Friday, September 11. 1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 5
Ambassadors prepare for prospective visitors
Members strive for expertise
Philip Johnson, Parsons junior, directs visitors back to Strong Hall after a campus tour. Johnson is a part of the KU Ambassadors program. The program gives tours to prospective students and shares KU facts. Photo by Graham K. Johnson/KANSAN
By Melody Ard
Kansan staff writer
For University of Kansas student ambassadors, loving the University isn't just a personality trait, it's a job requirement.
Training sessions are wrapping up for the group of 85 ambassadors, including 37 new ambassadors, and the group is preparing for the arrival of interested high school students and other visitors.
Ambassadors are known for walking backwards and their ability to recite facts about almost anything on campus.
Nicole Hash, Louisburg sophmore, will complete her training for the ambassadors later this month. She said that she almost had finished her practice tours but that she still had to take a test on University facts.
"The facts are a little hard to learn," Hash said. "What sinks in are the stories, like Wescoe being built as a parking garage."
Although the group is meticulous about learning facts and teaching the ambassadors how to give the tours, Hash said she still had to master the art of walking across campus backwards.
"No one has told us yet how to walk backwards, but one of the returning ambassadors was tearing us because we have to walk backwards," Hash said. "He said we'd probably trip and fall."
Kim Beeler, faculty coordinator for the KU Ambassadors, said that walking wasn't the only requirement for ambassadors but that it helped.
"We want people with energy who are excited and have had good experiences at KU," Beeler said. "Ambassadors are a friendly face to incoming students. They are the first student contact and can make or break a first impression."
Other requirements include a 3.0 GPA, involvement in activities, an interview and a written application. The group accepted fewer than half of the 75 applications
they received.
"We are pretty selective, but we are proud of that," Beeler said. "I think this represents the best and brightest the University has to offer."
The ambassadors are responsible for giving one tour each week, participating in student panels, holding office hours and writing postcards to each of the prospective students in their tour groups, which translates into at least a two-hour commitment each week.
"I'm sure there will be times when it will be stressful to take time out of the day to do this." Hash said. "But I am really an upbeat kind of person, and I think it is a lot of fun."
Special responsibilities include participating on student panels for senior days and showing off the campus to special groups.
"We get a lot of groups with kids," Beeler said. "The sixth graders who come don't care about where the classes are, they want to know where the basketball players live."
A smaller version of today's Jayhawk welcoming committee began in 1980 with help from Paul Buscar and former Chancellor Gene Budig. The group has increased in size and responsibility since then,
Beeler said.
KU Ambassadors joined the ranks of the registered student organizations for the first time this year because they created an executive board with student leaders, Beeler said. Other changes for the group this year were special shirts, designed to make the ambassadors more recognizable during tours.
Although Beeler said the group was big enough to fill the University's needs, she said she hoped gradually to add more minority students.
"One of our goals is to increase the diversity among the ambassador group." Beeler said. "We want to include other groups because we want to represent the whole University."
For Hash, doing her job well is her primary goal. She said she was looking forward to her duties as an ambassador, despite the challenges that the visitors or the weather might hold.
"I'd rather give a tour when it's cold than when it's hot," Hash said. "Of course, I'll say that now and fall on the ice, but I think that campus is really pretty in the winter when it is covered in snow. Plus, that will be right in the middle of basketball season."
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