At K-State
Moving forward together with KSUnite 2019
Francisco Cardoza has a clear memory of the first KSUnite gathering on the K-State
campus.
It was a cool, cloudy day in 2017. Cardoza — currently a senior in management information
systems and president of the Hispanic American Leadership Organization (HALO) — remembers
following the large crowd to Anderson Hall lawn. There, he found a sea of purple,
as people joined together to express their love for the university and their commitment
to diversity and inclusion.
“K-State took a stance that day by deciding to cancel classes…to stand against hate,”
he said.
He challenged the university to see KSUnite as more than just one day — it should
be an ongoing mission, to make sure that all voices at K-State are heard, and that
everyone on campus feels safe and respected.
K-State hosted the third annual KSUnite gathering Nov. 6 at the K-State Student Union.
The event included guest speakers, as well as breakout sessions on topics such as
accessibility, immigration, religion and social justice.
“We chose KSUnite as a visible pledge and an act of engagement,” K-State President
Richard Myers ’65 said of the annual event. “We have a lot to be proud of, and we
want to continue to make progress. We stand united against all forms of discrimination.”
He shared that progress continues on K-State’s Morris Family Multicultural Student
Center, which is currently under construction. The center’s mission is to provide
a space for students of all backgrounds to collaborate and support intercultural learning.
A new point of view
Speakers at KSUnite urged K-Staters to listen, discuss, consider new points of view
and ask questions.
Provost and Executive Vice President Charles Taber recommended that students, faculty
and staff look for inequalities in opportunity that may exist on campus and in the
community, and to promote accessibility for all.
“All of us can contribute to a more just world and a more inclusive campus,” he said.
Jansen Penny, student body president and senior in industrial engineering, said that
coming to K-State gave him an opportunity to experience new perspectives.
“This was the first time I got to experience my own privilege,” he said. “We all have
an opportunity on a daily basis to be a change-maker.”
In addition to Cardoza and Penny, several other students also gave testimonials about
their K-State experiences:
- Lindsay Gutierrez, senior in geology, spoke about her military background and utilizing the Student Access Center.
- Gloria Mutiri, K-State Volleyball player and junior in mass communications, spoke about the discrimination she experienced growing up and the pride she now takes in embracing who she is.
- Mohammad Khan, junior in biology, spoke about his experiences as a Muslim in the U.S.
- Polina Nations, junior in social work and gender, women and sexuality studies, spoke
about sexual violence, and how survivors deserve to be heard and believed.
The keynote speaker was Judge Maritza Segarra ’84. Judge Segarra was the first woman
to ever sit as a District Court Judge in the 8th Judicial District and was the first
Latina ever named as a District Court Judge in the state of Kansas.
“This is such a big step in eroding that type of discrimination,” she said of KSUnite.
“If you weren’t wanting that change, you wouldn’t be here.”
Learn more about the 2019 event.
(Photo of Gloria Mutiri, courtesy of K-State Athletics)
Meet the new K-State Student Ambassadors
Sam Bond and Chaz Corredor waited on the field during halftime at the K-State Homecoming
football game to see whose names would be announced as the new 2020 K-State Student
Ambassadors.
As part of Homecoming earlier that week, K-State students voted on two candidates
to represent the student body at K-State Alumni Association events and university
activities throughout the year.
Walking out onto the football field is an exciting experience on its own, but the
moment was made even more special for Bond and Corredor when they heard the announcer
call their names.
After the announcement, there was a flurry of excitement — smiling, hugging and crying
tears of joy. There would be a lot of hard work ahead, but for now it was enough to
just bask in this moment.
“Being on the field and hearing my name being announced to almost 50,000 people was
definitely something out of a dream for me,” Bond said. “I was already so grateful for the experience of participating in so many fun activities
during Homecoming week, but being able to further my love for K-State by being announced
as the 2020 female ambassador is something I will never forget. I am so thankful for
the friends that helped support me and affirm me in wanting to apply for ambassador
and I am extremely thankful for the K-State Alumni Association for their kindness
and efforts in connecting to students like me.”
“It was honestly such a surreal moment being on the field during halftime,” Corredor said. “To be rewarded with this opportunity after a couple stressful weeks of interviews
and speaking events was a moment I will truly never forget.”
Sam Bond is a junior in human development and family sciences from Olathe, Kansas,
and Chaz Corredor is a junior in finance from Lenexa, Kansas.
Bond said she decided to run for ambassador because of her past experience working
for the university and spending time with the 2019 Student Ambassadors, Maddy Mash
and Tel Wittmer.
“Being able to see how much energy and effort is put into each student that walks
through our front doors has inspired me to continue that value in my own life and
what I want to further in my leadership at K-State,” she said. “Seeing how passionate
Maddy and Tel have been with their position as ambassadors has been an inspiration
for me. I want to radiate that same character and positivity on this campus for new,
current and graduating students.”
She is passionate about K-State because of the community feeling the university has.
“K-State is important to me, because of how students are genuinely treated and put
first by staff and community members,” she said. “The minute a new student steps on
this campus they are treated as a member of the family and community — that is why
I love this school and bleed purple every day.”
Learn more about Sam Bond. 
Corredor said he wanted to run for ambassador in order to help other students have
the same positive experience at K-State that he’s had.
“I’ve had the experience of a lifetime as a K-State student, and I want others to
experience exactly what makes K-State so great,” he said. “I can think of no role
that provides valuable opportunities to interact with past, present and future students
more than ‘K-State Student Ambassador.’”
He is thankful to K-State for giving him a sense of purpose and belonging.
“The people I’ve met in my classes and in my campus organizations have pushed me to
become who I am today,” he said. “I can’t believe I’m already closer to the end of
my K-State journey than the beginning, but I’m confident future generations at K-State
are sure to experience what I’ve been fortunate enough to find here.”
Learn more about Chaz Corredor.
Each year a male and a female student ambassador are elected to spend the year attending
alumni and campus activities, speaking to alumni, friends, and current and prospective
students. The ambassadors serve a one-year term, and each receives a $1,500 scholarship,
clothing from Borck Brothers and the official K-State ring from the Alumni Association.
The Force is strong with these K-State droid builders
The very first film Mike Gruhala ’00 remembers watching was a little movie called
“Star Wars” on his family’s brand-new faux wood veneer VHS player.
“As a young kid, those first few minutes really had me hooked on the franchise and
the movie genre itself,” he said. “Sometime afterwards, I ran across a documentary
on TV about the ‘Making of Star Wars’ and how it dealt in detail with the concepts
of stop motion photography and especially the construction of movie model props. I
had no idea that people actually made those models in a shop, from everyday materials,
and it seemed like something I could do.”
As it turns out, it was something Gruhala could do — the K-State grad is now a member of the Kansas City chapter of the R2 Builders Club, a group dedicated to building realistic, life-size replicas of the droids from the
Star Wars franchise.
Gruhala decided one day that he needed a hobby which encompassed his wide range of
interests: construction, electronics, science fiction and architecture. He was an
architecture major at K-State.
“After a few failed attempts of restoring an old sports car, I somehow decided upon
building a 1:1 scale fully remote control R2-D2,” he said. “I eventually stumbled
upon a website that contained thousands of members from around the globe who had already
began (and some of whom had finished) building a droid of their own. I eventually
discovered that some members of this group had gained access to the actual filming
prop, which allowed the group to have vital dimensions and color matches to the droid(s)
used on film.”
He found two other builders in Kansas City area, and they were able to share information
and advice on electronics and construction. Gruhala said the group has since grown
to more than 10 local builders, who regularly attend local charity and public outreach
events together.
“I really enjoy tinkering around with it,” he said of his droid project. “Whether
it’s upgrading electronics, reworking parts for better durability or trying to clean
up the spaghetti mess of wires that are concealed deep within R2’s body, it seems
very similar to my original idea of rebuilding an old sports car — just a bit smaller
and less expensive.”
Fellow K-Stater Kevin Schwarz ’12 eventually found his way into the club, as well.
“I have a friend who is in other Star Wars costuming groups, the 501st and the Rebel
Legion,” said Schwarz, who majored in computer science. “He was planning on building
a screen accurate C-3PO costume. R2 has always been my favorite so I thought it would
be cool to have R2 and 3PO together. He pointed me to the worldwide astromech.net website and not long after I found the local builders.”
Schwarz said his favorite part of building his droid was right after he got the motors
working.
“When R2 starts moving it really feels like he comes alive, and being able to watch
people interact with R2 has been awesome,” he said. “I actually found building the
legs and feet to be the most challenging. Most of my R2 is made from plastic that
I had to cut by hand. The legs and feet support R2’s weight so getting them right
is pretty important.”
So far, R2-D2 has been his favorite droid build, but he also has a MSE-6 (Mouse) droid
and he is working on a BB-8 build.
“I had to learn a few new skills to build R2, and that learning process was pretty
fun,” Schwarz said.
Star Wars on campus
The K-State grads in the Kansas City R2 Builders Club aren’t the only Wildcats with
a passion for a certain galaxy far, far away. K-State has its own Star Wars Club for
students on campus.
Since it started three and a half years ago, the KSU Star Wars Club is one of the
fastest growing clubs on campus, said Zach Perez, K-State sophomore and the club’s
outreach manager.
He grew up loving Star Wars and joined the club his freshman year. He spotted the
club’s booth at a campus activities fair, an event he was covering for the Kansas State Collegian.
Club members meet to discuss the Star Wars universe and also host watch parties. Perez
said it’s a fun, informal environment where everyone is welcome to come and celebrate
Star Wars.
“I’ve kind of found my spot — it’s definitely a de-stressor for my week,” Perez said.
“We’ve definitely made a family here.”
Keep up with all of the club’s adventures by following them on Twitter.
K-Staters reflect on lessons learned from Student Alumni Board
Although he now serves as president of K-State’s Student Alumni Board, Keaton Petite
wasn’t always sure that he would attend K-State.
“My sister was extremely involved here, and I wanted to go somewhere I could make
a name for myself,” he said. “The reason I stayed was because of the people I encountered
on my visit and the alumni I spoke with while I was in Manhattan. I joined Student
Alumni Board because it gave me the opportunity to make the same impact on prospective
students while also staying engaged with both current students and alumni. SAB is
the only organization on campus that works with all three types of K-Staters and that’s
a unique experience you can’t get anywhere else.”
The K-State Alumni Association’s Student Alumni Board, or SAB, is a professional group
of 35 passionate students who enhance the K-State experience by creating a link between
the Alumni Association and past, present and future students. The program also offers
students a chance to learn valuable skills that can help them both in the classroom
and later on in their careers.
“My definition of what a leader is has changed and my definition of what a friend
is has changed over my three years being on Student Alumni Board,” Petite said. “I
attribute that to the leadership I’ve had and the opportunities that have been presented
to me.”
Growing as a leader
So far, Petite said that SAB has taught him the importance of communication and has
helped him realize that “facts and figures can only get you so far.”
“When working with prospective students, they don’t want to hear about K-State’s ranking
on happiness or our faculty to student ratio,” he said. “Students want to hear about
the experiences we’ve had at K-State and how those experiences have impacted our lives
for the better. It’s about being personal and relatable.”
Past Student Alumni Board president Taylor Fry ’17 said that serving on SAB taught
her how to adapt.
“Through SAB you are constantly interacting with all types of people, ranging from
alumni to prospective students or from staff members to fellow SAB members,” she said.
“They all have different expectations and communication styles. Being able to adapt
to meet others at their level was an important skill to learn in order to keep progressing
forward while also fostering relationships.”
She lists some of her favorite SAB memories as traveling to Washington, D.C., for
the CASE ASAP conference and touring D.C. in a Powercat labeled limo thanks to past
K-State Alumni Association board of directors member Carolyn Jackson ’75, ’81; working
the University Lounge during football games; and dancing at the Wabash CannonBall.
Fry works for the American Royal Association as a project coordinator and said she
sees many parallels between her job and her SAB experiences.
“SAB helped prepare me to handle the uncertainty that comes with new tasks, juggle
multiple responsibilities at one time, communicate and work with a variety of personalities
and backgrounds, and learn from those around me,” she said. “Looking back, I gained
a lot of valuable experience from SAB — it was definitely a top highlight of my college
career and one that I will always be very thankful for.”
From college to career
Fellow past SAB president Adam Wilkerson ’16 also has fun memories from the Wabash
CannonBall event, and said he always enjoyed SAB retreats, which offered the perfect
balance of work and fun.
He credits SAB for teaching him how to better plan and execute events.
“Events designed for high schoolers and alumni involve similar behind the scenes planning
but the visible approach and execution is variable and requires understanding the
intended audience,” he said.
Wilkerson currently works as a civil engineer at Burns and McDonnell in the aviation
and federal group. He assists with master planning and the designing of projects for
airports and federal clients. SAB helped him make connections that are now paying
off in his career.
“One of the first days on the job, I re-met the VP of my group who was on the Wabash
CannonBall planning committee,” he said. “We first met at the CannonBall and stayed
in touch so when I started, he took the time to welcome me to the group. The friends
I find myself running into the most at events throughout Kansas City are fellow SAB
members.”
Do you know a K-State student who would make a great member of the K-State Alumni Association’s Student Alumni Board? Learn more about what it takes to apply!
Path to progress: Lecture series promotes dialogue
Messages kept popping up on Dwane Roth’s phone, but they weren’t from his family or
persistent marketers — they were from the soil water sensors on his farm in western
Kansas.
Roth farms with his nephews near Holcomb, Kansas, using water from the Ogallala Aquifer
to irrigate their land. For years, Roth thought he was doing a good job of using progressive
water conservation techniques to reduce water usage, improve the soil and generally
conserve the land. Then he went to hear Jay Famiglietti, a hydrology scientist, give
a lecture at Kansas State University.
Famiglietti was the fourth speaker invited to K-State through the Henry C. Gardiner
Global Food Systems Lecture Series, which has been hosting world-renowned leaders
in climate, agriculture and global foods research since 2013. Hearing Famiglietti
talk about the depletion of underground water around the United States and the world,
and the importance of reversing that trend to preserve water for future use, Roth
doubled down on his conservation efforts.
“I knew we farmers had to do something to better conserve water,” Roth said. “I saw
on the K-State website that this world-renown hydrologist, Jay Famiglietti, was coming
to give a lecture, so I decided to go find out how to solve this problem. Before this,
I said I would never spend $1,400 on a soil water monitor, but now I have them everywhere.
I don’t even want to start an irrigation pivot if we don’t have one on there. That’s
how this thing took off from the global food lecture.”
Since attending the Gardiner lecture in 2016, Roth has implemented technology that
has cut down his water usage and improved the health of his soil. He has become passionate
about preserving land and water for future generations, attending conferences around
the country and inspiring the next generation of conservationists.
His daughter, Grace, focused on water advocacy and awareness as her FFA supervised
agricultural experience project her freshman year in high school. This project grew
into the Kansas Youth Water Advocates, which is supported by K-State, the Kansas Department
of Agriculture, the state FFA office and other agricultural organizations.
The Henry C. Gardiner Global Food Systems Lecture Series began in 2013 as a way to
honor a pioneer in livestock breeding and agriculture.
“My dad, Henry, was passionate about education and lifetime learning,” said Mark Gardiner,
a 1983 K-State alumnus. “As a beef producer, he was never satisfied with average.
Henry was committed to research and progressive dialogue with anyone sharing similar
objectives. His theories weren’t always popular. He was committed to proving or disproving
theories, recognizing that sustainable, repeatable results were the hoped for outcomes.
“He knew the pathway to progress was through objective dialogue, interaction with
folks that didn’t always agree but were focused on the same end goal — to breed better
beef cattle or to become better stewards of the land. Our goal with this lecture series
is to sustain Henry’s philosophy of passionate learning that leads to better outcomes.”
Read more
Combating waste at K-State
A big question on most minds today is how we can help future generations. The Kansas
State University recycling center has an answer for that; it has been working to reduce
waste since 2013.
“Recycling is important because we are trying to divert as much material from entering
the landfill to be used in other areas,” said Bill Spiegel, project manager for K-State
recycling.
Recycling links almost every part of K-State’s campus, from the blue bins outside
and inside most classrooms, to the recycling facility for the K-State community.
“We offer a convenient place to drop off all recyclable material 24/7, whether you
are a student or a faculty member of K-State, or support the recycling program here,”
Spiegel said.
The K-State recycling center team is passionate about saving the planet, one can at
a time, and works with campus departments to ensure that old recyclable materials
find new beginnings.
One of the biggest events for the recycling center involves the students moving in
and out of the dorms. This is the time for all students to look and see what they
do not want or need to take home and — if they choose — donate to the recycling center.
“Move out items can include anything from clothes, books, household items, non-perishable
food, paper, cardboard, plastics and aluminum cans,” said Spiegel. This long list
of items are things that most students forget can be recycled once they leave for
the summer.
All the extra clothes that are recycled during move in and move out are given to the
local Goodwill. The bedding is given to the T. Russell Reitz Animal Shelter in Manhattan
to provide extra comfort to the animals. All unopened nonperishable food is donated
to Cats’ Cupboard for student use.
This helps students to relieve the stress of cramming all their items back into their
cars for the ride home and benefits the local community.
Recently the center worked with the Housing and Dining services to recycle 582 mattresses.
The coordinator found an organization in the Greater Kansas City area that agreed
to pick up, sanitize and redistribute these mattresses to children in need. This all
happens with no extra cost to the university. Read more
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Save the date: Urban Food Systems Symposium is June 4-6, 2020
The Urban Food Systems Symposium hosted by Kansas State University will be June 4-6, 2020, at the Marriott Plaza Hotel
in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. The symposium will also offer a pre-symposium workshop
on June 3.
The symposium will bring together researchers, not-for-profit administrators, community
organizers, Extension professionals, students and others to share and gain knowledge
on urban food systems and agriculture and their role in global food security. The
focus is on food production and distribution in cities; climate change; urban planning
and development; nutrition and human health; food policy and education; and community
and economic development.
Henk de Zeeuw — international secretariat of the RUAF Foundation and an expert in
participatory research and Extension, multistakeholder policy development and planning,
and institutional development — will give the keynote address. Other speakers include:
- Becca Jablonski, assistant professor and Extension economist in food systems at Colorado State University
- Elizabeth Mitcham, director of the Horticulture Innovation Lab at the University of California, Davis
- Chuck Rice, university distinguished professor of soil science at K-State
Mark Winne, a community food systems and food policy activist, writer and trainer,
will be the June 4 dinner speaker.
Attendees will have the opportunity to hear an array of additional breakout presentations.
This year’s topics include nutrition and food security; climate change; food production
and distribution; community engagement; urban planning and development; international
perspectives; economic development; and food policy and advocacy.
Additionally, submissions are now being accepted for $500 travel scholarships for
both students and urban food systems professionals. Eligibility details and application
forms are available on the Urban Food Systems Symposium website. Dec. 20 is the application deadline for scholarships. Recipients will be announced
on Feb. 1, 2020. Travel scholarships for urban food systems professionals are funded
through North Central SARE.
The Urban Food Systems Symposium is an excellent opportunity to share and promote
your products or services. With over 200 attendees expected from all over North America,
sponsorship will be noticed by participants from all areas of the food systems industry.
Sponsorship levels range from Platinum to Supporter with various levels of benefits
and visibility to fit any organization. If you’re interested in partnering with us
in implementing this exciting event and organizing a high-quality symposium, visit
our sponsor page on our website.
Find more information about the symposium, including applications for travel scholarships.
