KU News Release

KU to honor 71 seniors from four Kansas counties and Emporia volunteer

LAWRENCE — Students from 10 Kansas high schools and a longtime alumni volunteer from Emporia will be honored Thursday, Nov. 9, by the University of Kansas Alumni Association and KU Endowment.

A total of 71 seniors from high schools in Chase, Coffey, Lyon and Morris counties will be recognized for their academic achievements and named Kansas Honor Scholars at a 6:30 p.m. dinner program at Emporia State University’s Webb Lecture Hall, 1200 Commercial St.

The Kansas Honors Program began in 1971 and will honor its 100,000th student this year. Scholars rank in the top 10 percent of their high school senior class and are selected regardless of curricula, majors, occupational plans or higher-education goals. Honorees’ names are listed below.

During the ceremony, Richard Lariviere, KU provost and executive vice chancellor, will speak to the students, their parents and guests. Honored students will be guests of the Alumni Association and KU Endowment; parents and area alumni are welcome to attend at a cost of $12 each. Each student will receive an American Heritage Dictionary in hardback and CD versions, presented by Kevin Corbett, KU Alumni Association president.

Corbett will also present Polly Epting of Emporia with a Mildred Clodfelter Alumni Award for her years of service in her community on behalf of the university.

Epting is a 1966 graduate of the KU School of Education. Since 1976, she has coordinated the Kansas Honors Program in Emporia. She has also served on the Miller Hall Alumni Advisory Board and Scholarship Committee and the KU Friends of the University committee for Coffey County.

Community volunteers collect reservations, coordinate details and serve as local contacts for the event. Gary Ace of Emporia will be the site coordinator. County coordinators will be Brian Filinger of Emporia for Chase County; Epting and Ken Vaughn, both Emporia, for Chase County; and Jody Sellers of Council Grove for Morris County.

The Kansas Honors Program is made possible through KU Endowment and proceeds from the Jayhawk License Plate program. The Mildred Clodfelter Alumni Award, created in 1986 by the Alumni Association, honors volunteers who serve as KU ambassadors in their home communities. The award is named for Clodfelter, who received a bachelor’s degree in 1941 from KU and worked at KU for 47 years, 42 of them at the Alumni Association. Clodfelter, known to countless Jayhawks nationwide, retired in 1986 and passed away in 2005.

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