About us | Division leadership | President’s welcome
Dale and Marci Seuferling
The year was 1973, and I vividly remember that sweltering July day. I was one of hundreds of freshmen going through orientation on Mount Oread, knowing my life was about to change. It was a new era, a turbulent time in our nation’s history, the time of Vietnam and Watergate.
We heard during orientation that a new humanities building was going up across the street, to be named Wescoe Hall. It would have a large plaza where students could congregate. That was quite a stretch for me to visualize — all I could see was a pile of concrete behind a huge temporary barrier.
Along with our freshmen class came KU’s 13th chancellor, Archie Dykes, who succeeded Raymond Nichols that year.
Flash-forward to 2009, and I’m feeling a sense of déjà-vu. I attended freshman orientation with my oldest daughter, Marci, this summer. She’s starting her college career at KU along with our 17th chancellor, Bernadette Gray-Little.
The campus has changed in many ways since 1973. That plaza we heard about is now known as “Wescoe Beach.” It may not be the most picturesque spot on campus, but there’s no better place to feel the pulse of the student body. Marci and her classmates don’t know this yet, but many of KU’s buildings, labs, libraries and faculty are here thanks to people like you — donors who believe KU is a place where talented students can reach their aspirations. I sat during orientation, reminiscing about the great faculty members who challenged and provoked my generation to get rid of old stereotypes and ideas.
Our nation has been transformed in the last 36 years, in many ways for the better. Today’s students probably take for granted that an African-American woman would emerge as the top candidate to become chancellor of KU. But those of us who grew up in a different time and place have a different sense of the significance of her appointment.
I welcome Gray-Little with confidence that she will accomplish great things at KU. As the father of two daughters, I couldn’t be
happier to see a scholar of her caliber take the helm at my alma mater. And all of us at KU Endowment stand ready to help her lead us to new heights.
It’s a new era, indeed.
Dale Seuferling, President
KU Endowment