Aug. 15, 2003

Contact: Mary Jane Dunlap, University Relations, (785) 864-8853.

KU prepares for annual Mount Oread scholars' walk up the hill Aug. 18

LAWRENCE -- Each fall for the past seven years, a select group of University of Kansas freshmen known as Mount Oread scholars has taken a traditional walk up the hill known as Mount Oread (pronounced "OR-ee-ad") before a new term begins.

Lloyd Sponholtz, Mount Oread Scholars Program director, is preparing for this year's walk, at 7:15 a.m. Monday, Aug. 18. KU's fall classes will begin Thursday, Aug. 21.

The walk and upward direction symbolize the scholars' first year at KU and their preparation for their graduation goal of walking down the Hill, Sponholtz said. Every spring, thousands of graduating KU students make a processional from the top of Mount Oread through the campanile and down into Memorial Stadium for the commencement ceremony.

James B. Carothers, interim associate vice provost, who proposed the walk in 1996, annually walks with the students and provides commentary about the campus history as they take the short walk to Spencer Research Library for a continental breakfast with the library staff. KU Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost David Shulenburger may join the scholars for the walk.

The scholars will gather on the south end of Memorial Stadium and walk up to Spencer Research Library, where they will have a commanding view of the Kaw River Valley. Stella Bentley, KU's dean of libraries, and William J. Crowe, Spencer librarian, will greet the students.

Spencer library staff members will take digital group photos of the students, which may be seen online at spencer.lib.ku.edu.

The library staff also offers the scholars information about the KU Libraries' many collections. For example, Spencer Research Library includes one of the best sports photo collections in the United States and holds about 350,000 printed books from the 15th century to the 21st century, including a nationally renowned collection of science fiction.

Established in 1996, the Mount Oread Scholars Program is only for freshmen. Entering freshmen are invited to become Mount Oread scholars if they graduated in the top 20 percent of their high school class and received an ACT composite score of 28 to 30 or an SAT score of 1,240 to 1,330. Mount Oread scholars work individually with an adviser in their field of interest and may enroll in relatively small classes or be taught by veteran faculty. The program's retention rate of freshmen is above 90 percent.

MOUNT OREAD
Mount Oread is the name given to the ridge above the Kaw River on Aug. 1, 1854, by New Englanders settling in Lawrence. They pitched camp on the ridge, naming it for an institute in Massachusetts that also occupied a commanding site overlooking its town. The word "oread" derives from Greek and Roman mythology meaning "mountain nymph."

ROUTE: WALK UP THE HILL
 • 7:15 a.m. Begin outside south end of Memorial Stadium near the scoreboard.

 • Proceed about halfway uphill and stop at the Rock Chalk Cairn, once a heap of limestones created through the efforts of the Omicron Delta Kappa honor society at KU in the 1920s for a torch-lighting ceremony that now is used in KU's Traditions Night, at 8 p.m. Monday, Aug. 18. Originally the cairn contained stones from Old North College, the first building on the KU campus. Neither Old North nor the stone pile exists today.

 • Proceed to the north side of the campanile, stopping at the paved entrance to look over the Kaw River Valley and learn about the tradition for graduating seniors.

 • Proceed to the esplanade between Strong Hall and Spencer Research Library (main entrance level for both buildings).