KU News Release

Graduation stories: Despite health hurdle, KU senior acts on social consciousness

Rachael Huffman

LAWRENCE — Rachael Huffman’s passion to save the world was ignited one day as she rode in the passenger seat of the family car. From behind the wheel, her mother noticed a suspicious tractor-trailer driving on the road ahead that was leaking what Huffman described as “a neon substance.”

“My mom was like, ‘Dear God! What’s that?’ ” recalled Huffman. “It turned out to be out-of-state waste, and my mom helped to track its source. She was a stay-at-home mom, except that she worked as a volunteer on solid waste and other environmental issues. She always told me, ‘If you see something wrong, do something about it.’ ”

From this, Huffman discovered that one person could bring positive change for a whole community. That life lesson has guided Huffman at the University of Kansas, where this weekend she will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology.

At KU, Huffman has spent time as a volunteer working with area groups such as Christmas in October, a Kansas City-based home-repair charity. Closer to campus, she also has logged time at the Lawrence Community Shelter, where she assists with housekeeping duties and strives to improve life for the homeless.

“I just wanted to get involved in some way here in Lawrence,” Huffman said. “The work that we do as volunteers isn’t necessarily integral to the running of the shelter. But we help by handing out food and folding laundry.”

Huffman’s persistent volunteerism is all the more remarkable because she is living with a condition known as Berger’s Disease, a rare autoimmune disease that affects the kidneys.

“In my freshman year, I was diagnosed,” Huffman said. “It took several months in and out of the hospital in various states of renal failure. It’s something I’m going to have to live with for the rest of my life. To some extent, it will impact what I can and cannot do. I have to remember that I can’t push myself too far. A common cold could put me in the hospital for a week.”

All the same, Huffman’s desire to bring about social justice drove her to spend months in New Orleans volunteering after Hurricane Katrina — a fact that drew the notice of David Frayer, KU professor of anthropology.

“She asked permission for taking a few extra days off before and after spring break 2006,” said Frayer. “Rachael told me she needed more time to help in rebuilding houses in New Orleans. Over the fall break she went again. When she returned, I remember seeing her burned back and blistered hands. From then on I was always impressed with her dedication to the Katrina victims and willingness to give up free time, serving the needs of others.”

In New Orleans, Huffman worked as a volunteer with Common Ground, a group providing short-term disaster relief and community building initiatives for the Gulf Coast. She also was involved with Waves of Relief, a volunteer group in Lawrence.

Aside from her travels to New Orleans, while at KU Huffman journeyed to Europe as part of the humanities and western civilization study abroad program, an experience she thought was as “absolutely wonderful.”

“It was two months in Florence, two months in Paris and two weeks in between,” Huffman said. “I was able to get out and explore in France — to get outside my comfort zone. Then I did couch surfing in five countries. I would rather couch surf than stay at a five-star hotel. It terrified my parents, though.”

Bitten by the travel bug, Huffman plans to teach English in France after graduation. Then, she wants to integrate her love for travel and volunteerism by joining the Peace Corps. She hopes for an assignment in Africa.

“The application process is extremely lengthy,” she said of the Peace Corps. “I’m about three-fourths of the way through. I met someone who worked for the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso, and the more I talked to her, the more it seemed like something that would be a very enjoyable life experience. They also pay some student loans. My anthropology education has taught me that I’ll get more out of this than I’ll ever be able to give.”

Huffman explained that she wants to see the world before health issues might make travel to far-flung destinations more difficult. Despite parental anxiety over her adventures, Huffman said that her mother and father, Charles and Martha Huffman of Smithville, Mo., take great pride in everything she does.

“My career path reflects the way my parents raised me and I think they did a pretty good job,” said Huffman. “Then again, I could choose to be an underwater basket weaver, and my mom would be thrilled and show my baskets to all of her friends.”

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