It was a festive night under the stars–and among the stars–as Jayhawks from the Los Angeles area flocked together at the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum. In the shadows of a (skeletal) T-Rex and a triceratops painted with crimson and blue light, guests were treated to a menu of California tacos, gourmet potato chips, dessert shooters and homemade chocolate chip cookies among other delectable bites.
Guests proudly donned their KU spirit wear and were treated to a program featuring a number of speakers from the university community. The evening kicked off with a welcome from Nancy Jackson, SVP-Development at KU Endowment, who encouraged guests to recount the ways in which KU had impacted their lives. The energy in the room was palpable as attendees shared their stories about professors, campus traditions, favorite classes and lifelong friendships forged during those most formative college years.
Chancellor Doug Girod provided a wonderful overview of recent achievements and wins for the university, including stats on our largest freshman class ever at 5,259—a whopping 18% year-over-year from last year, which was the second-largest class in history! This is also the most diverse class, with students representing all 50 states and more than 100 countries.
After a resounding round of applause and a swell of Jayhawk pride, KU faculty and staff members took to the stage to share more information about their current work. You can read more about them by clicking on their names below.
Stephanie Schmitz–Nerding out about professionalism in the School of Business
Kevin Willmott–Shrinking the distance between Lawrence and Hollywood
Mark Shiflett–Creating WISE engineers
KU Alumni Association president Heath Peterson, Dean of Libraries Carol Smith and Arash Mafi, Executive Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, were also in attendance, bringing the latest news from their areas and affiliations to those who were present.
The night concluded with a sincere show of appreciation for our guests who were gifted with LA-exclusive swag and a challenge from KU Endowment president Dan Martin. He asked those in attendance to do three things:
1) Spread the word about the campaign Ever Onward.
2) Give a gift in support of an area that has impacted you or that you want to see impact future generations.
3) Share your time and talent, perhaps as a mentor to a student or early career professional. In other words, make a personal impact by giving back to the university that gave you so much.
To support these initiatives or another area of your choice, visit our campaign giving page. For more information on KU’s Ever Onward campaign and to see if we’ll be coming to a city near you, visit www.kueveronward.org.
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