KU News Release

Area students to take part in Duke TIP recognition ceremony June 1 at KU

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LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas will host a state recognition program at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, June 1, at the Lied Center for about 400 academically talented seventh-grade students selected for the 2008 Duke University Talent Identification Program.

Carter Royce Waite, a KU senior majoring in theatre from Falmouth, Maine, will be host. Simran Sethi, the Lacy C. Haynes visiting professional chair in journalism, will deliver a special address to the students and their families and guests. Julie Bennington, seventh-grade talent search coordinator for Duke TIP, will present the awards.

Selection to Duke TIP is based on college entrance exam scores that are in the top 5 percent while the students are in middle school. Students participate by taking either the SAT or ACT national achievement tests. Working with host academic institutions such as KU, Duke TIP sponsors 35 ceremonies in its 16-state talent search region.

Each Duke TIP student receives a medallion. The state recognition ceremonies honor seventh graders who have earned scores above the average scores of college-bound high school seniors. Of more than 74,000 applicants this year, 21,115 students qualified and have been invited to state recognition events, including 876 students being recognized at KU.

The Duke program is in its 28th year, and this is the 10th year KU has hosted the Kansas recognition program. In addition to Kansans, additional students taking part in the activities are Missouri residents from the Kansas City metropolitan area or towns near the Kansas-Missouri state line. Information tables to answer students’ and parents’ questions about various KU programs and activities will be available in the Lied Center lobby during the recognition event.

Duke TIP is a nonprofit educational organization that identifies and helps cultivate the talents of academically gifted youth. Since 1980, more than 1.5 million students have taken part in the program that is supported by student fees and donations from individuals, corporations and foundations.

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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.