Catholics around the world are mourning the death of Pope Francis, and those at St. Paul Catholic Student Center at Wichita State are no different.
The 88-year-old head of the Church died Monday, about a month after being released from a hospital where he battled health issues, including pneumonia. His cause of death was a stroke and cardiocirculatory collapse, the Vatican revealed on Monday afternoon.
“Obviously, there’s mourning whenever we lose someone, particularly a man who’s given his life in service for the church,” Father Drew Hoffman, the chaplain at St. Paul, said. “And so there’s sadness there, but we’re celebrating this the day after Easter, and our great confidence is — because of Easter, there’s nothing to fear in death
anymore. So we’re confident in this eternal joy. There’s some sadness, but that sadness is overwhelmed by the joy of Easter.”
Hoffman said he tried to remind his parishioners of this message in his Easter Monday homily.
“It has been a good way to talk about Easter and what we believe about Easter and (about) anytime somebody passes away, Pope or not,” he said.
Ellie Stewart is a WSU sophomore and a barista at Credo Coffee Shop, located in St. Paul. She said she was surprised by the news about Pope Francis’ death, considering he had seemed to be doing better after leaving the hospital. But she said she found comfort in her beliefs.
“For Catholics, it’s sad when people pass,” Stewart said. “It’s very sad because they’re gone from our life, but they get to go on to something greater.”
Stewart said she thinks Pope Francis will be remembered most for his work helping people in poverty, while Hoffman said the Pope’s love for those historically marginalized by the church will be his legacy.
Hoffman pointed to a quote by St. Francis of Assisi, Pope Francis’ namesake: “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”
“The spread of that, the good news of Jesus Christ, he (Pope Francis) desperately wanted to present, and particularly to those perhaps on the margins,” Hoffman said.
WHAT COMES NEXT?
To choose the next pope, the Church’s cardinals, senior members of the clergy, will go into a secretive closed meeting, known as a conclave. Those in the conclave must be
under 80 years old because one of them will become the new pope. In the conclave, cardinals hold multiple rounds of elections, and after each round of voting, send smoke through the Vatican’s chimney. The smoke is white until the cardinals have reached a conclusion by a twothirds vote. Then, they send out black smoke indicating that a pope has been selected. Hoffman said he has “no expectations” for who the next pope might be, or what attributes he will have, besides being “a holy man.”
“We will pray,” he said. “They’ve (the Catholic church) been doing this for a long time, so we’ll just pray.” Hoffman encouraged anyone to stop by St. Paul if they have any questions. St. Paul is located at 1810 N. Roosevelt St. on the south side of campus.
‘She Kills Monsters’ deals with the perils of grief through the adventure of DND
BY MALEAH EVANS arts@thesunflower.com
Plays, musicals and other shows often deal with the grief of losing family members, but few take that grief and place it into the world of “Dungeons and Dragons.”
One of these few shows, “She Kills Monsters,” will be hosted at Wichita State in the first week of May.
“She Kills Monsters” follows Agnes Evans as she deals with the loss of her parents and little sister Tilly in a car accident. In her grief, Agnes realizes she wasn’t as close to Tilly as she wanted to be and embarks on an adventure to get to know her sister through playing a DND module Tilly had written.
“We learn about her (Tilly’s) sexuality and the way she viewed the world, and the things that she was going through right before she died,” said Amanda Schmalzried, a senior studying theatre and one of the show’s directors. “In the end, it’s just all about recovering from that grief and finding closure through the game.”
Both Schmalzried and the other director, Trevor Andreasen, a junior studying theatre, wanted to delve deeper into the themes that were present inside Tilly’s DND world.
“How fragile a lot of tolerance and acceptance can be in America right now, and how things are getting torn away,” Andreasen said. “I know I wanted to be a part of the show so that we could give to the community something that shows with great confidence and pride a great celebration of the self-expression that we all have that seems some people want to take away.”
Schmalzried shared a similar expression about coming to direct the show, and mentioned a quote by Dan Savage from the height of the AIDS epidemic: “... We buried our friends in the morning, we protested in the afternoon, and we danced all night.”
“So much of my experience around the political sphere right now is around those two first things (of the quote), and so for me this is really the first time in my life where I’m like, ‘Let’s just embrace queer joy, even though times are hard right now and it’s scary … the way I’ve been processing the show as a human, and then how that interprets my direction is so much about queer joy,” Schmalzried said.
The show uses a heightened reality to show the role-playing aspect of DND, and Schmalzried and Andreasen used staging and other effects to show Agnes being pulled into the world and away
from it stylistically.
“I think from the audience’s perspective they’re meant to forget that at times, they’re meant to forget as they get transitioned into the DND world, and then she gets pulled back out, and you’re like ‘Oh, wait, everything that happened in this entire play is happening at this table,’” Schmalzried said. “It’s only in their heads and their imagination as DND is, but that gets to be played out on stage, which is so fun.”
The show is directed and run by students, autonomous from staff and faculty, funding has come from previous performances in the Empty Space Theatre and the slow accumulation of a budget over time.
“There’s something really powerful about that shared experience of taking action and taking a risk and getting involved with projects that your peers are doing,” Andreasen said.
The show will be held in the Welsbacher Theatre at WSU’s Metropolitan Complex from May 1 to 3 at 7:30 p.m.
“If people really love DND, if they really love campy, cunty, queer joy, come check it out because that’s what it is,” Schmalzried said. “It gets real at times, but also it’s fun, it’s so much fun.”
Mia Dennett and AJ Corbett practice a fight scene for “She Kills Monsters.” The show opens May 1 and runs until May 3.
Sophomore Ellie Stewart takes a photo of the display set up for Pope Francis on Monday morning. Stewart, a barista at Credo Coffee Shop, was one of many who attended the Easter Monday mass and homily the morning of the Pope’s death. | Photos by Allison Campbell / The Sunflower
Cast members of “She Kills Monsters” practice a fight scene in rehersals. The show opens on May 1. | Photos by Maleah Evans / The Sunflower
Father Drew Hoffman talks about the death of Pope Franics, who died on Easter Monday.
A parishioner of St. Paul Catholic Student Center bows her head in prayer following the Easter Monday homily. Congregates flocked to the church following the death of Pope Francis on Monday morning.
New life takes root in tree dedication ceremony for former dean of students
BY ALLISON CAMPBELL editor@thesunflower.com
New life is taking root on Wichita State University’s campus following the death of one of the college’s most influential figures: James “Jim” Rhatigan.
The life and legacy of Rhatigan, Wichita State’s former dean of students and senior vice president of Student Affairs, will live on, his family said, through a new tree and plaque unveiled at a dedication ceremony on Tuesday afternoon. Rhatigan died in October of 2024 after being admitted to hospice two days prior.
“This is a beautiful occasion, and we really, really appreciate the dedication that Jim has given to the fabric of Wichita State University,” Joe Linot, Rhatigan’s son-in-law, said. “It will always be a part of our lives as long as we live.”
At 30 years old, Rhatigan became the youngest dean of students when he assumed the role in 1965. Over his nearly 50 years at WSU, former colleagues said Rhatigan served as a
“pillar” as senior vice president, advocating for and offering support to students and faculty.
“Jim loved the university. He was offered another job many times, but he always wanted to stay here,” Beverly Rhatigan, Rhatigan’s wife, said.
Donated by President Richard Muma and first gentleman Rick Case, the canaert juniper was planted and a ceremonial Shockeryellow ribbon was cut in front of former friends, colleagues and current students outside of the Rhatigan Student Center, named in Rhatigan’s honor.
The new addition to the north end of the student center, Muma said, is already home to new life: a robin’s nest with three eggs.
“It’s already serving a good purpose,” Muma said.
The ceremony, according to Muma, was uncoincidentally held on Earth Day, a day of awareness for environmental initiatives.
Pulling inspiration from the trees he and Case decorate at the President’s Residence for the
holidays, Muma said he wanted to plant a new tree for Rhatigan in the same place where an annually decorated campus tree once stood. He said Landscape Supervisor Lowell Kaufman and arborist Logan Alexander proposed the Earth Day idea of planting a tree native to Kansas soil, which would “be more environmentally conscious and help improve the campus tree ecology.”
But Rhatigan’s impact goes beyond environmental improvement. In addition to the tree, a plaque was installed “in loving memory” of Rhatigan. The inscribed quote, “Lives are changed on college campuses, this year and every year,” reflected Rhatigan’s love for higher education and the individuals who comprise it.
“He was all about the students,” Becky Linot, Rhatigan’s daughter, said. “He just loved his students, and he wanted what was best for all the students.”
WSU aims to become more sustainable amid challenges
BY AINSLEY SMYTH news@thesunflower.com
Wichita State is working toward several sustainability goals, but setbacks, including recent tariffs implemented by President Donald Trump, put the university short of those goals.
In a presentation to students and faculty, Executive Director of Facilities Services Eason Bryer talked about the large environmental footprint of WSU’s campus.
“We (Wichita State) are what Evergy and … our natural gas service call ‘high end users,’” Bryer said. “So we’re the whales of energy consumption, just like any other industry.”
Bryer, who sits on the university’s sustainability committee, delivered the presentation of WSU’s sustainability efforts to mark Earth Day on Tuesday. He outlined changes the university has made during his time in the role, as well as its ongoing goals and some of the challenges that stand in the way.
Bryer pointed to several ways the university has become more sustainable, including having food waste composted, adding several electric vehicles to the “fleet” operated by the facilities department, and constructing two buildings that received awards for their eco-friendly design.
Bryer said that through changes, like the COVID-19 pandemic and more recent tariffs, WSU has encountered many unexpected challenges in pursuing its sustainability goals.
“We haven’t achieved what we want to achieve, but we’ve made some good steps, and with the help of faculty, staff, students and visitors, we can do a lot more to make WSU a shining example of what sustainability should be,” he said.
SETTING GOALS
Bryer explained several sustainability goals outlined in the university’s master plan. Bryer pointed to some areas in the plan’s map of a 2034 WSU campus, including the removal of some roads in favor of green space.
“One thing you’ll notice that’s completely different about this plan compared to the existing campus is the volume of green space and the absence of some roadways, the absence of some asphalt and the absence of some concrete,” Bryer said. “As we remove those things, it reduces the heat load of the campus as a whole, and it makes a more sustainable environment.”
CHANGES TOWARD SUSTAINABILITY
In recent years, even before the adoption of the master plan, Bryer said WSU has been making pushes toward sustainability, including working to conserve energy and water and making changes to the campus landscape. He explained that the
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
campus’ historic buildings get power from a central plant. The university, he said, has moved away from this by constructing many buildings on the Innovation Campus with their own power generation, conserving energy that would naturally be lost traveling between buildings.
WSU also has a policy on what temperatures thermostats should be set at, an important part, Bryer said, of keeping energy use down.
“It sets a minimum degree that we heat to in the winter, and it sets a maximum that we cool down to in the summer,” Bryer said. “And by following those, we know we can save the university hundreds of thousands of dollars over the next few years. And those hundreds of 1000s of dollars translate into kilowatts, megawatts — cubic feet of natural gas burnt and carbon into the atmosphere.”
In addition to conserving energy, Bryer said, WSU’s landscaping is becoming more eco-friendly too, with the addition of more “zeroscapes,” or plant-free rock landscaping, as well as native plants that require less water.
“We’ve kind of gotten out of Mother Nature’s way and planted what does well in Southcentral Kansas that doesn’t require pesticide and herbicide, and it doesn’t require us to dump gallons and gallons of water on a regular basis,” Bryer said.
He also pointed to two of WSU’s newer buildings: Woolsey Hall and the Digital Research and Transformation Hub, which received gold and silver level ratings, respectively, from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification.
CHALLENGES
Bryer said that some goals have fallen short, including one he set for his department to shift toward using electric vehicles. Bryer said by 2025, their goal was that 35% of the vehicles would be electric but only 14% of them are now.
Supply chain disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bryer said, are part of what put them behind on the goal. Recent tariffs and economic conditions, he said, are another challenge to contend with.
“Tariffs have kind of bogged down our ability to purchase certain imported items,” he said. “ … Anytime an absolutely required purchase — like the electricity or water we drink — anytime those go up, those pull budget dollars away from our dreams and our aspirations and the things we want to do to make the campus better.”
Despite setbacks, Bryer said WSU will continue to make changes to be more sustainable.
Bryer encouraged people to reach out to him at eason.bryer@ wichita.edu with any questions or ideas about sustainability on campus.
University President Richard Muma, Joe Linot, Becky Linot and Beverly Rhatigan cut the ribbon surrounding the tree planted in James Rhatigan’s honor. | Photos by Allison Campbell / The Sunflower
The newly unveiled canaert juniper stands outside of the Rhatigan Student Center.
President Richard Muma addresses the attendees of the James J. Rhatigan Tree Dedication ceremony on Tuesday, April 22.
A robin’s nest holding three eggs sits nestled in the canaert juniper tree planted outside of the Rhatigan Student Center.
History faculty offer perspectives on how politics affect education
BY KAMI STEINLE steinlekami@gmail.com
Three Wichita State faculty applied their knowledge of history to examine the current political climate. At a panel event held on campus on April 17 , they discussed academic freedom, the challenges faced by international students and the role of racist rhetoric in contemporary politics.
“It looks like the transformation of our educational institutions is by force and fear,” Assistant Professor of Religion Rannfrid Thelle said. “The ideals of knowledge, debate, free exchange of opinions and arguments are no longer cast as desirable and an expected part of any university’s mission, but are being rebranded as harmful and divisive and ridiculous.”
Across the country, 150 ‘Teach-in on Higher Education & the Current Political Situation’ events were held for the National Day of Action for Higher Education. The WSU event was the only one held in Kansas.
“We hope to contribute to clarifying at least some of that information and to be able to elaborate on some issues,” Thelle said. “To provide perspective on the challenges we’re facing in higher education as faculty, students and a community that cares about higher education.”
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Laila Ballout, an assistant professor of 20th century U.S. history, talked about the history of student visas in the United States. Ballout said they were originally used as a way to develop foreign relations.
“The root of the current student visa system actually exists in tandem with the first time a group of people was completely barred from the United States, which is the Chinese Exclusion Act,” Ballout said. “There was a lot saying,
‘Actually, we would like some of those students to be able to continue to research and study in the United States.’”
Ballout said education is “one of highest exports that the United States is creating every single year” and “one notable part of the impact of this funding for student visa holders is that they live in communities across the United States.”
“There are an enormous amount of unknowns,” Ballout said. “What does seem to be clear is that the stability of the century plus long investment in building a system of centering the United States as a recipient and welcoming kind of nation for encouraging scholarly and intellectual pursuits has certainly been shaken by this particular moment.”
CONTEMPORARY RACISM
Robert Weems, a professor of business history, spoke about Donald Trump’s presidency and its recent attacks on aspects of higher education.
“Donald Trump’s second ascendancy to the White House and resulting damage that has taken place appears to be linked to historic and contemporary white racism,” Weems said.
Weems drew connections between Trump and a previous political movement — McCarthyism. Former Sen. Joseph McCarthy was also known for his attacks on higher education and for gaining power by appealing to the prejudices of the American people.
“Trump has shown that being a demagogue can get you elected President of the United States,” Weems said.
“But he has also shown that demagoguery doesn’t help in terms of forming coherent policies.”
Weems went on to explain how Trump’s lack of historical and political knowledge didn’t really matter to most Americans because of the way racism has
been ingrained into the United States throughout history. He said that Kamala Harris lost the presidential election “because a significant percentage of white Americans apparently couldn’t fathom the notion of a black woman as president, no matter how skillful she was.”
TENURE
AND ACADEMIC FREEDOM
Associate Professor George Dehner talked about recent attacks on tenure and academic freedom. Dehner said there have been many times in history where academic freedom has been challenged.
“(Without tenure) we’re going to lose our best faculty and our best faculty are going to leave with whatever grants are left for these folks to have,” Dehner said, addressing a recent failed state bill to eliminate tenure protections. “We’re not going to be able to attract the best students.”
Dehner said tenure doesn’t exist so professors can’t get fired, but rather to guarantee academic freedom.
“(Because of the effects of McCarthyism) there was also quite a chill on teaching and research, in which people were afraid to discuss or engage in certain research opportunities because they could get called before committee and have to testify,” Dehner said.
He said academic freedom has gone through many challenges and the public support of higher education has fluctuated accordingly. There have been bills proposed in multiple states to get rid of tenure.
“In conclusion, I want to say academic freedom is under assault again and it’s a battle we must all meet.” Dehner said. “And by all I mean all of us, tenured, untenured faculty, administrators … The public needs to stand up and say academic freedom is something that is vital for our protection.”
Campus mobility assistance program getting update
BY MIA HENNEN managing@thesunflower.com
More golf carts will soon be roaming Wichita State as the university begins to update a program that aids students with disabilities on campus.
The additional golf carts are the first step in expanding a mobility assistance program that the university plans to update by the fall semester. The program, which has been around for several years, helps students with disabilities traverse the campus, providing a door-to-door transportation service.
“We’ve been working on trying to figure out, one, do we continue this program? And, two, if we continue it, how can it be accessible?” said Teri Hall, vice president for Student Affairs.
The Office of Student Accommodations & Testing currently operates the program, but increased usage by students makes it increasingly difficult for OSAT to operate.
OSAT Director Isabel Medina Keiser said her employees often have to drop what they were working on to answer student calls for rides. Medina Keiser said 86 students are currently registered with the program, but the usage level fluctuates.
“Some will use it daily, just depending on their disability. Some will use it when their disability kicks up,” she said. “... That could be every day. That could be, you know, once a month. It just depends, but they have that option.”
Last semester, OSAT completed 304 rides, according to Medina Keiser. As of April, students have used the service more than 250 times.
Medina Keiser said the office only has two vehicles for the program: a non-ADA accessible golf cart and a van that is “about to fall apart.”
“The golf carts that we were using for student accommodations weren’t accessible,” Hall said. “If someone had a wheelchair, if someone had a walker, if someone had trouble, they couldn’t get on.”
WSU has ordered two new golf carts to help with the program, with one able to accommodate mobility aids such as walkers and wheelchairs.
PATH FOR GROWTH
This summer, Parking and Transportation Services will take over the program. To help transition the program to Parking and Transportation Services, Emily Martin, director of the department, said she’s hired a transportation services coordinator, Brian Moore, who will be in charge of the transition. That’s a role that begins next week. Martin said the plan is to have
Moore, who is ADA certified, oversee students who will drive people to their destination.
With two golf carts set to arrive in June, Parking and Transportation Services and OSAT plan to work together to have the program fully transitioned and operational by fall 2025. Martin said her department will likely mimic OSAT’s process when it comes to intake and administering rides.
Currently, the program operates from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Under Parking and Transportation Services, it will run from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
“Students have classes often after 5 o’clock,” Hall said. “So that’s why we’ve been working to have the program transition to Parking and Transportation (Services).” Hall and Martin said the hope is to expand the program to faculty, staff and visitors, who OSAT didn’t have the capacity or ability to offer rides to.
“One of the things we’ve heard too, is that, you know, big events, like commencement and all those other kinds of things, that some of our folks still have mobility issues, and our handicap (ADA) parking fills up quickly,” Hall said. “... And so what can we offer? You know, what can we do for basketball games and all these other kinds of things?”
Hall asked for patience with the program’s departmental transition. She said one issue that could arise is potential confusion between the mobility assistance program and WUBER, a free ride service the university hosts during the first week of classes.
“You see a golf cart going by, you’re not going to jump on these the same way that you would when WUBER is in session,” Hall said. “So we’ll have to work through, I think, that a little bit.”
Medina Keiser said there’s still room to grow and golf carts can only do so much.
“With that being said, the golf carts (are) great in the warm weather, not in the rainy weather, and definitely not in the winter,” she said.
Martin said she hopes to see the program utilized and grow in the coming years.
“We’re obviously all on campus for a reason,” Martin said. “… And if we can help, even if it’s something as basic as a golf cart ride, to get you where you need to go, then I think it’s fantastic.”
Assistant professor of 20th century U.S. history Laila Ballout presents about higher education. | Photo by Kass Lewis / The Sunflower
An Office of Student Accommodations & Testing golf cart. | Photo by Mia Hennen / The Sunflower
A quarter century of Coach ‘Bolt WSU track and field coach celebrates 25 years on campus
BY EVAN TONG evantong3@gmail.com
When Steve Rainbolt finished his fifth season as the track and field head coach at Kent State, he wanted to return home.
“I was far from my family, and so this was a chance to get back home,” Rainbolt said.
Rainbolt, a Kansas native, chose to come to Wichita State. He stayed here and is now celebrating 25 years as the Shockers’ track and field head coach.
Rainbolt grew up in the Kansas City area, attended Shawnee Mission East High School and high jumped at the University of Kansas. At the time in 2000, there were two positions open for him: a KU job and a WSU job.
Rainbolt expressed interest in filling the job at his alma mater, according to a phone interview with KU Sports at the time.
However, the job eventually went to Stanley Redwine, the current head coach at KU, who is also celebrating his 25th year.
Like many track and field athletes in the state, Rainbolt spent plenty of time at University Stadium, formerly Cessna Stadium, during his youth.
“First time I came to Wichita (was) to Cessna Stadium,” Rainbolt said. “I was 13 years old, and I came from Kansas City for a Junior Olympic track meet … Then I came during high school because they hosted state track. Then I came (back) all during college because back then, there was a huge meet here.”
Rainbolt eventually took the WSU position because he would have a chance to influence state track meets and become a local figure in Wichita.
THE BEGINNINGS
Assistant coach Heidi Benton (then known as Heidi Yost) was a sophomore long jumper when Rainbolt took the job.
“When he first got here, (he was) very personable,” Benton said. “(He) wanted all the athletes to come see him. He had kind of an open-door policy.
“This was an opportunity for him to build a program from scratch, because the roster wasn’t very big.”
Rainbolt had quick success, winning the men’s Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships three times from 2002 to 2004. In the women’s outdoor championships, he won four times in a row from 2004 to 2007.
Rainbolt attributed his success to building a program that focuses on all kinds of events rather than a specific subsection of track and field.
“I’m really thankful that I’ve been at a place where I could have a complete program,” Rainbolt said. “A complete program means we’ve had good athletes in all the event areas … and we’ve tried to be good in all of them.”
THE QUIRKS AND FEATURES OF ‘BOLTISM’
“I believe in reasonableness,” Rainbolt said. “I have a number of different sayings, and of them would be, ‘Reasonableness must prevail.’”
During his time at Wichita State, Rainbolt’s athletes have noted his choice of words, which have been termed “boltisms.”
“(His) vocabulary is one that’s hard to match,” former athlete Cooper Hanning said. “The words he uses are words that … aren’t words that most people use in everyday life. So we started writing down all the different things that he would say.”
Rainbolt would often bring up past performers when speaking to his athletes.
“He would say things like, ‘That guy was a significant athlete back in the day. Guy was significant. That guy would take things to another level,’” Hanning said. “He was very charismatic about making his point.”
Multiple athletes have noted Rainbolt for his high enthusiasm and the overall energy he brought to the team.
“He would have a holler that he would do across the field, no matter where you were,” former athlete Patric Jackson said. “You could hear him doing it, and it was his way of showing athletes, ‘Hey, I see you.’”
Hanning admitted to Rainbolt being a “loud dude.” He said his speech was nothing short of entertaining. Teammate and good friend of Hanning, Jackson said that one of his favorite “boltisms” was “blithering idiot.”
“‘Blithering idiot’ was one of the funny things he would just kind of throw out there to point out how silly something might have been when you could have done something really easily and you chose to do something in a more difficult path,” Jackson said.
While a successful coach in any right, Rainbolt is not without his quirks.
“I would say he’s very messy-minded, but he communicates very well with me,” current senior Destiny Masters said. “But if you aren’t a good communicator, then he won’t be.”
Hanning recalled a story about a road trip with Rainbolt.
“He was pretty notorious for getting distracted or needing to respond to a text message,” Hanning said. “So (he) needed like 30 seconds, and so he would just have somebody reach over and have the wheel while he answered his text message.”
LEGACY
Rainbolt is not as spry as he once was at the age of 42, especially with two knee replacements. It was not uncommon to see him putting on demonstrations for his athletes, but as he has adapted to his older body, he has adapted to today’s college landscape.
“He’s definitely more to the point now, he wants things done,” Masters said. “He wants it done the right way, but he’s definitely relaxed a lot more. He’s definitely more lenient with athletes. Like, if we need to go to the pool (or) we have injuries, he’ll allow us. And he definitely works with us.”
Jackson, now the principal of Stucky Middle School in Wichita, recalled his experience with Rainbolt as a young high jumper at Wichita Southeast High School.
“I remember as a little kid, we would go to basketball games and baseball games,” Jackson
said. “I actually approached him, probably when I was a sophomore in high school. I saw him out there and just kind of asked him what kinds of things it would take to make it on his track team.”
Jackson himself took some coaching philosophies from his college days and applied them to his time when he used to coach track and field at Wichita Southeast.
“I know one of the big things he instilled in me was the term, ‘Be a student of your event,’” Jackson said. “I can’t just show up and practice and assume I’m going to get better. So as a coach, I would print off articles and find links to videos that my athletes could use.”
Jackson also said he’s taken some of Rainbolt’s frequent gestures and mannerisms.
“I found myself using some of the same gestures and some of the same motions,” Jackson said. “I felt like some things became very automatic or came really naturally, because as I was explaining something or processing something, it was almost like ‘Bolt was coming out and doing it.”
While Coach ‘Bolt may not be standing up nearly as much during practices as he used to — sometimes he might even be sitting in a chair — his energy has otherwise remained the same.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a new freshman walking in or a fifth-year senior or a member of the coaching staff or an ex-athlete,” Jackson said. “It’s hard for anybody to keep up with Coach Rainbolt. He’s got a mind that’s always thinking of the next step.”
Rainbolt’s athletes want to see a meet named after him in the future.
“I think it would be a disservice to Wichita State track and field and possibly cross country, if ‘Bolt did not have some form of a legacy event that was his namesake,” Jackson said.
COACH RAINBOLT CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
29-time conference coach of the year
7-time regional coach of the year
2014 USA decathlon coach at Pan American Cup
3-time men’s indoor conference champion
8-time men’s outdoor conference champion
11-time women’s indoor conference champion
6-time women’s outdoor conference champion
Basketball recap: Shockers sign two transfers, two enter portal
BY OWEN PROTHRO & JACOB UNRUH
owenprothro@gmail.com & sports@thesunflower.com
DILLON BATTIE
Wichita State men’s basketball added another player from the transfer portal, this time from an American Athletic Conference opponent.
Dillon Battie, a 6-foot-8 freshman forward from Temple, announced his commitment to WSU on Thursday afternoon.
WSU head coach Paul Mills recruited Battie when he came out of high school.
According to an article by The Wichita Eagle, “Battie was slated to take an official visit to WSU in September 2023, but did not end up on campus.”
Battie will come into the Shockers’ frontcourt as a sophomore with at least a couple of years of eligibility ahead of him. Battie averaged 7.8 minutes per game in his freshman season at Temple and started a game once, against South Florida. He averaged 3.6 points per contest and knocked down 68.3% of his shots.
Battie can prove to be a 3-point specialist from the forward position, as more than half of his shot attempts last season were from behind the arc. He shot 68.2% in his long-range attempts.
MATEJ BOŠNJAK
After one season at Wichita State, Matej Bošnjak has entered the transfer portal.
His entrance into the portal was announced on Friday morning.
The 6-foot-9 Zagreb, Croatia, native averaged 3.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per game last year, mostly coming off the Shockers’ bench.
He started one game against Monmouth and scored a season and Division I career-high 12 points in a 70-66 win.
After a loss to Tulsa last March, head coach Paul Mills announced he was working to file for an extra year of eligibility for Bošnjak, who was classified by the NCAA as a senior. It has yet to be confirmed whether Bošnjak has received the additional year.
WILL BERG
Wichita State signed its first player from a power conference school this offseason on Friday afternoon.
Will Berg, a 7-foot-2 sophomore center from Purdue in the Big 10, will join Mills’ roster for the 2025-26 season. He has two years of eligibility remaining.
The Stockholm, Sweden, native played just an average of 5.3 minutes per game for the Boilermakers, but his presence at the center position couldn’t have come at a better time.
The Shockers lost two of their centers listed on the roster last season since the transfer portal opened. The only other center currently on WSU’s roster for next year is freshman Noah Hill.
Like the outgoing Ballard, Berg is a very efficient scorer. He shot 84.2% last year on 19 shots, the eighth-best in NCAA history for a player with at least 15 shot attempts.
Berg started three games early in the season for Purdue last year. He had 29 rebounds and five blocked shots.
Berg is the fourth player of WSU’s 2025 transfer portal class, and eighth new addition to the roster in total.
ZION PIPKIN
Wichita State men’s basketball saw one final player enter the transfer portal on Tuesday before it closed.
Zion Pipkin, a freshman guard who played 7.4 minutes per game last year, is in the portal, according to The Wichita Eagle. Pipkin played in just nine games last year and scored 13 total points. The team has four scholarship spots remaining.
Photo courtesy of Wichita State Athletics
FROM TEXAS TO WICHITA STATE
High school teammates stick together as Shockers
BY MACK SMITH mackred22@gmail.com
Many athletes say goodbye to their high school teammates when they graduate, but for Wichita State baseball’s Lane Haworth, Tyler Dobbs and MJ Seo, they get to play together in college.
“When you go to college, you tend to just not know anybody,” Haworth, a sophomore, said. “I got to college, and he (Dobbs) was one of my roommates my freshman year, and we kind of just got to go through it together. I think it’s better off doing it that way than not knowing anybody.”
Dobbs, also a sophomore, said he has good memories of playing with his former teammates in high school.
“It’s cool that I can continue to have good memories going into college,” Dobbs said. “And it’s always good to just have somebody that you know.”
The three Shockers played at Hebron High School in Carrollton, Texas. Hebron is less than an hour away from Dallas. Since they were kids, Dobbs and Haworth wanted to play college ball together.
“I didn’t have any offers coming out of high school,” Dobbs said. “And then me and Lane played summer ball together, and then we ended up getting the offer to come to Wichita State. We talked about it since we were 12 years old — if we get the opportunity, let’s go play with each other.”
Haworth and Dobbs are returners from last year’s Shocker baseball team.
“Me and Tyler both decided to come in, and anytime you get a chance to play college baseball
BY JAYDEN WOODS jaydenwoods86@gmail.com
Wichita State softball lit up the scoreboard Tuesday afternoon, powering past UMKC with a dominant 15-2 victory at Wilkins Stadium that was called after five innings due to the run rule.
The Shockers improved to 24-21-1 on the season, while Kansas City dropped to a miserable 5-33.
The Shockers’ offense exploded early, plating 13 runs in the first three innings. Graduate student Elle Eck led the charge in historic fashion, launching three home runs to tie a school record for most in a single game.
Last Friday, Eck had two home runs in a win against Tulsa. She has 10 home runs on the season.
The Shockers’ bats were on fire from the start. Eck set the tone with a first-inning home run, and she wasn’t alone in the power surge. Fellow grad student Lauren Lucas and junior Taylor Sedlacek each added a homer of their own in the first three innings, contributing to the offensive onslaught.
Eck, Lucas and senior Krystin Nelson each went perfect at the plate without hitting an out.
Freshman Ava Sliger got the start in the circle, allowing just one hit and recording one strikeout over three solid innings of work.
Next, Wichita State will host their last home series of the year against Charlotte from Friday, April 25 to Sunday, April 27. The first pitch is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. Charlotte is in fourth place in the conference standings.
Haworth is an outfielder and has started 48 games in his WSU career.
“I chose to play here because I trusted the coaches,” Haworth said. “When I got recruited here, it was with the old coaching staff, and the new coaching staff came in and called us and kept us wanting to come here.”
In his two seasons, Haworth has hit .273 with seven home runs and 39 RBIs. In February this season, he hit a walk-off home run against Cal State Fullerton.
“We were down by one in the bottom of the ninth,” Haworth said. “Two outs. JB (Jordan Black) was on first, and I was like the only way to get this game over with is just to swing as hard as possible, and I knew the pitcher was throwing a fastball.”
Dobbs is a pitcher who has primarily come out of the bullpen this year.
So far in his Shocker career, Dobbs has pitched in 36 games and started 10. He has posted a 7-6 record in 73 ⅔ innings with a 4.76 ERA and 59 strikeouts.
“My goal is to develop and enjoy playing the game,” Dobbs said. “I like the group of guys that we had last year and like the group of guys we have this year. Getting better is the biggest goal but also creating friendships that will last a lifetime is big to me, too.”
Seo, a redshirt freshman pitcher, is a year younger than Haworth and Dobbs. He is in his first year at Wichita State after a previous stop at Louisiana State.
“I think having Lane and Tyler here were big, and I thought the coaches were really good here,” Seo said. “And I just wanted to be a part of the culture they have here.”
Dobbs said he became friends with Seo during high school as well.
“He (Seo) helped me develop and stuff I did not know much about,” Dobbs said.
Seo has only made one appearance this year against Division II Chaminade in February. In the game, Seo only coerced one out and allowed four runs on a homer and two walks.
“It was a pretty rough outing,” Seo said. “But I have just learned how to deal with failure. You know, that’s something that I didn’t really go through a whole lot, like in high school.”
Seo has not pitched since Chaminade and is now doing batting practice. Out of high school, Seo ranked as the 40th best shortstop in the nation by Perfect Game.
“It’s something that I’ve been kind of thinking of,” Seo said. “So I was supposed to do both at LSU, and then we kind of just figured it’s really hard to do both at that level. So, coming in, they told me to focus on pitching, and then I got hurt and never (started) hitting again. And then ever since … I got here, I’ve always thought of hitting, like, in the back of my mind, but I didn’t really bring it up. But after the Chaminade game. I was like ‘Dude, it can’t get any worse.’”
Seo is now taking batting practice and enjoying both sides.
Next year, the Shockers will add another Hebron alum. The Shockers signed left-handed pitcher Will Patterson in December. Patterson graduated from
WEEKEND RECAP
Wichita State traveled to Tulsa, Oklahoma, over the weekend and stole two games from the Hurricane before dropping the series finale.
The series was impacted by inclement weather. Games one and two were played in a doubleheader on Thursday, while Friday’s game was moved up to noon to dodge weather issues.
THURSDAY, APRIL 17
*Doubleheader game one
WIN, 10-0 (5)
Standout performances:
Ellee Eck: 3-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI
Ryley Nihart: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER
Krystin Nelson: 2-3, 3 RBI
THURSDAY, APRIL 17
*Doubleheader game two
WIN, 11-7
Standout performances:
Brookelyn Livanec: 2-4, 1 RBI
Alex Aguilar: 2.2 IP, 0 ER
Lauren Lucas: 1-3, HR, 2 RBI
FRIDAY, APRIL 18
LOSS, 5-2
Standout performances: Camryn Compton: 1-3, 2 RBI
Nihart: 6 IP, complete game
Sedlacek: 1-2, 1 BB
BY JACOB UNRUH sports@thesunflower.com
Wichita State’s pitching allowed a season-high six homers to Kansas State on Tuesday night as the Wildcats romped to a 14-8 win in Manhattan.
In a repeat of WSU’s game earlier this season against Kansas State the Shockers fell behind early and, despite a late-inning offensive flurry, couldn’t catch up.
Wichita State fell to 12-28 on the season, extending an eight-game losing streak that is the team’s longest since 2022. WSU has lost 12 of its last 13 games against Division I opponents.
KSU improved to 24-17, snapping a fivegame losing streak.
In its 13 games this year in which the offense scored eight or more runs, the Shockers have allowed 10.4 runs per game. In its 27 games scoring seven or fewer, the team has only allowed 6.2 per game.
Wichita State scored in the first inning, but the bats went cold for the next four.
During that time, Kansas State exploded to take an 8-1 lead.
The Shockers rallied for a three-spot in the sixth, aided by two sacrifice hits. However, with two outs in the bottom of the inning, the Wildcats responded with a two-run homer.
Yet again, the Shockers rallied for three runs in the seventh and manufactured another run in the eighth to cut the K-State lead to three.
But the Wildcats ended any hopes of a comeback with an RBI double and homer.
Wichita State will attempt to snap its losing streak in a weekend series against South Florida. The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday, April 25.
WEEKEND RECAP
Wichita State baseball lost its third consecutive series against an AAC opponent over the weekend. The Shockers were swept in three games on the road against FAU from Thursday to Saturday.
The Shockers were outscored 24-10 in the three games against the Owls.
Wichita State dropped to 4-11 against AAC opponents.
Standout performances: Jordan Rogers: 2-5, 2 RBI, HR
Josh Livingston: 1-4, HR
Aaron Arnold: 4 IP, 1 ER, 3 SO
SATURDAY, APRIL 19
LOSS, 7-4
Standout performances: Jordan Rogers: 2-5, 2 RBI, HR Camden Johnson: 3-5, 2 R Brady Hamilton: 6 IP, 3 ER, 5 BB
Student artists ignored with artificial intelligence in WSU social media posts
Mya Scott mds.200624@gmail.com
In a world where brain rot and ChatGPT run the internet, one would think that a university would help foster and support imagination and creativity. But Wichita State has done just the opposite.
A trend of turning people into action figures using artificial intelligence has taken the internet by sweep. Making people into action figure starter packs is merely a mild wave in a broader ocean of generative AI selfie trends.
As the trend gathered momentum, I had hoped Wichita State would stray from the herd.
Instead, on April 10, WSU’s Rhatigan Student Center social media account posted what was most likely meant to be a lighthearted and fun post depicting the RSC’s directors as action figures.
But the collectible directors were clearly created with AI. The images have an odd quality to them that screams computer-generated.
Real student illustrators could have offered so much more than AI did to WSU’s rendition of this trend. Some of the images in the AI versions are distorted and give an uncanny valley feel. If real
people had been used to create the artworks, the university could have avoided putting out creepy images. It just would have looked better — physically and morally.
People in the RSC’s Instagram comments also noticed the obvious AI usage. A majority of the comments call out the account and admonish the RSC for using computers to create a project that should have — and very easily could have — been created by human hands.
On April 14, Wichita State Admissions’ social media accounts posted their own version of the starter pack trend posts, but this time it depicted WuShock as the action figure. Once again, AI was obviously used in the creation of the post. The comments under the post calls out the university’s account for using AI.
The idea that the university I chose to study at used AI when it has nearly unlimited access to the artists who attend WSU is appalling.
By posting images using AI, not once but twice, the people who run the accounts — and by proxy the university — are spitting in the face of the artists that attend WSU. The student artists paying tuition are passionate and would have jumped on the opportunity to make silly art for the official university accounts on Instagram.
Ceshen Martinez Goldworm, an animation major, said she “hates AI” and doesn’t understand
why the university didn’t hire an illustrator from campus.
“I think they could have literally asked any faculty or student if they would want to,” Martinez Goldworm said. “I’m pretty sure we have an art club, so I don’t know why they wouldn’t just commission the art club.”
The university, which brags about being a campus that offers hands-on experience to its students, denies artists that very
On April 16, I saw the Wichita State University Turning Point USA student chapter promoting its screening for a new documentary, “Identity Crisis.” Produced by The Daily Wire in collaboration with Turning Point USA, the film purports to scrutinize the “radical gender ideology movement.” Focusing on what its creators describe as the “mutilation of children,” it aims to end one of the “great human rights crimes of our era.”
As a transgender person, I did exactly what you might expect: I RSVP’d for the event — and took the free food they offered as an incentive for doing so.
That said, I don’t plan on attending. This film doesn’t simply present a different perspective from what it calls “mainstream culture.” It uses dehumanizing, inflammatory language to vilify transgender people.
Charlie Kirk, co-founder of Turning Point USA, refers to gender-affirming care as “the modern lobotomies of our time,” and calls the mainstream
acceptance of trans identities “one of the moral crimes of the century.”
By design, this rhetoric extends past being a mere exercise in free speech — it has tangible, detrimental effects on the lives of transgender people.
Through my experiences and those of my friends, I have gained firsthand knowledge of the discrimination people like us face. Sexual violence is committed against transgender people at harrowing rates, and is something I know about far too well.
I have witnessed blatant housing and employment discrimination, leaving friends evicted. I have seen rejection by family cull the dreams of higher education, physical abuse leading to hospitalization and the widespread acceptance of harassment in public. In this battle against endless hate, I have lost two friends who sought solace through suicide.
Since beginning my transition over a year ago, that weight — the cruelty, the fear, the isolation
— has become my new normal. If being trans were truly a choice, I never would have inflicted this upon myself.
Which is why it’s so important to understand: for people like me, this is not a choice.
There are fundamental physiological and psychological differences between transgender and cisgender people. Where binary transgender people largely thrive under cross-sex hormones, cisgender people find only a crippling reduction in mental health outcomes.
The same principle applies to many other facets of trans health care and underscores an immutable truth. These differences aren’t delusions or mistakes — they’re consistent, observable phenomena. Science has yet to fully grasp why, but the evidence is clear: internal gender identity matters, and expressing that identity isn’t indulgence — it’s necessary. The distress trans people face in the absence of gender-affirming care mirrors the psychological harm a cisgender
opportunity to utilize their talents.
Not only does it look bad on the university denying artists an outlet to create art, AI also impacts the environment negatively. According to the UN Environment Programme, AI uses rare critical minerals and elements and large supplies of water, leading to increased electrical usage and a rise in greenhouse gas emissions. While WSU isn’t the sole contributor to global warming, it certainly doesn’t help future generations when an academic institution gets behind a wasteful and lazy trend.
person would experience if subjected to those very treatments. That perspective is often foreign to cisgender people and greatly inhibits understanding.
For many transgender people, embracing our inner identity is salvation — the breath of life given to our barely surviving lungs.
When people tell us, “You’re being lied to” or “You’ve been tricked,” they fail to see the truth: that many of us only begin to feel real — to feel whole — when we are allowed to live as ourselves.
Wielding transgender people as a political wedge issue has been a tremendously valuable tool to leaders of conservative thought.
What films like “Identity Crisis” — and the organizations promoting them — do is frame that journey, the process of reclaiming our lives, as a horror story. They exploit the grief of detransitioners, who deserve compassion and care, not to advocate for better mental health care access or informed consent protocols, but to portray all trans people as broken and
By using AI to participate in a silly trend, Wichita State hurt Shocker artists and the world we live in.
I strongly urge Wichita State to reconsider their use of AI in the future, lest we discourage creativity in students fully.
manipulated.
That said, no other category of health care is subject to the same level of hostile scrutiny. Not even among procedures with far higher risks and regret rates. In their pursuit to “protect” the few who detransition, they condemn several more to misery.
And underneath their propaganda is the unspoken message: that we should never have existed in the first place. While they may not say so aloud, it is obvious to anyone who examines their messaging with a critical eye.
Regardless of what they may desire, transgender people exist. I was once a child, absurd as it may seem to them. A kid who didn’t have the words for what I was feeling, but who felt it all the same.
Remember that in the fight for trans rights, silence is complicity with horrors yet to pass. We are not an ideology, nor a debate. We are people.
Submitted by Grace Irwin Wichita State student
A Sunflower rendition of WuShock as an action figure, paired with a screenshot of a Wichita State Admissions’ post created with artificial intelligence. Illustration by Savanna Nichols / The Sunflower (left) Screenshot courtesy of WSU Admissions (right)
PAINT IN THEIR VEINS
How Bianca Beck painted their legacy with the human body, portraits and T. rex statues
BY MYA SCOTT
mds.200624@gmail.com
Bianca Beck grew up around an 8-foot-tall portrait of their mom, unlimited Pepsi and a nearunlimited supply of art supplies.
“I had free access to the studio, the paints, the brushes and scrap wood as well as the tools in our basement; nails, hammers, saws, the sewing machine, the video recorder, the camera,” Bianca Beck said. “I also had free access to TV, junk food and Pepsi.”
Bianca Beck, who uses they/ them pronouns, started their own art journey with a painted pig, made at age 4. Last week, Bianca Beck contributed one of their latest artworks as the 89th addition to the Martin H. Bush Outdoor Sculpture collection, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Ulrich Museum of Art.
“We wanted to pick an artist whose work speaks to elements (and) iconic pieces in our outdoor sculpture collection,” Jo Reinert, curator of modern and contemporary art at Ulrich, said. Following the installation, Bianca Beck came to Wichita State and told their life story and journey with the arts.
Growing up in a family of artists, Bianca Beck spent a lot of time hanging out in the art studio in their childhood home while their dad painted. Their dad, Bernard Beck, painted houses. Bianca Beck said that while growing up, they had many conversations about the color combos they saw on houses.
“When we’d see one of these basic houses, my dad would say, ‘Imagine someone comes up to you and says, ‘I have a magical
liquid,’” Bianca Beck said. “He’s talking about paint. It can cover any surface and make it any color you can imagine, any color in the world that you can dream of.”
Bianca Beck’s own home was painted in swirls of purple, blues and greens. They said growing up with artists as parents and working with paint shaped their view of the colorful liquid.
“I saw paint as boundless, three-dimensional and alive. I really do believe that paint is magic,” Bianca Beck said.
Bianca Beck’s mom, Linda Beck, was a painter and was known for wearing flamboyant outfits, make-up and hairstyles.
Bianca Beck said their mom’s looks were solely for herself and was her primary artistic outlet.
Every day in high school, Bianca Beck would leave during lunch and attend “what was essentially a BFA program.” They said they welded large-scale steel sculptures, live figure drawings, created huge paintings and “did every form of printmaking” during the program.
“The program was free and part of the public school system, but somehow the material budget went bottomless,” Bianca Beck said. “And at the end of each year, we, the students, were told to raid the supply closet. I still have two of the oil paints from that program to this day.”
During this time, Bianca Beck entered a portrait of their dad into the Ohio State Fair. The 4-by-8 picture won the Ohio Governor’s Award.
“When you’re a high school student making art in Ohio, that’s (the Ohio Governor’s Award) the big one,” Bianca Beck said.
After high school, Bianca
Beck attended Carnegie Mellon University, which was right down the street from the Carnegie Museum. Bianca Beck said that one day, after living in a windowless apartment and experiencing a “sun-deprived madness,” they went to the hardware store, grabbed chicken wire and roofing tar and began their newest art adventure.
“Straight A student, my grades took a nosedive as I started skipping classes to focus all my time and efforts on the only thing that suddenly mattered to me: making T. rexes,” Bianca Beck said.
Once the dinosaurs were finished, Bianca Beck sent out an email to the art department, asking for assistance in carrying the gigantic dinosaurs down the street to the Carnegie Museum. Bianca Beck said 20 artists showed up to help carry the statues “parade style.”
Bianca Beck said the group placed the dinosaurs facing the front entrance. A private event was going on in the museum, so Bianca Beck stood outside with dinosaurs, allowing drunk people, rich people and other passersby to take photos with the statues.
Eventually, Bianca Beck walked up to the museum bouncer and managed to get themself into the exclusive event by convincing the bouncer they were a part of the event because of the dinosaurs on the front lawn.
After college, Bianca Beck moved to New York and found a new relationship between art and the body.
“I was drawn to the relationship between the body and psyche,” Bianca Beck said.
“For me, these artists tap into a deep, energetic current and a need to create that is both political and personal. … I focused on the insides of my body, imagining the dark spaces of my body and the flow of my veins. I was thinking about my paints as body materials, and reorganized my paint tubes out of the usual groupings of reds, green, etc., and into groupings of bone, blood and flesh colors.”
In 2013, Bianca Beck visited their parents’ house. They said they were going through an old room and found a massive collection of photos of their mom.
Bianca Beck said they took these photos and made them into artworks. Those works became the central theme for their second solo show.
Bianca Beck’s mom, Linda Beck, attended the Wichita State event where they were speaking. Linda Beck said she felt that they had truly embodied honoring their parents in their art.
“What I really enjoyed about this was kind of seeing the whole evolution,” Linda Beck said. “You have a baby who’s wonderful, and then you see each phase.”
Bianca Beck has been part of many galleries and placed many statues around the nation in the past, and has now given one of their latest statues a new home, in front of the Ulrich Museum.
“People have told me that these sculptures are aspirational, a hope for the future,” Bianca Beck said. “I’ve always thought that they’re actually just portraits of who we are now. We contain fluidity, complexity, resilience, multitudes and joy; we contain all of this and more right now.”
‘Igniting the spark of curiosity and exploration’: Wichita Tech staff launch children’s book series
BY SOPHIA BEST sophiadapbest@gmail.com
After WSU Tech President Sheree Utash took her granddaughter, Ella, to the movie “Lightyear,” Utash asked who her favorite character was. When Ella said Buzz Lightyear, Utash asked if she would like to be an astronaut. Ella responded that girls couldn’t be astronauts.
That’s when Utash partnered with Mandy Fouse, executive director of public affairs and communications at WSU Tech, to create “Tech Tykes,” a series of three books focused on getting all children interested in science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics, or STEAM.
“One thing is that kids recognize themselves in the characters, even if it’s not the way they look, but that, I’m interested in this too,” Fouse said. “So they see themselves, and they’re able to relate it to then taking it on to a career, or just even just honoring the interests that they have.”
The trilogy of illustrated children’s books currently stars Ella the Engineer, who loves to build with LEGOs and with her parents on DIY projects, Paisley the Pilot, who stands up to bullies and loves to learn about flying and airplanes, and Beckham the Biologist, who hikes with his family and picks up litter to help the environment.
“Tech Tykes” is personal to both Utash and Fouse. Each character is named after one of their children or grandchildren, and the books take place mostly in Wichita. They wrote these books with a desire to show kids what they could do with STEAM.
“It is just igniting the spark of curiosity and exploration and being inquisitive about what a STEAM career could be,” Utash said.
Currently, “Tech Tykes” is a trilogy with activity sets that go along with the books, but there are plans to finish the series with 10 books, encapsulating all aspects of STEAM. The next book will focus on data analytics with Grayson the Data Analyst.
“All we’re trying to do is spark curiosity in kids, and no child can know what they want to do if they don’t have any frame of reference for it,” Utash said. “What we really want to do is just ignite that curiosity and that feel of exploration.”
Bianca Beck worked with their father painting houses during the summer while growing up. Pictured is the house Beck grew up in, which was painted by their father. | Photos by Preston Caylor / The Sunflower
Beck’s new sculpture which is placed outside of the Ulrich Museum. Spectators look at the sculpture after the talk.
Bianca Beck (right) and their mother (left) pose for a photo. Bianca Beck’s mother, Linda, was a muse for their father as well as Bianca Beck themself.
HAPPY LITTLE SHOCKERS
Bob Ross painting night offers relief from end of semester stress
UPCOMING
EVENTS
IMPULSE PERCUSSION GROUP, CONDUCTED BY
GERALD SCHOLL
MONDAY, APRIL 28
7:30 p.m.
Miller Concert Hall
Combining the talents of majors and non-majors alike, the Impulse Percussion Group serves as both a large percussion ensemble and a platform for smaller chamber ensembles. Each performance blends music with lights and visuals for a unique concert experience. Students can get a free ticket in advance at the Fine Arts Box Office in Duerkson Fine Arts Center, by phone at 316-978-3233 or online at wichita.edu/fineartsboxoffice. Sales at the box office are suspended three hours before the performance and open up again one hour before the event. Tickets are $6 to $12 otherwise.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT INSTITUTE SPRING 2025 VIRTUAL WORKSHOP SERIES: RISING TO THE CHALLENGE
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30
11 a.m. - noon
The WSU Community Engagement Institute is holding the next interactive workshop centered on adjusting to change. All five workshops last an hour, with this installment being centered on “Navigating Change: Understanding Resistance and Facilitating Adjustment” held by Carri Wead. Register for this free online event at wichita.edu/rttc/spring2025. The next installment of the series, “Managing Stress During Times of Change” by Percy Turner, will take place on May 7.
JAMES SCHWARTZ DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER
SERIES: CHASE KOCH
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30
5:30 p.m.
Woolsey Hall, room 110
Executive Vice President of Koch and the spring 2025 entrepreneurin-residence at the Barton School of Business, Chase Koch will deliver a keynote presentation, “The Sound of Change: Music as a Catalyst for Social Impact.” This keynote is part of the James Schwartz Lecture Series. RSVP to the free event at shorturl.at/5sZ4L.
SYMPHONIC BAND CONDUCTED BY TIMOTHY SHADE
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30
7:30 - 9 p.m.
Miller Concert Hall
Focusing on large forces of winds and percussion, this concert from the WSU Symphonic Band features pieces of exciting new work for wind instruments. Students can get a free ticket in advance at the Fine Arts Box Office in Duerkson Fine Arts Center, by phone at 316978-3233 or online at wichita.edu/ fineartsboxoffice. Sales at the box office are suspended three hours before the performance and open up again one hour before the event. Tickets are $6 to $12 otherwise.
ART DIVE
THURSDAY, MAY 1
5:30 p.m.
Kirby’s Beer Store
3227 E. 17th St. Mingle with fellow art enthusiasts and artists, followed by tours across the street at the Ulrich Museum of Art. Return to Kirby’s Beer Store afterwards to debrief and hang out. Alongside a full bar, Kirby’s is offering a specialty beer for participants, a 16 oz. Boulevard Wheat for $5. Kirby’s has pizza available while U Mart next door will have gyros and falafel. The free event is only for participants aged 21 and up.
HAVE AN EVENT YOU WOULD LIKE LISTED?
CONTACT THE ARTS EDITOR: arts@thesunflower.com CONTACT THE NEWS EDITOR: news@thesunflower.com
Teja Samuelson paints on her canvas at the Bob Ross Paint Night on April 22. The event was put on by
Graduate assistant Haley Ensz demonstrates how to mix paints at the Bob Ross Paint Night. Ensz is a Civic Engagement Graduate Assistant with the Office of Student Engagement and Belonging.
Sophomores Lauren Hughes and Wesley Weishaar paint scenic views at the Bob Ross Paint Night on April 22. Students were provided food and drinks by the event organizers. | Photos by Zachary Ruth / The Sunflower
Senior Alexandria Arellano mixes paints at the Bob Ross Paint Night on April 22. Students were invited to paint along with Graduate Assistant Haley Ensz, similar to the television show “The Joy of Painting” starring Bob Ross.
Freshman Destiny Summers paints clouds onto her painting. Students were invited to paint along with Graduate Assistant Haley Ensz.
Graduate students Timothy Neoh and Chras Choo paint a scene together on April 22. Students were given examples and guidance to help them.
Freshmen Kelsey Hernandez and Kylee Geiger add fine details to their paintings. Students were required to register before the event to reserve a spot.
Senior Lynnaya McClure paints the base layer of their painting. Students were guided and assisted by SAC volunteers.
