THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
SPORTS
INSIDE
After almost 10 years at KU, fraternity breaks ground on new house p. 2
Kansas basketball cruises to win over SDSU
The University Daily Kansan
vol. 135 // iss. 26 Monday, Nov. 20, 2017
Grant allows astronomy professor to study the origins of galaxies p. 9
SEE SDSU • PAGE 12
First Female Majority
As she takes her place on the most gender diverse Lawrence City Commission ever, Jennifer Ananda, one of KU’s IOA officials, talks about her plans for the future
Sarah Wright/KANSAN Jennifer Ananda, currently the deputy Title IX coordinator for the University, was recently elected to become the new city commissioner. KATIE BERNARD @KatieJ_Bernard At the conclusion of her first ever political campaign, Jennifer Ananda fully expected to place fourth. Even as results trickled in showing her place in second, she didn’t believe it was real. “Until the very last results came in I was like ‘No, this is not a reflection of reality, some precinct is going to come in and totally change these,’” Ananda said. She was wrong, since those numbers were a reflection of reality. When the final precincts came in for the Lawrence City Commission elections at 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 7, Ananda took second, earning a four year term on the Lawrence City Commission and becoming part of the first female majority commission in Lawrence history. Ananda has lived in Lawrence since beginning her undergraduate degree at the University in 2000. She finished her undergrad in 2004 and graduated from the University in 2010 with a masters in social work and a degree from the School of Law. “Over the last decade I’ve been working towards a job in policy and my career has reflected that,” Ananda said. After earning her graduate degrees, Ananda went to work at the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence in Topeka, where she worked in community organizing and facilitation. She returned to the coalition after working in private practice with State Representative Dennis “Boog” Highberger and served as legal representation for the Coalition. Ananda is now the Deputy Title IX coordinator for the
University dealing with cases of discrimination and sexual harassment on campus. Ananda said she had been working towards this campaign for years and felt she had reached a good spot in her personal and professional career to take that step. Ananda will keep her job with the University during her time as a city commissioner. “I was like ‘OK, I’m doing it this year or I’m always going to have an excuse not to do it,’” Ananda said.
perience will bring a new, and needed, element to the commission. “[Jennifer] seems to be a very thoughtful person, she’s got some great background that we don’t have on the commission right now and that’s going to definitely increase our ability to look at things in a way that we haven’t in the past,” Larsen said. As she prepares to take office on Jan. 8, Ananda believes the biggest problem facing Lawrence is reactivity.
“I literally checked the book out called ‘How to win a local election’ and read it,” Jennifer Ananda newly elected city commissioner
While her professional career had been leading up to this moment, Ananda had never worked on or been involved with a local campaign before her own. “I literally checked the book out called ‘How to win a local election’ and read it,” Ananda said. She ran a grassroots campaign, learned how to ask for money and hoped for the best. She campaigned on a platform of three aspects of sustainability: environmental, human and future sustainability. She believes that this, in combination with her professional background in law and social work, is what made the difference. “I feel that yes, the legal side of our policy is vital and I bring that to the table, but I also bring the human side of policy and the impact that our policies have, both seen and unforeseen,” Ananda said. Current city commissioner, Lisa Larsen, said Ananda’s professional ex-
“We need to be proactive not reactive, there are things that we need to address to move towards that,” she said. Ananda addressed affordable housing as a main issue Lawrence is currently reacting to. She believes this needs to be fixed through hard work and action. “It’s easy to speak theoretically, it’s easy to speak big picture, but now it’s time to prove your mettle in doing these little things that matter so much,” Ananda said. She’s eager to work on this as well as criminal justice reform when she takes office. “In the meantime, I’m scheduling coffees and lunches nonstop so I can have a good foundation when that gets started,” she said. When her term in city commission begins in January, Ananda will be sworn in alongside Larsen who just won re-election. These
women, along with Mayor Leslie Soden, will make up the first ever female majority on the commission. “I think what we’re seeing is an influx of competent, skilled, experienced ,professional women coming into this field,” Ananda said. “It’s not that there was ever a lack of that, it was a lack of women running. Once we see more of that we’re going to see the change occur at all levels.” She said the majority gives the commission an opportunity to address problems that women face in politics. “We need to have those conversations, as unpleasant as they may be for some people,” Ananda said. Larsen said this new majority is a big step for Lawrence government. “It’ll have a significant impact on the citizens and the city as we go forward, I think what’s more important is that anybody who gets on the commision, the goal of that person should be that they’re committed to understanding the issues of the city and that they’re committed to engaging with the city,” Larsen said. “And that they’re willing to study the issues.” Larsen believes that one issue Lawrence could be more engaging on is more diversity going forward. “I would love to see people of color, people of different cultural backgrounds come forward and take that chance and run,”she said. “It goes back to having a broad spectrum of folks who have different perspectives on life.” Both women see this as a stepping stone but admit that more needs to be done. “This is a good first step, we can congratulate ourselves on that. However, we can’t pretend that we’ve arrived,” Ananda said.