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SPECIAL SECTION INSIDE; LATE NIGHT IN THE PHOG Check out stories about the men's and women's basketball teams
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS ROUNDUP »
YOU NEED TO KNOW
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
GUNS ON CAMPUS A KU committee continues to gather campus input on gun legislation before concealed carry is allowed on campuses in 2017. News>>PAGE2
Arts & Culture >>5
"AMERICAN IDOL IN LAWRENCE David Cook, who won season seven of "American Idol," will perform at the Lied Center on Oct. 17.
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SWEET 16 (WINS)
KU volleyball swept Texas Tech on Wednesday to set the school's best win streak at 16.
Sports >> PAGE 12
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CAN'T GET ENOUGH BASKETBALL? Check out the full Late Night special section online before the event on Friday.
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INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' DAY
Lawrence Mayor Mike Amyx officially announced that Oct.12 will be Indigenous Peoples' Day.
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University improves accomodations for transgender students
HALLIE WILSON
@HallieW20
When two transgender students requested special accommodations to live in campus residence halls this fall, University housing officials worked with them to make it happen.
It wasn't the first time the University had received such requests, but this year Student Housing added a statement to its website that explicitly speaks to students with diverse gender identities and encourages them to reach out if they have a special accommodation request.
"I think that being comfortable in your living environment is really critical to student success, so we want to help that as much as possible," said Diana Robertson, direc
tor of Student Housing.
The language changes are part of a growing recognition at the University of the needs of transgender students and come at a time when college students here and elsewhere want more control over how they're identified, addressed or seen.
Adam Alexander, a sophomore from Shawnee and a member of the Spectrum KU executive board, identifies as bigender. Bigender, he said, falls under the umbrella of transgender and means he identifies as both male and female. Transgender means that a person's gender identity doesn't align with the sex they were assigned at birth.
Over the past year, the University has added more gender-neutral bathrooms, hired its first full-time employee as a resource for students
with diverse sexualuals and opened a room in the Kansas Union designated as a safe space for LGBTO+ students.
Alexander said the University dedicating that space to the community is huge. Because of the center and in part because of other programs that the University has recently introduced, Alexander said he feels "confident and hopeful about the things the transgender community can do on
Alexander said having the space in the Union, part of the Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity, is a step toward increased inclusion.
"I love having the center because it's a place I can go and just be me," Alexander said. "I never have to worry about being uncomfortable there."
Adam Alexander is on the executive board of Spectrum KU and identifies as bigender.
SEE IDENTITIES PAGE
ZOE LARSON/KANSAN
Students and faculty find expression through hip-hop
MYSHA PHELPS
@KansanNews
music.
On a cold Thursday night, Unity, the University's hip-hop dance group, meets in the Centennial Room of the Union for dance practice. The 14 women start out with a few warmup dances, going over specific techniques and formations. Using every muscle in their bodies, they move along in perfect synchronization with the music.
They step, kick, pop, hop, lock, bop-bop and twirl with the greatest attention to every detail. You can feel the power in each step and the diligence needed to keep every move perfect and tight. An electric energy fills the room and shows the passion this group exudes in the dance and
Unity itself is very diverse. There is a mix of people from black, white, and Asian backgrounds.
The genre of hip-hop began the black and Latino communities of the West Bronx in the 1970s. It signaled a break from the politically charged movements of the 1960s as a new generation tried to express itself through new ways, according to the BBC.
Members of Unity Dance execute their hip-hop choreography during practice on Oct. 2.
There are four main elements that make up contemporary hip-hop culture in the United States: Dlng, breaking, MCing and rapping.
CAROLINE FISS/KANSAN
"We are called Unity because we are a variety of individuals with different backgrounds, cultures, and races that all come together with the same passion for hip-hop dance," said Emily Haggard, Unity president and a senior from Overland Park. "When going through the audition process, we look for that passion in potential new members."
Throughout its history, hip
"Hip-hop has connected people that are ideologically diverse," said Nicole Hodges Persley, associate professor and director of graduate studies in the theater department. "It gives voice to disenfranchised groups."
"Hip-hop is part of a larger African-American musical continuum." Persley explained. "You can hear jazz, blues, and R&B influences in the genre. Hip-hop also introduces a whole new generation to the past. It could be firmly in the present but allows you to make connections to the past."
hop has managed to evolve and recreate itself through its explorations of different arts and subject matters.
"Hip-hop keeps me on my toes," Persley said. "Just when I think I figured it out it reinvents itself."
There are a number of professional hip-hop groups in the United States based in major cities like New York and Chicago, but in Kansas options are more limited. Several dance schools in the area teach courses in hiphop, but they're mainly found in Kansas City and Missouri. Those in Kansas are few and far between.
SEE HIP-HOP PAGE 6
Clockwise from the left: Zoya Khan, Sabaa Anees and Brett Cooper
LARA KORTE/KANSAN
What it's like to be Muslim at KU
LARA KORTE
@lara_korte
When Sabaa Anees was in third grade, she transferred from a private Islamic School to a public school. The switch between schools came just on the heels of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
As one of only two Muslim students in the school, Anees, a junior from Wichita, said she felt particularly targeted.
"There were the incidents where 1 was being called a terrorist," she said "People are harsh, especially then with everything that was going on in the country at the time, people weren't that accepting."
Anees said she felt that many of the people at her school saw her as a representation of the entire Muslim community.
"I had to be the face of all Muslims everywhere in the world," she said. "A lot of the people I went to school with, and even my teachers, had never met another Muslim person in their lives."
Throughout her elementary, middle and high school education, Anees battled between trying to stand up for herself and trying to be accepted.
"At first when I was younger, I would just say to myself,
Although she tried to ignore the bullying, Anees said that, after a while, the taunts from her classmates began to get to her.
'It's not worth it.' Sometimes I would play along and just say, 'Haha, yeah, really funny'. But it's really difficult to go through your entire life with that happening and then being ostracied when you try and stand up for yourself." Anees said.
"It really pulled me away from my culture and my religion for a while, I didn't want to be associated with it. Because I just wanted to fit in," Anees said. "But looking back, I really wish I didn't let it get to that point. I tried for so long to hold onto everything. And I just kind of realized it wasn't going to be possible to exist without kind of giving that up."
Syed received national attention and acclaim, earning the
For many Muslims in America, misrepresentation is a common theme, according to Jameel Seyd, a Muslim prayer caller from Michigan.
Last spring, Syed made a journey to every state in America making the Muslim Call to Prayer — a short verse recited to summon Muslims to the Mosque — at 50 mosques in 35 days.
name "50 Mosque Man." Now Syed is touring the country to talk about his "feel-good mission" and how he wants to change the perception of Islam and bridge cultural gaps.
"Being Muslim in America, there's so much negativity and falsehood out there." Syed said. "We've been villainized and demonized. And I've spent so much time playing defense and apologizing. I decided to go out there, make my own story and encourage others to do that as well."
Syed will be at the Kansas Union on Friday at 3 p.m. as a stop on his tour of the Kansas City area to talk with students on campus. On Saturday, Syed will go to the Edwards Campus in Overland Park for his main presentation of his journey across America. During the presentation, Syed will talk about the different Muslim communities and people he encountered during his travels.
"College students are arguably some of the best students to deal with," Syed said. "People want to express themselves and people want to invest in dialogues and debates."
For Anees, the University provided her with a safe space
SEE MUSLIM PAGE 3
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