Waiting with bated breath for the results to be posted, the excitement in the room was palpable. After a moment of silent scanning, a single shout goes up and the team erupts. Jumping up and down, the cheers from the crowd signal that the team of Jyleesa Hampton and Quaram Robinson made it to the final round of a national circuit debate tournament for their first time. “Debate is just very fun. It’s very exciting. You get a rush, win or lose, for the love of the game,” Hampton, an Overland Park senior, said. “I just felt such community and such love from the KU Debate team.”

Katherine Gwynn, B.A. in English and women, gender & sexuality studies, Class of 2015 A

  Liberal arts and sciences graduates go on to successful and sometimes unconventional careers. They combine personal passion with the flexibility of their degree to build careers that are both fulfilling and challenging.

Alumna combats violence against native women through tribal law reform Chaos. That’s how Sarah Deer, College alumna and MacArthur ‘genius’ grant winner, describes her typical day.

Mentoring students, counseling rape victims and fighting to close cracks in the legal system fill her days. At night, she unwinds with her husband Neal Axton (whom she met at KU law), their Beagle/Chihuahua mix and some mind-numbing, Netflix bingeing.

Faculty called upon for expertise as media cover significant current events When a young man was fatally shot by police in Ferguson, Mo., media coverage did not naturally gravitate toward examining mid-century suburban development in the St. Louis area. For Clarence Lang, however, the connection between the current situation and his historical research on St. Louis was clear. “In terms of my interest in race, urban politics and governance, social movements and the 20^th century, I think that positioned me in an interesting way to comment on contemporary issues,” said Lang, an associate professor of African & African-American studies and American studies. Recently, national and world crises have dominated headlines and media have frequently sought researchers’ expertise to gain a new perspective and better understand the context of current events.

When a long-dead archduke and his assassin begin following you on Twitter, odds are that something interesting is about to happen.