Grad Guide The Sunflower’s
THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2019 • VOL. 123, ISS. 56
WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1896.
20-year-old Louis Gomez prepares to walk across the graduation stage BY ELLA DOMINGUEZ
Louis Gomez knows how to grind. While most 16-year-old boys are learning how to drive and playing video games, Gomez was preparing to move 6,518 miles away from his hometown to start his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. This isn’t atypical of young men in Lagos, Nigeria, where Gomez grew up. Sixteen is the standard age students are expected to start college. When searching for schools, Gomez’s father took the reigns. “He told me that he didn’t want me to go to a place where he knew I would be overtly distracted, so he said, ‘Let’s put you in Kansas,’”
Gomez said. “It was a very fast process: get done with high school, graduate, pack up everything, get a student visa, move to a different country four weeks later.” Upon arrival, Gomez was quick to dive into the rich social scene at Wichita State. On top of all his classes, by his senior year, Gomez was president of Eta Kappa Nu International Electrical Engineering Honor Society, vice president of the National Society of Black Engineers, a Resident Assistant in Shocker Hall, and an undergraduate researcher in the BME Neurorobotics Lab. “A lot of people have a work life balance — that doesn’t really
apply to me most of the time,” Gomez said. He said he felt the pressure of making sure his parent’s investment in his education didn’t go to waste. One dollar USD is worth roughly 359.38 Nigerian Nairas. “I can’t be playing around,” Gomez said, “Not everyone has the opportunity to study in America.” Gomez’s classmates and supervisors didn’t discount him for his age. If anything, it impressed them. Throughout his time in the United States, Gomez has faced more adversity for being a black student than a uniquely young student, he said. SEE GOMEZ PAGE 2
EASTON THOMPSON/THE SUNFLOWER
Julius Gomez, originally from Lagos, Nigeria, will graduate from Wichita State with a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering this month.
secrecy AUSTIN SHAW/THE SUNFLOWER
New Student Body President Kitrina Miller and Student Body Vice President Michael Bearth head Wednesday’s SGA meeting, the first of their session.
Student Government will consider changes to Student Supreme Court BY DANIEL CAUDILL
The Student Government Association will form a committee to analyze the role of the Student Supreme Court and potentially recommend changes. The ad-hoc committee will be established by a resolution passed Wednesday at the first meeting of the 62nd SGA session. The resolution recommends reevaluating the structure of the supreme court, but does not propose specific changes. “[The resolution] is a commitment. It’s a way to get the ball rolling on actual change,” said Engineering Senator Matthew Madden, co-author of the resolution and former SGA chief of operations and acting
vice president. In the Legislative Journal, the supreme court’s responsibilities include resolving conflict in interpretations of the journal and acting as a final court for other appeals courts at Wichita State. The resolution, titled “Commitment to Revitalize the Supreme Court,” states that the 61st Session court “failed to fill those needs in a timely manner, if at all.” Increasing the court’s regular responsibilities could help them fulfill a greater role in SGA, Madden said. “[W]e need to give the supreme court more to do, so that they have more to do on a weekly basis and they’re never going to have like months of time where they have
SPRING 2019 COMMENCEMENT DATES Wichita State University will hold three commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 18 at Charles Koch Arena, located on WSU’s main campus at the corner of 21st Street and Hillside Street. Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, College of Fine Arts, Institute for Interdisciplinary Innovation, and Dorothy and Bill Cohen Honors College Check in at 8 a.m. | Ceremony at 9 a.m. Commencement speaker: singer, songwriter, composer Angela Parrish College of Applied Studies and College of Health Professions Check in at noon | Ceremony
at 1 p.m. Commencement speaker: Wichita Public Schools Superintendent Alicia Thompson College of Business and College of Engineering Check in at 4 p.m. | Ceremony at 5 p.m. Commencement speaker: Boeing Executive Vice President and CEO of Defense, Space & Security Leanne Caret Where to buy a cap and gown: Online through the bookstore or in person at the Shocker Store WHAT TO BRING
WSU ID Cap and gown
KYLIE CAMERON/THE SUNFLOWER
Wichita State’s Office of the President is located in Morrison 203. The Kansas Board of Regents confirmed to The Sunflower that a closed search committee process will be used to name the next WSU president. BY MATTHEW KELLY
T
he search for the next Wichita State University president will be closed to the public, a Kansas Board of Regents spokesman confirmed to The Sunflower Monday. That means none of the candidates considered or non-winning finalists selected by the Regents’ presidential search committee will be announced publicly. Wichita State’s next president could set foot on campus for the first time after being selected for the job. By contrast, dean and provost finalists visit campus for interviews and to interact with faculty and students. Presidential search committees in Kansas haven’t always been closed. Late WSU President John Bardo was one of five finalists for the job when
Closed search means next WSU president will be named without publicly announcing candidates, finalists he was selected in 2012, after visiting campus and speaking with university stakeholders. The last open presidential search in Kansas was in 2015, when Emporia State chose Allison Garrett over another named finalist. Since then, the Regents have initiated two closed presidential searches for Kansas State and Fort Hays State, and a closed chancellor search for the University of Kansas. In addition to appointing a search committee chair and members, the Regents will hire an outside search firm to aid in the closed
process of identifying potential candidates. Frank LaMonte is director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, a non-profit, non-partisan First Amendment think tank based at the University of Florida. LaMonte told The Sunflower that closed presidential searches deny the public the chance to thoroughly vet finalists, and that research indicates they benefit “insider candidates” without yielding better-qualified or more successful presidents. SEE PRESIDENT PAGE 8
INSIDE
FOR THE KIDS
YEAR IN PHOTOS
EDITORIAL
Beta Theta Pi’s suspension was extended two days before it was to be lifted.
Senior Haley Ensz hopes to inspire future generations
Revisit some of the moments that made this an eventful school year.
Wichita State shouldn’t prioritize a shiny exterior over a substantive education.
NEWS • PAGE 2
GRAD GUIDE • PAGE 4
GRAD GUIDE • PAGE 6
OPINION • PAGE 8
SUSPENSION EXTENSION