Author: Caelin Bragg

Shocker cheer and dance teams traveled to Daytona Beach, Florida, April 9-13 to participate in the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) and National Dance Alliance (NDA) National Championships.

The cheer team won the National Championship in Intermediate Large Coed Division I. In the preliminary round, the Shockers had a raw score of 87.8333 and an event score of 24.3357 with just 0.25 in deductions. In the final round, the Shockers scored 88.0667 for a total event score of 97.5371. WSU finished almost two points in front of second place VCU.

The dance team finished 11th overall in Pom Division I. In the preliminary round, the Shockers had an event score of 86.8286 to earn a trip to the finals. In the final round, the Shockers scored 86.4857.

An archaeological field school in the piney woods of east Texas is giving Wichita State students a rare opportunity to bring history to light — and their futures into focus.

Led by Dr. Crystal Dozier, assistant professor of anthropology, students spent several months during summer 2024 excavating the Boxed Springs site in east Texas, thanks to the generosity and vision of Wichita State alumnus Marc Rowland. Boxed Springs is known for its ties to the early Caddo peoples, an Indigenous group who developed complex agricultural societies, constructed elaborate ceremonial centers, and thrived in the region for centuries. The site became the focus of extensive geophysical surveys, excavation and artifact analysis, with students contributing both in the field and back on campus.

Join the Student Government Association (SGA) Student Senate for a meeting at 6:30 p.m. today in 233 Rhatigan Student Center, Santa Fe Trail room. The meeting will now be livestreamed on the SGA YouTube.

The Wichita State SGA is the governing entity for the student experience at the university. SGA is charged with promoting and stimulating student participation in the university’s activities and providing an official channel of communication between the students, faculty, staff and administration.

History department faculty at WSU and the WSU Chapter of the AAUP/AFT present a “Teach-in on Higher Education and the Current Political Situation” from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, April 17 in 211 Hubbard Hall. Faculty members will elaborate on key issues facing universities and colleges, including threats to academic freedom, the defunding of research and banning of DEI, and will provide status reports on the latest developments. Speakers include history faculty members Dr. Laila Ballout, Dr. George Dehner and Dr. Robert Weems. The event is moderated by Dr. Rannfrid Lasine Thelle.

A Q&A period and discussion will follow the presentation.

The event is open to faculty, staff, students and the public and is offered as a part of the National Day of Action in Higher Education.

If you were unable to watch the spring 2025 student town hall live, you can catch the livestream recording and hear from your student and university leaders.

President Rick Muma; Monica Lounsbery, senior executive vice president and provost; and Teri Hall, vice president for Student Affairs, answered a number of questions from students on topics including:

• Challenges facing universities in Kansas, including enrollment, budget and legislation
• Projects happening around campus, including the 10-year Master Plan
• Policies at Wichita State, including on inclement weather, accessibility and parking

Stay tuned in Shocker Blast for information on the fall 2025 student town hall.

Want to see what some of your fellow Shockers are up to? The ShockerSync calendar has even more events for you to check out throughout the semester: wichita.edu/shockersync.

Shocker bowling, #4, take on the top-seeded Jacksonville State to kick off the team’s NCAA final four appearance at 11 a.m. Friday, April 11. The match will be livestreamed by the NCAA.

The Shockers, who won 11 national titles in the United States Bowling Congress’ Intercollegiate Team Championships, are in the NCAA’s Final Four in the team’s first season as an NCAA member.

When post-season play started, the Shockers rallied around the motto “Stay in our house.” Coach Holly Harris used the phrase before the Conference USA Tournament, and it stuck with the team. Before the NCAA regional, the team gathered to draw their houses with markers and colored pencils.

Four Shocker bowling members were named National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA) All-Americans on Thursday and head coach Holly Harris was named Bill Straub Coach of the Year.

Sophomore Sara Duque Jiménez was a First Team honoree, while sophomore Ashtyn Woods earned a Second Team selection. Senior Mary Orf was tabbed to the third team and junior Paige Wagner was named Honorable Mention. All four were also selected to the Conference USA All-Conference teams last week.

The Shockers have now had 102 All-Americans in program history, with Duque Jiménez the 39th First Team selection. Harris is the first national Coach of the Year for Wichita State since current assistant coach Mark Lewis was USBC Coach of the Year in 2017.

Wichita State junior Sejun Moon is exploring how teams of autonomous robots work together in extreme environments like Mars using a multi-agent reinforcement learning approach. Under the guidance of Dr. Fujian Yan, Moon is developing a scalable, hierarchical system that enables robot collaboration with minimal human input — a concept with promising applications for both space exploration and disaster response here on Earth.

Wichita State University’s research emphasis includes opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty and staff, and extends across campus from aerospace to ancient civilizations and business administration to biochemistry.

The Shocker spirit squad is competing in the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) College Nationals this week in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Competitions are livestreamed via Varsity TV, but a subscription is required. Shocker cheer performs at 7:20 p.m. and Shocker dance performs at 11:45 a.m., both Thursday, April 10.