/The Sunflower WICHITA STATE’S STUDENT NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1896
THURSDAY, AUG. 22, 2019
@sunflowernews
VOL. 124 • ISSUE 4
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@thesunflowernews THESUNFLOWER.COM
NEW FACES IN SGA
‘I BEAT THE PLAZA’
DREAMS
THE LEGACY
Six new senators were confirmed at Wednesday night’s meeting.
Opinion Editor Kevin Benavides breaks the myth of the Plaza of Heroines
Meet the painter who designed the mural on Clinton Hall’s steps
Skylar Goering will play on the court her mother once did.
SEE NEWS • PAGE 2
SEE OPINION • PAGE 4
SEE ARTS • PAGE 5
SEE SPORTS • PAGE 8
TEETER-A-THON
Construction to begin on Innovation Campus hotel next week BY MATTHEW KELLY
Construction will begin next week on a 106-room Hyatt Place hotel on Wichita State’s Innovation Campus, according to a university press release. The hotel is expected to be ready for occupancy in summer 2020. Groundbreaking will be held next Thursday at 10 a.m. just west of Oliver on 19th Street, the release says. The Hyatt Place is hotel management group Lodging One Hospitality’s first venture into the Wichita market. The project, which was announced last October, is privately funded. Bobby Gandu, director of admissions and assistant vice president for strategic enrollment management, said the hotel could be a valuable recruiting tool. “Having an on-campus hotel will give prospective students and their families an opportunity to get a more comprehensive introduction to campus, with the option to stay overnight and potentially experience evening campus attractions like athletic competitions, fine arts performances and dining and shopping at Braeburn Square,” Gandu said in the release. The hotel will feature free Wi-Fi, fitness facilities, an indoor pool, meeting spaces and a restaurant and bar. After late WSU President John Bardo outlined plans for Innovation Campus in 2014 — including a new business school, apartments, restaurants, shops and more — a 123-room Element by Westin Hotel was the first deal inked for Braeburn Square. After several false starts, the deal ultimately fell through. When the Hyatt Place project was originally announced, plans called for a 110-room hotel set to open in spring 2020.
Delta Upsilon hosts annual Teeter-A-Thon for Global Services Initiative EASTON THOMPSON/THE SUNFLOWER
Top, Conor Kearns hits the bottom of his teeter with teetering partner Koi Wessel during their shift for the Delta Upsilon philanthropy event Teeter-A-Thon Wednesday. Delta Upsilon hosts Teeter-A-Thon to raise money every year for the Global Services Initiative. Right, Senior Koi Wessel teeters during his hour shift at the Delta Upsilon philanthropy event. Members of the fraternity ride on the teeter for 24 hours.
WSU alumnus hopes to replace Pat Roberts as next Kansas Republican senator
Tompkins says WSU presidential search should prioritize higher ed proficiency
BY KYLIE CAMERON
Bryan Pruitt has lived in Wichita almost all his life. A graduate of Wichita High School North, Pruitt was raised by his parents, a USD259 school teacher and a traveling salesman. His interest in politics took root in high school, where he participated in debate and student council. “Politics came early in my blood,” Pruitt said. When Republican Senator Pat Roberts announced earlier this year that he plans to retire in 2020, Pruitt saw it as an opportunity and moved back to Kansas to begin his bid for Senate. He said the race is a must win for Republicans. “The Republican Party is at an inflection point,” Pruitt said. “If Republicans don’t keep the seat in the Senate, there's a very real possibility that Democrats can win . . . the Senate back. “Which, being a Republican, that’s sort of a nightmare scenario.” After graduating from high school, Pruitt went to Washington D.C. to earn an undergraduate degree at the Catholic University of America. He then returned to Wichita, where he received his master’s in public administration from Wichita
‘This is about the students’
BY MATTHEW KELLY
KHÁNH NGUYỄN/THE SUNFLOWER
Wichita native Bryan Pruitt is running for the U.S. Senate seat that will be vacated by Sen. Pat Roberts next year.
State, but ultimately moved back to the nation’s capital for work. He says he moved back to Kansas ahead of the 2020 election to reestablish residency and “to make sure we had the time and energy to introduce ourselves to Kansas Republicans and to really make the case for a Bryan Pruitt candidacy.” One of Pruitt’s campaign platforms is support for free speech on college campuses, an issue he said is relevant to students. SEE PRUITT PAGE 3
The search profile for Wichita State’s next president calls for a “forward-thinking visionary” who will “lead dramatic and dynamic changes” while advancing a culture of shared governance. Among other things, the search committee is looking for a president who can grow student enrollment and bolster alliances with businesses and industry while ensuring the university has “necessary public and private resources” to execute its goals. The list goes on. Interim President Andy Tompkins said WSU will be hardpressed to find a leader who fits all of the criteria outlined by Wheless Partners, the Alabama-based firm assisting in the closed search. “I looked at it and said, ‘If you can find someone with all those things, Hallelujah’ — I don’t know how you do it,” Tompkins told The Sunflower in an interview last week.
AUSTIN SHAW/THE SUNFLOWER
Interim President Andy Tompkins talks about the future of Wichita State and the presidential search at the Celebration of Life event for late President John Bardo held in May.
I looked at it and I said, ‘If you can find someone with all those things, Halleluja — I don’t know how you do it.’” — Interim president Andy Tompkins
Tompkins, a lifelong educator and retired Kansas Board of Regents president, said WSU needs a top executive who knows their way around higher education. “I think they need to have an understanding of the higher ed
system,” Tompkins said. “At the end of the day, this is about the students. That’s why you exist is to help the students, so you’ve got to have this understanding about how this higher ed system works.” At a town hall event over the summer, Wheless Chief Analytics Officer and Managing Director Michael Ballew said many of the universities his firm assists now want a president with a background in business. SEE TOMPKINS PAGE 3