Two students earn Blue Key scholarship for outstanding achievements
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
MANHATTAN — Two 2015-2016 members of Blue Key, Kansas State University's senior leadership honorary society, have received a special recognition for outstanding accomplishments.
Stephanie Hughes, senior in marketing, Overland Park, and Garrett Kays, senior in agricultural economics, Weir, were awarded the William L. Muir II and John "Tom" Muir Alpha Tau Omega Blue Key Leadership Scholarship at the recent Blue Key banquet and initiation.
Blue Key recognizes college students at senior institutions of higher education for balanced and all-around excellence in scholarship, leadership and service.
The Muir scholarship is named in honor of two brothers and Kansas State University alumni. William Muir was a 1939 member of Blue Key, and John Muir was a 1940 member of Blue Key. The scholarship is awarded by a joint committee of Kansas State University's dean of students, an officer of the Alpha Tau Omega Students' Aid Endowment Fund and a member of the Muir family, with input from Blue Key advisers. Each student received $1,000 and a plaque.
In Hughes' Blue Key role as co-director of Quest, the freshman honorary, she co-advised and co-organized development activities for 32 freshman students and their Blue Key mentors. In addition to Blue Key, Hughes has been active as a class leader for the Staley School of Leadership Studies, where she is obtaining a minor in leadership studies. During her junior year, she was an academic tutor for economics, business foundations and public speaking. Hughes is in the University Honors Program and, as part of her senior project, is researching how the stress induced by technology can be affected by music. She is a recipient of the university's Leadership Scholarship and the Reed Scholarship. As a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority, she served as leadership chair. She also served in the university's Student Governing Association as director of student affairs and was a coordinator for a student body presidential campaign. She is the daughter of Steve and Maryann Hughes and a 2012 graduate of Blue Valley North High School.
Kays, outgoing president of Blue Key, has served in the university's Student Governing Association as a student senator and privilege fee committee chair. He is a member of the College of Agriculture's Ag Ambassadors, the Kansas State University Student Foundation and the Collegiate Farm Bureau. He served as the agriculture legislative correspondent for U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, a legislative intern for the U.S. Senate Ag Committee, and as a legislative assistant for the university. He completed an internship with Land O'Lakes. Kays' honors and awards include the Dean of Student Life Outstanding Graduating Senior Award, Outstanding Senior Award in Agricultural Economics, Stennis Program for U.S. Congressional Interns Participant, Harry S. Truman National Scholarship nominee, Mortar Board Honor Society Outstanding Junior Award, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and scholarship recipient, Kansas Farm Bureau Young Farmers & Ranchers Discussion Meet Champion, and National Cattlemen's Beef Association National Scholarship Contest, Top Award Winner, and American Royal Distinguished Scholar. Also, he was one of two recipients for the nationwide Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity National Undergraduate Achievement Award, and one of six recipients nationwide to be named a Farm Foundation Roundtable Undergraduate Cultivator. Kays is the son of Kelly and Connie Kays and a 2012 graduate of St. Marys-Colgan High School.
