K Week rings in school year: More than 100 activities help welcome students to campus
August 28, 2014
By Anthony Gaither and Josh Ayala
The final few days of K Week activities before classes brought students outside and together for community service Monday and free food and performances Tuesday.
About 1,000 spectators grouped around Memorial Hall from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday night to take in free food and performances at We Are UK, said Emory Jones, community and leadership development senior and event coordinator with the office of student and parent programs.
“This is a great event that allows our university to embrace the different communities, cultures and talents that make up UK as a whole,” Jones said.
Several groups and individuals performed swing and country line dances, spoken word poetry and step routines while students took seats around the ampitheater and browsed student organization booths set up on surrounding sidewalks.
Between 9 and 9:30 Monday morning, 1,037 students made their way to Johnson Center Fields for FUSION 2014, a one-day service event that sends students to over 60 locations in and around campus.
Since its beginning in 2003, the Center for Community Outreach has sent out students to spend three hours each working for local non-profits and neighborhood residences, according to the event website.
“FUSION is a great way to meet people and give back,” Brendan O’Farrell, international director for Gatton College, said Monday.
The events were some of the latest in the week of 250-plus social gatherings, outdoor activities and class sessions to prep students for the coming school year.
“My favorite part of K Week was the college meeting that took place in the Student Center,” biology freshman Michael Kunkemoeller said Tuesday. “I liked how good the K Crew was in bridging the gap (for freshmen).”
