annual Media Tour of Kansas is a powerful way to share the good work of our university with audiences across the state. ROAR Magazine is another vehicle we use to tell stories about the remarkable people who make Tiger Nation special. This fall, we will mail about 18,000 copies of this magazine to alumni and friends of Fort Hays State University, a figure that is close to double the distribution of the magazine just four years ago. I think this is pretty good evidence that Tiger Nation is as strong as ever and still growing.

As always, we welcome your feedback and story suggestions for future editions of ROAR Magazine. Drop us an email at FHSUNews@fhsu.edu.

Warm regards,

Scott Cason

Scott Cason Chief Communications Officer

Presidents Mason, Shears, and Burks discussing the Strategic Affiliation Initiative live on KAKE TV in Wichita during the 2024 President’s Media Tour of Kansas

INTRODUCTIONS

Editor in Chief

Scott Cason

Creative Director

Stocks Creative

Managing Editor

Boyce Durr

Senior Editor

Dawne Leiker

Writers

Scott Cason

Matthew Clay

Boyce Durr

Dawne Leiker

Diane Gasper-O’Brien

Brian Gribben

Photographers

Will Burns

Scott Cason

Dawne Leiker

Contributors

FHSU Alumni Office

FHSU Athletics

FHSU Foundation

ROAR Magazine is published twice a year (fall and spring) by Fort Hays State University’s Office of University Communications.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the FHSU Alumni Office, One Tiger Place, Hays, KS 67601

CONNECT

Fort Hays State University

@FortHaysState

Fall enrollment in Fort Hays programs marked by growth in several key areas

FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY

launched a historic affiliation partnership with North Central Kansas Technical College and Northwest Kansas Technical College in July of this year. This fall, 14,617 students, including 8,998 Kansans, are enrolled at one of the three Fort Hays institutions. Enrollment at Fort Hays Tech | North Central is up 3.1 percent, with 987 online and oncampus students in Hays and Beloit. This figure includes 966 Kansans. Enrollment at Fort Hays Tech | Northwest campus in Goodland is up 3.7 percent at 752 online and on-campus students, including 577 Kansans.

Fall 2024 enrollment at Fort Hays State University, Kansas’s largest comprehensive regional

public university, is 12,878 students. This figure includes 1,000 first-time new undergraduate (non-transfer) students, an increase of more than 9 percent over last year, a 3 percent overall increase in total graduate students, and campus residence halls operating at 97 percent capacity. This fall, 7,455 students, or more than 78 percent of FHSU’s domestic (U.S.) student population, are Kansans. This reflects a two percent increase in Kansans served over Fall 2023.

“Unmatched affordability, innovative and student-focused academic programs, and the ethic of care of the dedicated faculty and staff at our three institutions make a Fort Hays education the best value in education, anywhere,” said FHSU President Dr. Tisa Mason.

FortHaysState

Recipients of the Robbins Academic Opportunity Award each received $500 during the annual Robbins College of Business and Entrepreneurship scholarship reception.

FHSU awards more than $345,000 in scholarships at annual RCOBE ceremony

MORE THAN 275 STUDENT SCHOLARSHIPS exceeding $345,000 were awarded to Fort Hays State University business and entrepreneurship students for the 2024-2025 academic year.

The awards, announced at the W.R. and Yvonne Robbins College of Business and Entrepreneurship awards ceremony on Sept. 19 in the FHSU Memorial

Union Ballroom, were presented to oncampus and online students.

Robbins Ambassadors Jessica Saunders and Lauren Wagner, each receiving a $5,000 Robbins Ambassador Scholarship, spoke about their support as undergraduate students at FHSU and the impact that support has had on their educational experience.

“We are lucky to have so many leaders and mentors to guide us through these important years of our lives,” Wagner, a senior management major from Hays, said. “Each of you has made great efforts to mold us into the students and future professionals we will become.”

FHSU rodeo barrel racers light up the scoreboard at Kansas State University

THE FHSU RODEO TEAM began the season with big wins in their initial competitions, first in Manhattan and then in Colby. Leading the way for the Tiger Rodeo Team was FHSU freshman Hailey Witte from Crookston, Neb. Witte was the most recent State High School Barrel Racing Champion from her home state and continued with her championship ways in Manhattan. She posted a sizzling 15.61 seconds to take an early lead in the first go-round and ended up placing third.

Witte came back for the Sunday Short-Go Championship Round, nearly tying her first run with a time of 15.64. Her overall performance in the aggregate placed her first overall for the weekend.

“For a freshman to raise up to the collegiate level and win in her debut performance is incredible,” said Coach Guy Forell. “I knew we were going to be well represented in barrel racing this year. We had three barrel racers make it into the Top 12 Short Go at Manhattan, and I believe we’re going to see that with some regularity this year.”

FHSU freshman Hailey Witte competes in barrel race in the season-opening rodeo at K-State.

HIRSCHMAN PHOTOS

FHSU awarded NSF grant to advance health equity for gender-based violence survivors in Western Kansas

FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY has been awarded a $74,446 CIVIC Innovation Planning Grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The grant, titled “Advancing Health Equity in Western Kansas Rural Communities Affected by Gender-Based Violence: A Survivor-Centered Advocacy Approach,” will fund a six-month research development project beginning October 2024. This project is a critical first step in preparing for a subsequent one-year implementation grant to address service gaps for underrepresented communities.

The interdisciplinary project team includes key faculty members Dr. Ziwei Qi from Criminal Justice, Dr. Rachel Dolechek from Applied Business Studies, Dr. Naishuo Sun from Social Work, and experts from the Docking Institute. They will collaborate with Options Domestic and Sexual Violence Services (Hays and Colby) to drive the project’s initial planning phase. During this stage, the team aims to expand partnerships with additional on-campus programs, academic departments, other educational institutions, and community and public health organizations.

FHSU announces 2024 Tiger Nation Partner of the Year

FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY is pleased to announce The Paisley Pear as the recipient of the 2024 Tiger Nation Partner of the Year Award. The Tiger Nation Partner Program is a partnership involving several on-campus organizations, businesses, and organizations in the Hays community.

“Our community has a tremendous amount of Tiger spirit. When students come to FHSU, they see it every day throughout our community,” said Janette Meis, communication specialist in the Office of the President and co-chair of the Tiger Nation Partners committee. “The Paisley Pear is a strong supporter of FHSU. Their friendly staff frequently welcome our students and their families, and make them feel at home.”

FHSU joins 25 U.S. colleges in earning new Carnegie Foundation classification

Fort Hays State University is one of 25 colleges and universities in the nation and the only Kansas college or university to earn the inaugural Carnegie Leadership for Public Purpose Classification. This new classification recognizes institutions that have committed to campus-wide efforts to advance leadership in pursuit of the public good, including justice, equity, diversity, and liberty.

The American Council on Education (ACE), the Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University, and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching award this elective Carnegie designation. Carnegie Elective Classifications provide an independent and rigorous assessment of an institution’s extraordinary commitment to, investment in, and accomplishments in addressing pressing issues in the communities they serve.

FHSU awarded $3 million in congressionally directed funds

WITH THE SUPPORT OF U.S. SENATOR JERRY MORAN, Fort Hays State University recently received Congressionally Directed Community Project Funds (CDCPF) in the amount of $3 million. Beginning on September 1, 2024, these funds will be available for use among various health-related programs. Awarded through the US Department of Education, the funds are designated to support the purchase of advanced technology and simulation equipment associated with the instructional demands of Fort Hays State University programs, which focus on preparation and continuing education in the allied health professions. To prepare students to serve in a variety of allied health professions, access to advanced technology and state-of-the-art equipment is essential in preparing students to serve as an allied health professional.

Higher Learning Commission approves historic education affiliation

JUNE 27 MARKED A SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE for higher education in rural Kansas, as the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) officially approved the Change of Control application filed jointly by Fort Hays State University, North Central Kansas Technical College, and Northwest Kansas Technical College. HLC’s approval allowed these three institutions to unite under the Fort Hays banner in an effort to better serve the people, businesses, and communities of the High Plains. FHSU President Mason expressed her gratitude for the support

received from various stakeholders in finalizing this affiliation plan.

Under this new affiliation, North Central Kansas Technical College will become Fort Hays Tech | North Central. Northwest Kansas Technical College will be renamed Fort Hays Tech | Northwest. The Higher Learning Commission's comprehensive assessment process included a thorough evaluation of academic offerings, governance, mission, finances, resources, and all degree and certification offerings of the three institutions.

Smoky Hill Chorale performs and tours historic sites in Austria and Germany

THE SMOKY HILL CHORALE, an adult choir directed by Dr. Terry Crull and accompanied by Pam McGowne, toured Germany and Austria this summer. The group included 14 FHSU alumni and eight current students. Stops and performances on the tour included Neuschwanstein Castle, the Wieskirche church in Southern Germany, and the Salzburg Cathedral in Austria. The group also visited the garden of the Mirabelle Palace in Salzburg, the site of several scenes that appeared in the movie The Sound of Music.

The Smoky Hill Chorale and members of FHSU Singers performed at the Salzburg Chorale Festival during the summer of 2024.

FHSU celebrates the groundbreaking of a new athletic complex

FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY HELD A GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY for the new Bickle-Schmidt Athletic Complex Friday, October 4, to kick off Homecoming weekend. The 20,000-square-foot complex in the south end zone of Lewis Field Stadium will be a game-changer, accommodating the growth of FHSU’s athletic programs. The estimated $11.5 million complex will be well-utilized by our football team and enhance the training capabilities for all student-athletes. The new complex is expected to be completed in winter 2025.

Alumni Awards

DR. DAVID BAUER ’68

Alumni Achievement Award

THOUGH DR. DAVID BAUER HAD ALWAYS LOVED MUSIC, it was on the campus of Fort Hays State University where he began to hone the talents that led to his lifelong success. Thanks to the mentorship from his FHSU music instructors, Dr. Donald Stout, Mr. Lyle Dilley, Dr. Leland Bartholomew, Mr. Norman Jennings, and Mr. Patrick Goeser, Bauer developed the skills needed to kickstart a career in choir direction.

After graduating from FHSU, he earned a Master of Music Education degree from the University of Missouri Conservatory of Music in Kansas City and a Doctor of Education degree from Arizona State University. Bauer taught secondary choral

music across Kansas for eleven years before transitioning to instructing collegiate-level students. He helped students fine-tune their voices at the University of Nebraska-Kearney for 35 years before retiring in 2019. He continues to be the artistic director of the Platte River Singers, a community choir he created in 2013.

Bauer has enjoyed 56 years of marriage to his wife, Ann, who is also an FHSU alum. The couple has five children, sixteen grandchildren, and nine greatgrandchildren. This year, the couple received the “Friends of Kearney” award from the Kearney, Nebraska, Chamber of Commerce for contributions and leadership within their community.

DR. DALE HERL ’01 Alumni Achievement Award

DR. DALE HERL'S 11-YEAR TENURE as the Independence School District (ISD) superintendent has been marked by transformative leadership and an unwavering dedication to student success. He has propelled the district to new heights with a solid foundation that was built during his four years as ISD's Deputy Superintendent of Operations and Finance. Herl oversees 30 schools with more than 15,000 students and is driven to prepare students for college and their future careers. When Herl began serving as superintendent, the ISD offered six courses for college credit, which has grown to more than 90 courses, giving students a head start on their futures.

A lifelong learner, Herl earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics education from the University of Nebraska-Kearney, a Master of Science in Educational Administration from Fort Hays State University, and a doctorate from Wichita State University. Actively engaged in community service, Herl is a Rotary Club and Lions Club of Independence member and previously served on the Centerpoint Hospital Board of Directors and ISD Foundation Board.

With four children who graduated from Independence School District schools, Herl's personal investment in the district mirrors his professional commitment to shaping every student’s future.

JENNIFER (MARDIS) KITSON ’76,

Alumni Achievement Award

JENNIFER KITSON GREW UP IN PRATT, never dreaming that she would leverage her education from Fort Hays State to lead her to where she is today. She has become a recognized leader in school psychology and an expert in advocacy, school mental health, community collaboration, and sustained system change supporting child wellbeing outcomes.

Kitson received a bachelor's and master’s in psychology and an education specialist in school psychology degrees at Fort Hays State. She had three professional careers over 45 years, including as a school psychology practitioner and coordinator of a $3 million federal grant in Ellis County, a co-leader for a federally funded national center providing training and assistance

’80, ’92

to communities in 50 states focused on achieving positive outcomes for children and youth, and as an FHSU Department of Psychology instructor and school psychology program director.

Kitson’s state and national leadership were recognized as she received the 1997 KASP School Psychologist of the Year, 1999 NASP School Psychologist of the Year, 2022 KASP Lifetime Achievement Award, and 2024 NASP Legend in School Psychology.

Kitson was pivotal in creating Ellis County’s Big Brothers Big Sisters program and coordinating county-wide parenting classes. Her commitment to developing resources like this in communities nationwide further acknowledges the lives she’s touched through her advocacy, passion, and knowledge.

DONALD “DON” REIF JR. ’82 Distinguished Service Award

EVERY DAY, DON REIF LIVES AND WORKS IN SERVICE TO OTHERS thanks to his upbringing and Fort Hays State University education. Reif grew up in Hoisington and graduated with his bachelor's degree from Fort Hays State, double majoring in political science and history. As a student, Reif was involved with FHSU’s Young Democrats and served as a Student Government Association president and senator. These experiences inspired Reif to pursue a Juris Doctor of Law at Washburn University, where he served as a research assistant and intern for the Kansas Legislature.

Reif returned to his hometown of Hoisington after law school and founded an independent firm. Still serving after more than 35 years, Reif provides expertise to clients facing business law, criminal defense, and juvenile law cases. Throughout his career, Reif has facilitated

more than 150 adoption cases, finding loving homes for neglected or abused children. He has been known to kindly represent veterans, elderly, and lowincome clients pro bono on a case-by-case basis. Outside of his practice, Reif has educated aspiring lawyers as an adjunct instructor at Fort Hays State University for several years.

Sharing his expertise with students isn’t the only support he provides, though. Reif established the Don E. Reif Jr. Political Science Scholarship at Fort Hays State for pre-law political science students. In 2020, he became a Fort Hays State Wooster Society member by including the university in his estate plans. Reif’s passion and love for FHSU are demonstrated through his leadership, generosity, and the legacy he’s leaving in support of future Tigers.

ERNESTOR DE LA ROSA ’12 Young Alumni Award

SINCE GRADUATING FROM FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY, ERNESTOR DE LA ROSA has been working behind the scenes to make tangible change in the communities he has called home. As an immigrant, De La Rosa has used his own experience to show the possibilities available to others following in his footsteps. At 12 years old, De La Rosa came to the United States, faced challenges learning a new language, and experienced discrimination. He persevered through many barriers to gain an education.

Due to his status, De La Rosa did not qualify for financial assistance to attend Fort Hays State. He pushed himself to earn a bachelor’s in political science from FHSU while working two jobs. This hardworking spirit carried

over to other pursuits, including earning his Master’s in Public Administration from Wichita State University and leading communities in various capacities. In 2014, he became Dodge City’s Assistant to the City Manager and spearheaded several immigration and transportation projects.

In early 2023, he became the City of Topeka’s first-ever Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer. De La Rosa transitioned out of the role in 2024, entering the private sector as a regional manager of local government and community affairs with ITC Great Plains Corp., a transmission-only utility company based in Topeka. His service and mentorship to others, community enrichment efforts, and leadership demonstrate all that is possible for students seeking a degree in political science.

TRE’ GILES ’15 Young Alumni Award

TRE’ GILES, A COLORADO NATIVE, brings passion, commitment, and joy to everything he does.

As a first-generation college student, Giles became a voice for others with different ethnic backgrounds. Guided by his faith, his ability to uplift those around him was well-recognized at FHSU, earning him both the Men of Merit and Diversity Ally awards. After graduating, Giles took the leadership skills he learned at FHSU to the Peace Corps.

In The Gambia, West Africa, Giles advocated for education and gender equality and created a group to spiritually support fellow volunteers during their service. He was led back to Hays and gravitated naturally to leadership positions at FHSU,

Jana’s Campaign, and as a youth director at Celebration Community Church. His latest role as the Pastor of Justice and Mercy at the Bridgetown Church in Portland, Ore., has provided Giles a platform to share his faith in a larger capacity.

Giles empowers audiences in prisons, auditoriums, schools, and international venues to impact their communities through leadership and collaboration. When he’s not busy pastoring at Bridgetown, he cherishes family time with his wife, Carma, and their son, Saint.

Giles took the opportunities available to him at Fort Hays State University and has since proved that he can accomplish anything he sets his mind to.

ATHLETE HIGHLIGHTS

FOOTBALL

JOHN JOHNSON

John Johnson has been a force in the middle of the Tiger defense, playing inside linebacker. He was a D2CCA All-Super Region 3 Second Team selection in 2023 and was FHSU’s only All-MIAA First Team selection that season. He was named to the D2Football.com Elite 100 list for the top players in NCAA Division II going into the 2024 season. Even though he is in his fourth year with the team, he still has a year of eligibility in hand. Nearing the end of the 2024 season, he had over 200 tackles in his career and will likely be a key to FHSU’s

VOLLEYBALL

GRACIE RAINS

Gracie Rains has been a go-to player for Fort Hays State’s offensive success in volleyball. She was the team leader in kills during the 2023 season with 265, averaging 2.94 per set. She reached double figures in kills in 13 matches that season. Midway through the 2024 season, Rains is leading the team in kills once again, and she was an all-tournament selection at a pair of early-season events. She also surpassed 700 kills in her career during the 2024 season and, at her current pace, has the potential to reach 1,000 in her career.

MEN’S SOCCER

TADHG WALSH

Tadhg Walsh has emerged as one of the top veteran players on the Fort Hays State men’s soccer team. He opened the 2024 season on a five-match streak of producing assists and led NCAA Division II in assists with 14 by the end of the regular season. Walsh earned AllGAC/MIAA First Team honors as a midfielder for the second-straight year in 2024 and is now a threetime all-conference selection. Walsh is just the third player in program history to reach 20 assists in a career. He still has one more year of eligibility remaining following the 2024 season.

LED NCAA DIVISION II IN

WOMEN’S SOCCER

MEGAN WIMAN

Megan Wiman is in her third year with the women’s soccer team at FHSU. She has been a strong defender for the Tigers, earning an All-MIAA selection in 2023. She also performed well in the classroom, earning CSC Academic All-District and MIAA Scholar-Athlete honors last year. She was one of four players on the team to play over 1,800 minutes for the season, going the full 90 minutes in 19 of 21 matches for FHSU. This season, she helped the Tigers to an MIAA Tournament appearance, playing more than 1,600 minutes over 19 matches. With the Tigers set to lose several seniors following the 2024 season, she will be a key to the team’s success

2024

MIAA CROSS COUNTRY INDIVIDUAL CHAMPION

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

EMILY DIERCKS

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY CHRISTIAN DARRAH

2023

ALL-MIAA SELECTION

WORLD CLASS

FHSU Student-Athlete Competes in FIFA U-20

Women’s World Cup

Montserrat Diaz, Curridabat, Costa Rica

Emily Diercks has made an instant impact on the FHSU women’s cross country team this year after transferring from Colby Community College. Diercks was the women’s individual champion at the 2024 MIAA Cross Country Championships. She gave FHSU an individual champion on the women’s side two years in a row at the conference championship meet after Regan Hodsden won the year prior. With a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Central Regional, she qualified individually for the NCAA Championships. She was a top 10 finisher in all five of her races leading up to the NCAA Championship, while claiming three individual titles in two races.

Christian Darrah has made an instant impact on the men’s cross country team after transferring from Hutchinson Community College. In his first season with the Tigers, he earned All-MIAA honors by placing inside the Top 20 at the MIAA Championships and produced top-10 finishes in a pair of races leading up to the conference championship race.

JUNIOR ART/GRAPHIC DESIGN MAJOR MONTSERRAT “MONTI” DIAZ, FHSU Women’s Soccer forward, took her game to the next level after successfully earning a spot on the Costa Rican Women’s U-20 team for the 2024 Women’s World Cup competition in September. Diaz didn’t just make the team; she was selected as a starting midfielder and one of the three team captains.

“I learned a lot about myself as a person and a soccer player from this experience,” Diaz said. “It was amazing. As a captain of the team, I was able to gain valuable leadership experience and learn about areas where I could work to improve.”

While the exposure from this tournament has attracted attention from several sports agencies, Diaz plans to finish her degree and continue playing soccer at FHSU for as long as she is eligible. After that, she would like to pursue playing at the professional level.

HONORING A LOCAL LEGEND

BY DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN

Don Bickle’s lifetime of generosity

EVEN WITH HIS 10-GALLON HAT, Don Bickle is seldom the tallest person in a room. But in Hays, Kansas, this 5-foot, 3-inch dynamo is larger than life.

A staunch and longtime champion of his hometown, Bickle is hard to miss, even in a crowd. Long before a gold blazer stamped with numerous small tigers became a staple of his wardrobe at Fort Hays State University events, Bickle regularly dressed in a dress shirt and tie – and often a suit coat.

“You dress for success,” has always been his philosophy. “You dress how you want to present yourself.”

Don Bickle and success have become synonymous in so many ways over the past several decades.

He is a philanthropist with a heart as big as his broad-brimmed hat, and the millions of dollars he has invested in the Hays community and Fort Hays State have made an incredible impact.

You don’t have to look very far to find his name on structures in Hays and throughout the FHSU campus.

His most recent gift helped kick off construction of the new Bickle-Schmidt Athletic Complex at Lewis Field Stadium, which will feature a football locker room, an impressive training room, meeting rooms, and coaches’ offices.

Bickle and fellow local philanthropist, the late Bob Schmidt, were instrumental in getting the SchmidtBickle Indoor Training Facility off the ground in 2012, and the large video board/scoreboard at Lewis Field also bears their names.

Bickle and Schmidt, then president and CEO of Eagle Communications, were major donors to the city’s Bickle/Schmidt Sports Complex through a partnership with FHSU.

Fort Hays State donated the land to the City of Hays for the multi-field sports complex that includes the Tiger soccer field and the FHSU track and field complex.

Bickle and Schmidt often encouraged one another to join forces for the good of the community.

Schmidt passed away in 2017, but his generosity and legacy live on through the Schmidt Foundation, which joined Bickle in kicking off fundraising for the new FHSU athletic complex.

“With Dad and Bob, they never needed a contract,” said Bickle’s daughter, Lynette Pfannenstiel. “A handshake sealed the deal. If they shook hands, that was it.”

“Don is an amazing man, and has a tremendous heart for FHSU,” said Chris Brown, head Tiger football coach. “His generosity and support have helped provide our athletes, coaches, and Tiger Athletics staff with some of the best facilities in the country.”

Bickle and his wife, Chris, are also major donors to the FHSU Foundation’s student scholarship program and have contributed to numerous academic programs over the years.

What a lot of sports fans think of, however, when you mention Don Bickle’s name are his antics at Tiger basketball games.

IT HAS BECOME A TRADITION for the FHSU pep band to play the polka tune, “In Heaven, There Is No Beer,” during the final media timeout of each home game.

Once the song starts, all eyes in Gross Memorial Coliseum turn toward the first row of the second balcony to watch Bickle as he dances a jig and cheers on the crowd.

His interactions with the band and cheerleaders are endearing and warmly embraced by generations of students.

“It’s one of the moments when Gross Memorial Coliseum comes to life,” said Paige Lunsford, a former Tiger women’s basketball player and now the team’s assistant coach. “If you have been a

student-athlete at Fort Hays State, you will never forget Don Bickle for the rest of your life. You’ll tell your children about him.”

Bickle actually knows quite a bit about leading cheers and rousing a crowd. Nearly 80 years ago, he was a cheerleader at Kansas State University in Manhattan.

He credits his wife, Chris, for his love of getting involved with Tiger athletics.

Don and Chris Bickle were high school sweethearts while growing up in Hoisington in the 1940s, but went their separate ways following graduation and ended up marrying other people.

BICKLE MET HIS FIRST WIFE, Cecilia, in Hays, where they raised their three children. They wanted to give back to local healthcare and were major benefactors for the Bickle Pavilion of the Debakey Heart Institute at Hays Medical Center.

Bickle, longtime owner of S&W Supply Co. in Hays, has been quite successful in banking, real estate, and savvy investing. And he wants to share his good fortune.

He believes that “when God is good to you, you give back.”

After Cecelia lost her battle with

Don and Chris Bickle with FHSU cheerleaders

cancer in 2005, one of Bickle’s relatives reunited him and Chris, whose husband also died from cancer.

Don and Chris married in 2007. Chris, an avid sports fan and a former tennis player herself, introduced her new husband to the joy of attending athletic events.

And a shared love of Tiger athletics was born.

Now 97, Bickle has slowed some the past year – that happens when you are close to being called a centenarian –so he isn’t able to attend as many Tiger events anymore.

But he still listens to FHSU games on the radio, and the legacy he has built will live on for generations to come.

“Don brings a lot of passion and energy and enthusiasm to Tiger athletics in addition to his financial support,” said Curtis Hammeke, athletic director at FHSU. “He just cares about people.”

“His hand has touched so many parts of our community, benefitting so many people,” Coach Lunsford added. “I feel like the way that he gives back to this community inspires other people to do the same thing. He is leaving such a deep legacy.”

Ryan Bickle, chair of the FHSU Foundation Board of Trustees and Don Bickle’s grandson, has had the opportunity to witness that legacy first-hand while growing up in Hays and graduating from Fort Hays State.

“It’s pretty special seeing his name on all the buildings, knowing he has a legacy second to none,” Ryan said. “He’s done so much for all of the community. He has definitely left his mark.”

Diane Gasper-O’Brien is a Fort Hays State University alum who has made a career of sharing stories about her fellow Kansans. She spent 38 years working at The Hays Daily News before finishing her professional career at her alma mater. Diane retired from FHSU in 2022, and now works as a freelance writer.

SEPTEMBER 25-27, 2025 FORT HAYS STATE HOMECOMING

START MAKING PLANS TO ATTEND

OlyDreams mpic

EARLY THIS PAST SUMMER, Tiger alums Charlie Riedel (’83), Cody Bickley (’00, ’97), and Brett Meyer (’19, ’21) were all looking forward to the Paris Olympics competition. Cody and his men’s and women’s USA Wrestling Teams felt they were in a great position to bring home gold, silver, and bronze medals. FHSU track and field legend Brett Meyer needed to pass one last competitive hurdle to punch his ticket to Paris. And Associated Press photographer Charlie Riedel was eager to cover his ninth Olympic games. Their stories are the focus of this section of ROAR Magazine.

STORY BY SCOTT CASON AP PHOTO BY CHARLIE RIEDEL

Seeing the World Through Charlie’s Lens

CHARLIE REIDEL (’83) grew up in Hays with an older brother who built a darkroom in the basement of the family home. By the time Charlie made it to middle school, his brother had moved out of the house, and the darkroom became his domain.

In 1979, Charlie enrolled at Fort Hays State and began working as a photographer with the University Leader student newspaper and the Reveille yearbook. In the hectic world of tight production deadlines, Charlie honed his creative skills and professional work ethic. “I spent more time working on the paper and yearbook than I spent in class,” Charlie said. “It was pretty much a full-time job.” During his senior year, he worked part-time for the Hays Daily News while continuing to work for the school paper and the yearbook.

After graduating from FHSU in 1983, Charlie worked briefly at the Salina Journal before returning to Hays to work full-time at the Hays Daily News. There, he covered everything from local sporting events to the occasional auto accident or fire. But what Charlie was most proud of was his work in capturing scenes of everyday life in Hays and rural Kansas. Charlie spent years developing his skills as a visual artist by working on a series of “slice-of-life” features titled “The Nor’wester,” which appeared in each Sunday edition of the newspaper.

“We used these weekly features to give readers a sense of what it was like to live, work, and raise a family on the High Plains of rural Kansas. I think we provided an insight into the world around us at that point in time,” Charlie said.

In 2000, Charlie’s photography caught the eye of the Associated Press, and they lured him and his family away from Hays to shoot photos that accompanied national and international stories. From his new home in Kansas City, Charlie then began a 24-year career as an AP photographer covering everything from the devastating 2011 tornado in Joplin, Missouri, to the Super Bowl runs of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Through it all, Charlie has always sought to capture the experiences of the people whose lives have been inalterably changed. “Both the joy of people experiencing a trumphent moment in their lives, and the resilience of those enduring tragedy or hardship, especially those who may have just lost everything, are deeply compelling,” Charlie said.

The professional highlight of 2024 for Charlie was his assignment to cover the Paris Olympics. A veteran of every Olympic game going back to 2008, he drew a plum assignment. He was tasked with covering the Women’s Gymnastics competition. He knew he would be focusing on 27-year-old Simone Biles’ return to the Olympics. Biles stepped away from the vault competition during the 2020 games in Tokyo after she began to feel the onset of a mental block known as “the twisties” that can cause a tumbling athlete to lose control over their body in flight.

Biles would go on to win three gold and one silver medal in Paris, and Charlie had a spot front and center to cover it all. His photo of Biles soaring above the balance beam quickly became an iconic photo of the Paris Olympics.

Back home in Kansas City this fall, Charlie has returned to the routine of covering the reigning Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs. “The work can be pretty hard,” Charlie said. “But I remind myself constantly how lucky I am to get to cover historic events and remarkable people nearly every day

Just Another “Business Trip”

CODY BICKLEY LEADS USA WRESTLING AT THE PARIS OLYMPICS

FORMER TIGER WRESTLER, graduate assistant, head coach, and athletics administrator Cody Bickley (’97, ’00) is the Director of USA Wrestling’s National Teams. He is responsible for leading the program’s men’s and women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman teams as they train, travel, and compete all over the globe.

Cody grew up a wrestling coach’s kid in rural Northeast Colorado. One of his dad’s best friends was legendary Colorado high school wrestling coach Bob Smith. Cody wrestled for Bob until the latter retired in 1992. Smith’s retirement ended about a year later when he decided to accept an offer to rebuild Fort Hays State University’s struggling wrestling program.

Smith later recruited Cody to come to FHSU as a studentathlete and help in the rebuilding process. Cody completed his undergraduate degree and then worked as a graduate assistant and coach while pursuing his graduate degree. He became the head wrestling coach at FHSU in 2000 and led the team for the next eight years. In 2008, Cody moved to a senior leadership position with Tiger Athletics.

Soon after assuming his new role in 2008, Cody was offered a job with USA Wrestling. He turned the offer down. Late in 2009, USA Wrestling contacted Cody again with a job offer. This time, Cody would say “yes” and launch the next phase of his athletics career, rising from a manager position to his current role as the director of the program’s national teams.

A major element of Cody’s work involves ensuring his teams are ready to compete at the highest possible level. One of the ways he puts his athletes in a position to win in overseas competitions is by ensuring they have time to acclimate and train in a foreign environment. The usual travel routine for USA Wrestling is to

provide a day of acclimation for each time zone crossed. Since the wrestling competition wasn’t scheduled to begin until nearly two weeks after the Olympic Games opening ceremonies, Cody’s wrestlers would have plenty of time in France to acclimate.

Cody and Team USA looked at the Paris Olympics as just another “business trip.” To disconnect from party atmosphere and myriad distractions in and around the Olympic Village, Cody and the team boarded buses right after the opening ceremonies and headed 130 miles west to Normandy where they could focus on the job at hand.

While in Normandy, the teams toured Omaha Beach and many D-Day historic sites. “A couple of our athletes have family members who fought and died at Normandy,” Cody said. “It was a pretty special opportunity for them and all of us to revisit this pivotal time in our nation’s history and be reminded how special it is that we get to represent our country.”

Back in Paris for the “business” part of their trip, Team USA’s men and women wrestlers faced tough competition but brought home seven total Olympic Medals, including two Gold Medals, two Silver, and three Bronze Medals. The American female wrestlers performed exceptionally well at these games, emerging as the only national team other than the Japanese to earn more than one Gold Medal since women’s wrestling was added to the Summer Games in 2004.

“Our top competitors, including the Japanese, the Russians, and the Iranians, are all funded by their governments,” Cody said. “We’ve done pretty well throughout the last several Olympic Games, especially when you consider that the U.S. Olympic Team is the only one in the world that is privately funded,” Cody said.

Miles to Go

FHSU TRACK LEGEND BRETT MEYER’S PURSUIT OF HIS OLYMPIC DREAM

WHEN HE ARRIVED AT HAYWARD FIELD, the track and field complex on the University of Oregon campus and the host site for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Brett Meyer noticed the swarm of media and cameras and what looked like a “red carpet” event setup right out of a Hollywood premiere.

As he made his way into the facility, he also noticed that the media paid no attention to his arrival. Why should they? Brett was the only 1,500-meter qualifier without any form of corporate sponsorship. He was also one of only two former NCAA Division II athletes among the 38 runners who earned the right to compete for a spot on the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team.

None of that phased Brett. He was there to pursue his dream of competing for the United States at the Paris Olympics, not to make the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine.

Most of the top athletes in the world of track and field enjoy competitive and resource advantages Brett could only dream of. Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour-sponsored athletes can draw on the support of personal coaches, nutritionists, strength and conditioning specialists, sports agents, media teams, and a luxurious on-site team “house” to hang out at between events. Brett’s support system included his wife Kelly, a two-time AllAmerica sprinter at FHSU and an assistant coach for the Tiger Track and Field team, their two-month-old son Judah, Brett’s parents, and Kelly’s mom.

Despite the myriad challenges Brett faced in earning a spot at the Team Trials, his pedigree as a middle-distance runner speaks for itself. He was a six-time All-American in the 800 and 1,500-meter events and won the NCAA Division II national championship in the 1,500 during his senior year in 2019. He was the first Tiger to break the four-minute mile in college, running 3:59.77 during his junior season at the St. Louis Festival of Miles. He also holds the indoor mile record in Kansas, surpassing the great Jim Ryun’s 53-year-old Kansas indoor mile record at the Washburn Invitational in Topeka with a time of 3:58.39.

Brett qualified for the 2024 Olympic Team Trials in April of this year with a personal best time of 3:36.40. Brett’s qualifying time was slightly over five seconds slower than the qualifying time of Cole Hocker, the Nike-sponsored runner who would go on to win Olympic Gold in Paris.

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Before arriving in Eugene, Oregon, Brett knew he would have to far exceed his personal best of 3:36.40 to earn one of only three spots on the team. He also knew that while others were still out there grinding to earn a qualifying spot, he would have three months to prepare for the Trials.

June 21 was day one of the Team Trials, a day that went very well for Brett. In his first heat, he posted the seventh-best time in the heat at 3:36.70, which was only three-tenths of a second off his personal best. This placed him among the top 25 runners from the round and qualified him to move on to the second round.

What followed was a sleepless night for Brett.

“I was just amped up and excited,” Brett said. “My mind just raced all night.”

In the second round on June 22, Brett finished 20th overall with a time of 3:39.38 and did not move on.

Brett and Kelly returned to Hays and their respective jobs at FHSU soon after his Olympic trial experience ended. Brett’s ultimate goal is to keep training and keep breaking the 4-minute barrier in the mile, hoping his son will be old enough to remember it.

“I was disappointed by how the Olympic Trials turned out, but I really feel my best days as a runner are still ahead of me,” Brett said. “As long as I keep improving, I plan to keep competing.”

Next up for Brett, Kelly, and Judah is a possible trip to his first-ever international track and field event, next September’s World Athletic Championships in Tokyo.

Entrepreneurship A SPIRIT OF

CAN FUEL CREATIVITY AND TURN OUR WILDEST DREAMS INTO REALITY

FHSU encourages students to acquire skills and knowledge to adapt to an ever-changing marketplace. Innovating and working together, FHSU’s Institute for New Media Studies helps bring student ideas from concept to creation. Regardless of how our students envision their entrepreneurial goals, FHSU has many tools to offer, from collaborations in Dane G. Hansen Hall to pursuing FHSU’s Business Essentials Certificate to participating in student entrepreneurial challenges. Our students and alums share new perspectives and tackle existing problems every day.

STORY BY DAWNE LEIKER PHOTOS BY WILL BURNS

Honesty Beaton demonstrates an augmented reality app displaying banned books.

UNLOCKING ENTREPRENEURSHIP

How FHSU’s Institute for New Media Studies turns ideas into practical

LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO LAUNCH A NEW IDEA?

The Institute for New Media Studies might just be the place for you.

“What we like to tell students is that we are the coolest research lab on campus,” said Dr. Gordon Carlson, associate professor of informatics and director of the institute. “You don’t have to have any experience. What we do is take your idea and help bring it to realization by finding whatever it is you need to make it happen.”

Working with FHSU’s task force to encourage entrepreneurship, the Institute for New Media Studies looks for opportunities to create pathways for developing new ideas and to help students get their feet wet in the entrepreneurship game.

As a transdisciplinary research program, the institute has tendrils connecting faculty and mentors willing to share their expertise across campus. Beyond that, the institute can help connect students to industry or outside organizations.

Carlson said that students can approach him or his team with “wild ideas,” and the team will work on ways to bring those ideas to life. This can involve making prototypes and connections with key individuals to help the students move to the next level.

The institute is currently in Malloy Hall but will move to the newly renovated Forsyth Library upon its completion. Its laboratory offers virtual and augmented reality, a 3D laser printer, a 55-inch interactive smart table, large screen displays, scanning and printing of 3D objects, and a historical display of 100 years of communication technology. A few of the institute’s past projects include A-Star (the

prototypes

institute’s LEGO robot), which serves as a library concierge; LiveStock 3D, software allowing a user to visualize the processes involved in livestock production; and an ongoing project, Tiger Range, a new media model of the FHSU campus with versions in print, 3D animation, videogames, virtual reality, and augmented reality.

Carlson said it’s not the aim of the institute to duplicate industry standards but rather to accomplish results that meet the institute’s 80/20 rule - 80 percent as good as industry for 20 percent of the cost. “Our market is people who would never have had the opportunity to be exposed to the technology,” Carlson said.

“You don’t always need all the bells and whistles,” he added. “What you need is the core experience.”

According to Carlson, what’s important to students is creating their end product, not learning the intricacies of the software itself. The institute offers the tools to create prototypes but not necessarily polished products.

“We encourage students to come make use of our program and resources, even if it’s just for fun, to learn personally, or as part of a class project,” Carlson said. Students can even take for-credit classes via partnerships with departments.

Current institute research assistants include Jonathan Hunnacutt, an MBA Management Information Systems student from Phillipsburg, Honesty Beaton, a computer science major from Wichita, and Juan David Guzman-Duran, an MFA art and design student from Hays.

“I’m really proud that each assistant hails from a different college,” Carlson said. “They are interdisciplinary, each having their own strengths. We function as

a team, but each of them has a role.”

Honesty laughs when she talks about her co-workers at the institute.

“We all work together as one big team,” she said. “The brains, the muscle, and the art.”

David corrected her, pointing to himself, “the eyes,” he said.

A recent project highlighting banned books brought Carlson’s team together with Forsyth library staff members. Led by Honesty, the team built an augmented reality app where participants could look through a tablet at an empty bookshelf and see the virtual banned books as if they were there. Tapping on the tablet, participants found information explaining why the books were banned. David generated all the 3D books, while Honesty developed the software to make the augmented reality function. The students used a digitally encoded marker to create the project

“It’s a fun and interactive way to show those books to people,” David said.

Jonathan, in his second year with the institute, is working on a project called “The Cube 2.0,” a giant cube where videogames, interactive content, videos, and high resolution images are projected onto various surfaces and a range of interactions are made possible through cameras, body tracking, and some new tools being developed in the lab.

Based on initial work that was funded through a federal grant, the team will start “The Cube 3.0” by the end of 2024. Carlson said that the current team, with Honesty leading the way as a proficient coder, gives the group more opportunities to do specialized projects.

“This year, Dr. Carlson went out of his way to find a digital person who knew coding,” Jonathan said. “This is our biggest team yet. It’s been a busy semester and it’s only September.”

DEFINE BEAUTY

A local entrepreneur’s journey from youth philanthropy to business success

AT FIRST GLANCE, YOU MIGHT NOT NOTICE DEFINE BEAUTY when driving through the 8th Street business district in Hays, but a step inside the store reveals an understated chic setting that immediately sets a visitor at ease.

Define Beauty, Reece Leiker’s salon and retail store at 115 E. 8th St., offers a blend of products. In addition to Reece’s signature Define makeup line and salon, the store carries perfume, handmade jewelry made by women of the Philippines, leather earrings, nutritional products, Glo skincare line, laundry detergent, deodorants, soaps, and body butter. Reece also makes time to teach classes in applying makeup.

Reece and her mother, Taryn Leiker, paused for a few moments one afternoon in September to discuss Reece’s early foray into several imaginative yet practical business ventures.

Reece, now 20 years old, can trace her roots in entrepreneurship back to when she was 11. At that time, Reece had just seen her entrepreneurial parents raise enough money to build six homes for impoverished individuals in Nicaragua. Her mother then asked her and her brother (only seven years old) a serious question.

“I asked the question: ‘What could you do to change or impact the world for the better,’” Taryn Leiker said. “There are certain things that kids can’t do, but at the same time, why limit them? And Reece said: ‘Well, I can do what you do.’”

Reece laughed, hearing her own words coming from her mom.

“That was a bold statement coming out of that little girl’s mouth,” Reece said.

“Reece decided to sell homemade laundry detergent because she knew she could make a big impact in a short time,” Taryn said.

Reece Leiker applies makeup to her mother, Taryn Leiker at Reece’s salon in Hays.

By selling homemade laundry detergent through her family’s non-profit organization “Pure Roots,” Reece raised more than $104,000 to build 20 homes in Nicaragua and provide clean water for more than 300 individuals in Africa.

“What I loved about my start in entrepreneurship was that I gave away all the money I made,” Reece said. “It was really just a good experience. I thought, ‘this is kind of fun,’ setting goals and selling things.”

Reece said that she is continually inspired by her mother and her mother’s network of friends who are entrepreneurs. Taryn worked for a nutritional supplement company when Reece was a youngster and began a path to understanding clean and healthy products. Reece said the early days of Taryn’s work with “Pure” shifted the family’s mindset about entrepreneurship.

“It was really nice to have my parents home and present for a lot of important events in our lives,” Reece said. “It was my first real taste of entrepreneurship.”

For Taryn, that was a pivotal time for the family as well, as she and her husband James went from a financially insecure life holding down five jobs between them to making their first million within a couple of years. At the forefront of Taryn’s mind, though, was the understanding that she must be prepared for failure at any point.

“You can always choose to grow and be better,” she said. “Reece got to see that hands-on, and through that whole process, I was just very honest. I often said, ‘I don’t know’; I was never teaching her from a place where I knew everything.”

In addition to creating an entrepreneurial pathway for their family,

Taryn and James hoped to instill a love of western Kansas in their children. They see value in families staying connected to their local community.

“We wanted them to have deep level ties to the community and a desire to give back,” Taryn said. “We hoped they could understand that they are part of a community and not just in life for themselves. That was very important to us.”

In 2022, Reece was introduced to the FHSU community when she pursued a Business Essentials Certificate from FHSU as a Hays Academy of Hair Design student. She lived in Hansen Hall, FHSU’s living space for students pursuing studies in entrepreneurship.

“I had the best time in Hansen Hall,” Reece said. “I loved how Fort Hays really catered to entrepreneurship there. I liked being around peers, people my own age who were high performers.”

According to Taryn and Reece, the Leiker family works as a team, each with their talents and abilities. Each member of the Leiker family manages their own business, but they are quick to come to each other’s aid whenever there is a need for assistance.

“I am just grateful because so many people have kids who move away, and they’re not tied to each other,” Taryn said. “We have built this not as a person’s or a couple’s vision. We built this as a team vision.”

“I’m so blown away by what we can do as a family and grateful more than anything that we all love being around each other.”

Taryn pointed out that handling failure and market issues out of our control are important lessons for any

“I don’t necessarily need my name to be on the Forbes list. I just want to know that I’m doing my part in the world to make a good impact. That’s what I’m really passionate about.”

entrepreneur. She said Reece should not be afraid to navigate these sorts of issues as they are essential to building depth of character.

“Reece has such a great head on her shoulders,” Taryn said. “She doesn’t spook easily. She is willing to figure out how to make her vision work. When she is scared, she just digs deep and focuses on what does and doesn’t matter to her.”

Along the way, though, Taryn said it is important to celebrate even small successes.

“The shortest part of the mountain journey is at the top,” Taryn said. “People miss the point when they watch other people’s highlight reels. Reece doesn’t see her life as a highlight reel; she is just celebrating the whole movie.”

As she celebrates that movie, Reece hopes to expand her makeup line and teach more in-person classes in the future.

“The biggest thing that entrepreneurship enables is freedom and being able to set things up myself,” she said. “In 10 to 15 years, I would like to have this place so stable that when I have a family of my own, I can work when I want to.

“I don’t necessarily need my name to be on the Forbes list (of the richest people). I just want to know that I’m doing my part in the world to make a good impact. That’s what I’m really passionate about.”

BLENDING SCIENCE AND BUSINESS

FHSU students win the Werth Entrepreneurship Challenge for two years running

FOR THE SECOND TIME, FHSU HAS WON THE WERTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP CHALLENGE, besting students from the University of Connecticut. The team of five FHSU students promoted the merits of not just starting a business but finding new ways to solve an existing problem. The challenge was held at the UConn campus on November 2.

Sponsored by Peter Werth (FHSU alumni class of 1959) and in collaboration with FHSU, the event challenged participants from FHSU and UConn to develop start-up business plans focused on solar composting, a project agreed upon by both FHSU and UConn’s teams.

Dr. Keith Bremer, associate professor of geosciences and director of graduate school and office of scholarship and sponsored projects, served as a faculty sponsor for the team.

“This year, students worked hard to bridge the science and entrepreneurial gap, and it paid off,” Dr. Bremer said. “Working throughout the summer, meeting weekly through the fall semester, and two to three times a week in the final weeks of the project, the students were able to pull together an amazing business plan. I am extremely proud of their hard work on this project.”

FHSU’s team, consisting of Dustin Rajewski, a biology major from Victoria; Noah Erichsen, an environmental geoscience and history dual major from Ellsworth; Bryce Steffan, a Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Science (KAMS) student from Ellinwood; Diana Angarita, master’s student in organizational leadership from Venezuela, and Chelsie Rose, Scott City junior, double majoring in accounting and finance, met weekly to create a plan they hoped could best their UConn challengers. FHSU’s team

LEFT: Dustin Rajewski, Bryce Steffan, and Noah Erichsen (back row); Chelsie Rose and Diana Angarita (front row)

anticipated their mix of science and business expertise would give them the winning edge.

Last year marked the inaugural Werth Challenge held on the FHSU campus. Two KAMS students and four FHSU students came out in front of the UConn team with their project to market a permanent charging station called the “WattSpot,” combining green energy technology, and ease of work into one concept. FHSU’s team was awarded $15,000 in prize money. UConn received $10,000.

The 2024 FHSU team started preparing for the challenge in May. Each FHSU team member contributed their unique talents. Bryce, who had experience preparing financials for last year’s Werth Challenge, contributed his expertise both in science and finances.

Dustin and Noah, with geoscience and chemistry skills, focused on determining how the composting process would work. Diana, who has participated in other challenges, shared her marketing and “people” skills. She said it was important to ease into the team and start by looking at each member’s strengths.

“I try to help as much as possible with the business side of things,” Diana said. “Every time I do a challenge, I focus on the PR side, the looks of the presentation, and the way the presentation is set up. We have equal numbers of people who know about business and people who know about engineering, chemicals, and solar energy.”

Chelsie, a resident of Hansen Hall, a living space for students pursuing studies in entrepreneurship, shared her

finance, accounting, and entrepreneurial skills. She said entrepreneurship isn’t simply about starting a business but rather finding new ways to solve existing problems.

“I think that every entrepreneurship journey is different,” Chelsie said. “I’m not in entrepreneurship necessarily to learn how to create my own business. I’m in entrepreneurship to build connections and learn from mentors how they created something from nothing. Those skills will help me in my career no matter what I do.”

“There are multiple different definitions of entrepreneurship. But I think it is whatever you make of it. It is what you learn from challenges or researching, how it applies to the real world.”

Diana said she agreed with Chelsie and that the entrepreneurship challenge isn’t just about learning to sell a product; it is important to respect the diversity of talents represented on the team.

“I think we have a solid team,” Diana said. “I was so happy when we started this challenge to find out that other members had backgrounds in science. I’ve participated in many teams where we were eager to win but had absolutely no clue how to create the product, to make it happen.”

The idea for solar composting stems from the food waste the team members see daily at FHSU’s Memorial Union and McMindes cafeteria.

“This composter would add a green element to the university,” Noah said. “Especially by putting solar panels on top of the Union and McMindes. If you put 1,000 pounds of food waste in, you get 100 pounds of compost.

That can be sold back to the university and surrounding communities for landscaping and gardening.”

“This is a problem we see every day: people throwing out food,” Noah said. “Where is that food going? Our thought process was to figure out how that food could be recycled into something new that could also save universities money.”

Noah said addressing food waste on campus is an area he wants to see Fort Hays State actively pursue.

“That’s not unrealistic,” Diana agreed. “Ideally, it’s realistic enough that FHSU could pick up the idea. If they consider that, then we’ve done our job.”

“This is a problem we see every day: people throwing out food. Where is that food going? Our thought process was to figure out how that food could be recycled into something new that could also save universities money.”

The Robbins College of Business and Entrepreneurship is leading the way in preparing students for successful careers in financial planning and banking. Beyond the classroom, where coursework is designed to lay the groundwork for high-demand, high-reward jobs, our students are offering peer-to-peer mentoring services to help their fellow students better understand budgeting and other financial topics.

BREAKING DOWN FINANCIAL BARRIERS

FPeer-to-Peer Guidance

STORY AND PHOTOS

BY DAWNE LEIKER

INANCIAL CHALLENGES CAN BE A STUMBLING BLOCK FOR ANYONE, but for first-time college students, that stumbling block can look like a brick wall. That’s where Tiger Money Mentors come in. Tiger Money Mentors are trained, money-smart students who want to help other students navigate their finances.

Led by Dr. Christina Glenn, assistant professor of financial planning, the team consists of Sarah Abernathy, a senior chemistry major from Oberlin; Charlie

Hutson, a junior accounting major from Haslet, Texas, and Kale Wheeler, a junior finance major from Scott City.

The team members work with FHSU students to tackle one-on-one financial questions, such as how to develop a plan to reach financial goals or create a budget. In addition, professors can request a presentation from the team by going to the team’s website. The 2024-25 academic year has seen Tiger Money Mentors present to FHSU classes on several financial topics. One popular topic has been dressing on a budget.

Each Tiger Money Mentor was interested in joining the team for different reasons. Charlie was drawn to the role because, in the past, he has been able to help his friends who struggle with financial questions by giving them “baseline advice.”

“It comes down to the basics of budgeting or choosing a credit card,” he said. “Things that we think are simple, but for people our age who haven’t been exposed to it, it’s a little more difficult. For me, that has been very rewarding.”

Sarah agreed that financial advice can

be helpful no matter what the students hope to achieve.

“Breaking down the basics for people and educating them in a way that doesn’t make them feel inferior is really important,” she said. “But it’s not just our one-on-one appointments that make a difference. People educate other people.”

The fact that the Tiger Money Mentors can see this “ripple effect” in real time is part of the value of the program for Dr. Glenn, who said that their mentorship goes “beyond helping just one person.”

“The Tiger Money Mentors are passionate about helping others,” Dr. Glenn said. “I would love to hire more mentors in the future if funding allows. I think the more diversity we have in our Tiger Money Mentors, the more groups we will reach across campus.”

Impacting students in ways that older advisors might not be able to is a benefit the Tiger Money Mentors see in their work. The students they advise can be assured that the mentors are facing similar financial challenges.

“We’re going through the same life experiences that they (students) are essentially,” Kale said. “Our advice comes from that position rather than an adult or someone they see as superior. It comes across better, and it’s easier for that advice to stick.”

Looking ahead, Sarah plans to teach high school chemistry and physics. However, two of the mentors factored entrepreneurship into their plans. Kale will return to his family farm and work to build the operation.

“My grandpa built the farming operation from scratch, and my role will be continuing his success rather than restarting things,” Kale said.

Charlie hopes to start his own publishing firm after attaining his CPA.

“I love the literary world. I think it’s the artistic side of people expressing themselves,” Charlie said. “I can use the skills that I pick up from accounting and still be involved in that world.”

Regardless of the path the mentors take after they graduate from FHSU, the financial principles they are learning and applying will carry on to other life aspects.

“Financial awareness helps us look at smaller details and pay attention to things we normally wouldn’t,” Charlie said. “I think it can be brought over into sports, school, and personal relationships.”

“You talk about the compound effect in finance, but that doesn’t just apply to your finances; it absolutely applies to your day-to-day life and all your habits.”

Tiger Money Mentors Sarah Abernathy, Kale Wheeler and Charlie Hutson enjoy helping other FHSU students.

BUILDING CAREERS, BUILDING RESILIENCE

FHSU alumni make their mark in Kansas banking

STORY BY DAWNE LEIKER

RESILIENCY. IT’S A BUZZWORD YOU MIGHT HEAR FROM any of the FHSU graduates who have completed any of the Robbins Banking Institute banking programs (major, minor, and certificate programs). Offered by the Department of Economics, Finance, and Accounting, the 120-hour major, the 21-hour minor, and the 12-hour certificate program require students to take coursework focused on community banking. Those courses include Principles of Banking, Bank Management, and Bank Strategy. The mentorship and connections students form along the way contribute to an appreciation of the role resilience plays in banking and personal success. Several alums, including Braxten Eilert and Rachel Kropp, now work for W.R. Robbins at his Overland Park bank.

Longtime, devoted supporters of FHSU, W.R. and his late wife, Yvonne Robbins, endowed the Robbins College of Business and Entrepreneurship in 2016, which led to the creation of the Robbins Banking Institute in 2017, the first of its kind in Kansas. He and Yvonne’s interest in establishing the Robbins Banking Institute traced back to FHSU alums they had hired for their bank in Overland Park.

W.R. began his banking career in 1971 when he and Yvonne purchased the Farmers Bank and Trust in Great Bend. W.R. continues to lead his network of nine community banks and has served as the chairman of the Kansas Bankers Association. At the October Young Bank Officers of Kansas Conference in Hays, W.R. reiterated his commitment to FHSU’s banking program, speaking of the caliber of FHSU alums he has hired over the last ten years.

“We were so impressed by the education coming out of Fort Hays State,” he said. “It is a success story that really stands out. We are so convinced of the program’s quality that our bank has hired a total of five credit analysts, reaching back ten years, and those five are still with us.”

For Braxten Eilert, credit analyst at Farmers Bank of Kansas City in Overland Park, finding a career path in banking can be traced back to when he attended FHSU finance and economics club trips through his multiple courses with Dr. Emily Breit, professor of finance.

Braxten comes from an agricultural background in central Kansas, where his dad, uncle, and grandpa are farmers. He attended his first Kansas Bankers Association Conference in 2023 and “got really excited about banking.” He was asked to help by reading questions on stage at the conference,

Braxten Eilert with W.R. Robbins at W.R.’s bank in Overland Park. (courtesy photo)

where he unexpectedly had to do some public speaking.

Braxten took advantage of the situation and gave his “two cents” as well.

“It was kind of cool to see everybody’s reaction in the audience,” he said. “I got a lot of business cards out of that, so it was a good deal.”

Braxten credits Dr. Breit with bringing quality speakers to the classroom. But it was his natural curiosity that drove him to make connections.

“I wanted to learn all the obscure abstract things,” he said. “I wanted to know more than what was on the test. Maybe I was pestering the teachers sometimes a little too much about questions that weren’t applicable to the curriculum, but I think students shouldn’t be ashamed to have a genuine curiosity.”

He met W.R. Robbins for the first time when he interviewed for a position

with his bank. Impressed by W.R., Braxten is quick to sing his praises.

“I can go into his office anytime,” Braxten said. “He shows up to work every day. He is a really sharp, principled, nice guy. It is great that I get to work with a bank that has ties to FHSU and co-workers who are Fort Hays State alums. On top of that, I love the Kansas City area. I have a lot of friends who are Fort Hays State University grads who have moved here as well. I am so glad to be part of a bank with ties to western Kansas.”

Braxten has learned many lessons from W.R. Anything from abstract banking concepts to changing weather patterns are frequent topics of discussion between the two.

“One of the things he attributes his bank’s resiliency to over the last few decades is the diversification of western Kansas small business and agriculture and the growing urban economy of Kansas City,” Braxten said. “The diversification of those two, when the economy is in rough times, has proved to be a great tool for constant growth.”

FHSU graduate Rachel Kropp, who works remotely as a credit analyst for W.R.’s bank, started her banking career in Kansas City before moving back to her hometown of Scott City. Rachel’s dad is a longtime banker, but she hadn’t planned on a banking career for herself.

“I thought, ‘that’s what Dad does, I’m not doing it,’” Rachel said. “Then I got to college, and I started getting into my classes, and I thought, ‘well, shoot, my brain works like a banker’s.’ That’s how I ended up on this path.”

Rachel began her freshman year at KSU studying agriculture and transferred

to FHSU after two years. She found herself “at home” when she explored FHSU’s Robbins College of Business and Entrepreneurship and decided to work toward a banking certificate.

Dr. Breit connected Rachel with W.R. and helped her land an interview with his Overland Park institution.

Rachel now works from home so she can be there for her two young children, ages 2 ½ and 11 months. She began working from home in 2022 and said the transition from office to remote has been a bit of an adjustment. As a credit analyst, Rachel looks at a business’s tax returns, cash flow trends, balance sheets, and overall business health.

“I am very much a people person, but when it comes to work, I like to stick my nose to the grindstone and just go,” she said.

Rachel has found banking to be a “fantastic career option” because she has learned a great deal about various businesses. She said she would recommend banking as a career path for other students.

“Whether or not you want to stick with banking, it gives you a lot of insight into a variety of different things,” she said. “You get a peek at businesses that other people don’t. It’s cool to get that perspective. Banking provides so many business fundamentals for people. The directions from there are limitless.”

Rachel is a big proponent of attaining FHSU’s banking certificate.

“The banking institute’s curriculum put me miles ahead of where I would have been,” she said. “It definitely gave me the foundational principles that made coming into the workforce so much easier.”

SUPPORTING FHSU IS EASY!

01. Support Student Scholarships 01.

Support Student Scholarships

Refer a Tiger

Refer a Tiger 02.

Scholarships continue to be our greatest need. You have the power to change a student’s life! Start a scholarship by contacting the FHSU Foundation team at foundation@fhsu.edu or 785-628-5620.

Make a gift to FHSU by visiting foundation.fhsu.edu or mail a check to the FHSU Foundation at PO Box 1060, Hays, KS 67601.

Do you know a potential FHSU Tiger? We would love to visit with them! Visit bit.ly/3Yzhbgs and provide a phone number, email, and/or mailing address for the prospective student and our Admissions team will take it from there.

Make a gift to FHSU by visiting foundation.fhsu.edu or mail a check to the FHSU Foundation at PO Box 1060, Hays, KS 67601.

You can also contact the Fort Hays State Admissions team at tigers@fhsu.edu or 785-628-5666.

a Tiger Tag 03.

If you’re a Kansas resident, support FHSU student scholarships with a Fort Hays State license plate – also known as a Tiger Tag.

Purchase a tag for your personal or business vehicle(s) at your local county treasurer’s office or visit FHSUalumni.com/drive to learn more.

Internships 04.

Student Internships 04.

Purchase a tag for your personal or business vehicle(s) at your local county treasurer’s office or visit FHSUalumni.com/drive to learn more.

Interns help meet workforce needs in a cost-effective manner. Internships also provide hands-on professional work experience for FHSU students.

experience for FHSU students.

Learn how your business can start an internship by contacting Fort Hays State University Career Services at careers@fhsu.edu or 785-628-4260.

Tiger Nation. United. A STRATEGIC AFFILIATION UPDATE

FOR RURAL WESTERN KANSAS to prosper in the decades to come, every individual must have the opportunity to develop their talents, skills, and interests. It is through education that talent and grit connect with professional opportunities that, in turn, build a workforce ready to support investment and growth.

In June 2024, Fort Hays State University launched a historic affiliation partnership with two technical colleges in rural Kansas. A critical early element in the partnership initiative was a rebranding effort that transitioned North Central and Northwest Kansas Technical Colleges to their new identities as Fort Hays Tech institutions.

North Central Trailblazers and the Northwest Mavericks are now both Tigers, with distinct tiger logos that reflect the unique personalities of each institution. Under the new affiliation agreement, North Central Kansas Technical College became Fort Hays Tech | North Central, and Northwest Kansas Technical College became Fort Hays Tech | Northwest.

During the second week of September, a series of Affiliation community celebrations drew hundreds to an evening of fun, food, and fellowship in Goodland, Hays, and Beloit. The new and distinctly different tiger logos for Fort Hays Tech | Northwest and Fort Hays Tech | North Central were unveiled at each event. More than 400

people attended the first launch celebration in Goodland, where Fort Hays Tech | Northwest fans enjoyed burgers, hot dogs, live music, and a fantastic fireworks show to conclude the night’s festivities.

The celebration event in Hays featured a ribbon-cutting to mark the partnership’s launch, along with food trucks, free snow cones, live music, and art and science activities for kids. The series of launch celebrations concluded in Beloit, where the Fort Hays Tech | North Central faithful climbed on an eighteen-wheel truck and a gigantic John Deere combine. The night concluded with a concert by country artist Jake Gill. This fall, close to 9,000 Kansans enrolled at the three Fort Hays institutions.

LEARN AND LIVE

FHSU alumna thrives in rural education thanks to Northwest Kansas Scholarship

FOR FHSU GRADUATE

JENNA HAASE

ZAMRZLA, the NW Kansas Learn and Live Scholarship answered many financial questions she had as an undergraduate student.

The Dane G. Hansen Foundation’s Learn and Live Scholarship helped Jenna, now a fourth-grade teacher in Ellsworth, begin her post-college career on solid financial ground. Since 2019, the scholarship funds have been allocated to 69 students, spanning various academic disciplines. More than $800,000 has been provided by the foundation for scholarships.

The award funds full tuition and fees for up to 30 credit hours per academic year. It requires recipients to declare their intention to seek employment in an area of study and a community within the Hansen Foundation 26-county service area.

“Many people believe the only way to receive full-ride scholarships is through sports or an activity, but if you are willing to put in that extra work, there are more scholarships out there,” Jenna said.

Jenna started her educational journey at Cloud County Community College in 2018. Her transfer plans to FHSU in 2020 were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant she had to transition to online classes and return to her Ellsworth home to complete her studies. Although she faced many challenges that year, the Learn and Live scholarship considerably alleviated any financial concerns.

“It was great to receive that generous money from the Dane Hansen scholarship,” she said. “Being able to not

“

Higher education is changing rapidly and dramatically, and the affiliation is a promising model for other institutions as they seek to adapt. We’re showing how colleges and universities, even as they maintain their distinctive identities, can become part of a whole that is more than the sum of its parts.”

PETER LAIPSON, FHSU Director of Strategic Affiliation

worry about a job during college meant I could focus on my education instead.”

Jenna graduated from FHSU in December of 2021 after doing her student teaching in Ellsworth the previous fall. It was a busy transitional time for Jenna as she married her husband, Patrick, in December. With no time to spare, Jenna began teaching her class of 4th graders in Ellsworth the next month.

The ability to return to her hometown to teach has been the realization of a dream for Jenna. She enjoys spending quality time with her two younger sisters and staying

close to her agricultural roots.

“Growing up in a rural community, I always wanted to return,” she said. “It was great to come back to my hometown and start teaching right away. I love the small community - being able to stay connected.”

Now in her 4th year as an educator, Jenna, who teaches math to approximately 44 students daily, said the semester is progressing well.

“The new year has been a challenge as every year is, but being in the same building now and having a foundation of what 4th grade is like has helped,” she said.

New Affiliation mascots

BY BRIAN GRIBBEN

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FORSYTH LIBRARY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS’ UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

I.B. Dent’s Journey from Appalachia to the Great Plains

Something New Something Different

WHEN BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS with supporters of Forsyth Library’s Special Collections, initial connections are typically established serendipitously or by “knowing people who know people.” By chance, a figure well-known to Tigers attending FHSU from the mid-1980s through the late 1990s walked into my office in July 2023 with a sly grin, materials to offer, and stories to tell. Whether you jammed out to Mark Miller and the boys of Sawyer Brown in a packed Gross Memorial Coliseum, grooved to a folk musician in the Memorial Union’s Stouffer Lounge, got down & dirty with blues & jazz great Josh White, Jr. at Custer Hall’s Backdoor Coffeehouse, or enjoyed an evening of high culture attending the Encore Series, you’ll likely remember the university’s former director of student activities I.B. Dent. Fortunately, some of those memories and Dent’s career at FHSU have been documented in his own Tiger Tale, Forsyth Library’s Oral History project that captures stories, memories, traditions, and experiences of the FHSU

A collection of event posters from I.B. Dent’s years as FHSU’s director of student activities can be found in the lower level of the Memorial Union. The posters conjure memories of epic entertainment at FHSU in the 1980s and 1990s.

community. However, “B” Dent’s life before stepping onto campus in 1984 is a tale in its own right.

The diverse cultural offerings Fort Hays State students and the wider community enjoyed during Dent’s tenure were not mere products of his employment. Rather, when one sits down with Dent as he shares his eightyplus years of personal and professional experiences, a throughline emerges. From an early age, Dent gravitated toward demystifying the unfamiliar, creating enriching opportunities for young people, and facilitating relationships through those shared experiences.

Growing up in Blacksburg, Virginia, his affinity for the Appalachian Mountains and recreation prepared him for his role mentoring youth at Camp Airy, a Jewish sleepaway camp located in the shadow of Maryland’s Catoctin Mountain near Camp David, the U.S. Presidential retreat. There, Dent co-founded the camp’s Outdoor Living program. Dent remembers his time as a camp counselor with fondness save for noting sardonically that “the campers were always setting off alarms around the presidential retreat’s perimeter, which was a pain because men in suits [i.e., the Secret Service] would then pay us a visit.”

After graduating high school early, Dent left Appalachia to pursue a degree in engineering at the University of Cincinnati before transferring to the University of Virginia as an education major. It was at UVA when, just before his graduation in May 1961, Dent became involved in the Civil Rights Movement.

When asked about his experiences growing up in the Jim Crow South, Dent shared that his family had abiding familial friendships with African Americans and those relationships were incompatible with racial apartheid. As such, when UVA’s chaplain invited Dent to a weekend forum designed to promote comity and solidarity between eastern Virginia’s Black and white college students, Dent readily accepted, though in conversation, Dent recalls some initial awkwardness (if not apprehension) among the forum’s attendees.

As the first day’s sessions concluded, Dent observed attendees’ hesitation to socialize with each other. Dent then began to crack jokes about that dormitory’s integrated sleeping arrangements and the imposing stature of Dent’s African American bunkmate, Milton Gay, which alleviated the tension. Appreciating the value of Dent’s wit, Gay, a tall, divinity student with a booming voice, struck up a fast friendship with the diminutive Dent that would deepen in the ensuing years.

That fall, Gay, now an Episcopal priest assigned to a congregation in segregated Norfolk, persuaded Dent to

join him and his parishioners in a series of protests against discriminatory business practices and the reluctance to desegregate the city’s schools. Dent, by then teaching high school geography in Virginia Beach, recalled, “We’d march, we’d stage sit-ins, but I had to be somewhat discrete, so I didn’t get fired from teaching. So, I’d hide behind my buddy Milton. Then we’d go to his apartment, listen to music, and unwind.” This camaraderie has remained with him as he is still quick to enjoy good friends, good music, and good spirits.

After several years teaching in Virginia Beach and a year in Greenville, North Carolina, as an East Carolina graduate student, Dent interrupted his studies and joined the Peace Corps in 1966, serving until 1967. Assigned to Tanzania, Dent

We’d march, we’d stage sit-ins, but I had to be somewhat discrete, so I didn’t get fired from teaching. So, I’d hide behind my buddy Milton. Then we’d go to his apartment, listen to music, and unwind.”

began teaching in its Ludewa District in the ward of Mlangali. When asked why he wanted to join the Peace Corps and requested to be stationed in East Africa, Dent responded, “I wanted to see something new, something different.”

Returning to the U.S., after a summer spent driving World Press International journalists through the Deep South as they reported on the unreconstructed governorships of Lester Maddox and George Wallace, Dent resumed his teaching career in Virginia Beach. There, he navigated the administrative politics of the recently segregated Cox High School before assuming a new position teaching social studies at a nearby middle school.

Creating space for diverse populations to thrive remained a key theme in Dent’s professional career, especially after joining the faculty at Longwood College (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Virginia. Initially serving as an assistant professor of geography, Dent soon found himself in roles familiar to FHSU alumni, becoming Longwood’s

Student Union Director and, from 1974-1984, its Director of Student Activities. In the latter position, Dent continued to create space for young people to thrive by serving as a faculty adviser to student groups, ensuring that the student populations were represented in the student activities staff and through his direction of the college’s performing arts programs.

Transitioning to FHSU and assuming the position of Memorial Union Activities Board (MUAB) Director in 1984, Dent enhanced an already vibrant cultural milieu on campus, balancing entertainment with thought-provoking programming. Dent’s commitment to the latter sometimes necessitated personal acts of courage, such as when he worked with the NAMES Project Foundation to bring 888 panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt to the Gross Memorial Coliseum in September 1995. Frequently, MUAB events were decidedly less sober affairs as concerts regularly drew 4,0005,000 raucous audiophiles to the coliseum.

Dent’s work with MUAB and providing students with cultural events they may otherwise have not experienced was predicated on two principles. The first centered on student involvement in MUAB itself. During his tenure, Dent observed that working as part of MUAB’s technical crews and as events staff allowed even the most introverted Tiger to find a place where they could thrive and often form lasting relationships.

In speaking with Dent, it’s quickly apparent that he is exceedingly proud of the students who worked under his tutelage as MUAB was known as a standout member within the National Association of College Activities Heart of America region (though Dent himself is no slouch. In 1999 NACA presented him with its Lifetime Achievement Award).

Dent’s second principle, as described in his Tiger Tale, is that a university’s mission is twofold. Certainly, knowledge development stemming from classroom instruction remains paramount. However, an equally important component, according to Dent, is the interrelationships forged and leadership skills developed when students involve themselves in campus life and student organizations. Certainly, it is an axiom that, from a young age, I.B. Dent has embodied.

SCAN FOR MORE

Check out I.B. Dent’s Tiger Tales for images and stories about these and other MUAB events

FACULTY FORUM

BRINGING EXPLORATION TO THE CLASSROOM

360-Video Research Project Prepares Teachers to Innovate

BY DR. MATTHEW CLAY, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF TEACHER EDUCATION

IN HINDSIGHT, it is always interesting the phrases we latch on to as young people that shape and influence our lives. For me, it was a short quip from the British mountaineer George Leigh Mallory. In 1923, Mallory, when annoyed by a reporter about the purpose of trying to climb Everest, snapped off the famous line, “Because it is there.” When I found this line in a dusty library book as a middle schooler, I became enthralled by the idea of exploring the world just because it is there. That fascination never really waned and led to multiple science degree programs and, ultimately, my decision to become a teacher. In my time as a secondary science teacher and now as a teacher educator, I have continued to believe that if I do my job really well, my students can hopefully experience wonder, curiosity, and exploration.

The great challenge of creating opportunities for wonder and fascination with the natural world is that there are many logistical hurdles to overcome. Although I have had opportunities to travel to amazing landscapes with both secondary and college students, those encounters represent an incredibly small percentage of my total instructional time as a teacher. The proverbial unicorn I

pursued was some sort of technology or technique that would allow students to explore the world, often within the limits of classroom space. That desire is ultimately what set in motion the 360-Video Education Research project.

My answer to the question of “Why 360-video?” parodies Mallory’s quip, “Because it is there, but students are here.” 360-video is not an entirely new technology. Essentially, 360 cameras use one or two fisheye lenses to capture a nearly full field of view, and then software unfolds those files into a format that can be navigated. The end product can be navigated much like virtual reality. However, unlike virtual reality, the scenes are not artificial; they are very much real places. The very real landscapes, though, are in a format where they can be

observed and explored from anywhere. Although the technology is not new, recent advances have made cameras lightweight, affordable, and high enough resolution to have end products that are useful in classrooms.

In pursuing this project, I have worked with many incredible students and around two main questions. First, we have explored how to make as many important educational landscapes available for classrooms as possible. Second, we have experimented with teaching techniques that allow for maximizing the technology’s potential. One benefit of these pursuits is that the nearly 20 students who have worked on this project are future teachers. As a result, the project will hopefully create resources and allow these future educators to experience the research process toward improving teaching techniques.

The pursuit of capturing settings has focused primarily on public land settings such as national and state parks. These areas were designated with education as one intended purpose. However, geographic distance often restricts the potential to use that incredible educational resource for most teachers. In capturing these public land areas, we

Matt Clay setting up tripod for 360-video project

have taken one of the most incredible educational resources available, natural landscapes, and made it accessible for all classrooms and teachers. In the project’s two-year history, we have documented numerous locations and eight Kansas state parks.

Although simple to define, capturing landscapes requires overcoming several logistical and practical challenges. Participating students and I have hiked, camped, scrambled up mountains, and canoed to get to spots that offered the greatest educational material. What has been most inspiring for me has been watching students who may have had little or no prior experience in the outdoors do rather difficult things, many times in difficult weather conditions, with the knowledge that if they succeed, they will be able to bring that scene back to their future students. It is generally accepted that teachers will go above and beyond for their students, but these future FHSU educators exceed that by orders of magnitude. I have watched them stomp through snow, crawl through the brush, brace themselves against the wind, hide shivering behind rocks, and literally climb mountains for their students.

The incredible field work completed by students pairs with and creates the opportunity for the second focal point of this project, developing teaching techniques. 360-video allows a conceptual shift, particularly in approaches to teaching science. Instead of teachers needing just to be the provider of information and examples, there are opportunities to use questioning strategies

to prompt exploration. This means that instead of a teacher only being able to describe erosion’s effects, for example, students can observe and explore the landscape themselves to gather evidence of erosion’s impact. This presents an opportunity to create deeper, more meaningful experiences, encouraging critical thinking. Furthermore, as the participating FHSU students are future teachers, it is even more powerful that this is a perspective they are bringing to their future classrooms.

For me personally, as an educator, this project has greatly shifted my perspective about my role as a teacher. I remember waiting and wishing for a particular resource to exist. Now I find myself more assertive. Instead of wishing I could show students a video of a particular place or landscape feature, I capture it myself. In many ways, I see my role as someone who goes out into nature to bring it back to my students.

Beyond this role, I see the opportunity and privilege I have to serve as a mentor in supporting future teachers in discovering their own abilities to explore the world and bring it back to their classrooms. During the 2023-24 school year, 15 students documented eight state

BIO:

parks. Although nearly all those students were completely new to the outdoors, they took on that challenge with incredible determination and ambition. Students encountered challenges such as camping in sub-freezing temperatures, hiking through drifting snow, thunderstorms, ticks, gale-force winds, and blowing sand. Despite these challenges, I watched them optimistic and excited about what their efforts could mean for their future students.

I am continually inspired by the incredible potential of FHSU’s Teacher Education Department students and grateful for the opportunity to use the 360-video to help students discover some of their own potential. This is more powerful, knowing that potential will benefit the students and communities they will serve in their careers.

As this project continues, we are eager to partner with individuals or locations that could serve as filming locations and would encourage anyone with ideas to reach out. Videos captured by this project are available here: LTBLOGS.FHSU.EDU/DRCLAY. Navigate videos by clicking and dragging to look around.

A native Kansan, Dr. Matthew Clay earned his Bachelors of Biology Education from Pittsburg State University, Masters in Science Education from Montana State University and his Doctorate of Education from the University of Northern Colorado. Prior to teaching at FHSU he taught secondary science for nine years, primarily in rural Western Kansas. Dr. Clay is an avid outdoorsman and is involved in public land advocacy work.

360-video field trips to state and national parks (courtesy photos)

Whether you’re looking to make your first gift to Fort Hays State University or one many over the years, we’re here to help you find ways to give that fit you best.

Whether you’re looking to make your first gift to Fort Hays State University or one of many over the years, we’re here to help you find ways to give that fit you best.

options listed here will impact FHSU and our students. Please review the beneﬁts of each option and contact Brent Williams, Director of Development, with the FHSU Foundation team to learn more.

Whether you’re looking to make your first gift to Fort Hays State University or one of many over the years, we’re here to help you find ways to give that fit you best.

All options listed here will impact FHSU and our students. Please review the beneﬁts of each option and contact Brent Williams, Director of Development, with the FHSU Foundation team to learn more.

Brent Williams FHSU Foundation

Brent Williams

b_williams19@ su.edu 785-628-5719

FHSU Foundation

b_williams19@ su.edu

TYPE OF GIFT YOUR GOAL

Cash Gift

Appreciated Property

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Appreciated Property

Charitable Gift Annuity

Avoid capital gains tax on the transfer of your appreciated property

Enjoy tax savings from a charitable deduction at current fair market value

Avoid capital gains tax on the transfer of your appreciated property

Enjoy tax savings from a charitable deduction at current fair market value

785-628-5719

FHSU Foundation b_williams19@ su.edu

Brent Williams FHSU Foundation b_williams19@ su.edu

785-628-5719 Cash Gift

785-628-5719

Brent Williams FHSU Foundation b_williams19@ su.edu 785-628-5719

b_williams19@ su.edu

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Enjoy tax savings from a charitable deduction at current fair market value

Maintain control of your assets during life

Make a gift to FHSU upon your passing

Maintain control of your assets during life

Make a gift to FHSU upon your passing

Maintain control of your assets during life

Make a gift to FHSU upon your passing

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Make a gift to FHSU upon your passing

•

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•

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Partial avoidance of capital gains tax on the sale of your appreciated property

Receive ﬁxed income for life

•

Charitable Gift Annuity Receive ﬁxed income for life

Receive ﬁxed income for life

Charitable Remainder Trust

Partial avoidance of capital gains tax on the sale of your appreciated property

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Partial avoidance of capital gains tax on the sale of your appreciated property

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Partial avoidance of capital gains tax on the sale of your appreciated property • Enjoy tax savings from a charitable deduction

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Transfer your appreciated property without paying capital gains tax

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Charitable Lead Trust

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Enjoy regular income for life or a term of years

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Avoid substantial gift or estate tax

Give cash or property to your family in the future

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Give cash or property to your family in the future

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Receive a charitable income tax deduction

Remain in your home for life

•

Remain in your home for life

Receive a charitable income tax deduction

Avoid capital gains tax on your appreciated property

Remain in your home for life

Receive a charitable income tax deduction

Avoid capital gains tax on your appreciated property

Receive a charitable income tax deduction

Avoid capital gains tax on your appreciated property

You make a gift of cash, write a check to the FHSU Foundation, or make a credit card contribution online at foundation. su.edu

HOW IT WORKS YOUR BENEFITS

You make a gift of cash, write a check to the FHSU Foundation, or make a credit card contribution online at foundation. su.edu

• • Quick and easy Charitable tax deduction

You transfer your appreciated property (real estate, art, securities, etc.) to the FHSU Foundation

You make a gift of cash, write a check to the FHSU Foundation, or make a credit card contribution online at foundation. su.edu

You transfer your appreciated property (real estate, art, securities, etc.) to the FHSU Foundation

You designate the FHSU Foundation as the beneﬁciary of your asset by will, trust, IRA, life insurance policy, etc.

You transfer your cash or appreciated property to the FHSU Foundation in exchange for our promise to pay you ﬁxed income (with rates based on your age) for the remainder of your life

You transfer your cash or appreciated property to fund a charitable trust. The trust sells your property tax-free and provides you with income for life or a term of years

You transfer your cash/property to fund a lead trust that gifts the FHSU Foundation for a number of years. You receive a charitable deduction for the gift. Your family receives the remainder at substantial tax savings

• • Quick and easy

Charitable tax deduction

• • Quick and easy Charitable tax deduction

• • Allowed to use current fair market value

Avoidance of capital gains tax

• • Allowed to use current fair market value

• A ord a larger gift to FHSU (with securities) Avoidance of capital gains tax

• • Allowed to use current fair market value

Avoidance of capital gains tax

• • Allowed to use current fair market value

Avoidance of capital gains tax

• Large income tax deduction (with real estate)

Avoidance of capital gains tax

• • Allowed to use current fair market value

• Large income tax deduction (with real estate)

• • Allowed to use current fair market value

• A ord a larger gift to FHSU (with securities)

• Large income tax deduction (with real estate)

• A ord a larger gift to FHSU (with securities)

• • Estate tax charitable deduction

• A ord a larger gift to FHSU (with securities)