KU News Release

Chancellor, men’s basketball coach to greet Traditions Night crowd Aug. 18

LAWRENCE — A new generation of students at the University of Kansas will learn to make KU’s unique songs, stories and spirit their own during Traditions Night at 8 p.m. Monday, Aug. 18, in Memorial Stadium.

Nationally recognized for the way it welcomes new KU students to campus culture, Traditions Night is part of annual Hawk Week activities held before the fall semester starts. Classes at KU begin Thursday, Aug. 21.

“No group of people is more important to the Jayhawk nation in August than our new freshmen and transfer students,” said Chancellor Robert Hemenway. “Traditions Night lets them know how special it is to become a Jayhawk and entertains and inspires as well.”

About 5,000 new students, faculty, staff and members of the Lawrence community annually attend the event. Admission is free. The audience should enter the stadium at the north gates off 11th Street.

This year’s hour-long program will be highlighted by appearances from Hemenway and KU men’s basketball coach Bill Self.

KU seniors Amy Virginia Buchanan from Stillwater, Okla., and Matthew Crooks from Stilwell will emcee the event, which will include performances by the Marching Jayhawks band, directed by David Clemmer, assistant director in music and dance, and the KU Choirs, directed by Paul Tucker, assistant professor of music and dance. Big Jay and Baby Jay will be on hand, along with the KU Spirit Squad, to lead the singing of the Alma Mater and Rock Chalk Chant with the KU Choirs.

The program will include the unveiling of the “A Great Place to Be a Champion” 30-second television ad, which will air during KU sports and other TV broadcasts, and a short video in which administrators, faculty, staff and students describe their favorite KU traditions.

Jim Carothers, professor of English, and the two emcees will give a lively overview of KU history and traditions, with visual illustrations on the stadium video board. Coach Self will conclude the evening with his own perspective on KU’s traditions.

Student emcees are listed below by their hometowns, majors, parents’ names and high schools.

JOHNSON COUNTY
From Stilwell 66085
Matthew Peter Crooks, senior in English and theatre and film, son of Mike Crooks and Nancy Wunderlich; Blue Valley High School.

OKLAHOMA
From Stillwater 74075
Amy Virginia Buchanan, senior in theatre and film, daughter of David and Cindy Buchanan; Stillwater High School.

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