KU announces names of 168 freshmen selected as Mount Oread scholars

LAWRENCE -- The University of Kansas has announced the names of its 2003-04 Mount Oread (pronounced OR-ee-ad) scholars, a select group of freshmen honored for academic merit.

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.

On Aug. 18, some of the 168 Mount Oread scholars coming to KU this fall walked up the hill known as Mount Oread on the KU campus. The walk symbolized the scholars' first year at KU and their preparation for their graduation walk down the Hill for KU's commencement ceremony in years to come.

James Carothers, professor of English, and Lloyd Sponholtz, Mount Oread Scholars Program director, joined the scholars as they walked up the Hill. Carothers, who proposed the walk in 1996, annually walks with the students and provides commentary about the campus history. The students also met with David Shulenburger, KU provost and executive vice chancellor, before beginning their walk up the Hill.

At the top of Mount Oread, the staff of Spencer Research Library greeted the freshman scholars, invited them inside for a continental breakfast and provided an opportunity to learn about about the KU Libraries' many collections. They learned, for example, that 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.

Images of the Mount Oread scholars at Spencer Research Library the morning of the walk are available at spencer.lib.ku.edu/oread/gallerypage.htm.

Scholars are listed by home county and state at www.ur.ku.edu/News/03N/SeptNews/Sept5/directory.html.

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."