‘Fighting words,’ charges of racism create WSU social media storm

Wichita State University police said they are investigating an incident on campus that allegedly involved the outgoing student body president and the parents of the new president.

WSU Police Department Captain Corey Herl said the department got a call about “an act of disturbance at the Rhatigan Student Center” at around 9:15 p.m. Thursday, after an end-of-the-year student government banquet.

Former student body president Joseph Shepard and former vice president Taben Azad attended the banquet, as well as new president Paige Hungate and her parents, Stacey Steffes-Sundquist and Trent Hungate.

At the banquet, Azad and Shepard made speeches about their time in office, including their contentious relationship with administration officials.

Azad, a witness listed in a campus police report, said that, after the event, he saw Hungate’s mother in an argument with Shepard.

“I noticed it, and I could tell it was not a small discussion,” Azad said. “I could tell her mom was berating him.”

Azad said he separated the two and that Steffes-Sundquist made her way to a stairwell.

“When her mom finally leaves, Paige’s dad comes up the stairs, looking straight at Joseph, and starts charging at him,” Azad said.

Azad said about a dozen people helped keep the two away from each other. He heard Hungate’s father “kind of yell at Joseph,” he said.

“ ‘You want to talk (expletive) about my daughter?’ That’s the only words that I heard from him,” Azad said.

The WSU police report lists Shepard and his mother, Sheila Davenport-Shepard, as victims. It describes an alleged battery by an unnamed suspect as “physical contact in (a) rude, insulting, angry manner.” It also describes alleged disorderly conduct as “fighting words or noisy conduct to cause resentment.”

“It’s under pending investigation,” said Herl, the campus police captain.

Calls to Paige Hungate and her parents were not returned Friday. Hungate was elected student body president in April.

Shepard, his mother and another witness, Quang Nguyen, could not be reached Friday. Nguyen works in WSU’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

Social media posts, including a widely shared Facebook post from Shepard’s father, Steven Shepard, allege that Shepard was called a racial slur in the exchange with one or both of Hungate’s parents.

Steffes-Sundquist is an assistant principal at Northwest High School in Wichita. Trent Hungate is an assistant football coach at Kapaun Mount Carmel High School.

Wichita school district officials, as well as Kapaun’s principal, said they are looking into the matter.

“We are aware of an incident that occurred last night at a WSU event,” district spokeswoman Susan Arensman said Friday. “To the extent that it impacts our district, we are following district protocol and investigating.”

Reaction from community, WSU

Social media posts about the incident rapidly spread in WSU circles. A variety of hashtags, including #StandwithShepard, gained traction.

Some students and others encouraged people to call Wichita school district officials, NAACP headquarters and the university’s Title IX office to report the alleged racial slur.

Lou Heldman, WSU’s vice president for strategic communication, said key administrators did not attend the student government banquet because they were at a WSU Foundation event.

“It’s a police matter at this point and it needs to run its course,” Heldman said. “They responded to a call, they interviewed people and they’re sorting it out.”

Joe Kleinsasser, WSU spokesman, said it was brought to his attention by university police Friday morning.

“There were completely different opinions on what transpired. Regardless, it’s unfortunate,” Kleinsasser said. “Either someone’s being wrongly accused of saying something, or someone said something they really shouldn’t have said. And that’s going to be hard to verify, I think.

“Maybe as cooler heads prevail, we’ll get to it.”

Teri Hall, WSU’s vice president for student affairs, said she arrived at the Rhatigan Student Center after the banquet and alleged incident.

“We’re trying to get both sides of the story and figure out what really happened,” she said Friday.

Hall said banquets that include both outgoing and incoming student government administrations could lead to “awkward” situations.

She said administrators were already looking at having separate events, but that there hadn’t been enough time to change the structure for Thursday’s event.

“We’re absolutely talking about doing that for next year.”

WSU’s Student Government Association, in a statement on its Facebook page Friday, said it does not condone racism, discrimination, assault, harassment or hate crimes.

“The situation that unfolded Thursday evening is still unclear. When the facts are set straight, we will provide a full statement on the situation,” the post said.

“Regardless of the exact circumstances, the situation is unfortunate and not to the standard SGA wishes to uphold. The Cabinet and Senate are more than willing to hear your concerns, comments, and questions.”

In a written statement issued Friday evening, Wichita State University officials said Hall met with students “to discuss what steps can be taken to deter incidents of discrimination in the future and to bolster our efforts to create an inclusive and tolerant campus environment.”

“Those efforts will be broadened in weeks to come,” the statement said.

“Last night’s disturbance at the conclusion of the Student Government Association dinner is under investigation by the University Police Department (UPD),” it said. “We regret that waiting for the investigation to conclude has been perceived by some as a lack of concern about inappropriate speech. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

This story was originally published May 5, 2017 at 2:08 PM with the headline "‘Fighting words,’ charges of racism create WSU social media storm."