BY RAEGAN NEUFELD
Kansas State Treasurer Lynn Rogers visited FHSU on Wednesday and gave a presentation to students about his job in the state government. The department of political science played a part in organizing Rogers’ trip to campus.
“It was really an opportunity,” Department Chair Larry Gould said. “We do this often with state visitors, dignitaries, and celebrities. He was here in town, [carrying out] a responsibility of his office, and that was to get rid of unclaimed property. He called and asked if we wanted him to address a class.”
Rogers ended up not addressing one specific class, but rather a combination of students from Young Democrats and College Republicans, as well as international students. According to Gould, the presentation was a different opportunity for the students.
“I think it’s really important to have different learning experiences,” he said.
As Rogers told his audience, he first became involved with the state government as a senator. Prior to that, he served on the Wichita school board for 16 years.
“I had a state senator the last year I was a school board member that never wanted to talk about education. They would not ever address it,” Rogers said. “So I ran and won, and then sat in the back row of the senate next to then-Sen. Kelly.”
Rogers then served two years as Lieutenant Governor for Gov. Kelly, before being moved to State Treasurer. He explained some of his work includes returning money from unclaimed property and estimating the cost to implement new legislation.
“We have to go in and estimate what the cost of the staff is going to be,” Rogers said. “The good thing about that is it can provide the legislature with some solid information.”
Rogers also talked about the importance of public service jobs.
“I think public service is a very honorable thing. A lot of times people complain about state employees. What I’ve found is our state employees in my agency work really, really hard. They probably don’t get paid what they’re worth. They could probably go elsewhere and make more but they do it for public service,” he said.
Overall, Gould thought that the presentation was very beneficial for the students.
“It’s a different kind of learning experience,” Gould said. “You learn things from different learning environments, and this one, you get a chance to actually talk to the people who do the governing and impact your life in various ways. It gives students a chance to become much more free with their questions and the information they’re seeking, so it’s not just a lecture in a classroom.”