Washburn University
News
Volume 142, Issue 24
Features
April 6, 2016
Arts & Entertainment
Opinion
washburnreview.org
Sports
WUPO getting involved on campus Brenden Williams
WASHBURN REVIEW
first FYE Faculty Debate and said it was incredibly successful due to the “Walking Dead” spin-off. “If the faculty members show that they’re passionate about the pop culture-based topic, then their speeches will resonate more with the crowd and give them the advantage,” Seymour said. During the first round, each professor stepped up to the podium and spoke out about the similarity between their represented discipline and the world of magic. The faculty properly incorporated pop culture references during their speeches including characters, Hogwarts courses and names of spells.
Washburn University Police are getting involved with students on campus through multiple different ways. WUPO, the Washburn University Police Office, as it’s commonly called, is headed by director Dean Forster, who has recently been giving presentations regarding campus safety during an active shooter situation. He and his fellow officers have been getting involved with students all year, teaching about campus safety and the changing laws regarding conceal and carry. The most recent law change was that of the Personal and Family Protection Act of 2012, which gave students the right to carry firearms on campus, as long as they are concealed, come 2017. While director Forster has been meeting with student organizations, Captian Chris Enos has been meeting with WU 101 classes as well. “That’s just one part of an overall educational program and outreach that we do,” said Enos. “Another thing that we do pretty consistently is visit with WU 101 classes. Faculty that are teaching those courses invite us to come and present and we present on overall campus safety, active shooter, sexual assault, alcohol and drug awareness, a lot of topics we fit into that hour. [We] usually get about an hour to visit with each class, which is a great opportunity to visit with new students. So we try to cram as much information as we can about the department and throw some campus safety tips in there.” Captain Enos and other officers have been getting involved with more than just WU 101 classes. “We try to get to as many new student orientations in the sum-
WIZARD: continued on page 3
WUPO: continued on page 3
Photo by Amy Reinhardt
Wands at the Ready: The six faculty members each represent a house from Hogwarts during the FYE Faculty Debate. From left to right: Paul Byrne, economics; Sharon Sullivan, theatre; Kelly Watt, art; Tracy Routsong, communications; Michael Gleason, leadership and Rodrigo Mercader, biology.
Wizard champion announced in annual debate Amy Reinhardt
WASHBURN REVIEW
Washburn faculty members lifted their wands to cast some spells during the annual First Year Experience Faculty Debate. Each member fought for their represented discipline in front of a diverse crowd of students at 6:30 p.m. April 5 in the Washburn A/B room in Memorial Union. The six faculty members who were selected were Paul Bryne, economics; Sharon Sullivan, theatre; Kelly Watt, art; Tracy Routsong, communications; Michael Gleason, leadership, and Rodrigo Mercader, biology. These six professors represented a panel and each dressed themselves
in robes, wigs, hats and other accessories to represent the event’s theme, “Harry Potter.” Each professor selected his or her own house from the sorting hat to represent during the debate. Bryne and Gleason selected Ravenclaw, while Mercader and Sullivan went with Hufflepuff. Watt and Routsong stood out in their house selections: Watt chose Slytherin and Routsong posed as Gryffindor. The debate consisted of three rounds of student voting in order to decide the overall winner and who would be ruling the Wizard World and lead the WU School of Magic. James Barraclough, director of undergraduate initiatives and student success lecturer, said
this event has grown each year in popularity. “It’s such a fun way to introduce students to a fun academic debate while putting a fun twist on the way faculty incorporated information about their disciplines,” Barraclough said. Each year, the peer educators, who are the primary planners for the event, select a new theme. In addition to a theme selection, the peer educator team chooses the faculty members and writes the questions for the second round battles. In 2014, the theme was Zombie Apocalypse and the following year it was Game of Thrones. Margeaux Seymour, 2014 graduate, attended the