WSU News - All Stories

Sept. 23, 2020 - Bill Burch played linebacker for the Shockers in 1970 as a senior. As fate would have it, a knee injury kept him from traveling to Utah State on Oct. 2. He had expected to travel with the team, but instead was forced to stay home and heal. On that day, the Martin 4-0-4 airliner that carried the Shocker starters crashed near Silver Plume, Colorado, killing 31 people – 14 student-athletes, 14 staff and boosters, and three crew members.

Sept. 16, 2020 - Deja Young is a returning Paralympian in track and a Wichita State alumna. Casey Ralzlaff is a first-time Paralympic hopeful in wheelchair tennis and current student at Wichita State. Both of their sports are cancelled due to COVID-19.

More than 200 graduates received disposable stethoscopes as a gift from the College of Health Professions.

Aug. 31, 2020 -- Gene and Yolanda Camarena are well known for helping underserved Kansas youth improve their lives through education and other causes. Now the Wichita couple is enhancing that legacy with a $1 million gift to Wichita State University to give students of color opportunities they otherwise might not have.

Aug. 26, 2020 — Wichita State University has been named a founding member of a newly formed AI Institute for Foundations of Machine Learning (IFML), established by a $20 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

Kansas Jason Sudeikis writes and stars in the Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso,”  which begins streaming Friday (Aug. 14). In the show, Lasso is a fictional former Wichita State University football coach who moves to coach fictional British soccer club AFC Richmond in the Premier League. Lasso's former life as Shocker coach is featured in the first two episodes.

Aug. 6, 2020 -- Wichita State provides discounted tuition rates to new students from certain areas in Colorado, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.

Aug. 5, 2020 -- In an effort to help diversify and grow the economy – while providing an important platform for creating new academic and applied programs for students – Wichita State University is moving forward on a facility to house the National Institute for Digital Transformation (NIDT) as part of its Convergence Sciences initiative.

Aug. 5, 2020 - Wichita State Athletics will introduce mobile ticketing for the 2020-21 season for the sports of volleyball, men's and women's basketball, baseball and softball. The move to mobile ticketing will provide greater convenience and a safer environment for fans. It will offer a contactless entry into athletic venues and the ability to transfer tickets electronically, eliminating physical touching concerns prevalent during this time. Mobile ticketing will also provide an added layer of security, guarding against the production of fraudulent and counterfeit tickets.

July 22, 2020 - The Wichita State University College of Engineering sponsors GoBabyGo, an interdisciplinary program that modifies toy cars for use by children with disabilities. The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the semester and several students returned over the past month to help finish and deliver the six cars.

July 14, 2020 - Greg Hand, professor of epidemiology, medicine and physical activity and sports sciences at West Virginia University, has been named dean of the College of Health Professions at Wichita State University, effective Aug. 9, 2020. He served as the founding dean of West Virginia University’s School of Public Health, and previous to that role, he was the associate dean for Research, Practice and Information Technology at the University of South Carolina’s School of Public Health.

July 7, 2020 -- Nearly 70 years after John and Colleen Wooley first met as students at the University of Wichita, they have established a legacy that will touch the lives of Wichita State University students for generations to come. The couple’s $2.2 million estate gift will provide more than $100,000 in scholarships each year for students with financial need.

June 19, 2020 — Shocker alumnus builds customized medical units within an 8-foot wide by 20-foot long shipping container to care for patients on every continent.

June 15, 2020 – The College of Health Professions donated 2,500 cloth face masks to the WSU community for the campus reopening May 26.

June 11, 2020 -- Ashley Purdum, an associate clinical professor at Wichita State University, works as an acute care speech-language pathologist at Wesley Medical Center. Because of the ongoing pandemic, her work life has changed quite a bit.