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Volume 128 Issue 105
kansan.com
Thursday, April 9, 2015
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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11DV
The student voice since 1904
WEEKEND EDITION
Snatchat update includes emojis to show best friends | PAGE 6A
TRENDING
Office of Multicultural Affairs director explains resignation
Editor's note: An in-depth article on this topic will follow in the Monday, April 13 edition.
ALANA FLINN
@alana_finn
Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Blane Harding, who announced his resignation from the University, effective May 1, has explained the reasoning behind his decision.
Harding will take a job as director of the Student Center for Cultural Diversity at the University of Nevada, Reno, because he "does not like the direction central leadership is going [at the University]," he said.
Harding
"I came to KU because I saw a perfect opportunity to serve as the director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs and there was a really nice setup in terms
of the programming." Harding said. "It's been a fantastic three years.
"I just wish that central leadership would do something concrete to support students of color. How long have we known the black six-year graduation rate is at 46 percent? Two years. And we still don't have a program in place. I've been saying we need it, the students have been saying it, the [Student] Senate has been saying it, but there's still nothing concrete in place. I can't stay around and watch that anymore."
got them involved in almost all of our programming, and I know it will continue because now they, know the faculty members they didn't know before, and that's something I'm really proud of"
Harding said he was also able to extend diversity training across campus.
In his time at the University. Harding said he is proud of the involvement OMA has had throughout campus.
"I think the faculty always wanted to be involved in this office but didn't know how to get their foot in the door," Harding said. "I think the relationships I built with faculty
"It used to be we only did training with housing," Harding said. "Now we do training with the Spencer Museum, Watson, the School of Education, the School of Journalism, with the [Office of First-Year Experience] ... so we ha... become the diversity social justice trainers for the campus, which I think should have always been happening."
Harding has recommended OMA Assistant Director Cody Charles and OMA Assistant Director Precious Porras for interim director because "we want someone steady who knows the office and the system."
There is no official date for the national search that will be launched to find Harding's replacement.
Edited by Laura Kubicki
FIL F PHOTO/KANSAN
Student senators take notes during a meeting at the Union. There are two coalitions so far in this spring's elections: Advance KU and Imagine.
Advance KU, Imagine coalitions work to rebuild Senate's image on campus
JAMES HOYT
@jamesjhoyt
Although Advance KU and Imagine, the two coalitions running in this spring's Student Senate election, were formed with different goals in mind, they agree on one thing: Their representatives say the events of the last election damaged Student Senate, and that damage needs to be repaired.
"I think it [the coalition's objective] is really trying to regain the trust of students and rebuilding relationships that we've lost," Advance KU vice presidential candidate Zach George said at Advance KU's formation caucus.
"[Imagine] started with a very fundamental idea that our Senate is not functioning in the way it's supposed to — it's not inclusive, and it does not represent
Advance KU and Imagine both have stated they want to predicate their campaigns on repairing their relations with the student body.
Imagine presidential candidate Katherine Rainey expressed the same sentiment.
One of the driving forces for the coalitions' agenda is the tumultuous events of the last election cycle, including what has come to be known as "Burritogate."
Regardless of "Burritogate," the student body by and large is not aware of Student Senate's purpose or existence.
the entire student body," Rainey said at Imagine's formation.
The task of educating the student body on Student Senate will be difficult.
"Burritogate" was an Elections Commission controversy that occurred last April. The jayhawkers coalition was disqualified before election day for failing to report $300 worth of burrito purchases at Chipotle for a campaign event. However, jayhawkers remained on the April ticket. The dust-up led to
"[Imagine] started with a very fundamental idea that our Senate is not functioning in the way it's supposed to —it's not inclusive, and it does not represent the entire student body."
a re-election in September between the two remaining coalitions, Grow KU and Crimson & True.
KATHERINE RAINEY Imagine presidential candidate
For Advance KU, Imagine and any other prospective coalitions to repair their public image, they first face the task of making the student body more aware of their purpose and existence. Although last spring's presidential election broke the University's record for voter turnout, it reflected only about 18 percent of the student body, according to the Elections Commission.
Harrison Hipp; a junior from Olathe studying journalism, said he did not know who Student Body President Morgan Said or Student Body Vice President Miranda Wagner were.
"I know they're a student organization on campus that has a lot to do with approving certain funding." Hipp said. "Other
REVIEWING 2014-2015 WITH STUDENT SENATE
SEE COALITION PAGE 2A
ALANA FLINN
@alana_finn
As the 2014-15 Student Senate year begins to wind down, the executive staff recounts its achievements:
FALL 2014 Chief of Staff Mitchell Cotar
"In the fall, there were a lot of punches thrown at us in a sense that we had a lot of things outside of Senate that were affecting the University. The first semester turned out to be a very reactive approach just because of the national issue of sexual assault, and we had to ensure our students were comfortable with the response from the University as a whole, and Senate had to ensure they were representing every community at KU.
"My biggest accomplishment is the establishment of a social justice minor. It's actually in the completion cycle and will for sure be available in fall 2015, and they turned
it into a graduate certificate, which is the equivalent of a minor for the graduate programs. Dean Jamie Anderson, who is moving to Trinity college as their chancellor, was happy to see this trend of the entire University caring about social justice and equity and equality, not just on campus, but in the world as a whole."
OPINION 4A
A&F 5A
Student Body Vice President Miranda Wagner:
"The first thing we did would be before we were even on campus. In the summer, HR made the announcement they were cutting all of the student hours down to 20 hours a week, and [student body president] Morgan [Said] and 1 were able to get in the meeting, and we were able to convince them to do 29 hours a week, which was a nice achievement to start the year off with.
SEE SENATE PAGE 2A
Student athletes and leaders at the University are now among the long list of celebrities, public figures and other colleges to join the national "It's On Us" campaign to stop sexual assault on campuses. KU Athletics posted the video calling for awareness and action last Thursday.
University members join national push to end sexual assault
The "It's On Us" campaign was first launched last September when President Barack Obama announced a partnership between the NCAA and the White House. The first version of the "It's On Us" video featured Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, as well as stars like Joe Hamm, Kerry Washington, Rose Byrne and Quest-love urging viewers that "it's on us to stop sexual assault" and "to get in the way before it happens." Since September, the original video has been viewed 2.7 million times.
RILEY MORTENSEN
@RileyMortensen
The KU Athletics video mirrors the original and features Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little, basketball coach Bill Self, student athletes like basketball player Wayne Selden Jr., rower Briana Pina, baseball player Stephen Villines, golfer Michelle Woods and student leaders like Student Body President Morgan Said, KU Army ROTC Cadet Garrett Farlow and Interfraternity Council President Chris Pygle.
Since the University released its version of the "It's On Us" video, it has been viewed about 1,300 times on YouTube.
Originally, Dickerson was only going to make the video an athletics campaign, but then she started to think about the premise behind the initiative, she said.
"The initiative is to change campus culture, the entire campus culture," Dickerson said. "While it's awesome to start with the athletic department and make sure we're being examples for that, I thought it was a great opportunity to reach out to the other organizations on campus and try to reach the biggest student population as possible."
"The campaign was adopted by the NCAA and the Big 12 conference," the former KU athlete and alumna said. "I wanted to jump on board as soon as possible and make sure that we were involved."
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little challenges viewers to take the pledge in the national it's On Us campaign. The campaign calls for awareness and prevention of sexual assault on campus.
Director of Student-Athlete Development Cassandra Dickerson first suggested the University join the campaign.
PUZZLES 6A
SPORTS 1B
SEE IT'S ON US PAGE 2A
CLASSIFIEDS 3B
DAILY DEBATE 4B
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2015 The University Daily Kansan
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