Washburn Review: April 3, 2019 -Issue 24

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NEWS

ARTS & LIVING

FEATURES

SPORTS

Curtains

Campus Master Plan

Pause for a Cause

Goose

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6

8

10

April 3, 2019

Volume 145, Issue 24

washburnreview.org Established 1885

WU hosts WIFI Film Festival Matt Self

Washburn Review matt.self@washburn.edu

Mass media faculty and students have been working to put together a new event that will be coming to Washburn this April, the Washburn International Film Institute Film Festival. This event gives the Washburn community the opportunity to watch movies and to learn how to make them. Professional filmmakers from around the world will be in attendance along with university staff in a three-day series of events that will showcase select films. The pieces are known for their focus on themes about immigration, race and gender. The campus-wide festival will begin Thursday, April 11 to Saturday, April 13. To kick off the festival, the first film showings will be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, April 11 at the Rita Blitt Gallery inside White Concert Hall and Mulvane Art Museum. These showings will include narrative and documentary short films by directors and producers all over the world. Continuing to Friday, alongside many film selections, the festival will showcase “Laramie Inside Out,” a documentary by director and producer Beverly Seckinger, who is a film professor from the University of Arizona. The film focuses on the nationwide debate regarding homophobia and hate crimes. Seck-

inger will be present for the showing to answer questions about the film. In the evening, the festival will debut the world premiere of “Imagine,” directed by Allan Holzman, a Peabody and two-time Emmy award-winning filmmaker. The documentary focuses on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration policy. The premiere will be followed by a Late Night with Hollywood Filmmaker Allan Holzman interview conducted by KTWU’s Eugene Williams. Throughout Saturday, the festival will showcase more film selections, including “#TAKEMEANYWHERE,” a feature directed by Shia LaBeouf, Nastja Säde Rönkkö and Luke Turner. The festival will conclude with the WIFI Film Festival Awards Reception at 1 p.m. at White Concert Hall. The idea of the WIFI Film Festival was first conceived and organized by Matthew Nyquist, an experienced director and filmmaker who is currently an assistant professor in the mass media department. His background in Hollywood gave him the idea for the event and he pitched it to Maria Stover, chair of the mass media department. “So, I thought about the event but at the time I didn’t have the time to devote to it. Last fall, after I decided to do it, I pitched the idea to Stover,” Nyquist said. “I can’t give enough credit to her. She is the best boss I’ve ever had. Most bosses figure out ways to tell you no but she finds ways to say yes.” Stover and Nyquist took off with the idea and began preparations for the event last year in the fall. From

photo courtesy of Washburn Mass Media Department

Film enthusiasts: Matthew Nyquist and Maria Stover helped to get the WIFI Film Festival going. They hope that the event will bring more support to film students on campus.

January to February, the mass media department began collecting applicants to the event who wanted their films showcased to the Washburn community. “When we first started in January, we said let’s hope 200 people submit. At this point our formal deadline ended Feb. 28, but we had 2,000 entries from over 90 countries instead,” Stover said. “We’re talking about films from all over the world, not just Europe, but Canada, Spain, Brazil, India, China, Iran, Iraq and Bulgaria to name a few.” Filmmakers from 92 countries submitted hundreds of movies to be reviewed by a board of judges

consisting of Washburn faculty and students. The festival itself has also received funding from private donations, the university and the city. Admittance to the event is free to students but tickets are required to attend the film screenings. Tickets to the screenings can be found at the WIFI Film Festival Event Brite website, https://wifi-film-festival.eventbrite.com. For further questions about the event, contact Stover by email at maria.stover@ washburn.edu Visit the washburn. edu/wifi website for a schedule of events, film screenings and more information about the festival.

Thursday, April 11

Friday, April 12

Saturday, April 13

WIFI Film Festival

Film selection showings 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Film selection showings 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Film selection showings

Thursday, April 11

Rita Blitt Gallery (White Concert Hall)

“Imagine” DACA Documentry

Saturday, April 13

Opening Reception 4:30 p.m. - 6 p.m. Fireplace Lounge - (Morgan Hall)

-world premiere by director Allen Holzman

9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Rita Blitt Gallery

Late night with Allan Holzman interview with KTWU 9 p.m.

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. White Concert Hall

WIFI Awards

1 p.m. - 2 p.m. White Concert Hall

Faculty stands beside students Joelle Conway

Washburn Review joelle.conway@washburn.edu

Conversations about what changes need to be made at Washburn to make the university more diverse and inclusive have been ongoing, especially this past month. On Wednesday, March 27, faculty and staff stood outside of Mabee Library and Carole Chapel holding signs with written messages showing their support for students. Over 40 members of Washburn faculty and staff were present. Many of the signs read “we support you,” “we hear you” and “we are proud of you,” along with the Twitter hashtag #WUCanDoBetter. The hashtag was created by a Washburn student for other students to share their experiences of discrimination and ways they believe WU can do better. Sharon Sullivan, theater professor, shared that she was contacted by a fellow faculty member about the event and knew she had to be there. “Kelly Erby called me and said that they wanted to get faculty and staff to stand out here and show support for the students who were very brave to address their concerns and their experiences on campus. I wanted to be apart of that,” said Sullivan. Sullivan expressed how she wanted to be involved in the push for

reformation on campus. “It is really important to me that we create the community we want to be part of. And those young people stood up, and so it’s important that we stand up for and with them, as well,” Sullivan continued. Liz Derrington, English lecturer, explained how the hashtag #WUCanDoBetter motivated staff to stand up and express their love for students. “The way that the hashtag was used on Twitter, there are a lot of students sharing stories on ways that they have been made to feel marginalized and unsupported and unheard at Washburn. That is something that we as faculty are in a position to help fix. We want to help fix that,” said Derrington. The faculty wanted students to know that they hear their voices and are advocating for change alongside them. Andrea Thimesch, Information Literacy Librarian of Mabee Library, stood to advocate for student voices and push administration to listen. “Administration should try to work with students and actually give them the voice that they deserve to have,” stated Thimesch. Thimesch explained her belief of how the Washburn community should know the university’s values and what they stand for. “I believe that people should be more cogni-

photo by Morgan Holloway

Supportive signs: The signs show support for marginalized students. Several faculty members from various departments showed support.

zant of what they’re putting out, especially those who are students, faculty or staff. They [students, faculty or staff] should be able to represent values associated with our mission statement and diversity statement. People should be made aware of that and make sure they can live up to it,” said Thimesch. Izzy Wasserstein, senior lecturer of the English department, stood among other faculty and staff, holding a sign that said “We Support You.” Wasserstein said that faculty gathered that Wednesday to show students that they support, hear and value them. Many of the faculty and staff who held signs that Wednesday were also present at the Town Hall meeting Monday, March 18.

Kerry Wynn, associate professor of the history department, was among those who attended the Town Hall. Wynn was inspired by the brave students who came in holding their experiences for the audience to read. “When students came in and really called for the university to do better, I think that from the standpoint of a faculty member, if we can do something to facilitate making the university respond to students and follow their lead, then I think we should do that,” explained Wynn. Sullivan explained, “Sometimes it’s easy to focus on the big problems and not see the ones that aren’t as massive or don’t affect as many students. But it is important that we pay attention to those students, as

well. Everybody has a right to an education and the best education they can get. When you have to deal with racism, sexism or violence on campus, that inhibits your ability to get the education you deserve.” “I never want anyone to miss out on opportunities because of their gender, their identity or the color of their skin,” Sullivan added. After standing in front of Mabee Library and Carole Chapel, the group paraded their signs through Stauffer Commons during lunch time to spread their messages. During lunch, Stauffer Commons is filled with about 120 students. Thus, faculty’s message reached hundreds of students that Wednesday.


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