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HOMECOMING
ZOE LARSON/KANSAN Camille Douglas, a finalist for the 2015 Ex.C.E.L. awards.
Camille Douglas Senior | Overland Park | Business Marketing
Why did you decide to come to the University? "I'm a big homebody, so KU was like the perfect distance between home and not home — and, actually I surprise myself with how little I actually end up going back home and seeing my family, but I really chose KU because of its traditions and it felt like the right decision. I'm a KU
ambassador, and I give tours to people every day. [The] one thing I always tell students is that it's gonna feel right to you and the place, wherever you decide, whether it's KU or anywhere else has to feel right, and it has to be a place where you feel like you can learn, you can grow and you could basically become an adult for the first time, and that's just how I felt when I attended KU."
What kind of opportunities
has the University given you?
"I think that KU is really big on multiculturalism at this point in time, and that's something that I'm sure is happening at other schools but something that I've been able to take advantage of with my time here at KU. I'm on the Multicultural Recruitment team with the Student Ambassadors, and I'm president of one of the four Greek Life Councils, so there's a lot of multiculturalism aspects of KU that my hand is in."
What does being nominated for the Ex.C.E.L. award mean to you?
"It's a really humbling experience. I don't know how to describe it. It's something that never thought that I would be a part of — that I would be considered among the 10 top leaders at KU. It's a huge honor, and it's something that really humbles me to think that somebody — or a group of somebodies — thought that I was one of the best. I
think that I have the tendency to be really hard on myself, and, you know, you're your own worst enemy, and I think that, a lot of times, that I find myself in that situation: being very critical of myself, but it's something that I think is very humbling."
— Logan Gossett
Madeline Sniezek
Senior | Prairie Village |
Finance and Accounting
When did you know you wanted to come to the University? "I'm a third-generation Jayhawk, so growing up I knew I loved KU. It's just been in the family. Once I came to visit, during the summer,
before my senior year of high school, I met Dean Neely in the Business School. She's so charismatic and passionate about the B-School and about the University, and I knew after meeting her that this is where I wanted to be."
What opportunities has the University given you? "I've had so many opportun-
nities through my business leadership program, through SILC and by attending LeaderShape. I've also been involved in a bunch of different organizations on campus, including starting my own non-profit, Hawks Helping Hawks. Those things allowed me to get involved on campus, which opened up opportunities for internships
and jobs, and I really feel connected to the community and to this school."
What does being nominated for this award mean to you? "It is such an honor to me. I respect the other candidates all so much, and I'm good friends with them. Being recognized with them is a privilege because they have
made such an impact on this campus. I wanted to get involved on campus to find out what I'm passionate about. I wanted to make an impact, but getting the nomination certifies that other people think I've made an impact as well."
Paige Stingley
HANNAH BETTIS/KANSAN Madeline Sniezek, a finalist for the 2015 Ex.C.E.L. awards.
HANNAH BETTIS/KANSAN Evan Traylor, a finalist for the 2015 EX.C.E.L. awards.
Evan Traylor Senior | Edmond, Okla. |
Political Science and Jewish Studies
When did you know you wanted to come to the University?
"I came up for a Junior Day visit spring of my junior year of high school, and it was pouring down rain. We ended up having to take the tour on a bus, but still I left that day thinking, "This is the place for me.' Eventually, I got into the honors program and got the four-year renewable scholarship for out-of-state students
as well, so KU was the only school I ended up applying to"
What opportunities have been presented to you at the University?
"The first [opportunity] was the honors program. It was one of the main reasons that I chose KU because I knew that I would be able to get academic advising and would be in a smaller community on campus. That was really big for me, especially freshman year, in meeting a lot of people and getting into classes that would really challenge
me. A lot of my best friends are in the honors program. All of my roommates all four years here at KU have been in the honors program as well, so that's been a really great community for me."
"Second [is] the Jewish community here. I'm very involved with KU Hillel. Even before I got to campus, I had people [in that community] reaching out to me and inviting me to different events. That was a really great community that I became a part of freshman year and then presented opportunities for leadership and internships."
"The third one is the Student Involvement and Leadership Center. I joined an organization called Peer Leadership Consultants my sophomore year. Between that, going to Leadershape and just meeting people who are involved on campus and really passionate about making a change on campus and in the world, that still has been another community in itself."
about Ex.C.E.I. and seeing everybody walking out on to the field and thinking to myself, "That is so cool that KU is different. They don't do a Homecoming king and queen; there's no voting for it. It's these people who are involved on campus, and they're making a difference in our community, and let's take a little bit of time to honor them."
What would winning this award mean to you? "I still remember my freshman year going to the Homecoming game, hearing
What would winning this
Matthew Gwin
ZOE LARSON/KANSAN Elliott Brady, a finalist for the 2015 Ex.C.E.L. awards.
Elliot Brady
Senior | Overland Park |
Biology
When did you first realize that you wanted to come to the University?
"My dad went to KU Medical school, and ever since then he's been a really big KU fan. I kind of grew up around this whole culture, and I went to multiple football games and basketball games as a kid. So, I knew that this was a very possible place for me to go. Then, I visited [KU] and I visited K-State, too, and, just
with the science program and the pre-med program here, that's how I decided KU was probably my best bet."
What opportunities has the University given you that you don't think you'd be able to find elsewhere?
"Probably the biggest thing is LeaderShape. I grew a lot there. Also, the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity; I'm a part of that. I got involved in that almost two years ago, and it's just been a really great group of guys that support everyone and pushes everyone to be
their best. There are marching bands at a lot of universities, but I'd say KU's marching band is unlike many others. We are at every football game, and the band has such great spirits at all of the football games and, honestly, every other sport that we go to, we have such great spirit that I'm really proud to be a part of a group that's so positive and optimistic about everything we do."
What does being nominated for the Ex.C.E.L award mean to you?
things and to be able to say that I represent them and I represent the University of Kansas."
- Logan Gossett
Alumna's three months at sea filming "Whale Wars" inspired her activism
"The organizations I'm a part of — the diversity of the organizations that I'm a part of — it just kind of gives me another reason to really represent those organizations well. It just really means a lot to be a part of all of these groups that do so many good
A few months after receiving her diploma, KU graduate Ashleigh Allam can be found in the middle of the ice, surrounded by penguins. After weeks of chasing Japanese whaling vessels and battling freezing temperatures and the constant threat of retaliation from enemy ships, Antarctica was a welcome break for Allam.
COURTNEY BIERMAN @KansanNews
In Allam's four years as a psychology major, the adventure she's on now wasn't on her radar — shed anticipated heading to graduate school or going into research after graduation.
However, Allam became a media manager for the Animal Planet show "Whale Wars," a documentary series that follows the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's vessels as they attempt to stop Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean.
Allam, a Lawrence native, graduated from the University in December 2013 with a degree in psychology. Although she says she has always had an interest in film, she didn't see herself working in media production until a rock-climbing trip to Arkansas connected her with "Whale Wars" producer Gavin Garrison. Garrison is the owner of Red Apple Production, which works with clients such as Mariott and Costco in addition to Sea Shepherd.
"When I met [Garrison] in Arkansas it just seemed like the most perfect fit for me," Allam said. "I really love to travel and I love adventuring, so it
just seemed like a perfect opportunity; the door was opening for me there."
Allam reached out to Garrison after graduation. A video project for one of her classes had piqued her interest in production, and she was told about an open position. She left the following week to begin a sixth-month journey with Sea Shepherd.
Sea Shepherd was started in 1977 by former Greenpeace member Paul Watson after he was by Greenpeace that year. Both parties have publicly criticized each other's forms of activism; Greenpeace, which has a strict policy of nonviolence, disapproves of Sea Shepherd's history of sinking enemy whaling ships. (Watson claims the organization has sunk 10 whaling ships.)
"Getting on the front lines of ocean defense in the Southern Ocean makes me feel like I'm doing my part to help the ocean and its inhabitants, and, consequently, the world."
"In my opinion, the feud between Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace is simply one of differing methods." Allam said. "The goal of both organizations is the same: environmental awareness and conservation. I support both organizations, but align more with Sea Shepherd because I believe that one person can make a direct difference.
Allam spent the first month in Australia gathering supplies and coordinating crewmembers. A brief stop in Antarctica was the only land she saw for the next 100 days.
"It's got to be the most incredible moment of my life to be standing on the barren continent that only a handful of people have ever been on," she said. "I feel so privileged to have able to do that."
The show often features dramatic battle sequences between the whaling and sea shepherd vessels, including enemy ships being rammed and boarded. Crewmembers also have to deal with Antarctic weather: below-zero temperatures, wind, storms and the occasional 30-meter swell. It was particularly dangerous when the whaling vessels it was following cut off the ship.
"It is just as dramatic as it seems," Allam said. "They call it a reality show, but it's more of a docu-series because there were points that it got really nerve-wracking. It really turned out to be quite dramatic because our captain was trying to keep us from actually colliding with the other ship. In that sense it was super dramatic because they don't have any control over that. It's freezing cold, and it's very real."
While at sea on the ship called the Steve Irwin, Allam's job was to organize each day's footage so it would be ready for final production once the crew was back in the U.S.
The ship docked in March 2014. Afterwards, Allam began another project with Sea Shepherd — this time on sea turtle conservation in Honduras and southern Florida. She lives in California and is co-producing a documentary about revisiting the site of the
— my grandkids will figure it out,' or something. ... People kind of have the mindset like 'I can't do anything. I'm just one person.' But you can do something. You are one person, but you can do something."
Allam says her work with Sea Shepherd has inspired a interest in conservation.
2010 gulf oil spill.
"I think there's a mentality that 'Oh, no we'll be fine,' or 'I'll be fine for my lifetime'
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