DI athletes are now entitled to compensation from their schools. Here’s how Wichita State is handling it.
BY OWEN PROTHRO sports@thesunflower.com
Four years ago, the NCAA implemented a policy allowing student athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL) for the first time in collegiate athletics.
Now, after a settlement between the NCAA, its Power Conferences and lawyers who represented all Division I athletes, college athletes are entitled to direct compensation from their respective universities.
Over the summer, Federal Judge Claudia Wilken approved the House vs. NCAA settlement, which now allows universities to pay its student athletes directly.
The $2.8 billion settlement comes after three antitrust lawsuits “claimed the NCAA was illegally limiting the earning power of college athletes,” according to ESPN.
Universities that opted into the settlement will get an annual salary cap that represents 22% of the average revenue gained in the Pac12, Big Ten, ACC, SEC and Big 12. According to the College Sports Commission (CSC), that revenue stems from media rights, sponsorships (like Nike and Adidas) and ticket sales.
WHAT COUNTS FOR AND AGAINST THE SALARY CAP, ACCORDING TO THE CSC?
What will count against the cap?
Total value of institutional payments to student-athletes for use of NIL (including from institutional designee or contractor)
Other direct institutional payments of additional benefits to student-athletes and/ or student-athletes’ families not currently permitted or exempted by NCAA rules
Academic or graduation awards or incentives (i.e., Alston)
Athletically related financial aid in excess of the 2024-25 AY team limit
What will not count against the cap?
Third-party NIL payments, including those arranged or facilitated by institution
Funds distributed to student-athletes from Student Assistant Fund (SAF)
Benefits
In year one, the combined salary cap for all participating universities is $20.5 million. The cap will increase by 4% over the next two years. The CSC said it will publish the calculated amount of revenue shared each spring.
Participating universities are not required to meet the $20.5 million salary cap and rollover won’t accrue after each year. Madison SteinMason, Wichita State’s deputy athletic director of external affairs and revenue generation, said she is hopeful that the university will reach its cap.
Athletic Director Kevin Saal said he thinks that WSU is in a unique position, given that there is no football program on campus. In an interview, he estimated that universities within WSU’s “peer groups” are already investing 75-80% of the salary cap into football programs.
“Because we’re not doing that,” Saal said, “we’re positioning our basketball program and our other 15 sports — as it relates to scholarships, as it relates to roster resources, as it relates to operational dollars — in a position to be incredibly successful based on where our peers are now, and where they’ll be in the future.”
WSU declined to share with The Sunflower how it will invest the salary cap across its 16 athletic programs.
But based on WSU’s annual report most of the money will go into the men’s basketball program. The university is budgeting $20.4 million to spent on all 16 of its athletic programs, but the men’s basketball program takes up nearly 32% ($6.5 million) of the allotted budget. WSU is also expecting to earn a combined $11.2 million from student fees, media rights, sponsorships and ticket sales.
Administrators of WSU Athletics were aware something like this could happen almost a year in advance, from information provided from the NCAA, federal government and the American Conference.
“We are consistently fed information on the happenings in college athletics,” Stein-Mason said. “The same mechanisms were in place, I would just say the frequency and the level of information is probably the most robust and extreme that I’ve seen in my time in college athletics.”
Stein-Mason said that transformative changes like this are the norm in college athletics, but the scale of this change and the opportunity it presents is challenging to navigate.
“How can you really bridge the gap the best, to help people help you support the great opportunity?” Stein-Mason said. “That’s no different than how you would fundraise for a capital project … I just think that this is a little bit bigger scale than what I’ve experienced so far.
“There’s always going to be some change, and I think that’s what makes it exciting for me. I think the biggest thing on the pressure piece is we just want to make sure we do right by Wichita and student athletes with the opportunity that’s in front of us.”
As a result, Stein-Mason said the Athletics Department has had to increase its budget “significantly,” but couldn’t say by how much. She also said conversations between Saal and university President Richard Muma were had to ensure WSU was ”in a good spot going into the new era.”
Along with payments made directly from the university, student athletes can still accept
SGA midterm elections are now open
BY ANANDA SMITH
anandanicholesmith@gmail.com
With the fall semester underway, Wichita State University’s Student Government Association is preparing for its midterm elections. New senators will soon be voted in, with elections running from Monday, Sept. 29, through Wednesday, Oct. 1. Students can cast their ballots online through Simply Voting.
Three candidates sat down to share their priorities and perspectives as they campaign for Senate seats, from integrity and representation to campus life and inclusivity.
Vincent Farwell: “Building trust with queer students”
Vincent Farwell, a sophomore majoring in criminal justice, is running for the underserved population seat. He previously served on the Student Advisory Board, the SGA student task force.
“I see a lot of disconnect with the queer population and student government … not just the queer population, but a lot of different minority groups,” Farwell said. “I’d rather focus on connecting the two communities and how we better communicate. Trust is not given easily, especially to authority, so it can feel really shut off.”
2025-26 WSU ANNUAL REPORT BREAKDOWN
Budgeted expenses ($31.2 million):
Men’s basketball: $6.5 million (21%)
Support services: $5.1 million (16%)
Women’s basketball: $2.7 million (9%) Baseball: $2.7 million (9%)
External operations: $2.3 million (7%)
Softball: $1.9 million (6%)
Other men’s sports: $1.9 million (6%)
Admin support: $1.6 million (5%)
Volleyball: $1.5 million (5%)
Facilities and operations: $1.5 million (4%)
Postseason: $387,000 (1%)
Budgeted revenue ($31.2 million):
Institutional support: $10.3 million (33%)
Fundraising: $7.3 million (23%)
Student fees: $4.8 million (15%)
Ticket sales: $3.3 million (11%)
Sponsorships: $1.8 million (6%)
Multimedia rights: $1.3 million (4%)
NCAA/Conference revenue: $1.1 million (4%)
Other: $500,000 (2%)
Concessions: $329,000 (1%)
Investments: $274,000 (1%)
Guarantees: $45,000 (<1%)
third-party payments based on their NIL.
Athletes will now have to go through NIL Go, which is utilized by the CSC, to determine if payments made over $600 meet associated status, valid business purpose and range of compensation guidelines. Student athletes must submit items for review before they accept any deals to ensure they aren’t accepting “pay-toplay” incentives.
Stein-Mason said that WSU Athletics is there to aid in the process of getting third-party NIL deals approved for its student athletes through ongoing processes, through its beginning of the year meetings and email updates to student athletes.
“For NIL Go, what we’ve done is, no matter what, everything comes to our compliance office first,” Stein-Mason said. “Because that’s the mechanism that really legislates a lot of these things. We’re helping them (student athletes) double-check their information to make sure that everything that comes into NIL Go, that they’re checking all those boxes.
“It’s almost like a safety net to make sure that they’re adhering and complying with everything they need to do, and do it correctly.”
For Farwell, advocacy means not only representing marginalized voices but also making SGA less intimidating. While acknowledging the limits of what can be changed quickly, Farwell emphasized that short-term trust-building is more realistic than long-term structural change. He pointed to state-level restrictions, such as rules about bathroom use and pronoun visibility, as barriers that complicate campus life for queer students.
“It’s tough seeing laws that restrict bathroom use or pronouns in email signatures,” he said. “It creates fear that this may not be the right place. The queer community should feel welcoming, but without communication and transparency, it complicates things.”
He also noted issues in classrooms and Greek life.
“I think IFC just voted to keep trans men out of their fraternities. That’s caused a lot of discourse because it’s just being put in writing now, even though it’s not like they were ever so friendly to us,” Farwell said.
Despite the challenges, Farwell said his approach will focus on listening first.
“I plan to listen more than I will speak,” he said. “When you really hear people’s concerns, you can start to rebuild trust.”
Alex Le: “Integrity above all”
Alex Le, a first-year student with sophomore standing, said his campaign centers on ethics and accountability within SGA.
“I’d like to see us establish best practices for how we operate in terms of ethics, morals and behavior, and to make sure every bill is considered carefully,” Le said. “I’d prefer if the Senate didn’t have partisanship at all.”
Drawing from a summer internship in IT security in Washington, D.C., and his experience leading high school clubs, Le said he hopes to bring a unique perspective to campus governance. One practical issue he is especially passionate about: parking.
“Some of the policies I’ve heard about need to be rectified,” he said. “How we go about that is a better question.”
Le said he plans to conduct polls and surveys and emphasize listening over personal opinion. My top priority will depend on what students say they want to focus on,” he said. “I want to serve the people well and make sure their issues are heard, while also educating voters in the process.”
Photo
Illustration by Emma Wilks and Kristy Mace / The Sunflower
SGA Senate approves attorney for student use
KASS LEWIS news@thesunflower.com
The Student Senate voted on Wednesday to approve a search for an attorney that students can utilize for free. The Legal Services Program has a maximum of $200,000 set as a salary for the attorney.
Student Body President Jia Wen Wang said she hopes to have an attorney hired by the spring semester.
The Senate will create a hiring committee. Wang predicted it will mostly be made up of SGA leadership and SGA student advocates, who she said have historically been the people that students go to seek legal advice the attorney will now provide.
“It’s really unfortunate because students come to SGA a lot for resources, and from the description of the advocates you would expect the advocates to be able to (help with legal advice),” Wang told The Sunflower. “But obviously we’re not lawyers, so we can’t give legal advice outside of anything SGA.”
Wang said advocates, whose primary role is to help students with issues like academic, parking and traffic appeals, would often point students needing legal help to non-profits. But Wang and SGA Advisor Gabriel Fonseca pointed out that not all students qualify for those services.
“There are several non-profit organizations in the state, and the city as well, that provide some (legal services), but our students don’t qualify for those,” Fonseca said in the meeting. “Our international students don’t qualify for those.”
That’s where the Legal Services Program comes in, to provide those services for all fee-paying students.
Wang said she wants the committee to hire a lawyer with a diverse range of experience because students have diverse issues.
“With an attorney, sometimes they’re pretty specialized, but we have such a wide range of students of all different backgrounds, and I want to make
sure that the lawyer kind of knows what they’re in for,” Wang said. “I don’t want to throw in somebody who is only really specialized in one area, and then we send the student to them and then they’re unable to help (the student) through that legal issue.”
Wang also said that she wants someone who can understand the student experience.
“How can you serve your clients if you don’t understand what they’re going through, you know?” Wang said.
While Underserved Senator Evelyn Lewis expressed concern about the amount of money going toward the program, Liberal Arts and Sciences Senator Victoria Owens felt differently.
“This is honestly lower than I thought it would be, to be honest, because anything about law, typically you find your niche, you sit in that niche and you get paid a pretty decent sum,” Owens said.
“But if this person, this lawyer, is going into every niche — family law, immigration, things like that — you need a very, very experienced and dedicated and a really professional lawyer, so this a great figure to me.”
When asked if she was worried the salary cap would be too low to attract a lawyer that can uphold SGA’s expectations, Wang said that the $200,000 figure came from consulting with an attorney in the area and looking at attorney salaries in Wichita.
“I think it would be a different story if we just kind of made up an arbitrary number and took a shot in the dark,” Wang said.
The $200,000 will come out of SGA’s special projects fund, which is typically around $2 million. Due to budget cuts following last year’s budget shortfall, Wang said the special projects fund is slightly lower this year, but did not specify how much.
Wang did not respond to a followup request for the exact starting budget for the special projects fund.
Despite the Legal Services Program using over 10% of the fund, Wang says she’s not concerned about the cost.
of print and online advertisement sales and allocations by the Student Government Association.
Copyright @ 2025 The Sunflower. This newspaper, its design, photos and all contents are copyrighted.
“(The special projects fund) are fee dollars, so students have already paid, so for me, I guess fiscally I think the responsible thing is to utilize those dollars to help students on campus,” Wang said.
Wang also confirmed that the $200,000 is solely for the lawyer’s salary, and any other legal costs a student faces will be up to them to fund. SGA has a hardship fund that students can apply to receive financial assistance from for a variety of financial challenges.
Speaker of the Senate Matthew Phan, who was Student Body Vice President during last year’s session, spoke in affirmation of the bill during the meeting. He said the program was something he and former Student Body President Kylee Hower explored last year.
“I think there is a demand from students to have legal services provided by the Student Government Association,” Phan said. “Especially with last year, a lot of our international students wanted to have a panel on where they could get legal advice from an attorney — an immigration attorney — or from different students dealing with different concerns that they had from a legal perspective.”
At the Student Government Association’s weekly meeting on Sept. 24, Wang said this program has been in discussion within SGA for the past five years. In an interview with The Sunflower, she said this bill was something she had planned to pass during her session.
“This project was a project that I intended on following through,” Wang said.
Owens, Lewis, and Liberal Arts and Sciences Senators Braeden Miller and Joshua Mallard also spoke in affirmation of the bill during the debate period. No senators spoke in opposition to the bill.
“I think that this will really mark itself as a pretty momentous occasion in the Student Government Association’s history,” Miller said.
Aiden Thibodeau: “Representation for health professions”
For Aiden Thibodeau, a freshman in the College of Health Professions, running for Senate wasn’t initially on his radar. That changed when he noticed the seat for his college had no candidate.
“I thought it would be a shame if the College of Health Professions wasn’t represented,” he said. “Especially now, with all the changes around the biomedical campus, it’s really important that our voices are heard.”
Thibodeau is active in organizations including the Pre-Physician Associate Student Organization Club, Health Occupations Students of America, the Community Service Board and the Student Ambassador Society. He also served as a site leader for Wu’s Big Event.
One of his goals is to boost student life on weekends, when campus activity slows.
“Wichita State can feel like a commuter school. Over the weekend, campus energy dies down a lot,” he said. “I think SGA could put more funding toward organizations that host weekend events.”
Transparency and communication, Thibodeau said, are key to being an effective senator.
“I want to be really transparent as a representative,” he said. “Students should always be able to reach me. I’m not afraid to bring up important issues — even if it stirs people up — if it’s what students want.”
The following candidates did not respond to requests by The Sunflower for interviews. The information about them below is from SGA’s elections page.
Eiden Hinojosa: Health Professions Senator Candidate Eiden Hinojosa, a pre-nursing freshman, is running for the College of Health Professions seat. Active in the Community Service Board and HALO, he enjoys volunteering on environmental projects in Wichita. His campaign focuses on ensuring health profession students receive equal access and opportunities as other colleges.
“I want to be here for each other — ‘WSU with You,’” Hinojosa said.
Anestacia Marston: International Senator Candidate Anestacia Marston, a psychology major with a communications minor, is running for International Senator to advocate for inclusion and support for international students. Drawing from her own experiences, she aims to address challenges like cultural adjustment, financial stress and social integration.
“My goal is to advocate for resources, policies and programs that help international students succeed academically while also feeling at home,” Marston said.
Trinity McCarroll: “Advocating for representation in LAS” Trinity McCarroll, a freshman
CORRECTION
majoring in political science and international studies with a Spanish minor, is running for LAS Senator.
Motivated by the college’s diversity, she aims to amplify student voices, advocate equitable resource access, and support underserved and underrepresented students across social sciences, humanities, and arts.
Adán Parker: Running for Business Senator
Adán Parker, a sophomore finance major and member of Spectrum and the Cummings Student Managed Investment Fund, is running for Business Senator.
On the ballot, Parker will be listed as “Ariana Parker” — Parker’s legal name. They aim to advocate for peers, foster community, and apply their financial skills to student government.
Parker’s platform emphasizes diversity, safety, and creating a supportive campus where all students feel respected.
Erin Tims: Advocating for Honors Students
Erin Tims, a freshman political science major, is running for Honors Senator with a platform centered on academic excellence and student empowerment. A member of the LEAD Program, she also serves on the Honors Student Council and Dean’s Advisory Board.
“The Student Government Association is a space where decisions directly shape the student experience,” she said. Her platform emphasizes keeping education at the center of campus policymaking.
Syeda Zoha Rizvi: International Senator
Syeda Zoha Rizvi, a first-year Ph.D. student in mathematics from Pakistan, is running for International Senator while serving as a graduate teaching assistant. Motivated to both contribute to and learn from Wichita State, Rizvi said she hopes to “make a change here, to bring a taste of my own and to learn from the student body.” She acknowledged still navigating the campaign process but emphasized openness and growth.
While she admits she is still navigating the campaign process and what a “platform” means in practice, Rizvi emphasized that her candidacy is rooted in openness and growth.
Voting runs Sept. 29 through Oct. 1, and winners will step into their roles with the task of shaping the student experience at Wichita State.
HOW TO VOTE
Students can vote via Simply Voting, which can be accessed from the SGA’s website. Students will also receive an email with the link.
The voting period is open now and closes Oct. 1.
In the previous issue, The Sunflower ran a mistake regarding the date of Charlie Kirk’s vigil on Wichita State’s campus. The vigil was held on Tuesday, Sept. 16. The Sunflower is committed to accuracy and takes care to prevent errors in its publications. Therefore, we believe in being transparent when addressing and correcting inaccuracies
Student Body President Jia Wen Wang presents SB-68-113. The act discusses a proposed legal services program for students to access. Photo by Peyton Eck / The Sunflower
Tom Shine signs off: Retiring news director reflects on decades in Wichita news
KAMI STEINLE
steinlekami@gmail.com
After working in news for about 45 years, Tom Shine, the director of News and Public Affairs at KMUW 89.1 Wichita Public Radio, will retire in December.
Shine first developed his interest in news media by accompanying his father to the newsroom at the Detroit Free Press in his home state of Michigan.
“He was a newspaper guy in Detroit at Michigan’s largest morning newspaper, I think, for about 45 years, same as me,” Shine said. “I grew up as a kid, 7 or 8 years old, going to the newsroom with him on Saturdays just thinking, ‘This is the greatest place ever.’”
In 1980, Shine graduated from the University of Michigan and started looking for a position at newspapers across the country until he was offered a job at The Wichita Eagle as a night police reporter.
“I applied all over the country — literally all over the country — and only one place said yes, and it was Wichita. So, I said, ‘I guess I’m going here,’” Shine said. “I thought I would be here for maybe three years tops and then migrate back to Detroit.”
45 years later, Shine said he’s happy with his decision to stay in Wichita because it offered him a lot of possibilities and that “it’s a great place to live, a great place to raise a family.”
“I met my wife, and she was from Kansas, and I asked her about living in Detroit, and she said, ‘No,’ so we stayed and raised a family here,” Shine said. “I’ve had opportunities to do stuff with my career here that I don’t know that I would have gotten in Detroit, so I’m totally happier.”
Suzanne Perez, a colleague of Shine’s starting in 1990, said from the first moment she met him he’d always been a “good, decent guy who puts your humanity first above anything else.”
“He was always a supervisor and above me in the hierarchy of the newsroom, but he always seemed a colleague and friend,” Perez said. “He’s just such a kind, approachable guy, and he just shows true caring for people. Tom is always concerned with how people are feeling personally, and also with what their goals are.”
Perez told a story about the last day of her interview process at the Wichita Eagle, when Shine was assigned to pick her up from the hotel she was at and take her to breakfast.
“I met him down in the restaurant of the hotel and he introduced himself and said, ‘I know that
News is joy. I’ve loved it since I was going to the newsroom with my dad when I was a kid.”
TOM SHINE News director, KMUW
this whole process is exhausting and you’re probably tired of talking, so if you just want to sit here quietly and eat, that’d be fine with me,’” Perez said. “I just remember being like, ‘Oh, thank you so much’ … I just loved that about him so much.”
At the Wichita Eagle, Shine eventually worked his way up to a deputy editor position, which he held for nine years. In August 2017, Shine — along with many other staff members — was laid off.
“I was surprised, but not shocked. We laid so many people off, and I knew eventually I’d probably get laid off, too,” Shine said. “But at the time, papers all over the country were cutting people. My challenge was I was 59, you know, with newspaper skills in a city with one newspaper.”
For the next few months, Shine interviewed for a number of different jobs in marketing, communications and education until he heard that the position for Director of News and Public Affairs at KMUW, an NPR-affiliated station in Wichita, had recently opened up.
“Working in public radio has just been great,” Shine said. “The mission is a little different. It’s different than working for a newspaper or even a TV station.”
Shine is the host of “The Range” on KMUW 89.1, and has been since the show started almost six years ago. He said it was a “great challenge to try and do it well” because of all the different aspects that go into a radio show.
“When we said we’re doing it (‘The Range’), my boss said, ‘Well, you should be the host.’ I said, ‘Well, I’ve got no radio experience,’” Shine said. “But the newspaper guy in charge of that says ‘You need to learn how to do that.’ That was very uncomfortable.”
Shine said he took lessons to develop his on-air voice and that it was “horribly challenging and hard”.
“But it’s a good hard when you’re kind of like, ‘Yeah, I think I could do this,’ and it was greatly rewarding,” Shine said. “‘The Range’ itself has been a good show. I think people in the community like it.”
Along with hosting “The Range,” Shine helped
develop the KMUW News Lab, a collaboration with the Elliott School of Communication. The News Lab is an internship program for WSU communication students where they shadow KMUW reporters at the station and learn to write and report for broadcast news.
“I enjoy having interns in the building. I think it’s important to try to teach and grow the next generation of journalists,” Shine said. “I also know that my internship back in 1979 was very formative for me. It really convinced me that I could do this. I think all industries — but certainly the media — have a responsibility to train the next generation of people as someone trained me.”
Perez will be taking over Shine’s position at KMUW in January. Perez said that it’s going to be “huge shoes to fill”, but Shine has been a good mentor to her. Shine said he wouldn’t be retiring if he didn’t have someone “like Suzanne ready to take over.”
“I never worked directly for him (at the Wichita Eagle) … but one of the major reasons I came here (KMUW) from the Eagle was because he was going to be my editor,” Perez said. “It’s kind of intimidating in a way, but he is preparing me as well as he can for the job change. So, I really appreciate that.”
In January 2018, Shine also started working as an adjunct professor at WSU and will continue to teach in the spring semester of 2026.
As for his retirement, he plans mainly to spend more time with his family and volunteer in the community. Shine also said, especially for the first year of retirement, he wants to take it easy
“I think I just need to relax, and then figure out if I want to do something else,” Shine said.
“But just having the ability to do what I want to do or don’t want to do is enticing right now.”
These last few months leading up to Shine’s retirement have been very busy for him, and he said that it hasn’t really hit him yet. He said news is a very fast paced environment, so there hasn’t really been any time to stop and think about the upcoming changes.
“News is joy,” Shine said. “I’ve loved it since I was going to the newsroom with my dad when I was a kid. I worked for my college paper, my high school paper. I love writing and reporting and finding things out, but it can be a grind when you’re chasing news cycles … That’s a lot of work and I think I’m good taking a break from that and just consuming news now and observing.”
Three injured in collision south of campus
A three-car collision took place around 2 p.m. at the North Harvard Avenue and 17th Street intersection. Emergency response personnel confirmed there were no critical injuries, but three individuals sustained injuries in the incident
Kailey Zwiener, a Wichita State nursing student, called in the accident to emergency services.
Zwiener said a white Genesis sedan turned left off of Harvard onto 17th to head east. A black Dodge Challenger was driving east on 17th at the same time and collided with the white sedan. The collision caused the white vehicle to spin and hit a gray Honda CR-V that was on the south side of 17th on Harvard, waiting to turn onto 17th.
Elizabeth Lane, a graduate student studying opera performance, was driving the gray Honda and confirmed Zwiener’s account of the events.
Lane and the driver of the white Genesis were not injured, but the three individuals in the black Dodge were all taken in ambulances — two by gurney and one on foot.
Tom Shine, Nour Longi and Greg Cole trade advice at a KMUW fundraiser in June 2024. NPR newscaster Korva Coleman made an appearance to promote the KMUW internship that is named after her. Photo by Loren Amelunke / The Sunflower
Three cars sit at the intersection of 17th Street and Harvard. The crash occurred around 2 p.m. on Monday. Photo by Zachary Ruth / The Sunflower
Men’s, women’s basketball conference games announced
BY OWEN PROTHRO sports@thesunflower.com
The American Conference announced the 18-game conference schedules for Wichita State’s men’s and women’s basketball teams Thursday.
Both teams will have nine home and nine away games, with six home-and-away series.
The home-and-away series for women’s basketball are against Tulsa, UAB, Tulane, Memphis, East Carolina and Florida Atlantic. The men’s team will face Charlotte, East Carolina, Memphis, Florida Atlantic, Tulsa and South Florida twice throughout the season.
According to WSU Athletics, “matchups are annually determined by television inventory and contractual requirements, competitive issues/ NET implications and geographic rivalries.”
Women’s basketball’s conference schedule begins Dec. 30 at Tulsa and ends March 7 at Memphis. It’s the first time since the 2020-21 season that the Shockers will start and end their conference schedule on the road.
The team will face three opponents in the American who ended last season top-100 in the NCAA’s NET Rankings, with games against USF (77), UTSA (79) and Temple (98). WSU finished last season at 190th in the NET Rankings.
Men’s basketball will begin conference play on Dec. 31 on the road against UAB and will end March 7 against Florida Atlantic.
The Shockers will play their first two conference matchups on the road — Dec. 31 at UAB and Jan. 3 at Charlotte — for the first time since joining the American.
Just two teams in the American finished top-100 of the NCAA NET Rankings last season: Memphis (49) and North Texas (65). Memphis ended the season at No. 25 in the AP top-25 and North Texas appeared in the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament, which WSU lost in the first round of.
BASEBALL IS
Shockers begin fall competition with game against Nebraska Saturday
afternoon
Volleyball completes first conference roadtrip
BY EVAN TONG & OWEN PROTHRO evantong3@gmail.com
& sports@thesunflower.com
Shocker volleyball started their schedule in the American Conference with a weekend roadtrip to UAB and Memphis on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
Wichita State won both of its games, dropping only a single set in the game against UAB. The two wins to start conference play is the fourth-consecutive 2-0 start in the last four seasons.
The Shockers will continue their slate in the American with two games against Tulsa over the weekend. The first game is in Koch Arena on Friday at 7 p.m., and the team then travels to play Tulsa on the road Sunday at 1 p.m.
vs. UAB
Wichita State won in four sets, 3-1, against the Blazers Friday night to open conference play.
Junior Sydney Dunning made a team-high 14 kills to go with a .206 hitting percentage. Senior Brooklyn Leggett followed suit with 12 of her own, while hitting .357. Five other Shockers recorded kills.
Junior Jordan Heatherly found 28 assists, a game-high, and junior Hannah Hawkins made 18.
Wichita State made a 6-0 run in the first set to take a 13-6 lead. The Shockers’ presence at the net shook UAB off their game.
Four Shockers had a hand in at least five blocks, including senior Maddie Wilson, Leggett, sophomore Allie Paulsen and freshman McKenzie Jones. Jones had a career-high eight kills on the night to add some scoring punch for the
Shockers, something head coach Chris Lamb said is much needed for the team.
The Shockers regained their composure after Lamb called a timeout in the second set. Leggett made the final kill of the first set, closing out a 5-1 run to win, 26-24.
High-flying attacks and frenetic pace from UAB’s offense broke through Wichita State’s defense at the net in the second set. Despite the flashiness, the Shockers were never far behind, staying within two points. But with low scoring numbers, the Shockers did not bring enough firepower and lost the frame, 25-23.
No longer timid, the Shockers dominated the third set through the middle, to take a dominant 25-16 stand, holding UAB to a .243 kill percentage to the Shockers’ .436.
Much of the same can be said for the fourth set as Wichita State dominated in a 25-15 set win, taking the match. Running out of fuel, the Blazers burned out while WSU took advantage of the fatigue.
vs. Memphis
Wichita State volleyball’s first weekend road trip in the American Conference ended with a homecoming for Heatherly, so to speak.
The setter returned to Memphis, Tennessee, where her collegiate career started. Though Heatherly posted a 17-13 home record as a Tiger, she opened her chapter at WSU with a win in familiar territory.
The Shockers swept Memphis 3-0 Sunday afternoon.
In her return, Heatherly
recorded a game-high 26 assists, one kill on two attacks and made two service aces. Her 34.2 assists per game is on pace to tie a career-high in a single season.
Dunning (13, a game-high) and Leggett (12) combined for 25 of WSU’s 44 kills for the game. The duo has now combined for 355 kills this season, which is nearly 50% of the team’s total kills.
But it wasn’t just Dunning and Leggett who got involved against the Tigers. Seven different WSU players recorded a kill.
Wilford made eight on a .316 hitting percentage. Jones added five of her own, and Wilson, Paulsen and Heatherly combined for six more.
After Memphis whittled down a seven-point lead for WSU in the first set, the rest of the set went back-and-forth, but the Shockers managed to pull away late to win the frame, 25-19.
Tied at seven in the second set, WSU ripped off a 6-1 run to open up a four-point cushion, 12-8. The Shockers later surged ahead for a 6-1 run to take the set, 25-20. It was all WSU to start the third set.
The Shockers took a 5-1 lead after three Memphis errors coupled with a sophomore Grace Hett ace and a Dunning kill.
Another 5-1 run in which WSU swung free on four kills, upped its lead to five, 11-6.
The Shockers later got to set point, 24-19, but Memphis went on a 4-0 run to add drama to the mix, 24-23. On the next point, a Dunning kill ended the set and match, 25-23. Heatherly made the final assist of the game against her old team.
Top left: Wichita State baseball celebrates after senior Max Kaufer (14) hit a home run against Nebraska on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Wichita, Kansas. The Shockers played the Cornhuskers to open their fall-ball schedule. Bottom left: Junior Jack Quick (19) tries picking off a Nebraska runner during a game at Eck Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in Wichita, Kansas. The runner was called safe on the play. Right: Junior Brady Hamilton (44) winds up to throw a pitch against Nebraska on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, at Eck Stadium in Wichita, Kansas. Hamilton has pitched in 34 games during his career at Wichita State.
Photos by Mack Smith / The Sunflower
Another part of the settlement establishes that former student athletes, who participated or graduated from the year 2016 to now, can apply for back pay as compensation for their time with the program, even if they didn’t play at all.
Former student athletes can apply for back pay online to see if they are eligible. Wichita State notified former and current student athletes about the release of their personal information to the court and what to do should they not want it released.
The notice says that the information will be “education records, as required by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (‘FERPA’),” and that “while WSU is not a party to the legal
proceedings, the court order obligates” WSU “to provide specific information that may include your personally identifiable information.”
Scholarship limits are now essentially a thing of the past, with every program reaching the maximum amount allowed per roster spot. With the new change, Saal said that the Athletics Department now has an additional 50 scholarships to distribute across all NCAA-affiliated programs.
“We really went through a process with our coaches of going, ‘Okay, what’s going to make you the most competitive and successful in your sport, given the maximums and limits that the NCAA gave us?’”
Stein-Mason said. “We can say that every sport took an increase in their scholarships this year.”
WHAT TO DO WITH NOTICE, ACCORDING TO WSU ATHLETICS
“Do nothing” option: If you do not have any objections to WSU releasing your records to the Court, you do not need to do anything.
“Object to release of your records” option: If you do not want WSU to release your records to the Court, you (or your attorney) need to file an objection with the Court. If you file an objection with the Court, you must also notify WSU of this objection by emailing student.records@wichita.edu. You must file this objection before Dec. 2, 2024.
Golf teams ‘Git-R-Done’ in latest tournaments
BY ANTHONY GONZALEZ-MEDINA 65nthony@gmail.com
Both Wichita State golf teams had strong performances during their respective tournaments from Sept. 22-23, taking top-five at both events.
The women’s team placed third at the Johnie Imes Invitational hosted by Missouri. The tournament was shortened due to inclement weather, and scores were tallied after two rounds.
Despite this, the Shockers shot 589 (+13) en route to their third place finish. They lost to Missouri, which took first at 562 strokes (-14).
Senior Mackenzie Wilson continued her strong start and tied for fifth overall with a score of 143 (-1). Sophomore Amelie Paul entered the top 20 at 18th overall with a score of 148 (+4).
Sophomore Kayla Van de Ven ranked 31st with a score of 151 (+7).
Senior Brooklyn Benn, who competed as an individual, finished with a score of 153 (+9) and ranked 45th. Junior Manon Guille ranked 50th with a score of 155 (+11), and freshman Magdalena Domine rounded out
WOMEN’S GOLF TEAM RESULTS
1. Missouri: 562 (-14)
2. Kentucky: 573 (-3)
3. Wichita State: 589 (+13)
t4. Cincinnati: 596 (+20)
t4. Missouri State: 596 (+20)
6. Morehead State: 602 (+26)
7. Howard: 604 (+28)
8. South Dakota: 607 (+31)
9. SD State: 609 (+33)
t10. Murray State: 611 (+35)
t10. North Alabama: 611 (+35)
12. UAB: 612 (+36)
13. Omaha: 614 (+38)
14. East Texas A&M: 632 (+56)
the scores with a 156 (+12).
Women’s golf will compete again at the Prairie Dunes Invitational, hosted by Oklahoma from Oct. 6-7.
The men’s team took fourth at the Git-R-Done Invitational hosted by Nebraska. With a team score of 854 (+2), the Shockers fell short of the podium by eight strokes to Iowa State.
Nebraska won the tournament with a score of 823 (-29).
Junior Emilio Arellano Llamas tied for fifth overall with a score of
MEN’S GOLF TEAM RESULTS
1. Nebraska (A): 823 (-29)
2. Kansas State: 840 (-12)
3. Iowa State: 842 (-10)
4. Wichita State: 854 (+2)
5. SD State: 857 (+5)
6. Sam Houston: 858 (+6)
7. St. Thomas (MN): 859 (+7)
8. Nebraska (B): 861 (+9)
9. Kansas City: 866 (+14)
10. Creighton: 867 (+15)
11. Omaha: 876 (+24)
12. Missouri State: 897 (+45)
209 (-4), with senior Jose Miguel Ramirez closely behind in
Graduate
Senior
43rd with a score of
and freshman Jace
62nd with a score of 229 (+16). The men’s team will compete at the SIUE Dolenc Invitational, hosted by Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, from Sept. 29-30.
MEN’S TEAM:
t5. Emilio Arellano: 209 (-4)
t8. Jose Miguel Ramirez: 211
eighth place with a score of 211 (-2).
student Michael Robson finished in the top 20 at 18th overall with a score of 214 (+1).
Mitchell Revie ranked
220 (+7),
Chaney ranked
Illustration by Wren Johnson / The Sunflower
A win for today’s athletes, a loss for yesterday’s
Jayden Woods jaydenwoods86@gmail.com
On June 6, 2025, Federal Judge Claudia Wilken issued a decision on whether former college athletes deserve compensation for missing out on the chance to make money from their name, image and likeness (NIL). The $2.8 billion settlement offers relief to players from 2016 onward, but it leaves behind athletes who competed before. To me, this decision is a mixed bag: it acknowledges recent injustices, yet draws an arbitrary line that excludes many student athletes who helped pave the way.
In the new era of college athletics, players are earning millions from their NIL. But until now, the money never flowed directly from the universities. That changes under this ruling. Schools must now share revenue with athletes — a dramatic shift that blurs the line between amateur and professional sports even more, with some collegiate athletes getting paid more than some of their professional counterparts.
This is good news for current and future players, who are finally being recognized for the value they generate. However, it’s hard to ignore the fact that athletes from before 2016 are left empty-handed, despite having laid the foundation of college athletics as we know it. Imagine the players who helped pack arenas, sold jerseys and brought in TV money in the 1990s and 2000s. They won’t see a dime.
The question is what schools like Wichita State will do with this new responsibility. Without football, WSU has the opportunity to utilize its salary cap more strategically than its “peers.” Basketball and other college sports could benefit in ways we haven’t seen before, like the collegiate athletes who get paid like professionals. But there’s also the risk that the bulk of funds goes straight into men’s basketball, leaving non-revenue athletes feeling like afterthoughts.
The NCAA dragged its feet for decades, forcing courts to modernize the college sports landscape. Now, the burden falls on schools to ensure this new system is fair, transparent and inclusive. If universities only chase wins with their payout money, the cycle of exploitation continues, just in a different form.
Paying athletes for NIL is long overdue, but fairness demands we don’t forget those left out of the settlement. Real reform should honor the past as much as it invests in the future.
Piper Pinnetti piperpinnetti12@gmail.com
OPINION
Wichita State University is moving forward with plans to demolish Grace Wilkie Hall, one of several buildings slated to disappear as part of the 10-year campus master plan. The idea, administration says, is to unify the campus, improve pedestrian flow, and create more green space.
But by tearing down Grace Wilkie, the university isn’t just removing a low-density structure, it is simply erasing legacy because the hall is not falling apart.
In fact, according to the Facility Condition Index explained in the master plan, the building is in “excellent” condition. That means it is not a financial drain in need of urgent repairs or expensive upgrades. Instead of re-purposing it to meet student needs, WSU plans to level it for a lawn.
What
A lawn.
Sure, green space is nice. In fact, it would be wonderful if the spot were dedicated to native plants and even a sanctuary for endangered monarchs to visit every migration season. That would be a beautiful place for a student to sit by and admire.
Students deserve areas to relax, and Wichita State is right to think about how the campus connects to the Innovation Campus. But it is hard to see the value of bulldozing a sound building named for one of the most important women in the university’s history just to make room for more sidewalks and scenery.
Destroying the hall is not just unnecessary, it’s also erasing history.
Grace Wilkie was not just another name on a plaque or painting on the wall. She was a Wichita native, head of home economics at Fairmount College, Dean of Women for three decades and an advocate who shaped
generations of students. She even volunteered in postwar France, serving communities devastated by conflict before returning to help students at home. Wilkie retired in 1953 — the same year the hall named in her honor opened as a dormitory. It later became home to student services and offices. In 2017, the university dedicated the building to honor her legacy. Now, less than a decade later, that legacy is scheduled for destruction.
Instead of tearing it down, WSU could use Grace Wilkie Hall in ways that would actually improve student life. For instance, overflow classrooms could be held there. Seeing as she was the Dean of Women for so long, the building could house classes in the humanities.
The building could also be another student lounge area for commuters and residents alike — a place to spend the odd hours between classes when going home is not an option. It could be turned
into a student club hub, giving organizations without a permanent space a place to gather and collaborate.
Even something simple like moving the geology library or the museum, which will also be lost in the master plan, would make the building a vibrant, useful space again.
If the campus police department building is already being torn down nearby, why eliminate this one too? Demolition is not just wasteful; it is disruptive to the very heart of campus, right next to the library. The university could save money, reduce construction headaches and honor its own history by re-imagining Grace Wilkie rather than destroying it. Demolition is not the answer for every older campus building. Grace Wilkie devoted her life to Wichita State. The least the university could do is treat the building that bears her name with the same respect.
does it mean to lose a book?
At Ablah Library, a “lost book” isn’t one of the thousands of volumes thrown into a campus dumpster last spring; it’s a book that is one day overdue. Ablah is now strictly enforcing a fee policy that categorizes any and all overdue items as “lost” rather than “late.” You may ask yourself, what’s the difference? But if you’ve been hit with a lost-item fee lately, you’ll know the answer: cost.
The distinction between a lost library item and a late one matters because a lost-item fee is much larger than a late fee. It covers the cost of the item itself, plus reacquisition and processing fees, that can sometimes total upwards of $100 per item. With our library’s current policy, an overdue item is now “lost” when it is sitting on your desk, in your backpack, on your shelf, even in your hands. A student may still be using a library book for class, yet the moment a due date passes, that item is reclassified as “lost” when it isn’t lost at all.
Let’s make an important concession to Ablah Library here and to the many wonderful librarians who work there. A due date is a necessary administrative tool for library circulation. It sets a clear expectation for when an item
Why is this our policy? Why are we being asked to accept that a late item and a lost item are the same thing and that we should therefore pay heftier fees for overdue material? Who does this benefit?”
KATIE LANNING English Associate Professor
should be returned so that others can use it. As patrons, we should all respect that due date and make every effort to heed the courtesy notices we receive and return checked-out materials on time.
But if we fail to meet that expectation, our lateness does not suddenly equal loss. Standard practice at many academic libraries involves a tiered system: overdue first and then, only after weeks or sometimes even months, does “lost” status apply. This tiered model recognizes both the busy realities of student life and the importance of encouraging continued engagement with library resources. Ablah Library’s policy cuts out these steps, collapsing “late” and “lost” into one category with financial consequences that far exceed those of traditional overdue fines.
Dean of University Libraries Dr. Brent Mai has indicated that there will be no waiving or reimbursing of fees upon returning an overdue item. This is also contrary to standard practice. Grace periods
and fee-forgiveness policies are common, as they help students return to library use without financial barriers. Other Kansas universities, for example, take this approach. KU waives lost-item fees if the item is returned within 60 days of its due date, and K-State waives such fees if the item is returned within 6 months of the due date. At WSU, however, if I return an item one day after the due date, I must pay a lost-item fee. Even more unusual, Ablah’s policy of “lost” books appears to absolve the library of ownership of its own material. When asked if the library would accept returned overdue items, Dean Mai stated that by keeping the item past its due date, the patron has effectively purchased the item and that any return would have to go through a donation process. This policy seems both needlessly complicated and worryingly disinterested in the integrity of our physical collection at Ablah Library. The library not only immediately categorizes an
THE SUNFLOWER’S HOT TAKES
The Sunflower’s editorial staff gives their one sentence takes.
Maleah Evans: Bring back car buttons: volume, channels etc.
Mya Scott: Apple juice is better than any other juice.
Kiona Brown: “Hocus Pocus” sucks.
overdue item as lost; it also treats that status as final. The patron is, in effect, forced into buying the book at full replacement and processing costs, and the library will not accept the item as a return. In my view, it is this policy’s refusal to simply allow the item back into circulation that truly makes a book “lost.” Why is this our policy? Why are we being asked to accept that a late item and a lost item are the same thing and that we should therefore pay heftier fees for overdue material? Who does this benefit?
Whether intentional or not, the policy seems likely to generate revenue and reduce physical holdings. Neither of these outcomes aligns with the ethical purpose of library fines, which should aim to encourage responsible use, not punish patrons. For students already balancing rent, tuition and textbook costs, the financial hit of a lost-item fee can be devastating. That risks discouraging exactly the kind of engagement with physical media that a university library should encourage.
A late book is not automatically a lost book. Yet at our library, a late book cannot be returned, only purchased. Ablah Library’s patrons deserve a fair policy that follows best practices. Our current policy, one that assumes the worst and punishes the harshest, is not serving its students. And that is the real loss.
Grace Wilkie Hall on Sept. 23. Photo by Zachary Ruth / The Sunflower
ARTS & CULTURE
JOUSTS JESTING &
Ren Fair brings lords, ladies and all to the plains
History Professor and students give guided walking tour of East campus
BY JONAS LORD legobrickslord@gmail.com
Last week, local history buffs gathered on the east side of campus for the semi-annual WSU Walking Tour. Headed by history professor Jay Price and his students, this tour, which started at Braeburn Square, encompassed a loop around most of 21st Street, with stops at the Pizza Hut Museum, Eck Stadium, Cessna Stadium and the Corbin Education Center along the way.
Participants learned about Shocker sports history, the first sit-in of the Civil Rights Movement, the 21st Street Riot, Frank Lloyd Wright, the American Indian Institute and airplanes.
BY PIPER PINNETTI
piperpinnetti12@gmail.com
Wichita State welcomed alumna, novelist and short story
writer Karen Lee Boren, on Thursday evening for a Writing Now, Reading Now event at the Ulrich Museum of Art.
Boren, a professor of English and creative writing at Rhode Island College, earned her Master of Fine Arts from WSU before completing a Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin.
She said she considers WSU the place where she “really got down to business” as a writer.
“I’m honored, and it’s really been a blast to find my way home — as it were — to the place I really learned to write,” Boren said.
Boren returned to campus a couple of weeks after the release
It’s important to think about what ‘home’ means to you and where, that is especially during this time of the world we are in.”
KAREN LEE BOREN Author of “Ways Home” “
of her newest story collection, “Ways Home,” which explores the idea of belonging and resilience across 14 short stories. From a girl haunted by Dolly Parton’s song
“Jolene” to a ballet dancer torn between discipline and family, each piece captures characters searching for direction in uncertain times.
As an author, Boren ties her
work to charities, with partial funds directly donating to nonprofits she sees fitting to her community or ideals.
“Any sales of ‘Secret Waltz’ — a portion goes to Planned Parenthood,” Boren said. “Any sales for the new book ‘Ways Home’ goes to a place called Amos House, an organization that helps people who are struggling with homelessness.”
Boren reflected on the deeper meanings behind her latest work and appreciated the full circle moment she noticed after performing her first live reading of this collection of stories on the campus she once called home.
“It’s important to think about what ‘home’ means to you and where that is, especially during this time of the world we are in,” Boren said.
“We tend to think about history in these larger national, global pieces of information,” Price said.
“And we forget that local stuff happens as part of a context too, that actually this is a window into larger pieces that may get overlooked if we’re just going to look at, you know, Washington D.C. and New York, and so forth.”
Not only did this tour give residents a chance to learn more about their local history, but it also provided graduate students a unique opportunity to apply their learning.
“This walking tour has become an important part of our offerings … think of it as an internship or a lab if you will,” Price said. “It’s easy to sit and do your own research, but when you’re talking to people who have lived through a lot of these topics, that’s part of this learning process.”
Every local community has a story that has something to tell us and teach us, as has often been said, all history is local.”
JAY PRICE WSU history professor “
One student, Abigail Dehaven, who is currently working on their museum certificate, said they greatly benefited from their involvement in the tour.
“History is a passion of mine, especially art history, community history, considering that I’ve lived a lot of history in a lot of different ways, so what I really love was being able to share my experiences, answer questions, and hear other people’s stories as well,” Dehaven said.
Gary Steed, who is enrolled at WSU as an auditor, also enjoyed the event.
“I was excited to see so many people participating,” Steed said. “Their questions have been good, and the presenters have done an excellent job.”
Price emphasized the insight that walking tours like this one can bring to participants.
“Every local community has a story that has something to tell us and teach us -- as has often been said, all history is local. Everything has to happen somewhere.”
Lord Erik recieves favor from audience memebers before the joust. After recieving favor, the jousters praded around the arena before the King declared start of the joust.
Photos by Maleah Evans / The Sunflower
The pirate queen dances with people in the crowd at the end of the festival.
A pirate child dances with two attendees who dressed up for the festival. The Great Plains Renaissance festival is held twice a year at the Sedgwick County Park.
The pirate queen and a pirate child dance with people in the crowd at the end of the festival.
Karen Lee Boren introduces herself for Fiction Reading on Sept. 23. Boren is an author and earned her Master of Fine Arts from Wichita State. Photo by Garima Thapa / The Sunflower
Lord Erik removes his helment after the mounted combat in preparation for the ground combat.
Devon the Duke and Lord Erik clash during the joust, splintering the stick. After the first round of mounted combat, there were several more.
FRIDAY AFFAIR
Office of first year programs hosts second Shocker State Fair
UPCOMING EVENTS
BASEBALL INTRASQUAD SCRIMMAGE (FOUR INNINGS)
Tuesday, Sept. 30 2 p.m. Eck
Stadium
Come watch the Shocker Baseball team scrimmage against each other for four innings. The scrimmage will be held at Eck Stadium.
SAVVY SCHOLAR WORKSHOP: IMPROVING CITATION MANAGEMENT USING ZOTERO
Tuesday, Sept. 30 3 - 4 p.m.
Online
Learn to create and manage citations and reference lists using Zotero. The event will be hosted and put on by Fiona Holly.
ATLAS COMPOSITES AND INNOVATION SUMMIT
Wednesday, Oct. 1
7:30 a.m. - 9 p.m. NIAR ATLAS
Learn about smart manufacturing technology and AI-assisted design tools while networking with industry professionals in engineering.
