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With eyes on its past and its future, Emporia State University enjoyed an expansive Founders’ Day celebration on Friday, Feb. 14, that acknowledged the institution’s birthday, a campus anniversary, a ribbon-cutting and the awarding of scholarships to two students.

Emporia State University alumni Ross Bjork and Brian Pracht brought Hornet pride to the national stage at the College Football Playoff National Championship Game in Atlanta.

Emporia State University will celebrate 162 years of educational excellence with the annual Founders’ Day Celebration and luncheon on Friday, Feb. 14. Located in Memorial Union’s Webb Hall, the doors will open at 11:30 a.m. with a program beginning at noon.

The ESU Alumni Association’s University Service Citation Award honors both alumni and friends who have made unique and significant contributions to Emporia State, its students and its staff members. This year’s recipients will be recognized during the ESU vs. Central Missouri football game on Saturday, Nov. 9.

Four Emporia State University graduates will receive Distinguished Alumni awards at the Black & Gold Gala on Oct. 4 as part of Homecoming 2024. The award is the highest honor bestowed to alumni and recognizes outstanding accomplishments in their careers.

An Emporia State alumnus is welcomed back to campus where he will speak on leadership and the experiences that led him to a senior leadership role at a major coffee company. Dennis Brockman will present the Sam E. and Jeannene Hayes Lecture at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, in Webb Hall on the second floor of the Memorial Union. His presentation is titled “Servant Leadership — It's all about the PEOPLE!”

Emporia State University Theatre presents “She Loves Me” by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick. Performances are scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 3 through 5 and 2 p.m. Oct. 6 in the Karl C. Bruder Theatre, in King Hall.

Just prior to the United States’ entry into World War II, Chad R. Patton, a high school graduate from rural Chase County, Kansas, who wanted to become an educator, enrolled in what was then Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia. Military service, classroom assignments and farm work delayed his graduation. But when he earned his degree in 1958, it cemented his family’s remarkable multi-generational connection to today’s Emporia State University.

Emporia State University kicks off Homecoming 2024 by welcoming alumni, students and the Emporia community to participate in numerous exciting activities. Attendees will recall old memories and make some new ones as generations unite to celebrate their Hornet pride.

Emporia State University faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends celebrate 161 years of educational excellence and opportunity with the annual Founders’ Day celebration on Thursday, Feb. 15. The event includes a lunch beginning at 11:30 a.m. in Webb Hall on the second floor of the Memorial Union. A program will follow at noon.