KU News Release

Early birds: Mount Oread Scholars to walk up hill Aug. 18 at KU

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LAWRENCE — The 12th annual walk up the hill for Mount Oread Scholars at the University of Kansas is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Monday, Aug. 18. Kathryn Nemeth Tuttle, associate vice provost for Student Success, will lead the walk and provide commentary about campus history, pointing out landmarks along the way.

The walk signifies the beginning of a higher education journey for the 229 Mount Oread Scholars, whose ultimate goal is to walk down the hill upon graduation. Two scholars will carry the 2008 KU graduation banner to further mark this important beginning, and scholars are encouraged to wear their Mount Oread Scholars T-shirts that state, “What Goes Up, Must Come Down.”

Established in 1996, the Mount Oread Scholars Program is designed to facilitate academic connections on campus and is part of the University Advising Center. First-year students are invited to become Mount Oread Scholars if they graduated in the top 20 percent of their high school classes and received ACT composite scores of at least 28 or minimum SAT scores of 1240.

Mount Oread Scholars work individually with advisers in their fields of interest, share class schedules to form study or discussion groups and attend scholar support sessions. There is also a Learning Community and orientation seminar course reserved for scholars. The program’s retention rate the past two years is about 94 percent.

The walk up the hill will be followed by a breakfast reception at Spencer Research Library. Library staff, including Sherry Williams, interim head of Spencer Research Library, will greet the students and invite them to learn more about KU’s libraries as they enjoy a commanding view of the Kaw River Valley.

The KU Libraries house scores of internationally significant collections and offer a variety of innovative services to support learning. Spencer Research Library, for example, includes many archival collections related to the history of Kansas.

During the breakfast, Dean of Libraries Lorraine Haricombe, Nemeth Tuttle and Mount Oread Scholars Program alumna Ava Dinges will address the scholars.

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The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.