For WSU News and WSU Today content older than July 2018, search the WSU News Archive.

WSU News Archive   Return to WSU News Home

Juneteenth Graphic. Juneteenth (a combination of the words “June” and “nineteenth”) is the day that federal troops came to Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865 and made sure that enslaved people in the area were set free. This was two-and-one-half years after Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

Media and the community are invited to attend the JunteenthICT Parade, sponsored by Wichita State University’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

The parade celebrates the 156th anniversary of Juneteenth during the JuneteenthICT Parade at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 19. The parade route will begin at 17th Street and Hillside, going west, and eventually ending at McAdam’s Park, where the all-day Juneteenth ICT celebration will take place.

Mark Schneegurt and Egbo Munonyedi.

June 10, 2021 — Continuing a tradition that spans 135 years and more than 500 chapters worldwide Abby Carney and Munonyedi Egbo, both graduate students, were recently initiated into the Wichita State University chapter of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society.

Courtney Calder

June 9, 2021 - Wichita State’s Esports director Courtney Calder played soccer more often than video games growing up in California. Those experiences, however, helped prepare her for running the Esports program, as did her time working in sales for Apple after graduating from Northwestern University. Wichita State’s varsity program, housed in the Heskett Center, offers four teams competing in Overwatch, League of Legends, Rocket League, and Valorant.

Abigail is one of more than 3,500 students eligible for spring 2021 graduation.

Abigail Hammack, a native Wichitan, came to Wichita State because of the great reputation of the public administration program with applied learning opportunities. During her time at WSU, she was able to work as a Graduate Research Assistant at the Public Policy & Management Center at WSU and a Management Intern at the City of Andover.

Lydia Melles and Lucy Hoang, Wichita State University computer science major students, work on an autonomous robot that uses ultraviolet C-lights (UVC) to fight COVID-19 at the McConnell Air Force Base Innovation Lab.  The two senior students partnered with the McConnell Innovation Lab as part of their is part of their senior design class.

May 12, 2021 — Two Wichita State University seniors have partnered with the McConnell Air Force Base Innovation Lab to help fight COVID-19 – by using robotics. Computer science majors Lucy Hoang and Lydia Melles are creating an autonomous robot that uses ultraviolet C-lights (UVC) to clean grocery stores.

Southwest Airlines plane in the air

May 3, 2021 -- Customer complaints filed against major U.S. airlines soared amid the coronavirus pandemic, even as the carriers generally did better with on-time arrivals and baggage handling during the health crisis, according to the annual Airline Quality Rating released today by Wichita State University.

Student professional headshot

May 1, 2021 – Payton Morgan, a native Wichitan, is a Wichita East High School alumnus. He chose to attend Wichita State because of the relationships he already had with Wichita State students and staff.

Dr. Nick Solomey

April 14, 2021 — Wichita State University’s Dr. Nick Solomey, professor of physics, has been awarded a $2 million grant from NASA for his work on developing a neutrino detector to work in space and close to the sun. 

Campus aerial

April 2, 2021 -- While the future of this pandemic and its effect on our daily lives still remains somewhat unknown, we are pleased to be coming to you with a message of cautious optimism as we continue our transition to a pre-pandemic mode of operation. Sedgwick County Commissioners voted to rescind all local COVID health orders, effectively immediately. Since the beginning of this pandemic, we have followed all guidance and orders issued by state and local public health authorities. Accordingly, WSU has rescinded all guidance requiring masks, social distancing and mass gathering limitations on our campus. However, we continue to strongly encourage our entire campus community to engage in these practices whenever possible. We also encourage everyone to get the vaccine when they become eligible.

Wichita State student

April 1, 2021 - In the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings of universities offering a Ph.D. in engineering, the College of Engineering at Wichita State University is again ranked in the top 100 engineering graduate programs, the only institution from the state of Kansas to make it in the top 100. Wichita State ranks No. 77 on the list, up from No. 94 a year ago.

Brittany Wojciechowski

March 24, 2021 — Brittany Wojciechowski, a Wichita State University Ph.D. student in aerospace engineering, has been awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF), which is worth more than $120,000.

In 2014, John A. See donated $1 million to provide prizes to Wichita State faculty and students conducting outstanding research.

March 16, 2021 — Wichita State University faculty and student researchers have been awarded the 2021 John A. See Innovation Award.

Pile of shoes

March 10, 2021 – A class project in Kara McCluskey’s environmental and engineering technology class this semester set out to tackle an immense issue: The fact that each year in America, 300 million pairs of shoes are thrown away, taking an average of 30 to 40 years for just one pair to decompose.

Boeing 737

March 10, 2021 — Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research has received delivery of two Boeing 737 aircraft for modification. The aircraft are part of a year-long project with Virginia-based Dynamic Aviation to modify three 737 aircraft for a special-mission program.

Alexandra Olmstead, Barrett Houchen Cameron McGinley, Rupert Nunez, and Shamir Khan

March 2, 2021 — Five Wichita State students’ projects are being highlighted as a part of the Kansas Undergraduate Research Day at the Kansas State Capitol March 2-4.