The Stylus- Volume 126, Issue 2

s u l y t S e h T

Volume 126

2020-21

ISSUE

#2

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A student publication of Park University since 1895

FB: ParkUniversityStylus stylus@park.edu February 19, 2021

Cause of nationwide system outage under investigation Shelby Adkins Editor-in-Chief On Dec. 3, 2020, Park University experienced a nationwide system outage that took out its administrative systems, phones, MyPark intranet and more. The cause of the outage, which took over a month to fully restore, is currently under investigation.

According to Brad Biles, Park University’s director of communications and public relations, answers as of now are scarce.

“While the investigation is making progress, we do not have all the facts or, most significantly, the conclusions that would address the heart of the incident,” Biles explained in an email.

The system outage resulted in problems accessing administrative systems, MyPark, Citrix, eProcess and phones according to Park University’s website, an outage that was not fully restored until Dec. 30.

“While it did take time to restore the network, I am not certain it took an inordinate amount of time,” Biles wrote.

“Unlike, say, a power restoration, a network restoration involves the arduous task of examining every file on our system to ensure it is intact.”

Although Biles felt the restoration process was not out of the ordinary, some students expressed their concern about the length of the process.

Several posts appeared on the Park University Facebook page expressing concern. People asked what caused the outage in the first place and what fail safes were in place for this event.

“Regarding the measures in place

before and after this event, Park University is continually learning, adapting and evolving, particularly when it comes to resiliency,” Biles explained. “We wouldn’t ever go into specifics, but, just like a college student, we always aim to be smarter today than we were yesterday.”

Biles also spoke to the university’s resiliency in time of crisis.

“Part of our resiliency meant that much of Park University’s daily operations were unaffected by the event. Students continued to have access to classes and faculty online, the Park University team developed workarounds for several major elements of the network to benefit students and we had a fantastic virtual graduation ceremony,” Biles wrote.

But, this was not the case for all students. For Park University Professor of Public Administration Laurie DiPadovaStocks, the outage had a large impact on her student’s ability to complete their final assignments of the semester.

“I was teaching two courses in the Canvas shell, both classes had ebooks,” DiPadova-Stocks explained in an email.

“With the network shutdown, students were unable to access their books, and it was near the end of the term. This posed difficulties.”

DiPadova-Stocks explained that the lack of access to ebooks forced some of her students to rent the books on Amazon in the final week of the semester.

“The university is working hard to minimize costs of textbooks, and free ebooks are promising. That said, the network shutdown showed vulnerabilities in this regard,” she wrote.

Many professors and students

PHOTO COURTESY/Jeff Roberts experienced hardships through this network outage, but for professors like John Hamilton, chair and associate professor of criminal justice, the impacts were minimal.

Hamilton expressed his largest obstacle of this event was in submitting final grades and preparing for the next semester.

“We are also trying to get prepared for the next semester in regard to the planning of classes and enrollment for the next semester because we have to begin to decide, which classes to we hold and which classes do we not hold because of enrollment or other issues,” he said.

See System Outage on page 8

In This Issue: News...................1 Opinion..............2 Covid-19.............3 Campus Life.....4-5 Features............6 Sports................7 Campus Life......8

OPINION

Page 2 February 19, 2021

With temperatures like these

Properly prepare and take winter seriously Natalya Nalivaiko Reporter Has anyone ever seen KC this cold? It’s been below freezing for more than a week and the wind chill has been around -20 degrees!

These are record cold temperatures in the KC area, so locals and students who aren’t from around alike here may want some winter tips to stay warm. This is even more important since we may be at risk of losing power.

First of all, make sure you have lots of layers to wear.

Being in warm and loose clothing will help seal all of your body heat in, which is exactly what you need.

If you have a fireplace, light it up and keep a fire going, especially if there’s no power. You and your roommates should all stay in one room and close the doors to other rooms in your house or apartment in order to keep the heat flowing in one room.

Make sure your phones and computers are charged and ensure your flashlights have working batteries. If your power goes out in the middle of the night, you’ll definitely want to be prepared.

What if it’s so cold that your water stops working and your water pipes freeze?

To prevent that, leave a faucet on or two, letting it slightly drip in order to keep water moving through your pipes. Another thing you can do in preparation for your water not working is filling up a bathtub with water. Why? If you do, you can grab a bucket and use the water to flush your toilets; you definitely want to keep that luxury!

Now let’s say you need to drive somewhere out in the snow and cold. Grab an extra blanket from your room to keep in your car, just in case. If you got stuck somewhere and your car died or heat stopped working, it’s always good to have some extra warmth.

When you are driving and hit a patch of ice or any-

thing slick, don’t slam on your brakes. You’ll slide right off the road. Instead, drive slowly, with caution, and when you need to stop in a hurry, pump your breaks.

This means to break over and over again, pushing the pedal down and letting off again multiple times. This will help slow down your car and will be less of a risk for you to slide out of control.

After you get back safely to your home, check to see how much gas you have. It’s best to have a full tank or at least a quarter of a tank of gas when the weather is this cold. If you’re on E, condensation can form in the tank and cause it to freeze when it sits outside for a long time, which is not good for your car. Also, you’ll want lots of gas to keep your car running and you warm if you were to be stranded somewhere in the negative temperatures.

While this frigid spell won’t last forever, winter isn’t over in Kansas City for a while. Use these tips to keep yourself warm and comfortable, especially in the bitter cold.

Disney’s “Soul” is a cartoon with an important message Skyler Jensen Reporter Disney Plus released the animated movie “Soul” in December, and it is worth a watch.

In the movie, Joe Gardner, a high

school band teacher, pairs up with a forming soul called 22 to learn what makes life so special.

In the beginning, Joe ends up in the Great Before which is where souls find their interests and get their spark to live.

After they get this spark, the souls can then travel to Earth. 22 has been in the Great Before for a long time and has never gotten her spark. They explore different universes as Joe desperately tries to get back home, and 22 tries to get her spark.

I think that the voice talents alone make this movie an instant family favorite. Joe is voiced by Jamie Foxx and 22 is portrayed by Tina Fey. They work off each other really well, and their dynamic makes the movie funnier, more relatable and easier to connect with emotionally.

Some other notable names voicing characters in the movie are comedian and TV host Graham Norton, actor Daveed Diggs and musician Questlove.

Besides the talent, the real value of the movie comes from the takeaway. The

movie wants to help people understand how important life is and how everyone should value it. It also explores ideas of mortality and experiencing every moment that you can.

I think that these ideas are incredibly important, especially in our current times.

People, including myself, get so caught up in everyday life that we don’t always take the time to appreciate the small things.

The pandemic and quarantine have made life seem more monotonous and boring to most people, which increases the value of appreciating all we can. Whether it’s getting lunch with a friend or being able to go to a movie theater, these types of things have become more special because we, as a society, know what it’s like to not have them.

All in all, this movie is a great reminder to appreciate all we can, and thanks to the great work of the voice actors, it should be appreciated at least once by everyone.

Soul is available to stream on Disney+.

Staff List Editor-in-chief Shelby Adkins

Editors

Matheus Teles

Reporters

MacKenzie Coder Averyl Crouse Nathan Dunn Skyler Jensen Yi Li Kevin Melson Natalya Nalivaiko Bailey Turner

Adviser

Kristin Shaw

COVID-19 How Does Park Compare?

Navigating a pandemic is something that universities and students have never experienced. New procedures and course modalities have become university norms, but how do area universities stack up against each other?

Averyl Crouse Reporter

Page 3 February 19, 2021

University of Missouri Kansas City

Missouri Western

Park University

University of Missouri Kansas City student Cameron Christgen, 20, said she did not receive the same amount of communication from her university as some of her friends at other universities.

“Communication to the students regarding class schedules and assignment due dates are absolute garbage,” she said.

Explaining further that she has missed more classes and assignments than before the pandemic, and her professors have not been very forgiving.

“Professors aren’t clear in the online classroom, don’t care about your grades at all, and don’t even attempt to work with you to make sure you’re getting your work done the way they want it,” Cameron Christgen said.

However, she said that UMKC checks up on her well-being often, stating that her “school takes mental health very seriously and always sends emails with tips for staying healthy.”

One Missouri Western student said the school did a great job of communicating with students.

“They have done a really good job of communicating with us and being open and honest about our safety and the number of cases that were on campus,” Eleanor Larson, 19, said.

However, Larson feels that the online course modalities are not working well for students.

“They need to make sure the professors are actually teaching because a lot of my professors just post stuff and don’t make an effort to help the students or get to know us,” Larson said.

Carley Christgen, a freshman at Missouri Western, did not favor the online course modality either this semester stating that her, “college experience is going to be different because I have never had a real college class before so it will be different when I have to actually go to class.”

Although students felt there were areas that universities could improve upon in the pandemic, many felt that the schools did the best they could, considering they were not well equipped to handle the situation in the first place.

“I think they did what they had to do,” Park University business major Austin Sawyer said.

He says that while it is sad that students can’t do some things on campus that they normally would, he’s glad that the school is prioritizing the safety of the students and the staff.

Sawyer also stated that Park’s COVID-19 symptom tracker is not doing an effective job.

“I think that it needs to go much more in-depth; I just press no every single time without reading the questions, so I’m sure that’s what everyone else does,” Sawyer said. “I think that Park could be doing a lot more to keep students informed.”

Academic Success Center surges amid pandemic Nathan Dunn Reporter Park University’s Academic Success Center was used by students significantly more in the fall semester as many courses transitioned to online or blended formats.

Statistics provided by Dana Frasca, senior director of network academic success, showed the ASC held more than 2,400 virtual tutor and mentor appointments, which has it on track to increase its total appointments by 20 percent compared to last year.

The ASC also had students use their tutor and mentorship services from 39 campus locations in the fall semester.

“The Academic Success Center has worked really hard to make sure that we maintain the same level of service to our students,” said Florenda Jarrard, assistant director of the Academic Success Center.

The ASC is located on the second floor of Norrington Center, providing help to students at all Park Universi-

ty locations with services such as tutoring, mentoring, study groups, disability services and the testing center.

After in-person tutoring and mentoring was shut down due to the pandemic, Jarrard said all appointments are now virtual.

Students can access ASC services through Canvas.

Every student is automatically enrolled in a course titled Park Tutoring and Success Services: Support during the COVID-19 response efforts. In this course, students can chat and set up appointments with tutors and mentors through the OnceHub tutoring system. Students can also submit papers to ASC’s online writing submission lab, where they will receive feedback from a professional writing tutor.

Norrington is still open for general study, but all tutoring and mentoring appointments are now virtual through Zoom. As the statistics have shown, many students have taken advantage of it.

“The students have used it frequently and seem very open to it,” said Jarrard. “I think transitioning to the vir-

tual world has been very successful for our department.”

Projwal Pathak, who graduated from Park in May 2020 with a master’s degree, joined the ASC as a tutor and mentor in the fall. He believes that the only disadvantage of online-only tutoring is that it can still be a struggle for students who learn better with in-person tutoring.

He thinks that people are using these resources more because of the ability to access help from the comfort of their own home, usually anytime between 8 a.m. until 10 p.m. during the week.

“Of the people that I have helped, they actually feel that this has been helpful,” said Pathak. “The only difference is that you’re over the internet.”

The ASC has no plans to return to in-person tutoring anytime soon, but Pathak has been encouraged from his experience since joining the ASC in October 2020.

“I feel like it has been better than what I had anticipated,” said Pathak. “We’re really being able to help students who are needing help in different subject areas.”

COVID-19

Page 4 February 19, 2021

Park athletes navigate daily challenges of COVID-19 precautions Natalya Nalivaiko personally can say that their energy in the Reporter games makes a difference.”

Being a student athlete has always presented challenges. However, amidst a pandemic, these challenges have multiplied. Now coaches and athletes have to worry about keeping everyone safe and healthy, regularly testing for COVID-19 and following new public health rules, all while attempting to play their sport as normally as possible.

Women’s basketball point guard and sophomore biology major Emylin Richardson said that the daily processes of practice have changed due to COVID-19.

“It’s difficult in practice because we have to wear masks all the time,” Richardson said. “It’s kind of harder for us to breathe because we’re not used to wearing a mask.”

Richardson went on to explain that those procedures can vary between practice and games though. For example, she said that during live play, masks are not required unless a player chooses to wear one.

Hiago Crins, a senior right side hitter on the men’s volleyball team and a fitness and wellness major, said that masks are worn at all times during practice, everyone has separate water bottles and spaces, and the players sanitize their hands periodically during practice.

The biggest change that Crins has seen in volleyball due to COVID-19 is the lack of fans.

“We don’t have crowds here in our games,” said Crins. “They took this decision because of our safety, but of course we miss the crowd, and I

Richardson and Crins are two athletes that risk extra exposure to COVID-19 by playing their sports. They said they accept this fact and understand this risk.

“It’s one of those things that’s probably bound to happen,” Richardson said.

This semester, the women’s basketball played a home game against a team that

PHOTO/Natalya Nalivaiko

“We don’t have crowds here in our games, They took this decision because of our safety, but of course we miss the crowd, and I personally can say that their energy in the games makes a difference.”

Hiago Crins, senior

had been tested for COVID-19 but did not have the results before stepping into Park’s gym for their game.

“During the middle of the game, the coach got a call and was like, ‘yeah you have a player that tested positive,’ and she was playing already,” said Richardson “You just never know what schools are doing because we know what we’re doing, so we feel safe, but we don’t know what the other schools are doing and that was a prime example of that.”

Women’s basketball point guard and sophomore biology major Emylin Richardson and men’s volleyball right side hitter and senior fitness and wellness major Hiago Crins.

Despite this close call, the players were not exposed to this specific player for more than 15 minutes and were shown support by their coaches and the school, allowing them to choose if they wanted to continue with practice after being exposed.

“I know I am at risk and anytime I can get it,” said Crins. However, both athletes feel like they are doing what they can to keep their sport alive and fun amid a troubling time.

To ensure the safety of Park’s student athletes, the men’s volleyball team will be getting tested every week for free.

“They are all caring about safety and this is the most important thing, so they are doing the best of their job to keep us healthy and at the same time keep with playing,” said Crins in reference to the school and athletics.

On the other hand, the women’s basketball team has not been given the

same opportunity in regards to testing, according to Richardson.

Richardson said, “We’re always exposed every day. It helps instead of having to wait until we get exposed. I think it should just be a new thing to get tested before every game.”

“This is a real thing, take care of yourself, use masks out there,” encourages Crins.

Speaking directly to the fans and the “people that love and appreciate volleyball,” Hiago says to follow Park Athletics on social media to see game results, as well as watch games for free on the Park Athletics website.

During the challenges of COVID-19, it is important to have lots of support for these athletes. Crins adds, “Since there is no crowd here you just need to go online and keep sending us energy.”

CAMPUS LIFE

Page 5 February 19, 2021

Park is home for some Chiefs, thanks to partnership Last academic year, 2019-20, there Skyler Jensen were 24 Chiefs employees attending Reporter Many at Park University take pride in the school being the Official Higher Educational Partner of the Kansas City Chiefs.

This is a multi-year partnership that will continue through the 2022 season.

According to Interim President Shane Smeed, the Chiefs partnership started because of Park’s Access to Education program, also known as A2E. This program unites businesses, like the Chiefs, with Park University and educates their workforce through Park’s many academic programs. Smeed was Park University’s Chief Operations Officer at the time the partnership began.

“As I met with the Kansas City Chiefs’ vice president of human resources, what I said to them was: we don’t want to just be an advertising partner, we want to be an education partner,” he said.

Park University and the year before that, 2018-19, 20 employees attended Park.

In December, seven Chiefs’ employees graduated from Park University as well, according to Long Huynh, D.B.A., the associate vice president of marketing and strategic growth.

“We truly are the higher educational partner of the Chiefs, it’s not just an advertising mechanism,” Smeed said.

Huynh said the university receives many promotional opportunities from the Chiefs. Some of these include rights to use Chiefs marks and logos in Park’s advertising, digital media content campaigns and radio advertisements. Park is also the presenting partner of several Chiefs events and gets to honor a military student or graduate at the Salute to Service game.

Huynh said, “It’s a great partnership between two great organizations.”

According to him, it has helped recruit students, created additional revenue for the university and helped Park partner with additional organizations, especially for the A2E program.

For students, Huynh said the partnership creates leadership events that are led by Chiefs executives. There are also internship opportunities available to students. The Chiefs Seasonal Assistant Program is available to Park students according to Huynh.

This program is designed for students who want practical, PHOTO COURTESY/Kansas City Chiefs fast-paced experience from the NFL world with opportunities can’t speak that far out ... but so far it has available in different areas of the organi- been a wonderful experience between the zation. two organizations, so I could foresee the When asked if Park would extend the agreement or the partnership to continue partnership in the future, Huynh said, “I in the future.”

Interim President Shane Smeed hopes to help all students succeed Skyler Jensen Reporter In his first two months as Park University’s interim president, Shane Smeed has focused on prioritizing student success and wellness.

Smeed explained that means making Park’s tools accessible to students virtually, making sure students stay safe during COVID-19 and reminding students he is available and interested in making sure all students get the help they need.

His tenure at the top of Park University began suddenly. Smeed was appointed acting president by the Board of Trustees on Nov. 12, 2020. He was selected to become the interim president at the Bord’s Executive Committee meeting on Dec. 8.

Before this appointment, Smeed had been the Chief Operating Officer of Park Uni-

versity for five years.

Because of that, he is already very familiar with the university, its students and the changes that have been made to adapt to COVID-19 in the last year. Smeed said that because so many students have had to transition to virtual learning, his team wants to focus on providing them with tools they accessed to in a face-to-face environment.

“We’ve even found that our services have increased in some of our student services areas by having the virtual component or capability,” he said.

Based off that increase in use, Smeed wants to prioritize access to all of Park’s tools and services both virtually and in-person, enabling students to use them regardless of whether they live on campus or attend remotely.

Another area that Interim President

Smeed will be focusing on is how the university will continue to safely handle COVID-19.

He said that his team is, “spending a lot of our time making sure that we are creating a safe environment for our students, but we also realize that we need to start planning to resume to the closest sense of normalcy as we possibly can.”

He added that Park will continue to work with Platte County to create a safe environment by doing things like practicing social distancing and following the mask policy. He said he hopes that as students, faculty and staff receive vaccinations it will help Fall 2021 look closer to normal.

Finally, Smeed said he wants to be incredibly accessible to Park students. He has open office hours where students can schedule a time to meet with him virtu-

ally. These office hours are every Tuesday from 10-11 a.m. To schedule an appointment, students should contact president@ park.edu or call 816-584-6202.

In normal settings, students would be able to just walk in to address challenges that they are facing, but since that is difficult right now, this virtual option is being used. Smeed is willing to help students with any issue.

“I really want to help our students achieve their educational goals and ultimately position themselves to be significant contributors in society in whichever professions they choose to go into,” he said.

The Board of Trustees has formed a search committee to hire Park University’s next president. Smeed said he plans to apply for the position.

FEATURES

Page 6 February 19, 2021

Parkville Coffee: An essential piece of downtown Natalya Nalivaiko Reporter

part of something bigger.”

A big portion of the Parkville community involves Park University. Parkville Coffee is surrounded by history, sto- Coffee has interacted with the university ries and all types of warm memories and in different ways, including hiring a Park adventures. Coffee brings people togeth- student to help out with Parkville Coffee’s er and creates a community of invitation social media. and comfort, and that is what Parkville Helling wanted to reach out to the Coffee does well. university first before putting it out to the Parkville Coffee started in 2011 and public, as she is a Park alumna. Parkville in a historic downtown Parkville build- Coffee also works with Park’s student life ing that was built in 1853. Since then, the department to put on study nights around shop has grown so much, becoming very finals time, where students can get a free popular in the Parkville community. drink and a cookie.

The owner of Parkville Coffee, Kristin Parkville Coffee not only interacts with Helling, bought the shop from the previ- the Parkville community, but also with ous owner in 2017 after being a barista Kansas City communities by buying local. there for five years. The previous owner Their printing company is local, as well as had worked for Starbucks and traveled ingredients and their pastry squares. around the western “I really, really try coast opening new to be like approachWe like to think of ourselves shops and training able and an ally to all as the town watering hole. employees.

After the other businessseven years of this, Kristin Helling, Owner es on Main Street,” he found downtown Helling said. “I think Parkville and decided that the only way we to open his own coffee shop. can succeed is by lifting each other up and “He was kind of like super smart at by supporting each other and not looking finding locations that would be success- at each other as competition.” ful,” Helling said. “He opened the shop, As for interacting with neighboring ran it through until it was stable, and then businesses, Parkville partners with them sold it to me.” to do promos and invite more customers Coffee shops welcome the community into each one of their shops. Customers in to not only grab their favorite drinks, have the option to have a little passport but also have an inviting environment. where they can get stamps for spending “We like to think of ourselves as the more than $10 in four businesses and this town watering hole. People can ask us gives them a gift card to one of the downanything and we know the answer because town businesses in Parkville. we see everything happening downtown Parkville Coffee is unique in how it and we keep up to date on different things contributes to its local community, but going on around us,” expressed Helling. it is also unique in how they support inShe always has loved the origin of cof- dividuals, the atmosphere in the shop itfee houses and how people would meet to self, as well how they do things differently accomplish things. than other coffee shops.

“Back in the day, it was really like a Parkville Coffee will sell artwork and cultural and political place of meeting books from local creators on consignand lots of cool stuff happened and start- ment, meaning the shop will get a pered in coffee houses,” Helling said. “When centage of profit for housing those items. you’re inside it you just feel like you’re They will also hold open houses or a gal-

PHOTO COURTESY/Austin Helling Parkville Coffee has a unique aesthetic to its decor, including this vintage tube television in its upstairs seating area. Currently the room is closed to customers due to COVID-19 precautions. lery opening for free for those artists and authors to display their work.

Another aspect that sets Parkville Coffee apart is its unique design and decorations. Helling explains that the upstairs floor of the coffee shop is modeled off a living room in the ’70s.

This room has vibrant colors and furniture, even a tube TV and corded telephone. In one corner, there are Boeing airplane seats with a mural painted around them by an artist that worked at the shop. People can walk upstairs and have the luxury of hanging out, playing games, looking at artwork, or pulling a book from their book nook to read.

One of the biggest and most unique aspects that Parkville Coffee prides itself on is that it is woman-owned.

Helling speaks to this, stating that, “The coffee industry is very male dominant and there was only a few other people that I know in the Kansas City area that are women that are actually in like

top positions at shops.”

Another unique thing about Parkville Coffee is how it roasts its coffee.

“Our machine was built in 1985 and it’s a vintage drum roaster and it’s completely manual. A lot of the other roasters in Kansas City use automatic machines or semi-automatic,” Helling said.

This manual model adds time and difficulty, but also provides a unique experience for Parkville Coffee patrons, something that has been a trying effort in the pandemic. Although the business had to close off dine-in options for their customers, they remain committed to providing a unique and quality product.

To do this they have relied on the use of online orders, and now allowing customers to come into the lobby to order their beverages as the county permits.

Helling said the shop will continue to be inviting and will continue to support individuals and the community as the world fights through this pandemic.

SPORTS

Page 7 February 19, 2021

Park alumnus leads historic rebrand Nathan Dunn comparison, that is more than twice the supporting the ball club – white, black, the Negro Leagues.

The organization has also changed its Reporter amount of league titles won by the Kan- brown – going out because the club is now Before last year, Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, did not expect to be involved with a rebrand of a professional baseball organization.

But then Mark Brandmeyer purchased the Kansas City T-Bones after the 2019 season. He was interested in rebranding his team to become the Kansas City Monarchs and contacted Kendrick before the pandemic about his idea.

After four or five months of negotiations, the two parties came to an agreement to rebrand the Kansas City T-Bones to the Kansas City Monarchs, taking over the name of the most successful Negro League franchise ever. The organization’s official title will be Kansas City Monarchs Baseball Club.

“The more I talked with Mark, and the more we got to know his team and got an opportunity to see his business plan, it became, I think, more significant than I thought it was initially,” Kendrick said.

Kendrick, who graduated from Park College in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in communication arts, played an instrumental role in this rebrand. Kendrick also played two years with the Park basketball team before suffering an injury. He has served as the museum’s president since March 2011.

About the Monarchs The first Negro League was founded in 1920 at the Paseo YMCA as the Negro National League. The Monarchs went on to win that league four times before joining an independent league in 1932. After five years, the Monarchs joined the Negro American League where they won eight championships over the course of 24 years. The Monarchs also won two Negro World Series titles in 1924 and 1942.

The Monarchs won 12 league titles and two Negro League World Series championships between 1920 and 1965. For

sas City Chiefs, Kansas City Royals and recognized as the Kansas City Monarchs.”

Sporting KC combined.

Kendrick also described the rebrandKendrick explained that the Kansas ing as a “moving billboard” whenever the City Monarchs are often compared to the Kansas City Monarchs travel. While he New York Yankees, and some say they were admitted it was important to protect the even greater than the 27-time World Se- title of the Kansas City Monarchs and ries chamthe Negro pion YanLeagues, I think it is already uniting our kees. It is the decisafe to say sion was a community around the spirit of that the “no-brainthe Negro Leagues.

T-Bones, a er” beBob Kendrick, NLBM president cause of two-time indepenall the dent league opp or tuchampion, have big shoes to fill. nities for education and revenue for the Rebranding details museum.

Although the museum partners with As part of the partnership, Kendrick the Kansas City Royals for an annual said the museum will approve of all mergame to honor the Negro Leagues, never chandise that the team sells to maintain before had anyone approached Kendrick the integrity of the brand. Kendrick adabout bringing the Monarchs name back mitted he is particularly excited for the to life. stadium to become an extension of the “I think it is already uniting our com- museum as part of the partnership. He munity around the spirit of the Negro plans to build displays around the stadiLeagues,” said Kendrick. “I anticipate you um and devise other celebratory ways to will see a multitude of demographics out pay tribute to the original Monarchs and

stadium name, which will now be called Field of Legends. The Monarchs will compete in the American Association of Professional Baseball, which has plans to begin the 2021 regular season on Tuesday, May 18, with a 100-game schedule. After missing 2020, the organization will look to return to the postseason for the third straight season.

“I think just the beauty of minor league baseball, and particularly independent league baseball, is that the Negro League was the first independent league in many ways,” Kendrick stated. “You know, they declared their independence from Major League Baseball because Major League Baseball wouldn’t allow them to play.”

There will be no changes to the Monarchs coaching staff, led by manager Joe Calfapietra and former Royals second baseman Frank White, who is the team’s first base coach. The team also signed infielder Christian Colon, who hit the Royals’ World Series-winning base hit in 2015.

“And now we just waiting for the PA announcer to say ‘now here’s your Kansas City Monarchs,” Kendrick said.

PHOTO/Nathan Dunn As part of the team rebranding, the Kansas City Monarchs will also be playing in a renamed stadium. It will be called Field of Legends. It was formerly T-Bones Ballpark.

It is still located in Kansas City, Kansas and has a capacity of about 7,500.

CAMPUS LIFE

Page 8 February 19, 2021

PHOTOS/Skyler Jensen

Wild

and Free!

On Jan. 29, the Park Student Activities Board hosted its first event of the semester and brought back a coffee truck for students to enjoy free coffee. According to Ryan Eisenbacher, PSAB vice president of marketing, they decided to bring back The Wild Way Coffee because they received good feedback from students and because the company was very easy to work with. PSAB also hosted a table to give away free Park memorabilia. Check the calendar for announcements about other food truck visits this semester.

System Outage Continued from page 1 Due to the administrative systems being down, Hamilton and other department chairs did not have access to things like enrollment information

to make decisions about courses for the next semester.

However, Hamilton felt this could have been a bigger mess if the university had not already been looking at something like this occurring.

“While I don’t have all of the details of what occurred, I have learned enough

to know that the university has been forward thinking enough to look for issues that might occur with IT that could cause these kinds of shutdowns,” Hamilton said.

He further expressed his gratitude to Shane Smeed, who was acting president at the time of the event and is now

interim president, for the university’s handling of the system outage.

“Acting President Smeed kind of had this fall into his lap about the time he was being handed the reigns of the university, and I was pleased with his response,” Hamilton said.