KU faculty and staff on the road again

So what happens when a busload of nearly 50 KU faculty and staff shows up at a restaurant that wasn't expecting them for another two days? They become not only customers but also kitchen help, wait staff, bartenders and table setters.
 
That was the scene at Borquin's Old Depot Restaurant in Colby on May 23 as the Wheat State Whirlwind Tour bus arrived to an unsuspecting host. Although they were hot, hungry and thirsty from a day on the road and in the sun at a western Kansas wheat farm, the tour participants did their part by pitching in to help in what became a microcosm of this year's tour.
 
While it has become an anecdote tour participants are sharing with friends and family, the incident in Colby represents the atmosphere in many of the small Kansas communities the annual faculty tour visited. Neighbors help neighbors in times of need to ensure the survival and betterment of the community.

This year, the ninth of the tour, the bus carried a load of Kansas newcomers around the state to introduce them to the communities their students come from and educate them about the economy, history, culture and landscape of the wheat state.
 


Chancellor Robert Hemenway, who joined the tour for one day, started the tradition nine years ago as a way to introduce new Kansans to the state. Along for the ride this year were Richard Lariviere, incoming provost and executive vice chancellor, who comes to KU by way of the University of Texas; Gail Agrawal, incoming dean of the School of Law, who comes to campus from the University of North Carolina; and Rick Ginsberg, dean of the School of Education, a New York City native who came to the University after the University of Colorado. This year's tour covered more than 1,500 miles and made stops in more than 20 communities and 20 counties throughout the state, all in six days.
 
More photos of the tour.