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FOUR YEAR REVIEW: NEWS
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KANSAN.COM
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Editor's Note: Four Year Review
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MIRANDA DAVIS @MirandaRDavis
Every spring, I find myself looking back at my time at the University and thinking about how I've changed. This year, like many of you, when I look back at my time at the University it feels different since I'm a graduating senior.
But when looking back at our time here, what's equally important is the understanding that while our experience at KU changes us,
we've changed KU, too.
In the last four years at the University we've seen protests, a masked man, more than our fair share of football coaches and a continuation of the success of our basketball program. These events, how they affected us, and how they affected the greater whole of campus, can help serve as the bookmarks of our college careers.
I'm a big believer in the idea that the classroom is only a starting point for the learning
that happens in college. Often I think there's more to be gained by watching a Wescoe protest, joining a student senate committee, or sitting in the stands at Allen Fieldhouse than doing the required reading. This concept is reflected in my GPA.
By the time we're seniors, we understand that we shift and change and push through discomfort to become better people while we are here, but we so often forget that our institution and our community has done the same.
So in the pages of this section, you'll find a review of your time at the University. Think of this special issue as the conversation you've had with your friends where everyone is sitting around, drinking beer and reminiscing. Some memories are funny, some are good and some are bad. But they all happened and they were a part of the formative experience we've had the last four years.
When we look back at college, it's important to think not of how our environment affected us, but we how affected it. Isn't it something that many of the most important events over the last four years happened because students started something or spoke out? Isn't that what we should all strive to do in our time here? We shouldn't just hope for the self-realization and personal growth that we've been promised through movies and popular culture.
We should strive to do something. To be someone that leaves something for the next four years. And the four after that.
All of the moments and memories we've collected over the past four years matter. Those experiences were crucial. And maybe — most importantly — they changed things here.
- Edited by Ryan Wright
Johnny Cowan, wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, was arrested on Nov. 5, 2014, after "disrupting classes."
File Photo/KANSAN
Masked man on campus arrested after disrupting multiple classes, two individuals in custody
KANSAN STAFF
@KansanNews
One man wearing a wearing a military uniform and Guy Fawkes masks, recognizable from the movie and novel "V for Vendetta," entered University lecture halls during classes around 1 p.m. Wednesday in Budig and Wescoe halls to protest the University's handling of sexual assault.
"I am here on behalf of the victims of the sexual assault and rape cases that have been happening on campus," said the masked man. "I am here to let them know that they are not alone."
He was arrested on campus around 2 p.m. by the Office of Public Safety, said Captain James Anguiano.
PSO has not confirmed the exact number of individuals associated with the protest, but sent a campus-wide alert at 2:30 p.m. saying two individuals were in
custody after "disrupting classes wearing masks."
Anguiano said students were alerted at that time because information needed to be gathered and verified. He said PSO officers were aware of threats posted on the anonymous social media app Yik Yak, and were sent to perform a safety sweep of Wescoe Hall.
One of the individuals, who did not give his name, said his message was a peaceful demonstration and "the only way to be heard." He said most students laughed and pulled out their cell phones, but the only physical interaction he had was with a professor who tried to grab him and remove his mask.
PSO sent officers to perform a safety sweep of Wescoe Hall, according to an alert updated at 3:32 p.m. Anguiano said an investigation of the individuals' connections to the protest is ongoing.
Courtney Voorhees,
a sophomore from Shawnee, said she was in the Budig 110 lecture hall when one of the masked men entered her classroom.
"The people all around me said we all thought he was going to shoot everyone," Voorhees said. "It got to the point where we all started ducking down and me and my friends next to me all grabbed each other's arms."
Nick Benetti, a sophomore from St. Charles, Ill., said the man visited Wescoe 3140 and relayed his message.
He said the professor,
Brian Staihr, started walking toward the man,
which prompted him to leave the classroom.
"Everyone got quiet, and we didn't really know what was going on," said Benetti.
Jade Hall, a senior from Derby, was in Budig when the man came in. She said she thought little of it until others around
"After that it started getting kind of scary because I hadn't really been thinking about that and then people brought it up," Hall said. "I was kind of like, 'Wow, this could be really bad.'"
"People were terrified," said Gadd-Nelson. "Maybe hang out on Wescoe Beach and talk about it, but to go into the classrooms like that I think was definitely overstepping some boundaries."
her started wondering if he had a gun.
Jamie Gadd-Nelson, a junior from Kansas City, said that she supports justice for victims of sexual assault, but didn't agree with the masked man's approach.
One of the masked individuals threatened the Kappa Sigma fraternity, saying to a class in Wescoe, "all members who do not dissociate themselves with this fraternity will be seen as guilty parties and they will be dealt with accordingly."
Kappa Sigma president Jack Schwartz, a junior from St. Louis, said he contacted police after he heard about masked men making threats against the fraternity.
Lawrence Police Department officers patrolled the area around the fraternity Wednesday night and will potentially for the next few days. Schwartz said they want to be prepared for the worst and are taking the situation seriously to ensure everyone's safety.
"You can't let these things go lightly, but you also have to keep in mind that this could be anything," Schwartz said. "It could be just, you know, some people trying to gain attention."
Kappa Sigma is under investigation for an alleged sexual assault. The University extended the fraternity's suspension on Oct. 31. The University is also investigating two rapes that occurred in Hashinger Residence
Hall after two men, one a University student, were arrested on Oct. 3.
Morgan Said, a senior from Kansas City, Mo. and student body president, said Greek Life emailed members Wednesday afternoon and said they are not aware a real threat exists but to remain alert and report suspicious activity to PSO and the Lawrence Police Department.
Will Nye, a junior from Dallas and director of public relations for Interfraternity Council, said on Wednesday afternoon that they don't know anything more than the public.
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