Board
M at t e r s A newsletter for current and past members of the K-State Alumni Association Board of Directors
Hello from Manhattan! It is a pleasure to share with you our summer 2016 edition of Board Matters. June 1 marked my 39-year work anniversary with the K-State Alumni Association, and I’m proud to share that your Alumni Association continues to be a strong and effective organization! Probably most exciting is the ongoing leadership and support of our board and staff who remain strongly committed to the future of both the
Alumni Association and Kansas State University. I hope you find this newsletter informative and welcome your feedback on content for future issues. As always, I want to extend my sincere appreciation to you for your ongoing support and friendship! Go ’Cats! Amy Button Renz ’76, ’86 President and CEO
K-State Communications and Marketing
WABASHING IN MANHATTAN ...
ESPN recently named the Wabash Cannonball the Big 12’s best football pregame tradition. Way to go, ’Cats!
... AND TAKING IT TO NORTH TEXAS SUMMER 2016
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he first Wabash CannonBall gala took place in Kansas City in 2007, and since that time the black-tie event has expanded to include Denver, Colorado, and Houston, Texas. Through the years, the galas have raised more than $2.7 million for scholarships for students from the three locations. We are pleased to announce the addition of a fourth event, the Wabash CannonBall North Texas, which will take place May 19, 2017.
“K-Staters in North Texas have been incredibly loyal to our university,” said Amy Button Renz ’76, ’86, president and CEO of the K-State Alumni Association. “We are honored to bring the Wabash CannonBall to this region and look forward to helping more students join the Wildcat family and attend K-State!” Carl ’79 and Mary ’80, ’88 Ice, Westlake, Texas, will chair the planning committee. Additional information will be shared soon.
The K-State Alumni Association board of directors transitioned its membership and leadership June 4 during the board’s annual meeting. Dan Yunk ’71, ’75, ’87 assumed position as 2016-17 chair, succeeding Travis Lenkner ’01, who now fills the immediate pastchair position. Board members elected Alan Fankhauser ’82 as chair-elect. He will become the chair in June 2017.
Welcomes current board members
Debbie Downing Ball ’81 Eureka, Kansas Candy Hart Duncan ’75 Bethesda, Maryland Taylor Fry (serving second term) Student Alumni Board President Great Bend, Kansas Bill Keller ’72 Pratt, Kansas Gen. Richard B. Myers ’65 Interim President, Kansas State University Manhattan, Kansas Skye Nguyen ’97 Olathe, Kansas
&Goodbyes past board members
Andy Hurtig 2015-16 Student Body President Wichita, Kansas Tina Martin Glover ’80, ’84 Mission Viejo, California Roger McClellan ’88 Wichita, Kansas Courtney Novak Riley ’91 Hiawatha, Kansas Kirk Schulz Past President, Kansas State University Pullman, Washington Allan Sicat ’03 Marietta, Georgia Kristy Tredway Hawkins ’05 Auburn, Kansas
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PROGRAMS FOCUS: LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY
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he K-State Alumni Association is pleased to partner with the Kansas State University Office of Government Relations to actively support higher education through our Wildcats for Higher Education program. Over the past several years, state funding for higher education has diminished significantly. Today, Kansas universities receive about 20 percent of their funding from the state, which has adversely affected critical services and growth and driven up tuition costs, making it more difficult for students to attend college. We deeply appreciate your support and encourage you to contact your legislators to ask for fair and stable funding to support all of education. If you do not receive our Wildcats for Higher Education newsletter, you may sign up at www.K-State.com/getinvolved/whe. If you live out of state, please encourage your family and friends living in Kansas to keep informed and exercise their right to vote for candidates who support education and are committed to change the current course of damaging cuts made to Kansas education over the past several years. The Office of Government Relations also provides weekly updates on legislative issues important to K-State and higher education. You can visit the office’s site at www.K-State.edu/govrelations/state to learn more.
TRAVELING WILDCATS: UPCOMING TRIPS
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f you haven’t made vacation plans for 2017, check out the full list of Traveling Wildcats trips planned for next year, including the Palms in Paradise tour hosted by Amy Button Renz ’76, ’86. Board Oceania Cruises’ intimate Regatta in Miami and then experience the enchantments of Central America and traverse the Panama Canal on a 16-night luxury cruise from Florida to Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico and California. The trip will be April 24 to May 10. For more details on this trip and a list of other tours offered, visit www.K-State.com/TravelingWildcats.
Your support matters! The Alumni Association staff extends heartfelt and sincere thanks for your generous support of our annual fund, Tradition Founders! Contributions to the fund support our annual operating budget and make it possible for the Alumni Association to provide the programming efforts that reach more than 110,000 alumni and friends each year. We are pleased to share that $581,527 was contributed to the 2015-16 campaign, which wrapped up June 30. This includes 175 leadership gifts of $1,000 or more, which qualified for Founders Circle recognition. Our Founders Circle now includes three donor levels: Founders Circle Leader (annual gifts of $5,000 and above); Founders Circle Friend ($2,500-$4,999) and Founders Circle Member ($1000-$2,499). To learn more about opportunities to support the continued excellence and growth of our programs, please contact Amy Button Renz ’76, ’86, president and CEO, at 800-600-2586 or arenz@k-state.com.
SUMMER 2016
Greetings everyone! I am pleased to report that the torch was officially passed from Travis Lenkner to me at our June 2016 Annual Meeting, and this change in Board leadership took place without any discord or riots. It was a peaceful and tranquil transition! Thank you, Travis, for your Dan Yunk ’71, ’75, ’87 sterling leadership this past year. Congratulations to our outgoing Board members – Tina Glover, Kristy Hawkins, Courtney Riley, Alan Sicat and Andy Hurtig – for your service. In addition, thank you, Roger McClellan, for your seven years of quality leadership. And, finally, kudos to Alan Fankhauser on being chosen chair-elect. It is truly an honor to assume the position of Board Chair, and I pledge to work tirelessly to maintain the standards set by those who have held this position before me. In other words, I’ll try to stay out of Amy’s way and support the staff as they continue to perform the outstanding work they do day-in-and-day-out to make the K-State Alumni Association one of the top five in the country. It should be a fun and productive year! Clearly, it will be a year of transition at K-State with President Schulz leaving and General Myers now serving as the Interim President. The Alumni Association is well-positioned to impact the Presidential Search process as three current Board members are serving on the Search Team. Travis Lenkner, Sylvia Robinson and K-State Student Body President Jessica Van Ranken are very willing to convey your thoughts and suggestions through this process. In addition, former Alumni Board Chair Jerry Boettcher is serving as Vice-Chair of the Search Team. Just contact any of them if you wish to provide input. We will work closely through the summer and fall semester with General Myers and provide our help wherever appropriate to assist him as he leads the university. Once a new President is named, we will immediately be available to help him or her become acclimated to K-State and aware of the great work done by our Alumni Association. In closing, let me highlight one of the many Alumni Association’s quality outreach programs. Cheryl and I just returned from a week of cruising the Rhine River with a number of current and former Board members, plus other K-State Alumni and friends. Terin Walters does a wonderful job coordinating this activity. If you haven’t experienced a Traveling Wildcats excursion, I strongly suggest you do so in the future. If you have already traveled on a Traveling Wildcats trip, thank you for your continued support of the Alumni Association. We bleed purple. Go State! — Dan Yunk ’71, ’75, ’87
SUMMER 2016
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION STAFF UPDATES The Alumni Association recently welcomed three new staff members. Chelsi Medved ’10, ’12 joined the staff in February as the alumni programs coordinator. She had previously worked for K-State Athletics as an assistant director of ticket services. Katie Phillips ’13 is the new alumni programs assistant. Prior to joining our staff, Phillips worked with Saint Francis Community Services in Manhattan, Kansas. Morgan Peelen Biles ’13 started in July as special events coordinator. Biles worked previously as the 4-H alumni coordinator and special events manager for the Kansas 4-H Foundation. K-State Communications and Marketing
Chair’s Corner
WELCOME, NEW ALUMNI K-State celebrated the academic achievements of nearly 3,000 students during commencement ceremonies in May. Degrees awarded include 2,800 bachelor’s, more than 460 master’s, nearly 90 doctorates, 115 Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and 10 associate degrees. More than 240 students earned degrees through K-State Global Campus distance degree programs. The Alumni Association was represented at each ceremony to extend congratulations and welcome to our new alumni, who were provided a one-year membership to the Association in partnership with the colleges and the Graduate School.
dates Aug. 12 2016 Wabash CannonBall Colorado Sept. 2 K-State football vs. Stanford, Palo Alto, Calif. Sept. 11 2016 K-State Day at the Kansas State Fair Sept. 26 Iman Outstanding Faculty Awards Oct. 6-8 Alumni Board of Directors – 2016 Fall Meetings
to note
Oct. 16-22 Homecoming Week Growing Up Purple Oct. 22 Annual Homecoming Pregame at Cat Town Jan. 20 2017 Houston Wabash CannonBall
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Erik Kynard ’13, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist in the high jump, is heading to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to compete with six other K-Staters in the Summer Olympics.
Kudos & Congrats News about current and past board members Gen. Richard B. Myers ’65, Arlington, Virginia, was named interim president of Kansas State University in April 2016, replacing Kirk Schulz, who left K-State to serve as president of Washington State University.
Scott Weaver, K-State Athletics
Dr. Kourtney Bettinger ’06, Denver, Colorado, received the 2016 Distinguished Young Alumni Award from the K-State Alumni Association in February.
’CATS HEAD TO OLYMPICS IN RIO
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our alma mater will be well-represented when the best athletes in the world gather in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the 2016 Summer Olympics, Aug. 5-21. Seven current or former K-State athletes will represent their home countries while they pursue their Olympic dreams. The athletes are Akela Jones, Barbados, heptathlon and high jump; Jeff Julmis ’12, Haiti, 110-meter hurdles; Erik Kynard ’13, United States, high jump (Kynard is a 2012 Olympic silver medalist); Shadae Lawrence, Jamaica, discus; Beverly Ramos Morales ’10, Puerto Rico, marathon; Alyx Treasure ’16, Canada, high jump; and Balazs Baji, Hungary, 110-meter hurdles. In addition, K-State track and field coach Cliff Rovelto will serve as an assistant coach for the U.S. men’s team, and Phillip Vardiman, associate professor of Human Nutrition for the College of Human Ecology and director of K-State’s athletic training program, has been selected as an athletic trainer for the medical team that will support the U.S. track and field athletes in Rio. Additionally, Bryan Pinkall ’07, ’10, assistant professor of music, will be part of the team staging the Olympic opening ceremony.
2016 HOLIDAY ORNAMENT We’re excited to give you a sneak peek of the 2016 holiday ornament, which features the K-State Marching Band’s Willie the Wildcat on the front and an etched Powercat on the back. You’ll be able to order yours very soon at www.K-State.com/ShopPurple. While you’re on our website, you’ll notice it has a completely new look. The Alumni Association recently launched the redesign, which provides an updated and more mobile-friendly experience for users. Our monthly e-newsletter, @K-State, also was redesigned to give our readers more of what they want, including more news about colleges and departments. Visit our redesigned website and e-newsletter at www.K-State.com.
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Dalton Henry ’10, Washington, D.C., was recently promoted to vice president of Policy for U.S. Wheat Associates in Washington, D.C. Mandy Achilles Swisher ’04 and Adam Swisher, Hutchinson, Kansas, announce the birth of daughter, Blair Elizabeth, Aug. 28, 2015. Amy Button Renz ’76, ’86, Manhattan, Kansas, received the Brandon L. Clark Alpha X-Cellence Award at the Alpha Phi Alpha 40th Reunion. Edgar Ramirez ’04 and Samantha Ramirez, Naples, Florida, announce the birth of daughter Bradleigh Parker, May 23, 2016. Kelsie Ball Salazar ’11 and Zach Salazar, Lenexa, Kansas, announce the birth of daughter Karlie Debra, Feb. 21, 2016. Fred Cholick, Bend, Oregon, received the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities Experiment Station Section’s Award for Excellence in Leadership from the North Central Regional Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors.
In Memoriam It is with deep sadness that we share news of the passing of Dr. Elwyn “Gus” Liebl ’51 on July 7, 2016. Dr. Liebl was a graduate of the College of Veterinary Medicine and served on the board from 1976-1979. He was a partner in Ripple Liebl Veterinary Clinic, Dodge City, Kansas, until his partial retirement in 1994. He stayed involved in the small-animal practice until 2001. He was awarded the Kansas Veterinarian of the Year in 1971. Survivors include two sons, two daughters and 10 grandchildren. Please email items you would like to share in Board Matters to Lynn Beier, lbeier@k-state.com.