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feature No12 RICHARD GWIN
A WHOLE NEW KU A look at how Kansas University is transforming
Kansas University’s director of student services, John Dahlstrand, gives a tour of campus to a group of international students.
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RICHARD GWIN
departments HAPPENING
LEARNING
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BUILDING
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Q&A WITH THE CHANCELLOR As campus transforms, issues of money, student retention, diversity at forefront
A GIFT OF A MASCOT Donation will keep Big Jay and Baby Jay in fine feather for years to come
GOOGLE EARTH SYRIA & PALMYRA Archeology class uses technology to document damage to ancient sites
THE NEW FACE OF THE SPENCER MUSEUM Multimillion-dollar renovation to roll out an all-new art museum
GET TO KNOW THE JAYHACKERS Club teaches cybersecurity combining teamwork with national defense
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KANSAS UNIVERSITY HISTORIAN MIKE REID Expert shares five big moments from KU’s past
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KANSAS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Donor-funded $60 million Capitol Federal Hall expected to make KU competitive at highest levels
KANSAS UNIVERSITY’S COMMON BOOK Award-winning book about race to inform universitywide discussions
KANSAS UNIVERSITY LATINO SCHOLARS Program puts focus on research with real-life consequences
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KANSAS UNIVERSITY’S CANCER CENTER Elite program aiming for even higher designation
KANSAS UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION PROFESSORS Partnerships between state and KU result in 12 world-class professors bringing their expertise to the university
30 LIBERAL ARTS DEAN CARL LEJUEZ Head of KU’s largest school hopes to reinforce the value of a liberal education
34 MEET THE STUDENT BODY LEADERS New president and vice president take the helm at a time of historic change
36 VETERAN CENTER DIRECTOR APRIL BLACKMON STRANGE Steeped in the military life, KU’s executive director of the new Veteran Center hopes to bridge the gap with the civilian world
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74 KANSAS UNIVERSITY DEBRUCE CENTER State-of-the-art building houses an “amazing document”: James Naismith’s 13 original rules of “Basket Ball”
78 NEW TO KANSAS UNIVERSITY THE EARTH , ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT CENTER “Triple-E-C” will be unique in crossing disciplinary boundaries
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MIKE YODER
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UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS REPORTER
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KU TODAY MAGAZINE is a publication of Sunflower Publishing and the Lawrence Journal-World. facebook.com/LJWorld.com
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A NOTE FROM
NICK KRUG
the editor
With our annual KU Today special section, we aim to give you an in-depth look at the projects, personalities and ideas that are shaping Kansas University.
CHAD LAWHORN /
@clawhorn_ljw
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hankfully, for all those freshmen who are learning Kansas isn’t so flat after all, the hill isn’t growing any bigger. But what’s on top of it sure is. No doubt about it, this is a year of change for the Kansas University campus. Let’s start where so many things seem to start at KU: venerable Allen Fieldhouse. James Naismith’s original rules of “Basket Ball” are now attached to the Fieldhouse via the new DeBruce Center, which also serves as a major new gathering place for students. But if it is possible, that $4.3 million dollar document — that’s how much the David and Suzanne Booth family paid for the rules — is actually second fiddle to the main attraction. Look just to the west of Allen Fieldhouse and you will see one of the larger construction projects in KU’s history. It is called the Central District, and the $350 million development will include more than 1,000 new living units for students, a new Burge Union and a high-tech science building, among other features. And those are just the highly visible signs of change at KU. With our annual KU Today special section, we aim to give you an in-depth look at the projects, personalities and ideas that are shaping Kansas University.
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A staff of more than 20 reporters, editors, photographers, page designers and others from the Journal-World and Sunflower Publishing have worked for months to bring together a variety of stories. Inside this edition, some of the features you will find include: an exclusive interview with Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little about the challenges and opportunities facing KU; an article about a group of high-tech computer students who are gaining notoriety as “Jayhackers”; and profiles on student leaders who are taking part in important debates about race and equality on campus. For you longtime readers, you may notice that this year’s edition of KU Today looks a bit different. We’ve converted our annual special section into a magazine format, with the hope that it will do even more to showcase the beautiful sights at KU, and will be an easier format for readers to keep and enjoy during the course of the year. However you read it, we hope you find something interesting about KU. Kansas University continues to be a vital part of the Lawrence community and is one of the more important economic engines for the entire state. Please enjoy the 2016 edition of KU Today. And, if you get a chance, be nice to those out-of-breath freshmen.
kutoday.com
SARA SHEPHERD
Construction in KU’s Central District is pictured May 12, 2016. The Burge Union, which was located in the upper left corner of the construction zone pictured here, is now completely razed.
A WHOLE NEW
A look at how Kansas University is transforming
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A WHOLE NEW KU
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SARA SHEPHERD /
kutoday.com
@saramarieshep
ransformation is a big word. Not too big, though, to describe what’s happening on the Kansas University campus, contends Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little. “I suspect that there’s probably no time in the history of the university that that much physical change will have taken place,” she said. “That’s transforming the campus.” What’s going on inside those buildings, how the buildings look and even how they are funded also is changing. “It’s an important time,” Gray-Little said. Five newly constructed buildings opened their doors last academic year, and acres of campus were leveled to make way for more new development. KU’s $350 million Central District redevelopment project calls for six more buildings to be constructed in the next two years in the area between Naismith Drive and Daisy Hill: an integrated science building, two student housing facilities, a replacement for the Burge Union, a parking garage and a utility plant. Across the street from the Central District, construction is well underway on the Earth, Energy and Environment Center (EEEC). New buildings are designed to enable a transformation of classroom formats, interdisciplinary collaboration and the latest technology. One key area that will be visible is in the sciences — and many at KU look forward to a transformation away from aging labs in Malott and Haworth halls, notorious for climate control problems, electrical outages and fire alarms triggered by experiments. “Taken together, the Integrated Science Building and the Earth, Energy and Environment Center represent a once-in-
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a-generation modernization of key science facilities that will transform the way we educate students and conduct research,” Gray-Little said. “These facilities will further ensure KU has the teaching, research and collaboration spaces necessary to recruit top scholars and do the type of innovative work that grows the economy, improves lives and changes the world.” COMING TOGETHER Collaboration is a priority in new buildings. For example: • The new engineering and school of business buildings, both opened during the 2015-16 school year, are equipped with “flipped classrooms” featuring large round tables instead of individual desks. Instead of the age-old college class format where the instructor lectures, then sends students home with problems to complete on their own, students in a “flipped” class take in the lecture at home — often an online video recorded by the teacher or a slideshow — then come to class to work on problems and discussions in groups with the teacher there to help. • KU Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., also has a major new building under construction, the Health Education Building. Once complete, expected in summer 2017, it will be the primary teaching facility for the KU schools of Medicine, Nursing and Health Professions — purposely bringing all those students under one roof. “There’s a big focus on the use of simulation so that students get hands-on experience,” Gray-Little said. “What they learn is more realistic, because that’s how they will function when they’re working with patients in hospital and clinic settings ... knowing how to do that from the beginning is an asset.”
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JOHN ENGLISH
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KU’s $350 million Central District redevelopment plans include constructing a new residence hall, a new student apartment building, a new student union to replace the Burge and an integrated science building in the area bounded by Naismith Drive, 19th Street, Daisy Hill and Irving Hill Road.
kutoday.com
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• In new student housing facilities, open atriums, inviting common areas and community kitchens are staples to encourage students to build community. At the same time, individual units are becoming more private, and students appear willing to pay a premium to live in them. Gone are the cramped dorm rooms with community bathrooms and showers down the hall. All new residential halls feature suites — a small living room, a bathroom and one or two bedrooms, most with two beds apiece. However, Oswald and Self halls — opened in August 2015 with every room spoken for — offer a number of twoperson suites with private rooms for each
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resident. McCarthy Hall, the new on-campus apartment building for the KU men’s basketball team and other upperclassmen — KU’s most expensive on-campus housing option — has all private bedrooms. BILLION-DOLLAR BANKROLL How new development is being paid for represents another transformation of sorts, a shift away from state dollars to new funding sources. KU’s plan for funding its $350 million Central District redevelopment project ruffled feathers in the Kansas Legislature early this year. The public-private partnership funding model, known as a “P-3” for short, is novel to
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RICHARD GWIN
KU Endowment Association this summer concluded its largestever fundraising campaign, Far Above, which brought in more than a billion dollars in private donations for the university.
Kansas and prompted lawmakers to demand more oversight over the project even though state appropriations are not being used. The P-3 model, which KU leaders say removes financial liability from the university and the state, involves creating a nonprofit corporation to obtain bonds for the project and sublease facilities to KU. KU plans to make sublease payments with housing revenue, tuition dollars from increasing international student enrollment, efficiency savings, parking revenue and fees allocated by the Student Senate for Burge Union reconstruction. Then there’s KU’s record-breaking influx of private donations.
KU Endowment Association this summer concluded its largest-ever fundraising campaign, Far Above, which brought in more than a billion dollars in private donations for the university. Several of KU’s new buildings were constructed entirely with donated funds: Capitol Federal Hall, the $70.5 million new school of business; McCarthy Hall, the $11.2 million apartment building where the basketball team lives; and the DeBruce Center, the $21.7 million facility built to house James Naismith’s original rules of “Basket Ball” (also purchased by a donor, for $4.3 million in 2010). The $65 million new engineering building, the $78.5 million EEEC and KU Medical
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Center’s $75 million Health Education Building were enabled by state money but not entirely funded by it. Private donations are paying roughly half the construction costs of the EEEC and the Health Education Building. The primarily legislative-funded engineering building is dotted with atriums, classrooms and other spaces featuring names of corporations and individuals who donated to the building fund. Gray-Little said the record-breaking Far Above campaign illustrates how deeply KU’s friends and donors believe in the work the university is doing. She said, “This astounding support will forever change our university.”
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The Kansas University Endowment Association’s largest fundraising drive yet wrapped up this summer with some impressive numbers — not just millions, but more than a billion. Far Above met its $1.2 billion goal two years early and continued raising money. Though KU Endowment had not formally announced the campaign’s official fundraising total by KU Today press time, KU Chancellor Bernadette GrayLittle said in a May letter to campus that the campaign raised close to $1.6 billion.
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UNIVERSITY CAMPAIGN RAISES MORE THAN $1.5 BILLION
“Campaigns such as Far Above represent milestones in the history of the university, as donors establish programs and fund facilities that have a lasting influence,” KU Endowment President Dale Seuferling said. “Our alumni and friends have rallied in a spectacular way to make these things come true.” Far Above saw the largest gift ever to the university by an individual, $58 million from the estate of KU alumni Madison “Al” and Lila Self for student scholarships and fellowships in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. In total, more than 130,000 donors gave more than 530,000 gifts to the campaign, according to KU Endowment. Among other highlights, Far Above enabled: • More than 735 new student scholarships, fellowships and awards. • More than 50 professorships and directorships in a wide range of disciplines. • The planting of 149 trees along Jayhawk Boulevard. • More than $107 million in gifts to support efforts to achieve designation of the KU Cancer Center as a National Cancer Institute designated cancer center. • Expansion of the School of Medicine-Wichita to a fouryear program, and creation of a new four-year School of Medicine site in Salina. • Multiple new buildings, expansions and renovation projects at the Lawrence and Medical Center campuses. Far Above launched in 2008 and had a public kickoff in 2012. By comparison, KU’s previous universitywide campaign, KU First, had a goal of $500 million and raised $653 million over six and a half years.
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Right now, there’s a lot of bare ground and bulldozers in the section of campus bounded by Naismith Drive, 19th Street, Daisy Hill and Irving Hill Road. Here’s a summary of demolition and construction since this time last year in the area now known as KU’s Central District. Plans call for completing all remaining new buildings before the end of 2018. GONE: • McCollum Hall - Imploded Nov. 25, 2015. • Stouffer Place - 25 apartment buildings, razed in spring and summer 2016. • Burge Union - Razed April 2016. NOW OPEN: • DeBruce Center - Home of James Naismith’s original rules of “Basket Ball,”
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opened April 2016 at 1647 Naismith Drive. • Marie S. McCarthy Hall - Apartment building for men’s basketball team and other students, opened October 2015 at 1747 Naismith Drive. COMING SOON: • Integrated science building - 280,000 square feet of science labs, classrooms, offices and meeting spaces, located along Irving Hill Road (completion anticipated July 2018). • New student union - 30,000-square-foot facility to replace the Burge, next to where the old building used to be (completion summer 2018). • Residence hall with dining facility 545-bed freshman dorm located behind Oliver Hall at 19th and Naismith (completion summer 2017).
• Apartment building - 708 beds for scholarship athletes, upperclassmen and graduate students, at northwest corner of 19th Street and Ousdahl Drive (completion July 2018). • Parking garage - Located by the new student union (completion winter 2017). • Utility plant - To serve new buildings in the Central District. Around the perimeter of the Central District, the Earth, Energy and Environment Center (EEEC) is under construction at Naismith and Hoch Auditoria Drive. Capitol Federal Hall, the new School of Business building, opened in May 2016 at Naismith and Schwegler Drive. Learned Engineering Expansion Phase 2 (LEEP2) — now the centerpiece of KU’s engineering complex — on 15th Street and Oswald and Self residence halls on Daisy Hill opened in August 2015.
MAJOR OVERHAUL
NICK KRUG
WHAT’S OUT, WHAT’S IN AND WHAT’S NEXT FOR KU’S CENTRAL DISTRICT
The Earth, Energy and Environment Center is currently under construction on the campus of Kansas University.
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NEELI BENDAPUDI NICK KRUG
KANSAS UNIVERSITY’S NEW PROVOST AND EXECUTIVE VICE CHANCELLOR
Neeli Bendapudi started July 1 as Kansas University’s new provost and executive vice chancellor, the chief academic officer of the university. She replaces former provost Jeff Vitter, who left KU in December to become chancellor of the University of Mississippi. Bendapudi is no stranger to KU. For the past five years she’s been dean of the School of Business, and she also received her doctorate from KU.
MORE ABOUT HER: Age: 52 Born in: South India. Bendapudi grew up in Vizag, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Family: Husband Venkat Bendapudi, a senior lecturer in KU’s School of Business. One daughter. KU legacy: When Bendapudi was a child her father received his doctorate from KU, spending three years away from his family in India to complete his degree.
Previous experience: Professor, Ohio State University Fisher College of Business. Assistant professor of marketing, Texas A&M University. Bendapudi also has consulted for companies including Procter and Gamble, Deloitte and Touche and Cessna. Top priorities as provost: Student retention, faculty and staff development, and telling KU’s “academic story.”
We are all, every single one of us, a temporary custodian of a great institution … We’ve been around 150 years, we’ll be around 150 more. While each of us has a position of leadership, how do you leave it better than you found it?
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RICHARD GWIN
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS INCREASING DIVERSITY AND GLOBAL AWARENESS
Kansas University’s fledgling Academic Accelerator Program for international students continues to grow, both in numbers of enrollees and in the options they have for participating. That’s good, because KU is counting on increasing tuition revenue from the program to put millions of dollars per year toward payments enabling the university’s $350 million Central District redevelopment project. “Based on the growth of the program so far, I feel good about this program helping KU meet their enrollment goals and their financial goals,” AAP managing director Amy Neufeld said. Beyond money, she said, the program provides a supportive “learning community” for KU students who are so far from home. It also provides stateside students with exposure to peers from around the globe. “In the classroom they provide a different perspective,” Neufeld said. “Outside of the class … it really provides insight to a whole other culture or a whole other part of the world that otherwise students might not have access to. As the world becomes more interconnected it prepares them for the future.” SAUDI ARABIA UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CHINA KOREA INDIA
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AAP is a partnership between KU and a private company, Shorelight Education, to recruit international students and usher them through their first year at KU. The all-in-one price tag of $48,800 for the 12-month (three-semester) program includes on-campus housing and meals, tuition and fees, health insurance and additional AAP services such as group field trips, cultural programming and advisers they meet with weekly and also interact with at social activities. The goal is for students to emerge with the English skills, other credits and GPA needed to enroll in KU for their sophomore years and beyond. In 2014-15, the program’s first year, 127 new students enrolled. In 2015-16, 239 new students enrolled. Neufeld said she expected more growth in 2016-17 and subsequent years. Beginning this school year, AAP participants have a few new options, Neufeld said. Those coming in with better English skills can enroll in one of two two-semester programs, one for students whose English is strong enough they don’t need the full three semesters, or IRAN ZIMBABWE IRAQ
KU’s director of student services, John Dahlstrand, gives a brief explanation of some of KU’s campus to a group of international students.
one for students whose English is strong enough they could be directly admitted to the university but just want the wraparoundstyle experience the AAP offers. Starting in spring 2017, the AAP also will begin a similar program for graduate students. “We definitely try to welcome students in a variety of ways when they come,” Neufeld said, “so that they feel as comfortable as they can when they’re coming from across the world.” WHERE ARE THEY FROM? Students enrolled in KU’s Academic Accelerator Program come from three continents. Here’s a list of their home countries, in order of the countries with the most enrolled students to the fewest. Word of mouth helps increase enrollment from countries with students already in the program, managing director Amy Neufeld said. She said the program’s next geographical goals are growing enrollment from African and Latin American countries.
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McCARTHY HALL NICK KRUG
HOUSING THE BASKETBALL TEAM IN A STYLE BEFITTING ITS STATURE
ABOVE McCarthy Hall, pictured on Monday, March 2, 2016, on the campus of Kansas University. The hall houses 16 KU men’s basketball players and 17 other male students not affiliated with the basketball program. BELOW Lobby area with fireplace, inside McCarthy Hall at KU.
Kansas University’s newest student apartment building was constructed with a certain set of exceptionally tall students in mind: the men’s basketball team. McCarthy Hall opened in October at 1747 Naismith Drive, next to Allen Fieldhouse. The $11.2 million facility, funded by private donations, houses the KU’s men’s basketball players and about 20 other nonathlete, male upperclassmen. In addition to extra-high countertops and shower heads mounted 9 feet off the ground, McCarthy Hall has: • A half-court basketball court. • A game room with a pool table and a ping-pong table. Next to it is a barbershop with one shiny red leather chair, not regularly staffed with a barber but available for one to come in from time to time. • A movie theater featuring 25 plush recliners with cup holders.
MIKE YODER
• A second-floor balcony lounge with an outdoor fireplace and TVs. KU envisions the new facility as a good home for its basketball players but also as a draw for new recruits.
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MIKE YODER
MIKE YODER
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TOP McCarthy Hall features a half-court basketball facility. BOTTOM The Jayhawks Barber Shop at McCarthy Hall provides a crimson and blue chair for a visiting barber.
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LEADIN G Conversations with people at the helm of KU and its various units. Chancellor Bernadette GrayLittle discusses KU’s biggest challenges, plus new faces in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, student government and veteran services.
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he past year was an eventful one at Kansas University, with activity ranging from major building construction to unexpectedly high state budget cuts to student activism about diversity on campus. The Journal-World sat down with Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little to talk about the biggest issues at KU as the university heads into the 2016-17 academic year.
“It is certainly something that we wanted to look at and be aware of,” GrayLittle said. This summer it appeared KU would be close to the enrollment and diversity levels it had been in recent years, Gray-Little said. The official fall enrollment count, tallied and released in late September, will provide a more definitive answer. The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Group — formed last fall by the provost in response to campus concerns about diversity — released its report at the end of the 201516 school year. What’s next?
Larger-than-anticipated state budget cuts for this fiscal year were announced at the end of the spring legislative session: $7 million at the Lawrence campus, $3.7 million at KU Medical Center. How significant is that money?
Gray-Little said KU administration expected to formally respond to the group’s recommendations by the end of the summer, and outline specific plans for those it chooses to enact. Her goal is to ensure things KU implements are guided by evidence that they will make a difference. “I am not interested in having things that don’t work just to say that you have something,” she said.
“It’s not something where we can take cuts and not notice,” Gray-Little said. “That’s real money that’s going to make a difference in what we do and cannot do.” She said cuts must be guided, at her level, by considering what KU does that’s most important. “You have to think about what your core principles are and what’s fundamental,” she said. “How can we be true to the mission?” Buildings recently constructed — or under construction now — thanks to private donations are very visible on the KU campus. What areas do you wish KU could get more private funding for?
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“Resources for faculty — faculty research and scholarly programs, and areas that would help faculty development,” Gray-Little said. More resources for students also would help KU, particularly “need-based” scholarships. Tougher automatic admission standards went into effect for this fall’s incoming freshmen. Do you expect this to affect enrollment and acceptance? (Background: The standardized test score and GPA requirements to be automatically admitted to KU have increased. Applications that don’t meet the threshold for automatic admission will be considered by a committee looking at factors such as academic potential, diversity and family circumstances.)
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Q&A WITH THE
chancellor As campus transforms, issues of money, student retention, diversity at forefront
SARA SHEPHERD /
@saramarieshep
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Are you optimistic that diversity efforts over the past year will make the university a better place? “There were quite a large number of issues ... some of them are difficult,” GrayLittle said. “I think we’re going to continue to have conversations.” School of Business Dean Neeli Bendapudi was hired this year as provost and executive vice chancellor. What are your goals for her? Student retention and faculty scholarship and research, Gray-Little said. “There are many other things to look at, but those will be especially important,” she said. “I think that given her participation in the diversity and equity group that she will also be able to have an important role in addressing the topics we have just talked about. She has a good relationship with many elements of the campus, and that will be a big asset.”
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You have to think about what your core principles are and what’s fundamental. How can we be true to the mission? —BERNADETTE GRAY-LITTLE
Sexual assault was one of KU’s bigger issues for student activism two years ago but seemed to be overshadowed by diversity last year. Is addressing sexual assault still a priority? “It has not gone away as a focus,” Gray-Little said. She said KU implemented most of the 2014-15 Sexual Assault Task Force’s 27 recommendations, including launching the KU Sexual Assault Prevention and Education Center in early 2016, to coordinate prevention and education efforts. “That’s a big deal,” she said. “There’s less national attention to it, but the particular issues on campus continue in terms of what we do or occasions where we have to deal with issues of sexual assault.” Gray-Little said implementations should be reviewed later to determine whether they have been effective.
“Certainly budget will be a big one,” Gray-Little said. Also, fostering faculty scholarship and research, and monitoring how well KU is doing with student retention in light of the new automatic admission standards. “We’re trying to bring students in with a clear understanding of their strengths or areas that need development and making sure that we have programs to match that,” Gray-Little said. “How well are we doing on that is a big goal.”
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Carl Lejuez, KU Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
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LIBERAL ARTS DEAN
Carl Lejuez
Head of KU’s largest school hopes to reinforce the value of a liberal education
ROCHELLE VALVERDE /
@RochelleVerde
arl Lejuez was the first in his family to attend college, but he said his family was not pleased when he told them he planned to major in psychology. “My family had really no idea about why I would do that,” Lejuez said. “It was actually really upsetting for my mother, because she thought that I wouldn’t have a career and I was kind of wasting this opportunity.” Lejuez, who took over in February as Kansas University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences dean, said such perceptions about liberal arts and sciences continue to be a challenge. “What we’re able to do is provide an opportunity to develop as a person and to have a clear career path, and I don’t know that that message always gets out there,” Lejuez said. CLAS is KU’s largest academic unit and has more than 600 faculty, 13,500 undergraduate and graduate students, and 100 majors in 53 academic departments. Lejuez said traditionally the arts and sciences are seen as a big monolith, causing the value of the individual schools to be lost. “For many of our majors, these are not classes that students are taking in high school,” he said. “(Prospective students) don’t really have a sense of why some of these majors can be really life-changing for them, why they can help them become better writers and better thinkers, but also have a really positive career path going forward.” One of Lejuez’s goals for CLAS is to better communicate the message that the college provides an opportunity for students to grow as individuals and prepare for a
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career. To that end, the college is going to have its first recruiter for prospective students. Lejuez said having a recruiter will help young people understand the value of the disciplines in CLAS. “I think having someone out there and really interfacing with guidance counselors and families and getting the message out is going to be crucial,” Lejuez said. Before coming to KU, Lejuez was professor of psychology and associate dean of research for the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at University of MarylandCollege Park. He took over for interim CLAS dean Don Steeples. Past CLAS dean Danny Anderson left KU in spring 2015 to become president of Trinity University in San Antonio. The 53 academic departments in CLAS are broken into five major areas of study: arts; humanities; international and interdisciplinary studies; natural sciences and mathematics; and social and behavioral sciences. Lejuez said no matter what students major in, a liberal arts education teaches writing skills, presentation skills, problem solving and creative thinking. Those skills are integral to all fields of study, Lejuez said. “Our goal is to —CARL LEJUEZ not pit the liberal arts against the other fields, but to say the liberal arts can be a great complement to some of those career paths,” Lejuez said. Another of Lejuez’s goals is to take a more comprehensive approach to diversity in CLAS. Lejuez himself comes from a diverse background: His father grew up in Aruba and his mother in an Italian-American community in New Jersey. As part of his effort to
Our goal is to not pit the liberal arts against the other fields, but to say the liberal arts can be a great complement to some of those career paths.
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improve diversity, the college hired its first associate dean of diversity, equity and inclusion in July. “It allows us to make sure that we’re thinking about and integrating the importance of these issues in everything we do, from recruitment to retention to developing how people see the university,” Lejuez said. “It’s basically saying this is not something that’s an add-on later; it’s something that needs to become a part of the fabric of what we’re doing.” Lejuez grew up in Secaucus, N.J., and earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Emory University and his master’s and doctoral degrees in clinical psychology from West Virginia University. Lejuez said another of his priorities for CLAS is further integrating the academic departments. He said interdisciplinary efforts can offer more opportunities for collaboration between departments and more chances for students to get research and internship experience as part of their education. “Being able to work together and be interdisciplinary is really where academia is going when we start thinking about some of the great problems in our society,” Lejuez said. “Things like poverty or cancer — these are questions that we can’t answer just with technology or just with the liberal arts.” At the same time, Lejuez said he thinks good leadership means understanding the particular needs, strengths and challenges that each department has. In his first few months on the job, Lejuez visited all 53 departments, which he said gave him a better sense of how he wants to lead CLAS. “I feel like moving into my first full year, I have a great opportunity of not only having a good sense of what my vision for leadership for the college is coming in, but also that I’ve been able to have the opportunity to tailor it to what is best for KU right now.”
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A bus passes in front of Strong Hall, an administrative building, Monday, Nov. 16, 2015 on the Kansas University campus in Lawrence.
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MEET THE
Student Body Leaders The Kansas University student body president for 2016-2017 will be Stephonn Alcorn, left, and the vice president will be Gabby Naylor.
NIKKI WENTLING /
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fter a tumultuous semester in which diversity and other issues railed campus, KU’s student leaders look forward to a ‘defining year.’ STEPHONN ALCORN Kansas University’s new student body president sums up his personal goals like this: “I’m a believer in doing well by doing good.” Stephonn Alcorn, a 20-year-old, senior finance major from Gardner, spent his summer as an intern at Merrill Lynch in New York City. As of Aug. 12, he’s back in Lawrence and ready to “hit the ground running, very hard” in his new role, he said. Alcorn is stepping into the university’s top student position during a time of change. The Kansas Legislature cut $10.7 million in funding to the KU system; KU student government, along with the broader campus, is facing questions about inclusivity; and the state’s new law requiring concealed carry to be permitted in public buildings will go into effect in summer 2017. “This year will be a defining year for Student Senate and the campus in general,” Alcorn said.
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He and his vice president, Gabby Naylor, ran their campaign last spring on several priorities: improving mental health services on campus; connecting more freshmen with research opportunities; creating a peer-mentoring program for first-generation students; establishing the You at KU program to recruit students from inner-city high schools; revitalizing the Potter Lake area; and improving campus sustainability practices. A couple of those goals reflect Alcorn’s own experience at KU. He’s a first-generation college student and the first student body president to have gone through the KU Hawk Link program. The program connects guides with new students and students of color with transitioning to KU. “Throughout my time at KU, I’ve had so many people and organizations and supportive services that have invested in me,” he said. “I wanted to give back to the university and help other students in the same exact way.” After he graduates, Alcorn wants to pursue a career in finance. But he’d like to return to public service at some point in his life, he said.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOGRAPH
New president and vice president take the helm at the time of historic change
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GABBY NAYLOR Naylor, 21, didn’t always think the “student body vice president” title would be one she’d pursue. The senior accounting major from Rhode Island began serving in Student Senate as a representative for the School of Business, but public service isn’t her career track, she said. “It wasn’t always in the plan,” Naylor said. “I saw a lot of things that needed to be changed. A lot of people were there for their resume. “It wasn’t a career goal for me; it was just something I was passionate about.” She enjoyed the Student Senate experience, Naylor said, because of the collaboration between students from different backgrounds and degree paths. “There’s people from all across campus,” she said. “At the same time I was a representative for the business school, I’d work alongside engineering students, pre-med, from the school of music. Where else do you have the opportunity to collaborate and work with all these different students on issues affecting our campus?” Naylor spent the summer as an intern for a Kansas Citybased accounting firm. But before that, she and Alcorn “laid all of the groundwork” for their new staff.
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Besides the priorities she and Alcorn named in their campaign, they’d like to shift Student Senate from focusing solely on those goals and instead having individual senators tackle their own priorities for their constituencies, Naylor said. “We want all senators to work on platforms they’re passionate about,” she said. “That’s going to make it a really effective year, and not only on the things we ran on and got us elected.” After her year as vice president, Naylor will study a fifth year at KU to earn her master’s in accounting, she said.
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W VETERAN CENTER DIRECTOR
April Blackmon Strange
Steeped in the military life, KU’s executive director of the new Veteran Center hopes to bridge the gap with the civilian world Summerfield Hall, which is currently undergoing a major renovation, will be the home for the Student Veteran Center, scheduled to open this winter.
CONRAD SWANSON /
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@Conrad_Swanson
ith a father in the Army, Hall, but Blackmon Strange is already at April Blackmon Strange work as its only full-time staff member grew up attending 13 out of a temporary administrative office different schools, earning her diploma in Strong Hall. in Germany. With the help of volunteers, When it came time to choose a campus partners and other students, college, Blackmon Strange chose the center educates those coming the only school she knew: Kansas from the military life about the State University. And although her resources available to them, helps father was then them to navigate stationed nearby unfamiliar at Fort Riley, she bureaucracies and had a difficult time to make the most adjusting. out of their time “When I got in school. back to the states I “Transitions went through some are tough for significant culture anyone, especially shock,” she said. “It when you’re was supposed to be transitioning from my home country, the military to yet it felt very campus life and foreign to me.” the civilian world,” Blackmon Blackmon Strange Strange decided to said. “And one of dedicate her career my major goals is to bridging the gap to help empower between the military and enable our and civilian worlds. military-connected Since students to graduating, succeed.” Blackmon Strange In addition, said she’s worked the organization in public affairs reaches out to at Fort Riley, other students, founded and faculty and directed USO Fort staff members Riley and worked about lending a in community hand, Blackmon engagement for Strange said. Kansas University “We can —APRIL BLACKMON Medical Center, educate faculty, STRANGE where she pushed staff and students for the campus to who don’t have be more military connections to friendly to the military as to students, faculty the strengths that and staff. our military community can bring to the In March, Blackmon Strange was classroom and beyond,” she said. announced as executive director Currently the center is creating a for KU’s new Student Veteran Center. comprehensive list of resources on The center, which is slated to open its website and it’s planning on having in its full capacity this winter, is still a presence at student orientations, under construction in Summerfield Blackmon Strange said.
We can educate faculty, staff and students who don’t have connections to the military as to the strengths that our military community can bring to the classroom and beyond.
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NICK KRUG (2)
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With her upbringing, Blackmon Strange said helping veterans is something she considers a calling. Working with and for the men and women of the military is a world she feels comfortable in, she said. “I just felt naturally gravitated to the military world and the military communities because I had spent my entire life on or next to military installations,” she said. Once open, the center will feature
3,000 square feet of space, Blackmon Strange said. The area will have tutoring and meeting spaces and offer a place for people to relax in an area that’s meant to make them feel more comfortable. “When the center opens we can be even stronger and have a physical presence,” she said. KU’s Student Veteran Center is slated to open in January, Blackmon Strange said. More information can be found online at veterans.ku.edu.
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April Blackmon Strange is Kansas University’s executive director of the Student Veteran Center, which is currently under construction at Summerfield Hall. Blackmon Strange was appointed to the position in March and is looking forward to the center opening at the end of the year. She is pictured on Tuesday, May 31, 2016 at Strong Hall.
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HAPPE N IN G Computer hacking toward cybersecurity careers. Tackling uncomfortable race issues through a book read universitywide. Raising money for a beloved mascot. Questing for the best cancer care. These are just a few initiatives underway at KU.
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Big Jay cheers on the Jayhawks with fans during the first half, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016 at Allen Fieldhouse.
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T A GIFT OF A
Mascot Donation will keep Big Jay and Baby Jay in fine feather for years to come
PETER HANCOCK /
@LJWpqhancock
he famous Kansas University Jayhawk and its sidekick, “Baby Jay,” are now financially secure long into the future, thanks to a unique gift by one KU alumnus. Steve Sears, who donned the “Big Jay” costume for three years starting in 1981, and his husband, John Lavryssen, have recently made an estate gift to the KU Endowment Association, setting up a Jayhawk Mascot Fund that will help keep the birds entertaining crowds and rallying KU sports fans. The gift will not only help maintain the bird costumes, which are surprisingly expensive, but will also help fund the entire mascot program, which Athletics Department spokesman Jim Marchiony described as central to the university’s identity. “It’s everything with respect to KU’s brand,” Marchiony said. “You can tell just by walking around on game day, the reaction of kids and adults, but certainly the kids, and then the adults reacting to the kids reacting. It’s about as irreplaceable as anything I can think of regarding the Jayhawk brand.” The Jayhawk, as most KU fans know, is a mythical bird that traces its origins back to the early settlers of the Kansas Territory, and later to the Civil War. Gov. Charles Robinson, first governor of the new state of Kansas, raised a regiment called the Independent Kansas Mounted Jayhawkers. According to the university’s official “Legend of the Jayhawk,” the word was incorporated into the school cheer, “Rock Chalk Jayhawk,” in the 1880s, and it became
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the school’s mascot when the first KU football team took the field in 1890. But not anybody can put on the Jayhawk costume and start working the crowd on game day. Marchiony said those people are chosen through tryouts, just like the cheer squad, and they even attend a special training program in August for sports mascots. The current Jayhawk costume is relatively new, he said, and costs about $7,000. And if you can imagine how hot it gets inside the costume, you’d know why it has to be cleaned after every performance. The mascots also travel on occasion and they sometimes make appearances at other official KU functions besides sporting events. Sears is a 1983 graduate of the KU School of Business, according to an Endowment Association profile. He went on to earn an MBA from Northwestern University and spent most of his career in marketing with PepsiCo. Sears is also a two-time survivor of lymphoma, and so part of the couple’s estate gift will also benefit the KU Cancer Center’s bone marrow transplant program. They have also set aside money to benefit the wooded area on campus known as Marvin Grove. Lavryssen is a graduate of Algonquin College in Ottawa, Canada. He spent his career in food service and hospitality management, and now works as a massage therapist. The donors requested that the amount of the Jayhawk Mascot Fund gift not be disclosed.
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GET TO KNOW THE
JayHackers
NICK KRUG
Club teaches cybersecurity combining teamwork with national defense
Maj. Gilbert looks over his computer during a cybersecurity competition on Saturday, April 30, 2016 in Eaton Hall on the campus of Kansas University.
ELVYN JONES /
kutoday.com
@ElvynJ
O
n the first Sunday of May, four Fort Riley soldiers wearing camouflaged fatigues stared intently into monitors in an Eaton Hall computer lab. On this particular day, the fatigues didn’t offer the soldiers cover from those actively probing their defenses. The First Infantry Division visitors were taking part in an end of the semester exercise with the JayHackers, KU’s student cybersecurity team. On that day, the Fort Riley team was on defense and a team of JayHackers and a couple of defecting soldiers were attacking, attempting all sorts of cyber theft and carnage. The JayHackers team is actually a club, explained president Jeff Offerdahl, who joined the club a semester after it was
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founded in fall 2014. The Columbia, Mo., computer science major said despite the club status the JayHackers still take part in one competition a semester and members have regular practice sessions to hone their coordination and skills. As with the exercise with the Fort Riley team, competitions have a blue team on defense, trying to prevent a red team of attacking hackers from getting access to its network, stealing vital information and shutting down critical functions, Offerdahl said. When the team goes to competitions, it’s always the blue team, he said. What the attacking red team attempts to do is find anything open or unprotected. Hackers look for an open web page or
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document for any information, such as a password, that will allow the attackers more access. There’s also some traditional espionage in which red team members will gain information through nondigital means like eavesdropping and fraternizing. Competitions can be two-day events, making for stress and fatigue. Adding to the pressure is the fact that attackers often get the early upper hand, Offerdahl said. “My first competition in Denver, the red team attacked our system before we even sat down,” he said. “Half our system had already been taken down before we started.” Teams are scored by how long their systems are running, how quickly they get functions reestablished once attacked and for adding new functions, such as email service for a new company CEO, Offerdahl said. It did give him and his teammates a great deal of satisfaction and confidence to recover from that early assault to perform well on the second day of the Denver competition, Offerdahl said. Like him, the club members are students looking toward careers in cyber security, Offerdahl said. The club’s advisers are Bo Luo, KU associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, and Fengjun Li, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science. Li said the club is very self-sufficient and that her and Luo’s role was to help with recruiting by pointing talented students to the club and aiding with scheduling of competitions and hosting home events. The club itself is a recruiting tool for the university. The exercise with the Fort Riley soldiers was meant to introduce them to opportunities made possible through a $4.7 million, five-year grant that KU received from the National Science Foundation. The iCyberCorps: New Scholarship for Service Program at the University of Kansas-Jayhawk SFS initiative will provide support for undergraduates, master’s and doctoral students who commit to work at government cybersecurity jobs safeguarding critical infrastructure following their graduation. A leader of the Fort Riley team, Maj. Edward Minor, said the KU opportunity would appeal to many of the fort’s cyber-security personnel once they complete their six-year enlistment. They are people who know how to work as a team and are dedicated to the defense of their country, he said.
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T KANSAS UNIVERSITY’S
Common Book Award-winning book about race to inform universitywide discussions
ROCHELLE VALVERDE /
kutoday.com
@RochelleVerde
his year’s Kansas University Common Book is “Between the World and Me” by TaNehisi Coates. Written in the form of a letter from the author to his adolescent son, the book is expected to spur tough conversations about race and inequality. “Drawing from personal lived experience, Coates shares his early college days, the struggle to connect academic learning to the broader world and a quest for safety in a time of uncertainty,” according to a description in KU’s announcement. “A modern coming-of-age story, ‘Between the World and Me’ offers insight on community expectations and global learning as a young man discovers the injustice surrounding him.” KU’s Office of First Year Experience selects each year’s common book after a lengthy process of nominations, committee discussions and recommendations. One of the goals of the common book program is to create a universitywide shared experience. To that end, incoming freshmen and transfer students receive copies of the book at orientation along with a reader’s guide. Beginning in the fall, the book will be the subject of a series of programs, such as discussion groups, community lectures and student
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activities. The book will also be used in some classes. “Between the World and Me’ explores social justice, inequality and oppression in American society,” according to KU’s announcement. “Coates’ powerful words are particularly timely for college students as campuses across the nation struggle to redefine equity and access within their institutions. The book will challenge the KU community and provide meaningful opportunities to explore the effect of these issues at the university.” “Between the World and Me” was awarded the 2015 National Book Award for nonfiction. It also made the New York Times list of best books of 2015. Coates is a national correspondent for The Atlantic. He studied at Howard University and Middlebury College, and later was a visiting professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and City University of New York. This is the fifth year for the KU Common Book program. The 2015-2016 selection was Ernest Hemingway’s “A Farewell to Arms.” In the past, living authors of KU Common Books have visited campus, but KU has not yet announced whether Coates will do so. A schedule of 2016-2017 Common Book events is available at firstyear.ku.edu.
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T KANSAS UNIVERSITY’S
Cancer Center
Elite program aiming for even higher designation
MACKENZIE CLARK /
kutoday.com
@mclark_ljw
he Kansas University Cancer Center has already achieved National Cancer Institute designation, making it one of 69 in the United States that the NCI says “form the backbone” of its programs for studying and controlling cancer. Now the center is aiming even higher. By Sept. 26, the center will have submitted its application for the NCI’s highest designation, Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Roy Jensen, director of the center, explained what sets apart the centers that have attained comprehensive status. “They’re not just doing cancer research and treating patients and working on the problem from that angle,” he said. “They’re also key opinion leaders and really designing and implementing specific types of interventions to move the needle in the right direction as far as cancer mortality and incidence.” Jensen said comprehensive centers are responsible for looking at ways to prevent and control cancer at a population level and advocating for strong public policy initiatives. As one example of how KU has done this, he cited the indoor tanning law that passed this year, which bans minors from using tanning beds and allows $250 fines for salons that violate the law. “The expectation the NCI has for us in this role is that we are national and regional leaders in developing and implementing the strategy to mitigate the impact of cancer,” he said.
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The application to the NCI will detail the center’s efforts to educate undergraduate and graduate students, as well as the community, about cancer issues. Once the center submits the application — on or before Sept. 26 — it will enter an extensive review process that includes multiple site visits and board votes. It’s a lengthy process, but Jensen said if the center attains the comprehensive designation, it will be allowed to ask for more money in the form of higher levels of grants. Patients and the population within the center’s catchment area will benefit, too, he said. “There will be an acknowledged leader in terms of these issues,” Jensen said. The center has also worked on “making sure that cancer services reach the most under-served and most vulnerable aspects of our population, and we have quite a few groups that are in that situation.” He noted the four American Indian tribes in Kansas, a “significantly expanding Hispanic population,” urban poor residents, as well as nearly 1 million people in rural counties as groups that have specific needs for the cancer center. “Being able to implement screening and prevention services with those folks is a major issue,” he said. The final step of this undertaking is the National Cancer Advisory Board’s vote whether to approve KU’s Comprehensive Cancer Center designation, which Jensen said will take place in June 2017.
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JOHN YOUNG
K U
Ruth Vervynck, Lawrence, participates in the Douglas County Relay for Life event in June. The Kansas University Cancer Center, which partners with the American Cancer Society to help patients with classes and events, is applying this fall for the National Cancer Institute’s highest designation, Comprehensive Cancer Center.
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LEA RN IN G From the students in the desks, the professors who teach them to the subject matter they’re studying, KU’s academic community spans far and wide. They build on others who laid important groundwork in the university’s early days.
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GOOGLE EARTH
Syria & Palmyra Archeology class uses technology to document damage to ancient sites
R
ebecca Joy was appalled by the The class introduced students to that destruction and looting she witnessed practice. Stinson said his students used at the ancient Syrian sites of Apamea Google Earth to attempt to document and Palmyra. damage to ancient sites in Iraq, Syria and The May 2016 to a lesser extent Kansas University Afghanistan. graduate in “One of the neat anthropology with a things about Google minor in classics has Earth is the archives of never visited those older images,” he said. sites, or Syria for “We can study how that matter. While sites have changed over taking a class from the past 10 to 15 years.” KU classics professor Students were Phillip Stinson in the able to identify fall 2015 semester, Joy multiple ways all sides used Google Earth to in the war have harmed research the damage the sites, Stinson said. done to Apamea in There are examples northeast Syria during of road building and the country’s civil war, mounds of earth but also looked at other used for military sites like Palmyra. installations. Stinson said the “I think most of use of Google Earth the students in my was now common in class were shocked archeology. With the at what has been invasion of Iraq in happening and 2003 and the chaos surprised it can’t be —PHILLIP STINSON that followed the stopped,” Stinson start of the Syrian said. “Some were also civil war in 2011, it is intrigued by what they sometimes the only tool archeologists have learned. They were interested in that there to track what is happening on the ground in was so little reliable information about what areas wracked by war and civil unrest. is happening at these sites.”
One of the neat things about Google Earth is the archives of older images. We can study how sites have changed over the past 10 to 15 years.
ELVYN JONES /
@ElvynJ
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LEARNING
The Islamic State group blew up the 2,000-year-old Baalshamin Temple in Palmyra, Syria, in August 2015. This is an Associated Press file photo showing the temple before the damage. With the territory too dangerous to visit and assess in person, KU classics professor Phillip Stinson has led classes in assessing the damage via Google Earth.
kutoday.com
One of the most noticeable changes at Syrian sites is the evidence of widespread looting. “It’s easy to see illicit excavation because the pits being dug in the ground are so easily seen,” Stinson said. “You can find fields that in 2008 or 2009 were open and in 2014 were completely pock marked.” Stinson said students were asked to write an essay about what they discovered, research reports of what was happening and recount the difficulties they faced in documenting changes at their sites. For many, the biggest challenge was the low resolution of Google Earth images of the sites assigned to them. That frustration was a learning experience, too, he said. The pit-digging activity started soon after the beginning of the Syrian civil war, Joy said. Desperate natives caught in the carnage and uncertainty of war searched for gold or artifacts they could sell on the antiquities market, she said. She also found evidence of mosaics and murals ripped up and columns taken apart. When the Islamic State controlled Apamea, Palmyra and other sites, it
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encouraged further excavations and looting, taking a percent of what the valuables brought, she said. A feature of Islamic State occupation was the willful destruction of sites viewed as idolatrous, such as the Temple of Bel in Palmyra, Joy said. “It all comes down to what do people think is important, and what do people in one group think is evil and needs to be destroyed?” she said. “It’s sad because this is our heritage and history, not just of those native to the area.” A full survey of damage at the sites from war, vandalism, religious zealotry or looting can’t be determined from available Google images, Joy and Stinson said. Those inventories will have to be done when archeologists can safely visit them. Joy said it is easy to fall under the spell of ancient sites. “If it ever calms down enough to be safe enough for scientists and archeologists, I’d love to see the sites firsthand,” she said. “I don’t see that happening anytime in the near future.” Stinson said the course would be offered again in the spring or fall of 2017.
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RICHARD GWIN
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Mike Reid, knows a lot of points about KU, one is the Jayhawk Mascots and their creation.
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KANSAS UNIVERSITY HISTORIAN
Mike Reid
Expert shares five big moments from KU’s past
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or Kansas University Historian Mike Reid, 2016 is a time of great change within the school. Reid retired as the communication director for KU’s Memorial Unions in January, but he has stayed with the school part time as a keeper of kuhistory.com. Looking over campus, noting new and ongoing construction, Reid says it has possibly been over a century since KU has seen such a frenzy of development. “At this moment I would say there’s a building boom,” he said. “I mean, that whole southwest corner of the main campus is pretty much under construction with that new science corridor, the business school and the DeBruce Center. That’s a pretty big piece of construction for the campus all at one time.” Thinking back over the generations, Reid shared a list of five other big moments in KU history:
First / Hiring Francis Snow Snow was hired in 1866 as one of the university’s first professors, Reid said. He was instrumental in expanding the school and eventually took over as KU’s fifth chancellor. Snow hired James Naismith, helped begin KU’s football program and expanded the academic schools, Reid said. “I think the campus was really formed by him,” Reid said. “He was one of the first three faculty members and then went on to become chancellor in 1890. His fingerprints are all over the buildings of campus in the beginning.”
CONRAD SWANSON /
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Fourth / Hiring James Naismith
In 1872 KU opened the doors to Fraser Hall, then called University Hall, Reid said. The building was the first step toward becoming a major educational institution. Fraser Hall was the first building on campus to have electricity, Reid said. The utility kept the building’s clocks, and therefore the school, on time. “That was a major development for the campus, where we felt like we were a real university,” Reid said. “At the time they called it the largest educational building in the country. It was a pretty magnificent structure.” Old Fraser Hall was torn down in 1965 and replaced with the current Fraser Hall.
Hired in 1898 as chaplain and director of KU’s physical education department, James Naismith changed both the school and the world of sports forever, Reid said. Naismith was a “Renaissance man,” Reid said. He worked to integrate the campus, encourage healthy living and even served as an unofficial university doctor for a time. Naismith once saved a man’s life when dynamite exploded during the construction of Strong Hall, Reid added. Of course, Naismith also wrote the original rules of “ Basket Ball.” But his time at KU was so much more than that, Reid said. “Him being there provided for people to keep on staying in shape for a good life and good health,” Reid said. “He was a good role model for everybody for many, many years here in Lawrence, and he gave so much back to the community.”
Third / Hiring Lewis Lindsay Dyke A student of the natural world, Lewis Lindsay Dyche became a professor at KU in 1889, Reid said. During his tenure, Dyche established the Panorama of North American Mammals, traveled the globe to further his scientific studies and to share his findings. “He did a lot of public relations for the university,” Reid said. Now, much of Dyche’s collection can be seen at KU’s Natural History Museum, which has drawn widespread attention for generations, Reid said. “Most every kid in the region knows that natural history museum,” Reid said. “For all those years it’s had an impact on kids, it’s helped to recruit kids. It’s the silent recruiter in some ways.”
Fifth / The creation of the original Jayhawk For years Kansas University had a Jayhawk chant but no depiction of the school’s mascot, Reid said. Then, in 1912, Henry Maloy, a cartoonist for the student newspaper, created the first version of the Jayhawk. “It created this Jayhawk spirit that everybody comes together with,” he said. Although the design has seen several changes over the generations, Reid said the mascot has remained at the center of the school’s lore. “I’ve always said the Jayhawk was one of our best recruiters,” he said. “If you’re 3 to 4 years old and you see that bird, you’re fascinated.”
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IMAGES COURTESY OF KANSAS UNIVERSITY
Second / Building Old Fraser Hall
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arlier this year, KU’s Trio McNair Scholars Program selected 16 high-achieving undergraduate students with aspirations to join America’s next generation of university professors, researchers and professionals. Intended to provide the necessary skills and resources for the ascent into graduate school and beyond, the program assists low-income, first generation and underrepresented minority students, two of whom recently shared their stories with the Journal-World.
KANSAS UNIVERSITY
Latino Scholars Program puts focus on research with real-life consequences
JOANNA HLAVACEK /
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@HlavacekJoanna
thereof — of Latinas in literature is the subject of her McNair-funded research, which will examine four novels: “Esperanza Rising” by Pam Muñoz Ryan; Nicholas Sparks’ “See Me” (it’s the first of the romance writer’s works to feature a woman of color as the protagonist, Núñez Arroyo notes); “Rules of Attraction” by Simone Elkeles; and “When the Stars Go Blue” by Caridad Ferrer. Two were written by white authors; the other two by Latina authors. “Growing up, I didn’t want to exist,” MARGARITA ALEY NÚÑEZ ARROYO says Núñez Arroyo — at least not in the The world may have seen Compton Latina body that had been objectified and as violent and crime-ridden, but Margarita reduced to a stereotype in the media she Aley Núñez Arroyo, consumed, in which who grew up in the women and girls Latino community like her were often positioned near Los portrayed as the Angeles County’s maid or hypersouthern point, saw sexualized mami, something else. for example. “I Problematic wanted to exist in portrayals of her the way that white hometown were women were able to constant. Media were exist in literature.” always quick to depict Characters negative facets of “my who looked like city and the people her were often I grew up with and one-dimensional, the community that while their white —MARGARITA ALEY (were) true,” says counterparts were Núñez Arroyo. “But more likely to NÚÑEZ ARROYO there were also a lot of be fully realized great things that were humans capable happening that were of being “shy and never spoken about.” smart and artsy” all at once. It’s why she chose journalism as her At one point, in an effort to avoid major at Kansas University, where the “being preyed upon by men and society,” 20-year-old also minors in dance and Núñez Arroyo felt an urge to “dissect creative writing. myself and cut myself” off from everything “I want to write for the people who that read as feminine or attractive. The feel like they have no voice in this result was a “woman who was afraid of country,” she says. being a woman,” she recalls. Núñez Arroyo, who was born in Núñez Arroyo doesn’t want that for Mexico and spent most of her childhood the next generation of Latinas — young in Southern California before moving to women like her who would sooner pick up Emporia with her family as a teenager, a novel, and lose themselves in it, than an loved reading as a girl. The problem was iPod or TV remote. It’s why she’s working she rarely, if ever, saw herself or others on a book of her own now. like her in the pages of her favorite books. “I want to write for those girls,” she The representation — or lack says. “For all girls.”
I want to write for the people who feel like they have no voice in this country.
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Margarita Aley Núùez Arroyo, a Kansas University senior majoring in journalism with minors in creative writing and dance, is one of a handful of Latino and Latina students selected for TRIO McNair Scholars Program. Nunez Arroyo is pictured on Friday, June 3 outside Joseph R. Pearson Hall.
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ROBERT SAGASTUME In June, Robert Sagastume set out on an ambitious case study that would analyze current state-level legislation concerning undocumented immigrants in Missouri. Through his research, funded by Kansas University’s TRIO McNair Scholars Program, Sagastume plans to examine the effects of a recent Missouri rule change that calls for public universities and colleges in the state to charge DACA students — undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children — outof-state tuition, which he says has led to an increase in depression, high school dropouts and potentially criminal activity, he predicts, among undocumented Latino youths. “They don’t want to end up doing that,” Sagastume says of young people turning to crime instead of college. “They want to be active citizens.” They have dreams, he says, just as he had dreams as a studious teenager growing up in Independence, Mo., where undocumented students like him either didn’t exist or were wary of identifying as such out of deportation fears. The ultimate goal behind the McNair research, Sagastume says, is to present his findings to the Missouri House. It’s an opportunity that wasn’t available to Sagastume, a senior majoring in social welfare, two years ago when he first heard from a friend about the McNair program. Sagastume, who was born in Honduras but
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migrated to the U.S. with his mother on a tourist visa in 2001, wasn’t eligible at first because of his undocumented status. Though he’d spent half his life in the U.S. with his seven documented brothers and sisters, he was neither a citizen nor a permanent resident — a result, he says, of “slipping through the cracks” post-9/11. Sagastume, 28, received his permanent residency last year through marrying his now-husband, a U.S. citizen. Originally interested in pursuing law, Sagastume switched to social welfare after becoming more involved with his community as an activist and organizer — he’s a paid staffer now at the Kansas/Missouri Dream Alliance. There’s more opportunity to “give back” this way, he says, especially to families. Sagastume’s mother, Olga, succumbed to a battle with leukemia shortly after seeing him graduate with an associate’s degree in liberal arts from Johnson County Community College in 2014. She was beaming from her wheelchair as he walked across the stage — “really, really happy,” Sagastume recalls, and “very proud.” Though she won’t be around to see him receive his bachelor’s degree, Sagastume knows she’d be just as proud. In the meantime, he hopes to serve as a role model to the next generation. If his 16 nieces and nephews can see it, they can be it. “It’s cool because now all of the little ones who are growing up want to go to college like their tio Robert,” he says.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ROBERT SAGASTUME
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LEFT TO RIGHT, TOP TO BOTTOM Beth Bailey, William Picking, Mark Shiflett, Christophe Royon, Cecilia Menjivar, K. Christopher Beard, Victor Agadjanian, Steven Soper, James Bever, Yong Zhao, Dennis O’Rourke, David Roediger kutoday.com
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Foundation Professors Partnerships between state and KU results in 12 worldclass professors bringing their expertise to the university
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tephen Soper is a leading international researcher who is developing technology applications to detect disease. Yong Zhao is considered “one of the most influential voices in education” today and a prolific researcher who has written more than 20 books, including “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon: Why China has the Best (and Worst) Education System in the World.” Mark Shiflett is a prominent chemical engineer, scientist and inventor, responsible for making a refrigerant part that doesn’t damage the Earth’s ozone layer. These three will join nine other world-class professors in August and complete Kansas University’s search for Foundation Distinguished Professors — a feat made possible by a partnership between the university and the state to attract some of the best professors, researchers and scientists in the country to KU. The initiative costs $3 million annually. THE 12 FOUNDATION DISTINGUISHED PROFESSORS:
• Yong Zhao will join KU in August and will be foundation distinguished professor in the department of educational leadership and policy studies and also will hold a courtesy appointment in the School of Business. • Mark Shiflett will join KU in August and will be in the department of chemical and petroleum engineering and will conduct research at KU’s Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis. • Stephen Soper joined KU on July 1 and will be a professor in the department of chemistry and also will hold an appointment in the department of mechanical engineering. • Dennis O’Rourke joined KU in January and is a professor in the department of anthropology. • Christophe Royon joined KU in January and is a professor in the department of physics and astronomy.
KAREN DILLON /
@karensdillon
• Beth Bailey joined KU in September 2015 and is a professor in the department of history.
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• David Roediger joined KU in August 2014 and is a professor of American Studies and history. • K. Christopher Beard joined KU in April 2014 and is a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and senior curator at the Biodiversity Institute. • William Picking joined KU in June 2014 and is a professor of pharmaceutical chemistry and lead researcher at the Kansas Vaccine Development Center. • James Bever joined KU in January and is foundation distinguished professor in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology and the Kansas Biological Survey. • Victor Agadjanian joined KU in September 2015 and is a professor in the department of sociology. • Cecilia Menjivar joined KU in August 2015 and is a professor in the Department of Sociology.
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BUILDIN G KU is in the middle of one of its biggest building booms ever. Peek inside some of the university’s brand new facilities. See plans for others under construction or being transformed through major renovations.
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Spencer Museum Multimillion-dollar renovation to roll out an all-new art museum
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hen students and faculty return two-story, floor-to-ceiling window feature to Kansas University this fall, looking out onto Marvin Grove. they’ll be greeted by a nearly It’s a “breathtaking” vista, says Saralyn — but not quite — completed renovation of Reece Hardy, who holds the Spencer’s a centrally located campus staple. Marilyn Stokstad Directorship. She envisions Thanks to contributions from the museum becoming one of KU’s favorite approximately spots to take in the 200 private and beauty of campus, public donors, the “far above” and Spencer Museum “very glorious to of Art has received view” indeed, to a facelift totaling borrow lyrics from $7.4 million dollars, the university’s alma and will reopen its mater. doors to the public “While we had in October. Official always envisioned reopening festivities a much more are scheduled for the welcoming lobby, weekend of Oct. 15, we wanted to draw with the museum’s students and the first post-renovations public into the special exhibition, museum,” Reece “Temporal Turn: Hardy said. “So Art and Speculation now, when you in Contemporary come in, you’ll have Asia,” slated for midthis extraordinary November. experience of looking Phase I of at the world-class art the project, the and acknowledging museum’s first major our beautiful natural —SARALYN REECE HARDY renovation since setting.” original construction In the spirit wrapped in 1977, of the Spencer’s began in spring educational mission, 2015. The design plan — led by New York students, faculty and art-loving members City-based Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, with of the public will enjoy an expanded study Lawrence’s Sabatini Architects — includes area and teaching gallery. The new Stephen an expanded lobby, a renovated central H. Goddard Study Center, named for the court and surrounding galleries, and a museum’s longtime associate director, will
When you come in, you’ll have this extraordinary experience of looking at the worldclass art and acknowledging our beautiful natural setting.
JOANNA HLAVACEK /
@HlavacekJoanna
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high-tech looping system for hearingimpaired visitors. According to KU, major donations to the Spencer campaign include gifts by Sam and Connie Perkins, Olathe; Pam and Dolph Simons Jr., Lawrence; M.D. Michaelis of Emprise Financial Center, Wichita; and Linda and John T. Stewart, Lawrence and Wellington. “The architects and the designers really respected the building, and therefore the changes, I think, will highlight the strengths of the building and open it up in very new ways,” Reece Hardy said. “We hope to be reopened with a renewed focus on being for everyone.”
EXHIBITION INFO In mid-November, the Spencer Museum will open its first special exhibition in the renovated gallery space. “Temporal Turn: Art and Speculation in Contemporary Asia” will host several international works — including four site-specific commissions by Rohini Devasher and Sahej Rahal (India), Park Jaeyoung (South Korea) and Konōike Tomoko (Japan), created exclusively for the exhibition — in its exploration of “a rich mosaic of ideas about time and history from a generation of artists embedded in what has been dubbed “‘the Asian Century.’”
COURTESY OF SPENCER MUSEUM OF ART
replace the original print room, providing nearly doubled storage for the museum’s collection of works on paper. The study space has always been “one of the heartbeats of the Spencer Museum,” said Reece Hardy. When the museum’s original fundraising goal of $5 million was surpassed in spring 2015, bringing the budget to $7.4 million, designers used the extra funds to address several long-standing accessibility and infrastructure needs. These include the addition of an elevator and staircase connecting the thirdand fourth-floor galleries, as well as a
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6:30 PM – 9:00 PM Join KU Pharmacy Students as they come together to raise funds to host “The Holiday Party” a special event for area pediatric cancer patients. Help us provide an event where kids with cancer and their families can focus on FUN!
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to purchase tickets, make a tax deductible donation, or to learn more about the School of Pharmacy Student …because the discovery and delivery of effective medicines enhance and extend life organizations and our commitment to the lawrence community, please visit our event website at Faculty Advising Handbook 2014-2015 events.lls.org/pages/mid/barnparty2016.
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The atrium at Capitol Federal Hall viewed from the ground floor on Tuesday, May 10, 2016.
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School of Business Donor-funded $60 million Capitol Federal Hall expected to make KU competitive at highest levels
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he Kansas University School of Business opened its doors this summer to a new home, marking the first time in many decades that the school has been housed in a new building that was designed from the ground up as a place for business education. Capitol Federal Hall, at 1654 Naismith Drive, also represents another emerging trend in education: a building that was financed 100 percent with private donations. Although KU kicked in about $10 million in public money for infrastructure like sidewalks and site preparation, KU officials said, the $60.5 million building itself was financed entirely through private donations from the school’s business partners, led by Topeka-based Capitol Federal Savings & Loan, which committed about one-third of the money.
With that new facility, though, KU officials say their business school is now ready to compete at the highest level. “A lot of people in business education will tell you that there is an arms race for talent,” said Austin Falley, communications director for the school. “And it’s not just talent of students. It’s talent of faculty and staff. Higher education is very competitive, and business education is hyper-competitive on top of that. So this allows us to be competitive in the marketplace.” Since the early 1980s, the School of Business had been housed in —AUSTIN FALLEY Summerfield Hall, a building that was already more than 20 years old at the time. It was originally designed to house what was called the University Computation Center, which later moved and
Capitol Federal Hall really allows us to say, ‘hey, we are at the level of every other major program in the country.
PETER HANCOCK /
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT The new Kansas University School of Business, Capitol Federal Hall. “Punch Line” by Janet Davidson-Hues hangs above a collaborative space at Capitol Federal Hall. A deck overlooking the green roof at Capitol Federal Hall can be used by students for studying. “Wall Drawing 519” by artist Sol LeWitt extends along a hallway on the first floor of Capitol Federal Hall.
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LEFT The atrium at Capitol Federal Hall viewed from the second floor.
NICK KRUG
RIGHT The atrium at Capitol Federal Hall viewed from the fourth floor. Just below on the third floor is a teaching assistant help area.
became the Computer Services Facility. But Capitol Federal Hall is designed specifically for modern business education. The 166,500-square foot facility features 20 classrooms, a 350seat auditorium and 25 spaces for collaborative projects, all outfitted with the latest technology, and all surrounding a large, open-space commons area with windows looking out toward Allen Fieldhouse. Construction began in October 2012 and was completed in April 2016. Doors officially opened in June for the start of summer school classes. Falley said the new building puts KU on the map of higher education business schools. “Capitol Federal Hall really allows us to say, ‘hey, we are at the level of every other major program in the country,’” he said. “Come to us. Not only do we have this amazing facility, but we have this business community, this pride around this institution and this program that really is something special.”
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CAPITOL FEDERAL HALL BY THE NUMBERS ADDRESS 1654 Naismith Drive SIZE 166,500 square feet CONSTRUCTION START Oct. 18, 2013 CONSTRUCTION END April 4, 2016 OPENED FOR CLASS June 6, 2016 BUILDING COST $60.5 million, 100 percent privately funded TOTAL PROJECT COST $70.5 million KEY FEATURES 20 classrooms 350 seat auditorium 25 collaborative spaces
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The “Rules Concourse” leading to the “Rules Gallery” inside KU’s DeBruce Center. The big man on the right is KU basketball legend Clyde Lovellette, one of several famous KU figures featured in the historical display. kutoday.com
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DeBruce Center State-of-the-art building houses an “amazing document”: James Naismith’s 13 original rules of “Basket Ball”
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KAREN DILLON /
@karensdillon
n December 1891, James Naismith’s boss at the YMCA in Springfield, Mass., gave the physical education instructor two weeks to create a new indoor activity to keep the football and rugby players busy and in shape. Naismith produced the 13 rules of “Basket Ball” that winter, creating a new game using peach baskets. The rules allowed the players to only pass the ball, then about the size of a soccer ball, to other players, who were required to stop running immediately and either pass the ball again or try to make a basket. Almost 125 years later, the game has evolved into one of America’s favorite pastimes and a multibillion-dollar sport. Naismith went on to become Kansas University’s first basketball coach in 1899 and became known internationally as the father of basketball. Fast forward to 2010: Two donors, David and Suzanne Booth, purchased the original 13 rules of “Basket Ball” for $4.34 million and asked that they be on permanent display at KU. Almost immediately Paul and Katherine DeBruce and other donors stepped forward to pay for a building to house the rules.
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This spring, the $21.7 million glass and steel edifice named the DeBruce Center opened. The building, which connects to Allen Fieldhouse, is a “shrine to the rules of basketball,” said Curtis Marsh, the DeBruce Center’s director. “This is an amazing document and very possibly the only originating document of a major sport,” Marsh said. But Marsh said the building, which has a winding concourse that leads to the rules gallery, and includes eateries, tables and meeting areas, is an important part of the campus community. “This lovely glass building frankly makes you feel like you are hanging outside with temperature control,” he said. “It needs to be a gathering space for the campus community and the extended Jayhawk family.” Marsh is well-versed in the history of basketball, which retains vestiges of its original form. When Naismith came up with the idea, he checked with custodial folks to see if they had any boxes for players to throw the balls into, Marsh said. But none were available that day. He quickly hit upon the peach baskets,
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Visitors look at James Naismith’s newly installed original rules of “Basket Ball” on display at Kansas University’s DeBruce Center on Friday, May 13, 2016. James Naismith’s original rules of “Basket Ball” are displayed inside Kansas University’s DeBruce Center. The display also features a 1939 radio interview of Naismith himself describing how he invented the game, the only known audio recording of Naismith’s voice. The low-lit Rules Gallery displays also include quotes from former KU basketball players and coaches. Outside KU’s DeBruce Center is this bronze sculpture of James Naismith designed by the late KU professor Elden Tefft and completed after his death by his son, Kim Tefft.
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Visitors to the recently-installed James Naismith statue take turns shooting selfies next to the bronze creator of basketball. The statue, which was begun by Lawrence sculptor Elden Tefft and finished by his son Kim Tefft, sits near the entrance of the DeBruce Center, which houses Naismith’s original rules of basketball.
pinning each to each end of the gymnasium. were fans in the galleries who would reach In the original games, ladders were used over the guardrail and block shots. In 1895, to get the ball out of the baskets, he said. backboards were introduced, not to help “It was a good players with their thing that players shot, but to prevent only scored five or fans from interfering. six points a game,” Marsh said the Marsh said. original rules did not But Naismith include dribbling, and quickly hit upon it wasn’t until 1901 poking a small hole that the rules were in the bottom of the amended to allow basket in order to players to bounce the use a broom-handle ball once to another to pop out the ball. player. In 1909, the rules If he had removed were amended to allow the bottom of the continuous dribbling. basket, it would have The scoring system greatly weakened it too was different. It and wouldn’t have was 1894 before free —CURTIS MARSH held up, Marsh said. throws for fouls were It wasn’t until allowed, Marsh said. 1898 that hoops and The free throw was nets replaced the peach baskets. worth one point and the goal became worth two Another problem Naismith faced as points. Not until 1985 did three-point shots come he saw the popularity of the game grow into play, he said.
NICK KRUG
This is an amazing document and very possibly the only originating document of a major sport.
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The Earth, Energy and Environment Center “Triple-E-C” will be unique in crossing disciplinary boundaries
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nderway at one of the main entrances to Kansas University’s campus are two new buildings, Ritchie Hall and Slawson Hall. Together with Lindley Hall, they will form the Earth, Energy and Environment Center. Robert Goldstein, associate dean of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, explained that the “triple-E-C” will house research and teaching space for both the department of geology, within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, as well as the department of chemical and petroleum engineering, within the School of Engineering. “Basically it’s going to be the first teaching and research building that we have that really crosses the disciplinary boundaries, crosses school boundaries,” he said. KU is already strong in petroleum engineering, as well as geology in relation to the energy industry and hydrogeology, Goldstein said, which means this project
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will help “achieve the kind of national prominence in this energy and environment area” KU wants. “That’s why we’ve chosen to build on areas where we’re already good, so we can be even better, or the best,” he said. The main theme is integration. Rather than faculty being in another building, they will be with students. Students and researchers from different disciplines will share the same space, and the university hopes this will lead to innovation. “The greatest discoveries that happen in research are at the margins of fields, or at the intersections of fields, and it’s by getting scientists and engineers to work together, for example — to live together and interact and bounce ideas around,” Goldstein said. The buildings will feature shared spaces, as well, such as a small conference center that aims to create a welcoming environment for industry partners to visit with students about immediate problems in the fields. Goldstein
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This preliminary rendering shows an interior view of the planned Earth, Energy and Environment Center, or EEEC, on the KU campus. Construction on the building, adjacent to Lindley Hall, began in summer 2015.
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said he thinks this will help attract and retain the best and brightest students and faculty. Although the buildings will look relatively modern, Goldstein said, they will be tied into the surrounding historic district through use of materials and shapes. The base of the EEEC will use cottonwood limestone just like that used in Lindley Hall; terra cotta panels will also be used, complementary to Strong Hall. The north building, Ritchie Hall, is located directly west of Lindley Hall at Naismith Drive and Crescent Road, and the two will be connected by a pathway of small exhibits that will change. One glass wall of the pathway will overlook an engaged learning classroom, where students will be at work on real-world
We’ve chosen to build on areas where we’re already good, so we can be even better, or the best. —ROBERT GOLDSTEIN
projects. The buildings will also connect to the fourth floor of Learned Hall, home of the Tertiary Oil Recovery Program, with a passageway that will cross over Naismith Drive. Originally budgeted for $82 million, Goldstein’s more recent cost estimate was $78.5 million. “We’ve done really well with working on the rate at which we put the building up and conserving on budget,” he said. “We’re actually getting a lot of building for the buck. … We should be all moved in by November of 2017.”
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OPPOSITE Construction on KU’s new Earth, Energy and Environment Center, or EEEC, on the northeast corner of 15th Street and Naismith Drive, is pictured on Wednesday, July 6, 2016. Adjacent to Lindley Hall, the building — featuring two towers, Ritchie Hall and Slawson Hall — is scheduled for completion in fall 2017.
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