Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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A K-State fan cheers on the ' Cats during the final home game of the year. The University of Colorado defeated the Wildcats 49-3 at KSU Stadium. (Photo by Steve Wolgast) President Wefald 10 16 Starship Homecoming 26 36 World Events Landon Lectures McCain Events 46 Student Life Division 9

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8 Student Life Division

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by Karen Schuler After eleven years, K-State had a new first family. Jon Wefald was selected by the Kansas Board of Regents to succeed Duane Acker as President. Wefald left his position as chancellor of the seven-school university system in Minnesota to accept the new position. He had been chancellor since 1982. The big difference between what I ' m doing now and what I did before is that I ' m right on campus now, whereas in the job I had in St. Paul (Minn.), I was the chancellor of the university system and I wasn ' t on any one of the seven campuses, Wefald said. One of the first things Wefald did when he arrived at K-State was to hire eight recruiters. The recruiters were recent graduates and they went to each high school in Kansas as well as some in Nebraska to talk to students about K-State. Declining enrollment was a problem that he wanted to hit head- on, Wefald said. After that was taken care of he began developing a five-year game plan for K-State. The overall view of K-State is that it should strive for excellence. My goal is to move K-State into the top three in the Big Eight academically and into the top 15 in land grant institutions, Wefald said. President Wefald and his wife, Ruth Ann, were both on campus and tried to make themselves available to students, faculty and staff. They hosted gatherings for the marching band, the football team, volleyball team and several other groups. I feel like we ' re here to work for students, on the behalf of students and faculty, and that we should try to respond to their comments and questions as often as we can, President Wefald said. Jon and I really enjoy it; we enjoy students. I think there is a lot of vitality, enthusiasm and fun that is generated from the students. It ' s hard to sit back and not be a part of it, Mrs. Wefald said. We are trying to reach out to people and get to know them and let them get to know us and feel comfortable with us. Different departments on sent them materials about the University which helped them with the University, President Wefald said. Part of the preparation was getting their children acquainted with Kansas and the University. The Wefalds have two sons, Skip, 17, and Andy, 15. They were really eager for pictures because they had never even seen it. At least Jon and I had the advantage of having been here once, although it was for a very short visit, Mrs. Wefald said. I suppose that the for the two boys would be that they are kind of out of town. I think that ' s a little distracting, especially for Andy, because his friends can ' t just walk on over, President Wefald said. In his spare time, President Wefald read newspapers and books, played tennis and played touch football with his sons. He ' s always rounding up the kids to call their friends and get a team over so they can play touch football, Mrs. Wefald said. Mrs. Wefald spent a lot of her spare time with Skip and Andy. She also liked to read and have some quiet time to herself. As the president ' s wife, Mrs. Wefald tried to tap her own abilities and strengths and put them to use wherever she could to benefit the University. I work with the staff in the office to plan the entertaining that we do and try to plan things that are appropriate and fun like something for the band or things for the team members..., she said. She chaired a steering to build an art museum at K-State and was involved with a rural initiatives group made up of members from each of the colleges. We are trying to find ways to bring resources of K-State to bear on the problems of rural people, she said. Both President and Mrs. Wefald said they enjoyed the University and the people. We like it here and I ' m sure we ' re going to be here for a long time, President Wefald said. Ruth Ann Wefald, wife of President Jon Wefald, spent her first year at K-State making herself visable and available to the campus community. One of the she helped with was designed to bring the resources available at K-State to aid rural families. (Photo by Andy Nelson) President Jon Wefald came to K-State after having served as chancellor of seven-university state system; his appointment was announced by the Kansas Regents in March of 1986. (Photo by Andy Nelson) wefald make themselves at home 10 President Wefald