February 18 1999
The Rusty Leffel Concerned Student Award is a legacy of the turmoil on campuses in the 1960s, said Ann Eversole, KU dean of students. The winners have not necessarily been student body presidents or graduating seniors, but they all have worked to promote higher education in Kansas.
The award is the namesake of Rusty Leffel, an Overland Park attorney. Leffel was finishing law school at KU in 1973 when KU students and friends established the award to honor his dedication to reviving public support for KU during a time when public affection for higher education had hit bottom.
"I'm not sure another generation of students since that time has had the same sense of challenge that we experienced," Leffel said of the impact the late 1960s and early 1970s had on his generation.
"We were forced to test our beliefs -- what we wanted for ourselves, for our university, for our world."
As a baby boomer moving into his 50s, Leffel laughs when he says that in the early years, recipients were surprised the award was named for someone near their age. "No one mentions that anymore," Leffel says.
Since 1973, 35 KU students have received Rusty Leffel Concerned Student Awards. About 30 have responded to an invitation to return to KU on Feb. 26 and 27. On Friday, Feb. 26, 15 or more former award winners will gather for dinner at the home of David and Mary Kate Ambler. David Ambler is KU's assistant vice chancellor for student affairs. On Saturday, Feb. 27, the award winners will join the 12th annual Blueprints Student Leadership Conference in the Kansas Union.
"Many, including the very first recipient, Nancy E. Archer Rehkamp, will be coming back for the celebration," Eversole said. Rehkamp is a principal with a health care administration firm in Stillwater, Minn.
Eleven of 30 Leffel Award alumni live in Kansas communities; others live throughout the U.S. One lives in Ontario, another serves in the Peace Corps in Romania. At least seven award alumni followed Leffel's career path and became lawyers, and three winners from recent years are studying law.
Here's a quick look at the career fields of the award alumni:
2 Administrators in higher education (KU Basic Spanish Lang. Program Director and University of Missouri School of Law assistant dean)
1 Business
1 City management (Lawrence assistant city manager)
1 Education
1 Financial consulting
2 Government service (U.S. State Dept. and Peace Corps)
4 Graduate study
1 Health services administration
2 Journalism
7 Lawyers (and three in law school: Duke, Howard and Harvard)
1 Physician (and one in medical school at KU)
3 Public relations and marketing
Story by Mary Jane Dunlap, University Relations, (785) 864-8853