Allie Haggar, a 2024 KU graduate with a double major in journalism and history, became involved with the Dole Institute during her freshman year, spurred by an interest in politics. She later joined the Dole’s Student Advisory Board (SAB) and led it during her senior year. Members of the volunteer student group engage in community service, bipartisan political activities and networking and assist the Dole Institute with events, which often include international leaders. The program is supported in part by donors to the Dole Institute.

Haggar’s history honors thesis, written during her junior year at KU, “RESCIND ERA: The Failed Efforts in Kansas to Rescind the Ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, 1973-1980,” provided the inspiration for the exhibit.

“I wanted to understand how the history of women’s issues in Kansas had influenced modern ideologies in the state and tell a story that had gone largely untold,” said Haggar.

She first became interested in ERA issues after a high school assignment on the proposed amendment led her to discover her textbook lacked the full story. She learned the importance of “digging beyond surface-level information and engaging in critical thinking about historical subjects.” At KU, she found abundant resources for her thesis, through the Dole Archives and KU Libraries.

Olivia Korte, who graduated from KU in 2022 with a degree in interior architecture, was a fellow SAB member and regularly assisted with projects at the institute, including the “Veteran’s Memory Wall” and the “Missing, Then Action” exhibit before working on the ERA exhibit —largely virtually — with Haggar. She first learned of the Dole Institute as a freshman after taking a KU first-year honors seminar led by Dole Institute Director Audrey Coleman.

“The Dole Institute was the place that I could explore interests outside of my major,” said Korte, “and the place that helped me discover how those interests — design, history and museum archives — could blend to create something new.”

Marie Grace Brown, associate professor in the KU Department of History, served as an advisor to Haggar on the ERA project and Sarah Gard, the Dole Institute’s senior archivist and head of collections, also provided guidance for the ERA exhibit.

“Creating these kinds of experiential learning opportunities for students is one of the most rewarding parts of my job,” Gard said. “Transforming your honors thesis into an exhibit is challenging — it’s a different way of delivering information — but Allie rose to the occasion and her research was compelling.”

Korte said seeing the exhibit come together was a special time after so much planning had happened virtually, but it was something else that stuck with her.

“For me, the most striking takeaway from the exhibit, is that although the ERA was first introduced in 1923, over one hundred years later, through waves of ratification and reconsideration, it remains under debate,” Korte said. 

Both Haggar and Korte value their undergraduate experiences with the Dole Institute and its Student Advisory Board.

“The Dole Institute was undoubtedly the most impactful part of my college experience” said Haggar.  “I met some of my closest friends there and it was a great way to connect with students with similar interests. I even got to visit Harvard and Washington D.C. through the institute.” 

Today, Haggar works as a constituent services coordinator for Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, managing external communications between the office and constituents, as well as connecting with state agency partners to help Kansans access resources. 

“I was lucky to learn a lot during my time at the Dole Institute about careers in public service and politics,” said Haggar, “which I now get to pursue.”

Korte works at a St. Louis-based, woman-owned architecture and interior design firm, Eddy Design Group, which specializes in local and national commercial projects.

“I was not the typical history or political science student involved at the Institute,” Korte recalls, “but distinctly remember feeling welcome and included the moment I walked in the door — a sentiment that only grew the more involved I became.”

The ERA exhibit, presented in partnership with the KU Department of History, is on view in the Dole Institute’s Elizabeth Dole Gallery and Reading Room, through January 2025.

To support the Dole Institute of Politics and its KU Ever Onward campaign priorities, including the Student Advisory Board which aims to cultivate tomorrow’s leaders, visit kueveronward.org/dole-institute.