Category: Events and Recreation

Celebrate pride at Wichita State with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Spectrum: LGBTQ & Allies at PRIDE Prom.

The PRIDE Prom will take place from 7 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, April 15 in 233 Rhatigan Student Center. There will be food, a photo booth, music and more.

Join the night of fun in a safe space with friends and allies. Everyone is welcome to attend and prom attire is encouraged but not required.

Students are invited to attend a conversation with Roz Chast, author of “Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant?,” the book selected for this year’s NEA Big Read: Wichita, from 11 a.m. to noon Friday, April 14 in the CAC Theater.

This event is ideal for students in health professions, social work, art, graphic design, communication, pre-med, English, human resources, psychology, sociology or in the Honors College.

Faculty and staff are welcome to attend the student conversation as well, but the Big Read: Wichita keynote featuring Chast at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 15 is open to the entire Wichita community at the WSU Hughes Metroplex, 5015 E. 29th St. N.

Chast grew up in Brooklyn, and her cartoons began appearing in the New Yorker in 1978. Since then, she has published more than one thousand cartoons in the magazine and has written and illustrated many books.

Zach Gearhart, chief of staff, hosts biweekly updates for faculty and staff on legislative issues raised related to Wichita State from the Kansas state government.

This week’s session has been rescheduled for 10 a.m. Monday, April 10 in the Morrison Hall board room.

Student Health Services (SHS) is back with its Pee for Pizza event. It will take place noon-4 p.m. Thursday, April 20, at the Student Wellness Center in the Steve Clark YMCA. During the event, participants can get tested for gonorrhea and chlamydia by submitting a urine specimen and then receive free pizza.

Pee for Pizza is a sexual health awareness event that allows participants to test for sexually transmitted illnesses such as gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, HIV and hepatitis C and know their status for free.

Co-sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Positive Direction and Shocker Sports Grill and Lanes, Pee for Pizza occurs twice a month through the fall and spring semesters and is by reservation only. No walk-ins will be accepted. Participants must not use the restroom at least one hour before testing.

For more information or to make a reservation, contact SHS at 316-978-4792. Other testing is available upon request.

Interested in learning how to play pickleball? Join the Student’s Activities Council from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 20 at the Heskett Center to learn the basics from a pickleball instructor and begin practicing.

The event is in collaboration with Campus Recreation. Registration is required and spots are limited.

KMUW’s monthly book club features selections made by its staff. For April, KMUW is reading “Pineapple Street” by Jenny Jackson.

Participants will meet from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 19 at KMUW for a group discussion over dinner and drinks. Dinner is provided by Public.

Learn more about Jackson and the novel “Pineapple Street” on Marginalia.

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Spectrum: LGBTQ and Allies will host the ninth annual Lavender Graduation at 7 p.m. May 5 in 233 Rhatigan Student Center.

This is a special ceremony honoring the achievements of graduating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ+) students at Wichita State. Students have the option to be recognized openly or privately at the event.

To attend, students should RSVP by 11:59 p.m. May 1 to receive their lavender or rainbow cord.

Visit NetApp on the Innovation Campus for its quarterly campus-wide e-waste and shredding event from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, April 21 in the NetApp parking lot, lot 44S.

The following are items that can be disposed of during the event:

• Personal documents accepted for secure shredding.
• All personal electronics accepted, including appliances.
• Secure data destruction for e-waste (hard drive shredder).
• On-site assistance available for larger loads.

The event is sponsored by the NetApp Green Team.

Zach Gearhart, chief of staff, will update faculty and staff on legislative issues raised related to Wichita State from the Kansas state government.

The meeting is open to all faculty and staff every other Friday in the Morrison Hall board room. The next meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday, April 7.

Attend the next part of the Writing Now/Reading Now series for a reading by WSU’s 2023 distinguished visiting writer, Melinda Moustakis, at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 6 in the Beren Gallery of the Ulrich Museum of Art. A reception will begin at 5:30 p.m. Writing Now/Reading Now is cosponsored by the Department of English, Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Watermark Books & Café and the Ulrich Museum.

Moustakis’s story collection, “Bear Down, Bear North: Alaska Stories,” is set in the rugged landscape where she was born, and received the Flannery O’Connor Award and a five Under 35 selection by the National Book Foundation. Her forthcoming novel, “Homestead,” has been called a “stunning debut” by Booklist, given a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly, and been praised as follows by New York Times bestselling author Jess Walter, “Moustakis’s writing is so good, so precise, so strong, and so deeply felt that it immediately creates a sense of time and place.”