University of Kansas Honors Program

10/29/2026

KU Honors is launching a new tradition for graduating students. 🎓

Next Thursday, we'll host the inaugural Extending Your Honors Path, a special experience designed to create community for honors students as they prepare for graduation this fall or spring — and for life after KU.

The evening will bring together graduating seniors and honors alumni from a variety of fields for a panel discussion and one-on-one conversations centered on reflection, connection, and the many paths that can follow an honors education. Our featured alumni panelists:

👩‍⚖️ Ellen Bertels, an attorney with the Kansas Federal Defender's Office whose work focuses on expanding access to justice.

🏠 Hannah Bolton, founder and program director of Cardinal Housing Network, a nonprofit that supports women in recovery through transitional housing.

🔬 Alex Kong, a global health researcher and policy analyst whose work helps improve access to essential medicines around the world.

We're excited to create a new opportunity for students to celebrate their accomplishments, connect with alumni, and consider how they'll carry forward the values, skills, and experiences they've developed through KU Honors.

10/15/2026

On Monday, we had the privilege to hear from Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Sarah Krakoff, who is the Moses Lasky Professor at the University of Colorado Law School.

Krakoff shared stories of the hubris and misdeeds that make up the "beautiful, terrible, and indifferent" history of the Grand Canyon, including the dispossession of Indigenous peoples and trade-offs that despoiled land outside the park.

We love welcoming scholars from all around the country to campus and to Nunemaker Center, and are grateful to the Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Program for Professor Krakoff's visit.

10/13/2026

Last week, the students of Dr. J. Christopher Brown's HNRS 190 course, You Are Where You Eat, gathered in Nunemaker Center to hear from Chris Reimer, land relations manager at the Land Institute, who shared details about the institute's work to promote sustainable agriculture that will flourish for generations to come.

The class then enjoyed homemade pancakes — some that were prepared from scratch by Dr. Brown, and some using flour made from Kernza, a regeneratively grown perennial grain bred for soil health, clean water retention, and the enhancement of wildlife habitats.

10/09/2026

On Tuesday, honors students took the opportunity to celebrate Life on Land and take a closer look at local flora and fauna at the biannual honors nature walk. 🌱🍂🌾

Led by history professor and former Honors Faculty Fellow Nathan Wood, participants chatted and got to know each other better, observed changing seasonal foliage, and saw plenty of spiders, butterflies, birds, moths and snakes.

We're already looking forward to next spring's walk! ☺️

10/02/2026

Our first-year honors seminar assistants are student leaders who volunteer their time in the program's HNRS 190 and 195 seminars, offering their advice and perspective to students just beginning their time in the program. We're so grateful to have such a solid group of dedicated students who work hard every day to make our newest students feel included and inspired. 💛

10/02/2026

Interested in KU Honors? Harry will answer all your questions at 12 p.m. on October 15!

Have questions about the KU Honors Program? Join us Oct. 15 from 12–1:30 p.m. for a live Ask-Me-Anything with Harry Swartz, Associate Director for Admissions & Operations for the University of Kansas Honors Program.

Join us to ask your questions and learn more about the University Honors Program directly from Harry. The AMA will take place on the Campus ESP Class of 2031 discussion board: https://ku.campusesp.com/users/sign_in

We hope to see you there!

10/01/2026

What an insightful and illuminating panel we had about careers in healthcare on Tuesday night! Students interested in working in the medical field heard from KU Honors graduates Aarthi Aruna, a second-year doctoral student at KU Med, and Dr. Ryan Xiao, an orthopedic surgeon with LMH Health, about their experiences in medical school and in the professional world. Students then had the chance to ask their own questions about how to get started in healthcare.

We love hearing about what our amazing alumni are up to, and are so glad they enjoy giving back to the honors program and offering their knowledge and skills to future healthcare professionals.

09/29/2026

Last week, Prof. J. Christopher Brown's HNRS 190 course, You Are Where You Eat, took a unique trip to the Prairie Acre Restoration Project and learned more about the area from their expert tour guide, Prof. Bob Hagen.

Prairie Acre is an unplowed, native prairie remnant established in 1932 on KU’s Lawrence campus, and is the last remaining patch of native tallgrass prairie on the Hill. Surrounded by the kind of tallgrass that covered Mt. Oread before KU was established, students learned how the prairie functions ecologically and how Native Americans used and managed the prairie for food.

09/25/2026

Making big plans for next semester while enjoying cinnamon rolls — what a treat! We loved seeing so many great conversations at this year's Roll Into Spring schedule release party.

09/23/2026

Congratulations to this year's class of Millennium Fellows! 21 KU students were selected out of 76,000 applicants worldwide to participate in this leadership program, in which they will create actionable, community-based projects, guided by UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This year, Aarjo Roy and Aadhya Bhatia are serving as campus hub co-directors. As a co-director, Roy described how he and Bhatia’s goal is to make sure that students have the resources they need for their projects to reach their full potential. “We, as humans, depend on one another, and that's something that I'm really looking forward to continuing in the future,” said Aarjo.

Read more about KU's 2026 Millennium Fellows here: https://news.ku.edu/news/article/21-university-of-kansas-students-selected-for-the-2026-millennium-fellowship-class