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University Daily Kansan, September 11, 1984
POSH
At left, 26 swivel chairs surround the conference table in the Phillips Board Room on first floor. Portraits of the five KU alumni who have headed the Phillips Petroleum Co. — including Kenneth S. "Boots" Adams — hang on the room's dark
hang on the room's dark wooden walls.
An impeccably clean towel on his arm and glasses of water on his tray, Bryan King welcomes visitors to the Alumni Center. King, Bonner Springs senior, has worked at the Alumni Center since it opened.
Above, a gold and crystal chandelier灯的 foyer. A staircase carpeted in a paisley print spirals up to the Learned Club, the center's private club.
Right, a grand piano is one of the classic furnishings found in the Bruckmiller Room, one of three spacious reception rooms open to Learned Club members.
Photos by Steven Purcell
Story by Julie Comine
A palace on the Hill
The place, without a doubt, is posh.
The crimson and blue carpets look as if they are vacuumed every hour
Chandelier sparkle Brass astrarays and doorknobs shine Dark walnut paneling glows. And the mirrors in the elevators are fingerprint-free.
Welcome to the K.S. "Boots" Adams Alumni Center.
The $5 million Alumni Center, 1266 Eread Ave., is part palace, part history museum and part administrative headquarters for the University of Kansas Alumni Association.
Since the three-story building opened its doors in 1983, it has been praised and panned by alumni, faculty and students.
"This is an elegant, beautiful facility." Fred Williams, executive director of the Alumni Association, said last week. "When alumni come back to the University, they have a spot of their own — a place to meet them and the University in an official form."
"I've been very greatly disappointed," said Arthur Skidmore, associate professor of philosophy. "I'd hoped it would primarily be a place where faculty, alumni and guests could gather subsequent to lectures, concerts and films.
Some think the Alamani Center is too formal, too preoccupied with coat-and-tie receptions and invitation-only luncheons
"There's so much academic need at the University," said Tim Miller, lecturer in religious studies. "It makes you wonder why millions are being spent on something that's not directly connected to the central vision of the University."
others think the Alumni Center symbolizes extravagance during a time of budget reductions and crowded classrooms.
"This isn't that place."
Williams noted, however, that the building was constructed entirely with private funds.
The family of the late Kenneth S. Atamia
is a 1921 KU graduate who lives in
St. Louis, Missouri, and pledges to
$2 million for the construction of the Alumni Center.
An anonymous donor gave $700,000 for the building. Williams said The Kansas University Endowment Association solicited the remaining funds from faculty and private citizens and donated the land for the building.
"It's there as a service to alumni." Williams said. "But those alumni in turn benefit the University through their continued participation — private contributions informing us of career opportunities, recruiting future students."
The building is open to Alumni Association members who have paid their dues, Williams said. This year, 32,000 alumni are members
Dues are $25 a year or $500 for a lifetime membership. Recent graduates, alumni who have passed their 45th anniversary of graduation, and current KU faculty and staff are eligible for discounts
Members of the Alumni Association, however, don't have to be KU graduates
"We consider an alumnus as anyone who has completed a semester at KU." Williams said "In addition, we have associate degrees from the University and parents who never attended KU."
The Alumni Center, northeast of the Kansas Union, is colonial in style, with its dusty bricks, white shutters and iron-rod fence.
The first floor, designed primarily for use by members of the KU Retirees' Club, features a library, music room, recreation room - complete with exercise bike - craft room, snack room and several conference rooms.
A broad staircase ascends to the Learned Club, a private club that takes up the second floor. Although non members can tour the first and third floors from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, the Learned Club is open only to those Alumni Association members who purchase special memberships.
Learned Club memberships cost $25 for Douglas County residents and $15 for non-residents.
The club — composed of three spacious meeting rooms, a dining room and a pub — has been the site of dozens of cocktail parties, catered banquets and receptions in the past year.
Learned Club waiters dressed in classic black-and-white uniforms serve food and drinks until 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
The third floor includes the offices of the Alumni Association and the Kansas Alumni magazine.
University memorabilia surrounds the Alumni Association employees. Faded photographs of campus buildings hang on the walls. Old yearbooks, space-shuttle souvenirs and the shovel from the Alumni Center's 1981 ground breaking sit in glass showcases.
Since the Alumni Association was founded in 1883, its main function has been to collect and update information on former KU students. Alumni Association workers have records for more than 200,000 former students, including 163,951 present mailing addresses.
"Because it's the newest building on campus, it's tougher to clean," said Johnny White. custodial supervisor "We're under clear scrutiny."
White and his staff "must have an eye for detail," he said. Brass must be polished, ledges dusted, smudges wiped clean
Another team of Alumni Center employees - the custodial crew - works each night from 4 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. to keep the building shining and spollen.
And the thick carpets, which cover 90 percent of the Alumni Center's floors, get
"We hit them when they need it — not every hour." White said. "But we do vacuum the hallways twice a day."