Will Kirk learned lifelong lessons serving as a K-State Student Ambassador
It’s been 40 years since Will Kirk ’86 was elected to serve as a K-State Student Ambassador.
He almost didn’t apply.
“I was serving as the Ag Student Council president that semester and thought I had enough on my plate without taking on another significant student activity,” he said.
But then an ad in the Kansas State Collegian piqued his curiosity. So, the day before the applications were due, he stopped by the alumni office on his way home from class, and without an appointment was greeted by the K-State Alumni Association’s Amy Button Renz ’76, ’86, who was instrumental in the creation of the Student Ambassadors program.
“In hindsight, I am just so impressed that Amy took that time out of her busy day, without my calling to set up an appointment on her calendar, to tell me more about the Ambassador program. The more I learned, the more interested I became and so that evening I worked on my application and submitted it the next day. Fortunately, I was selected for a couple rounds of interviews and was ultimately selected as one of the three male finalists.”
With the student voting based on the candidates’ statements and photos, Kirk noted that he was never particularly photogenic so he was pleased that his photo did not capture an awkward expression, and credits his fraternity brothers canvassing for votes to help get him elected.
After the excitement and congratulations of getting elected wore off he quickly realized that this honor came with great responsibility to his soon to be alma mater. He along with Tami Barham Wineinger ’86 set out to attend alumni events across the state, participate in student recruitment events and represent K-State when called upon. It was an experience that allowed him to travel around the state, meet with alumni and prospective students and even serve as Willie the Wildcat for an evening.
One such alumni event involved a trip to Norton, Kansas, which was near Kirk’s hometown of Clayton. Due to the distance, the transportation was by plane but because of a last-minute change to a different aircraft, a smaller travel party was required. Willie the Wildcat was scheduled to make an appearance but there wasn’t room on the plane for all the contemplated K-State attendees, so his costume went and Kirk was asked to pull double duty.
“As a boy growing up a K-State fan who wouldn’t want to be Willie the Wildcat, but when I arrived on campus I learned that you needed to be at least six-feet tall and be able to dunk a basketball and since I failed to satisfy both requirements my chance to be Willie were slim to none. While I am not sure the identity of person in Willie’s costume is to be disclosed, one of my most memorable activities as an Ambassador was having the opportunity to play Willie the Wildcat at that Norton alumni event. I even have some pictures in costume, one with my brother, one giving my autograph to my parents, and another with our neighbors, Jay and Virginia Griffith, who were both K-Staters and introduced me while I was in high school to Dr. Milton Manuel, who was the Department Head of Ag Economics, the program I studied while at K-State.”
The experiences have lasted a lifetime and taught him lifelong lessons.
