From The Ichabod - Spring 2021
Foster youth are part of a system throughout their childhood, and then as adults, the opportunities become voluntary. For those who seek higher education, two Ichabods hope more people become aware of their unique needs and the stigma is erased from this non-traditional group of students.
From The Ichabod - Spring 2021
As the associate dean of university libraries and the Center for Student Success and Retention, Sean Bird has made it his primary focus to do everything he can for the success of Washburn students. With a passion that shines through in all he does, he was recently named a winner of the 2021 I Love My Librarian Award.
From The Ichabod - Spring 2021
At Washburn’s theatre department, the show must go on – even in the midst of a global pandemic. Despite social distancing guidelines intended to curb the spread of COVID-19, the University’s resilient performing arts students and faculty have found a way to make performances happen. That’s not to say the experience has been easy or ideal.
From The Ichabod - Spring 2021
Education and experience are key to moving up in almost any profession. For Ron Brown, he was able to have a rewarding career in law enforcement thanks to invaluable experience on the streets and advanced education in the classroom.
From The Ichabod - Spring 2021
With a waiting list in some programs and room to grow in others, Washburn Tech East is becoming a catalyst for workforce development and a lifeline for residents in East Topeka seeking easier access to adult education. And there’s no “wait and see” approach as COVID-19 limited enrollment capacity in some programs and tapered demand in others.
From The Ichabod - Spring 2021
“Have you ever thought about taking your own life?” It is as intimidating a question to receive as it is to ask. Being prepared to ask these kinds of questions comfortably and confidently doesn’t come easy to many but proper training can help. The Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training program at Washburn seeks to offer that special training.
From The Ichabod - Spring 2021
Food insecurity can be a hidden problem that is not often discussed on college campuses. As a student and manager of Washburn University’s Bods Feeding Bods Food and Commodities Pantry, Matthew Smoker wants to talk about it. The pantry recently purchased a freezer, allowing volunteers to stock more perishable items and premade meals.
From The Ichabod - Spring 2021
In a year when athletes saw competition seasons cut short or eliminated completely, Washburn's student-athletes took to a different playing field. Their goal? To make a positive impact on the campus and Topeka community by educating themselves and their fellow students through a series of lectures and events on the issues of the world around them.
From The Ichabod - Spring 2021
Not everyone can say they placed in the top three out of hundreds of teams from around the world, but Washburn School of Business alumna Brooke Preston can. Preston, bba ’20, finished third last year in the Capsim Challenge, a business simulation that determines the world’s best at running a multi-million dollar simulation company.
From The Ichabod - Spring 2021
Greg Brenneman, bba ’84, h ’99, the former CEO of Continental Airlines, Burger King and Quiznos, authored “Right Away and All at Once: Five Steps to Transform Your Business and Enrich Your Life” to explain how people can use his business principles to better their personal lives. A seven-week program at Washburn teaches students these principles.
From The Ichabod - Spring 2021
Keeping third graders on the same page is hard enough when they’re all learning in a confined physical space. Scatter them across town into their “home offices," and the task takes on added difficulty. Emma Ginder, b ed ’17, a teacher in Topeka, found a unique way to pep up a group of 9-year-olds mired in another full day of screen time.
From The Ichabod - Spring 2021
When Derik Flerlage joined the Shawnee County Health Department, it was in the midst of battling one of its most difficult challenges in its history – the COVID-19 pandemic. “This wasn’t your typical start to a job," said Flerlage, the infectious disease division manager and deputy COVID-19 operations section chief where he works to control spread.
From The Ichabod - Spring 2021
In 1949, the Washburn Alumni Association initiated its Distinguished Service Award, choosing Reuben Markham among its first honorees. Markham's life reflected Washburn’s abolitionist heritage and inclusive core values.
From The Ichabod - Winter 2021
After following a tree line for some time, the telemetry signal told biology major Becca Tolbert she would need to turn into a thick forest if she was going to find Lady of the Lake. Ben Reed, her professor, didn’t hesitate. He goes where turtles go, and that can include a thorny forest, a sunbaked prairie, a patch of poison ivy or elbow-deep in a dark hole.
From The Ichabod - Winter 2021
Treating patients with coronavirus has become a part of daily life for Washburn University-trained nurses, but some aspects of the job never get easier. Three recent nursing graduates discussed their roles and experiences working amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
From The Ichabod - Winter 2021
If all goes as planned, the conversations and ideas sparked by this year’s WUmester will last well beyond the spring 2021 semester. The third annual event’s theme is sustainability, and faculty and staff have plans to engage students and the community through panel discussions, speakers and events.
From The Ichabod - Winter 2021
When the ribbon was cut at Washburn with the opening of the new Indoor Athletic Facility, it signaled fruition of many dreams. The football, soccer, track and field, baseball and softball teams will now have places to practice indoors, and Washburn and the city of Topeka will have a new building to host indoor track and field competitions.
From The Ichabod - Winter 2021
For multicultural students at Washburn, when they don’t see a space for themselves, they create it. Washburn celebrated the opening of the Multicultural Intersectional Learning Space in September. The learning space will be focused on student support, safety, outreach, intersectional learning and leadership to help improve cultural understanding.
From The Ichabod - Winter 2021
“I am Korean-American with an entirely American upbringing. When someone meets me, they see an Asian person and will have their own assumptions based on appearance.” Just like the artist himself, with Tyler Quintin’s ceramics, there’s more to it than meets the eye.
From The Ichabod - Winter 2021
Before he started working as chief of staff for Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly in 2018, Will Lawrence didn’t think much about emergency management. Tornadoes and floods are common in the Midwest, but the COVID-19 pandemic has presented the unforeseen challenges of balancing the needs of the economic and business sectors with public health.
From The Ichabod - Winter 2021
Recent research on resiliency showed individuals who have healed from trauma share a common variable: They all have strong relationships and systems of support. In her role as state director of the Kansas Court Appointed Special Advocates Association, Vanessa Dudley-Miller sees the value of strong role models every day.
From The Ichabod - Winter 2021
When the financial crisis in 2008 left many concerned Wall Street had a little too much of a say on the rules of investing, Congress went to work. A package of legislation was passed to improve financial regulatory structure. In it – the creation of a role with one thing in mind: to look out for the average investor. Enter Rick Fleming.
From The Ichabod - Winter 2021
Washburn recently received a 3D scanner donated from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, and with this high-tech equipment, students will be able to obtain real-world experience in the classroom setting, as well as training on equipment that will help them on the job or in graduate school.
From The Ichabod - Winter 2021
Life is impossible without water. But Earth’s most important resource is necessary for much more than just survival. Without it, countless occupational and recreational activities would also cease to exist. Farmers and professors share why they’ve chosen to make the sustainability of water a central focus of their life’s work.
From The Ichabod - Winter 2021
The opportunities to bump and spike may have been limited this season, but when it comes to life lessons college students aren’t typically taught, the volleyball team is now set. The coaches organized a series of Adulting 101 classes that covered practical topics ranging from financial advice and insurance coverage to eating healthy and using good manners.
From The Ichabod - Winter 2021
As the only school in Kansas recognized as an advanced undergraduate program by the Society of Actuaries, Washburn holds a distinct advantage in producing actuarial science graduates who are prepared to complete the demanding exam sequence and remain in the industry for the long haul.
From Bell Tower - Fall 2020
Kuehne Bell Tower may be Washburn’s most iconic structure. The tower sets a visual tone that is secondary only to the audible one that can be heard from every inch of campus. The bells sat silent the past four years, in need of maintenance until Dr. James Hurd chimed in with a donation that will keep them ringing for generations to come.
From Bell Tower - Fall 2020
For Gary Heidrick, bba ’73, meeting his wife, Becky Heidrick, was the highlight of his time as a student at Washburn. The couple got to know each other in 1972, when Gary was a senior majoring in business and accounting and Becky was a freshman. The first time Gary saw Becky at an event, she made quite an impression.
From Bell Tower - Fall 2020
A seemingly insignificant life choice can sometimes turn into a catalyst for something much bigger. For Jorge Nobo, an elective he took led to a life devoted to philosophy and teaching, and both his wife and a former student memorialized his life with a scholarship and a poem – two fitting creations for someone esteemed by his students and colleagues.
From Bell Tower - Fall 2020
In honor of his exemplary career, the advocacy suite in the new law school building will be named the Michael C. Manning Advocacy Suite and Michael C. Manning Courtroom. Manning gave the law school $1 million to finalize the building campaign. It is his hope that someday trials will take place in the courtroom and it will be a special place for students to learn and dream about their careers.
From The Ichabod - Fall 2020
Stevie Delgado perked up at the opening of the Rita Blitt Gallery and Sculpture Garden in 2017 when she heard a new fellowship would allow a student to work closely with the Rita Blitt Legacy Collection. A year later, Delgado was essentially handed the keys to the gallery – with guidance from staff – as the inaugural recipient of the Irwin Blitt Fellowship.
From The Ichabod - Fall 2020
This spring, traditional Washburn students participated in the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, gaining new perspectives on the criminal justice system during a blended class with incarcerated students. The quickest lesson learned was also the most vital: The students inside and outside the prison found out they actually had a lot in common.
From The Ichabod - Fall 2020
It is not uncommon for students to graduate with a high school diploma, Washburn University Institute of Technology certificate and Washburn University associate’s degree within a year of each other or sooner. Free and reduced-price tuition give students many advantages along the way when they choose this path.
From The Ichabod - Fall 2020
Kelsey Alford proved doubters wrong when they said she couldn’t work in a medical field while battling the pain and discomfort caused by dystonia. She found encouraging faculty members in Washburn’s radiation therapy program and now works as a radiation therapist. She competes in Spartan Races in her spare time.
From The Ichabod - Fall 2020
Michael Ryan offered to help a fraternity brother and contribute a column to the Washburn Review. He quickly learned to type on a manual typewriter and hammered out a column in the style of comedic writer Woody Allen. He's since had a 30-year career in journalism and works as an opinion writer for the Kansas City Star.
From The Ichabod - Fall 2020
“The doctor said you have soft nodules on your vocal chords, and if you don’t let them heal, they can become permanently damaged.” Kelie McIver took that warning seriously. But for the vocalist and theatre major, healing her damaged vocal chords with complete vocal rest was easier said than done. Well, maybe easier written than done.
From The Ichabod - Fall 2020
Last year, Dawson Hiegert decided the time had come to go from “hair” to “there” – with the best perk of “there” being moving to New York City to work with some of the nation’s highest profile hair stylists on a Victoria’s Secret photo shoot. Not a bad resume builder for a 19-year old who recently completed the cosmetology program at Washburn Tech.
From The Ichabod - Fall 2020
The Washburn University School of Business master of accountancy program doesn’t just produce number crunchers. The program takes the rules-based knowledge learned in an undergraduate accounting program and furthers it by making the students ask ‘why?’ The resulting degree makes alumni especially valuable to their company or clients.
From The Ichabod - Fall 2020
Rosie Nichols, ba '20, interviewed for a job this spring at the Kansas Department of Commerce while using the WiFi in a McDonald’s parking lot while visiting her grandmother in Russell, Kansas. She got the job and works as an international development representative.
From The Ichabod - Fall 2020
From his earliest practices as a freshman on Washburn’s football team, coaches pegged Kyle Hinton as an eventual pro football prospect. The offensive lineman from Peoria, Arizona, with a zero-star rating and little recruiting buzz exceeded the expectations and was drafted this spring by the Minnesota Vikings.
From Athletics Spotlight - Spring 2020
Washburn student-athletes were preparing for competitions in March as leagues around the world were canceling because of COVID-19. The Ichabods went on as usual until they got the same heartbreaking news about their seasons. As it sunk in, they have been finding ways to finish classes and remain connected while looking ahead to brighter days.
From Athletics Spotlight - Spring 2020
Lou Olsen has worked at Washburn for 36 years, spending all but two years in Human Resources. As supporters of Ichabod athletics, Lou and Tommy Olsen enjoy watching local athletes come to Washburn, have successful playing careers and return as employees or fellow donors and fans.
From Law Alumni Newsletter - Spring 2020
Larry Dimmitt, jd ’68, finished the last two years of his legal education taking classes in trailers. After graduating, he proudly watched a new law school building rise on a campus scourged by a tornado. Now, 50 years later, he and his wife, Lois, heartily made a $100,000 gift toward a new building that will meet the changing demands of legal education.
From Law Alumni Newsletter - Spring 2020
Lindsay Bayles’s family history at Washburn goes back two generations, but when she and her husband decided to study law, the decision to attend Washburn was not an automatic one. They ultimately decided on Washburn, the same school Lindsay’s father, Tom Bayles, mba ’94, jd ’97, chose, and her grandfather, James Bayles, taught law at.
From Law Alumni Newsletter - Spring 2020
Like most things, Kate Langworthy’s success as a Scottish Highland games athlete is dictated by her amount of training. “Trying to juggle law school, motherhood, and life in general, sometimes training gets pushed to the wayside,” she said. “Just like in law school, if you're not putting in the time outside of class, it's going to translate to your outcome.”