At\nFort Hays State University, we nurture each other to maximal success. We stand\nto support one another with a willingness to invest deeply and personally. The\nstudents who comprise our campus come from diverse backgrounds, each person\nwith their own story, hopes, and dreams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These\nstories \u2013 testimony to how we come together to improve lives through a deep\ninvestment in one another \u2013 are what motivate me every day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nlove how at FHSU we go the extra mile for one another. Take for example our\nDecember 2021 graduate Curtis Pitts. A recruit from south Florida, Curtis came\nto FHSU in 1980 to play football. In 1982, he left Fort Hays State for an\ninternship at The Martin Luther King Junior Center and was then hired to work\nwith the Southern Christian Leadership Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Life\ncontinued to happen \u2013 including the loss of both his parents, who he had\npromised he would get a college education. Long story short, Curtis was able to\ncomplete all of his classes except for one, in which he continued to struggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This\npast summer, when we heard about Curtis\u2019 situation, we knew we needed to put\ntogether a Tiger care team to get him through to the finish line. In stepped\nDr. Joey Linn, vice president for Student Affairs. Dr. Linn reached out to\nCurtis to learn more about his struggles and to put together a care team\nstrategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Curtis\nwas living in Topeka and needed to take the class online. After visiting with\nCurtis, Dr. Linn realized a tutor would be an essential part of his care team\nplan and wondered if we had a KAMS student living in Topeka who might help. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
KAMS\n\u2013 the Kansas Academy of Mathematics and Science \u2013 is a program for 11th- and\n12th- grade students to attend Fort Hays State and take 68 hours of college\nclasses, then transfer those credits back to their sending high school to\nreceive a high school diploma. While at FHSU, the students experience hands-on\nresearch opportunities, leadership development, civic engagement, and a myriad\nof college activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
KAMS\nDirector Will Burns immediately thought of Graidon Nichol, who is from Topeka\nand was living at home for the summer. Will first spoke with Graidon\u2019s mom,\nShannon, who thought Graidon would love to help. Unfortunately, Graidon was attending a Boy Scout camp in New\nMexico. Then, she thought of Grant, Graidon\u2019s older brother, who also attended\nFort Hays State and completed the KAMS program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When\nShannon returned Will\u2019s call, she\nindicated that Grant would be happy to help but also had a scheduling conflict.\nBut the family was \u201call in.\u201d After all, both Shannon and her husband, Eric, are\nFHSU graduates, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So,\nGraidon\u2019s dad tutored Curtis until Graidon was able to take over when his camp\nwas completed. As a result of the ethic of care poured out by the Nichols, and\ndriven by a promise Curtis made to his parents in 1980, he successfully\ncompleted the course and will be walking across the commencement stage this\nDecember. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
By\nthe way, Graidon is 17 years old. Curtis is in his late 50s. The age difference\ndidn\u2019t hinder Curtis\u2019 learning curve at all. In fact, quite the contrary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGraidon\nwas one of the most organized and intensely prepared young men I have ever\nmet,\u201d Curtis said. \u201cThe Nichols embraced me like family and always made sure I\nhad snacks and a cold drink in a glass engraved with Fort Hays State University’s\nlogo on it. I couldn\u2019t have completed this class for graduation without his\nhelp.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nlove this story. It\u2019s a great example of how we invest in our students, build\nconfidence and knowledge, and nurture them to success. I am so grateful for the\nentire Nichol family, Will Burns, and Dr. Joey Linn \u2013 all who had a role in\nCurtis\u2019 ultimate success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This\nDecember commencement ceremony will be extra special. I cannot wait to hand\nCurtis his Fort Hays State University diploma! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tisa Mason is president of Fort Hays State University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At Fort Hays State University, we nurture each other to maximal success. We stand to support one another with a willingness to invest deeply and… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Mason-Tisa-040A6662.jpg?fit=750%2C1050&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61861","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61861"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61862,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61861\/revisions\/61862"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}