KU News Release

New scholarship hall continues strong KU tradition

LAWRENCE — The new Floyd H. and Kathryn Krehbiel Scholarship Hall will provide a home on campus for generations of talented University of Kansas students. On Sept. 20, Chancellor Robert E. Hemenway led a ceremony to dedicate Krehbiel as KU’s 12th scholarship hall.

Construction of the hall was made possible by the generosity of former state representative and 1970 KU alumnus Carl C. Krehbiel of Moundridge. Krehbiel made a $4 million gift to KU Endowment to build the scholarship hall in honor of his late father, Floyd Krehbiel, and his mother, Kathryn Krehbiel. Krehbiel also contributed an additional $400,000 to establish a hall maintenance fund. He is president of the Moundridge Telephone Co.

Krehbiel Scholarship Hall, 1301 Ohio St., is home to 50 KU men. It is a mirror image to the adjacent Dennis E. Rieger Scholarship Hall, which opened in 2005 and is home to 50 KU women. Scholarship halls provide a cooperative living arrangement in which students pay lower housing costs and share responsibilities for cooking and cleaning. Residents must have an exemplary academic record, as well as evidence of community service and leadership activities.

“I had a great experience living in Stephenson Scholarship Hall when I was a student,” said Krehbiel, whose father lived in Battenfeld Scholarship Hall. “My parents were dedicated to KU and to their children, and this is a way for me to honor them and create a positive living environment for future generations of KU students.”

Carl Krehbiel is a third-generation KU alumnus. His grandfather, Carl C. Krehbiel, graduated from KU in 1913. His parents, Floyd and Kathryn Krehbiel, were KU students in the 1940s. They joined the KU band and used their musical talents to support the men’s basketball team in old Hoch Auditorium. Kathryn Krehbiel recently created two scholarships to provide support to members of KU’s pep band. And, because of her long and generous tradition of buying sodas for the pep band, she’s affectionately known by band members as the “The Coke Lady.”

“For me, the scholarship halls are more than just a place to live — they are a family tradition,” said Stephen “Sai” Folmsbee, president of Krehbiel Scholarship Hall. A junior from Topeka, Folmsbee lived in K.K. Amini Scholarship Hall during his freshman and sophomore years.

Personal touches planned by Krehbiel are evident throughout the new scholarship hall.

The recreation room has a 1928 Brunswick snooker table from his home. A stained glass window north of the main entrance doors depicts quarter horses — a mare and a foal — in a Flint Hills landscape. Floyd Krehbiel was former president of the Kansas Quarter Horse Association. Because Carl Krehbiel had fond memories of playing pickup basketball with his scholarship hall buddies, he insisted that a basketball court be built between Krehbiel and Rieger halls.

Krehbiel Scholarship Hall symbolizes the rich traditions long valued on Mount Oread. In the living room, doors from old Fraser Hall decorate the west wall. Stairway spindles on the third floor are from old Fraser Hall.

KU’s scholarship halls represent philanthropic support from generations of KU alumni and friends. In 1926, Elizabeth Watkins provided funds for construction of KU’s first scholarship hall, Watkins Hall. Following on her example, 11 more scholarship halls have been built.

KU Endowment is the independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fundraising and fund-management organization for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment is the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.

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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.