Originally, the university up on the hill, for decades, WSU has been the university in the middle of Wichita’s black community to bring together resources and amenities Black community.
Past university administrations ignored their surrounding neighborhood but a few years ago after an brutal rape and murder too close to the campus for the university to ignore ,the university began reaching out its neighbors .
Initially, to the Fairmount Neighborhood, but Way that will include faculty, staff and quietly, the university has expanded its students,” Monk-Morgan said. “The outreach and programming to include resources that Wichita State provides 10 distinct surrounding communities to United Way will go directly to those ties, which they now call the Shocker entities that are within Shocker Neighborhood boundaries.”
The university has made a Shocker Director of the Public Policy and Neighborhood Commitment, a promise Management Center (PPMC) Misty from Wichita State to empower neigh- Bruckner was vital in getting the Shock neighborhood residents and organizations Neighborhood coalition launched.
In 2015, the PPMC took the lead on growth and prosperity. That empower- writing a grant to the Kansas Health Foundation for community engage that includes providing resources, that focused on the Fairmount scholarships, academic support Neighborhood. programs, mentoring and additional “Community development work is enrichment programs for neighborhood hard work, and it requires everyone students. to be committed to the big picture,” More than just an assignment to one Bruckner said.
“The relationships and person, the Shocker Neighborhood trust between Wichita State and the Commitment involves, staff, university community will continue to build and administrators and student support. At there will be more opportunities for the forefront is university Vice President the community to get involved with the for Strategic Engagement and university.” Planning Kaye Monk-Morgan and Naquela Pack, director of engagement for Strategic Engagement and Planning.
“We want students who live in Shocker Neighborhood to matriculate to Wichita State in higher numbers, and we want to be a school of choice for them, not the school up the street,” Monk-Morgan said. “We’re working really hard on creating opportunities for that.” Monk-Morgan said that in fall 2021, the Shocker Neighborhood commitment will provide neighborhood students who graduate with the opportunity to access the Shocker Promise Scholarship, which is a need-based, four-year scholarship. Students who participate in the commitment will also have access to academic support programs, mentoring and intense Boundaries for the Shock Neighborhood work on career readiness.