November 9, 2022
Learn about successful Greater Kansas City community visit with recap, photos
Submitted by Division of Communications and Marketing
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Malik Jenkins, center, senior in life science and pre-veterinary medicine and a Connected 'Cats event leader for the Greater Kansas City area community visit, tells his K-State story during the community open forum. The other Connected 'Cats event leaders for the Greater Kansas City area community visit included, from left, Camden Mayfield, senior in mechanical engineering; Rosa Cano, junior in human resources management; and Stacia Mendoza, senior in finance. |
President Richard Linton and several Connected 'Cats students led a Kansas State University team of faculty, staff and extension professionals who visited the Greater Kansas City area on Nov. 1 and 2. The events in Johnson County and Wyandotte County were part of the presidential community visit initiative.
The next K-State community visit will be Monday, Dec. 5, in the Central Kansas and Salina area. Check out K-State's Instagram and Facebook stories on Dec. 5 to follow the community visit events throughout the day.
The Nov. 1 and 2 Greater Kansas City area community visit engaged hundreds of community members throughout the day in events that highlighted community partnerships and K-State Research and Extension relationships.
View photos of the events throughout the Greater Kansas City area community visit.
Linton and the K-State team participated in an open forum as well as conversations surrounding important topics for the Greater Kansas City area community, including urban food systems, postsecondary access and equity, industry needs in the region and food insecurity. The K-State team also volunteered with Harvesters Community Food Network as part of a service project to address food insecurity in the Greater Kansas City community.
Two Calling all 'Cats recruitment events occurred in the evenings — one event focused on Wyandotte County and another event focused on Johnson County.
For the four Connected 'Cats student event leaders for the Greater Kansas City area community visit, it was an opportunity to share their K-State stories with their hometown communities.
"I am grateful to have been a part of this new initiative and to share my story with those back home who have supported me in getting to where I am today," said Rosa Cano, junior in human resources management, Kansas City, Kansas. "I received an abundant amount of community support during this visit, and I am excited to see what this initiative will accomplish for my community."
"I enjoyed myself thoroughly," said Malik Jenkins, senior in life science and pre-veterinary medicine, Kansas City, Kansas. "It was an amazing opportunity to have fruitful conversation from students and community leaders, which created a comfortable atmosphere to listen and learn and equally be heard and celebrated."
"I enjoyed the Kansas City community visit as it was especially impactful to see my hometown community and university community come together to listen to each other and work to approach shared challenges together," said Stacia Mendoza, senior in finance, Lenexa.
"The Greater Kansas City visit was a great experience for me. I loved being able to connect with my community and learn about how Kansas State University can better support them," said Camden Mayfield, senior in mechanical engineering, Overland Park. "I will say that being able to speak with prospective students about coming to K-State and all the opportunities that await them was my favorite part of the whole visit."
About the initiative
K-State continues traveling the state as part of the new presidential community visit initiative that focuses on the people of Kansas and their communities. The initiative consists of nine community visits throughout the state this academic year. See where K-State has been and where the university is going next.
Watch a video that showcases K-State's engagement in Kansas communities.
A communications toolkit is available to help K-Staters share a consistent message about the university's relationships, partnerships and contributions throughout the state of Kansas. The toolkit offers a pathway for any university unit to plug in to the initiative and help share stories of engagement across the state.
Access the communications toolkit on the community visit website. Please be prepared to enter your K-State eID and password to access the information.