August 2023

Ted Lasso: A true Shocker

I love everything about fall at Wichita State: helping new students move into the residence halls, faculty returning from summer research and vacation, and the beginning of a brand-new academic year!

I hope everyone’s summer was relaxing and rejuvenating, and maybe you got to spend a little time in front of the TV catching up on your shows.

One show that aired its final season this summer was “Ted Lasso” — which, if you are unaware, follows an obviously fictional and successful Wichita State University football coach, who leaves WSU to coach a soccer team in the United Kingdom. He basically knows nothing about the other kind of football, but his infectious positivity inspires the struggling team with the power of kindness and teamwork.

Ted undeniably mirrors the spirit of Shocker Nation through his unwavering optimism and undeniable determination, so today I want to share with you some quotes from “Ted Lasso” that align with the tenets of what we do here at Wichita State and prove that — even though he’s a work of fiction — Ted is a true Shocker.

Don’t worry. If you haven’t finished watching the series, there are no spoilers.

1. “Taking on a challenge is a lot like riding a horse, isn’t it? If you’re comfortable while you’re doing it, you’re probably doing it wrong.” Throughout Wichita State’s history, we’ve accomplished some remarkable feats: building the Innovation Campus, record enrollment at a time when most universities are struggling to attract students, raising $42 million in gifts for need-based aid from 2019-2023, increasing research awards from $55 million to $300 million in 10 years … the list goes on and on. And all that happened because, together, we faced a challenge, we understood the assignment, and we got to work.

Wichita State University and WSU Tech are key drivers of economic growth, fueling job creation, fostering industry partnerships, and supporting local businesses — and the numbers prove it. According to the 2022 Economic Impact Study, WSU and WSU Tech’s total economic impact in Kansas in 2021 was $1.3 billion.

The study, published recently by WSU’s Center for Economic Development and Business Research, used best practices laid out by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities and Association of American Universities.



WSU and WSU Tech’s impact on the Kansas economy is substantial and can be seen through a variety of metrics.

Location for WSU/KU Wichita Biomedical Campus approved

The Wichita City Council approved a plan Aug. 1 that will move forward a project between Wichita State University and the University of Kansas to build a 471,000-square-foot health sciences center in the heart of downtown Wichita.

Council members agreed to sell or lease two tracts of land – at 214 S. Topeka (where the Wichita Transit Center, set to move to Delano, is currently located) and a parking lot at the southeast corner of Broadway and William.

With $205 million of the necessary $300 million raised for the project, construction on the Wichita Biomedical Campus is expected to start in early 2024 and be completed some time in 2026.

Wichita State class helps students work with customers on assistive technologies

The Accessible Design course concerned Wichita State University junior Reagan Kelley at first. She wasn’t an engineering major and wasn’t sure what she could contribute.

Conversations with Samantha Corcoran, associate engineering coordinator in the College of Engineering, answered her questions. The payoff at the end of the project made it worthwhile. Kelley, an exercise science major, and three other students modified an all-terrain wheelchair for Sutton, a 9-year-old boy who outgrew the chair’s previous dimensions.



“She was right – I had nothing to worry about,” Kelley said. “After all the hard work, we got to see the project delivered. To see the look on Sutton’s face and the look on his family’s faces … they were all so excited.”

History students hope to illuminate history of LGBTQ community in Wichita

A group of graduate students from Wichita State University’s Department of History is chronicling the history of the LGBTQ community in Wichita.

The project is the next in a series of photo history books that Dr. Jay Price, chair of history in WSU’s Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has created through Arcadia Publishing. Previous topics of the region’s history include Wichita’s legacy of flight, El Dorado’s oil boom, the Cherokee Strip Land Run, the Lebanese community located in the city and the Mexican Americans of Wichita’s North End.

When he was approached by Arcadia about covering another topic, Price went to his students in his local and community history class for ideas, with grad student Christen 

Brouillette spearheading the topic of the Wichita LGBTQ community.

Shocker grad student accepted into presidential U.S. Marine Band

If things had gone differently, Billy Berue would be tracking tornadoes rather than trumpeting tunes on his way to Washington, D.C.

“I wanted to be a meteorologist, but as I improved through taking lessons, the trumpet captured my interest,” said Berue, a Wichita State University graduate student in trumpet performance. “Moreover, I received a lot of good opportunities and positive feedback from band directors in high school, which encouraged me to pursue the trumpet as a career.”

In June, Berue began an eight-year stint as a trumpeter in The President’s Own United States Marine Band.

The President’s Own — as it’s commonly called — was established in 1798 with a mission to perform for the president of the United States and the commandant of the Marine Corps. It was created by an act of Congress and boasts that it is America’s oldest continually active professional music organization.

Wichita State featured in APLU newsletter

President Rick Muma and Diane Tinker-Hurst, project manager for Industry and Defense Programs, discussed how Wichita State drives innovation and economic prosperity in an article with the Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities.



They shared how WSU’s vision, mission and values help shape the university’s goal to nurture talented students in a variety of fields; fostering innovation through our initiatives of digital transformation and the development of the MRO program and Molecular Diagnostics Lab; and how the university leads the way with our Innovation Campus.

Wichita State filmmakers explore aftermath, trauma of 1965 plane crash

The black granite memorial in Piatt Park describes the tragedy of January 1965 and lists the names of those who died in the predominately Black neighborhood.

For Dr. Kevin Harrison, director of diversity, equity and inclusion for the Cohen Honors College at Wichita State University, the story of that day is one that deserves more discussion and examination to understand.



Harrison grew up in the Wichita neighborhood around 20th and Piatt Street, less than a mile from campus. The memorial park marks the site where a U.S. Air Force Boeing KC-135 refueling tanker crashed, shortly after takeoff on the morning Jan. 16, 1965. The crash and resulting explosion and fires caused the deaths of 30 people, numerous injuries and the destruction of 10 homes. According to news reports, around 31,000 gallons of jet fuel covered the area with flames and smoke.

A screening for the film is scheduled at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 31 in the CAC Theater on Wichita State's campus. The event is open to the entire community.

New Wichita State partnership with WSU Tech and Butler will help critical teacher shortage

A new Wichita State University initiative is aimed at addressing the critical shortage of educators in special education and elementary classrooms.

The initiative, called Teacher Education Pathways, recently received $97,000 from the Kansas Board of Regents.

The grant funding will allow the College of Applied Studies’ Teacher Apprentice Program (TAP), elementary education and early childhood programs the ability to get Teacher Education Pathways off the ground.



The new program — which will start in fall 2023 — will provide smoother pathways for students pursuing Kansas licensure in elementary education and early childhood. WSU will collaborate closely with Butler Community College and WSU Tech to establish a new scholarship and pathway for undergraduates seeking initial teacher licensure.

Robotic food delivery service starts at Wichita State

Wichita State Dining is going high tech with the rollout of robotic food delivery on campus, thanks to a partnership with Starship Technologies.

Starting Aug. 14, Starship’s fleet of autonomous, on-demand robots are available to deliver food from many of the campus restaurants.



The service works in conjunction with the student meal plan and Shocker dollars, as well as via credit card.

Keep in touch.