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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, JAN. 21, 2016 | VOLUME 130 ISSUE 2
inside this issue
SENATE. In the Student Senate Committees on Wednesday, three bills passed, one was tabled and one failed. Read the details: News >> 2
AFRICAN DRUMS.
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Would let concealed carry affect their decision to attend or work at KU
Surveys show KU students and faculty both oppose concealed carry on campus
▶ CONNER MITCHELL
@ConnerMitchell0
Results from two recent Kansas Board of Regents' gun surveys show the majority of University of Kansas employees and students opposed concealed carry on campus.
These results come amidst discussions of how to handle guns in buildings on campus if no changes are made to the current law, which will allow concealed carry in University buildings beginning July 1, 2017.
"I think the best thing that we can hope for out of this is that it gives us a little bit more evidence to say what we've pretty much already known, that a majority of the faculty are very much against it," said University Senate President Mike Williams.
The Kansas Board of Regents Employee Gun survey and Kansas Board of Regents Student Advisory Committee Gun survey were both prepared by the Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University and sent to faculty and students across the state.
In 2013, the Kansas State Legislature passed the Personal and Family Protection Act, which stated licensed gun owners could not be prohibited from bringing a gun into a state or municipal building. Colleges and universities were given an exemption to that law, which expires July 1, 2017.
The faculty and student
surveys gauged the sentiments regarding concealed carry of guns on university campuses. Williams said the faculty survey results as a whole provide more evidence against having guns on campuses to present to legislators.
"They see it's going to change how they teach, and it very well may drive away some of the faculty to go other places to work," he said.
Gary Brinker, director of the Docking Institute at Fort Hays State, said the survey was developed with the goal of encompassing all issues surrounding gun policy that were relevant for faculty and staff.
"We thought about all the aspects of gun use, possession and storage policy that we could," he said. "The clients, the faculty staff senators, sort of honed that and they may have cut out some questions that we suggested. I know for a fact they added several on there."
Roughly 10,886 responses were recorded from employees at the University, as well as Kansas State University, Wichita State University, Pittsburg State University, Emporia State University and Fort Hays State University. According to the survey results. The survey returned a response rate of 54 percent, with 70 percent of total respondents saying they want the current law amended so guns are not allowed on campuses.
Brinker said the response rate was much higher than anticipated as Internet surveys typically generate a response rate of around 10 to 15 percent.
"It told me this is a topic that the faculty and staff were very concerned with, and it does speak for the validity of the data," Brinker said. "You can be confident the survey results reflect even the ones that didn't take it."
Employees at the University responded with the highest opposition to concealed carry,with 82 percent saying they would prefer an amendment to the current law so guns are not allowed on campuses.Over 60 percent of University employees said they would
SEEGUNPAGE3
Newly appointed OMA director Precious Porras to hire additional faculty and increase training capacity
▶ LARA KORTE
@lara_korte
Becoming a social justice educator and activist has been a lifelong journey for Precious Porras.
After moving to a rural Missouri community in middle school, where she was the only person of color. Porras said she experienced a series of racial incidents. For almost a month during seventh grade, she said she was consistently called racial slurs on her way to the bus. Later that same year, her mailbox was vandalized.
Those experiences left a lasting impression on Porras that led her to a life of activism and education.
"I was like, 'I don't want anyone else to go through this,' Porras said.
"I definitely have goals that I aspire to and places I want to see the office move, and our office goal is to be the best in the state, region and nation eventually," Porras said.
Porras was recently named the new director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, where she said she's focused on making the OMA the best it can be.
She said her activism was kick-started in college, when she realized there were others who were also experiencing discrimination.
During her first semester at Northwest Missouri State University, Porras attended a candlelight vigil for murdered gay college student Matthew Shepard and decided something
needed to change.
"I knew that these things had happened to people, because they had happened to me. But to also hear that they had happened to people who are LGBT, and then it was happening to my friends, because at the vigil my friends were talking, I was sort of just like, "This needs to stop. This needs to be the end." Porras then.
Porras, a first-generation college student, got her bachelor's degree in Psychology and Sociology from Northwest Missouri State University before obtaining her masters in Counselor Education from Emporia State University. After working in foster care for a year after grad school, Porras came onto campus as a HawkLink specialist in 2005. Since then, Porras has held several positions at the OMA, including assistant director of diversity education and associate director of diversity education and social justice programming. She is currently in the last stages of obtaining her doctorate degree from the University.
After the vigil Porras said she got involved in all the organizations she could on campus, including the LGBTQ group, Hispanic American Leader Organization, Black Student Union, and especially, the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
"I practically lived at the OMA," Porras said.
For the past year, Porras was Interim Director of the OMA. Now, as permanent director, she said she's ready to take her experiences and knowledge of the campus to help move the OMA forward.
"The biggest change now is that I can say, 'Yes, we're going to do that,'" Porras said.
The first tasks on Porras' agenda is to hire an associate director by the end of the semester, as well as a cultural competency coordinator. The coordinator would work on assessing the diversity needs of students and faculty in various departments.
Apart from staff hires, Porras said the big items will be working with the student group Rock Chalk Invisible Hawk and increasing the OMA's capacity for trainings.
The OMA offers trainings to any group of students, faculty or administrators who are open to understanding their identities and the privileges that go along with them. Porras said they've seen a major influx of training requests in the past year. During the fall semester, they trained about 8,000 students and faculty.
Porras said the OMA is currently "at capacity" for training sessions, and plans on training more trainers in the upcoming months in order to meet the demand.
Vice Provost for the Office of Diversity and Equity Nate Thomas said when it came down to the final three candidates for the director position, Porras showed a number of outstanding strengths, including her knowledge of the field, her awareness and knowledge of the issues on campus, her knowledge around social justice, LGBTQ+ students, first generation students and low income
"I think her knowledge there is very good, and so I think understanding the strategies that are needed to help us move forward are critical to help us be successful," Thomas said.
For now, the new director wants to make the office a place where anyone can come in with an idea.
"I'm open to exploring other people's ideas and perspectives because I know what I know, but I also don't know what I'm missing," Porras said, "I will always make time for anyone to have a conversation about how the office can be successful and help others in their success."
income students.
- Edited by Ryan Wright
Kelsie Matousek/Kansan
Precious Porras is the new director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs at KU. She's been an active member on campus for more than 10 years, holding several different positions within that time.