Newman security director uses hardships to spread positive message
WICHITA, Kan. December 6 2018– Not all heroes wear capes.
It’s a phrase that rings true for one of the most well-known people at Newman University.
Security Director Morris Floyd, who everyone knows as “Mo,” is always spreading positive vibes on campus.
“Leave it on the court. Alright?,” Mo said to the men’s basketball team as they were preparing to head to an away game in Oklahoma Tuesday.
Mo isn’t your everyday security guard.
Aside from serving and protecting, he also gives out smiles.
“Your time here will be very fun,” said Anthony Harvey Jr., a Newman University basketball player. “I like the environment that Mo has helped to create here at Newman.”
Mo is the person students call when they need help.
“I tore my ACL last year, and just throughout that whole process when I couldn’t get around, I could always call Mo,” said Allen Wilson, a Newman basketball player. “He’d always give me rides to class…just anywhere I needed.”
“For Thanksgiving we stayed-like all international stay here,” said Martina Viale, an international student at the university. “And, he came at seven and cooked turkey for us.”
If you know Mo, you would never be able to guess the hardships he has dealt with in his life: the loss of his oldest son, finding out his youngest son was diagnosed with cancer three years ago, and getting unwanted news from the doctor a year ago.
“I’d lost hearing in my right ear and I didn’t know why,” he said. “And, when I went in, doctors did an MRI and told me I had a brain tumor, and I thought oh Lord.”
Instead of allowing these major roadblocks to get in his way, he’s using them as a lesson for those around him.
“No one had no idea that he had so much with his personal life,” said Annie Dang, a senior at Newman. “Because he was always so cheerful and happy.”
Mo has had positive results from his radiation and continues showing students the importance of battling the right fight.
“Life you know, if it hasn’t already, is going to hand you something that’s going to knock you down,” he said. “Get back up. Get back up.”
KSN
