KU Wheat State Whirlwind faculty tour of Kansas returns by popular demand

LAWRENCE -- Back by popular demand, the Wheat State Whirlwind bus tour, May 21 and May 24 through 28, 2004, will give faculty and staff at the University of Kansas an opportunity to tour the state.

Tour directors Don Steeples, KU vice provost for scholarly support and the McGee distinguished professor of geology, and Margey Frederick, KU director of visitor services and special events for university relations, are looking for about 35 faculty to join them.

Sponsored by the chancellor's office, the tour began in 1997 as a way to introduce faculty new to Kansas to the people and terrain of their new home state. The tour also offers new KU faculty opportunities to meet faculty from other departments.

"We had requests last year to bring the tour back," said Janet Murguia, executive vice chancellor for university relations. "Faculty who have been on the tour have spread the word that the tour is one of their favorite KU experiences."

Steeples, who has served as a tour commentator since its inception, noted that one of the pleasures for him has been watching faculty discover places they couldn't imagine as Kansas -- such as the Wilson Lake terrain in northwest Kansas or the red hills of Medicine Lodge in south central Kansas.

Even faculty born in Kansas, including Steeples, learn that "there's a whole Kansas out there that they didn't even know about, even though they've been here for many years," he said.

KU faculty typically visit with residents at each stop to learn about the unique qualities of as many regions of Kansas as possible. Although the tour route is still being mapped, Steeples and Frederick said plans include visiting sites in the northeast and southwest corners of Kansas.

New stops will include sites related to the 1804 Lewis and Clark expedition, with stops in Atchison and Fort Leavenworth on the Missouri River in the northeast, and in Liberal in the southwest and Lindsborg in central Kansas along areas Coronado likely explored in search for the fabled Quivira in 1541.

"The tour has stopped in Lindsborg some years, but this will be our first visit to Liberal," Steeples said.

Al Shank, Liberal businessman and 1977 KU business graduate, invited the KU faculty to visit Liberal after reading about the Wheat State Whirlwind tour in the alumni KU Connections newsletter. His wife, Donna, is a member of the Kansas Board of Regents. Liberal also is home to Seward County Community College.

"Liberal reflects the tremendous demographic changes going on in the state now," Shank said. Liberal has a large Hispanic population as well as many residents who have immigrated from Southeast Asia and India.

Shank and other KU alumni in Liberal plan to have the faculty visit the Mid-America Air Museum, the fifth-largest collection of military and civilian aircraft in the United States. During World War II, Liberal had an air base to train B-24 Liberator pilots and once was home to a Beech Aircraft manufacturing plant.

In addition, Shank said he hopes to guide the faculty to a working oil rig as the Wheat State Whirlwind bus leaves the next day for Garden City. "This area has been one of the prime oil and gas producers in the nation. It's kind of a wild card, but we hope the faculty can see a working oil rig," Shank said, adding that he wouldn't know the location of a drilling rig until a few days before the faculty would be scheduled to arrive.

As in previous years, faculty will roam with the buffalo in Logan County; climb aboard a combine at the Steeples' wheat farm in Palco, northwest of Hays; visit a multilingual elementary school in Garden City; and explore the Grass Roots Art Center in Lucas. A complete itinerary will be announced soon.

To apply or to view photographs from previous years' tours, visit the Wheat State Whirlwind Web site at www.wheatstate.ku.edu/.