KU News Release

Graduation stories: 2009 senior recalls grandfather’s 1929 KU commencement

Andrew Hodgson

LAWRENCE — As Andrew Hodgson of Manhattan prepares for his May 17 graduation from the University of Kansas, he is recalling family stories of the 1929 KU graduation of his paternal grandfather, the late Arthur C. Hodgson of Little River.

Unlike today’s graduates who tend to dress informally under their caps and gowns, Andrew’s grandfather proudly wore a brand new brown double-breasted suit, maybe his first. His grandfather had purchased the suit with a $75 gift from Elizabeth Watkins, whose philanthropy for KU students, the university and the community was legend even in 1929.

Arthur Hodgson became a lawyer and practiced in Lyons until his retirement in 1997 — and never forgot Watkins’ gift. Andrew’s grandfather died in 2002.

Andrew found this note among his grandfather’s papers: “Nothing ever gave me a lift like that amount of money. It was a significant event in my life not only because it furnished me much needed clothing but because it showed the generosity and concern of Elizabeth M. Watkins for me as well as for young people in general.”

His grandfather also said that “I always felt and still feel that she was a genuinely interested in knowing about what concerned students at KU, what they were thinking, what they needed, how I had adjusted and how I was getting along, in general terms.”

Most of Andrew’s cousins and friends chose to attend Kansas State University, where Andrew’s father, David Hodgson, teaches veterinary medicine and his mother, Cherie Hodgson, also works. In 2003, Andrew’s sister, Abbie, earned a political science degree at KU. Andrew and his sister chose in part because of the stories about the university they had heard from their grandparents. Arthur and Annie Hodgson, both KU alumni, had met in Strong Hall, where Annie was working for Fred Ellsworth with the alumni association. Andrew and Abbie have the distinction of being the only KU graduates among the couple’s 10 grandchildren.

Andrew is earning a degree in political science and international studies and preparing for a career in public service and international policy development. Next fall, he will begin working on a master’s degree in political science at KU. He has worked as a study group coordinator at the Dole Institute of Politics and will continue working there this summer. His undergraduate scholarships included a Summerfield, one of KU’s most prestigious awards for top graduates of Kansas high schools.

Unlike his grandfather, who struggled to earn money for tuition and living expenses, Andrew was able to study abroad, learning Mandarin Chinese in a language immersion program at the Beijing Institute of Education. He also received an undergraduate research grant to study the role of China in North Korea nuclear negotiations. Last fall, Andrew was a KU nominee in the national competitions for Rhodes and Marshall scholarships. Beyond the classroom, Andrew has served as vice president of KU’s Oxfam chapter that he helped establish and as vice president of KU’s Amnesty International chapter. He also helped establish the KU Journal of Undergraduate Research.

As an honors student, Andrew attended seminars many times in the chancellor’s residence on campus. Known as the Outlook, the residence was originally was the home of Watkins, who left it to the university in her will. When asking his family for more information about his grandfather’s commencement, Andrew learned that his grandfather had also visited the Outlook as a student. “I never thought about it when I was there for seminars,” Andrew said.

His grandfather was a junior when he met Watkins through her church friend who owned the boarding house at 1325 Ohio St., where Arthur Hodgson worked to pay his board. He became one of many KU students invited to Watkins’ home for Sunday dinners. Watkins, who had no children, may have learned that Arthur was one of seven children from a farm family near Little River who wanted to study law. She may also have noticed his meager wardrobe. Her 1929 gift to Arthur Hodgson was typical of her generosity to students.

In a 1935 Kansas City Star story, then-Chancellor Ernest H. Lindley described Watkins’ concern for students. “The sympathies of Mrs. Watkins went out to those young men and women she saw struggling so bravely at the threshold of life for an education that could make their lives nobler and more useful.” She died in 1939.

Arthur began studying law at KU, but he and his wife later moved to Washington, D.C., where he completed his degree at George Washington University. He and his wife returned to Kansas to practice law in Lyons.

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