SHOCK TILL YOU DROP
The Shocker State Fair strives to help ‘energize’ Wichita State freshmen
BY MYA SCOTT mds.200624@gmail.com
Food trucks, inflatable obstacle courses and petting zoo critters littered the space outside Koch Arena on Saturday evening as Wichita State University students, staff and transition mentors enjoyed some of the university’s last summer festivities.
The Shocker State Fair was created by the Transition Mentor Meetup team to help first-year students meet with their mentors again.
“After their first couple weeks of school, they’re (freshmen) probably feeling a little tired,” Caitlyn Neufeldt, a junior studying business, said. “But I hope that this is going to be something that energizes them and brings them together a little more.”
Freshman Matilda Cale Rondeau said she valued the connections made at the event.
“I’m having a good time getting
WSU Tech is a Hispanic Serving Institution. Will greater Wichita State follow its lead, and what does this mean for students?
“WSU TECH,” PAGE 2
business cards with people,” Cale Rondeau said. “I was playing ‘Blackjack’ with the cosplay club, and that was really fun.”
The Shocker State Fair encountered some challenges in the beginning. Madi Montgomery is a student in the College of Health Professions who helped set up the event. She noted some of the difficulties.
“The electricity went out a couple of times while we were trying to get it started,” Montgomery said. “I had a few food trucks bow out, and there were a lot of issues with where we were going to be placed. But it happened, so it’s all okay.”
Despite the challenges, Neufeldt said the event’s energy was high. Neufeldt said she hopes to see the event continue.
“I think that it’s (Shocker State Fair) turning out to be a great event,” Neufeldt said. “I 100% think that this should continue. I think that it will only get bigger and better every year.”
How volleyball head coach Chris Lamb’s unique scheduling philosophy led to teams refusing to play against the Shockers.
“SCHEDULING,” PAGE 3
Wichita State spent $188,000 for an hour segment of Amazon Prime show
“The College Tour.” Is this spending out of touch with students?
“$188,000,” PAGE 5
Shockers lined up throughout the RSC for a chance to “Build-a-Friend,” a toy-stuffing event featuring mini WSU-themed shirts.
“BUILD-A-FRIEND,” PAGE 6
Freshman Cristina Castillo rides the mechanical bull on Sept. 13. The mechanical bull was brought by WSU Dining. |
Photo by Kristy Mace / The Sunflower
Freshman Emma Gooch paints freshman Leana Marcellus’s face at the Shocker State Fair. | Photo by Mya Scott / The Sunflower
Sophomore Ellie Green gets water dumped on her after someone hit the bullseye on the bucket dump. | Photo by Mya Scott / The Sunflower
5% AWAY
BY BAYLOR HENRY, AINSLEY SMYTH baylorsahenry@gmail.com
news@thesunflower.com
When Samuel Nava applied to Wichita State, he had to navigate the application and financial aid process on his own.
“When I was going to college and filling out my FAFSA, my mom literally just gave me her social security number,” Nava said. “It was one of those, ‘I don’t know what to do,’ and my mom, she didn’t speak English, or know how to use a computer.”
Nava went on to graduate and later completed his graduate degree at WSU. Nava is now a community resource navigator at WSU Tech. His job is to help students navigate applying to college.
Last year, he was also made director of Hispanic Serving Initiatives. In this role, he oversees programs designed to help Hispanic students at WSU Tech. WSU Tech recently hit a milestone that Nava attributed, in part, to some of these programs. A quarter of enrolled students at WSU Tech are Hispanic. Reaching that number opens up new opportunities for the technical college.
Colleges and universities that are made up of a quarter or more Hispanic students can be designated as a Hispanic Serving
“
A lot of HSIs have been HSIs forever, and don’t really do anything other than enroll (Hispanic students).”
SARA MATA Director of Hispanic Serving Initiatives
Institution (HSI). That means they can apply for several grants that wouldn’t be available to them otherwise.
“It’s a lot of funding opportunities for us to create more initiatives, more programming to help underrepresented communities,” Nava said.
It’s a designation that Wichita State is approaching as well.
As of 2023, 17% of undergraduate degree-seeking students at Wichita State were Hispanic, and 13.4% of bachelor’s degrees were earned by Hispanic students.
WSU has projected that it will reach a 25% Hispanic student body and an HSI designation by 2030.
Sara Mata is the director of Hispanic Serving Initiatives at WSU. She’s responsible for making sure the university is equipped to serve the growing Hispanic population of students.
“WSU in the last two years and probably a little bit longer,
MISSION The Sunflower — both in print and online — will be a timely resource of information about the Wichita State University community. It will report on news, issues, activities, academics and athletics, in addition to offering a forum for discussion, reviews and commentary. It will also be an effective learning experience for students, who will have the final authority over what is published.
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there were some folks here that were doing work around this conversation of like, ‘Okay, our numbers (of Hispanic students) are increasing. How are we being intentional about providing resources?’” Mata said.
The Office of Hispanic Serving Initiatives oversees several programs, including multicultural scholarships and works to help Spanish-speaking parents of WSU students understand the university. The office also helps support student organizations.
Danny Rodriguez is part of the Hispanic American Leadership Organization (HALO). Rodriguez said he thinks the university is doing “an amazing job” at supporting Hispanic students.
“We’re creating a lot of different events for the students to come out and interact with each other,” Rodriguez said.
Lorena Favela is also part of HALO and said that the university helps HALO involve more students.
“They have that advantage of helping us get our organization (to be) more promoted and out there for students who might not know more about the organization,” Favela said.
Nava and Mata said they want students to know that Hispanic Service Initiatives don’t just benefit Hispanic students.
“I know specifically we talk about Hispanic Serving Initiatives,
Hispanic Serving Institutions,” Nava said. “Sometimes that gets taken out of context. One of the important things that I like to tell everyone is that just because a school is Hispanic serving that doesn’t mean that they’re Hispanic exclusive.”
Mata said her office plans to keep improving its services for Hispanic students.
“For me, it’s all about the intent,” Mata said. “What are we wanting to see? And a lot of HSIs have been HSIs forever, and don’t really do anything other than enroll (Hispanic students), or they’ll get these grants, and it doesn’t really necessarily benefit the students holistically.
“And that’s why I feel like the work that we’re doing now in this role is going to set it up longterm to be successful and ready for when we do meet that HSI designation.”
WHAT’S AN HSI?
- A Hispanic Serving Institution or HSI is a designation from the federal government.
- A institution has to have at least 25% Hispanic student population to qualify for distinction as an HSI.
- The distinction also presents more grant funding opportunities.
BY MALEAH EVANS maleah.evans04@gmail.com
Ablah Library is undergoing some aesthetic updates. Expansions to services and remodeling may be next.
Over the years, Ablah has had building additions. The newest addition is nearly 30 years old.
“Some of it is basic facilities upgrades; it’s time for those,” William Weare, an associate dean for Ablah, said.
The circulation desk, where students can ask questions about library materials in person, has been removed and will be replaced with a desk on wheels that can be raised or lowered for accessibility.
“If we had someone that came in a wheelchair, we could lower it and get the right level for them,” Brent Mai, dean of University Libraries, said.
Mai said he hopes to make the library more accessible in other ways, such as expanding an entrance through the Media Resources Center.
The new entrance would be closer to Woolsey Hall, which would allow students to walk through the library and the Shocker Success Center, all the way to the Rhatigan Student Center.
The library is removing and replacing the carpet on its first floor to one cohesive pattern and removing the green carpeted walls in some of the front offices, replacing them with drywall. Mai and other library staff are also working on consolidating some of Ablah’s collections of journals and publications, which Mai hopes will clear space that could be used as study areas for students.
“(Library staff) have been pulling in my three categories of areas,” Mai said. “I want hard and soft spaces (tables and couches); I want loud and quiet spaces (and) … I want group and individual spaces. (I want) the different combination(s) of those six things throughout the building to fit whatever your learning style is.”
Weare discussed the idea of “alone together,” which is when people are working on a project by themselves, but are surrounded by the people they know. Weare said these new spaces would allow for this.
“How many of us like to work alone, but be with our folks?” Weare said. “People like to be near each other.”
Mai also mentioned some theoretical changes he would like to see at the library once space is cleared up.
One possibility is moving the anthropology museum from its current location in Neff Hall to Ablah’s second floor. Neff Hall is slated to be demolished in the university’s 10-year master plan.
“We would try to create a gallery space that’s appropriate for the kind of thing that they do, to display the kinds of artifacts that they have,” Mai said.
Mai and Weare said that the primary focus for the future of the library is to make it more welcoming for students.
“We want to create a more inviting space,” Weare said. “That’s what we’re here for; we want more people coming in.”
EDITOR IN CHIEF Allison Campbell editor@thesunflower.com MANAGING EDITOR Mia Hennen managing@thesunflower.com
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CONTACT US 019 Elliott Hall 1845 N. Fairmount Ave. Campus Box 134 Wichita, KS 67260-0134
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Fabián Armendáriz, Wichita Public Schools director of operations, spoke with a high school student during a statewide conference hosted by Wichita State University’s HALO program on Sept. 16. | Photo by Aubri Baker / The Sunflower
Volleyball goes winless against Nebraska Classic gauntlet
BY JACOB UNRUH sports@thesunflower.com
Wichita State volleyball faced two ranked opponents and another strong foe in a weekend tournament hosted in one of the best volleyball stadiums in the country, taking one set from three games. After the losses against #14 Arizona State University, Long Beach State and #5 University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Wichita State dropped to 3-6 on the season.
The Shockers have played the 18th toughest schedule in the country this season, having competed against four ranked opponents so far.
VS. ARIZONA STATE
The Shockers were stifled in all three sets against #14 Arizona State on Thursday night (25-19), (25-12), (25-13).
Offensive efficiency, which has been a struggle for the team all season, continued to be an issue against the Sun Devils. Wichita State managed a .068 hitting percentage, the worst single-game mark for the Shockers since 2019.
The Shockers converted on just 25% of their attacks and committed 16 errors. No Wichita State player earned more than five kills.
Wichita State took a 5-2 lead in the first set and remained competitive throughout the period, leading 15-13 later on. From there, ASU went on a 12-4 run to close out the set which would be the best chance WSU had in the game.
Arizona State showed some dominance in the second set, running out to a 17-5 lead and closing the frame with five consecutive points. The third set followed a similar tone as the Sun Devils took a 14-5 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
VS. LONG BEACH STATE
The Shockers had their most winnable game on Friday afternoon against a Long Beach State team that, while 3-2 coming into the tournament, had not lost to an unranked team.
That run continued as the Beach beat Wichita State, 3-1 (2519), (18-25), (25-20), (25-15).
Wichita State committed 13 service errors, a season-high and most as a team since 2022. Sophomore middle blocker Maddie Wilson, making her first start as a Shocker, committed four such errors.
Junior outside hitter Emerson Wilford led the Shockers in offensive output and volume, racking up 13 kills on 40 attempts. Freshman outside hitter Gracie Morrow, making her first career start, set a career-high with eight kills.
Fifth-year setter Izzi Strand
registered her first double-double of the season with 38 assists and 10 digs.
The Beach broke open the first set with a 5-0 run to take a 13-10 lead. The Shockers tied the set two times later on but were never able to regain the advantage. Long Beach State closed it out with a 4-0 run.
Wichita State attacked with efficiency in the second set, hitting a blistering .708 on 24 attempts. Long Beach State also set a gamehigh in hitting percentage during the set, but it wasn’t enough to withstand the Shocker barrage.
The teams traded leads in the third set before a 6-1 run gave the Beach a 21-17 advantage they wouldn’t relinquish. The Shockers beat themselves with seven service errors during the set.
Long Beach State took an 8-3 lead in the fourth set. Wichita State fought back, but a 5-0 run from the Beach gave them a seven-point advantage that they would expand in the remainder of the frame.
VS. NEBRASKA
Wichita State was squashed by the tournament hosts, #5 Nebraska, in front of a 8,541-person crowd on Saturday afternoon to close the tournament (25-13), (2512), (25-12).
The Cornhuskers hit .477 to the Shockers’ .096. The Nebraska hitting percentage is the highest from a Wichita State opponent since October 2021.
Wichita State never took a lead or tied in any set. They showed some fight in the third set when they closed the deficit to 11-9, but Nebraska would rip off a 10-1 run to remove any doubt about the game’s outcome.
Wilford had 12 kills on a .206 percentage. She was the only Shocker to finish above four kills in the game.
Senior libero Annalie Heliste led the team in digs across all three games, totaling 41 during the tournament.
Up next for Wichita State is three games against unranked opponents next weekend during the home Shocker Volleyball Classic in Charles Koch Arena.
SHOCKER VOLLEYBALL CLASSIC SCHEDULE
vs. Cal Poly Thursday, Sept. 19, 7 p.m.
vs. Northern Colorado Friday, Sept. 20, 7 p.m.
vs. Omaha Saturday, Sept. 21, 4 p.m.
Why volleyball’s scheduling philosophy prioritizes learning over winning
BY JACOB UNRUH sports@thesunflower.com
Before the season began, Wichita State volleyball had the Lipscomb LUV Invitational tournament scheduled, but there was one problem: the other teams refused to play against the Shockers.
As a result, volleyball head coach Chris Lamb had to enter into the Kennesaw State Invitational at the last second, where Wichita State played the host twice in the same tournament.
“No one wanted to play us,” Lamb said. “I got booted. That’s why we had to scramble and do some things late, like that Kennesaw Indiana thing. That was very, very late.”
Lamb places heavy emphasis on building a schedule where Wichita State plays some of the top teams in the country — which sometimes comes at the cost of the team’s win-loss record. But he said when other coaches don’t share the same approach to scheduling, it can lead to challenges.
“I look around, and I see people who do the exact opposite, and I’m sure it feels good, but I’m less interested in feel-good and more interested in get-good,” Lamb said.
MATH AND DEVELOPMENT
This season, Wichita State has played the 18th most difficult schedule among NCAA teams, including taking on four ranked
Wichita State golfer looks to fall season following amateur tournament victory
BY BAYLOR HENRY baylorsahenry@gmail.com
Wichita State senior Michael Winslow defeated the University of Kansas’ golfer Will King to earn the title of 2024 Kansas Amateur at this summer’s tournament.
It was Winslow’s first win since winning the Kansas Junior Amateur championship in 2018, a Kansas Amateur tournament for students 18 and under, although he was runner-up for Kansas Amateur in 2023.
Winslow said he used that close victory, as well as other challenges, to his advantage to win the Kansas Amateur title.
“It took a lot of hard work; you don’t win or succeed in golf if you don’t put the hard work in,” Winslow said.
Winslow said his love of golf is integral to his success.
“I always try to take one step at a time and enjoy the process,” he said. “A lot of others can agree with me in that sense — the game is how it is, but the most important thing is to have fun out there.” Winslow’s love of golf started
before he could walk. While growing up, the sport became a part of his life.
“Growing up in a golf family, I was always around the golf course,” he said. “My dad was a teaching pro, and my brother and sister both played Division I golf as well, and my brother still plays professionally. It’s been a blessing.”
Judd Easterling, WSU’s head men’s golf coach, attributed Winslow’s success not only to his skill but to his consistency.
“I don’t think he does one thing better than the other,” Easterling said. “He’s got an A-plus game from tee to green; he’s just solid all the way around.”
Easterling said Winslow takes advantage of strong moments on the course, something he said was evident over the summer and in the team’s first tournament last weekend.
“I worked really hard on mental fortitude and mental routines when playing,” Winslow said. “I think that was the biggest change that I’ve worked on this year.”
Winslow’s consistency is
evident on and off the golf course, according to Easterling.
“Our players all respect him at a high level,” Easterling said. “He’s the guy that the coaching staff can go to for any issues. He’s just a great character of a human being, morals, ethics.”
As a senior, Winslow is looking to the future and plans to play professionally on “nothing short of” the PGA tour.
Winslow also wants to make an impact on the future of Wichita State golf.
“I would love my legacy to be not just about how great of a golfer I am,” Winslow said. “But who I am off the golf course, in taking care of others and trying to be as selfless as possible.”
Winslow said he looks forward to the 2024-2025 season.
“Our goal this year is to make national championships; that’s the number one goal for the team,” he said.
The men’s golf team opened their season earlier this month and will head to Nebraska for their next tournament on Monday, Sept. 23.
opponents. Although the Shockers are 3-6 on the season and have not beaten a ranked team, Lamb said he put the team through that gauntlet for “math” and “development” reasons. On the math side, it’s an effort to boost the team’s rating percentage index (RPI), a catch-all number that is used frequently to decide postseason tournament invitations.
“RPI doesn’t know the difference between good and bad,” Lamb said. “It knows the difference between successful and non-successful.”
Lamb also said he wants to challenge the team to compete against the best players and coaches in the NCAA.
“I want to be able to evaluate them when it’s hard,” he said.
“Because if all you’re doing is beating teams, you’ll get real comfortable with what you’re doing … I like (that nonconference) forces us to stay at the drawing board and to keep searching for better ways to do things.”
Lamb said not all coaches see scheduling the same way he does, with some prioritizing the team’s win-loss record over facing the toughest opponents possible.
“I know people that say you need confidence, and they think you can’t do it unless you win,” he said. “I don’t happen to agree. I think you can find things within matches, win or lose, that can allow you to feel confident.”
Lamb said the Lipscomb tournament wasn’t the only example of teams not wanting
to play his team. He said Rutgers University and Louisiana Tech University also declined to play the Shockers at the Wooo Pig Invitational because they thought they might lose.
Lamb said the situation was “frustrating.” He described another time when a fellow coach called him and said, “Lambo, I just don’t lose as good as you.”
“Well, then that means your team — because you can’t handle it — your team pays the price,” Lamb said. “When the end of the year comes, your RPI is 160 and mine’s 60.”
SEEDS PREPARING FOR HARVEST
One of the risks of taking on difficult teams is winning less games early in the season. Lamb said he hopes fans and players, who want to win every game, stay patient with the process.
“Right now, the seeds are in the ground, and we’re fertilizing, and we’re irrigating, and we’re preparing for harvest, and it’ll come,” he said. “But I don’t know how much fun it is being a seed underground, but eventually, it’ll bloom.”
Redshirt freshman Alyssa Gonzales said Lamb has been telling the team to be “learners, not losers.”
“I think that’s really good for us to take into a loss — let’s learn from what we lost,” Gonzales said. “And let’s learn from our mistakes and what this team did on us.”
Wichita State senior golfer Michael Winslow drives a ball during a golf practice. Winslow won the Kansas Amateur tournament this summer. | Photo courtesy of Wichita State Athletics
Wichita State volleyball coach Chris Lamb runs practice on Sept. 18. Lamb said he gives the volleyball team a more difficult schedule at the expense of winning more games. | Photo by Mi’Kyala Goodman / The Sunflower
A PEEK AT THE NEW SEASON
Men’s basketball practices ahead of the upcoming year
BY EVAN TONG evantong3@gmail.com
University members broke ground on Wilkins Stadium renovations on Saturday morning.
Brad Pittman, athletic director for athletic facilities, said the renovation contract was awarded to Crossland Construction with Tessere as the architect.
The first phase of renovations will add an indoor practice facility, including batting cages, a full-size infield, heating and air conditioning. Previously, the softball team shared the Bombardier-Learjet Practice Facility with the baseball team.
“Having a space for our girls to call their own, to go in and hit and pitch and do defense any time they want,” head softball coach Kristi Bredbenner said. “I mean, those are the things that you pray for in your program.”
Pittman said he hopes to have the indoor facility finished by at least mid-to-late March during the 2025 softball season as part of the first phase. The indoor facility will take the place of the outdoor Heskett Center pickleball courts along the west side of Wilkins Stadium.
After the indoor practice facility is built, the team operations building will go under construction.
“We’ve gone from … probably three full-time employees, to 10 or 11 that are bouncing in and out of that building,” Bredbenner said.
Pittman said the office building will have eight offices for the coaching staff and other team officials. It will also contain a classroom for about 30 people that can be used for film review or team meetings. Wichita State Athletic Director Kevin Saal also said the office will be connected to the south wall of the practice facility
After words by Wichita State President Muma, Bredbenner, deputy athletic director Madison Stein-Mason, softball player Lauren Lucas and Saal, the ground was symbolically broken as shovels dug into the dirt of the outdoor courts next to the Heskett Center.
Pittman said the construction will start next week and break ground in a few days for the first phase. The rest of the phase will be the team operations building and the rest of the renovations will be dedicated toward the fan experience.
“We’ll continue to do some of those things that really elevate softball in our community but also nationally,” Saal said. “So we had 50 hours of cable television with the Shocker in the middle of that field, which is huge for recruiting.”
The first phase will cost $9.65 million. There is still $3 million needed to complete the fundraising, though.
“Our goal is to complete fundraising by the end of ‘24,” Pittman said.
BY JACOB UNRUH sports@thesunflower.com
Wichita State basketball’s 2025 recruiting class got its first verbal commitment on Wednesday, Sept. 11. Three-star guard Tyrus Rathan-Mayes announced his commitment to the Shockers on social media. Rathan-Mayes, a Canadian who played AAU basketball in Houston, is ranked 168th nationally. Rathan-Mayes is the second WSU recruit in the past two years to play for former Shocker basketball player P.J. Couisnard’s Legacy School of Sport Sciences AAU team in Houston. Zion Pipkin, who joined the team as a freshman this year, also played under Couisnard. The Wichita Eagle’s Taylor Eldridge reported that RathanMayes also received interest from schools including Arizona State University, Texas Tech University, Boston College, Louisiana State University and
Oklahoma State University.
A Wichita State spokesperson told The Sunflower that Rathan-Mayes has not signed a National Letter of Intent to play for Wichita State.
Rathan-Mayes stands at 6-foot-5, 185 pounds, and plays primarily on the wing. He played for Canada at this summer’s FIBA Under-18 AmeriCup international tournament, averaging 13 minutes per game, 3.2 points, three rebounds and two assists. He shot 23.5% from the field and 25% from 3-point range as Canada finished third in the competition.
Rathan-Mayes is the son of Tharon Mayes, who played 24 games in the NBA, and brother of Xavier Rathan-Mayes, who currently plays in Spain. With nine combined seniors, graduate students and fifth-year players on the 2024-25 Wichita State roster, Rathan-Mayes could help head coach Paul Mills replenish the talent on the roster for future seasons.
Photo
Evan Tong /
Sunflower
The men’s basketball team plays a scimmage during an open practice on Sept. 17. The team played in three teams: red, blue and black. | Photos by Kristy Mace / The Sunflower.
Sophomore Joy Ighovodja runs a drill during the open practice. Ighovodja appeared in 13 games last season playing 58 minutes total.
Quincy Ballard grabs the ball in a rebound during the practice scrimmage. Ballard is a senior, and played 745 minutes last season.
Head coach Paul Mills runs drills during the Sept. 17 open practice. Mills is in his second season with the Shockers.
OPINION
Wichita State University recently devoted $188,000 to be featured on “The College Tour,” an Amazon Prime TV series showcasing universities across the country.
While this might sound like a prime marketing opportunity for the school, it raises significant concerns about misplaced priorities and the reality of student living.
Instead of putting hundreds of thousands of dollars into a show that stages campus life, WSU could have made more impactful investments in social media marketing or, better yet, improving the student experience.
“The College Tour,” hosted by the “Amazing Race” winner Alex Boylan, will air its 11th season
Wichita State student life is shockingly spiritless. On any given day, students go to classes, study and work hard to achieve their degrees. Besides this, there aren’t many opportunities for students to meet people outside of their classes and desired majors.
There are a few events after the beginning of the fall semester. But other than that, student life at WSU is bland and mundane, at least compared to other universities in the state, like the University of Kansas (KU) and Kansas State University (KSU).
This seems strange since Wichita is the largest city in the state with nearly 400,000 people as of 2022. This doesn’t even account for Wichita’s metro population, which has 200,000plus more people.
With more people comes more opportunities to explore and find who you are individually, which seems to be what WSU’s student life is about.
Besides the Garage Party and Clash of Colleges within the first weeks of the fall semester, there really aren’t many other events that succeed in university-wide student engagement.
But that’s not such a bad thing. WSU is considered a “suitcase school,” meaning many students go home, usually out of
with an episode featuring WSU, the first Kansas university to participate.
Yet, what should be a reflection of genuine campus life feels like a manufactured facade. The production was so rushed that instead of hiring actors to depict campus life, actual students were asked to stage scenarios at the last minute, stripping the show of unique student accounts and schedules.
Although I am glad that real students will be featured in the show now, they were practically asked to be props, and only because of poor planning.
Either way, is this a true image of student life? Hardly.
WSU or the Amazon crew wanted to hire actors to give the illusion of campus life, not the reality. So, it makes me wonder how many other schools on the show are actors or prop students, smiling and waving like the Penguins of Madagascar just so they can tell their friends that they were on TV.
How many impressionable future students are seeing the show? Hopefully, they are not considering their top school choices based on the TV presentation — especially considering that the reality of Shockers is constant construction and fighting for parking spots that you do not win.
The campus experience is not always negative, of course, but it is not as magical as productions often make them seem on the TV. I do go to yoga classes in the gym and enjoy studying at various buildings on the main campus. Both these activities enhance my student experience, even if it is grabbing a side of fries in the RSC while I complete my work.
But excluding repetitive themes such as construction equipment and the building’s friendly, but unwelcome, critters seems dishonest to the impressionable viewers.
Being a Shocker student is walking around a pretty campus in the scorching summer
sun, sweating off makeup or desperately trying to cool down.
In the winter, it’s navigating a beige, lifeless campus and trying to keep hair out of your mouth thanks to unforgiving Kansas winds.
Have I mentioned the cockroaches, the buildings that are falling apart or the gross Dining Hall meals that famously make students sick?
WSU is no stranger to questionable marketing decisions. Just a few years ago, the university used tactics like small or free credits to inflate student numbers to promote a growing student body, when in reality the typical student body of full-time and part-time, degree-driven students was actually below the average enrollment for Kansas universities.
Is it me or is WSU out of touch with the reality of its campus?
Turning its vision into a fake reality TV show does not make it magically happen, unfortunately for students.
As students returned to campus this fall semester, the university now has the opportunity to be the pipeline for students seeking applied learning. In doing so, WSU can “grow our own” while supporting the campus and students more.
As we have seen overwhelmed individuals and overloaded systems in the past years, we can be the agents of change. So now is the chance to see the transformation we want to see in our community when it comes to diversifying and growing our fields.
Instead of looking at the issues as an external pipeline issue out of our control, I implore that we become the pipeline and fill the gap with our students. Becoming the pipeline on campus creates deeper connections, collisions, and a community for all our students. This will foster a deeper sense of belonging and pride in our university. Thus, truly making WSU a destination for students as well as recent graduates to learn, thrive, belong, and succeed.
Nothing captures being the pipeline and growing our own better than the story of Annette Santiago, a class of 2021 graduate. She came to WSU as an office assistant in 2016, reenrolled in school at WSU, and then completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work.
During her time at WSU, she completed all her clinical trainings at WSU Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). Those experiences led to her wanting to continue at CAPS and in the Spring of 2023, she was hired as a mental health counselor at CAPS.
By growing our own, CAPS increased access for students during her training as well as instituted new case management services for students at CAPS.
Student life at WSU is bland and mundane, at least compared to other universities in the state, like KU and KSU.
town, over the weekend.
During the fall semester of 2022, only 13% of the 12,696 undergraduate students enrolled at WSU lived on campus, according to U.S. News. This includes the student population living in Shocker Hall during their freshman year.
Wouldn’t this mean larger universities have more students who travel home on the weekend?
Wrong.
KU and KSU have double the percentage of students who live on campus, granted the total population at each school is higher than WSU’s.
KU saw 25% of its student population living on campus in 2022; KSU had 24%.
So why and how do these universities have grander student life, if they’re in smaller cities?
Sporting events, in particular, are at the forefront of this argument. I challenge you to walk around downtown KU’s Lawrence and KSU’s Manhattan on any given college game day and tell me how it’s not different from college game days in Wichita.
I doubt most WSU students even know when sporting events
are. The university doesn’t even have a football team, which is typically a premier sport at most major universities in the country.
WSU men’s basketball used to routinely sell out games in the Roundhouse but hasn’t had a sellout crowd since 2020, while KU sold out its 356th consecutive game last December.
To be fair, COVID-19 reshaped many people’s outlooks, but it’s been four years since the outbreak began and most of the United States has comfortably returned to normalcy.
So why haven’t fans, especially students who are fans, of WSU basketball returned to the days when Charles Koch Arena would have no elbow room in the stands?
The dwindling number of attendees at sporting events, in
my mind, is directly linked to the student life of the school. If they can’t make it out to home games, what makes you think they’re willing to go to other universitywide events?
Greek life is even becoming less popular.
During the spring 2022 semester, the number of active and new members in Greek life totaled 578. The following spring semester, the number of active and new members was 552, which is roughly 10% of the full-time student population.
KU reported that 4,000 students — 20% of its population — are involved in Greek life.
Until there is an increased interest in Greek life and more attendees at sporting events, WSU can pack its bags in hopes of more student engagement.
Clearly, when we invest in our students and staff, we become the pipeline that feeds into us better serving students which can lead students to see themselves as a Shocker forever.
Furthermore, when we connect this applied learning to ongoing campus research, our students will forward the fields that our respective areas support. Our campus can become a onestop shop for students.
We can decrease the many barriers students face today such as transportation, schedule issues with classes, and the many other student-life challenges.
Additionally, when we create pipelines and have students who come from different disciplines gather together, we create a more diversified learning experience. This crosspollination of understandings/ majors/experiences enrich not just the student experience, but the campus as a whole and strengthens the department where the students are learning.
Finally, this focus on being the pipeline results in your area treating the fish and the water. Everyone in an applied learning experience becomes enriched and by becoming the pipeline, the WSU community and beyond are enhanced.
This lasting impact of becoming the pipeline will lighten our overwhelmed systems and individuals.
the rest on thesunflower.com
OWEN PROTHRO Assistant sports editor
Illustration by Makenzie Miller / The Sunflower
Illustration by Emma Wilks / The Sunflower
ARTS & CULTURE
‘GET YOU RIGHT’
Student entrepreneur Ja’miyah Johnson opens up about hair-braiding business
BY JASMINE CAROLINA jdcarolina2004@gmail.com
Ja’miyah Johnson’s passion for hair started when she was a young girl. Over the years, Johnson has increased her skills and, with her hair-braiding business called “Miyahs Miracles,” now showcases her talent through a wide range of services.
“It’s more of like (a) side business right now, but I do want to grow in it,” Johnson said. “I started doing my own hair, and then I started doing my best friend’s hair in middle school so I kind of grew from that.”
Johnson offers hair services such as locs, sew-ins, braids and “pretty much everything.”
In addition to her repertoire of hairstyles, Johnson also strives to provide affordable services to her primarily student-based population, and maintains client relationships “by offering holiday discounts.”
“If I know that one of my regular’s birthdays or occasions is coming up, I might give them a discount,” she said.
Johnson’s practice is not located on campus, but she does enhance her business’s visibility through promotion on campus. Students can find her flyers, which contain all of her social media handles and display offered hairstyles, on campus bulletin boards in places like the Rhatigan Student Center.
Johnson finds that, with advertisements on campus, her clientele tends to be younger. Johnson’s young age distinguishes her from other hair
professionals.
Desmond Cockrell, a former client of Johnson, describes his experience as pleasant. Cockrell received freestyle cornrows, one of the many styles that Miyahs Miracles offers.
“She did really good,” Cockrell said. “Many people really liked the style.”
When reaching out about being a possible client, Cockrell received displayed offers of hairstyles from Johnson.
“She sent me a screenshot of some hairstyle pictures she had posted, on the walls of The Suites and The Flats,” Cockrell said.
Johnson describes her price as affordable for students. Cockrell said her prices, which can be found on her promotional flyers around campus, are “fair.”
Ever since being referred to Miyahs Miracles, Crockwell has returned to Johnson three times before moving away from the Wichita area.
“Moral of the story, book with Miyahs Miracles,” Cockrell said. “Shout out Miyahs Miracles, she’s gon’ get you right.”
When Johnson is not braiding hair or attending class for Medical Engineering, she works part-time as a server. Despite her busy schedule, she is still able to find a balance between work and school.
“With my (serving) job, I let them know that I want a set schedule,” she said. “(This way,) I know what days I’m working in order to make time for clients.”
While Johnson is a second-year
student, she has big ideas for the future of her practice. She plans on getting a mobile van to travel from state to state and even aspires to own a multi-store business.
“I want to own my own hair business and my own building,” Johnson said. “My sister does nails so with her; you could come get your hair and your nails done.”
Johnson advises those interested to be on the lookout for business cards; there might just be a deal on them.
ALL ABOUT PROTECTIVE HAIRSTYLES
Protective styles, though time consuming to get started, can help shield hair from adverse effects of the environment, but require a certain level of maintenance for effectiveness
According to Glamour, these styles “help keep textured hair healthy by limiting its exposure to any damage caused by the sun, the heat, the cold, or over-manipulation.”
Locs can be an easy hairstyle that do not put too much stress on the roots.
Box braids may take some time to install, but, as Ellen Marmur, MD says via Allure, “Braids are protective because they shield the dry ends of the natural hair within the braid.”
Sew-ins, due to their partial, if not complete, shelter from weather, can work as long-lasting hair protection.
‘How do you find that vibe?’: TV show producer speaks on filming ‘The College Tour’ with WSU
BY MYA SCOTT
When Alex Boylan’s niece traveled to Los Angeles to visit colleges, he was more than happy to help and offer his perspective. What started as weekly trips to LA schools developed into a show called “The College Tour.”
Boylan created “The College Tour” to showcase different universities through the lens of college students. As executive producer and host, Boylan said it’s amazing that there are so many paths to higher education. But, as he found with his niece, all the choices can be overwhelming.
“How do you find that vibe?” Boylan said. “I’m looking at my niece and, you know, (asking) who they (high school students) are looking to for
guidance? They want to talk to college students.”
Wichita State is now being added to the ranks of nearly 150 other colleges featured on the Amazon Prime show. Boylan and his team visited Wichita State University last week to feature the campus and its students.
Graduate student
Leah Wescott was one of the students cast for the show. For her appearance, she memorized lines before being filmed on campus with some of her friends and co-workers.
Wescott said this show will impact future students who choose to come to WSU.
“(Future students) seek the kind of unique programs that WSU has to offer,” Wescott said. “I think it’ll be a good highlight to the programs that we have.”
Boylan said the university’s applied learning makes it stand out.
“You got to learn the nuts and bolts of whatever your major is,” Boylan said. “But when you’re sitting across the table and you’re in a real-life interview, and that’s really happening, to have real tangible experience — that’s a game changer.”
Instead of showing the college itself, “The College Tour” focuses on the stories of students. Boylan said he is “blessed” to talk with students.
“You never know what story is out there,” Boylan said. “Finding students that are dynamic or have passionate stories to tell, mixed up with what makes the most sense for telling the story of the institution.”
Students ‘Build a Friend’ with SAC
BY JENNIFER ANIMA jenniferanima2411@gmail.com
Lines were out the door in the Rhatigan Student Center for Student Activities Council’s Build a Friend, an event where students swipe their ID cards and get to work on filling empty teddy bears with stuffing.
Build a Friend mimicked the popular Build-A-Bear store, with students rotating to different stations. After swiping their ID, choosing a bear design was next.
Students could choose from four options: rainbow bear, small brown bear, small ginger bear and a classic big brown bear. Once people picked a design, they huddled next to peers to begin stuffing bears.
The final step was choosing from two Wichita State-themed t-shirt options for their furry friend.
Students began lining up as early as 10:30 a.m. for the 11 a.m. event. Twenty minutes later, the line was outside the north doors of the RSC.
“Having this opportunity for them to kind of relax, hang out with their friends and do something that’s just fun and taps into that creative aspect that’s just hands-on, really gives them an opportunity to not only reconnect with the student
body but also to just kind of get to learn more about what we do as an organization and things of that nature,” said Jayden Island, VP of membership for Student Activities Council (SAC).
Less than thirty minutes into the event, Island said the organization was halfway through their available bears.
“I saw on a like, calendar thing on my floor that there was a BuildA-Bear thing, and I haven’t done Build-A-Bear in forever, so I thought it’d be super fun and super cool,” Ashlee Prebble, a pre-nursing major said. “And now I have a new little bear friend with a WSU matching shirt.”
Students also said the “convenient” location and time of day played a role in choosing to attend this event over others happening on campus.
“It’s a really good opportunity to kind of just get out and have fun before we got to go back to class, which is kind of stressful, you know?” Senior Devon Robinson said.
SAC’s next
Illustrations by Wren Johnson / The Sunflower
"The College Tour" host Alex Boylan, explained his inspiration for the show came from helping his niece find the colleges that best fit her. | Photo by Aubri Baker / The Sunflower
Students gather around the tables at the Build a Friend event on Sept. 17. The event was hosted in the RSC. | Photo by Zachary Ruth / The Sunflower
Omniclub offers space for every interest
BY GRAYSON WEATHERS graysonweathers2023@gmail.com
Dylan Morrow created his club on the simple basis of one principle: omni. After not fitting in with another club, Morrow lept into creating a club around his interests, which is pretty much “everything.” From video games and computers to mythical and historical things, Omni club does it all.
Omniclub is made up of a small group of Wichita State students who come together to hang out and enjoy each other’s interests and hobbies. The club helps people who have niche interests that don’t fit within the frameworks of other clubs. Zachary Walker,a senior at Wichita State and the vice president, said the club offers members the opportunity to explore unique hobbies and skills.
“I thought the idea of a club for everything was honestly a neat idea, because there’s probably a lot of very niche hobbies people have that just would not fit into any other club really, like there’s one person that like(s) to make puppets,” Walker said.
The club gets a few members every Monday, but that doesn’t discourage Morrow from trying to get more people to join.
“I’m trying to get a lot of collaborations going between a bunch of other clubs, like the Cosplay Club and the Rock (Geology) Club,” Morrow said.
Edward Bierens, a senior at Wichita State, works with his
event coordinator to recruit new members for Morrow. Additionally, they collaborate to determine the theme for every Monday meeting. They are always working to come up with new event ideas.
“There is, like, a bakery being planned. We’re still working out details, but hopefully in a month or two, we’ll have a bakery, like a bake sale,” Morrow says.
While trying to grow their club, Morrow and Walker are also strategizing a way to get funding from Wichita State. They want to be able to go out to places like Exploration Place and Cowtown with the club. To them, they believe that doing trips like that will be beneficial for the club. They feel if they can go out and go to these places, it helps the members learn and to just have a good time.
When the Kansas State Fair came to town, Morrow, Walker and Bierens came up with the idea to carpool and take the members to the fair.
“We literally brought people to the Kansas State Fair, which is like, a big, big thing,” Walker said.
“Then we’ll probably work our way up to more grandiose things, so we have, like, another major thing.”
Despite being one of the smaller clubs on campus, the Omniclub is dedicated to expanding its presence and creating a space for students to express their interests.
More information about the club, and access to its Discord channel, can be found on the Shocker Sync website.
Students create club to battle American individualism
BY MYA SCOTT
Last spring, two international students sat at Dempsey’s Burger Pub, wishing they had more people who shared their traditions and experiences. One of them realized there had to be more people on campus like them and with that thought, the International Women of Color organization was born.
According to the Office of Planning and Analysis, only 4.3% of undergraduate students in 2023 were international. The number was higher for graduate students, with 36.6% students being international students.
Around half of the university’s students identified as white and non-Hispanic as well.
To combat this isolating experience, Co-Presidents Christine Chakra and Yara Abdine started the organization after Chakra spoke to some other international students. Chakra said she noticed others were each fighting the same battles, such as homesickness and culture shock, individually.
“It can be pretty hard to move here,” Chakra said. “America’s
Wind Ensemble kicks off the season
Led by Timothy Shade, the wind ensemble played five songs for their first performance
amazing, but it’s very isolating, and I know it’s a big part of the culture here to have this kind of individualism. I don’t like it because I think there has to be more to life. We have to have that human connection — without (it), we die.”
Despite the organization’s name, Chakra said that the group is not just for international students; it’s for anyone looking for connection and support.
“I just want to say that I mean any support,” Chakra said. “We’re here as an organization to help.”
Abdine said the organization plans to print QR codes for their GroupMe group chat, where the members can more easily communicate. They also created an Instagram in September to garner attention.
The new student organization plans to hold at least two meetings every month with activities. Chakra and Abdine intend to plan cultural nights to offer deeper insight into the members’ diverse cultures.
“I want to offer that safe space,” Chakra said. “Even just sitting down together just so you don’t go insane.”
Timothy Shade conducted the Wind Ensemble on Sept. 12 before an audience. Shade is the director of the School of Music, director of bands and coordinator of the Graduate Wind Conducting Program at Wichita State University.
Graduate student Emma Lippert performs with the Wind Ensemble on Sept. 12. The ensemble played a range of music: “Morning Star,” “Moving Paths,” “Urban Pulse,” “Rising Light” and “Zion.” | Photos by Aubri Baker / The Sunflower
Alum Jett Calderon, a member of the class of 2023, plays the flute during the performance on Sept. 12. The ensemble presented five different pieces for their first performance.
Timothy Shade leads the Wind Ensemble in a performance on Sept. 12, marking the first performance of the year. Shade has worked at Alhambra Orchestra in Florida, Florida Atlantic University, and Bethel College in Kansas.
Undergraduate student Grace Schulze practices before the wind ensemble performance. On Sept. 12, the ensemble took the stage in Duerkson Fine Arts Center.
Senior John Koontz concentrates on the conductor during his performance. The concert was held on Sept. 12.
Christine Chakra and Yara Abdine are co-presidents of the International Women of Color organization. Chakra and Abdine stated that the organization is not limited to international students. | Photo by Garima Thapa / The Sunflower
Wichita State’s Omniclub during a meeting. | Photo courtesy of Omniclub
CIRQUE DU PARANORMAL
The Paranormal Cirque II brought acrobats, aerialists, sword swallowers, stilt walkers and more to Towne East Square.
FINE ARTS CAREER MIXER
THURSDAY, SEPT. 19
10:30 a.m. - noon
McKnight Art Center second floor
Meet employers and individuals within the art community, ranging from graphic design to creative writing, alongside refreshments.
VOTER REGISTRATION
DRIVE
THURSDAY, SEPT. 19
11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Rhatigan Student Center first floor
Check your voter registration, register to vote and sign up for updates about voting.
ARTIST TALK: DOUG COFFIN
THURSDAY, SEPT. 19
Reception at 5:30 p.m., program at 6 p.m.
Ulrich Museum of Art Potowatomi and Creek artist Doug Coffin combines the ancient totemic form from Native American cultures with abstract and geometric modernist elements. His pieces were installed at Duerkson Ampitheatre in April 2024 as part of the Martin H. Bush Outdoor Sculpture Collection.
WORDS BY WOMEN
LECTURE
THURSDAY, SEPT. 19
6 - 7:30 p.m.
Hubbard Hall room 209
Professor of Women’s Studies from Arizona State University Breanne A. Fahs presents the talk “Hairy Subjects: Resistance and Revolution in Women’s Body Hair Politics.”
SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CONDUCTED BY MARK LAYCOCK
THURSDAY, SEPT. 19
7:30 - 9 p.m.
Miller Concert Hall
Experience the work of 70 undergraduate and graduate musicians in the WSU Symphony Orchestra. The Symphony Orchestra has collaborated with names such as jazz vocalist Tierney Sutton and rock band Kansas. The event is free to all WSU students.
JAZZ PROGRAM
PERFORMANCES
SUNDAY, SEPT. 22, MONDAY, SEPT. 23 & THURSDAY, SEPT. 26
7:30 p.m.
Walker’s Jazz Lounge 252 N. Mosley St. Guitar Ensemble, Saxophonics and Jazz Combo ensembles from WSU’s jazz program are performing alongside cocktails and charcuterie boards. Tickets are available online or at the door.
FACULTY ARTIST SERIES FEATURING DAVID HUNSICKER
TUESDAY, SEPT. 24
7:30 - 9 p.m.
Wiedemann Hall
Currently the lead trumpet of the Wichita Symphony and the Lancaster Festival Orchestras, David Hunsicker has appeared with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Phoenix Symphony. The event is free to all WSU students.
MUSICAL THEATRE INCUBATOR PROGRAM SHOWING
SATURDAY, SEPT. 28
2 - 4 p.m. & 7:30 - 9 p.m.
Welsbacher Theatre
Eugene M Hughes Metropolitan Complex
The conclusion of a workshop, the School of Performing Arts presents a staged reading with props and choreography at a new musical. Tickets are available free for WSU students online or at the Fine Arts Box Office in Duerksen Fine Arts Center.
HAVE
EDITOR: news@thesunflower.com
The acrobatic roller skating duo performed at the Paranormal Cirque II on Sept. 14. The stunt consisted of a woman swinging from the neck of a man with roller skates. |
Photos by Kristy Mace / The Sunflower
As an introduction to her act, an aerial hoop performer lies in a bed. The act had a young female character and a male beast character that walked on stilts.
A woman does stunts on a suspended hoop as part of an aerial hoop acrobatics act during a performance of Paranormal Cirque II on Sept. 14.
The Paranormal Cirque II sword swallower performs her act on Sept. 14. The performer put up to five swords in her mouth.
Actors pretend to eat a staged member of the audience during the opening act of the Sept. 14 show.
Paranormal Cirque II has added several shows to the Sept. 13-16 Wichita stop because of its popularity.
The final act consisted of an acrobatic performance on a wheel. During a show on Sept. 14, the performer flipped, jump roped and ran blindfolded in the wheel.
A beast character on stilts walks through the audience at the start of the aerial acrobatics routine.
Following his acrobatic routine on the wheel of death, the performer engaged with crowd before the curtain