8C / HOMECOMING / MONDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
Adam Buhler/KANSAN
Whitney Erikson works for the Alumni Association and is the coordinator of Jayhawk Generations. Jayhawk Generations is an annual publication that highlights incoming freshmen who are members of multi-generation Jayhawk families.
Adam Buhler/KANSAN
Sam Callan, a freshman from Lawrence, grew up around the University. "My favorite memories were probably fishing in Potter Lake and sledding on the hills",Callan said.
Hannah Gerwick, freshman from Fairway, is highlighted in the most recent issue of Jayhawk Generations as a fifth-generation Jayhawk. Her Jayhawks roots go back to the 1800s.
Adam Buhler/KANSAN
Jayhawks keep family legacies strong
Students attend the University of Kansas because of family history
BY AMANDA GAGE editor@kansan.com
Passing on college traditions such as the joy of being a Jayhawk is an unspoken treasure that many parents appreciate deeply. Carolyn Gerwick, University of Kansas alumna, is one of those parents.
"I grew up in a family surrounded by parents, grandparents, aunts,
uncles, great-austs and great-uncles who all went to KU," Gerwick said. "I was so proud that there was an auditorium named after my great-uncle, Larry Woodruff, in the Union. The girls who lived in the Theta house with me all knew that I had what seemed like millions of older relatives who were also Thetas."
Carolyn's daughter Hannah,
a freshman from Fairway, is now
a fifth-generation Jayhawk. Her Jayhawk bloodline runs all the way back to the 1800s, beginning with her great-great-grandparents.
her great green groupings.
"I've grown up going to football and basketball games," Gerwick said.
"And my family told me I could go wherever. But I definitely wanted to go to KU because my whole family went to KU and they told me how great it was my entire life."
Gerwick is a new member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and is a fourth-generation legacy there. She hopes to become involved in intramurals and said she is open to more opportunities while she's at the University.
Erikson said she started working on this year's issue in May and first got a list of the incoming freshmen from the KU Admissions and Scholarship's office. She then identified which students were legacies and especially paid attention to
Each year the KU Alumni Association publishes a Jayhawk Generations issue of its magazine featuring incoming freshmen like Hannah. The issue includes a picture of the student, a picture of their parents when they were in college and a short summary of their high school accomplishments and college hopes. This year's Jayhawk Generations issue, which came out in September, featured 200 freshmen. Many of the Kansans graduated in the top 10 percent of high school seniors and earned recogni
whether their parents were members of the Alumni Association. The legacies are the parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles of the incoming freshmen who attended the University in the past and are members of the KU Alumni Association.
Whitney Erikson, the sales and communications coordinator at the KU Alumni Association, who is a fourth-generation Jayhawk herself, has been compiling the Jayhawk Generation issues for the last two years.
Association.
After finding these students, she contacted their parents to inform them that the KU Alumni Association wanted to feature them in the upcoming issue. She also said there were usually about 200 students featured in the issue each year, but it was a little lower this year.
"It seemed like a huge project and it was, but working on it. It was so fun to talk to parents and see where"
the freshmen are coming to KU from and hear about the parents being so proud that their students are continuing the legacy." Erikson said. "That made my job really fun and gratifying."
S am u e l
Callan. a
"I used to live about a mile from the University, so I was always up there on weekends and in the summer to bike around or fish at Potter Lake or go to sporting events," Callan said. "I always thought I would be a Jayhawk, so when I got the chance to choose a university, this just seemed like the only real choice."
Callan said he's involved in the KU Fencing Club and enjoys it and the people. He also said he hopes to be a member of the KU Rugby team when he has time to fit it into his schedule. He reminisced about his fond memories growing up around the University.
"I always thought I would be a Jayhawk, so when I got the chance to choose a university, this just seemed like the only real choice."
"I always loved going to KU
SAMUEL CALLAN
Lawrence freshman
freshman from Lawrence, is another fifth-generation Jayhawk featured in the issue. Callan said he decided to stay close to home and continue the family tradition.
games, but my favorite memories were probably of fishing at Potter Lake and sleding on the hills." Callan said.
The other 198 members of the 2010 Jayhawk Generations issue can be accessed through the KU Alumni Association website (www.
kualumni.org) or at the Alumni Center.
Edited by Leslie Kinsman