Ep. 9 - Bobby Gandu, Wichita State University

🎙️ From Shocker Spirit to Innovation Nation — with Bobby Gandu

This week on The Pickup Meeting, Kevin and Brody are back with birthday cake in hand for a laugh-filled chat that goes from tight-rolled jeans and cheesecake to Wichita State’s wildest ideas made real. 🎂

Their guest? The one and only Bobby Gandu, Associate Vice Provost at Wichita State University, a marketing-minded leader who shares how bold vision and collaboration has led to a thriving innovation hub that's changing lives.

You’ll hear:
 ⚡ The quirky origin of the WuShock mascot (yes, it’s a wheat-eating bundle of wheat!)
 🎓 Blending marketing strategy and higher ed leadership to engage new generations of students
 💡 The story behind Wichita State’s hands-on learning model — connecting students, industry, and community impact 
 🍕 Why the world’s first Pizza Hut is now a museum (and a slice of Kansas history)
 🎶 Plus: Concert stories, favorite movies, and nostalgic 80s-90s talk

It’s one part birthday bash, one part college-spirit celebration, and all heart. Tune in for stories that prove innovation, humor, and community make the perfect mix.

*The Pickup Meeting is a spinoff of the Adventures in Advising podcast!

Follow us on your favorite podcast platform!

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook! Also, subscribe to the Adventures in Advising YouTube Channel!

Connect with Brody and Kevin on LinkedIn.

Transcript

Kevin Thomas  
And away we go. Welcome to another episode of The Pickup Meeting. Here we are. I always like I stumble on the Welcome to another show, episode, conversation, chat, meeting. What should it be? I don't know. We're back, Brody, we're back. How you doing? 

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
I'm doing great. You're pretty excited this morning. 

Kevin Thomas  
I am excited this morning. This is a good week. Hey, listen audience, it's Brody's birthday week. How fantastic is that? Happy birthday, Brody.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Thank you, my man. I am officially, like, I've had an AARP kind of initiation, but I think now this year, it's like, official, like, I get all the things if I join, like, all the benefits. So let's go. I'm here for it.

Kevin Thomas  
We have for our audio listeners. We have a scrolling Happy Birthday Brody going across the visual screen. So for your birthday. Well, first of all, somebody asked me this question, is it 55? I couldn't remember if you're 10 years older than me or 11 years older than me. At some points, it's 10 and sometimes nine. 

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
So you were, like, a 90s kid and I was an 80s kid.

Kevin Thomas  
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that that's just, you know, like, it's a good that was a good time to grow up, 80s and 90s.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Yeah, I agree, totally. The 80s were great, yeah,

Kevin Thomas  
I started to experience all of the safety things that occurred in the 90s because of you 80s kids.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Yeah, I rode in the back of pickup trucks 30 miles to my grandma's house on the regular me and my brothers, the three of us, if my dad crashed, three deaths, like that was going to happen. Four deaths. There were four of us sometimes, right?

Kevin Thomas  
Like, you didn't have medicine, you had both ways to go to school, all the things, yeah, go ahead for your birthday. Like, what do you do? Like, you're a healthy guy, do you say, Hey, I do want some cake on my birthday, or is it like, I want fruit, you know, a banana? 

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
I don't know when this happened, Kevin, but like, growing up, I'm not, I'm not a big cheesecake fan, but my mom made this jello no bake cheesecake, and then would put cherry pie filling on top of it, so it's like, no bake cherry cheesecake. And then usually I would put, like, Cool Whip on top of that. God, I used to get that for my birthday every year. That was my that was my birthday tradition, that my mom made me no bake cherry cheesecake. I mean, Kevin, I could drink the cherry pie filling out of a can. Like, that's how good that is.

Kevin Thomas  
That's amazing. I'm a huge cheesecake fan, right? So my birthday is typically a cheesecake. There's been a period of life where it was going to Dairy Queen and getting one of those ice cream cakes and just enjoying that coldness that you get and a little bit of a crunch. It's just so good. But like for me now, anything in my go to cheesecake, for sure, is a blueberry cheesecake. Anything blueberry, for me is a win.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Yeah, I'm more of a lemon guy. Aside from cherry pie filling, I really like lemon like I love my lemon bismarck. And there's a lemon ice cream that I really enjoy right now,

Kevin Thomas  
that you put that blueberry and lemon together, and that's a win in my world. 

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Oh man, fantastic. There's, there's an ice cream that is like a lemon blueberry parfait by Jenny's, which I love. It's great.

Kevin Thomas  
Jenny's ice cream. This is a sponsorship heavy start for us. Dairy Queen. Jenny's ice cream. Like we're really gonna have to work on this again.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Yes, we are. We've got to get a sponsor. There's no question about that. 

Kevin Thomas  
So now, as you're getting a little older, we all are every day, but you know, you're turning the calendar and gaining a year on let's, let's, let's reflect back. Yes, what is something like? Let's say there's a fashion trend that you held on to for far too long.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Yeah, yeah, you we were talking about being an 80s kid, and you were talking about being a 90s kid. Well, in the late 80s, high schoolers, kids like me, the young folk, we were rolling our jeans, and I remember this, yes, Matt asked if I have pictures, and I'm like, maybe, but they're not on my phone. I mean, we did. My phone was connected to my house in 1987 right, like but I carried that tradition on a little too long. I think I was kind of post grunge, still rolling my jeans, and that was a big problem. My wife made fun of me all. All the time, like she was, she was like, Honey, you got to stop rolling those jeans that that that fat went out a long time ago. 

Kevin Thomas  
Wait a minute. Hold on, hold on, hold on your now wife or your then wife?

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
My then wife, my now wife, both the same.

Kevin Thomas  
No, I understand. It's the same woman. I'm not saying you were previously married. I'm saying that like you were married and still tight rolling your jeans.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Yes, 1994 it's when I got married. I was still tight, rolling my jeans. 

Kevin Thomas  
That's far past the trend. 

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
No doubt. I agree completely. 

Kevin Thomas  
S really loves you. If you were doing that and she still decided to marry you.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Imagine if I had showed up for my wedding day with rolled tux pants.

Kevin Thomas  
Just no words. I'm blown away by this. Now I also want to see you in your tux. I love the tight rolled jean pic that Matt was asking about but I want to see you in your wedding tux, just because it's fun. 

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
No doubt. How about you? You have to have something you've carried on way too long. Come on.

Kevin Thomas  
So for me, it was one of those things I tried to do the tight rolling of jeans, probably in that late 80s timeframe, and I could never figure it out. I really couldn't, I didn't get it right. Like, I don't know if it's because I've always had big calves or what it is, but like, I just could never figure it out. And so, like, that's never been an issue. I didn't have that one. But I will say I'm a 45 year old man that loves a backwards hat. And so I Yeah. For our audio listeners, I just threw on the backwards hat as we're recording. And so for our visual listeners, they're thinking, Oh God, what is this guy doing? But yeah, so like, I rock the backwards hat and will until the day I die. Right? Goodness, this is a good look on me. 

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Are you 13? Kevin? Come on. 

Kevin Thomas  
We'll just do this for just a little bit, just taking it in. Just throw the sunglasses on backwards hat. Have a little drink in your hand. Just enjoy the day. 

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Hop into your Corvette. 

Kevin Thomas  
Yeah, listen, if you want to buy me a Corvette for my birthday, it's in June. We'll figure it out. But yes, it's so great. So that would for sure be mine, and I will embrace it until the day, day I die. The other part is, for us, we're follically challenged individuals absolutely and so we're gonna have to wear a hat anyway. If anytime we're outside, forwards, backwards, I'm good. Either way.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
I like my hat protecting me from the sun. You seem to want it to you seem to want it to highlight your face. And we've already talked about my face. I'm not sure that's the best plan. I need sunglasses and a hat.

Kevin Thomas  
Yeah, I wear, I wear a lot of hats. You know, it's probably why I'm follically challenged. I hear that that's a thing. I don't know if that's true or not. Somebody, somebody Google us on that one.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
So birthdays now just dinner. I mean, usually for me, it's trying to spend time with my family, hopefully laughing and having fun, like we're doing today, usually at a place of my choice. 

Kevin Thomas  
Do you have like, a go to meal, like, like, is it like, I want a steak? Or is it just depend?

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Yeah, I mean, I'm a big pizza guy, so usually a pizza place or a favorite. I mean, in Evansville, we've talked about this like there are bajillion pizza places that just kill it. And so usually, if I'm in Evansville celebrating, we are usually hitting a pizza place. How about you? Are you a state guy?

Kevin Thomas  
Yeah, I would say usually. I mean, it can be different, and I think it depends on the mood, but just generally, it's probably a nicer meal out steak, good pork chop, pizza. I think can happen. It just kind of depends where. Man, if I lived in some of the places you live, there's some great pizza places that are nearby you.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Yes, there are absolutely, I've told Evansville being an underrated pizza town, and everybody kind of laughs at me.

Kevin Thomas  
No, I think that's legit. All right. Well, I think we need to move on, or we're just going to keep talking about food and bad fashion choices.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Yeah, we have a lot more interesting things to talk about today and a great guest.

Kevin Thomas  
Speaking of styling and profiling, right, like our guest today is Bobby Gandu. Bobby is the Associate There we go, Bobby with the shades on as he comes on screen. Bobby is the Associate Vice Provost for Strategic Enrollment Initiatives at Wichita State University. He leads admissions, Shocker transfer accelerators, Shocker Academy and concurrent enrollment programs and the Shocker career accelerator. It's almost as if that's shocking, but I would say Bobby and I got connected a couple years ago, and every time we have a conversation, or he's sharing with the group. I'm always enlightened and learning through that experience and appreciative of his insight. And so we're really pumped to have you on today, Bobby.

Bobby Gandu  
Oh, it's really my great pleasure to be here. Brody and Kevin. I'm not sure how low on the list I sunk. I don't know that I'll be able to much add to your two witty banter that you've already got going happy to be a part of the show today.

Kevin Thomas  
We've got to start with this shocker, this shocker thing, right? Like, like you're a Wichita State guy forever and ever, and like you wear it. And I think it's almost an identity thing in some ways, of like, when people see Bobby, they think Wichita State, but like this mascot, like, have you been there for the evolution of this? I know you have, like, a marketing background. What are your thoughts here on the mascot, the name all of it?

Bobby Gandu  
Yeah. So just history and context for those of you who are not familiar with our beloved WuShock. Our original name was the wheat shocker. So back in the university was created, started in 1895 and so early in the 1900s our students would work wheat harvest in the middle of Kansas in order to raise money for tuition, but also for those who are athletes, to raise money for athletics uniforms and those kinds of things. So at some point in the early 1900s the name wheat shockers got stuck to Wichita State, and so that's what we had for years. We were the wheat shockers. And then eventually that phrase got shortened to the shockers. And in case you're not familiar with wheat harvest, I can't say that I am, and we're not even ag school. We have no ag programs. But the term shock wheat, or shocking wheat means you bundle the wheat together and helps through harvest. So that being said, again, we have no ag programs. We our students aren't necessarily working out in the field anymore, doing those kinds of things most likely. But that name has stuck, and a lot of people get us the shocker confused with, you know, bumblebees. I was actually in Oklahoma City just yesterday or Monday of this week, and I was going through a drive through on my way out of town, and the young man helping me at the door was like, Oh, wow, what a cool looking be as he looked university vehicle I was in. So we get bee, we get corn, we get pretty much everything other than a bundle of wheat, by also my, one of my running jokes when I'm presenting an event and trying to explain who rush shock is, is that if you look really closely, he is probably the only cannibal mascot that you will ever see, meaning that he is a bundle of wheat with a piece of wheat at his mouth. So he's like a wheat eating wheat. So it's kind of bizarre, and, you know, cannibalistic in some way. ESPN even named our mascot. I think it was ESPN named our mascot one of the 10 ugliest in the country years ago. So we're actually kind of proud of that. You know that he's got such a unique look that people love him or hate him.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
I think it's a classic look, right? It's a great mascot, right? One of the best in the country, to be completely honest, in my opinion.

Kevin Thomas  
Brody like so the family. We went on our first college tour for Braden, and we toured Wichita State. Bobby coordinated with us, and we got to go up and check this out. And the shocker is everywhere, the shocker, WuShock is everywhere, and even to the point where they have a YMCA on their campus. And I would say that that version of woo shock is like he goes to the gym every day, right? So that's a different version, but he's just what you're saying, Oh my gosh. Like, just ripped, and it's a little intimidating, but that mascot is everywhere, such an identity of the campus, and it's just fantastic.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Yeah, that's amazing. So, Bobby, you talked about or you sent us some information, and I'm really interested to hear how you've integrated marketing, which you said, is your real interest kind of into this role? It, it's something that you've been interested in and that you said you've really tried to integrate. Can you speak more to that? 

Bobby Gandu  
So, you know, I started out in college as a well. First, I was undecided for two years, like many of us do, start out we have no idea what we're going to do, and I started taking some business classes, and I really enjoyed my marketing class. And so that eventually led me down the path to finish an undergraduate degree in business, but with marketing as my major. And so at the time when I graduated from college, I was really thinking I'd go work, and certainly for profit or for a company doing marketing and advertising for some company. I thought that would certainly be my path in terms of the corporate life. And then when I graduated in 2002 the Wichita economy was just recovering from post 911 so if you kind of think back, you know, to 2001 and. Everyone was scared to travel, in terms of on an aircraft. And so, you know, the Wichita economy, which is largely an aviation based economy, there's so much fear about companies here, or fear for companies here, and folks perhaps shuttering or, you know, laying off employees. Nobody was really hiring at the time. So, long story short, I just decided, okay, I'll continue on with my education and pursue, started to pursue an MBA, and in the meantime, I was involved as a student leader on campus, and had lots of connections on campus, and that led me down the path to just working initially in our Alumni Association. Did that for a couple of years as I was continuing my MBA, and then finished my MBA. But by that point, I had moved back into the admissions world, where I was already, or at least previously, a tour guide and student ambassador, did all the things. So I think between my involvement as an undergraduate student, being a tour guide, doing some other things in that realm, as a student ambassador, and then, you know, continuing into my degrees, marketing became, you know, firepower for me. Just really enjoyed talking about what I was excited about and proud of. And my at that time, it was certainly my affiliations with Wichita State. And then, you know, you know, I had great mentors along the way, people who looked out for me at Wichita State. And so even though I had a real itch to leave campus and go pursue corporate life and in a marketing role off campus, people were just too good to me here, and people looked out for me. They gave me opportunities when I didn't deserve them. I think they had too much faith in me, but they gave me opportunities, and since then, I was, you know, promoted to director of admissions. That gave me an opportunity to flex that marketing muscle in a way that I think, you know, some marketing directors will really focus on process and operations. There's nothing wrong with that. Some will focus on marketing. And I had a little bit of both. I had some operations and processing background, and I had real passion for marketing. And so as my role has changed over the years and over the decades, I've really kind of taken a real interest in marketing in my role. And so I have a marketing team that we've stood up here in the admissions world, and they know that I'm going to come with ideas that I want to be really involved. So as I tell them all the time, it's a gift and a curse, meaning that the boss wants to be really involved in marketing, yeah, but with that, you know, Curse of my input and my feedback and in many cases, my sign off. But with that also comes resources, and so I will bring to bear what I think we need to do to tell future students and families about Wichita State.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Yeah, it's certainly important to include your expertise in the work, right? And being able to leverage that is really valuable. I do agree that sometimes it can feel like at least in my role here, can feel a little heavy handed, but I'm glad that you've been able to strike that balance and still stay involved in the things that are really that you have a real passion for. So that's awesome.

Kevin Thomas  
Yeah, it's one of these things, Brody, as one of us on this call is getting older this week, that I'm curious, Bobby, because we are and in this field where we're marketing and connecting with 1617, 18 year olds in a way of trying to show that education is a great path forward. How do you stay current in being a great leader, but being a leader that's incorporating those aspects of what you talk about?

Bobby Gandu  
You know, I think a lot of it is, yeah, I'm a news junkie. I love to have my news feed on any social platform or just, you know, my regular, you know, email traffic with newsletters. You know, I love to read. I love to consume what is going on, not just in higher education, but in the world. I, you know, I probably won't one of the I'm in my 40s. I'm a little bit behind you, Brody, just a tad. But Oh, good. I think I'm probably, you know, I've been watching news since I was in my 20s, and so I just believe in being connected to the world and to the news of both local and national settings, and making sure that I know what's going on, but more specifically with higher ed and just kind of being aware of trends. Again, I like to consume. I like to read what's in front of me. I like to go out and seek information. I think I've subscribed to no fewer than 75 newsletters that I get on a regular basis, not that I'm reading them, you know, all, excuse me, but yes, getting and, of course, I don't get to everyone every day, but, you know, I like to see the headlines. I like to know what we are needing to think about for the future. So I think that's really important. And then the other thing, which is partially how I got connected to Kevin is very much believe in not just for myself, but our team, professional development, going to conferences, meeting people, being aware of what national trends are, understanding who our students and families are these days. And as you both know, the world has changed very rapidly in terms of how families consider a college education. Education right now, certainly for the students we're seeing at Wichita State, we have a lot of first generation students, lot of low income students, a lot of families are thinking, even though, for maybe the three of us, as we were coming through the ranks, higher education was probably a foregone conclusion, perhaps our parents, at least my parents, were it was, there's no question of whether I was going to go to college, and my parents didn't have the benefit of college, but it was but it was just a given. We're gonna figure this out, and you're gonna go to college. But now families these days are really kind of pondering the question, even if both parents were college educated, and so I think the world has changed so much that we've got to make sure we're aware of what families interests are that you know, many families and students are thinking about workforce first and or technical education, which, those are great paths too. But you know, that's not what we're in the business for, right? We're in the business of, typically, four year universities and making sure that students are thinking about at least as a starting point of bachelor's degree. So, yeah, I think it's really just a matter of being aware of the world around us and diving in with a passion, a zeal and an interest.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Yeah, let's, let's expand on that, right? Your your family background, you were raised by parents who came from India, growing up in Kansas. How has that maybe shaped your view on access, equity and the role of education and opportunity?

Bobby Gandu  
Yeah, you know, you hit the nail on the head, you know, I'm the child of immigrants. My parents grew up in Southern India. They they were, you know, it's poverty, you know, in southern India. And I've seen the childhood homes of where my parents grew up in, and my mom in particular, it was, it's a hut, and there was no bathroom, you know. You know, it was very humble circumstances. And so as a child, I had the opportunity to go visit multiple times, and I saw how challenging it was, at least my perception of challenge right for them, it was just life, and that's how they grew up. And they didn't necessarily know or see differently, because that's just that was their circumstances, but they made a lot of sacrifices to come to the United States in the 1970s and I was born here in the United States and was able to come through the US education system. But again, I had that, that perspective of being back to India a few times as I was growing up, and I could see how really My relatives were living, my aunts and my uncles and my cousins. And you know, of course, I think it took more time for me to fully appreciate it, but in time, especially when I hit my 20s, I realized how blessed I was, even though, you know, we didn't have a lot of money growing up, but you know, we didn't want there wasn't ever a day that we didn't have food on the table, but no, there was never access. And so that gave me real perspective, and that allowed me to, when I became the admissions director, to focus on access and opportunity. I very much believe in the power of higher education, and that, especially for low income and first generation families, that it can change trajectories for those families and those students. And so while I'm very much access oriented, I really want to make sure that we're considering that and all the services we do are we being intentional with what their needs are. And that's very much just based in how I came up and how I was raised.

Kevin Thomas  
Well, you know, one of the things that when we're talking about having a guest on, like, it's certain topics and certain themes, and right now, I feel like you're sitting in this place at Wichita State where you're kind of the epicenter of everybody's eyes. And some of that is, I would say, the innovation lab and the work that you're doing with that. But then as people start to look at the innovation lab on your campus, you get to things like the shocker career accelerator and shocker Academy, and just different things that are, I think, being packaged really well, but also are really impactful in the education journey. Can you talk about your maybe your influence in that and then also what you're seeing students on your campus and in that recruitment process, seen in these experiences, and really tying together the practical and the the the education aspect of it?

Bobby Gandu  
Yeah, so little background and context on Wichita State, so obviously, we're a public university, and we sit in the largest city in Kansas, we have a 330 acre campus. Well, for years, 120 acres of that 330 acres was an 18 hole golf course, and more than 10 years ago, our then President made what I would call a courageous decision to upset a lot of local golfers and some folks on campus and close the 18 hole golf course that we had at the time. That's good, yeah, yeah, right. 

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
That's what I do with the golf course too, to be completely honest.

Bobby Gandu  
Well, you can imagine it was not necessarily a popular decision with with many folks that being said 10 years ago, plus when that decision was made, then President had this vision to bring together companies, organizations, government agencies, to our campus in this space where we have this golf course, because the idea was, let's bring them to campus. And in order for them to have these spaces where they're bringing in their full time professionals, they have to work with our students. They have to hire our students for internships, for applied learning opportunities, for research, for potentially clinical opportunities, if we ever get so fortunate to where we could have that space utilized in such a way for, you know, future healthcare practitioners. So that was a real bold vision. And many of us around were like, that sounds crazy, and this will never work, but I can honestly tell you, you know, 11 years later, that we are thriving because of that decision and the work that went in from a lot of people all over, not just the university but the community, to get behind this idea of an Innovation Campus. So in its place this 18 old golf course, we now have 120 acres of organizations, companies, two brand new residence halls, retail restaurants and the YMCA that Kevin mentioned earlier, that's amazing. Yeah, in addition to about 15 ish structures that are housing organizations, companies, agencies. ATF, for example, has not just one building, they're building a second building. So the federal agency, alcohol, tobacco, firearms, explosives. They have a couple of centers of excellence on our campus. We have Airbus, Major, aircraft manufacturer that has had an operation in downtown Wichita with about 300 professionals. They moved out of the building in downtown Wichita. They moved to our campus. So those 300 plus professionals are working every single day on our campus. There's lots of examples like this, but it's really been transformational, not just for our campus, but really our greater Wichita community. It's reminded them about the city of Wichita and our entrepreneurial spirit that we have. Kevin knows this, because I think you saw it when you were on campus, but our community, and really our two students who attended Wichita State started Pizza Hut. So two brothers years ago, they got a $600 loan from their mother and started making pizzas in the basement of their fraternity house on campus, and they moved out of that that, you know, that operation. I'm not sure who's buying pizza out of the basement of a fraternity house, but that's a different discussion. But they moved into a building that was elsewhere in Wichita, is literally a hut, and they were slinging pizzas out of that, and they just grew it into this great big national concept where they were franchising the idea. And so we always kind of joke there's a lot of Pizza Hut millionaires here in town, because all of their friends got involved and invested in the business really early. So anyway, we have this entrepreneurial spirit here in our community that's really tied well back into our Innovation Campus and revived, I think, the spirit of which taught all that we can offer here in this community.

Kevin Thomas  
Brody was one of those people that was buying pizza out of turning house. That's what 80s kids did, and then, and then there's regulations. That was like, Hey, folks, stop buying crap out of basements. So like that's when that...

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Kevin, Pizza Hut has such a soft spot in my heart, like we were talking about this the other day my Christmas eve dinner, we would go to 4:30 mass, and there was a Pizza Hut about a five minute drive from our house. And we would go to Pizza Hut for Christmas Eve. The whole family, my mom and dad would and it was like the most special thing in the world, right? The red and white tablecloth and getting our pizza here, I was a 13 year old. I thought I was living on top of the world, like the greatest thing since sliced bread was Pizza Hut on Christmas Eve.

Kevin Thomas  
I don't even know what to do with it. That's amazing. That's great. Such wonderful things that just stick out from family traditions. It's amazing.

Bobby Gandu  
Well, Brody, if you ever find your way you know passing through South Central Kansas is please come see me, because we have the very original Pizza Hut building on our campus now, and it's set up as a 300 square foot museum. It's the smallest museum you'll ever see, but it has the red and white checker table cloth, Tiffany Pizza Hut lamp, the bucket pizza program, if you're familiar with that, it's, it's very nostalgic, like, I can still walk in there. It's right behind our Welcome Center, where I'm office out of and I can walk in there, and I can, I can, like, smell the pizza baking in there. You know, it's very nostalgic for me. 

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
By far my favorite chain pizza. Kevin, right. It is by far my favorite chain pizza. Like, I think it's all about the memory, the psychology of it.

Kevin Thomas  
Yeah, I completely agree. I don't want to skip through some of the things that Bobby talked about there while we get started on food again. This. Listen like everyone that listens this is just gonna think we're hungry all the time. But what's wrong with that? There's nothing wrong with it. There's nothing. A couple of things stand out to me in your your answer there, Bobby, on the innovation part of things is, I think what you're talking about is the future of education, and the fact that you are in that current and you are in that progressive part is is just kind of a transformational thing. And I think about my son, Braden, and being on the tour and going through parts of that innovation lab, and I'm going to get it wrong, but like, you have a student organization that builds like for mobility with with children that don't have mobility issues, that build certain things specifically for those, those kids. And like, we saw students going in and out and then stopping to talk to us that day about that experience, and I just, I walked away thinking they're having the most transformational experience, and they don't even know it, like, that's what's happening in this experience, and that's just amazing.

Bobby Gandu  
Yeah, that lab that you're mentioning, it's called go create, excuse me, it's called Go, baby, go. And what they're doing is our students originally started as engineering majors, and what they were doing was they were taking, you know, those toy cars, Power Wheels, you know, the three of us probably, you know, drove, ran over our siblings with, you know, when we were younger, but they're retrofitting those toy cars for children with disabilities and have access challenges, and it's really amazing. So for as an example, if a child isn't able to perhaps, use their feet in the same way that other children could, then they might make it so that the gas is hand cranked, or something like that. So it gives those children the same opportunity to have fun in those kinds of vehicles. And I'll tell you, the most heartwarming thing you'll ever see is what they call delivery day. They do delivery day a couple times a year, where those students will take their work and give it to the children, and the children just have a ball running all over the building in the cars and the vehicles. Now they have an opportunity to run over their siblings. So that's the lab that you're Kevin. And what's great is we started with engineering majors, but I think there was great realization that we need to involve other majors, because when we bring together, you know, diverse interests and diverse perspectives, you can really improve what we're doing. And so I think they actually first started with health professions majors, because we have physical therapy physician assistants and other programs where they're, they're, you know, regularly thinking about what patients needs are. So I think that's where, where we started evolve into other majors who are also now actively part of that go baby, go experience.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
There's a real, there's a real connection to community element that I think is important here too, right? Like, you know, Kevin, at my previous institution, University of Southern Indiana, right? It was created in the 60s, and one of the distinct missions was to serve the economic needs of the region. And right? So the other piece, Bobby, I would assume, is that these, these programs, this program, is really serving the needs of the community too, and and building those strong relationships is is really important for institutions like Wichita State, like Illinois State, Central Arkansas, the University of Southern Indiana. And I just kudos to your president at that time, who kind of really was thinking kind of visionary in terms of getting this done and being able to use this now as a great recruitment tool for students, right, actually contributing to the needs of the community as part of your undergraduate experience. That's amazing.

Bobby Gandu  
Yeah, it's really been just that amazing. And yeah, if our current president was here and your guest who need do much better than I would, but he what he would really tell you is exactly what you just said, Brody, that we're ultra focused on serving the needs of our and uplifting our economy, our workforce, or employers in this community, because we want them to hire our graduates. We want them to see us as a talent source where they can continue to grow their company, and so that's a really important part of why we even created this innovation campus. We see our niche as serving the needs of south central Kansas, which includes, to a large part, the employers here. We're soon going to have Boeing back in town. Boeing was here, and they kind of spun off to a different business, but they're reacquiring it now, so Boeing will be a major employer with around 10,000 employees here. Lots of other large aircraft manufacturers are here, but we've diversified. There's another large company here that's headquartered here. It's the second largest privately held company in the world, and it's just down the street from us. And hire our graduates on a regular basis too. So it's just important to us as part of our identity, that we're serving the needs of companies, organizations, nonprofits, here in our area.

Kevin Thomas  
That's great. I think your president's great. But I'll say, like, Bobby, you're, you're killing it here, right? Just filling us in all the information. Also, like, you just have a you have a voice for these podcasts. You should do this more often, like, it's just like listening to Bobby talk about Wichita State. There's your podcast name.

Bobby Gandu  
Well, I our president has a podcast. So with all due respect, I will happily stand down and let him run the university podcast. But I've been a guest a couple of times on a few other shows. And you know, I'm obviously really proud of what we're doing here at Wichita, state. And you know, as the world changes and evolves, to me, it's just really being proud of higher education and the work collectively that you too many others all over the country do to help students in the United States.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Bobby, this is an area that I think is important for all three of our institutions. But I'm clearly no expert in this space. My focus has been mostly on first year students and more broadly, retention, improving retention and academic support services. But Wichita, state's been the number one transfer destination in Kansas for many years, and that's just not a population that I've spent a lot of time learning about. How has your office built, maintained strong Transfer Pathways? And what do you think are the biggest levers for improving the transfer student experience?

Bobby Gandu  
Great question. Yeah, we always brag that we've been the number one transfer destination in the state of Kansas for 14 years in a row, which means students attending a Kansas community or technical college or transferring to Wichita State, at a rate that's higher than any other university in the state of Kansas. And so that we also were doing a deeper dive on some of the data on this, and we're also finding that students, frankly, are transferring from another Kansas University to Wichita State at a higher volume than the other universities too, and there are two larger universities in the state that offer wonderful opportunities.

Kevin Thomas  
But Bobby, like, we're all regional institution, folks, and so, like, you may not be able to say this out loud, but what I hear you saying is, you have a lot of students that transfer to Wichita State because they see a better experience for them there than they might at the University of Kansas or or at Kansas State University.

Bobby Gandu  
I'm not going to bite on that one. What I will say is those students may find a fit here that is more in line with what they're looking for professionally and perhaps personally too. We are, as I mentioned, in the largest city in Kansas. So we're very different experience than in the two examples you provided, Lawrence, Kansas and Manhattan, Kansas, both great college towns were just a different experience, right? So sometimes students are looking for, perhaps a larger city, different cultural experience, more concerts, you know, other attractions that a larger city could offer, more shopping or dining. We've talked a lot about food, right? So, you know, I think there are some great opportunities, and really for our students, what we talked about is that means you have access to the large workforce here. So internships, applied learning opportunities. You get to do those things. You don't have to wait for a summer to finish up an internship or look for an internship. You can do that as an accounting major and go work for the largest accounting from the state of Kansas, right here in downtown Wichita. You can do that during the fall or spring. You don't have to wait for the summer, when you've got time to move somewhere else and then find a company that's willing to work to hire you. But to Brody's point, you're trying to make me walk into a landmine. Kevin, thank you very much.

Kevin Thomas  
And I even referred to him as University of Kansas and not pay you. And so like my Kansas friends and Kansas State friends are going to be so angry about this, and it's kind of amazing.

Bobby Gandu  
To Brody's question...

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
We're gonna make enemies. I just wanted to learn something. 

Bobby Gandu  
You know, I think we found our sweet spot with transfer students through some great partnerships with there's a few colleges that are local to us, meaning that, for the most part, they're less than an hour away. Some are even closer than that. So we've tried to form strong partnerships with those two year colleges. You know, to be honest, we are competing to have high school seniors attend Wichita State and but they also want those students too. And so I think we found that it's all good if a student wants to start at a two year college, then we're going to just make sure that those two year colleges don't necessarily see us as a threat or a competitor in all cases, really, you know, we're happy that if the student lands at a two year college, first, we want to go and access that two year college have a good partnership with them through either transfer articulation agreements, just regular presence, awarding transfer scholarships, regularly having a dual advising approach. So then, if a student. Is either starting or in the midst of a two year experience, then they don't need to wait to transfer to start meeting with an advisor at Wichita State. Let's create going on that process early, so that there is no waste in transfer credit that we want to bring in all the credit we can and have little to zero waste on those transfer credits. And certainly, if the credit is coming to us from any of the from any of the Kansas Community Colleges, we'll at least take it as elective. But of course, of course, most importantly, we want it to count towards the major and the degree courses that are required. So we've really just done that through a lot of hard work or relationship development. There's been times where we have sent out university administrators to other colleges. Other colleges have come to us. We want it to feel like a partnership very much so.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Absolutely love that.

Kevin Thomas  
I would say too Bobby, and I think that your marketing perspective plays a factor in this. But having spent time on your website for transfer students, the messaging that you use through your website, I don't know that anybody does it better, like it's just a tremendous outreach and effort. So for our listeners, that's probably a website to check out if you're in that world of transfer and seeing how institutions are really talking to students in a website based way. Like like you all do exceptionally well there. So kudos on that effort. Thank you. Kevin, so we asked this question frequently, and I'm just curious, how do you measure whether you've moved the needle, like we all have a busy day or week and and, you know, just a lot going on, but what are those signs that you look forward to know that you're making a meaningful impact in your work?

Bobby Gandu  
You know, I'm reminded of a story just really as recently as last night. It's humorous to me. But, you know, in the vein of our, you know, ongoing food discussion here last night, we were celebrating my youngest daughters, my now seven year old daughter's birthday, and she chose to go to Chick Fil A, of course. So, you know, we saddle up after soccer practice and go to Chick Fil A. And you know, I pre ordered the food we were sitting down to eat. My wife ran up to the register to grab something, I'm not sure, a condiment or something. And so I noticed she was talking to the young man that was serving her behind the counter. And she came over to me, she just started laughing. And I said, What's so funny? She said, Well, the young man behind the counter said, Are you? Trish Gandu, are you Bobby Gandu's wife? And she said, Yes, not knowing where that was going. And this young man who we, you know, determined, was a high school senior, he said, Oh, gosh, I I know who Bobby is, and I've seen him speak at multiple events, and, you know, I just think he does a good job. So I've been trying to, you know, attend events and activities that he's been involved in. So, so she was relaying this story to me, because, you know, she is not impressed at all. If you have a good spouse, they will always ego. Check you right. She's not impressed at all. But for me, you know, I guess that was like some small, like encouragement that not not that I am impressive, but that hopefully the things I'm communicating and sharing at events land with someone and that they feel, whether it's Wichita State or somewhere else, you know, that they feel, that they understand who we are as a university and whether or not we're going to be the right fit for them. So I guess I take some encouragement in that. And in fact, I emailed that young man. I went up to him later, and his line was long, so I couldn't talk to him very long, but I just said, you know, my wife mentioned that you you knew who I was, and I just wanted to say hello, and so I emailed with him. I sent him an email last night around 10 o'clock. It he emailed twice this morning already, before or around 6am so for me, it was like, super fulfilling to like, see this young, ambitious man who's working at our local Chick Fil A and working hard, I mean, the kids up at not 6am grinding away. So I think I always just feel hope and excited when I get to connect with students at such a specific level.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
That personal touch, Bobby is so important. I always appreciate folks that you know after you have just those brief conversations or you say you're going to follow up just doing, doing what you say you're going to do, but that personal touch means the world for that student. There's no question about it. Amen, he's not gonna forget that. 

Kevin Thomas  
All right, let's get to some of our lighter and maybe a little more fun topics. What's more iconic, the Pizza Hut roof line, or the shockers logo?

Bobby Gandu  
Oh man, the pizza roof line is going away these days. Don't make them like they used to ride so gosh, I hope the WuShock and the Shocker logo, it will carry on and manage the test of time.

Kevin Thomas  
All right, so you, you are a big basketball fan, like, you know, what's this like? Great Wichita shocker moment that lives with. You that is just part of that, that story, and that, that admiration for your institution.

Bobby Gandu  
Well, you know, Kevin, anytime I want to, when we talk college basketball, I always want to acknowledge that, you know, I grew up as a Bulls fan, you know, so I watched, you know, not that it was hard to watch, but Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, all the days growing up and so, you know, I always, you know, was first impressed with you that you worked at the same institution that Scottie Pippen attended. So I want to acknowledge that and shout out to Scotty, that being said.

Kevin Thomas  
He was in the building recently. Oh, man, it was one of those, like, I came off the elevator and was walking, and then I looked down the hall and I'm like, well, that's Scottie Pippen, you know, like, you like, and that just that happened.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
I loved him as a player, but that dude has a voice for a podcast. 

Bobby Gandu  
Yes, yeah, I agree. But the shocker basketball moment for me, you know, we've been fortunate. We had a tremendous run in the 2000 10s, including a birth in the Final Four. And so, you know, I was riding shotgun alongside the team in terms of, like, just getting to go to games and and knowing the coaches and the players. So for me, you know, really a fun moment was, or maybe a sequence of moments was, the basketball coaches at the time. I was really astounded when they first took over as our when Greg Marshall first took over as our head coach, he wanted to meet with the admissions staff, which was really unusual. You know, it's not often NCAA division one athletics coach once of any sport wants to meet with the admissions team. But I remember vividly sitting in a room in the welcome center where we are, where they were asking us, how do you sell the university? We need to learn from people who are doing this, how do you sell the university to future basketball players? So we told them what we would share, and that resonated with them. So anyway, when they would bring prospective student athletes, prospective basketball players, to campus, they would actually call me and ask me to give them tours, and I'm, again, just a basketball junkie, and I'd be like, yeah, sure, I'll give tours, you know, and they didn't pay me, you know, they weren't giving me tickets or anything like that, but I already had season tickets that I was I was purchasing personally. But I just love the access. I loved getting to know the coaches over the years, and, frankly, getting to know the players. And so maybe for me, you asked, you know, what's a memorable moment, Kevin, aside from attending the Final Four with the team and just getting to take all that environment in and that run and what that was like, but I've also, I gave campus tours to Fred Van Vliet, who was an NBA world champion, Landry shaming the NBA, Ron Baker, who's local legacy. Everyone knows that name around here, and he was a big part of our final four round. But I gave KIPP his tours to those guys and many others. Austin Reeves, who plays with the Lakers. So those were, like, really cool moments for me, basketball junkie.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
I can't ask a more fun question than that. You stink, Kevin, right, you have to ask the most fun question. That was a great one. Like, so Bobby, I noticed in the note that you sent us, you're a big movie. Guy. Like, is there a movie that kind of has changed the way you think about the world, or one that's really touched you in meaningful ways? Like, I know I have movies like that. But do you have a movie that you really enjoy that's kind of important to you?

Bobby Gandu  
Oh, gosh, you know, that's such a broad question. There's, you know, probably dozens that I could do a whole movie podcast. Maybe that's what my podcast should be, yes, but no, you know, I don't know. I love anything with Denzel Washington Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks. They were, you know, just making incredible movies when I would have my kind of regular movie going experiences when I had money to burn, time to burn, and I could go sit in a theater for two and a half three hours and just enjoy that experience and not be worried or thinking about a cell phone worry about other responsibilities. So I don't know. I mean, I could name lots of movies that have been a part of my both college and later history, Back to the Future is always one that sticks out to me as a favorite, anytime that it gets shown on a like a local small theater as like a celebration of a 30 year anniversary, or 40 or whatever, your anniversary. I guess we're not quite 50 years on that movie yet. I don't think, yeah. So, you know, just movies where magic is just magic and, you know, you, you it's memorable. What you see on the screen, and it's, it gets quoted all the time in your lifetime. I mean, like a funny movie that we just quote all the time, is like something like Tommy Boy, you know, just whole range of movies that I love. What about you guys? I'm curious. What if you guys have movies that you really enjoy, that you go back to a lot?

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Yeah, go. He turned the tables. I know this is why he could do this. I mean, I was telling Kevin. I think the ending of Forrest Gump, like, I just ball every time, right? Like, kind of the idea of, where do we sit in the world, right? Is it predestined, or is there? Is there? Do we? Do we get to make some choices there? And just kind of his, kind of this ordinary person doing his best to live an extraordinary life, I think that's really impactful. And then I, I mean, Shawshank Redemption is pretty good too. Like, in terms of, you know, get busy living or get busy dying, like those, those two kind of stick out in my mind. Comedy wise, like, I've had trouble finding something that I've enjoyed more than hangover right, in my adult life. Like, the first hangover movie is pretty amazing. I agree.

Bobby Gandu  
I agree.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
How about you Kevin?

Kevin Thomas  
yeah, I think shawshanks on my list. But then those that it's interesting when you're trapped on a plane, the things that you'll embrace, and so then it's like, oh, I think these are my movies that I would say are go to, like, if I can find the natural on TV, if I find Rudy Moneyball. And then like, the non traditional one for me, which is, like, people are like, really, like, you're saying this out loud. I love How to Train Your Dragon. Like it is, like, one of my favorite things ever, music, the whole thing. It's so fantastic. And so recently, I was on a plane and watched the new one, not the animated one twice on the way there, way back, same movie. Just watched it. The music's just great. Just loving it.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
I agree. You nailed that.

Bobby Gandu  
The fire powers of movies are amazing. Like I once my children growing up, they really enjoyed The Greatest Showman. I don't know if you guys have seen that's great music. Once we went to like a sing along version at a local theater, and I'm getting chills even just thinking about it, just the way in which the audience reacts to that movie in particular, and everyone knows all the lyrics to the songs. And I got chills sitting in that theater listening to every because it was a sing along. So everybody was singing. People were dressed in costumes. And there's just something about that element where, where people are so passionate and excited about something that you forget everything else in the world, and you just soak it all in. It's really amazing.

Kevin Thomas  
I'm a big Disney person, and so people will say, oh, like, What's your favorite thing to do when you're in Disney? And there's this, there's this sing along, frozen ever after, right? And like, I will say, I don't know that. I've seen all the frozen movies. No idea. I love all things Disney and and you go into this theater and there's people singing, and then the songs come on and to see these little kids, Oh, get up. I cried when I was in there for that, right? And just like, have their arms out, singing the song, singing along. It is just transformational. I agree with you, Bobby.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
I tried to, I tried, I sat in there and just smiled the whole time, like and tears are running down my face, like the kids sitting next to you and behind you there are so excited. I agree.

Kevin Thomas  
Man, it was awesome. All right. Well, favorite, what's your we're gonna we're gonna move forward to things that are not frozen or thing alongs, although we could turn this into a musical. Bobby, you game for that?

Bobby Gandu  
I'm not gonna sing for you, but...

Kevin Thomas  
We could have Matt clip that and send it to your campus. It'd be fun. You mentioned it. You know, you enjoy concerts. You enjoy going to concerts. We've had this conversation about some that you've seen, like, what's your top standout concert? Brody's a big concert guy.

Bobby Gandu  
Yeah, in an earlier episode, Brody, you mentioned the killers. And so The Killers is easily my number one. I've seen them, gosh, probably six, seven times live. And the most amazing thing was last year, about a year ago, they did a residency out at think it was the Mirage. And, gosh, I'm mad at myself that I can't remember precisely. I think it was the Mirage. And Mirage anyway. So they did a residency out in Vegas. So in case you don't know, they're from Las Vegas, they kind of got their start there. And what they were doing was they were playing cover to cover their entire first album. And so they set up a residency, did it for a couple months, and I went to one show. We went to two shows. But anyway, the first show, brand new flowers, lead singer, gets up there, and he talks about how he got his start as a bus boy, working at that venue, but when they were just getting started as a band, he was just trying to find his footing in Vegas. He started as a busboy, but then he's doing essentially sold out residency again. Just got chills thinking about the trajectory he was on with the rest of his bandmates. So the killers is my number one. They are incredible live. Highly recommended. Even if you know everyone knows you know, right? Right side. You know, their most popular song by far, but, man, every song is really good that they perform live. So the killers. But I'm also a big Jay Z fan. I've been seeing Jay Z multiple times. I've seen range of Acts. I just saw Ludacris recently. He was at the state barrier in Kansas. Wow. So I love, you know, different kinds of music. Garth Brooks puts on an incredible show seeing Garth Brooks, Pink. So, yeah, I have a whole range of acts that I love to see and just enjoy live music.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Kevin, this is how old I am in 2005 at the NACADA Annual Conference in Vegas, I saw The Killers right after hot fuss got released, wow, yeah, and Bobby, they didn't have enough songs, so I think they opened and closed with Mr. Bright Side. Maybe I'm misremembering, but I'm almost certain they did do that. Like, that's crazy.

Bobby Gandu  
Yeah, I love that about them, too, because, I mean, they're still playing Bright Side now, because so many acts you know and performers are like, we're not going to play all the hits. We know, you guys, that's what you want. But I've heard Brandon Flowers talk about it during the interview. He's like, listen, I know you guys want to hear the hits, and so we'll play him, and they'll get to him. So I really appreciate that, that they are wanting to have it be a memorable experience for their fans.

Kevin Thomas  
That's great. All right, we're gonna hit four or five these lightning round questions as we as we wrap things up. You mentioned being out, visiting schools, visiting different areas. What's always in the car when you're out visiting for your road trips?

Bobby Gandu  
Certainly beverages and snacks. Like I'm at that stage in my life where I have to have a, you know, a bag of snacks with me. You know, few kinds of chips, some turkey jerky from Trader Joe's, some cookies. So that's always going to be riding shotgun with me.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Very good. What's a campus tradition that never fails to remind you that you love Wichita State?

Bobby Gandu  
You know, going listening to the fight song as the team comes out and the crowd is amped up, ready to go at a men's basketball game. You know, it's just something that I you know, it could be 2025 or it could be 2014 it still feels very special to me.

Kevin Thomas  
Be honest. Is, is March Madness The best sporting event of the year?

Bobby Gandu  
You know, in my opinion, yeah, you know, there's certainly other events that could make that claim. But if you just think about that, that month plus of activity where everyone is excited and then crushed, a heartbroken and then, you know, those final teams that make it to that, that last stage. I just don't know that it gets much better than that.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Are you a morning person or night strategist? Like, when do the best ideas hit

Bobby Gandu  
Before kids, it was definitely morning I would get I'd come to the office at 5:30 in the morning and start working post kids. Now I'm relegated to work late into the evenings instead. So, yeah, you know, and nowadays I'd say evening.

Kevin Thomas  
Okay, so when you're really thinking about a leadership book or a podcast that's changed, about change how you think about your work, what stands out?

Bobby Gandu  
You know, a book that we had our staff read just this last summer is called unreasonable hospitality, and it has nothing to do with higher education. What it does is it articulates the story of a restaurant tour in New York City who really wanted to create a phenomenal restaurant experience. And so there are all these little stories where they talked about intentional strategy with customers and kind of making things memorable for their guests who were coming through, and so we talked about implementing some similar parallel ideas with our staff here and some of our campus visitors.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Do you have a favorite Wichita food spot? Like, I mean, we gotta, maybe we gotta hit food for sure.

Bobby Gandu  
So there's a food truck. I love food trucks too. So there's a food truck called the Flying Stove, and they, my problem is they don't serve seven days a week, and, you know, three meals a day. It's like you got to catch them. These guys are working two or three days a week, and they set up for limited hours. So for me, it's probably a little bit of like they're only open a limited amount of time, but they make the best sandwiches, burgers, tacos, and I would they kind of know me by name because I'm just a regular there on the one time a week that they're open and they worry about me if they don't see me on a given week, if I'm traveling. So it's called the Flying stove food truck. It's phenomenal.

Kevin Thomas  
All right, last one, something that always makes you smile. Maybe that's a student success story, something personal hobby that keeps you grounded. What's What's that thing that just leaves you good?

Bobby Gandu  
For sure, student success stories, thinking about our grads walking across the stage. I mean, I'll be honest with you, I'm not going to commencement. You know? I've been to enough commencements in my life, but seeing their posts on LinkedIn and seeing them be excited about their first job after college or major internship while they're still in college, that is, is, you know, for me, fulfilling. But aside from that, you know, gosh, just watching my kids do things, sports, make jokes, and just having a good time with my kids. You know, are all three of our kids right now are playing soccer, and so I think there's, you know, it's just something special for me to go out on a Saturday morning and go watch those kids. A couple of them, or all of them, really have figured it out in different ways. They're really young, but I get so excited when they either score a goal, or one of them likes to play goalie, and if she makes a big stop, we get really excited for them.

Kevin Thomas  
Wonderful. Well, thank you for spending some time with us. Hey, happy birthday to your daughter as well. You said daughter, right?

Bobby Gandu  
Yes, yeah, my youngest just turned seven yesterday. 

Kevin Thomas  
Gosh, that time frame being so close to Brody's birthday, it feels like, you know, connected the way it works. But happy birthday to your daughter. Thank you for being on the show with us today. We appreciate learning from you, and I know our audience will too.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
It was great to meet you, Bobby.

Bobby Gandu  
Thanks for having me. Guys. All the best. 

Kevin Thomas  
How fun. I will also say this, and I'll have to talk to Bobby about it afterwards. But I also think Bobby needs a career in politics, because there are some answers that we kind of set up that was like, Ooh, Where will he go? And he just, he sidestepped. He walked the line. He didn't take the bait. He did real well, like, I just really enjoyed that conversation.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Yeah, thanks for thanks for thinking about him and bringing him on to the show. I really enjoyed our conversation today, that accelerator, that that that transformation in their campus.

Kevin Thomas  
Wow. The thing I couldn't help but think about is when I visited campus, and maybe, like our listeners in Kansas, and we have quite a few listeners in Kansas that, you know, maybe this is the norm. But I keep thinking they took away the golf course, and thank God for that, because that day that I was there was the windiest day I've ever experienced in my life. I feel like, and I couldn't imagine hitting a golf ball, because it like, listen, mine probably would have gone crooked anyway. This may have straightened it out. I don't know. It was so windy that day, but to have that thought, and I think Bobby used the idea, or the notion of it being a wild idea, right? Like To do this, to make this change. And sometimes those things that can be transformational on our campus are those wild ideas. Are those changes that people will sit there and say, What are we doing? Like, really? And then you flash forward, you know, 15-20, years. And it really, I think, has put that campus in what they're able to provide for students, as far as an experience in a real, just transformational stratosphere for them.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Yeah, there aren't many people that can kind of relay that kind of confidence and vision for something and then get it done, right? And so kudos to Wichita State right as an institution to kind of take that idea and run with it and transform the institution forever.

Kevin Thomas  
Forever like this is the standard. Yeah, wow, I know. Well, let's go back as we wrap things up today to this 80s and 90s conversation. And one of the things I think is real fun is to think about the things that used to occupy your time and used to be a part of your everyday and so I'm curious about the toys that you were obsessed with as a child. And it could be child, teenager, however you want to phrase it. But like when we're talking about ending on our three things, what are those three toys that you were obsessed with?

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
So I remember in kindergarten, there was a little boy named Joseph, and Joseph and I would battle for the Batmobile, like, this big Batmobile car that was like from the 60s version of Batman. And I always hated it when I didn't get to school first, because he would grab the Batmobile car, and if I got to school first, I would grab it. And neither one of us were very good at sharing at the time. My wife would probably say, I'm not even very good at sharing now, like, but, but back then and then, you know, the video game era kind of started in the 80s, in the late 70s, and I didn't have an Atari. I had this video game console called Vectrex, and it was just my brothers and I were fascinated, right? We were on Vectrex all the time, and Vectrex is still a thing, like, if you go to a hobby store or an old video game store, they're pretty valuable. Like my brother, I think, still has it and has the 13 or 14 games. I think they only made, like, 30 games, and we were addicted to that. And then you mentioned and you mentioned birthdays, like, I remember my 10th or 11th birthday getting a. Nerf football, red and white, nerf football. And man, nerf footballs, come on. They were great. They were they were great. How about you? What are your three things?

Kevin Thomas  
Like, I mine, I think there's a good rotation depends on timeframe of life. But I used to be like such a action figure, or like car person. And when I say car, I mean, like the micro machines, like growing up and having the micro machines. And I'm so thankful that my mom kept those, because even Braden played with the micro machines and GI Joes and Little Star Wars action figures. And there was a period of time where I was very big into the WWF. At that time, WWF with the wrestlers and the ring and, you know, all the things, just playing with those guys. I was a big video game guy, so I vaguely remember having an Atari that, you know, and that that was a thing, and playing, was it Pong, where it would bounce back and forth. But then for sure, you know, I remember the Christmas I got a Nintendo, and just like, such a transformational part of, like, my childhood experience, it probably made me lazier, but I did play a lot of games and had fun with that. But then probably the one that says, Oh, this is, like, what you still do, baseball cards, you know, like, I like, I would view that as a toy, because nowadays, when you are doing something, you're like, Oh, I'm gonna Google this about so and so and, but back in the day, it was like, You got the card and you're reading about Tom brunowski, right? Or, like, what he achieved before he became a cardinal, when he was a Boston Red Sox. And, yeah, and, like, you read through the stats. And, man, I just, I loved going through the baseball cards and collecting them and and learning different things and seeing the stats and they put little stories at the bottom of certain ones, especially if they were tops cards. I loved it.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
Yeah, everybody thinks Brody, your your first favorite player was probably Ozzy Smith, right? Yeah, you're a huge Cardinals fan, but my first favorite player was Gary Templeton. I got a Gary Templeton baseball card on my bookshelf behind me, like he was the shortstop for the Cardinals when I was starting Little League, and God, I loved him. And then he kind of, I think he was the first guy to get 100 hits on both sides, right? He was a switch hitter, and he was never better than he was when he was playing for the Cardinals in the late 70s and early 80s. But yeah, baseball cards were awesome.

Kevin Thomas  
Is Gary Templeton your favorite random Cardinal.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
He is probably my favorite random Cardinal, absolutely. 

Kevin Thomas  
I think mine is Tom Lawless. Oh, find that bat flip from the 1987 World Series. There's nothing cooler than that.

Michael "Brody" Broshears  
We've worn our welcome. I think Kevin, yeah, we have talk about this forever. So All right, folks, hey, that's it for this edition of the pickup meeting. We hope your own meetings, whether they're formal or pickup style or as meaningful and fun as this one. Thanks again to Bobby, our guest, Bobby Gandu from Wichita State, thank you, Bobby, absolutely until next time, do good and be nice.