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KANSAN.COM
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Crimson and Blue Society focuses on the "full Jayhawk experience" of extracurriculars
▶ LARA KORTE
@lara_korte
Students at the University now have a program that can help them take full advantage of campus resources and events and show it off to employers.
The Crimson and Blue Society debuted last semester out of the Student Involvement and Leadership Center. The program is focused on a co-curricular curriculum designed to expose students to campus opportunities and help them develop skills outside of the classroom.
Elliot Young, a graduate assistant in the SILC office and coordinator of the Crimson and Blue Society, said the idea initially came out of a desire to help students get the full University experience, or in other words, "earn their crimson and blue."
"We had the question in front of us, 'What does it mean to be a Jayhawk?' and we kind of looked around and said, 'Well, KU offers so many opportunities, but how do we make them easy for students to navigate so that they can get the best experience?'" Young said.
To gain full membership into the organization, students must fulfill requirements under eight different achievement areas: academic endeavors and accomplishments; civic engagement and community service; creativity and
the arts; cultural and global perspective; health and wellness; leadership and involvement; profession and career development; and spirit, pride and tradition.
Each achievement area can be fulfilled by attending or accomplishing certain events or tasks. Under academic endeavors and accomplishments, students must complete three items that may include meeting with an academic advisor, attending a common book lecture or making the honor roll. Activities can range anywhere from visiting the Natural History Museum to attending a basketball game.
Young said the entire idea of the Crimson and Blue Society is to help students become more well-rounded, a characteristic many employers seek in a potential hire.
"We know employers are looking at students who have that broad range of skills and are very well-rounded," Young said. "We see this as an excellent opportunity to help students develop those skills, those things that they really can't get by classroom experience alone, they really need to go out and do those things outside of the classroom."
Hunter Finch, a graduate career coach in the University Career Center, said having extracurricular experience is something he stresses when helping students look for jobs and develop resumes.
"They also want to see, 'Can I work with this person? I'm going to have to come in every day and sit next to them in the office, do I want to? Is that a person I want to interact with?' And so those extracurricular things just really show that you have that well-roundedness," Finch said.
"If I, an employer, am looking to hire someone and someone is very good in the field, that's going to be a huge plus," Finch said. "But if I have someone who's really good in the field and has experience outside of business, marketing, whatever, sociology, whatever it may be, usually those potential employees are a little bit more attractive to employers because it shows that they can do other things."
Finch also said having experience that shows a wide variety of skills can indicate to an employer that a candidate has strong social and personality skills.
Finch said the University Career Center likes to focus on the idea of a "T-shaped professional." At the core of any potential employee should be depth of knowledge in the field, or the vertical aspect of the "T." The horizontal items are things outside of the classroom that show a wide-range of involvement.
"We always encourage students to get involved, not only to pad your resume, but just adding that experience and value to being connected to KU, really hopefully getting the most out of their four years here," Finch said.
While some students might be inclined to simply list extracurricular activities on a resume, Young said the Crimson and Blue Society is different in the way that the curriculum was designed very intentionally.
"For a whole semester, we went to 25 campus departments and offices and asked them, 'What are the things that you really want students to accomplish from your office or department at KU,' and they gave us a list," Young said. "So it's not just any old thing; it's stuff that each of the campus partners identify as the most important thing."
There are currently 620 students enrolled in the program, which operates through Rock Chalk Central. When a student completes a task, they simply log into the website and enter the information into the Crimson and Blue Society page, which will save and track their progress. Although it is a self-paced curriculum, Young said he expects students will take two to four years to complete everything.
"There are approximately 30 items a student has to complete, and even your most ambitious student isn't going to complete all of those in one year," Young said.
Young said he thinks the organization is off to a good start and is looking at
- Edited by Sarah Kruger
Graphic by Sam Billman/KANSAN