Category: Kudos

Wichita State nursing students on the WSU and Kansas State University campuses celebrated their Nightingale nursing commitment ceremonies on March 3. Students recited and signed the modern Nightingale pledge as a commitment to uphold the standards of the nursing profession. The milestone affirms the student’s dedication to the study of the discipline of nursing. The two ceremonies took place simultaneously in Wichita and Manhattan and were live streamed to include both locations.

The event’s speakers included Dr. Voncella McCleary-Jones, associate dean of the College of Health Professions, and Dr. Debra Pile, chair and associate dean for nursing practice, who gave opening remarks. Kris Hammer, recent graduate of the accelerated bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) program, followed as keynote speaker. Dr. Theresa Cooper, assistant teaching professor, acted as moderator and Dr. Maryon Habtemariam, associate teaching professor, led the reading of the pledge. Members of the Nurses Honor Guard attended both ceremonies.

This was the first Nightingale Ceremony for WSU nursing students on the KSU campus, which included the inaugural BSN class. The WSU nursing program is part of the dual-degree Pathway to Nursing program with KSU.

Over spring break, 31 students visited Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and New York City for a civil rights trip sponsored by Housing and Residence Life. The trip was spearheaded by Omarian Brantley, a resident assistant. He and a group of dedicated committee members were given the tools, resources and support to plan a Black history trip for the university.

During the break, they visited many locations, including the following landmarks:

• Obama’s home
• The Church that held Emmett Till’s funeral
• Ida B. Wells’ home
• South Side Community Art Center
• Nat King Cole’s home
• DuSable Museum (the nation’s first independent museum dedicated to Black history)
• Louis Armstrong’s home
• Monument to the Great Migration
• The Belmont Mansion
• 1985 MOVE bombing site
• The Stenton House
• Apollo Theater
• African Burial Ground
• The Gate of the Exonerated
• Howard University
• National Museum of African American History and Culture
• The Lincoln Memorial
• Martin Luther King Jr monument

The group also got a chance to eat at African and soul food restaurants to support Black owned businesses.

Wichita State nursing students on the WSU and Kansas State University campuses celebrated their Nightingale nursing commitment ceremonies on March 3. Students recited and signed the modern Nightingale pledge as a commitment to uphold the standards of the nursing profession. The milestone affirms the student’s dedication to the study of the discipline of nursing. The two ceremonies took place simultaneously in Wichita and Manhattan and were live streamed to include both locations.

The event’s speakers included Dr. Voncella McCleary-Jones, associate dean of the College of Health Professions, and Dr. Debra Pile, chair and associate dean for nursing practice, who gave opening remarks. Kris Hammer, recent graduate of the accelerated bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) program, followed as keynote speaker. Dr. Theresa Cooper, assistant teaching professor, acted as moderator and Dr. Maryon Habtemariam, associate teaching professor, led the reading of the pledge. Members of the Nurses Honor Guard attended both ceremonies.

This was the first Nightingale Ceremony for WSU nursing students on the KSU campus, which included the inaugural BSN class. The WSU nursing program is part of the dual-degree Pathway to Nursing program with KSU.

Over spring break, 31 students visited Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and New York City for a civil rights trip sponsored by Housing and Residence Life. The trip was spearheaded by Omarian Brantley, a resident assistant. He and a group of dedicated committee members were given the tools, resources and support to plan a Black history trip for the university.

During the break, they visited many locations, including the following landmarks:

• Obama’s home
• The Church that held Emmett Till’s funeral
• Ida B. Wells’ home
• South Side Community Art Center
• Nat King Cole’s home
• DuSable Museum (the nation’s first independent museum dedicated to Black history)
• Louis Armstrong’s home
• Monument to the Great Migration
• The Belmont Mansion
• 1985 MOVE bombing site
• The Stenton House
• Apollo Theater
• African Burial Ground
• The Gate of the Exonerated
• Howard University
• National Museum of African American History and Culture
• The Lincoln Memorial
• Martin Luther King Jr monument

The group also got a chance to eat at African and soul food restaurants to support Black owned businesses.

The Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures and the WSU Japanese Language program extend a congratulations to the winners of the Heart of America Japan-America Society’s annual Japanese Language Contest. The contest was held on March 4 at Johnson County Community College. They are proud of the hard work that all the contestants put into the contest this year to represent Wichita State.

Students competed in several categories including poetry writing in both English and Japanese, karuta card games, online grammar and culture quizzes, calligraphy, 4-panel manga creation, and a speech presentation contest.

This year’s winners from Wichita State:

• Cameron Gillespie: First in speech presentation, second in Japanese-language tanka poem.
• Alyssa Moen: First in Japanese culture quiz, second in N5 karuta card game.
• Wren Johnson: Second in speech presentation.
• Quyen Tran: Honorable mention for calligraphy.
• Lilith Tackett: Honorable mention for English-language tanka poem.

On March 9, the Office of Online & Adult Learning held its annual Adult Learning of the Year (ALOTY) ceremony where it recognized an outstanding adult learner and both a community partner and Wichita State partner who have supported adult learners on campus.

• The ALOTY winner was Jennifer Johnson, a junior in the elementary education program, who is balancing a heavy course load, an internship helping a fourth grade classroom and raising three young children. Jennifer was recognized for exceling in her classes and for being a dedicated student, exemplifying what it means to be both an adult learner and a Shocker.
• The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning received the community partner award in recognition of its continued assistance and expertise of adult students.
• Lynette Murphy, senior director of development for the Fairmount College and Honors College at the WSU Foundation and Alumni Engagement, received the WSU partner award in honor of her going above and beyond for adult learners at WSU.

The Office of Online & Adult Learning congratulates this year’s ALOTY award winners.

On March 2 and March 3, five students from the Department of Human Performance Studies in the College of Applied Studies participated in the annual Central States chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine (CS-ACSM) conference with the support of Dr. Heidi A. VanRavenhorst-Bell, faculty research advisor.

Thinh Huynh, a senior in exercise science, gave an oral presentation on “Validation of a neuro-fitness device to access cognitive and reaction time measures: A pilot study” to a full room where he received the first compliments of the day for delivering a strong presentation. This compliment came from a notable expert in the field.

Additionally, three other exercise science students competed against 13 other teams from the Central States chapter in the quiz bowl competition. These students were Christian Yabut, senior; Adelyn Tackitt, senior; and Khoa-Vinh “Victor” Nguyen, junior. They were the first team in Wichita State history to ever compete in the CS-ACSM quiz bowl competition. After the initial rounds, a final jeopardy and a final double jeopardy, WSU claimed third place.

The conference held many successes for the Department of Human Performance Studies, with all photos courtesy of Frida Loera Moreno, a junior in exercise science. 

The Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures and the WSU Japanese Language program extend a congratulations to the winners of the Heart of America Japan-America Society’s annual Japanese Language Contest. The contest was held on March 4 at Johnson County Community College. They are proud of the hard work that all the contestants put into the contest this year to represent Wichita State.

Students competed in several categories including poetry writing in both English and Japanese, karuta card games, online grammar and culture quizzes, calligraphy, 4-panel manga creation, and a speech presentation contest.

This year’s winners from Wichita State:

• Cameron Gillespie: First in speech presentation, second in Japanese-language tanka poem.
• Alyssa Moen: First in Japanese culture quiz, second in N5 karuta card game.
• Wren Johnson: Second in speech presentation.
• Quyen Tran: Honorable mention for calligraphy.
• Lilith Tackett: Honorable mention for English-language tanka poem.

A team of ten students from the School of Computing within the College of Engineering competed virtually and won third place in the Midwest qualifiers of the NCAE Cyber Games on Feb. 18.

As part of the competition, the team was tasked with setting up and defending a small network against cyber attacks. Additionally, a “capture the flag” component required solving challenges, such as password cracking, network traffic analysis, reverse engineering and threat hunting.

Team members, all of whom belong to the Wichita State University Linux User Group student organization, included Marcos Vera Bareiro, Carlos Renato Soverina Figueroa, Michael Foster, Jason Kurtz, Philip Lindholm, Ivan Macias, Nikilesh Samba Murthy, Mirza Shahid, Olivia Robl and Khang Tran. From the group, Macias received an award for Most Valuable Player, and Tran received an award for Most Improved Player. The competition was the first NCAE Cyber Games that included WSU student participants.

On Feb. 24, the Office of Engagement was given a Community Hero Award during Community Day at Gordon Parks Academy, STEM Leaders in Applied and Media Arts.

The Office of Engagement thanks everyone who worked hard to organize Community Day and especially thanks LaTonia Kennedy, principal of Gordon Parks Academy. It also congratulates all the other award recipients.