Author: Sara Ornelas

Zhi Wei Won used her time at Wichita State to work on skills in and out of the classroom. She met new people and expanded her social circle through school activities.

Won is one of more than 1,300 students eligible for fall 2022 graduation. Learn more about her time at Wichita State and what is next for this grad.

Wichita State University’s efforts to encourage student voter turnout and engagement continue to grow.

In November, WSU earned “Most Engaged Campus for College Student Voting” recognition from ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. It is one of 394 colleges and universities recognized for making intentional, nonpartisan efforts to increase student voter participation.

“This is in line with work we’ve been doing for a while,” said Gabriel Fonseca, director of Student Engagement, Advocacy & Leadership. “It feels like we’re doing the right work and good work and being recognized among other institutions.”

People in Mulvane who knew Delane Vaughn as a youngster did not expect her to become a doctor. She understands their view of her future.

“I was pretty wild and undirected,” she said.

Vaughn loved science and her biology teacher at Mulvane High School, Joe Johnson, started her on a path to Wichita State University as the first person in her family to attend college. She worked, raised a family and attended WSU and the University of Kansas School of Medicine.

In June, she started as clinic physician at Wichita State’s Student Health Services.

After earning his bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in sociology, Daniel Baird plans to attend graduate school, where he will integrate clinical work with the handpan — a sort of convex steel drum that emits calming, hypnotic sounds — which he believes is a powerful therapeutic instrument.

Daniel is one of more than 1,300 students eligible for fall 2022 graduation. Learn more about his time at Wichita State and what’s next for the grad.

Valerie Hubener worked in several labs across campus until she found a field of study that was perfect for her in user experience (UX) design.

Valerie is one of more than 1,300 students eligible for fall 2022 graduation. Learn more about her time at Wichita State and what’s next for the grad.

Aida Amir is a Wichita State legacy student who came to campus from Malaysia to study engineering.

Aida is one of more than 1,300 students eligible for fall 2022 graduation. Learn more about her time at Wichita State and what is next for this grad.

The next monthly rpk GROUP Steering Committee meeting will be live-streamed at 9 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 1 on the Kansas Board of Regents YouTube channel.

The Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) and rpk GROUP are collaborating on a project to ensure the six KBOR bachelors-granting institutions are offering academic programs that align with Kansas’ goals for the state’s higher education enterprise, meet student expectations for programs centered on student success and increasing their employability, and efficiently deliver faculty and staff resources across each institution, division, and department.

Each week, Shocker Athletics provides an update on the latest results, upcoming events and notable moments in WSU sports history.

Danette Baker, program director for the Theatre Department in the College of Fine Arts, passed away on Nov. 12. Services will be held Wednesday, Nov. 16 at Holy Savior Catholic Church, 3000 E. 13th Street North in Wichita. A rosary ceremony will begin at 10 a.m., and the funeral mass will begin at 11 a.m. Afterward, there will be a funeral procession to Ascension Cemetary, 7200 E. 45th Street North in Bel Aire.

Danette was a frequent director and member of the acting company for Seven Devils Playwrights Conference in McCall, Idaho, a national conference focusing on new play development. She is a Society of American Fight Directors Certified Teacher and founder of the Wichita Unrehearsed Shakespeare Society.

Danette acted in theatres across the country, appearing with the Aegean Theatre Company, American Globe Theatre, and the Director’s Company in New York, Monomoy Theatre on Cape Cod, and Cleveland Playhouse in Ohio. In Wichita, Danette appeared with Cabaret Oldtown, Chamber Music in the Barn, Prairie Pines Festivals, Wichita Center for the Arts, Guild Hall Players, Signature Theatre, Wichita Shakespeare Company, and Wichita Community Theatre.

Danette was an eight-time recipient of the Mary Jane Teall Theatre award for Outstanding Acting, a recipient of the 2012 Ruth McCormick Outstanding Theatre Educator Award, twice recognized as the Outstanding Female Performer in the Society of American Fight Directors Advanced Actor Combatant Workshop, received Certificates of Commendation from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region V for her direction of A Hedda Gabler, and her fight choreography for “Twelfth Night.”

Neutrinos are on the short list of the biggest mysteries in fundamental physics, and Wichita State University researchers are taking a lead role in investigating them.

“The unsolved question right now is ‘Why do they have mass? How do they have mass?’” said Jonathan Folkerts, Wichita State graduate student. “When neutrinos were first thought of, we figured they had to be massless, but they do some things that mean they have to have mass.”

In late September, Folkerts, Jarred Novak and Trent English presented papers on the design of their neutrino detector prototype at the International Astronautical Congress in Paris, representing the NASA-funded Solar Neutrino Orbiting Laboratory Detector Development Project.