10 fun facts you might not know about the K-State Alumni Center
The K-State Alumni Center is more than just the home of the K-State Alumni Association
offices on campus — it’s a place to reflect on the university’s history and tradition,
a keeper of K-State memorabilia, and a space for hosting important community events
like weddings, conferences and more.
This fall, the Alumni Center is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and we asked Amy Button Renz '76, '86, Alumni Association president and CEO, and Lauren Chard '08,
Alumni Center manager, to share some fun facts people might not know about the center.
1. The construction of the K-State Alumni Center was made possible thanks to the donations
of over 1,400 Wildcats. “We did not have a lead gift,” says Renz. “It was clearly
a grassroots campaign and the feasibility study said it would take five years to raise
the money and it only took three years. The mortgage was paid off at our five-year
anniversary — we actually burned the mortgage.”
2. The K-State Alumni Center has hosted 12,282 events since opening its doors.
3. More than 875,000 people have attended events in the past 20 years.
4. The second floor of the Alumni Center is home to Hagans Library, which houses a
collection of Royal Purple yearbooks, books by K-Staters and Kansans, K-Stater magazine archives and more. The library is named in honor of Robert F. "Bob" Hagans
'50 and his family. He served as chair of the KSU Foundation board and chair of the
Foundation's first fundraising campaign. He was a co-founder of Colbert Hills and
was one of the first major donors for the K-State Alumni Center project.
5. The Memorabilia Room, located on the first floor of the Alumni Center, has a variety
of unique K-State items, including:
- A silver tea set belonging to the K-State Social Club. It was previously stored in a bank vault and currently is on loan to the Association; the K-State Social Club comes to polish it about once a year. It was formerly used for events at the President’s Residence.
- An original Marching Band uniform. Rather than purple, the uniform is cadet blue, which is the color used at the time.
- A K-State football letter sweater belonging to Amy Button Renz’s grandfather. He scored the first touchdown in Memorial Stadium the year it was built, 1922.
Learn more about Hagans Library and the Memorabilia Room
6. Also on the ground floor, visitors can view a 14 feet x 7 feet stained glass mural
paying tribute to iconic buildings on campus. The mural, entitled A Spot I Love Full Well, was made possible through the generosity of Gib ’80 and Brenda ’77 Compton. The
artwork for the mural was designed by Marcus Gilbert ’16, who entered a campus-wide
design competition sponsored by the Alumni Association. LEARN MORE
7. All of the artwork on display in the Alumni Center was created by Kansas artists,
including a number of K-State faculty members.
8. The Curt Frasier '73 Family Fireplace on the ground floor was constructed from
native limestone and includes the original 1859 Bluemont College Arch, previously
located at Hale Library before the building's 1997 renovation. Two limestone stars
from the original arch also are displayed in the Tadtman Boardroom.
9. If you look carefully, you can spot the Alumni Association’s K-Block logo high
up on the south wall of the Alumni Center.
10. The University Seal is located on the north wall above the Johnson Terrace.