Alumni Newsletter | Fall 2013
SUA through the decades When SUA started in 1938, members wanted the student group to grow with the Kansas Union. As SUA celebrates our 75th anniversary, our students still believe the Union building should be the heart of campus activities. Over the years, the SUA board has changed its format to accommodate the changing interests of students. In its first few decades, SUA had four officers with eight board members and 850 student members applying to become involved in different event committees. Now, SUA has more than 100 members, including five executive officers and 17 student leaders in charge of eight different committees and a marketing team. SUA members change each year, but the opportunity to plan and enhance the college experience through traditional or new events has not changed at all.
Here’s a brief look at significant and spectacular SUA events over the decades: 1938-1959: Holiday Open Houses, Picture Lending Library, Craft Shop and Photography Darkroom, Variety Shows, Coffee Hours and Forums, Big Band Dances, SUA Carnival, the SUA Film Series, and Louis Armstrong 1960-1969: Festival of Arts, Henry Mancini, Langston Hughes, The Righteous Brothers, The Smothers Brothers, Count Basie, Harry Belafonte, Ella Fitzgerald, and Bill Cosby 1970-1979: Abbie Hoffman, The Beach Boys, Sonny and Cher, George McGovern, Ken Kesey, Bonnie Raitt, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Christopher Guest, Kansas, Chicago, ZZ Top, Beach Boys, Heart, Steve Martin, and Bob Marley
1980-1989: Dizzy Gillespie, George Thorogood, R.E.M., The Romantics, Kurt Vonnegut, Bobby McFerrin, Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe, John Waters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Oingo Boingo 1990-1999: Angela Davis, George Carlin, Jim Carrey, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Adam Sandler, Public Enemy, Bob Dylan, Spike Lee, Kurt Vonnegut, the Indigo Girls, Michael Moore, Johnny Cash, Ray Bradbury, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu 2000-present: Jimmy Fallon, Ryan Adams, Spoon, Ben Folds, Bright Eyes, Robert Kennedy Jr., George Stephanopoulos, Passion Pit, Aziz Ansari, B.o.B., Blake Mycoskie, Donald Glover, and Angela Davis
DEAR ALUMNI, Greetings from the 75th Student Union Activities Board! My name is Christy Khamphilay, Vice President of Alumni and Community Relations. My position serves to develop and maintain relationships with SUA alumni and the Lawrence community by keeping them updated with current SUA news. I’m very excited to start hearing your SUA stories! As SUA finishes our first month in the office, we continue our legacy by celebrating 75 years of great events. We kicked off the
year with Rock Chalk Block Party, hosting nearly 8,000 students at the Kansas Union for our annual welcome-back party. The next night, we hosted a crowd of 4,000 new Jayhawks at another successful Night on the Hill Concert featuring The Hood Internet, a mash-up DJ duo. Then, we started various series of events, such as our traditional Campus Movie Series, Cooking Demos, SUA tailgates, Lawrence Art Center Workshops and Grocery Bingo.
Fall Calendar Highlights We’ve got a full schedule of events coming up this fall. Here are a few highlights for the season: KU’s Dancing with the Stars: Celebrities from the KU community are paired with dancing experts for this annual competition. 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18 in the Kansas Union Ballroom. Max Brooks, author of “World War Z”: Best-selling author and zombie expert Max Brooks will share his thoughts on surviving a zombie apocalypse in a lecture and book signing. 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23 in the Woodruff Auditorium. World Fashion Show: Students will represent cultures from around the world at this second annual runway fashion show. 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13 in the Kansas Union Ballroom. Show this newsletter at the door for free entry into any of the above events. For a complete listing of fall events, check out our online calendar at suaevents.com.
We’ve also welcomed journalist and activist Jose Antonio Vargas for our annual Student Lecture Series, and will host our alumni for a special 75th anniversary Homecoming Alumni Reception on Saturday, Oct. 5. I’m looking forward to meeting and hearing from everyone soon! SUA Love, Christy Khamphilay Vice President of Alumni and Community Relations
Homecoming reception Alumni event SUA Homecoming Alumni Reception When: 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5, 2013, KU Homecoming Weekend Where: Alderson Auditorium, Kansas Union, level 4 Cost: Free; by invitation only Call: (785) 864-7469
You are cordially invited to attend SUA’s Homecoming Alumni Reception to help us celebrate our 75th anniversary. We will be interviewing guests about their SUA memories, so come ready to share your favorites! Light refreshments will be provided. A short program will include presentations by current and former SUA leaders, as well as a collection of video interviews highlighting important moments in SUA history. Even if you can’t make it to the reception, we’d still love to hear your SUA story! Send us your favorite SUA memory at suavpoutreach@gmail.com, or submit your story online at www.suaevents.com/alumni.
SUA Alumni Spotlight
Name: Joe Day Years involved with SUA: 2007-2010 Roles with SUA: President, Films and Media Coordinator, Committee Member Current job: Reservoir Engineer, Occidental Oil and Gas (Oxy)
SUA UPdates The students behind SUA are always re-imagining the organization and the hundreds of events we host each year. Recent highlights from our ever-shifting group include a new partnership for live music events, a fresh take on KU spirit festivities and a ghouled-out celebration of all things zombie. SUA teams up with KJHK Focusing on up-and-coming acts from local, regional and national talent pools, SUA is teaming up with KJHK 90.7 FM for a new take on concert booking. Each week, students from SUA and KJHK meet to divide up event responsibilities, share new music discoveries, and promote upcoming concerts. The Live Music Committee draws on a diverse set of music tastes and interests. On the calendar for fall are an Oct. 10 show at
What impact did SUA have during your time here at KU? SUA provided an expansion beyond the engineering curriculum. It allowed me to interact with non-science majors, work in a creative environment, and really rounded out my college experience. What skills did you learn in SUA that you now use in your career? The interpersonal and leadership skills I learned are invaluable. The ability to work and communicate with a wide array of personalities and experience levels cannot be taught in a classroom. There are also a lot of parallels between planning and executing an event and planning and executing a project. In essence, my SUA experience complimented what I learned in the classroom, and made me a better engineer. How have you supported SUA as an alum? A couple of years ago I was invited to speak at the SUA leadership retreat to talk through my experience and distribute little nuggets of advice. This year I contributed to SUA’s scholarship fund and Oxy was kind enough to match my donation. What advice do you have for current SUA members? My advice is to work on those customer service skills and be adaptable. If you have the ability to answer questions, or at least work with someone to find the answer, people will keep coming back to you and with every answer you will gain respect.
the Granada by the fast-rising pop quartet Haim, and a Nov. 10 show at Liberty Hall the quick-witted hip-hop star Chance the Rapper. More information about those events, including how to get tickets, is available at suaevents.com/concerts. Additional events for fall include a continuation of the popular Tunes at Night series, featuring local acts at Hashinger Hall. SUA Spirit tailgates open to all The SUA Spirit committee is shifting its focus this fall, directing its full attention toward hosting KU spirit and recreation events open to all KU students. Starting with the Jayhawk football team’s opening contest against South Dakota on Sept. 7, the Spirit committee will host pre-game tailgates on Campanile Hill. Open to all KU students and SUA alums, the tailgates will feature yard games, free food and spirit giveaways. The new approach to pre-game fun will replace the Spirit committee’s previous Hawk’s Nest membership
Name: Andrew Fillmore Years in SUA: 20082012 Roles in SUA: Comedy and Music Coordinator, Vice President of Communications, Films and Media Coordinator Current job: Production Coordinator, YouTube Space LA What’s your favorite SUA memory? My favorite SUA memory is probably from Night on the Hill 2011 when I was Comedy and Music Coordinator. Before DJ Earworm performed, we blasted a 10-minute “pump up” playlist that I made. Thousands of students started singing along and getting excited, and I remember thinking, “I did this.” It gave me chills. What skills did you learn in SUA that you now use in your career? My job right now is basically a super-sized version of SUA. As Production Coordinator, I have to make sure that everyone is informed of productions coming through the facility. The productions are basically just like SUA events, except with less free candy. If I wasn’t involved in SUA, I don’t think I could handle the pressure of crazy productions with last-minute requests -- so I kind of use SUA skills every day. Oh, also SUA taught me how to hit “reply all,” which a lot of people still can’t seem to figure out.
program. Additional tailgates will be on Sept. 21 for Family Weekend, and on Oct. 5 for Homecoming. Check suaevents.com/spirit for event details and game start times. Zombie Week is Oct. 21-27 We’re getting swept up in a slow-moving, but quite contagious, wave of zombie pop culture in the SUA office, and we’re planning a week of pre-Halloween events to share our favorite zombie survival tips. Zombie expert and bestselling author Max Brooks—his titles include “World War Z” and “The Zombie Survival Guide”—will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23 in the Kansas Union Ballroom. The next day, the SUA Culinary committee will be handing out zombie survival tips during its weekly Tea at Three event in the Kansas Union Lobby. A zombie-themed 5K caps off the week on Sunday, Oct. 27. Learn more about SUA’s Zombie Week online at suaevents.com/zombies.
Support SUA’s student leaders Dear Alumni and Friends of SUA, SUA and its campus programming run on student volunteers. Donations to SUA’s academic scholarship funds are the sole source of financial support for student leadership opportunities. In the past several years, we have built on the success of our rich 75-year history to more than double our ranks. Donor support is essential to SUA’s continued growth. Joe Day, an SUA alumnus who served as president of the organization in 2009-10, recently contributed to SUA’s student leadership scholarship funds. His employer, Oxy, matched his donation.
SUA at seventy-five 75th anniversary scholarship campaign
We’ve grown over the years:
100
$9,000
SUA volunteer members
$8,000 $7,000
SUA student leaders
250
$6,000
22
$5,000 $4,000
Number of events for 2012-13
Event attendance for 2012-13
SUA
$3,000 $2,000
68,000
$1,000
for seventy five years
Did you know:
Our mission:
Our committees:
Some form of the Fine Arts, Special Events and Communications committees has existed since 1958.
SUA’s mission is to seek to enrich the college experience by providing diverse, interactive and educational programming and leadership opportunities for the KU community.
Communications, Culinary, Cultural Programming, Fine Arts, Films and Media, Live Music, Social Issues, Special Events, Spirit
“I would definitely not be where I am without my experience in SUA,” said Day, who credits SUA for helping develop interpersonal and leadership skills. “I would like to make sure others have the same opportunity to grow that I did.”
SUA Academic Engagement Fund: This is a general endowed fund that provides modest, but essential, scholarship assistance to SUA members.
Our 75th anniversary scholarship campaign began in July 2013 with Joe’s donation. By Dec. 31, 2013, we hope to raise $10,000 in contributions to the SUA Academic Engagement Fund.
Private Endowments: Additional scholarship funds are secured and are named in honor of past campus leaders or SUA members, or can be named in honor of the donor.
Your donation is an investment that will help shape tomorrow’s officers and coordinators, and will help keep those students in school. There a re t wo t yp e s of s ch o l ars h ips available to our dedicated students:
Current scholarships include the Frank Burge Scholarship, the Katherine Giele Scholarship and the Warner Ferguson Scholarship. Your gift will provide SUA’s future student leaders the opportunity to
stay in touch with sua Talk to us: Connect with fellow SUA alums online with our SUA Alumni Facebook group (search “SUA Alumni” and request to join) and on LinkedIn (we’re at “KU Student Union Activities Alumni”). Keep up with the latest SUA news: Visit us at suaevents.com/alumni for event updates and opportunities to stay up-to-date with all things SUA.
Our goal: $10,000
Questions about an upcoming event? Call the Programs Box Office at (785) 864-SHOW. Visiting campus? Stop by and see us at the Union Programs Office, on level 4 of the Kansas Union. Student Union Activities 1301 Jayhawk Blvd., Room 472 Lawrence, KS 66045 www.suaevents.com (785) 864-SHOW
develop and thrive, and will allow them to carry the lessons they learn with them long after they leave KU. Support our students and their programming efforts for the KU community by visiting suaevents.com/giveback. This scholarship fundraising effort is part of Far Above: The Campaign for Kansas. For information on the campaign, please visit www.farabove.org. Thank you for supporting a mainstay of the KU campus experience. Let’s work together to continue this tradition for another 75 years.