2.13.24

Always a Shocker

By Elizabeth King, WSUFAE president and CEO

I am a native Kansan. My parents met in Chicago and after marrying, my dad attended a seminary in Kansas City. Mom, Dad and my older sister lived in the small town of Alta Vista, Kan., so I was born in the closest hospital, which was in Council Grove. We left Kansas when I was 9 months old. My parents became missionaries, and by the time I was 13, I had lived on four continents, returning to the United States when I was 17. Federal grants and loans made it possible for me to attend college, but I amassed significant debt. It was 10 years before I paid off my last loan. In the meantime, I worked full-time in Texas in higher education while pursuing my master’s degree and Ph.D. In 1989, I moved to Wichita to marry Don, whom I first met as a college freshman and then re-met at our 10-year college reunion.

Why do I share this? Because in a paragraph, I have summarized so much of why I have dedicated my life to higher education and, fortunately for me, Wichita State University. Here are just a few reasons:

• My parents were educators so my going to college was just assumed. I always knew higher education opens doors, not only for one’s career but also for one’s enhanced appreciation of the arts, culture, history, science, allowing one to think more broadly. It is a constant conversation at WSU for how to provide our students applied learning opportunities while also ensuring they have exposure to other disciplines.

• My early playmates were people who didn’t look like me. At Wichita State, many of our students and my colleagues “don’t look like me” and I cherish our differences. We embrace students from across the world as well as those across Kansas and from coast to coast. Each and every one is unique.

• As an undergraduate, I dreaded every semester receiving my bill for my cost of attendance. Living at home was not an option since my parents lived in the Philippines. At Wichita State, where 35% of our undergraduates have Pell Grants, too many of our students struggle not only with the cost of education but also with food insecurities. To ease that need, WSU opened its Shocker Support Locker in 2016, last year serving 1,560 students and distributing 44,369 items.

• From my parents, I learned the importance of relying on family. Don is the one on whom I most lean, and he, too, is an adopted Shocker. Our two sons, Lance and Brandon, were practically raised at Wichita State, attending ballgames and campus events from birth.

So I am proud to say I am a Kansan, a Wichitan and a Shocker. I am now in my 33rd year of serving our university, which includes 23,203 students and just over 190,000 alumni, donors and friends. Alongside my amazing team at the WSUFAE and an outstanding WSUFAE Board of Directors, I have had great joy in working with others to raise funds for scholarships, faculty support, improved facilities and better campus life.

Wichita State has a bright future under the leadership of President Rick Muma. I look forward to cheering on my successor, who is now in the best job ever. I am grateful for having been given the opportunity to be a part of Shocker Nation. As I often say: “Once a Shocker, always a Shocker.” And I always will be.