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THURSDAY Feb. 17, 2022 Volume 126 Issue 22
With 24 newcomers added to the roster, the Shocker baseball program looks to make an NCAA Tournament Regional for the first time in nine years. For full coverage and the baseball preview flip to pages 7-10.
Baseball looks for first postseason berth since 2013 BY SEAN MARTY sports@thesunflower.com
Heading into the third season under head coach Eric Wedge, the expectations for the Shocker baseball program are the highest they’ve ever been. WSU is fresh off backto-back winning seasons, including the highest finish in the American since joining the conference. With the program starting to trend in a positive direction, the Shockers have made their goals for the 2022 season clear. They want to make an NCAA Regional for the first time since 2013. “We definitely have the talent to
do it,” junior college transfer Will Stevens said. “We just need guys to step into their roles and perform how they can and there should be no real issues as long as we move forward as a team.” Senior first baseman Garrett Kocis could’ve gone professional following his breakout junior season, but opted to return for one last season of college baseball. Part of his decision came from head coach Eric Wedge’s confidence in reaching the postseason for the first time during his coaching tenure. After seeing and interacting with WSU’s 24 newcomers, Kocis
“Now that I’m here seeing all the new guys and the guys that came back, I know it’s definitely possible and we’re going to do it.”
- Garrett Kocis
agreed. “That’s the reason why I came back,” Garrett Kocis said. “Talking to Wedge and coaches about the new guys before I saw them, they were really confident in us making the postseason and a regional push. Now that I’m here seeing
all the new guys and the guys that came back, I know it’s definitely possible and we’re going to do it.” WSU players and coaches aren’t shy about their goal of returning to the NCAA Tournament. The team feels that this season is pivotal in returning the program to national prominence and building on it in years to come. “Everybody knows this goal and being able to be a part of it, especially early on,” freshman Payton Tolle said. “Hopefully we make a regional and it’ll set the tone for the next two, three, four years, however long I’m here. It’ll set the tone for what the expectation is
and what the goal is every year.” The Shockers will headline a new starting rotation this season, following the departures of Liam Eddy and Preston Snavely. Jace Kaminska returns as the staff’s ace, fresh off a First Team AllConference finish last season as a freshman. Wedge said he is excited about the new additions they’ve made to the rotation with freshman Payton Tolle and Will Stevens expected to join Kaminska in the weekend rotation. “We’ve got a lot of newcomers SEE POSTSEASON PAGE 12
Author Lawrence Ross speaks to students about campus racism BY MELANIE RIVERA mrivera1047@gmail.com
Lecturer and author Lawrence Ross visited Wichita State on Friday to turn students’ attention to issues of racism that has occurred on college campuses across the country. He decided to write his book “Blackballed: The Black and White Politics of Race of America’s Campuses” after lecturing on college campuses for almost 20 years. He saw that racism was a topic that many students did not like discussing. “No one was listening, no one was paying attention,” Ross said. They had to cobble together like the people on campus to be able to even just get through. And I began to wonder if there was something there” Ross began research to see if there was an issue with Black students over an extended period of time — 1946-2015. “I started looking at campus racism in a sense and began seeing a formula, and that formula is very simple,” Ross said. The “3 Ize”; individualize, minimize, and trivialize is the formula Ross said connected all of the issues together. Colleges and universities tend to individualize the incident, by saying that it was a one time thing and that there is no larger issue at hand. “University officials will then try to minimize the situation by saying a statement, ‘does not represent our values,’” Ross said. Lastly, they will look for the reason why the incident happened by trivializing it. “We use what is the First Amendment dodge,” Ross said. “Students get frustrated and wonder why nothing changes and
Courtney Price-Dukes gets her miss Sedgwick County Crown. Price-Dukes is a recent WSU graduate and uses her platform to speak out about a variety of topics, including foster care. | Courtesy of Courtney Price-Dukes
Miss Sedgwick County doesn’t let past adversity define her BY LINDSAY SMITH editor@thesunflower.com
Lawrence Ross, author, historian and activist, speaks to students, staff and public figures about the nature of racism and discrimination on college campuses on Feb. 10 at the Rhatigan Student Center. | Photo by Devon Sipes / The Sunflower
they become transitory.” Ross said the first type of world on a college campus is a race adverse. “Race adverse from an institutional way, they typically try to project out their aspirations of what they want the world of the university to be but it does not necessarily match what the university actually is,” Ross said. Ross said some colleges and universities will “lie” by putting minority students on their websites or pamphlets to promise a diverse campus. “We think of college as being some sort of Utopia, some educational Disneyland, where the regular societal issues don’t really affect us,” Ross said. The race aware world on a campus signifies how a minority student might feel when they are surrounded by white students. Ross said they may feel
uncomfortable and that they don’t belong in a certain social setting. “We jump through hurdles to be ignorant about racism, so it is not surprising that when we get to a college campus that people do not know how to talk about it,” Ross said. Ross wants college campuses to understand problems within itself and implement changes that will inspire other colleges or universities to model each other. Throughout Ross’s years speaking to students, he believes that it is time for the young generation to be the change that they want to see. After understanding the problem, students can then address it with their minds and actions. “You have to get the best critical thinking skills you can at Wichita State and then use those skills as your weapon,” Ross said.
Courtney Price-Dukes defeated the odds. Price-Dukes landed a full-ride scholarship to WSU and now wears the Miss Sedgwick County crown. A recent WSU graduate, she will compete in the Miss Kansas scholarship competition in June. But it hasn’t always been easy for Price-Dukes. “My biological parents were both drug addicts, so I was immediately adopted by my mother at birth,” Price-Dukes said. “Automatically, born to two drug addicts, adversity. Going into the foster care system, that’s adversity. Single mother, adversity.” Growing up, Price-Dukes dealt with plenty of hardships, including financial instability. Some days she had to walk to the store to get food because her family didn’t have a car or use the fireplace as light when her house was without power. “On the outside, we looked fine,” Price-Dukes said. “We lived in this big house in the suburbs, but inside it was a whole different
story. I think as a kid I didn’t really process that.” Price-Dukes also faced abuse in the household. When she went to the police about it, they did not believe her. “My life was constant adversity to where I should not be in the position I am today,” Price-Dukes said. Even though Price-Dukes had these challenges in her past, she strives to make sure they do not define her. “I don’t want to let my story be my complete identity,” she said. “I’m going to get those good grades. I’m going to, you know, be in extracurricular activities. I’m going to go to college, you know, I’m going to make something of myself and I’m going to use it to not only help myself but help other people.” And that’s exactly what PriceDukes did. In November 2020, Price-Dukes gave a TED talk at Newman University called “The reality of the foster care system.” The speech is on the TED talk Youtube SEE COURTNEY PAGE 2