By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
As Fort Hays State University wraps the 2021-22 academic year with commencement this weekend, it’s not just graduating seniors taking a moment to look back and reflect on their accomplishments.
As the end of the academic year quickly approaches the university itself is taking stock of the number of noteworthy accomplishments made by FHSU students and staff over the year.
Chief Communications Officer Scott Cason recently shred some of those triumphs as the university begins winding down operations for the summer break.
“One of the things that I think is distinctive and unique with our year, is the way our students have competed,” Cason said. “And we have a lot of experiential – we call them experiential learning opportunities — for students, internships, service learning, things like that.
“But nothing quite like the crucible of competition to bring out and really hone your skills,” he continued. “Skills that I think prepare our students for successful lives after college.”
One example of the athletic achievements of the year was Bennington native Ryan Stanley.
Stanley, he said, is “one of the all-time greatest NCAA Division II pole vaulters ever,” Cason said.
A four-time All American, he won the national title and pole vault for the second straight year, he said.
“The height he hit to win the national championship — 17 feet, nine and a quarter inch on his first attempt,” Cason said, “stands as the fifth best all time in Division II and the third best in the Division II championship history.”
Cason also noted, Stanley served as vice president of the FHSU Student Government.
“So, there's a there's a young man who's gaining tremendous experience before he goes out in the world,” Cason said.
While athletic achievements are an often thought of examples of competition, he said FHSU is competitive in academic areas as well.
On the non-athletic completion side, he said students in the W.R. and Yvonne Robbins College of Business and Entrepreneurship were able to continue their legacy of achievement during a national financial planning challenge, bringing home a third place.
“You talk about something that really prepares you for life in business, presenting plans to boards and leadership groups, our students have great experience with that with this financial planning challenge,” Cason said.
And technical studies at the university also continue to shine.
“In the last month (during the) annual International Technology and Engineering Association conference in Orlando, our students won three of the five individual events to claim the championship, and all-round honors with Purdue University. … So truly a nationally dominant program in that regard.”
While schools like Purdue may have more resources than a school the size of FHSU, he said the caliber of students attending FHSU more than makes up for any size advantage.
“It's that that ethic of that perseverance, that innovation, that really is the hallmark of our university and the kinds of students that we attract,” Cason said.
And while academic and athletics programs at the university are notable for those accomplishments, he said some campus club sports also highlighted the FHSU competitive spirit.
"We've got the premier shooting sports team in the nation. Flat out hands down. We just got our eighth national championship in October, in the Scholastic clay targeting program in Columbus, Ohio. This is I think it's a pretty amazing statistic, how good our students are. They hit 2,953 targets out of 3,000 targets that were served. That's a 98% hit percentage.”
Having competitors at that level of ability, is a draw for future students.
“It really is a reflection of our culture and where we live,” Cason said. “I think we have students that come from California and north northwest, and obviously, Nebraska, places like that, but they know about us, they know about our team, and they want to come here and compete,” Cason said. “And they're also some of the best students we have, as well. Their academic performance is top-notch.”
FHSU graduations will once again be broken down into colleges with a mix of virtual and in-person events beginning at 8 a.m. Friday.
A full calendar of the graduation events can be found on the FHSU website, fhsu.edu.