THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
ARTS & CULTURE
INSIDE What comes next a sexual misconduct report is filed in IOA
Mario Chalmers’ iconic 2008 shot memorialized in
p. 3
downtown KC mural The University Daily Kansan
vol. 136 // iss. 26 Mon., Apr. 16, 2018
Does a trip to the Final Four increase KU enrollment? p. 12
SEE MARIO • PAGE 6
Meet the president-elect
Savanna Smith/KANSAN Noah Ries won the race for student body president on Thursday and will be the University’s first openly gay student body president. SAVANNA SMITH @savsmith20 Noah Ries is a junior from Kansas City, Kansas, studying economics with minors in business and Chinese. As of Thursday night, he is also the student body president-elect, having won the Student Senate election with his coalition, Crimson and Blue. Ries has served a year in Student Senate in two executive positions — the director of internal affairs and the director of policy and development. In a past interview, Ries said, to his knowledge, he is the first openly gay president at the University. Outside of the Senate chambers, Ries has dreams of becoming a human rights lawyer, travelling to China and eventually owning a pet pig. Yes, a pig. The self-proclaimed “nerd” sat down with the Kansan and answered a series of questions so the student body could get to know its new leader. Here’s your chance to meet the president. The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
KANSAN: How would you
describe yourself in three words?
RIES: Driven, because I see
something that I want or I see something that needs to be done, and I put in the time to get it done. I’m open because I’m very honest with people, like I’m willing to admit my failures, I’m willing to admit my weaknesses, and I think that in itself is a strength. If you can’t admit your weaknesses, you’re never going to get over them. Human ... there’s two sides to humanity. There’s the good and the bad, and you have to recognize that every single person has both. When I’m saying that I’m human it means humans are capable of so many great things, you know? And I think I am too. But being human also means that you’re not perfect.... Realizing that you’re
not going to be perfect but still having the drive to get as close as you possibly can to it, that humility, I guess, in realizing you’re human is really important.
KANSAN: To you, what
does it mean to be a Jayhawk?
RIES: I literally can’t put it into words. It’s something you have to feel. You just have to walk around on campus and you feel it … It’s not something you can put into any language. You’ll feel the sense of community. You’ll feel the drive to get something done. To get that degree to go on to be a successful person in the world. KANSAN: When you were
little, did you ever imagine you would be student body president of KU?
RIES: When I was little I never would have ever imagined myself to be even running for student body president, going to KU, none of it … I think when I got to college, I realized ‘Oh my gosh, I’m 19 years old, what am I doing with my life?’ I want to make a change, I want to help people, because that’s where I really find happiness, and I kind of got swept into it all. I really think it was just a lot of luck and being in the right place at the time. But since then I haven’t looked back. So, no I would have never imagined this, but I am so thankful for everything that has happened since then. KANSAN: Why do you study Chinese?
RIES: I was like, well you
know, ‘I’m in college, I’m gonna try something new.’ So I kind of like pointed and picked Chinese because I knew it was interesting. And I really like East Asian culture. I’m a big history guy. Chinese history, especially ancient Chinese history has always been super fascinating to me. I’m kind of a nerd, if you can’t tell. Because of that I thought it would be interesting to learn the language ... since then I’ve never looked
back.
KANSAN: What’s your dream job?
RIES: I definitely want to be a human rights lawyer. So I want to go into business for sure and just get my background in how things work. I think just being in business for two or three or four years is a good way to learn the ropes of how the world functions. My end goal, or my dream, is to go to law school ... I one time got a fortune cookie, I have a picture of it if you don’t believe me, and I opened it up and it literally just said ‘you would make a good lawyer’ ... For whatever reason I’m being told I need to be a lawyer by a fortune cookies, and I want to use that for good. So I think being a human rights lawyer would be awesome. And again, dream job, would be advocating for LGBTQ+ rights ... I think total dream job would be to use my Chinese and be a human rights advocate for LGBTQ+ individuals in China, through the law ... I know I want to be a lawyer, I know I want to help my community, and I can speak Chinese, let’s put it all together. KANSAN: What is your favorite animal?
RIES:
Oh my gosh. So weird, but I really like pigs. I actually want a pet pig when I’m older ... Pigs are really smart ... If there are actual small household pigs out there that really exist, I want one. Because you can train them and they’re really friendly and they’re smart, they remember stuff. They’re just like dogs. Isn’t that so weird though? People would expect me to say a Komodo dragon or something, but no. Pig ... I want a pig. And they’re so interesting and people think they’re dirty because they roll around in mud, but they do it to cool off. They’re just really misunderstood animals.
KANSAN: Cats or dogs? RIES: Dogs. All the way. I
want a Corgi. Corgi and a pig.
And a St. Bernard. One of the three, or hopefully all three. I think it would be so funny if you had this giant St. Bernard next to this little Corgi ... the Corgi’s gonna be the feisty one I bet and the St. Bernard will be the super calm one. That’s my ideal pet situation and then a pig also, because why not? Oh, and the Corgi’s name will be Caesar. Caesar Augustus ... And I’ll call him emperor for his nickname. Or, I guess I’ll treat him like an emperor. After explaining his interest in the Roman Empire, Ries shared historical facts about his favorite Chinese dynasty, the Southern Song.
RIES: I think the Roman Empire is the coolest thing ever. Right behind the Southern Song Dynasty. I told you, nerdy. Southern Song Dynasty invented the first ticking clock, and this was like 1,000 years before the industrial revolution. Mind blown. KANSAN: What sparked your interest in history? RIES: I’m someone who has always questioned what is being told to me, who questions traditions, who questions why things are the way they are. And I try to find the morality in that. When someone tells me that’s how it’s always done so that’s how we’re going to do it, I don’t agree with that. So what’s nice about history is it’s kind of a fact checker for that. Is that how it’s always been done? … I can say to that person well that’s not true because for you know, in this empire for 600 years that’s how they did things and that wasn’t what we are doing right now and that seemed to work better. KANSAN: Who are your role models?
RIES: My main role models, probably my parents first. And then, I had a few really good swim coaches in high school and one in particular [Paul Winkeler, Rockhurst High School] ... he instilled in me this belief that you need
to set goals, or else you will never achieve what you want to achieve ... What he taught me has really allowed me to excel.
KANSAN: What do you do with your free time?
RIES: I guess I would say, I don’t have any. No, I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I joked with my mom the other day. She was like what are you doing to relax in your free time? And I was like, I’m going to be honest, Mom, I don’t. But I do like to work out. I think that’s a really good stress reliever ... I like running because it really clears your mind ... I like to read articles, news, stuff like that. I also watch educational YouTube videos. KANSAN: Is there anything else about yourself that you’d like to add that we didn’t talk about? RIES: I guess we didn’t really talk about me coming out ... I mean, I don’t mind. It’s not bad by any means. It’s not like a super emotional story or anything. It was my senior year. I was tired of not being out so I told one of my really close friends ... then told one of my other friends and basically those were the only two I told for about two months. It is crazy how, if you internalize something, and you are the only person thinking about it like, your brain will trick you into thinking it’s this terrible thing that is just beating you down, but as soon as you tell one person they dispel all those fears immediately ... I definitely became more of an optimist and more of a believer in humanity because I had all these big fears, and I know everyone’s experience is different so I don’t want to discount that, but a lot of them were just like fears, and that was it. So it really made me believe in humanity. When I say I want to be a human rights lawyer, it goes back to that. I want other people to have those fears dispelled. For some people, those fears are reality and that’s unacceptable.