KU News Release

Graduation stories: Service-driven KU senior aims to do well and give back

Ryan Rowan

LAWRENCE — Ryan Rowan entered the University of Kansas with two goals: Do well and give back.

He remembers his father, a KU graduate, driving him from their south Kansas City, Mo., home and saying that it was up to him to make the most of all that KU had to offer.

“He said that what I learn in the classroom is meaningless unless I can put it into action,” Rowan said. “Otherwise, it’s a waste of our money and KU’s time. That KU is here to make me a better student and a better leader, and it’s up to me to get every cent of value out of my education.”

And so he has.

As a KU Endowment Meritorious Scholar, Rowan will graduate with bachelor’s degrees in political science and African and African-American studies. As one of 10 graduating seniors honored with Chancellor’s Awards, Rowan will be on the platform with the chancellor during May 18 commencement in Memorial Stadium. He plans to attend law school, possibly going into public service or the military judiciary, particularly influenced by his grandfather, a World War II veteran.

His citation, the Agnes Wright Strickland Award, recognizes his academic record, demonstrated leadership, respect among fellow students and potential for continued service to the university. With it comes a life membership in the KU Alumni Association.

As mentors, he mentions Robert N. Page Jr., director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs; his parents, Cedric and Dorri Rowan; and his grandparents, Ella Mae Rowan and the late Robert Rowan. His father is manager of the Procurement Services Division, City of Kansas City, Mo., and his mother is director of human resources for Simmons Company’s manufacturing facility in Shawnee.

Of Ryan Rowan, Page said, “He is committed to the success of students at KU as well as the state the entire university is in. He considers building needs on campus, academic program rankings, student participation in programs and services and that KU is conducive to the success of all students both academically and personally, but especially for students of color.”

From the beginning, emphasis on doing well in school, volunteering and involvement with church, school and fraternal and civic activities have always been part of Rowan’s everyday family life. From the time he was in preschool through the sixth grade, Rowan and his younger brother went after school to the home of their grandparents until their parents came home from work.

“They stressed education and to always be involved in clubs and organizations,” Rowan said. “My grandparents organized a program at the Harold Holliday Sr. Montessori Elementary School for grandparents to listen to kindergartners read.”

Among his high school activities, he represented Missouri at Boys’ Nation in Washington, D.C., and placed 14th in the nation his senior year in Student Congress, a National Forensics League event.

At KU he has been active in Black Student Union, Black Men of Today, Am I My Brother’s Keeper and Rock Chalk Revue Advisory Board. He is a graduate of KU’s LeaderShape Institute.

Equally important to Rowan is taking part in Student Success programs that lend supportive assistance to minority students. He has been a KU Peer Adviser and a guide for KU’s HAWK Link academic retention program. Rowan also has been a KU TRIO mentor to sixth- and seventh-graders in the federally funded educational opportunity program.

Rowan was president of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity at KU; his father was one of the chapter’s charter members. Rowan’s mother is an active alumnus of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and his grandmother of Delta Sigma Theta sorority. The family is active in Friendship Baptist Church in Kansas City.

He was president of KU’s National Pan-Hellenic Council and its representative to the Student Senate. He withdrew from running for Student Senate president when the opportunity arose to be president of the Big 12 Council on Black Student Government made up of representatives from all universities in the Big 12 Conference. The group will hold its regional meeting at KU in 2009 and utilize the Sabatini Multicultural Resource Center.

“I thought I could do more by leading the Big 12 Council,” Rowan said. “And my opponents who won Student Senate president and vice-president have turned into good friends.

“Being a part of these activities gives you a better picture of the world. You want to excel. I look at it as a progression, not a cycle or something you have to start from scratch all over again. You take the things others did well and build on it, try to make it better. You’ll never get it perfect. There’s always something to improve on.

“The end result should be, ‘What can I do to help someone else out? What can I do to benefit others?’ Sometimes I think we focus too much on ‘uniqueness’ or our differences when we should, instead, work with what unites us all.”

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