Tag: wichita
Horrors! There Are Muslims Among Us

Horrors! There Are Muslims Among Us

For an object lesson in how social media can create a tempest in a teapot, look no further than Wichita State University in Kansas.

Six months ago, the university renovated a nondenominational chapel on campus so that it could more easily accommodate prayer by Muslim students. Essentially, pews were removed (replaced by stackable chairs) so that prayer carpets could be spread on the floor.

The alteration was uncontroversial … until an alumna of the university caught wind of it and bewailed the indignity on Facebook. “The Muslims are ecstatic,” she posted, according to the Wichita Eagle. “Sumpin’ NOT right here.”

Other alumni escalated the issue, and in short order the university’s president agreed (in a Facebook post) to revisit the decision to remove the pews.

It took six months for the now furious alumni to learn of the changes, raising questions about just how invested they are in the chapel and the religious life of the student body.

The alumna who started the furor is now declining interviews, but for a while she continued to post comments such as, “God will always trump allah” (sic).

She’s likely unaware that the “Allah” is Arabic for God. And, given other posts, it’s doubtful she’s waded into the deep theological discussions. Rather, what we have here is a Christian who demands that every public space be accommodating to Christians, first and foremost, and that everyone else needs to stand back. It’s all about feelings — her own.

“Again, it was NEVER just about the pews,” she wrote in another post. “It was WHO/WHAT caused them to be removed and the affect it will have on non-muslims.”

It should also be underscored that Christian students who used the chapel also favored taking out the pews to make the space more inviting to Bible study groups and interfaith events. The request came through the student government association.

As news of the imbroglio spread, Fox News got in on the act. A columnist on its website called the chapel renovation “Christian cleansing.”

“This is what the Islamic transformation of a nation founded on Judeo-Christian values looks like, folks,” wrote Todd Starnes. “The Christian faith is marginalized while the Islamic faith is given accommodation.”

Why not accommodate Muslims at Wichita State? They number about 1,000 out of the nearly 15,000 student body. As the Wichita Eagle also explained, most of the foreign Muslim students pay three times the tuition rates of in-state students.

For some, every accommodation of other faiths (or of those of no faith) is an affront to their own. Christians are not the only offenders in this regard.

Patterns of belief and worship change, and that can be hard to accept, but that change has been going on for a long time. In cities across America, there are predominantly African-American Christian churches that have stained glass windows and other remnants from the time when those spaces were Jewish synagogues. The congregations changed as Jewish populations moved further away from urban neighborhoods.

God is no less present because of the shift in believers.

Wichita State’s Harvey D. Grace Memorial Chapel was never intended to be only for Christian students, although revisionist arguments are being made now. The chapel was a gift to the university by the namesake’s widow, dating back to 1964. A “nondenominational” worship space back then more than likely had a Christian context. These days, on virtually any state university campus you will meet many Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims.

But Muslims are the focus here. Given what’s happening in the world, some regard any Muslim as a potential threat, whether they are a foreign student, a U.S. citizen by birth or a refugee in crisis. And it’s not only in Kansas that people think this way.

The week the Wichita State story broke, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was chastising Eastern European governments for letting Islamophobia undercut humanitarian outreach efforts to Syrians escaping turmoil and now streaming across Europe.

Obviously, alumni of any university or college have an important role to play. They have a vested interest in the stability of their alma mater. But alumni who are good stewards understand that they shouldn’t meddle by imposing their prejudices.

As Wichita State President John Bardo wrote, “Our goal should be exactly what Mrs. Grace set out to do in her gift, to have an all faiths chapel that is welcoming to all religious groups on campus.”

Now there is an example of a generous gift that had some foresight toward the future.

(Mary Sanchez is an opinion-page columnist for The Kansas City Star. Readers may write to her at: Kansas City Star, 1729 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Mo. 64108-1413, or via e-mail at msanchez@kcstar.com.)

Photo: Jimmy Emerson, DVP via Flickr

Four Dead, Five Missing After Plane Crashes At Wichita Airport

Four Dead, Five Missing After Plane Crashes At Wichita Airport

By Stan Finger, Tim Potter and Molly McMillin, The Wichita Eagle (MCT)

WICHITA, Kan. —  A twin-engine aircraft crashed on top of a building at Mid-Continent Airport just after take-off Thursday morning, killing at least four people and injuring at least five others, authorities said.

The plane struck the top of a FlightSafety International building and ignited a fire inside, Wichita Fire Chief Ron Blackwell said. Only two of the fatalities are confirmed to be inside, authorities said.

Wichita police have asked relatives of workers at the building to come to a command post that has been set up.

Five people were transported to Via Christi St. Francis Hospital after the plane crashed shortly before 10 a.m., authorities said. As of noon, one patient was in serious condition, one in fair condition and three in good fair condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The pilot was the only one on board the plane, authorities said.

Firefighters engaged in “a horrific firefight for several minutes,” Blackwell said, before crews were pulled out due to concerns the building was unsafe from the fire and impact of the crash.

Five people remained unaccounted for late Thursday morning, Blackwell said, but it appears most of the people inside FlightSafety _ which routinely has 100 or more people working inside _ were able to escape to safety.

“The search operation is ongoing,” Blackwell aid. “We might find more” fatalities.

Crews were also trying to stabilize the building.

Law enforcement was talking to a group of about 60 people _ many of whom were wearing FlightSafety employee badges or shirts _ in a field north of the building in an apparent attempt to identify who was missing.

The roof of the building burst into flames upon the plane’s impact, according to a witness. The call came in to 911 at 9:49 a.m., dispatch said.

As of 11:15 a.m., the fire was not under control and crews were being pulled out of the building, Blackwell said. Crews were taking a defensive approach because of structure concerns, he added.

A Beechcraft King Air B200 crashed on the roof of the company’s north building, FlightSafety International spokesman Steve Phillips said.

FlightSafety is an international aviation training company owned by Berkshire Hathaway with corporate offices in New York City. It provides flight training and has several offices in Wichita.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the aircraft was taking off from the airport in Wichita just before 10 a.m. when it tried to return and instead hit a building. The flight was headed to Mena, Ark., according to FlightAware.

The aircraft was manufactured in 1999 and was owned by Beechcraft, according to an FAA report.

Commercial flights were halted for a short time to allow emergency responders to reach the scene of the crash, Wichita Deputy Police Chief John Speer said.

One witness, Brian Youngers, said he was across the street from the building talking to the manager of an avionics repair company at the time of the crash.

“We heard this ‘vroom,’ ” he said. “It was way too loud, way too close. We were like, ‘Holy crap.’ ”

By the time, they reached the back of the building it was already on fire, Youngers said.

Another witness, Lana Johnson, said she just stepped outside the post office, which is less than a half-mile north of the crash site, when she heard a sound.

“I’ve never heard a sound like that,” she said.

Johnson said it was a loud, muffled noise, as if someone had just dropped pots and pans.

She saw thick billowing smoke and soon heard sirens.

“It’s a sad sight,” Johnson said. “It’s sad to think that people were trapped in there.”

(Rick Plumlee, Tim Potter, Suzanne Tobias, Kelsey Ryan and Jerry Siebenmark of The Wichita Eagle contributed to this report.)

Photo: Smoke billows from a building at at Mid-Continent Airport in Wichita, Kan., Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014 shortly after a Beechcraft King Air B200 crashed into the building, killing several people, including the pilot. (Brian Corn/Wichita Eagle/MCT)