Category: News

What is a first-gen student?

A first-generation college student is defined as a student whose parent(s) or legal guardian(s) have not completed a bachelor’s degree. A student who is the first person in their immediate family to attend a four-year college/university to attain a bachelor’s degree.

• Focus on first-gen: This week we highlight Quang Nguyen, Communications and Marketing specialist, Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
• Faculty and staff: If you are interested in being featured as a first-generation profile, contact Lydia Santiago at FGShockers@wichita.edu.
• Graduation cords: Fall 2021 First-Gen graduation cords are in route. For more information, Lydia Santiago, FGShockers@wichita.edu.

The inauguration of the university’s 15th president, Rick Muma, was held Friday, Oct. 29. For a selection of photos from the inauguration ceremony, visit The Inauguration of Richard Muma.

You can also view more photos of the event on Zenfolio.

International Education Week 2021 begins today, Nov. 15, and will last through Nov. 19. Today through Nov. 16, test your international knowledge for a chance to win prizes. The top three participants with the highest trivia scores will be awarded the prize package.

Access today’s quiz now. All quiz links can also be found at the International Education Week 2021 website.

The campus community can now donate a holiday gift for a local child or adult through the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree and Star of Hope programs hosted by the Shocker Store. The hybrid donation program is available online but the gifts will need to be delivered to the store no later than Dec. 1.

To sponsor a child or adult, visit the WSU Rhatigan Student Center (RSC) Angel Tree website and create an account to select an angel from the virtual Angel Tree. Once members claim an angel, they can purchase a suggested gift listed and bring it back to the RSC or Braeburn Square Shocker Store. Gifts must be unwrapped, new and clearly labeled with your angel’s name and number.

For more information, contact Vanessa Bell of RSC Marketing at 316-978-7008 or vanessa.bell@wichita.edu.

Building on a 20-year history of collaboration, Lockheed Martin recently named Wichita State University and WSU Tech as a tier one collegiate partner institution, emphasizing collaboration with the institution as an Aeronautics Sector Emerging School to bolster the pipeline for future Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematical (STEM) careers. 

The Shocker Neighborhood Coalitions, which is overseen by Wichita State’s Office of Engagement, hosted a meeting with 30 other community members to discuss their collective impact on northeast Wichita communities Nov. 8.

The meeting included members of the following: Wichita Libraries, Wichita Police Department, Wichita Public Schools, WSU’s Student Government Association, neighborhood churches, residents, neighborhood associations and other community-serving organizations. The meeting ended with a vote on the top community issues the Shocker Neighborhood Coalition will work on in the future. The next meeting is scheduled to take place in January.

For more information about the Shocker Neighborhood Coalition or to join, contact. engagedstudent1@wichita.edu.

Lucretia Taylor will be joining the Wichita State University Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance as its new Title IX coordinator. 

In this role, she is responsible for investigating complaints of sexual misconduct, discrimination and harassment. Prior to joining WSU, Taylor worked at Kansas State University’s Office of Institutional Equity at Kansas State University as an investigator. She investigated complaints under Title IX, VII and VI.

The “Legacies of Racism in American Culture” series will return with at 3 p.m. Nov. 17 via Zoom (Meeting ID: 998 4330 8081, Passcode: 441316). Laila Ballout, Wichita State assistant professor of history, will present on the subject while Andrew Hippisley, dean, Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will host the event.

During this edition, the U.S. immigration laws that define which peoples of the world should be admitted to the United States and who should be barred or limited from living, working or becoming citizens will be discussed. These laws have consistently reflected the ideas about race and ethnicity held by the policymakers who create them.

This talk will also examine a few major examples of the legacies of racism in U.S. immigration law, including Asian exclusion, quota systems, the impact of the civil rights movement of the 1960s,  the ways that race is still a factor in the colorblind, and the U.S. immigration policies that took shape after 1965.

Ballout’s work focuses on citizen activism in the U.S. relationship with the Middle East, especially by considering immigrant and diaspora activism and the role of religion in U.S. engagement with the region. She is currently working on her book “Saving Lebanon: American and Lebanese Activism for Intervention in the Lebanese Civil War, 1975-1990.”

On Nov. 8 , the Ulrich Museum of Art  installed the newest sculpture in its world-class Martin H. Bush Outdoor Sculpture Collection.

The interactive sculpture, “Ernest and Ruth,” by artist Hank Willis Thomas, is the 82nd piece in the museum’s outdoor sculpture collection and it’s the first by an African American sculptor. The sculpture is in the shape of a giant speech bubble that also serves as a bench. Thomas chose this shape because he wanted each person who sits there to know they have something of value to add to the conversation happening around them.

The sculpture installed in front of the Ulrich is one of three benches in the series, all similarly named after Thomas’s grandparents, that will be on the Wichita State campus. The other two benches will be installed at a later date and will be located just off the main traffic area leading up to Woolsey Hall.

“These sculptures are the perfect fit for our WSU campus,” Leslie Brothers, director of the Ulrich Museum of Art, said. “They serve as a playful celebration of expressing individuality through free speech.”

Thomas’ sculptures are the first works by an African American artist in the Ulrich Museum’s outdoor sculpture collection. In addition to his sculpture, Thomas’s 2009 series of 20 paintings titled “I Am a Man” is a work that the museum recently lent to Willis’ large-scale traveling mid-career retrospective, and they were featured in its Ulrich + Artists + You Community Billboard Project last year.

Visitors are encouraged to come by, sit within the speech bubble, and have their photos taken with Thomas’s sculpture. If you post your photos on social media, be sure to tag the museum (@ulrichmuseum) and use the hashtag #ulrichmuseum.

The John See Innovation Award is provided to support entrepreneurs and innovators with prototype development and moving your idea forward. All students and faculty are eligible to apply. Awards typically range from $1,000 to $20,000. Applications are open until Jan. 8, 2022, but will be awarded based on the order they are received.