Aug. 15, 2003

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

2 KU freshmen to receive torch during Traditions Night ceremony Aug. 18

LAWRENCE -- Two University of Kansas freshmen, a fifth-generation Jayhawk and a first-generation Jayhawk, will receive a torch in a ceremony symbolizing the passing of knowledge through generations during the 8 p.m. Monday, Aug. 18, Traditions Night ceremonies in Memorial Stadium.

Elise Nicole Levy, Overland Park freshman, is the great-great-granddaughter of David H. Robinson and Henrietta Beach Robinson, an 1870 KU graduate. David H. Robinson was one of the first three professors appointed at KU in 1866. He taught Latin and Greek.

In previous years a freshman representing Jayhawk families with a long history of attending KU was selected to receive the torch. This year, KU has asked a freshman who is the first in his family to join in the symbolic ceremony, said Ann Eversole, associate dean of student life.

Andrew Brooks Sherwood of Norman, Okla., the first in his family to choose KU, will join Levy as freshmen class representatives to receive the torch of knowledge before a crowd of about 2,000 students and others attending Traditions Night, a Hawk Week program. Hawk Week is a series of orientation events for students before classes begin Thursday, Aug. 21.

An interim report this spring from the Institute for Effective Education Practice at the University of Indiana praised KU's Traditions Night program as an exemplary practice that actively engages students in learning about the culture and traditions of the campus. The report noted that Traditions Night brings freshmen into the stadium for an introductory ceremony where they also will participate in a commencement ceremony in a few years.

Janet Murguia, KU executive vice chancellor for university relations, will emcee Traditions Night, which will open with a performance of the KU Marching Band directed by conductor James Hudson and will close with all 2,000 attendees intoning the "Rock Chalk Jayhawk" chant, and the singing of the alma mater and the KU fight song.

Chancellor Robert Hemenway; James Carothers, professor of English; Andy Knopp, student body president; Lew Perkins, athletic director; and Jennifer Sanner, Kansas Alumni Association senior vice president for communications, each will speak briefly.

The passing of the torch ceremony will begin about 8:55 p.m. with a representative of the Mortar Board honor society, Brandy Ficek of Council Bluffs, Iowa, bringing the torch from the Rock Chalk Cairn to pass it to the senior class president, Genevieve E. Gordon of Wichita. As Gordon proceeds down the hill toward the stadium, she will pass the torch to the junior class representative, Andy Kim of Shawnee. He will pass the torch to the sophomore representative, Kriston Joseph Guillot, who will pass the torch to the freshmen, Levy and Sherwood, to carry it into the stadium.

Decades ago, in ceremonies similar to Traditions Night, a torch was carried annually from the Mortar Board Fire Basket at North College, KU's first building, to the Rock Chalk Cairn, a stone heap created through efforts of Omicron Delta Kappa honor society members. The original fire basket is located on a commemorative plot near Gertrude Sellards Pearson and Corbin residence halls, the site of the Old North College. The cairn, now a fire grate, sits near the flagpole between Memorial Stadium and the campanile. KU staff reintroduced the torch passing ceremony in the 1980s as part of the Traditions Night program.

Hometown information for students in the torch passing ceremony follows.

JOHNSON COUNTY
From Overland Park
Elise Nicole Levy, freshman in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She is the daughter of Peter and Alice Robinson Levy of Overland Park. Her father graduated from KU in 1975, and her mother received a bachelor's degree in education in 1975 and a graduate degree in 1976, both from KU. Her father is the son of Thomas Robinson, a 1939 engineering graduate, of Prairie Village. Her great-grandparents David and Aileen Weaver Robinson were also Jayhawks, both graduating in 1906. Aileen's mother, Gertrude Bullene Weaver, was an 1877 graduate. Levy's brother, Eric, is a senior majoring in atmospheric science at KU. Both Elise and Eric are graduates of Shawnee Mission South High School. Their cousin Jacob Vander Velde of Shawnee, a KU sophomore, also is a great-great-grandson of David H. and Henrietta Robinson and the son of Joseph and Betsy Vander Velde of Shawnee.

From Shawnee
Kriston Joseph Guillot, sophomore in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is the son of Joyce Johnson. He is a Shawnee Mission Northwest High School graduate.
Andy Kim, junior majoring in business administration, is the son of Kyu and Jung Kim. He is a Shawnee Mission Northwest High School graduate.

SEDGWICK COUNTY
From Wichita
Genevieve E. Gordon, senior majoring in economics and in business administration, is the daughter of Russell and Jeanne Gordon. She is a Kapaun-Mount Carmel High School graduate.

IOWA
From Council Bluffs
Brandy Ficek, senior majoring in chemical engineering and biochemistry, is the daughter of James Ficek. She is a graduate of Albert Central High School.

OKLAHOMA
From Norman
Andrew Brooks Sherwood, freshman in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is the son of William and Sally Sherwood. He is a graduate of Norman North High School.