The Stylus- Volume 126, Issue 7

s u l y t S e h T

Volume 126

ISSUE

2021-22

#7

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A student publication of Park University since 1895

FB: ParkUniversityStylus stylus@park.edu November 12, 2021

Park University holds COVID-19 vaccine and booster clinic

PHOTOS/Skyler Jensen On Monday, Nov. 9, Park students and staff could receive a COVID vaccine or booster shot at Park University’s clinic in Breckon Sports Center. The Pfizer vaccine and booster was offered at the clinic. Students could also receive a flu shot.

Left: North Kansas City Hospital nurses Tina Wilson, left, and Bre Kimberling prepare shots to be administered.

Above: Nurse Michelle Lane fills out paperwork after administering a booster shot to a Park student.

Plaster Center receives mixed reactions from Park community Skyler Jensen Before the Robert W. Plaster Free are involved with the school, including Editor-in-Chief Enterprise Center opened, business school students, alumni, faculty and staff.

“It’s a unifying physical area that allows the community of business students and their alumni to have a place that they can mark as their own,” said Kirby Brown, dean of the College of Management and School of Business at Park University.

faculty and students faced challenges because classrooms and faculty offices were spread out between at least four different buildings. Now, all the offices and classrooms for the business school are located in a central location, said Brown.

This central location unifies those who

With this unification, some students report feeling a stronger connection to their school. Plus, this new building gives these students additional learning opportunities that they would not have had access to

See Plaster Center on page 5

In This Issue: Entertainment.....2 Campus Life.....3-5 Features............6-8

ENTERTAINMENT

Page 2 November 12, 2021

Squid Game’s social commentary brings real-world issues to light Editor’s note: Spoilers for Netflix’s “Squid Game” are included in the following article.

Yi Li Reporter When a new streaming series is raved about but a person has not seen it, the next step is to immediately find the series and watch it. This is the impact that social influence has on personal behavior, which is exactly what this series presents.

Netflix’s original Korean drama series “Squid Game” has triggered a global discussion. For some time, no one invested in the series in South Korea because it was deemed to be impractical content. But now it may become the hottest series in Netflix’s history.

The plot of “Squid Game” has some distinctive American drama features. It tells the story of 456 players who receive a mysterious invitation to participate in a survival game on an isolated island. If they win six rounds of the game, the winner receives 45.6 billion won ($38.5 billion U.S. dollars) while the losers pay the price of their life.

The drama is based on extreme scenarios. All the characters are marginal people such as people who are unemployed, unable to pay their bills or have criminal records. Playing this deadly game is their only chance at financial gain.

The series follows protagonist Seong Gi-Hun. This perspective gives the audience a glimpse at the participants’ mental state. No matter what kind of people they were before, now they have a common identity: a loser.

By that we mean they are all classified as losers in their society. They are in debt, unaccompanied and whipped by social rules. They all firmly believe that their failure is because they have no money. They are people who believe that if they have money, all their problems will be solved.

Because of this, the organizers of the game decided to lure them with some-

PHOTO COURTESY/Netflix The robot doll from the Red Light, Green Light game has become a popular symbol of the show. thing they cannot resist: money! The participants are so desperate for this money, they will do whatever it takes to fight for it.

As for whether money can solve their dilemmas, it does not matter. What matters is that they think so.

The game is divided into six portions, and there is an additional game that occurs in the middle of the night. To ensure the progress of the game, the game organizers target certain players like the poor and people who gamble.

Before the game, the players were approached by a mysterious man on the subway. He promised they would only play a small game with him. If he lost, he would give them money. He also entices them to play more games with much higher stakes.

Gi-Hun accepts but is then knocked unconscious. He awakens in a dormitory with 455 other players.

Each of the players are undertaking an extreme gamble. They all have a sense of omnipotence – they believe they will be the one to win. Even if countless studies

on gambling have shown that the final winner is only the one who is running the game. This is a typical manifestation of the overwhelming sense of almighty. Therefore, it’s not about the winning or losing of the gambling game, but the psychological defects of the people.

The premise of “Squid Game” has some similarities to “The Hunger Games” and “Gladiator.” It features people are willing to watch the death struggle of the so-called losers to add a little fun to their ordinary life. Humans have always been cruel to other humans.

Helping each other is important for the betterment of society and key to our humanity. But such behavior is very rare in “Squid Game.” This isn’t necessarily because society is broken. Rather, this group of people were intentionally selected by the game organizers because of their greed.

Kang Sae-byeok’s behavior is the result of the environment she grew up in.

Ji-yeong has a terrible father who has not

been punished for killing her mother. Ali is exploited by his boss, but he cannot get justice for himself. Seong Gi-Hun is a victim of the workers’ movement. Some of them are people trying to maintain their conscience in this malicious society, and others are part of this malicious society.

These greedy people only want to win and do not hesitate to take others’ lives. A few kind people can rely on mutual trust and help to go on. Despite having to pay a great price and almost destroying the whole army, one participant lived to the end.

While the show was able to reveal certain social truths, does it only reveal the cruel side? If so, Seong Gi-Hun should have died in Cho Sang-woo’s hands. The director left a window and believed that a better social model exists. In the show’s second season, it will focus on the beginning of change when good people can mature and portray kindness.

I hope in the second season, Seong GiHun understands what happened to him and his partners, recognizes the cruel side of the world and figures out how to change it.

Staff List Editor-in-chief Skyler Jensen

Editors

MacKenzie Coder Natalya Nalivaiko Victoria Olaleye Savanna Wyatt

Reporters

Yi Li Dayana Jules

Adviser

Kristin Shaw

CAMPUS LIFE

Page 3 November 12, 2021

park jumps into Halloween spirit Pirate staff and faculty compete in a festive door decorating contest Yi Li Reporter Throughout October, the Halloween spirit brought some vitality to Park University. Many offices participated in the 6th annual Halloween decoration contest hosted by the Staff Advisory Council.

On Nov. 2, SAC announced the winners by email. The winners of this year's door decoration competition were Adam Stone from facilities in the individual category, the payroll office in the small group category, the Camp Pendleton campus in the large group category, and Stephanie Fox, assistant director of student success, in the work from home category.

Rachel Lorenzen, payroll reporting analyst, played a large component in the win of the small group category. For the purpose of trying to match both the Park spirit and payroll theme, they decorated their door as a treasure map. There was a pirate ship in the Underground decorated as a skeleton cave that tied into the treasure map decoration of the payroll office in Mackay Hall. Outside the office was a treasure chest covered with cobwebs,

which was guarded by two skeletons wearing pirate hats.

The treasure chest was handmade by Lorenzen with cereal boxes. Lorenzen said she loves being creative, yet since her daily work is filled with crunching numbers, she does not often get a chance to be creative. So she said she really enjoyed doing some crafts PHOTO COURTESY/Stephanie Fox outside of her regular work. Stephanie Fox and her family decorated their front yard to resemble a scene from the The winning prize was movie “Ghostbusters.” Her two sons posed in between the skeleton decorations. $30 to a restaurant of their ton flow. Fox fixed the PVC pipe to the it up big this year. We've had cars stop to choosing.

“We would probably go to a pizza skeleton with a rope and hung it above take pictures and thank us for doing this the tree. The theme of the film is hunting and tell us how much fun it is. I'm filled place,” Lorenzen said.

Fox, the winning contestant for the and capturing ghosts, which Fox wanted with joy to know that my Park University work from home category, submitted to portray because the film is a child- family enjoyed it too!"

Fox has two little boys, Ashton and a picture of her festive front yard. Her hood favorite. Fox and her family hope to family recreated the movie scene from bring more joy to the community during Aiden, who were the biggest helpers for "Ghostbusters" in their front yard, where the difficult period of the continuous this project. They will use the $15 Amazon Gift Card from this competition to two skeleton "Ghostbusters" used proton COVID-19 pandemic.

When Fox learned that she was the buy crafts and art supplies for them. She packs to fight off a blow up marshmallow winner of the competition, she said, “We believes that art can inspire a love for man from the movie.

The most creative part was the pro- love Halloween so we really wanted to do learning and creativity.

Drive-in movie night features “Candyman” in PDL Yi Li Reporter Each year around Halloween, Park University typically holds Fright Night. This year it was scheduled for Oct. 28, but due to the impact of the pandemic it had to be canceled. Instead, a drive-in movie night was launched by Park's Student Activities Board.

The event was designed to celebrate Halloween and gather students to spend a joyous movie night. It was supposed to be outside but was urgently transferred to Park Distance Learning in the underground due to the weather. The reason for choosing PDL is also because other buildings are not allowed to eat inside unless it’s packaged snacks, but there was a Brazilian food truck scheduled for the event, and it was too late to cancel it.

Mackenzy Lowe, a junior majoring in special education and PSAB’s vice president of internal events, said the group chose a recent movie to attract more attention and student interest and, "we also get food trucks to get people to come."

The movie selection was in line with the spirit of Halloween – “Candyman.” This film is adapted from a short story by Cliff Barker, an expert in horror fiction. The story is triggered by the premise: “Candyman, it is said that if you say his name to the mirror five times, he will appear in the reflection and kill you."

In addition to typical spooky season themes, this slasher movie explored identity and racial issues. After the end of the credits, a website was posted to guide the audience to “get more information about racial justice and equality.”

Despite the sudden drop in temperature and rain, it still did not affect the students' desire to engage and relax outside of study. A total of 67 students showed up for the movie night.

Simon Sharber, a sophomore majoring in mathematics, thought it was a successful event. He originally wanted to experience a drive-in movie, but the sudden change did not cause him to cancel the plan because, "Candyman is a movie that I want to see, but never had time to see it."

CAMPUS LIFE

Page 4 November 12, 2021

Academic Success Center services provide student help Natalya Nalivaiko Editor A stack of books sits on a desk next to a load of assignments that are all due in the next few hours. The stress is overwhelming and the realization comes that none of these things should have been put off for this long.

College students always have assignments due but have to manage themselves well enough to get it all done correctly and efficiently. This might be easy if that was the only thing a student did all day, every day. However, in reality, college students have busy lives, whether they have a job or play a sport or have other commitments outside of school.

At Park University, the Academic Success Center is a place to solve some of the academic problems of college students.

Students can seek help with their assignments, time management or anything they may need in their academic life.

The ASC offers mentor meetings, tutoring and writing help. Rebekah Rothacher, a senior chemistry major, is a science tutor at the center. She said the ASC successfully covers both the tutoring and mentoring side of student success.

“Sometimes people just need to organize their thoughts and organize their life and that’s what the mentors are there for,” said Rothacher. “Other times students need practical help.”

Before Rothacher became a tutor, she learned about the Academic Success Center through her membership on the women’s volleyball team. Student-athletes are required to meet with a mentor for a Step-Up meeting once a month. In Rothacher’s meetings, she has been able to get some stress off her shoulders by talking with a mentor. She also goes to Florenda Jarrard, the assistant director of academic support services, and asks for assistance contacting her professors if she needs to postpone an exam or assignment for personal reasons.

“That gave me a huge peace of mind

knowing there was someone that I could contact who I knew would back me up and take care of me,” Rothacher said.

One student that uses the ASC’s services three to four times a month is DiCarlo Jackson, a senior biology major.

Jackson’s favorite thing about the center is the tutoring service, where he often receives tutoring from Rothacher, since

cess Center was located in Norrington Center on the upstairs level. However, it recently relocated to the underground across from the Park University Bookstore.

Before the move, for students to schedule a meeting with a tutor or a mentor, they would have to find the appointment link and sign up online. This was not

PHOTO/Natalya Nalivaiko The Academic Success Center is now located in Park’s underground across from the bookstore. they are both in the same field of study.

“It helps me prepare better for tests, as well as improve my understanding of topics as we go through them in class,” said Jackson. “They do a good job of asking questions that help you get a better understanding of exactly what I’m struggling with and then helping me grasp that concept better.”

Jackson said that the ASC is always there for students and will help them with whatever they may need.

Before COVID-19, the Academic Suc-

widespread knowledge nor accessible to all students. But after Park University went fully online in spring 2020 due to the pandemic, a link on Canvas was created that makes the Academic Success Center services easily accessible and available to all Park students.

Rothacher and Giovanna Jordão, an MBA student and mentor at the ASC, both believe that student engagement with the ASC has increased since information and scheduling links were added to Canvas for all students to see. This in-

formation can be found under the course Park Tutoring and Success Services: Support during the COVID-19 response efforts.

Jordão said that in this Canvas link as well, students have the option to send messages and ask questions in a live chat.

The message will go to a tutor or a mentor who will respond quickly if a student needs help with something quickly and without making an appointment.

“I do think that the majority of students that know about Academic Success Center, they are the ones that are required to know that type of thing,” said Jordão.

She says that the mentors have a list of students to call with reminders to make appointments, whether they are student-athletes or KC Scholars. However, Jordão notes that they do not have an efficient way to contact students that may not be required to schedule meetings.

Keaton Wilczynski, a sophomore biology major, says that it is super easy for her to set up an appointment online through Canvas.

“I have the tab favorited on my computer actually,” she said.

However, not all students understand how to use the Academic Success Center and do not know everything about the tutoring, mentoring or writing assistance offered. Therefore, to have a further reach to students at Park, Jordão said that the ASC will be using social media to post about and explain their services.

“What we’re trying to do now is we have an Instagram page,” said Jordão. “We are trying to open that up and make it a little broader for everyone to see.”

The Academic Success Center is always available to help students, with around 20 tutors, four mentors, and online access for all students.

“From my personal experience, they are very helpful,” said Wilczynski. “They are kind and patient and want to see you succeed.”

CAMPUS LIFE “Our ROTC students also use our facility,” said retired Lt. Col. Gary Kerr, senior director of military and veteran Continued from page 1 affairs.

ROTC students can use conference previously. rooms to run a meeting for their battal“Everything’s brand new and up to ion, even if their battalion is spread out date. There’s a lot of different areas where over five universities, said Kerr. These you can sit and study or collaborate with conference rooms are equipped with a other people,” said Sophie Roper, a senior camera and a monitor so that everyone in studying logistics and computer informathe online meeting can see each other. tion systems.

Moving the Global Warrior Center to These collaboration areas allow stuthe new building also made Kerr feel supdents to work together and stay in the ported by Park University. building between classes, said Roper. The “It shows me how invested Park is in collaboration feature can also be seen in our military and veteran communities,” the classrooms. All of the furniture is mosaid Kerr. He thinks it sends the message bile, so they can teach students in a lecthat these communities are important to ture setting and then break the class into Park and hopes that it draws people to small groups for discussions. Then, they come to Park. can set the classroom up so that all the However, not everyone feels that the Plaster Center will help them succeed. “Every student deserves to have a learning space that’s up to date, high tech, and in an environment where they feel like they can learn without distractions,” said MacKenzie Coder, a senior majoring in multimedia journalism and public relations.

She takes a majority of her classes in Copley-Thaw Hall, which houses communication and journalism classes and faculty. There are many distractions within the building, includPHOTO/Skyler Jensen ing noisy air conditioners, and the building and The Plaster Center provides classrooms and new technology for business students, staff and technology within it are very dated, so she wishes faculty, as well as quiet places to study for any student at Park. that Park would update buildings for every proclass can work together. methods available for those professors. gram.

In addition, the building offers new However, it is not just the business stuShe thinks that there is also an importamenities, including a lactation room, an dents who utilize the features of this new ant safety element that comes from upediting studio, up-to-date teaching tools building. It is also the new home for the dating buildings. and smartboards in classrooms. This al- Global Warrior Center.

“The building, in general, and the

Plaster Center

lows professors to improve their teaching skills and adjust how they teach. They can utilize the studio to record their lessons for online students. In the classrooms, the computers have cameras so the professors can teach a face-to-face class and run a virtual Pirate Patch class at the same time, said Brown.

Brown said that they had gotten feedback from students through recent surveys that they liked the flexibility of online learning, but they missed the engagement of synchronous learning. The equipment chosen reflects that student need and feedback.

“I think that technology will be very important,” said John Hamilton, chair of the criminal justice department and associate professor at Park. He said that he thinks that it will help to generate class discussion and make more teaching

Page 5 November 12, 2021 structural integrity of it (the Plaster Center) just feels a lot safer than most of these older building, specifically Copley,” said Coder. She also said that the elevators also seem a lot safer in the newer buildings.

Other members of the Park community that are not housed in the building see

The important part of it to me is it shows progress for the university.

John Hamilton Associate professor and chair of criminal justice

the value in Park opening a new building on campus.

It also shows growth and commitment in a very visible form for the community which will be helpful, he said.

Both Hamilton and Coder have still found use in the building as a good place to work, even though it was not intended for them. Both plan to use it as a quiet place to go work or study.

“I probably will be studying in there and doing homework in that building from time to time because like I said, the facilities are a lot nicer,” said Coder.

Park has been working toward opening this new building for several years.

Construction started in 2019 and was completed before the fall 2021 semester started. This allowed students to utilize it for class and studies starting at that point.

Roper is happy that the building process stayed on schedule and was completed on time. She was told on her tour as a potential student visiting Park University that there was going to be a new business building completed on campus before she graduated. It was one of the driving reasons why she chose to attend Park she said.

“I’m mainly just glad that it finished before I graduated, so I actually got some use out of it,” she said.

FEATURES

Page 6 November 12, 2021

Park’s Speech and Debate team inspires personal and educational growth MacKenzie Coder Editor “World War II hit and there wasn’t money and students were, at the time, I think a little bit more interested in theater than they were in speech and debate,” says Park’s Speech and Debate team coach Lora Cohn, Ph.D. In 2017, the Speech and Debate team was reinstated at the Parkville campus for the first time since the 1940s. Cohn, who is also an associate professor of communication, was the driving force behind the return of this organization.

Her request in past years for travel money and a graduate assistant had been turned down. According to Cohn, upon his arrival in 2016, former President Greg Gunderson, Ph.D., agreed that without a speech and debate team, students were not developing their critical reasoning skills as much as they could.

“We started with the club and just did debates on campus in the spring, and then in the fall we had a full budget,” Cohn recalls.

In the four years the team has been active again, this is the first year they have had a graduate assistant.

The position is filled by communication and leadership graduate student Janine Wilkins. She has many duties including high school recruitment, managing the team’s Instagram account, supplying materials to members and providing one-on-one coaching to assist and improve the members’ performance.

This is not Wilkins’ first experience with speech and debate.

When she was in high school in Advanced Placement English, she had the opportunity to participate in a speech contest. After winning, a teacher invited Wilkins to deliver her speech at the American Legion Oratorical Contest.

Wilkins recalled the other entries blew hers out of the water, but she was not discouraged in any way. In fact, she enjoyed

the experience.

She ended up attending St. John’s University on a debate scholarship. Since then, she has coached speech and debate at the elementary and high school levels for 13 years, including her son, Adam Wilkins, who is a first-year member on Park’s team.

There are seven active members that make up the team. The group is considered a comprehensive team, meaning they compete in debate and individual speech events. They participate in nine to 10 tournaments a semester: some virtual and some in-person requiring travel.

Cohn notes the virtual format allows the team to do more International Public Debate Association or IPDA tournaments. These debates focus less on reading a lot of evidentiary pieces and talking fast and more on critical thinking.

“Our students, and I think a lot of young people today, don’t have the kind of time to put into the research of some other forms of debate. And so, this is a good compromise,” says Cohn.

She wants students to understand that speech and debate is for anyone and everyone. Cohn believes that although

You get to explore things that you normally wouldn’t and try new things out.

Lora Cohn, coach most think public speaking is not their strength, it often is and they just do not know it yet.

“That’s the thing I think is special about the team. You get to explore things that you normally wouldn’t and try new things out. Everything that doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, is my philosophy,” says Cohn.

Senior business administration major and third-year member of the team Michael Willis strongly agrees with that

PHOTO/Yi Li The members of the Speech and Debate team pose for a group photo. philosophy. He participated in speech and debate in high school and said he wants to continue to force himself to be uncomfortable.

“Honestly, I have a sort of special fear for public speaking, but I still think it’s an important enough skill to improve and to get good at,” says Willis. “The benefit is improvement, it’s knowledge, it’s an improvement of one’s personal skills. Public speaking is not something you can avoid in this day and age,” he notes.

Throughout his time on the team, Willis has learned how to present himself. Even more important to him, he learned how to express his ideas and think about them critically. This encompasses finding faults in his own arguments as well as others. In the end, Willis believes this shapes him into a more educated and well-rounded individual.

Like Willis, sophomore nursing major and first year member Adam Wilkins has realized speech and debate provides people with the ability to look at multiple perspectives and truly put themselves in

someone else’s shoes. He is very thankful that Park has brought back the Speech and Debate team.

“Just having a team means this is a school that values public speaking, reading, writing and skills that are really necessary for really any career you go into,” he says.

Cohn’s goal for anyone involved in speech and debate is constant improvement. She wants students to develop their skills to the level that she knows they can. This includes improving critical thinking as well as becoming more articulate with ideas when they communicate.

Cohn encourages all students to join the team, even those who may not have the time to travel to tournaments but would like to practice and improve their skills. It is not required for members to compete.

Park Speech and Debate meets on Thursdays at 1:30 p.m. in Copley-Thaw 300. Anyone is welcome to join these meetings. For more information, email Lora Cohn at lora.cohn@park.edu.

FEATURES

Page 7 November 12, 2021

Park Pirate finds balance between sports and academics Skyler Jensen Editor-in-Chief “My older sister is the one who made me want to start playing volleyball,” said Natalya Nalivaiko, senior multimedia journalism and public relations major.

The two sisters would go out and play their sport together in the driveway or street during nice weather. Her older sister played for her high school’s varsity volleyball team while Nalivaiko was just starting out.

Nalivaiko enjoyed the basics her sister taught her and tried to learn all she could. Being 10 years younger than her sister, Nalivaiko knew she could learn a lot from her.

Now, at 21, Nalivaiko puts those lessons to use for the women’s beach volleyball team at Park University. While doing that, she also focuses on school and maintains a high GPA. On top of that, she also works as a recreation assistant at the Sandbox, a bar and grill with sand volleyball and pickleball courts. However, all of these responsibilities can be a lot to juggle for a college student.

Nalivaiko has always aimed for greatness. She grew up loving school.

“I was always really excited to go back to school,” said Nalivaiko.

She said enjoyed the structure, organization and was always looking forward to learning something new.

She worked hard and always did well in school, growing up. She continued this passion throughout her college years saying, “I will always put my best effort into it.”

It wasn’t just school where Nalivaiko fought to succeed; she also had to put her best effort into volleyball.

She started playing in a rec league at 8 years old. As she played more, she discovered that volleyball meant more to her than just a connection with her sister. Nalivaiko said, “I just really started to love it as I played it more.”

She played for her school throughout middle school and high school. She also played club during her school’s off-season. She enjoyed building relationships with the girls on her team and feeling a part of something while playing the sport she loved, so she decided to work toward playing in college.

She looked at multiple schools, but none seemed to fit. After hearing that a girl from her school had signed to play for Park, she began looking at the school as an option for her future. She liked the program, and they were willing to

“My older sister is the one who made me want to start playing volleyball.”

Natalya Nalivaiko, senior give her an athletic scholarship, so she decided to become a Park Pirate volleyball player.

Nalivaiko was very excited to begin her Park academic and athletic career on a new team. She started out on the reserve team for volleyball, and they won most of their games. She enjoyed the team and wanted to see herself improve.

“I was really excited to move up and to reach my goals,” said Nalivaiko.

One goal that she reached was in 2019, when she was named to the AMC Academic All-Conference for indoor volleyball. She also decided to switch to primarily be a beach volleyball player to reach more of her goals.

Volleyball wasn’t the only decision Nalivaiko had to make. She also had to decide on a major.

She knew that she enjoyed writing and wanted to find a major that used those talents. After taking her liberal education classes during freshman year, she decided to specialize in multimedia

PHOTO COURTESY/Tyler Price Natalya Nalivaiko poses for a team photo in fall 2020. journalism and public relations.

This has been a challenging major for her, but she has also found it to be rewarding and enjoyable.

“I get to talk to new people and learn more about them or things that I didn’t know before,” she said.

It’s especially interesting to her to learn about why people do or think specific things. She likes finding these small details that people might not care about and giving them a purpose in her stories.

While finding her way in school, she also continues to focus on volleyball.

However, doing both well at the same time has been a struggle for Nalivaiko.

She said that it’s challenging to find energy for both aspects of her life. She sometimes feels like she lacks enthusiasm for the sport that she used to love.

Nevertheless, she still works hard to

succeed in all aspects of her life.

She said, “I try to stay as positive as possible and believe that favor will return to me later on.”

She said that she tries to be a good person while balancing both aspects so that she will have good karma as she works to achieve her goals.

Nalivaiko will graduate in May 2021 from Park University and will have played volleyball all four years of college.

She plans to go into public relations where she will have to use the lessons that she learned balancing school with athletics.

She knows that she would have never learned these lessons if her sister hadn’t inspired her to start volleyball all those years ago.

FEATURES

Page 8 November 12, 2021

Park alumnus successfully opens local business, plans for more Savanna Wyatt Editor “There’s not very, if any, other business owners within my family or going back in my family,” said Quincy Crutchfield about owning a restaurant. “So, it was big to me to be able to do that and to be able to say that I did that.”

Crutchfield, 41, is now co-owner of the brand and a partner for Wingman Kitchen and Sweet Combforts in Kansas City. Even though the restaurant opened in 2020, Crutchfield helped develop its foundation and cultivation years before that.

As a child, Crutchfield enjoyed the arts such as drawing and sketching. He would buy comic books and redraw the images to hone his sketching skills. He also competitively played basketball growing up. These two passions led him to finding purpose at Park.

Born and raised in Tullahoma, Tennessee, he lived there until he came to Missouri to complete his junior and senior years at Park. He studied communication, but also participated in other extracurriculars outside of his coursework.

Crutchfield was a forward on Park’s basketball team well before Park was a member of the Heart of America Athletic Conference. He was coached by Claude English and cited him as a contributor to his development.

“Coach English played a big part in just my development into manhood,” said Crutchfield. “He really taught me and re-instilled my work ethic.”

He was able to carry these lessons and values after he graduated from Park in May 2003 with a degree in communication arts.

Post-graduation, he worked as a manager of Minsky’s Pizza in City Market for a few years before obtaining his master’s in organizational leadership and human relations in 2006. In 2010, he began working with his business partner who would eventually help him open the restaurants.

Crutchfield worked as a freelance graphic designer and worked with The Azdef Group, an entertainment company, planning events. This company is run by Rayan Azad, who graduated from Park in 2004 and is Crutchfield’s partner for Wingman Kitchen and Sweet Combforts.

They both worked together to plan events and help with promotion before deciding to help smaller, cosmopolitan brands grow through marketing and franchising. Then, they stumbled upon two locations of

PHOTO COURTESY/Jae Oates Quincy Crutchfield, co-owner of Wingman Kitchen and Sweet Combforts.

Wingman Kitchen and Sweet Combforts in California.

Crutchfield and Azad met with the owners to discuss franchising the restaurants and growing the business. They then signed a deal to own 50 percent of both companies and decided to open their own location in Westport.

The Westport location officially opened in February 2020, just before the pandemic shutdown began.

Initially, there was a learning curve in operating the restaurant due to the pandemic, but they quickly figured out how to manage.

Luckily, food delivery services like Uber Eats and Door Dash helped to promote and increase their business.

They were also one of the only restaurants to remain open during the shutdown, which allowed them to sell

their food to customers.

At Wingman Kitchen, they sell Asian-inspired fried chicken wings and sandwiches along with sides like waffle fries. Sweet Combforts sells honeycomb dessert waffles and milkshakes. Crutchfield does not work in the restaurants anymore as he now has more behindthe-scenes role.

Crutchfield’s role in the restaurants now includes prepping for a new location of Wingman Kitchen and Sweet Combforts that will open on Dec. 1 in Overland Park. Working on the marketing, training employees and re-branding for the new location has been his primary focus.

Being a restaurateur is something Crutchfield had always thought about, even with his friends back in Tennessee. They often discussed owning a bar or restaurant. Now, that dream is a reality for him.

Crutchfield and Azad’s next goal is to eventually open other franchises in other states. Specifically, they want to open 10 new locations by the end of 2022.

Crutchfield also has other goals for other business ventures.

Crutchfield co-hosted his KC Night Market event at the Crossroads Hotel in September. It was an event showcasing local Kansas City vendors along with music and special cocktails. He will co-host this same event, KC Night Market “Version 2,” on Dec. 2 at the Crossroads Hotel.

He also owns a creative design and consulting company called Crtchfld that involves his passion for being creative. He assists companies and individuals with marketing, branding, graphic design and more.

Crutchfield is always thinking about possible business ventures and ideas but is deciding on which ones to materialize. Venturing into the non-profit world is something he would love to do, so, that is one of his next ideas.

“I want to be able to get into more like philanthropy and giving back and creating programs to help especially youth,” he said. “Just be a resource for them to be able to begin whatever their dreams are.”

Crutchfield resides in Kansas City, a place that he loves. He relishes seeing new movies along with being artistic and spending time with friends.

Visit Wingman Kitchen and Sweet Combforts Tuesday through Sunday at 4117 Pennsylvania Avenue in Westport.

Check out their websites www.1800hotlinewing.com and www.sweetcombfortskc.com.