Over a week after he was tested for the novel coronavirus, Lawrence resident Justin Thomas learned his results were positive, but the process of getting that response was more challenging than he and his spouse ever imagined.
âWhat you need to worry about right now is hygiene, not because the coronavirus is a big threat here in Lawrence, but because ordinary colds and flus are,â said Sheree Willis, executive director of the KU Confucius Institute, at the âFact vs. Fictionâ event.
In less than a month, however, the world of KU students â like the rest of the world â took a dramatic turn that few expected but that all would feel. The year of COVID-19 began, changing life in ways that no one could have imagined but that nearly all continue to endure.
After a significant reorganization to the University of Kansasâ diversity and equity office and calls for more transparency regarding the decision, KUâs provost met with a small group of students within student government and varying university advocacy groups Friday. Â
KU Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer set up the meeting after months of students, staff and faculty asking for more information about a large change to KUâs now-named Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. Bichelmeyer said she wanted to listen to more concerns and provide clarification, but many inquiries still remained unaddressed.Â
The provostâs office sent an invitation out Thursday afternoon to members of the Student Senate Diversity Equity, and Inclusion Committee and members of the Black Student Coalition naming the time and Zoom invitation. On Thursday evening, other students received invitations upon request to meet with Bichelmeyer Friday afternoon.Â
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Staff Report
photo by: Associated Press
A bus passes in front of Strong Hall, Monday, Nov. 16, 2015 on the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)
All of the members of five fraternities at the University of Kansas have been banned from campus for 10 days after recent social activities “that put our community’s health at risk,” the university’s vice provost for student affairs said Friday.
The bans affect all of the members of the KU chapters of Delta Tau Delta, Phi Delta Theta, Phi Kappa Psi, Sigma Chi and Sigma Phi Epsilon, KU spokesperson Erinn Barcomb-Peterson confirmed to the Journal-World on Friday. She said the fraternity members would be prohibited from entering any “property, buildings, or other facilities of the University of Kansas, excluding Watkins Health Center.”